The boy's question etched a line through the silence of the night. Instead of answering, the girl slowly lifted her head toward the sky.
The full moonlight rested upon her face, clearly revealing a mischievous smile hidden in the corners of her eyes. She blinked for a moment and then leaned her entire body back toward the boy.
As she bent down, the shadows of the darkness embraced her face once again. Her features and contours became nothing more than a play of blurry shadows, but even in that darkness, there was one thing that refused to be extinguished.
The boy's eyes.
Even in the cold moonlight, those eyes were searing like a blazing sun. Dark shadows flickered across his face, but the golden brilliance burning within his pupils pierced through the silence of the night.
The girl reached out toward that face, and the boy, without blinking, watched her every move with those sun-like eyes.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning seemed to strike the girl's fingers. Before the boy could react, both her hands lunged forward and firmly grabbed his ears.
"Why are you lying here in such darkness?" she asked, tugging at his ears, her voice a blend of laughter and inquiry.
Not a single crease of worry appeared on the boy's face. He calmly raised his hand and caught her wrists in his grip. With quiet strength, he moved those hands away from his face. The girl offered no resistance and pulled her other hand back as well. With a deliberate motion, the boy sat upright on the high ledge of the wall.
The boy closed those sun-like eyes of his. A deep, heavy breath passed through his chest, as if he were trying to calm some storm within. After a few moments of silence, his lashes lifted slowly again, but this time they held a lightning-quick intensity.
Before the girl could pull away, the boy's hands sliced through the air, gripping both her ears firmly. He tugged them slightly upward, his face now clearly reflecting a mix of irritation and a crooked sense of mischief.
"I asked..." he repeated, keeping his voice low yet heavy, "what are you doing here?"
The girl's face filled with a blend of pain and surprise. She made a futile attempt to pry his hands away with her own and whimpered, "Let go of my ears, Len... Ugh, it hurts!"
The mischief in Len's eyes deepened further. He didn't loosen his grip but continued to watch her with those piercing eyes. The girl's voice grew even more strained with pain, "It really hurts, please let go!"
Len heard her words, and a weary smile drifted across his lips. He slowly pulled his hands back and said in a slightly teasing tone, "I'm already troubled by enough things, and you've come here to trouble me even more?"
Though there was a complaint in his voice, the unspoken connection between them in that cold night was palpable.
The sharpness in Len's eyes began to melt away. There was no longer any hardness in his pupils; instead, an unspoken softness took over. He reached out and stroked the girl's disheveled hair with great tenderness.
"Is Eric awake too?" he asked in a low voice, as if he didn't want to disturb the silence of the night.
The girl shook her head in a 'no'. With a nimble turn of her body, she sat on the edge of the high wall. Both her legs were now dangling in the void, swinging them carelessly in the air like a small child.
"No, Brother hasn't woken up yet," she said, gazing at the moon. "I tried very hard to sleep too, kept my eyes closed and tossed and turned, but sleep was miles away. When I couldn't find rest, I came here looking for you."
A faint trace of acceptance appeared on Len's face. "Alright, then," he said simply.
In the next moment, Len pulled up his legs that were dangling in the air and lay straight back down on that same wall.
But this time, he rested his head in the girl's lap. That mysterious book held in his other hand now rested upon his chest.
The girl didn't say a word; she just reached out and very gently lifted the heavy book from Len's chest. She placed it securely on her other side, as if she didn't want even that burden of paper to remain during Len's rest.
Len closed his eyes, and in that deep silence, his voice echoed one last time.
"There is still much of the night left..."
The milky moonlight fell upon Len's calm face. The girl watched the head resting in her lap with great intensity. Her gaze was fixed on Len's closed lids, behind which that 'burning sun' was now still. Breaking the silence, her low whisper echoed.
"Are you truly feeling sleepy?" There was an unspoken doubt in her tone, as if she knew that something else was brewing behind Len's silence.
At the sound of the question, Len's thick lashes slowly lifted. He looked up at the girl's face with those deep, golden eyes. The girl remained leaned over, a strange hope in her eyes as if she were waiting for his words to emerge. Their gazes remained entangled for a few moments.
Len started to say something, his lips parted, but then with a cold sigh, he turned his neck the other way. He turned his face toward the other side of the girl's lap, his eyes now fixed directly on the stones of the dilapidated building and the distant horizon.
He didn't utter a single word; that silent response made the night air feel even heavier.
The silence was so profound that even the rustle of the wind felt heavy. When no answer came for a long time, the girl leaned in closer to Len, her voice shifting into a silken whisper.
"Was she... fighting with you again?" There was a fine blend of concern and curiosity in her tone.
Len's lashes snapped open. The golden brilliance of his eyes grew even sharper in the darkness of the night. "I don't want to talk about it," he said curtly, his voice carrying a wall that seemed impossible to breach.
"Fine, if you don't want to, we won't talk," the girl said softly. Her hand, which had been stroking Len's hair until now, moved away and slowly slid toward his ears. The tips of her fingers touched his ears with great delicacy and a romantic flair.
Len's body stiffened for a moment. His voice was now graver and firmer than before. "How many times have I told you... stay a little away from those handmaidens. Their company is starting to affect you too."
Len's sternness only fueled the girl's mischief. With a light smile, she peered into his eyes and chirped, "If your female friends can play such pranks with you, well, I actually like you. Why can't I do the same?"
Len had no answer to this. His silence grew even deeper. He took a cold breath and suddenly lifted his head from the girl's lap.
He stood up abruptly and extended his fingers toward her, speaking in a commanding yet calm tone.
"Come on, let's leave now. Midnight has already passed."
The girl looked at him for a moment, then tucking away her mischief, she silently placed her hand in his.