4 O'CLOCK - K. TAEHYUNG

三

"luna, wake up!", another sleepless night. luna sighed at the sound of her roommate's voice that sounded from the living room. she had already gotten ready half an hour before namjoon had woken up, but stayed shut in her room because of the fatigue her body was drunk in.

"coming!", she weakly called out. she finally stood up out of her bed, slipping her phone into her pocket. she opened the top drawer of her dresser and took out a small bottle. taking only one out, luna consumed the pill with a chug of water.

setting the cup down, she grabbed her bag and headed out of her room, suppressing a yawn as she did so. "what took you so long? we're gonna be late now", namjoon rushed around, getting himself ready whilst munching on a piece of toast.

"sorry", she mumbled, slipping on her shoes. "i'll wait in the car." and she was gone. namjoon stopped in his tracks, his bag wide open on one hand with his lunch in the other, the toast hanging from his mouth and only one shoe present on his foot.

namjoon could always tell the change in luna's mood, what kind of day she'd having and today didn't seem like a great one. ever since the incident, luna had never been the same as before, despite namjon's efforts, she was resilient. fixing her is like trying to completely straighten out a crumpled piece of paper; simply impossible.

shaking off his thoughts, namjoon realised that he was still running late. quickly fixing himself up, he was finally ready and running out through the door.

"you took your time", luna commented as the young boy entered the car. namjoon glanced over at her, noticing how her gaze was fixed outside the window, her head propped up on her hand. he chuckled, nodding his head as he inserted the key and started up the car.

"yeah, i just got a bit distracted", he explained, his eyes focused on the road.

"by what? my bad mood?" namjoon grinned, nodding his head. "there's no need to get distracted over something so useless." his grin turned into a frown, as he shook his head almost immediately.

"you're bad mood is important to me. it helps me understand you better." luna chuckled, yet there was no sign of humour behind it.

"understand me? i push you away as if my life depends on it." namjoon nodded in agreement as luna looked over at him.

"you allow me to see you as a whole person, you are you luna."

***

"i am me?", luna mumbled aloud whilst leaning against the railing of the rooftop. it was banned for students technically, but luna had her ways, although being caught by teachers wasn't really on her agenda, she had no other choice but to hang around up there, otherwise she'd have to face the hushed whispers of other students in the cafeteria.

being on the rooftop meant complete freedom for luna, where she could relax and throw away her mask, even if it was for a few minutes each day.

however, that peace was disturbed immediately as luna scrambled to place her mask on at the sound of the creaking door being pushed open. peering over her shoulder, she glanced at the grey-haired boy who still hadn't noticed her presence as he breathed in the fresh air.

she turned back around, her eyes peering over the school. the view of the students clear as they were obvious to her presence above them.

"so we meet again." taehyung stood next to her, leaning against the railing too. she noticed the change in his attitude and voice, he seemed more confident.

"yeah", she mumbled, her eyes never leaving the sea of students. she was tired, and her state of tranquillity had been ruined by a boy that she was unfortunately partnered with. 

"what's wrong?", he asked. his voice was deep, luna had never realised how deep it was, especially since their last encounter he was more flustered and his voice was raised in pitch. however now that he was calm, he seemed like a whole new person.

"nothing's wrong", luna responded, looking over ay him. he was also looking at the sea of students, before turning to her after noticing her gaze.

"if nothing's wrong, then why are you up here? why aren't with them?", he questioned. luna chuckled, turning away from him.

"i could say the same for you", she pointed out, leaning her head on her palm that was propped up on the railing. "why would the new kid come to the rooftop when it's off limits? you have to be here for a good year before you can break rules."

"is that how things work around here?" taehyung chuckled, pulling something out of his pocket. he handed one to luna, causing her eyes to glance at the offered object only to realise that it was a lollipop.

"thanks." she took the hard candy on a stick,  removing the wrapper before putting it in her mouth. the tase of strawberry filled her taste buds, a frown following afterwards.

"why don't you like it ?" taehyung questioned after noticing the change in her expression, a lollipop in his mouth too.

"i hate strawberry."