tomorrow, today

one: collision

jinyoung decides it all started the exact moment they met.

the moon was full, the sky not void of stars. it was the night when the evening breeze was barely a whisper, and he was all alone.

then again, jinyoung is always alone.

from dawn, when he goes forth to the heavens to shine light upon the undeserving and ungrateful, to dusk, when he retires from his duties, wandering on his own; he has always been by himself.

which was probably why he almost set fire to the whole forest by accident when he heard a voice.

"who are you?"

it was barely a whisper, but having been used to the silence-- or rather, to the familiarity of what he usually does hear-- he quickly turns around to search for the one who asks.

and jinyoung eventually finds what he was looking for when he spots ashen-gray eyes staring back at him from behind some bushes.

it blinks once.

twice.

jinyoung raises an eyebrow. surely they don't plan on watching him wade at the river, especially now that he has seen them, he thinks.

then again, it doesn't matter what they do anyways. he could always just light them on fire.

if all else fails, use fire.

but before he could think of actual plans on how to make them go away, the bushes started to move.

and stepping out of the foliage, was the intruder.

he-- or whatever they were (jinyoung would not jump to conclusions)-- did it kind of awkwardly though, and jinyoung assumes this was because he was embarassed to be caught staring.

"i didn't-- mean to stare."

jinyoung's eyebrows furrows. can this creature read minds? he certainly did not consider that instance. (he would then find out that the visitor, in fact, could not read minds. it was a mere coincidence.)

at first glance, the intruder seemed quite delicate. delicate? jinyoung can't decide. he then thinks there may be no word to sufficiently describe the creature.

well, maybe apart from the fact that he could clearly say he had wings. and that it was a kind that weren't made of feathers.

"i could leave, if you want to," the person-- how ever should he adress him?-- speaks up, taking jinyoung's silence as unwelcoming.

had he noticed him staring? perhaps he made them uncomfortable, he muses. and the last thing jinyoung wants is to come off as rude.

"you don't have to."

the visitor seemed surprised about his response, but nevertheless remained. jinyoung returned to wading aimlessly back at the river, and he took it as a sign to come closer, settling down on the river bank.

the both of them stayed that way for a while-- jinyoung wading in the river and the winged creature all but observing him-- when the visitor asked a question, feeling obligated to speak up.

"so, why are you here?"

jinyoung almost laughs at his weak attempt to start a converstion.

he wonders why people are always compelled to break the silence at the presence of another being.

he would have ignored the question, however, jinyoung remembers how he stared at him in curiosity earlier, and thought it would only be proper to entertain his question.