Afterglow | K.TH

Darkness

RIEUL

"I-It's still hard."

Without a word, he slides a new sheet of thick paper onto the easel. This was already the fourth time I'd messed up, but I'd gotten farther than I'd ever been.

"You're doing well."

But I frown a little when he says that.

"No, I'm not." I sigh, squeezing the pencil in frustration. "I thought it was going to be easy after... after, but it's not. It still feels the same."

Taehyung laughs.

"You have no idea how much you improved, Rieul."

He presses the pencil back into my palm, tawny eyes holding mine.

"You couldn't even draw a single line just a few days ago. This is improvement, and you are improving."

I swallow.

"Try again."

Staring hard at the base sketch he'd made for me, I start over. My hands feel a bit calmer now as I draw out the outline, shadowing the edges.

Light.

He'd drawn light.

"W-What do you think?" I exclaim in anticipation as I finally come away with a complete sketch. He brushes his fingertip across the shades.

"Good."

I relax.

"But there's too much shadow." He muses, and I snap my head back up. "The two have to be balanced into light."

My lips slowly dash into a line.

"So I have to do it again?"

"No, not again." He says with a soft smile, kissing me on the cheek. "Just a reference, baby."

Then I blink when he takes me into his chest, pressing me to his body. I protest when he curls up sleepily against the studio table.

"Taehyung, sleep on the bed."

"Yes."

I'm about to nod at him when he lifts me up right out of the chair. When I stare at him in shock, he gives me a hooded gaze.

"You're coming with me, Rieul."

_________________________

I wake up to someone crushing my waist.

Taehyung.

I quickly turn around in his grip, pressing my hand against his chest.
His breaths are wild, and I know that it's a nightmare again.

It's that thing that always hurts him.

"You're okay." I whisper, pushing his dark curls away from his forehead. "You can fight it. I know you can."