I gained fear. Tao's definition of "fun" was much different than the average person's, well namely me. He enjoyed hiking, practicing wushu, and window shopping, all of which ended up with my being in pain. 

"Please, not shopping." I begged as we headed down the street towards the shopping district. 

"Don't worry. We're going on an adventure today!"

I let out a heavy sigh followed by an audible groan. So today was a hiking day. Physical activity was not my thing.

"Oh stop. I promise you won't have to walk that much if you don't want to." He assured me before pulling on my hand to catch me up to his speed. 

As we neared the City Center, men and women in pressed white uniforms were making their way from the Tubes back to their homes, surrounded us. Large white trucks filled with the day's haul of water and supplies, flooded the streets, each off to it's designated warehouse. Tao's pulling stopped in the back of City Hall. 

"What are we doing here Tao?" I asked, tired of being led around the streets like a dog on a leash. "I don't like being around so many officers."

"Trust me, neither do I." He answered, before sliding his long fingers around my face, shielding my eyes from all sight. I immediately tried to remove his hand from my eyes, but to no avail. Tao was really strong. 

"What the hell are you covering my face for?" I squirmed beneath his grip.

"Just shut up and walk. I can't let you see where I'm taking you. Kris would murder me."

"What the fu-" 

"LANGUAGE." Tao teased as I blindly walked through City Hall. 

"What the HECK, does Kris have to do with this." 

"Shh. Would you quiet down? Don't get us caught."

"Caught doing what? Are you gonna murder the Mayor or something?" 

Tao laughed. "What we are about to do is probably worse than that."

My concern grew suddenly. Sure I had done my share of rebellious things in life. Skipped school, snuck out of the house, stole money from Minseok's wallet, but nothing illegal. Well other than that time I flirted with the cashier at the convienence store until he let me buy a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of Soju even though I was underage. Tao removed his fingers from my eyes, and they adjusted to the new atmosphere. We appeared to be in a dark closet, but what was more interesting was the large glowing cylinder that stood towered in front of us. 

"Tao.. how did you.. " The right words couldn't seem to find their way out of my mouth. There was no single question that could be asked at this moment. Were we about to do what I thought we were? 

Tao placed his hand on my shoulder. His other hand held the "key" Kris had given him. He held it up to a small indent in the Tube and a wide door slid open. The next thing I knew, we were inside the large space, travelling up for what seemed like an hour, but in reality was only a few minutes or possibly seconds. My eyes shut. Whatever was up there, I wasn't supposed to know, or see, or experience. My body turned to face Tao's. And then I felt the air shifting around me.

"Ahh, sun." Tao breathed. I felt his arms stretching out. 

"What?" I responded meekly, too afriad to look out at what I was sure was Up. 

"Not you, I mean sun! The real sun! Can't you feel it warming your body?"

I did feel something. But I swore it was Tao. Could the sun really exist? The courage to peek open my eyes over the horizon of Tao's shoulder, came over me. A world I had never seen before unravelled before me. There it was. The sun. The very thing I had been named after. It was orange, and hanging low in what I was taught to be a "sky." It was true. Though, they lied about the coloring. It wasn't blue, but shades of beautiful orange, purple, and navy. As my gaze broke from the sky, I saw patches of bright green, and beautiful dark blue. Both rippling with each shift of the air. Tall brown and green creatures stood erect, in the otherwise flat green land. "Trees. Grass. Ponds." , I remembered from school. 

"Tao, it's..." There was no way to describe my first glance at this world full of color, and life. Tao grabbed my shoulders and flipped my body around, exposing my eyes to the rest of the world. Fields of wheat, corn and other foods lay in a valley below us. The land dipped and rose in the most interesting of ways. With each passing moment however, the world around me became less and less orange. Before I knew it, the sun had left and we were once more surrounded by the familiar darkness of our world below. Though this was much different. A white glow came from overhead.

"Look at the moon tonight, Sun. It's as round as I've ever seen it." And indeed it was. 

"Tao. The stars!" It wasn't until then that I noticed how big the smile on my face had become. These stars that I've always wished to see, they were right here in the real sky! Not some fake substitute that had lit up the ceiling in my room for so long. No longer knowing what to do, I pulled Tao into a tight hug. I had never loved him so much. This what I was missing in my life. This fantastic new world. Before I realized what was happening, Tao arched his neck down and kissed me. My best friend. It was sweet for the time it lasted. An innocent kiss brought on from true bliss. And I kissed him back. And I don't regret it. 

"Well, well, well." A new voice sounded in my ears. I pulled away from my kiss with Tao in fear that we were caught by an Officer. Instead of a man in white, however, I saw a boy about our age. Slightly taller and lankier than Tao, with dark brown hair and large brown eyes. "I see you've finally brought your girl here, huh Zitao?"