Noctura

seventy five

jinwoo

ONE YEAR LATER

I SIT at a table in a restaurant. I'm sitting next to Minho, but our reservation was for five people. We're just waiting for the other three now.

We don't have to wait long, though.

Yoon, Teagan, and Seunghoon move through the door of the restaurant. I wave to them and they move over toward Minho and I.

Yoon sits next to me, then Teagan, then Seunghoon, next to Minho.

"Welcome!" Minho says. "Glad you all could make it."

"Nephi okay?" I ask Yoon.

He nods. "Yeah. He's back at his house, with his adoptive parents. I told you guys about them, right? They love him so much. I'm just glad he has a home now."

"We've heard the story," Teagan says. "But it's very sweet. Never hurts to hear it again."

We all smile at each other.

I'm glad that we're able to be friends now. It's not strange that I'm sitting at a table with Minho and Yoon, but I never would have even dreamed of Seunghoon and Teagan sitting with us.

But we're able to sit together now. And we're able to live together, without wanting the other dead.

The war ended only three months ago. It was a lot of fighting, because lots of Noctura gang members didn't want to give up the fight. But eventually, most Nocturas jumped on the bandwagon of eating the fixed-up plant life essence. And the rest were defeated by the AAN and the Alliance.

There's no AAN now, though. There's only an Alliance. An organization founded by Kang Seungyoon that keeps peace throughout Kraephis. There are still some humans that want Nocturas dead or Nocturas that still want to eat life essence from a human, so that's what the Alliance is there for.

Kaila left, just after the war ended. She fought alongside us the entire time, but once the war was over, she said she needed to leave. I'm not sure where she went, and I was a little sad that she left since she was just like me.

I thought maybe she could teach me a thing or two. She didn't lose her memory, but I did. And I haven't gotten any memories back.

I don't think I mind very much, though.

Looking around at the table full of my friends, some new and some old, I don't know if I would ask for any other life at this point.

Everyone is smiling at each other. Teagan is making a joke and everyone is laughing with her. Seunghoon's hand is on top of Teagan's lovingly. Minho and Seunghoon are smiling at each other like brothers.

Right now, everything is perfect.

There are still many gaps to bridge. There are still lots of things Kraephis needs to get used to. We have a long way from complete peace between humans and Nocturas, but I'm glad we are finally going in the right direction.

And it's thanks to Yoon.

But it's thanks to Minho, and Teagan, and Seunghoon, and me, too.

We all five had a huge part in creating the more peaceful Kraephis that we live in now.

So, all I can do now is smile at my friends sitting around me as we drink and order food and talk and laugh.

I'm glad for them. I'm glad for this.

And, despite everything, I'm glad for the life I'm currently living.

I don't think I would ask for anything else.