O6 
Being Intangible

People hear but never listen. They only listen if they look. And when they look, not only they just listen, they judge. 

Therefore, it was hard for Hyemi to voice out. But then, she found her own way to do so. 

By creating art. 

‘Do you like me, Taehyung?’

Taehyung looked at her, appalled. What was on his mind, she'd never know but there was one thing for sure, her question struck him. Did he ever liked her even when he was constantly flirting with her the whole day? It was something she felt she needed to know. 

The night sky hovered above them without a single star but a half moon. The gap between them was wide, Hyemi realized, and it was wider than she thought. This caused her heart to squeeze, and she began to regret asking such a ridiculous question to Taehyung. What if his answer wouldn't be as what as she expected? But then again, what should she be expecting? She wasn't even expecting anything. 

She only wanted an answer. 

She wanted truth. 

All this while, they had been talking about her. What about him? The real him. 

Building a relationship, it's not about knowing each other's favorites or date of birth but instead, it's about knowing how they think of the world, to see in their perspective.

Taehyung was taking his time and she couldn't help but feel more nervous. Eventually, he answered, 'I'll tell you once we have our date. ^^' 

Hyemi was utterly disappointed. She touched her forehead with her board and then sat straight to gaze at his smiling self. How innocent he seemed to her. 'That date is never going to happen, Taehyung.' 

How could he not understand? She can't. She can't go out of there. They'll never be together. 

'Don't say that when you have promised me.' He told her. 

There was a knot inside her stomach, tightening to every second she stares at him. 'I said only if you live long and, Taehyung, even if I do set foot out of this place, we are never going to be together.' 

He was feeling more confused than ever. 'What do you mean?' 

She breathed in, trying not to cry. 'I don't want to be with you.' 

That was it. She couldn't help it. She couldn't even tell when will she recover from her state. It was a lie but it was to help her. To save her from hurting him further. She was never going to be free from that place. So he would move on from a stupid promise she made, she needed to say that. 

Eyes widened, gaping at her, she knew her words have hurt him, probably cutting his heart into smaller pieces and he seemed miserable to her eyes. But it was a fair battle as she, too, have destroyed her own boat causing it to sink and have her drowning in the ocean of guilt. 

It was painful for her to see him speechless so she seized the curtains to a close. 

She felt the curtains in her hands. Her tears started to well up as she tightened her grip. 

She walked away from the covered glass wall to her kitchen and sat on a stool behind the island. The tears started to fall and she clasped her face and cried behind her palms. 

That's weird, she thought, eyeing the painting of the sun in her living room as she wrapped her towel around her head. She figured that it does look like the sunset. 

It was now 8 pm and there was no sign of Hyemi wanting to open her curtains to see what Taehyung was doing. She sighed and clutched her bathrobe as she strode, reaching for the sofa. Placing her elbow on the armrest, she supported her chin and stared at her black-screened TV.

It was supposed to be normal for her to feel lonely in her silent domain but how amazing, she thought, that despite without a voice but only a whiteboard and a marker, the whole day felt unlikely alive and noisy — even with the large gap between their homes. 

She closed her eyes, resting her head on the couch. A scene came back to her as she did so; she was standing at the edge of a cliff which was straight above the busy road, her friends were there, looking all doleful and worried as she was holding a gun on her head. “Hyemi, don't do this!” 

They were judging her which was something she hated so much for them to do. She wanted to die and it was none of their business. They don't care about her. They act like they do but they just don't. “Why are you doing this, Hyemi?!”

“Because I know too much! I know too much that it hurts!” That was her answer. She was powerless but she knew what was on their minds. She knew so much about the humankind whom she prefer calling the ‘Real Monsters’. 

“Himchan!” 

Wide-eyed after her short flashback, she clenched her fist, placing it on her chest. 

There was a hole inside her heart that caused her to feel empty. 

She turned to the painting. The orange of the sun and the sea below it does seemed like the sunset. She got up and went closer to touch it. 

Something was missing in it. 

Something similar that was missing in her heart — no, her life. 

Suddenly, she teared. 

Hope. 

Hope was missing. 

Knock. Knock. 

The knocking was so sudden that Hyemi gasped, and automatically, she wiped her wet cheeks. It wasn't coming from the door, she checked, her head peeking. Assuming that her hair have dried, she unwrapped her towel and let her wavy brown hair flow behind her as she searched for the knocking sound. The knocking came from the glass wall, she found out but almost denied it. 

How could that be possible? She questioned as she slowly reached for the curtains. As she moved the curtains to peek, seeing a face, she quickly shrieked in horror. Immediately, she closed the curtains and moved a step backwards.  

Her heart was running as fast as it could and she felt like she could faint but then, she heard a deep man’s voice through the glass. 

“Hyemi! It’s me, Taehyung!”

At this point, she thought she must be dreaming. Heart pounding, she opened the curtains, cautiously. There he was, gaping at her with brows raised, standing on a cleaning scaffold. She was shocked, her words were caught inside . She couldn't believe it. She thought it was definitely a dream. 

Taehyung seemed speechless himself, his eyes never looking away from her face. They both couldn't believe how close they were. 

His chestnut hair which bangs were just cut hours ago, his pink, thin lips parted slightly away from each other and his dark eyes that was seeing her through… He was way more attractive up close. Still staring at each other, Taehyung took the initiative to place his hand on the glass in between and said softly, “I’m sorry for asking you to do things without trying to see things in your perspective.” 

Hyemi clasped her hand on the glass to match his, wishing their hands would touch each other. So close. They were so close. 

“A bird can't just simply free itself even by our command,” he told, laying his forehead on the glass. His voice was nice to her ears; deep and soothing. He told her he likes to sing and she thought he was bluffing but now, hearing his voice, it does suits him.

“One must take the initiative to unlock its cage.”

They were so close yet so far.

gives you hearts <3 

“A bird can't just simply free itself by our command. One must take the initiative to unlock its cage.”

Noice. XDD Jimin's killing me rite now~ ((I have never written a fanfic of him surprisingly despite he is one of my favs))