Manhunt, the game of nighttime hide-and-seek. It's like a group tag: whoever's "it" finds and tags another player, and that player joins "it's" side and so on until there's nobody left.

Chosen as "it," I set out to find people under dim lighting of the moon and stars. I've always had this fear of the darkness. Not knowing what hides within shadows gives me a sense of unfamiliarity and dread, something that I never quite got over.

But no, not today. I need to win.

With a competitive drive, I shoved my fears away. As more hideout spots were discovered, more players joined my side. My forces became stronger; with every additional member, we found two more. An hour later, three people remained in hiding.

After desperately climbing through bushes and walking through perimeters, I gave up. I lay down on a slope and mindlessly stared above.

My friend joined me later and commented, "Lovely stars, aren't they?"

I muttered something about light pollution, but she made me look again. The stars, in fact, were fascinating. My mouth opened a bit, and I gazed at them with wonder.

We laid there in comfortable silence, and a string of light caught my eye, gone before I could even process it.

"Did you see that?"

Everything was so surreal, and I was disappointed for not noticing this natural beauty before.

"Has it always been like this?"

She nodded.

Oh.

And with that, I heard incoming footsteps. I saw people still searching for the remaining players. With a newfound determination, I hurried along. Fifteen minutes later, we were down to one person.

We searched high and low, but no one could find him. We used our phones to track him, but he was out of sight. I went back to his location multiple times, but there was no luck.

Then, I heard a sneeze piercing the silence from above. Startled, I jolted back and looked up at a tree. Clever.

I started climbing until I reached the top, and the boy looked at me with amusement, enough to make my heart flutter.

"You found me."

"And now, I've won."

"Took you long enough."

"Only two hours."

"Thank goodness you're here. It's cold, and my allergies are acting up."

"I'm surprised you waited this long."

Then there was silence.

"Perhaps," he said carefully, "I was waiting for you."

That caught me off guard. I looked at him in the eyes. Shining in the midst of darkness, they reminded me of the stars above. Oh, how they shine for the world through unfamiliar times.

Could it be? The boy that I was afraid to admit my feelings for? The boy that came straight out of my childhood fantasies?

The darkness, perhaps, wasn't that bad. It does have its wonders, and it compelled me to do something I would've never imagined.

I leaned forward and placed my lips on his.

Perhaps, we could be beautiful.