The two of them sat at the floor of Taehyung’s living room, with their backs resting on the foot of the sofa. The flame from the candle on top of the coffee table and the moonlight from peeking through the veranda were the only things that illuminated the room.

“Do you want coffee?”

“I don’t drink coffee.”

“Me too,” he answered.

Dahyun gave out a snort before asking, “Then why do you have coffee?”

“Just,” Taehyung beamed, “For someone who wants coffee.”

She did not understand if his statement was general or already referring to a specific person, but she was not given any opportunity to dwell on the topic as Taehyung diverted their conversation.

“You’re in a dark room with a guy you barely know,” he uttered before glancing at her, “Shouldn’t you be scared?”

Dahyun hugged her knees closer towards her.

“I’m scared of ghosts, zombies, people who walk without touching the floor, long-haired white ladies who move weirdly, bloody bodies coming out from under the bed,” she answered. Her gaze then met his as she said, “I’m scared of a lot of things, but I’ll never be afraid of my friendly neighbor.”

“Don’t you realize that you fear things that do not exist?” Taehyung asked.

“Well, a world that you would hurt me does not exist too,” Dahyun beamed.

A small smile also crept towards his lips before he whispered, “You talk like you know me too well.”

“I don’t have to know what happened in your whole life to trust you,” she replied.

He observed her features, and despite how barely illuminated the room was, he could see nothing but sincerity in her eyes.

She even grinned as she exclaimed, “Don’t you realize how amazing you are? You just magically appear whenever I need you. Like a superhero.”

“Supertaehyung,” she then mumbled, and he chuckled in reply. She added, “You should really give credit to yourself. You are even good in fighting. How can you do that? Did you learn karate? Judo?”

Silence lingered for a few moments, as Taehyung’s eyes were glued on the small flame of the candle.

“I was bullied for being an orphan,” he whispered, “I’ve been beaten up so many times to the ground that I had to learn how to fight back.”

She gazed at him and his eyes seemed to be lost in a sea of his thoughts.

“Life gave me no choice but to be strong,” he smiled sadly before telling her, “I’m not as awesome as you think I am. Not that super, even.”

He looked at her, expecting to see disappointment in her orbs. Instead, he found the same amount of admiration in her eyes and a genuine smile on her lips.

“You’re super because you’re Taehyung,” she said, “Your worth’s not lessened by the inability of others to see it.”

“Supers don’t feel pain,” he tried to argue.

“No. Supers bear the pain,” she retorted, “So it’s okay to feel broken. That’s part of being human anyway – to experience a range of emotions, even the most excruciating ones.”

Her eyes then travelled to the flickering flame as she sighed.

“We all have cracks. We are all perfectly imperfect,” she whispered, “Don’t beat yourself up too much, because even heroes have weaknesses.”

A comfortable silence lingered between the two – with Taehyung savoring the warmth of the words that Dahyun had given him. It has not even been a year since they met, but Dahyun makes him feel like he is worth every compliment in the dictionary.

“You play piano?” Dahyun spoke, breaking the trance he was in.

“No,” he answered, eyes laying down on the piano sitting at the corner of his room.

“Then why do you have a piano in your unit?”

Taehyung could make out a picture of a girl sitting on the chair in front of the piano, playing a soft music, glancing sideways at him to give him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

He answered, “It’s waiting for someone to come back.”

“For you to keep it even if it takes so much space of your apartment, that person must be really important,” Dahyun exclaimed.

“She is,” Taehyung replied, “Joohyun’s the one who made me believe in love.”

She was left with no words, as she suddenly felt a dull ache in her heart.

You can’t fall for me.

She remembered what he told her, and now, she finally understood the reason behind his statement. When Taehyung shared a piece of his past, Dahyun felt like she was successful in climbing one of his walls, but it didn’t take long for her to be presented with an even bigger one.

Finding that the length of silence might create an uncomfortable atmosphere, she felt the need to speak so she told another random tory.

“We have a piano at home too,” her voice tried to sound cheery, “It was Yoongi oppa who taught me how to play it.”

“You can play it if you want,” Taehyung replied, oblivious of the fact that she was already faking her glee.

Dahyun forced a smile as she said, “Wouldn’t she mind?

“I’m sure she’d let you borrow it for a while,” he said.

He urged her to move forward so she took the opportunity and walked to the piano, sitting in front of it. She played ‘The River Flows in You’ a song that comforted her during times in distress. Her fingers elegantly pressed the keys and she relished the sound it created.

She wanted to drown away the thoughts in her head because her mind kept telling her that the attention, care and even the time that Taehyung was giving her was also borrowed.