It was 12:15. Midnight has come. 

"Oh my god!" Irene's jaw dropped and finally knew why V adored this place. This abandoned building had so much more to offer, especially the rooftop. She went closer to stare at Seoul's lights.

From the rooftop, the view was spectacular;  Irene never knew that the city could be this breath-taking at night. The city lights brightened up the darkness and there was no denying that Irene had fallen in love with it. This is so beautiful. "Taehyung! This place is amazing!" She exclaimed as she turned to see a smiling V scratching the back of his neck. He went over to her and gazed at the view below them. "I told you it's cool." He said softly and averted his gaze to her. Besides the wonderful night view of Seoul, he found another beautiful view to stare at; Irene. The way she softens and smiles is just so alluring that no matter how hard he tries to look away, he couldn't. She is so beautiful. 

"Is there something on my face that you can't look away?" V was brought back to reality when he heard Irene spoke. He immediately looked away and said "No, n-nothing. Sorry." Irene chuckled when she heard V stammer. "Anyway, let's eat the pizza." she pulled him with her on his left arm and lead them to a rectangular bench at the middle of the rooftop. V let her drag him to the bench and sat. Irene opened the box and instantly, the aroma of her favorite pizza spread. She immediately grabbed a slice and handed it to V, much to his suprise. "Thanks." She grabbed one for herself and started eating. She made an 'mmm' sound because it was still warm. "Pizza at Shownu hyung's place is the best." V sadid after clearing one slice of pizza. Irene nodded and made a thumbs up to agree with his statement. They continued eating until there was only one slice left. "You can have the last slice." V said to Irene who was still finishing hers. "Uh? Noo...Yewkenhewbeet." She answered with full and V bursted out laughing. "What did you say again?" He and he laughed again. She joined the laughter after swallowing the food inside . "I said, you can have it. I know you want more." She pushed the box that contained the last slice of heaven to V. "Are you sure? You seem to like it a lot." It was true that V wanted to take the last slice but looking at the way Irene ate earlier, she seemed to love pizza more than anyone else he met. "No, please do eat it. I had enough for the night." She persuaded him so easily that V did ate the last slice. Now that the box was empty, Irene took out the two water bottles and gave one to V. They downed the drink without hesitation and easily emptied it. "That was a great meal." V said after finishing his bottle of water. "It sure is." Irene replied.

The two were silent after the meal. It wasn't that they grew awkward all of a sudden; it was just that they had nothing to say to each other at that moment and just focused their attention to the view in front of them. For a moment, everything was peaceful. It was just the two of them on a relatively cold night on a rooftop of an abandoned building with the most amazing view of Seoul just below them. It felt like they escaped reality and found each other on the most unexpected place and their hearts had lead them to something more enchanting. They had no problems to face, no work to do, no people to take care of, no responsibilities to perform, no time to waste, no tears to shed, no hearts to mend, no thoughts to ponder, and no souls to feel lonely for. It was just them and the freedom that embraced them, even for just a night. As they look at the magic happening below them, the corners of their lips twitch upwards and reveal a smile  that was different from all the other smiles they had in their lives; a smile of pure happiness and peace. Never have they imagine to feel such things before, and even though V had been here way too many times, this was the only time when he felt completely relaxed and heaved nothing but tranquility. The world has been cruel to him for the past ten years and nothing seemed to be worth fighting for and this rooftop only served as a hiding place for him. He never thought that there would be a time like this that would completely strip him off of all the things that hurt him. For Irene, she was mostly grateful to be able to witness such sanctuary and feel such freedom. All her teenage life was filled with stress, anguish, guilt, pain, and loneliness that eventually and unfortunately lead her to be as cold as ice. She was thankful not just because she momentarily escaped reality, but because for the longest time, she felt the ice in her heart slowly melt. This was the time she finally let her emotions escape and set them free in order to move on and move forward with life.

"You okay?" V asked. The confident girl wo side-eyed almost everyone in the club earlier and the independent woman who first drove his car was now stripped out of her facade. What he saw was a broken and fragile human that might crumble down if handled in the wrong way. Irene smugly smiled at him and said "I'll be fine." With those words, he instantly knew that her strong aura was just a mask for the world to see. A defense mechanism. He completely understood this because he had a mask himself. The badass playboy who only gets drunk by the 10th glass of vodka. He didn't say anything else and just contemplated about his own thoughts. Just then, Irene spoke...

"They're gone..."

He was surprised to hear this. Who's gone? His attention zeroed on the girl beside him. He was curious. Who's gone Joohyun?

"Mom, Dad, Suji...they're all... they're gone." And with that she broke into sobs. Irene was a mask; she was Joohyun after all. "I'm sorry to hear that, but you're gonna be okay. Everything is gonna be fine, Joohyun-ah." He said as he wiped the tears off her porcelain face. She still looked beautiful with her tear-stained face, but he had not time to think about that and just hugged her. Her sobs turned into a fit of angry tears the moment her face hit his chest. "They... they died because... because of my stupid, stupid dream... I just..." and more tears escaped her face. She clung unto him like she was afraid to lose him. "Shh... go on. Let it all out Joohyun. I'm here. You'll be okay." He continued to comfort her and patted her head as well. He knew this feeling so well. This feeling of guilt. He made up his mind to tell her his story when she calms down. As for Irene, it took her five years to build up her mask of ice and this boy... she hardly knew, was able to get the best of her and her mask just melt. She cried without shame into his chest. She did felt bad about ruining his shirt though. She'll just but him another one next time. Right now, she just had to let it out and let it go.

I'll hold on to this comfort. I'll hold on to this life. I'll hold on to you for this moment.

Those were the words she chanted as her tears slowly went dry and his shirt wet. It took her so long to let go of the pain and the guilt that was her family's death. She knew it wasn't her fault but she can't help but fell guilty of it all. She knew this was the time to finally move on and move forward with life. She just had to believe that everything will be alright. Just like what V told her. She broke off the hug and attempted to wipe off the mascara stains on her face. "It'll look worse if you do that." She heard V. "Here, use this instead of your hands." He offered a handkerchief but she refused. "I already ruined your shirt, you don't want me to ruin that for you. I got this." She tried but V grabbed her hand and gave her the piece of cloth and said "I insist." He gave her a look and she knew she lost. She took his handkerchief and wiped off the stains on her face. What did I ever do to deserve this much care from a stranger?

She turned her back against him whilst brushing the cloth to her face. It was enough that she let him witness a doll who was broken on the inside. She didn't want him to deal with her ruined make-up especially when some of it probably stained his clothes. You are a disaster Joohyun. Get yourself together. After what seemed like the longest time, she finally turned around to meet the curious eyes of the stranger who gave her comfort beyond words. "Are you okay now?" Irene nodded. "I'll wash this for you and I'll but you a new shirt." She said and felt embarrased of the mess she made. "You can keep that. And no, you don't need to buy a new shirt. It's fine. Really." He smiled a bit. "But I ruined a perfectly good shirt and handkerchief. Please, you've already helped me too much. Let me do something in return." She insisted but V only chuckled. "You don't owe me anything. It's alright. It's just a stain. No big deal." Irene had nothing else to say and just did an OK sign. "Thank you so much, really. I am very grateful." There was silence after their short conversation of mascara stains. Now that V saw her in the most broken state, she had to at least tell him why. It wasn't because she was obligated or anything, she just felt like this person can understand her and her feelings. He was able to say such comforting words to her so he must know how it feels to lose someone important in your life. She decided to tell a little bit of her past to relieve her remorse.

"It was a car accident." Irene softly spoke and V turned to his right side were the girl sat. He admits to himself that he was curious of what happened, but he did not expect her to open up so easily. He stayed silent and listened to the girl. "My family was very supportive of my dream as a dancer so they decided to enroll me in this prestigious arts high school." Irene recalled. "A week before school started, the three of them all went out of their way just to accompany me to my new apartment. They were all so happy and excited that their eldest daughter is going to pursue her lifetime dream. After that, they said their goodbyes to me--I never thought that it would meant goodbye forever." V felt shivers run through his spine as he listened to Irene. She, on the other hand, fixated her eyes on the night sky.  She was calmer unlike before; she used to clench her fist so tight that it turns pale white just to control her tears. Maybe because she cried too much that her tears refuse to come out anymore. Maybe V's words echoed through her and knew she will be alright. Maybe she was starting to let the guilt go. Or maybe it was all of them. 

V had the urge to give Irene another hug but decided not to because she might think he's being too touchy. Instead, he placed a hand over hers and held it tight. "It wasn't your fault. They would want you to miss them but not to the point where you blame yourself for everything." He spoke. Irene turned to V then to their hands. She wondered how on earth this person knows exactly what she wanted to hear. Often times, her friends or relatives would say the same things but in a different manner. It didn't really help her but when he was the one saying it, she felt it. Every bit of it. "I know you're wondering how the hell I can relate to you. Believe me, I've been through the same but in a different context." He let go of her hand and stood up from the bench. He took his time as he walked closer to the conrete barricade. “Come the view is a lot better here.” V said and Irene followed him. “You know, I once lost an important person in my life three years ago. It is why I can understand the burden you feel.” Irene’s ears perked up at what he said and immediately focused her attention to him. “She was my second girlfriend…she committed suicide.” V almost choked at his words and had to stop midway. The memory still haunts him like it happened yesterday. It was a horror that he’ll never forget. Irene gasped after hearing this. I never imagined such thing could happen to him. She understood why he didn’t open up the topic while they were in the car because it was an unpleasant event. She stayed silent and listened to V as he continued with his narration. “She was everything I ever wanted in life and promised to marry each other in the future. Sadly, things started to fall apart when my parents decided to marry me off to my ex. I was so mad at them—my dad mostly and that filthy ex-girlfriend. I hated them so much.” Irene could feel the anger from the way he spoke about his past. V had to control himself from doing anything harsh so he took a deep breath and continued. “I came to her place the night after to tell her about it and how I want to elope with her. She was tearing up and said ‘We can’t Taehyung-ah. We’ll figure something else.’ I never knew that something else meant her jumping off her unit.” V’s eyes blurred with tears that wanted to escape. He refused to let them roll unto his cheeks because the moment he does, he will not be able to control it. Why is it still painful? Maybe I haven’t completely moved on. “After her burial, all I did was drink, party, and . Father was very upset and had to cut off my marriage and told me to at least act properly for the sake of the family’s reputation but I didn't listen. I did everything just to get the woman I loved out of my head; even my friends thought I was going insane. I went to different clubs every night in hopes of drinking myself to death. But none of them worked. I cried myself to sleep when I was alone and saw her face in every single girl I laid with. It was no use. I decided to just stop all of those habits and just live my life. She wouldn’t be happy up there if I continue to do bad things.” Irene thought V was strong…strong enough to somehow let his burden go and live accordingly. Although he did not seem to have fully moved on, he was man enough to do something about his old self before it could go worse. She admired his bravery.

Soon enough, V felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso from his back. It was Irene giving him a back hug. She rested the side of her face on his back and tightened her hold on him. V was flustered from the sudden contact making his ears heat up as well as his entire face. “You are amazing Taehyung. You are strong and brave to be able to conquer your old habits. I’m sure she is proud of you from up above.” Irene had no idea where she got those lines, but the feeling was right. V liked the sound of his name all of a sudden when he heard it from her. His eyes were no longer blurry and his arms laced around hers in return. No one ever told him that he was strong or brave and hearing those words from a girl he just met at the most unconventional way was all the more surprising yet meaningful. None of them made a move or spoke anything--the silence was enough to fill the air around them. Just like that, their night passed by as the flickering city lights and constant starlight faded into dawn.