Luna had put Sungmin to sleep in his bunk, pulling his hair out of his eyes before kissing him on the nose. He was tired all the time from the nonstop work he had, even though he was only a child.

Sungmin always told Luna it would be worth it at the end of the day if she just tucked him in before he fell asleep. So that’s what she did faithfully every night. Sungmin slept easier that way.

  “Goodnight,” she smiled and got up from the mattress, pulling his blanket over his shoulders before turning the light out and leaving the room.

Onew stood by the door and got off the wall once Luna came out. She slowly closed the door and looked at him with a smile.

  “Is he okay?” he asked, “I mean, he had a really rough day.”

She nodded and they both started walking down the hall, “He’s fine. Just shaken up, but he handled it well.”

Onew was able to smile at the thought of Sungmin being able to handle things himself; he thought he was doing well as a mentor, now. He was supposed to help Sungmin grow up and get used to these things. And now it all paid off.

  “Let’s go to my room,” Onew offered, “Jungmo has night duty.”

Luna easily agreed as they travelled to Onew’s room. She couldn’t be more than glad they decided not to give her night duty, again—it was nightmares. By night, the creatures settle sometimes and no one comes into the infirmary. The infirmary was a scary place when so empty—like it was turning into one of those horror films that Luna always stands by a wall or in a corner to make sure no one’s coming to get her.

Onew opened his door for Luna and they had both entered into the room that looked the same as any other. She sat on the dirty floor in front of the bed and he followed next to her, both of them looking out the barred window of a clear night.

  “Do you think we’ll ever make it out?” Luna asked, clasping her hands together.

Onew looked at her, “Of course. As long as we plan it, we’ll get out. Positive.”

Luna laid her head on the mattress and turned to Onew, “It’s been a long time away from the real world, especially for you,” she pointed out, “. . . Do you think a lot changed?”

  “Most likely,” Onew sighed and turned to her, “The world stops for no one. But we’ll get used to it, I promise.”

The two sat there and continued talking about how they were going to get out. For months they talked about what they were going to do, but they still had no idea how they were going to do it. It may take another year to even come up with a decent plan that would have a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding.

The two soon grew quiet at they looked out the window again. The bars on the windows made them feel trapped more than usual.

  “I feel like them, you know?” Luna spoke in a hush, “Treated like we’re nothing and only good for certain things. We’re prisoners, too. We didn’t even get a chance to fight for ourselves. . .”

Onew didn’t know if it was right, but he took Luna’s hand blindly, never looking away from the window, “We’re still human, Luna.”

Luna looked down at their hands, a feint blush across her face and held his hand back. It was weird—this was something an average person did, but yet this was much more important and uncommon with the way they lived. She liked it, but she still felt like she wasn’t even in the human race anymore.

  “Things that would be so small to us are so much greater here,” she said quietly, looking away from Onew, “It’s so sad and so wrong. I still don’t feel like I belong anywhere.”

Onew finally looked at her, watching as she couldn’t bear to look at anything as if she were ashamed. Onew knew this feeling; the shame of allowing themselves be forced into this solitude as if they were able to change it.

Luna sniffed and wiped her nose, looking at the door, “And Sungmin will never know. He’s so young, Onew, he knows nothing but the ways of the prison. He’s so easily influenced, how am I supposed to stop him if he feels like this life is right? If we escape a long time from now, he wouldn’t be able to adjust to the new world. He’ll be hysterical and possibly just jump off a building or come back here. I don’t want to dictate his life, but I don’t want him to end up like the creature-Nazis here. . .”

Onew stared at her for a long moment before standing up, trying to pull her with him. She gave him a look before sighing and getting up, but Onew made her sit down on the bunk.

  “What are you doing?” she leaned her face on to her hand, a finger wiping her eye.

Onew felt nervous and really dumb, but he stood in front of her and got on one knee, still holding her hand, “Luna, I promise you that Sungmin is never going to end up like the scum in here. Your brother is the brightest kid out of all of them and refuses to conform to the ways in these borders, that’s why I told him acting the part is key. Luna, Sungmin tells me all the time how he thinks all of this is wrong no matter how vicious the creatures may be. He tells me he wants to get you out of here, that’s why he works so hard so he can do something useful in the future.

  “Seeing you like this . . . honestly, Luna, it breaks me,” he confessed, rubbing his face, “Questioning your own humanity? I’ve been there too, and it’s the worst, I know. But you of all people just can’t feel this way. I can’t let you. I’ll do my goddamn best to make you feel at least a little more like yourself before you came here. Luna, you’re the main reason . . .” Onew breathed and covered his face, “. . . You’re the main reason I’ve been putting up with this place since the last three years you’ve been here. Every bit of you reminds me of home—a better one, as you should know. You mean as much to me as my own life and it’s the only thing keeping me up at this point. If I can’t get out of here, then fine, as long as you and Sungmin are there. I’ve always hated it here, but you always make the day better.

  “Please don’t cry,” he begged as he watched her, “Please, I hate it. I hate it when I can’t make it better.”

Luna covered her face with her hand and cried hard. She was torn when it came to Onew. She wished she never came here but then again she was glad she had this chance to even know him—for him to even care about her no matter how emotional, angry, or ignorant she was towards him.

It was true every day got better when he was there and it made her feel so safe despite she never was.

Luna didn’t know what she was doing at first, but after she wiped her face, she held on to Onew’s shoulder and gave both of them the biggest shocks of their lives.

It was a light press of her lips to his and Luna felt she could settle down in a second. She felt even safer. Even more cared for.

Not rejected.

Onew had no idea what he was doing, but he kissed her back, his other hand pressed to her neck as he pushed closer.

It was quiet and sweet—yet really wet and really gross. It was an awkward feeling, but the both of them pressed for more until Onew was the one that pulled away.

  “Do you have any idea how long I’ve . . .” Onew looked away, the blush so clear even in the dark.

  “Feels like forever,” she slowly pulled away and pulled a hand through her hair, looking out the window.

Onew cleared his throat and looked at her, “You . . . want to stay in my room tonight?”

Luna smiled a laughed awkwardly, holding on to his hand a little tighter and nodding her head as she pulled him from his position and let him sit on the bed next to her.

----Note~----

Hey guys.

An actual chapter should be up by tomorrow instead of tonight; this week kicked my booty so I had no time to write, AGAIN.

But I promise I'll get it up tomorrow, so have this for a compromise!

Byeeee!

~FlaMinhoe