O5
Wars Of Faith

Taehyung remembered living a life so different compared to the life he was living now. His mother often told him that as a child, he was very shy and quiet around people but when he grew older and taller, he was influenced by the boys in his high school years. He believed that he matured as he walked outside the bubble of his childhood. He became more confident and uplifting, always on the brighter side. 

Then, he wondered about Hyemi. What was she like in the past? Did she ever stepped outside her bubble? What caused her to be her present self? Perhaps she got bullied? Did she have someone to help her? 

'Oh look. It's almost sunset. Feeling romantic? XD' She stated on her whiteboard. 

Automatically, he turned to see the sun slipping down from the surface, the orangey sky was overwhelming as it changed to a light purple color. As they were at the second highest level, it somehow felt like they were high up in the clouds, enjoying the breathtaking sight and he turned to stare at Hyemi once more. She was also staring at him which was so unexpected for her to do so. This caused Taehyung's heart to skip a beat but somehow, even after a few seconds, his heart was yet to make a sound. He was unsure whether he was still breathing so he took breathers. 

He averted his gaze away from her and, so to disturb himself, he wrote back to her. 'I think I know now why sunsets are romantic.' 

'Why? O.o' 

The sky was now indigo, dark which disrupted his sight as he writes. After a few minutes, the lights automatically flickered on in their apartments which instantly caused Taehyung to see a sudden flash image of his past in his mind.

It was an image of his hometown. He was walking down the streets, passing by stalls that was offering delicious cuisines. Ah, he remembered now; it was a scene of a festival he had went to as a kid. The sun had already set and as the sky darkened to fall into the night, one-by-one, the street lights flickered on, lighting his way through the crowd — it was a scene he could never forget as it was the reason why he have changed. 

His smile faltered, reminiscing it. He rubbed every word he had written on his board and tried to figure something else to say. His mind was a jumble. His thoughts were unclear. The grip on his marker began to loosen. 

'Taehyung? (  < ; •  A•)>' Hyemi was starting to worry. He was taking time longer than usual. He looked up at her, his brows twitched as he was, currently, in pain. 

'Are you okay? ;;' She asked again, her lips tightened against each other. 

'I'm alright. You don't need to worry. ^^' 

She didn't believe him; her eyes pierced through him, seeing his lies behind his faux smile. 

Whilst she was doing this, Taehyung learned something from it. Not about her nor about anything else but about himself. He realized he had been putting up a fake front ever since that day when he first spat a lie. He was a liar, a fake and his whole facade only pained him from within. He never got to be himself since the day he changed. 

Looking at Hyemi whose eyes were filled with concern, he realized something. What really got him excited to make acquaintances with her at the first place? He clenched his fist. Why did he even try flirting with her? Why was he so curious about her? If it was because she's cute, he figured, that would be petty of him. Then, was it love at first sight? Is he in love with her? Could he trust her? 

The sky was completely dark now and Taehyung searched in it for the first star to appear but it was yet to happen. It was somewhat nostalgic for him doing so as it was something he liked to do as a child.

When Hyemi's eyes were fixed on somewhere else, he tried to catch her attention once more by waving at her and he succeeded — she turned to him and moved slightly backwards, lifting her board to cover half of her face. She was hiding from something but not from him, at least. 

She looked at him and put out a pointer to the apartment room next to his. Taehyung might not see it but he could sense that his neighbor living at the stated room was bothering her. Whilst in her eyes, this neighbor was also a young man – in the same age group as Taehyung – and was wiggling his jet brows at her, trying to get her attention. Later afterwards when Hyemi did pay attention, he discarded his attire as though it was a normal action and showed off his muscular biceps and six-packs to her. She averted her gaze away from him, disgusted at his show. 

'Is he doing something inappropriate for your eyes?' Taehyung asked her and she nodded repeatedly to this. 

Her nodding was mistaken for an act of delighted to this abs-exposed newcomer and so the man continued throwing winks at her. He had never expected that the apartment room of the opposite block that have never opened its curtains was actually hiding a treasure behind it. Taehyung understood how his neighbor was feeling right now as he have experienced the same thing last night. He decided to do something, 'Act as though you are pleased with him. :3' 

Since this neighbor was looking at her, she couldn't afford to write anything on her whiteboard as her message is to be sent to only one person and not  for public. So as to respond to his message, she shake her head with brows rose, in doubt. Why the heck should she be pleased? 

'Let's prank him. ;)' 

With that said, Hyemi's face lit up as she loved the idea of pranks.

She smiled and the neighbor noticed this. His level of confidence quickly boosted up and a smirk formed on his pink plump lips. He was too conceited to think she wasn't smiling – impressed – at him. Hyemi was fighting the urge to roll her eyes. 

'Hi, fine man. Do you have a name?' She wrote to him, flapping her eyelashes at him. Eugh, she wanted to puke. 

The corner of his lips rose and he scurried into his room to take out a marker and some papers – which were A4-sized color papers as they were the only type of papers around – and quickly returned to write Hyemi a reply, 'It's Jimin. What's the beautiful lady's name?' 

Hyemi was not as vain as Jimin but she tried to play along, 'Hyemi. ^^ Nice abs.' 

'I can give them to you if you want.' He winked flirtatiously and as much as how Hyemi was disgusted to his point, she was purely blushing as her heart was pounding fast to his action. 

Taehyung could see it from her face that she was slightly roused to Jimin whose handsome face he have met before since they live next to each other. There was a pang on his heart while watching this. His teeth gritted against each other. 

'For free?' She inquired and glanced at Taehyung, her cheeks flushed. How cute, Taehyung thought to himself, his body was getting warm. But if only she was blushing because of him, he talked to himself. 

'Only if I can come by to your place. ;)' Jimin answered her. 

'Oh, what would you do if you do come here?' 

He grinned. 'First of all, I'd kiss your hands. Then, I'd your hair followed by your body. What I'd do after that is a secret.' 

Whoa, that was too forward of him. 'Ah, kissing my hands, then, my hair, then, my body...?' She wrote, repeating his words.

'Perhaps you'd like a kiss on the lips instead of on your hands?' 

Suddenly, the doorbell to Jimin's apartment rang and with a groan, he got up to see who it was through the monitor. He didn't see anyone so he turned back. 

But before he could reach the center of his living room, the doorbell rang once again. "Is this some kind of prank?!" 

He opened the door despite the monitor showed that there was no one. He looked around the hallway and saw nobody. Then, he noticed that there was a note sticking on the wall facing him. 

The handwriting was messy but its' message was clear. 

'Hey, fine man. Why not my hair now?'

Horrified at how familiar it seemed, Jimin was frozen. He glanced what was sticking right behind the paper — it was a lock of hair being taped. Shaken, he threw the note onto the ground and looked around him a few times. No one? It would be impossible if it was from Hyemi who didn't even move an inch from her place, from his eyes! 

"It's just a prank," he told himself and walked, cautiously, into his apartment. Picking up his composure, he returned to talk with Hyemi. 

But she wasn't there except for her whiteboard. On her whiteboard, it said, "A kiss on the lips it is." 

His body trembled and worsened when there was the sound of knocking on the door to his apartment. He didn't even want to open it but instead he ran after carelessly closing the curtains and locked himself in his room, hiding under his cover, petrified. Surely, he wouldn't flirt with anyone randomly ever again. 

Coming into Taehyung's apartment was Taehyung himself and he bursted laughing as he met eyes with Hyemi who've returned from hiding. She chortled along until her stomach hurt. 

‘That was fun! Poor guy... Oh no, I feel bad for him now.’ She said.

‘Don't be. He always bother me with his music booming next door.’ 

She tittered. ‘You overdid it. You cut your bangs for a silly, little prank!’ 

He touched his bare forehead, and smirked, ‘How about you? Did you actually blushed for him?’ 

There was something stirring inside him as he replayed the scene back in his mind, and he hated it as it was only paining him. There was chaos; a mix of rage that wished for war, neglecting the peace he built using lies. Yes, his life is filled with lies that it became a lie itself.

A lie is a mask that people used to obtain tranquility. 

When you can't even tell whether your feelings are real or not, that is when your life has become a lie itself.

Taehyung could not tell whether he has actual feelings for Hyemi and that concerned him. 

Hyemi stared at him for a while and shook. 

‘Do you like me, Taehyung?’ 

Yayy!! Since my exams are over and I have like 3-4 months of holiday, I can write longer chapters so yipee! Thanks to those who subscribed and upvoted — it means a lot to me. 
There are no questions for this chapter except for Hyemi's XDD

Under his covers, Jimin voiced out a chant to protect him from evil spirits. Suddenly, his phone rung but he didn't even think of trying to get it, afraid that on the line was actually a ghost. In the end, he passed out of cold. 

sorry ChimChim