Hand travelling on the ruffled surface, Taehyung fluttered his eyes open in confusion at the absence of heat on it. His eyes rounded when he saw no sight of Ji Yeon. Without wasting a second, he looked through the place and the bathroom but luck wasn’t on his side. He then pranced towards the door, not surprised to find the corridor empty and dim as it was past midnight.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Went his feet on the floor, disturbing his thoughts.

He started to hyperventilate at the possibilities, as he might be too late and she would be dead as a doornail at the moment. He grabbed his head in attempt to keep his composure, inhaling deep breaths.

Ok, ok, he told himself, swallowing down his saliva. Let’s not panic and find her.

Trudging pass the stairway, he looked up as he heard the loud slamming of a door from upstairs.

Taehyung walked out into the rooftop. A gust of wind hit his face when he saw a ghostly figure at the edge of the rooftop, staring at something in daze. He felt at ease when he saw that she was still in one piece. But his smile was replaced by a panicked look, as he got closer to her.

“Ji Yeon!” Taehyung rushed forward.

She scrunched up her eyebrows, waking up from her trance. When she saw Taehyung running towards her, she climbed through the railing, holding a hand out with a rage expression. “Stop! Don’t you dare come any closer!” Ji Yeon ordered.

Deciding to comply her orders, Taehyung slowed down. They locked their gazes on each other before Ji Yeon glanced cautiously at the ground. He budged forward in instinct when he heard the scuffle of her feet.

“Are you dumb or just plain dumba**?” Ji Yeon shouted, not turning towards him. “Can’t you see that I don’t want to live anymore? It’s my choice, and you can’t do anything to stop me!”

“Listen to me,” Taehyung tried to say soothingly. “You don’t want to die. You just want the pain to stop.”

Ji Yeon didn’t answer back, watching the deserted street below her. Ji Yeon wasn’t afraid of dying. As a matter of fact, she was sure she would go to hell. She committed an unforgivable sin and she would pay for it. She could almost hear her mother’s mocking tone as she taunted her in her mind.

“Didn’t I tell you before? It’s not me who will haunt you but your mistakes will.”

As she was lost in her reverie, Taehyung took the chance to walk closer to her. Ji Yeon felt his presence behind her, and she turned around and glared at him, saying,  “I said to back off, didn’t I?”

“I won’t,” Taehyung said firmly. “ I won’t leave my friend alone to die.”

“Don’t say that!” Ji Yeon snarled.

“But I mean it!” Taehyung said, reaching out for her hand. “Your father and sister left you at the mercy of your mother for nine years. But I’m here! And I promise that I won’t leave you. If you just give me the chance.”

Ji Yeon abruptly whirled around, making he jumped. Tears streamed from her eyes as she glowered at him. This was the first time for the boy to see her cry but he could see the genuine feelings behind her eyes, where she usually masked with anger or hollow.

“Do you know what happened to my mother?” Ji Yeon uttered out with smirk. “I killed her.”

“What?” Taehyung’s eyes rounded in shock.

“I endured through the beating and the physical abuse for a long time.” Ji Yeon snickered in amusement. “But that night, do you know what she did to me? That sold me off to someone! For the sake of her drugs! I couldn’t take it anymore. I tried to stop myself! But what can I do when my life was nothing but hell because of her? I had to do it. I had to.”  

Taehyung stayed silent, not knowing what to say or do. He was dumbfounded of her confession. Never would he have thought one of his friends could be a killer.

“After ten years, the son of b****es have the nerves to come and claim me as a family! Where were they when I needed them? Why they acted like they care when they didn’t? Simple. It’s because they don’t have time for a brat. To make it worse, I was betrayed by the psychiatrist who supposed to treat me as he turned out to be the very man I loathe. Have there been not enough people betrayed me? And you still ask me to give you a chance?”

Taehyung didn’t reply, still keeping his eyes on the ground. Ji Yeon sniffed at that, saying, “That’s what I thought.”

Ji Yeon was about to let go of her grips on the railing, arching her body forward when she felt a tug on her right wrist, preventing her from falling further. “Taehyung, let go,” Ji Yeon said sternly as she clawed his hand.

“I know.” Taehyung muttered with his eyes glued to the ground. “I know I may not be able to understand you for what you have been through nor can I say that you should trust me. But I won’t let you go that easily because I care for you and—Taehyung hesitated.

“What?” Ji Yeon frowned.

“You’re important to me.”

Taehyung looked up from his phone screen after checking his schedule. He should be going soon, and he had already told his manager to not bother picking him up since the company wasn’t that far from where he was.

His eyes then diverted back at the snoozing girl. Another thing he knew about Min Ji Yeon was that she fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed. He chuckled lightly in thought. It was both weird and charming.

He sighed as he remembered his words from yesterday. It was an indirect confession but thankfully she didn’t act weirdly to it. You know, where girls tended to get embarrassed and avoided the guilty one. Ji Yeon, however, had cried in a calming way and allowed him to pull her back to safety.

Did he like her that way? Like romantically? He wasn’t sure himself. If he liked someone, shouldn’t he be attracted to her like a butterfly to a flower? But he knew that the words had slipped through his tongue, as if it had come from his heart.

Unconsciously, he lowered his head. His hand weighted the mattress down as he placed it beside Ji Yeon’s head. He frowned at his action but didn’t make an effort to stop as he slowly leaned down, closing his eyes.

At the slightest movement from her, he widened his eyes as he pulled back, waiting for a slap from her when she moved to her side, face-facing him and mumbling some incoherent words.

Yup, he couldn’t deny that he was smitten with her.

Ji Yeon woke up with a balloon in her hands. Sitting up, she stretched her stiff back as she yawned exaggeratedly. The sunlight made her eyes squint as she focused on the silhouette beside her bed. Jerking back, she let out a curse when she realized it was Kim Hyung Soo, sleeping soundlessly on the chair.

She was about to throw the nearest object at him but stopped as she stared in confusion at the balloon in her hand. There were illegible scribbles on the sides of it. She frowned in concentration, trying to decipher the writing.

Sorry for leaving without notice and I’ll come by as soon as I finish with everything. Mr. Kim looked terrible. Possibly guilt or something else? — Taetae