After the strange flash disappeared, the night became quiet again.
Veven stood near the window, staring outside for a few seconds. The sky looked completely normal now—dark, calm, and empty.
He slowly frowned.
"…What was that?"
For a moment, he kept looking outside as if the light might appear again. But nothing happened.
Then he shook his head and let out a small, tired laugh.
"Looks like reading too many novels has finally messed up my brain."
A portal in the sky?
Someone falling out of it?
It sounded exactly like the stories he read every night.
"Yeah… that must be it," he muttered.
He closed the window and went back to his bed.
But even after lying down, he couldn't sleep.
He turned to one side… then the other.
The image of that strange light kept appearing in his mind again and again.
After a while, he suddenly sat up in frustration.
"Ah… this is too much."
He rubbed his eyes.
"I can't sleep like this."
Reaching for the small torch on his desk, he turned it on.
"Fine," he murmured quietly. "I'll just check once and clear my confusion."
He slipped on his slippers and quietly stepped out of his apartment.
The hallway outside was silent.
As he started walking down the stairs, the faint echo of his footsteps filled the stairway.
"If that wasn't a dream… then what was that light?" he whispered to himself.
Halfway down the stairs, he suddenly stopped.
A strange thought crossed his mind.
"…Could it be aliens?"
For a moment he stared blankly ahead.
Then he immediately shook his head.
"What am I even saying? Aliens… seriously?"
He sighed.
"Looks like novels are really messing with my brain."
But another thought followed.
"…But what if I really saw something?"
He glanced around the empty building.
"Did only I see it? Didn't anyone else notice that light?"
After thinking for a second, he shrugged slightly.
"Nah… who would wake up this late at night to look outside?"
With that, he continued walking down the stairs.
Veven slowly walked closer, the beam of his small torch trembling slightly in his hand.
His heart was beating faster than usual.
When the light finally fell on the figure lying on the ground, he stopped in his tracks.
"…A girl?"
For a few seconds, he just stared at her.
His mind struggled to understand what he was seeing.
The girl lay on the cold ground, completely unconscious. Her breathing was faint, and small injuries were visible on her arm and shoulder, as if she had fallen from a great height.
Veven felt a chill run down his spine.
"…This doesn't make sense."
He quickly looked around the empty area, his eyes scanning the sky and the nearby buildings.
"…Where did that light go?"
The sky above was calm and dark, as if nothing strange had ever happened.
No glowing circle.
No portal.
Nothing.
He slowly looked back at the girl again.
"This… must be my imagination."
He rubbed his eyes again and shook his head.
"Yeah… that's it. I've been reading too many novels lately."
But when he looked again, the girl was still there.
Unmoving.
Real.
The wind blew softly, moving a few strands of her hair across her face.
Veven's expression became more confused.
"…Then why is she here?"
He carefully stepped closer and crouched beside her.
The strange clothes she was wearing caught his attention immediately. The fabric looked unusual, almost futuristic, with faint glowing patterns running across it.
He had never seen anything like it before.
"…What kind of clothes are these?"
His mind became even more chaotic.
Did she really fall from that light?
The thought sounded ridiculous, yet the scene in front of him refused to disappear.
He checked her pulse carefully.
It was weak, but steady.
"She's alive…"
Veven slowly exhaled.
For a moment, he didn't know what to do.
His eyes moved from the girl to the empty street again.
The night was completely silent.
If someone came outside and saw him standing here with an unconscious girl, things would become very complicated.
He quickly looked around once more to make sure no one was nearby.
The streetlight flickered faintly above them, and the distant sound of wind moving through the buildings was the only thing breaking the silence.
"…Alright."
He spoke softly to himself.
"For now, I'll just help you."
He hesitated for a second before continuing.
"We'll figure everything else out in the morning."
Even as he said those words, his mind still refused to accept what was happening.
He gently lifted her into his arms.
She was lighter than he expected.
As he stood there holding her, his expression was still full of confusion.
"I still don't understand anything," he muttered quietly.
"…What if this is just a dream?"
He glanced down at her unconscious face.
"Yeah… maybe that's it."
A faint, uncertain smile appeared on his lips.
"If I sleep once… maybe everything will be normal again in the morning."
"Yeah… this must be a dream."
Trying to convince himself, Veven carefully walked back toward the apartment building, making sure no one was around to see him.
Step by step, he climbed the quiet stairs while carrying the mysterious girl.
The dim yellow lights of the hallway flickered softly as he passed by.
Finally, he reached his apartment door.
With a deep breath, he unlocked it and stepped inside—bringing the girl from the unknown light into his lonely world.