1994.

34. NIGHTTIME MENACE

NIGHTTIME
MENACE

                              HER THUMB BRUSHED a stray hair of his away from his forehead, a frown laced onto his tanned face even whilst sleeping the pearl moon away. she sighed to herself when the frown deepened and his hand gripped the quilt tighter, it being clear as day that those night terrors were starting to make their return known. slipping out from under the warmth, she noticed a pout had managed to make her feel even more guilty by placing itself on her lover's cracked lips; she shook her head, facing away from him as she sat at the edge of the bed, elbows pinned on shaking knees and hands clasped.

she couldn't help but stare at the chipped blue nail polish on her nails, trying to find a distraction from harsh habits and her baby asleep behind her. raesun felt herself wanting to cry as her mind filled with memories in soft filters and billie holiday playing in the background; the blackest days had finally come to block out the sunbathed beauty.

why was it such a deep hard search just to find love? the true love that will save you from criminals of the heart and the monsters of the dark?

raesun groaned just as someone knocked on the door, lifting from the bed with subtle reluctance. she pulled on the large t–shirt she was wearing (the only garment she was wearing) so it made it seem that she was at least half decent, taking a deep breath before opening the door. there taehyung stood, a beret on his head of silver and the top few buttons of his shirt undone.

it was hard to deny that he was in fact quite handsome.

"me, hoseok, johnny and a few others are going out for a drink, i was uh... wondering if you two were coming?" taehyung said whilst scratching at the nape of his neck, clearly shy at the sight of the girl before him.

yet, that very girl stared right at him. her arms found themselves crossed over a brittle chest, a brow unconsciously raising, and some sort of arrogance taking over her small form. she didn't say anything, but the bashful taehyung did: "take that as a no?"

with a roll of her eyes, raesun finally spoke, "what are you trying to achieve here? you think a blast in the past will fix everything you've done?" immediately she cursed those words — she knew that sentence applied exactly to her lover: taehyung would pick up on that.

well, usually he would. apparently he had decided to let it slide, only sighing and mumbling through his blush, "it doesn't have to be so... awkward a–and cruel between us."

quietly, raesun laughed, "it totally does. i can't even look at you without wanting to punch the stupidity out of your cocky mouth."

a stuffy silence took place for a split second, making it hard to believe that they were so close to being friends at one point in time. taehyung let out a heavy breath, "did you tell him about it?"

"no," raesun's eyes flickered to the carpet of hoseok's landing, "and i don't think i will either."

of course the boy chuckled at the news, a glint of feigned surprise to his eyes, "and to think you two were honest with each other," he shook his head at her, not missing the irritation from the truth on her sickly–sweet face, "you should tell him. it'd be best for you."

"it's almost as if you want to die," she laughed to herself — he wasn't getting it at all.

taehyung didn't understand: jeongguk would never take it lightly. he adored raesun, but knowing she kissed one of the people he hated most would set him off, a disaster just waiting to happen.

"i don't know about you, but... it doesn't settle right with me knowing what we did toge—"

"shut the fuck up," raesun hissed, "honestly just shut up!" looking over her shoulder at jeongguk, she could see he was still snoozing the night away (not so peacefully but as well as he could manage). a sigh of relief shook her bones when she turned back around, meeting taehyung's confused eyes, "if he finds out, we're both dead. get that?"

clearly he was upset, for what reason raesun didn't care, but she felt herself almost softening at the sight of him appearing so defeated. with a nod, he responded, "i just... please can we talk this out properly some time soon?"

what there was to actually talk about was unknown to her; with her fingers pinching the skin between her brows out of annoyance, she sighed, "yeah okay, whatever. just keep your mouth shut about it until then alright?"

taehyung nodded a little too happily at that, "i will. thank you. have a good night buttercup."

raesun scowled at that, only muttering a quiet goodbye before closing the door as silently as she could manage. god is he annoying, she cursed mentally, turning up in the middle of the night? knowing jeongguk is here with me? such a stupid move.

sighing again, she climbed into bed and immediately basked in her lover's warmth, finding that her arms had automatically wrapped around his narrow waist: of course he woke up at that. "you alright?" he mumbled tiredly.

raesun placed a small kiss on his back, right upon the butterfly tattoo below the base of his neck, "yeah all's good. sorry for waking you up."

little did he know, she was sorry for a whole lot more too: the mere thought of it all made her cringe and thank the heavens that he couldn't see her guilt–ridden face.

he shifted in his place so his head was snuggled into her chest, leaving her nibbling at the inside of her cheek to silence the shame slapped upon her features. his mumble was barely heard, muffled by her clothing, "it's fine. let's just sleep."

but it's not fine, she thinks as he dozes off again.

— 雨 —

it's been a while but here we are folks! just over 1K words!

hope this was okay, it is a bit of a filler i know but come on its been over a month i'm sure we'll all take what we can get.

i might be able to make a more consistent update schedule some time soon, but work's been kinda taking over my life (as well as just life itself), so this book is kinda just gonna be irregularly updated. i know you all understand so i have no worries there.

anyway, i hope you enjoyed this
i love you all!!

starr.