LIGHT

Chapter Two: THE FALL(THE INEVITABLE AFFECTION)

He woke up slowly, remembering how he’d woken up  six days ago in the forest floor. This was different. He lay prone, face up on some kind of soft surface that reminded him vaguely of cat fur. His hands stroked it, drowning himself in its cool softness. He squirmed uneasily as he felt something heavy bearing down on him.

In his mind, he fancied himself lying down on the cool grass on some highland meadow with a dog lying on top of him. It was a nice picture.

Suddenly, something cold settled on his forehead, shattering the picture he’d imagined. His eyes flew open in surprise, startling the girl kneeling down beside him.

“What the -” He sat up.

“Gah!” She fell back.

They stared at each other for the longest time as if assessing each other, green eyes staring into blue ones. It was Eli who decided to break the awkward spell they were in. “Thank you.”

Luxa stood up and nodded, throwing him the wet towel she’d been cleaning him up with. “Go clean yourself up. You smell vile.”

When he walked out of the quaint little bathroom, a green ball shot out at him like some kind of misplaced projectile. He caught it deftly just before it hit him smack in the nose. It was shiny and compact, but light with some kind of diluted yellow-green color. It was also fragrant, it’s scent wafting through him and making his mouth water. “What is this?” He turned to Luxa, who was holding a similar object in her hand and looking at him as if he’d sprouted a second head or maybe wings(that thought was quite disturbing to him).

“It’s an apple.” Her voice radiated confusion. “Are you mocking me?”

He realized that the apple must have been a very common thing and that he might have sounded slightly condescending. “Serious.”

“You’re supposed to eat it.”

“Eat?”

“Holy shit. Where are you from, the moon?”

“No. please just answer my question.” They stood there on opposite sides of the room, looking like two fighters sizing each other up. Him, green eyes sparkling with curiosity and concentration, in slightly small underpants and a shirt that looked as if it shrunk in the wash, and her, standing in the doorway, her long hair falling in waves around his face, brows furrowed, mouth slightly open as if she was about to say something.

“What are you, like stupid?” Her tone was unbelieving. “Is that like a weekly thing for you?”

“How do you, as you say, eat?” he asked stubbornly.

Luxa groaned. “You know when you bite something, and swallow. You actually have to do it to survive?”

Incensed, Donghae brought the shiny apple to his lips and bit decisively. A burst of cool juice flowed into his mouth and spread in his tongue.  With a little less inhibition, he took a bigger, crunchy bite and smiled. “This is good.”

“Wow. No wonder you looked like a homeless old man. You still do, actually.”

The boy continued munching on his apple as if she’d said nothing. Instead, he turned his attention to the seemingly mountainous pile of books on the coffee table roughly pushed aside, maybe to give way to his unconscious body when he blundered in the night before. It wasn’t out of common sense that he’d ended up at Luxa’s doorstep.