The room was empty when Suzy came in but she heard the rustling of water in his bathroom. Placing the sliced apples she brought on the desk, her eyes then caught sight of the notebook on his bed. She grabbed it and quickly scanned through it, trying to find a page in which he wrote a name.

Brian, Suzy read in her mind before tearing the page.

But as she tore it, another view caught her attention. On the paper was a drawing that triggered her curiosity. She was starting to decipher its meaning, but the sounds of water stopped. She quickly tore the page, and she folded both neatly before putting it in her pocket. Placing the notebook back to the bed, she sighed and composed herself, ready to play innocent. The door of the bathroom then clicked, revealing a fresh and clean Mark. He smiled upon seeing her, but Suzy on the other hand, gulped upon realizing he looked more attractive with his wet hair.

“H-Hi,” her greeting came in a stutter. “Uhmmm. I’ve brought some apples.”

The male in turn just walked towards her, and sat on the bed. The two just stared at each other, and when Mark figured out that she wouldn’t talk anytime soon, he patted the space beside him making it a clear invitation. She smiled at him, before taking the offer.

His lips then curved into a playful smile and which made Suzy ask, “What’s funny?”

He took the notebook and Suzy silently prayed that he wouldn’t notice the torn pages. Luckily for her, he just proceeded on writing,

            The apple skin has exactly the same colour with my hair.

“I’ve been curious about that too. Why red?” she giggled.

            Teenager blues. I thought I’d look good.

Suzy started laughing aloud, and Mark mirrored her. When she heard his laughter, she was awed on how happy he looked. He was comfortable at her up to the point that he had already started cracking jokes, and at that time, Suzy thought that it would be a pleasure to protect that bright aura of his.

“But you do actually look good with that kind of hair,” she had blurted out without thinking. When his cheeks started blushing and she felt her own cheeks heating up, she knew that she had created an awkward atmosphere. Her eyes then quickly scanned the room, looking for something they could talk about instead.

 “Why Seoul?” Suzy asked as her eyes averted to his masterpiece at his wall.

There was a calm smile on his lips before he wrote,

            Seoul is a beautiful place, especially at night.

“Why night-time?” Suzy asked again as she munched on a slice.

            The dangling lights are clear when it’s dark.

“You like seeing the lights?” she questioned further. “Have you ever been in a lantern festival before?”

            No. What is it?

“Thousands of lights dangling in the sky,” Suzy said with excitement written all over her face. “It’s beautifully amazing. Let’s watch it once you’re released.”

. He was smiling- but his eyes were full of sadness. He played the crayon in between his fingers, as if contemplating on what to write. Suzy’s gaze on him softened because she knew that he was about to bring up getting out for everyone’s safety but she also realized that something in Mark was causing him to hesitate.

“Are you still thinking of escaping?” she whispered.

            Yes.

“I promised to keep you safe. Don’t you believe in me?”

He turned towards her, and his eyes momentarily widened, flabbergasted by her words. Suzy too then suddenly realized the weight of what she said, but she stood firm in her ground. There was something in her that stirred not just wanting to keep him safe, but wanting to keep him beside her.

A sad smile played again in his lips.

            I do.

Suzy smiled as she knew that Mark had fully placed his trust now at her.

            But I want you to be safe too.

Jaebum saw Suzy in their living room, staring blankly at the two papers in front of her.

You’re involving yourself too much, he thought.

“Hey,” Jaebum greeted her with a tap on her shoulder.

“Hey,” she greeted back as Jaebum took the seat beside hers. “Could you… speak to me about his case?”

Jaebum sighed before starting, “The case against him is strong because the prosecution has a witness and a video footage. It turns out that their unit has a set-up CCTV at the doorstep, and the last scene captured was Tuan covering it. The prosecution proposes that he was perhaps trying to conceal the crime he was about to do at that time.”

“But then, it means there’s no actual footage of him killing those people, right?” Suzy asked hopefully.

“There’s none,” Jaebum looked at her straight in the eyes. “But as I’ve said, there’s a witness. The witness was a neighbour who upon hearing multiple screams, went to check it out for herself and found Tuan killing the youngest victim. In fear, she ran away and fortunately, the police was on patrol to hear her concern. The police’s  statement says that in a matter of seconds, there was an explosion and the building was already in fire. Tuan was one of the survivors and the witness was the one who pointed out to the police that he was the criminal.”

When Suzy started burying her face in her hands, Jaebum sighed again before asking, “Is that enough to convince you to drop the case?”

“