THE BLACKOUT

prologue

JUNE KIM

Heat.

Terrible, unbearable, heat. The swelter of the day was enough to set June aflame if he was doused in gasoline. His face felt like his skin was being peeled off just from the standing outside, under the sun.

New York City summers are never "balmy", nor are they tepid. Brutal is a more appropriate adjective. With the close contact of bodies and crammed cars, an average eighty-degree day ends up feeling like an eighty seven-degree day. Today though, June somehow assumed the weather reporting did not pertain to him, as he chose to sport thick khaki pants. Of course, as a sign of gratitude for never paying mind to the weather, nature decided to gift New York City, with none other than a heatwave. June confirms in the confinements of his mind that he tends to care more about how he looks in the clothing he's wearing, then how he feels in them. So all in all, he deserved to suffer through the fierce heatwave.

June was so immersed in his own thoughts about the dreadful weather, he almost didn't notice Elena approaching him. He moves forward, flourishing a wide, dimply grin when their eyes meet.

"Hey you," He greets warmly.

"Hey, so sorry I'm late, my appointment ran later than I expected." She sincerely excuses herself while smoothing out the wrinkles forming over her dress. June watches for a moment, noting the fleshy redness across her nose and eyes just before reaching out to relieve her shoulder of the heavy tote weighing her down.

"It's okay, how's the baby?" He inquires mindfully while lowering his eyes to the small swell of her belly.

"Good, everything's good." She grins tightly.

"Did you wait long for me?" She asks, smoothly bringing the attention elsewhere as they begin walking down the street.

"Nah, honestly I was running a bit late myself. I guess it worked out better this way." June lies straight through his teeth.

The pathetic truth was that June had arrived half an hour before the agreed meeting time with two cups of iced lemonade. The thoughtful gesture was soon met with the unforgiving heat of the day that sweat the drinks out until they were practically water. When approached by a homeless man a little while later, all he could do was sigh and hand over the watered down beverages to the man who asked for spare change.

"But I did get the tickets already." He moves on, pulling the museum tickets out of his back pocket to show her.

"Oh great, and I brought the applications you asked for." she says, pointing to the bag June had taken from her.

Their small talk continues until they're inside the museum and on the roof top cafe; their favorite place to hold meetings. The sun is high and sky glows with blotches of pink. At this level, the slightest breeze can be felt in between the intense beams of sunlight. For June, the height seemed to provoke an unspoken sort of inspiration and create a rush of productivity. Not to mention the skyscrapers are a beautiful sight during this hour, towers glittering under the glare of the hot sun. The sound of plane engines tearing through the sky and blaring car horns in the distance tied everything together for him, this was his happy place.

They settle in, divide the assignments and get started. However, it only takes an hour, and a few servings of pastries for June to crash. There he lay, lifeless, limbs limp in his seat across from Elena.

"You look like a wet noodle." Elena says, glancing up at him while she continued marking through sheets of paper.

"I feel like a dry, shriveled up one..." He remarks.

"I'm sure you do with those long cargo pants. What happened this morning?" She asks, raising an eyebrow at his garment choice.

"I genuinely didn't think It'd be this hot..." He says, hanging his head backwards in defeat. He hears Elena wince at his predicament, but she doesn't say much else.