4 O'CLOCK - K. TAEHYUNG

四

their next encounter wasn't until the end of the week. he was worried about his grades, yet she wasn't. although luna was one of the top students of the class, she was also a last-minute kind of girl.

"what do you want?" she questioned the boy who stood at her locker. he smiled, handing her a lollipop. this time it was coloured green, apple.

"we still have our project to do," taehyung mentioned, as luna unwrapped the candy before putting it in her mouth.

"what project?", she questioned, opening up her locker. it was true, despite how long it had been, luna didn't know what the project was or when it was in for, making her naturally forget about it altogether.

"the presentation for art class, we have to recreate an old painting together, with two different mediums. then we have to present it, saying why we chose the painting and why we chose the mediums", he explained.

"what, when is it in for ?" luna questioned.

"monday morning", he replied. luna began panicking, shoving her things into her locker. art was a subject that luna enjoyed, not that she was talented, but she was calm. it relaxed her. it was her getaway.

"we're going to mine."

"wait, what?!"

***

"he's the kim taehyung?", namjoon questioned luna. the two were sat on the floor in the living room, finding it easier for the two to work on their canvas there than an easel. luna was searching for a painting that they could easily recreate in two days.

"yeah, the one in the same situation as me", luna answered.

"murderer?"

taehyung looked at him in surprise and then at luna. "same situation?", he tilted his head.

"how about starry night?" luna looked up from her laptop. "we can do watercolours with pencils to define and shade some parts." taehyung decided to brush away the subject and instead nodded in agreement.

"let's do it."

and so the two began setting up with newspapers all over, paint pots and brushes next to them and luna's three different watercolour palettes sat in front of them.

"you have a lot of paint", taehyung commented, the two beginning on each side. they decided to half the canvas and do a side each. luna thought that it would be a good idea to show that the same painting with the same medium can have very different interpretations.

"mhm, i've been drawing from a young age." taehyung's eyes widened, catching luna's attention. "what? why do you seem surprised?", she questioned.

"no, it's...it's nothing", he lied, luna seeing right through it.

"just say it", she pushed on, her brush lifting from the canvas as she looked up at him. he was frozen stiff, his eyes on the blank canvas below him.

"is- is it true that you made a painting with their blood?" he questioned. luna was confused for a second before realisation hit her. the grip around her paintbrush tightened as well as her jaw, her gaze falling down to the canvas.

"do you really believe that?", she asked.

"no", he immediately replied. "i also don't believe that you're a murderer and that whatever happened was because you were caught at the wrong time. just like me."

"how bad could yours have been?"

"i watched them be killed before me, their blood everywhere." luna's eyes widened as she looked up. "i was crying when they showed up, but the weapons were around me and their blood was all over me. their only choice was to assume as they had no other leads."

silence enveloped the two as they continued painting, with luna's mind all over the place, she found it difficult to focus. her eyes would glance up every now and then, peeking at taehyung who was fully concentrated on his work.

she contemplated whether she should tell him about her own story. although it was maybe ten times worse than taehyung's, she still felt the need to tell him after he had shared his own story. who knows how much he had suffered after it.

"did they ever find the real killer?", she questioned, finally breaking the silence. taehyung stopped painting and set down his brush.

"no, they never found him. even after i had described him and everything, they didn't believe that there was another killer. they were satisfied with me as the culprit." luna bit her tongue, knowing that cursing out the police would be no help in the current situation.

"do you want him to be found?", she questioned. taehyung was silent for a while, contemplating what she had suggested. honestly, he had never thought of finding the real killer himself. he had relied on the police, yet of course, that showed no result.

he wanted to find the killer. anything to prove that he didn't kill how own family, so he could get rid of his label and bring his family justice instead. determined he looked up at luna, surprising her with his determined eyes.

"i want to find him."