The Night Belongs to the Moon | Taeyong

46 | You Who Came Under the Moon - I

With the first peek of the sun over the horizon, Dal-ae woke up, the gong resounding through the grounds to mark the arrival of the morning just like it did every day, and when the last echoes of the third beat dissipated, she got out of bed, her feet meeting the cold wood of her cottage floor. She drew the drapes open, letting the soft blue of the morning settle itself in the dark recesses of her room before keeping a kettle on the stove that was set near the door to the hall.

Pulling a sweater onto her shoulders, she slid open the frosted glass partition and stepped into the low hanging balcony, flinching slightly at the sudden chill that gripped her. The lantern that she had hung over the ledge last night still burned over the pot of moonflower, which was now curling its petal onto itself, preparing for its sleep.

She changed the oil in the lantern, and leaned over the ledge to peer at the narrow path that led to her cottage from the thick woods that made the outside world. The path was wet with last night's rain and covered in leaves of autumn. She reached out to caress the petals of the moonflower, which had now turned themselves into a crystal bud before walking back inside her room.

The kettle whistled in the silence, though the sound was not jarring. She poured the tea into a cup and let it sit on the desk to cool while she readied herself for the day. By the time she had taken a bath, the tea had gone cold, just like it did every morning, and just like every morning, she put on a fresh kettle while she wore her uniform – a simple black blouse tucked inside a plain black skirt reaching till her calves with a black ribbon in her silver hair and a jacket for the cold. The kettle whistled for the second time and she poured the contents into a thermos which she carried with her.

Outside, the lamps hanging on each pole that made up the pavilion were still on, the gatekeeper slowly making his way through each light to switch them off.

'Good morning, Dal-ae,' he wished her and she greeted the old man back, making her way through the wet stone and out the Staff Housing she lived in.

'Need help, uncle?' she asked, stopping near the last pole but he waved a hand urging her on.

'You'll be late,' he said, waddling over to the next spot, clutching the ladder in his hands. 'I heard there is a function in the school today so the children will be coming early.'

'You know everything,' Dal-ae said, smiling. 'But, it's not a function, they have a have competition today. They had to prepare a diorama of the school grounds.'

The uncle waved a hand. 'Yeah, yeah, same thing. We never had those anyway, it's all functions to me.'

'I'll stop by later,' she called out before stepping out.

'Good morning, Miss Lee,' she heard two teachers call out from the other end of the grounds outside the housing complex.

'Good morning, Mrs. Han, Miss Baek,' she greeted them and walked in a different direction than the other teachers. In the distance, she could hear the soft cacophony of the children walking towards the school building, carrying models of different sizes and versions of the same pavilions, the same cottages, the same two storied buildings with red railings and canopied roofs curved at the edges for the rain, with trees of different shades lining the empty spots.

'Miss Lee!' some of them called out and Dal-ae turned around. 'Miss Lee! Look what I made,' a boy yelled, raising his model above his head. 'My mother painted the trees for me!' another called out, then another and another, all telling their 'Miss Lee' about what they did and how they made their projects before they were shushed back into the line by the older students.

'They are all beautiful!' Dal-ae yelled out. 'Careful, look ahead,' she added, seeing a boy about to bump into the one ahead of him which he almost did but was pulled last minute by a teacher, who smiled shaking her head at the young boys who were craning their necks to wish her a good morning.