13th century

Taehyung kept tugging the end of Jimin's hanbok, his small hands clasping around the cottony texture that wrapped up Jimin into a cozy trance.

"What's the colour of your pupil?"

"Dark brown,"

"What's the colour of your hair?"

"Black,"

"What's the colour of the grass?"

"Green,"

"What's the colour of the sky?" Taehyung asked, sticking his lips out, as his inquisitive eyes wandered above.

Jimin and Taehyung were getting acquainted with one another, while Jungkook went to attend the subject's desperate calls for immediate solutions. Taehyung's yearning to know about the colours of life intrigued Jimin, as he tried his best to explain everything to the young boy.

"The colour of the sky is blue. But sometimes, it's also orange, yellow and grey,"Jimin explained, moving his hands.

"Why's it blue in colour?"the young boy's expectant eyes perked up.

"It's all the play of nature, my boy. Nothing can defy that,"Jimin answered, placing his hand around Taehyung's shoulder.

"But don't you think I defy it?"he posed a question once again.

"Why do you think so, Tae? What makes you think like that?"Jimin was flustered at the query.

"You tell me that nothing defies nature. But I defy it. I can't see the colours of nature,"Taehyung pouted, whimpering sadly.

"The colours are not only something you see, my boy. They are present in you. You don't need eyes to see them. There's a whole galaxy inside you where you can count your colours and make them even more brighter and vibrant," Jimin explained to him, feeling sad for Taehyung who could not experience the colours of life.

"But my dad didn't tell me this... He scolded me for my disability," Taehyung kicked the pebbles painfully.

"What did he tell you? Did he hurt you?" Jimin was concerned.

"No... He did something worse. He locked me in a room and treated me like a monster,"the young boy's memories resurfaced like a ton of bricks and the atmosphere became gloomy.

Jimin's eyes widened in disbelief at the revelation, as he crouched down to meet Taehyung's eye, holding his soft hand in his, "You're an absolute angel and you don't deserve to be treated like a monster. Don't let his thoughts get to you. And you're free to come here whenever you're willing to. Our hands are always open to welcome you."

Taehyung's eyes softened at once, his pout now replaced with a tiny smile of hope.

"I don't want to go back. I want to stay with you forever," Taehyung found solace with Jimin; something he found with no one.

"You can stay here forever too, Tae. But duty calls, doesn't? You have to fulfill your duties and morph your father into a better man. Sometimes, it's not that parents have to teach something to their children. Even the children can teach their parents on what's right and what's wrong," Jimin advised Taehyung like he were his own son.

"But all I can see is darkness when I go back. There's no hope of light for me. I'll stay here with you forever and you teach me to find the colours in me. I don't want to face the darkness again," Taehyung's voice was desperate.

"Don't be afraid of the darkness, my boy. Learn to face it because sometimes, life is nothing but a monochromatic mess. You have to take the brush and paint your life. Only you can define your life. So, don't run from the darkness,"Jimin's eyes were soft, and Taehyung found himself trusting the man whom he met four hours ago.

"But I need a light; a light of hope so I can move forward towards the end of the tunnel and reach my goal," Taehyung retaliated.

"Don't wait for a light in the darkness, be a survivor."

-

1981

The tears shimmered under the dark yet luminous shine of the venomous moon guiding a thousand unheard mysterious adventures. A venture into the memories was enough to resurface the tears of remorse and regret in Jungkook's broken heart and eyes.

It morphed with his unblemished skin, slowly trickling down his cheeks and onto the canvas placed underneath. Crystals of snow adorned the stretch of pastel lands that screened the vicinity, slowly forming an icy layer on the top.

The climate was as cold as his heart, yet as warm as the blankets that were used to protect him from the monsters that lived under his bed.

It was all until he realized that he himself was the monster.

Under the moonlight, shone his eyes, like a light in the darkness that encompassed him. The subtle blowing of the air was like music to his  ears, his life pulling the strings of agony to play the slow beats. His hands were stained with paint, in a dark shade of black that hovered in his mind.

On the canvas underneath him, was a visualization of the heart he wanted to capture along with his. It was colourless, just like the monochromatic mess he was plunged into. Yet, a dark outline of the heart  accentuated the dark desires that were unheard of.

The painting seemed imperfectly perfect, just like the way he wanted it to be. There was a tinge of perplexion lingering in it, and Jungkook could not deny that the contradictions made it even more difficult for him to verbalise the answer behind the deceitful enigmatic maze.

The heart stops beating when the music starts to play,

The commendable music had already begun it's never ending symphonies, making Jungkook's heart beat slower. It was the simultaneous pierce of the black and white piano tiles that kept his blank mind moving on.

Seems like time has stopped, oh that would be my first death I've been always afraid of,

The pendulum of his life was ticking, just like the slow and agonizing pain that shot through his icy heart which defied the laws of gravity and hung mercilessly in the muscles that encompassed it. It would be soon his first death; the death he had anticipated but afraid to look at.

It would rather be a sacrifice for someone.

I die my first death, but what if the moment's right now?

When the right time commenced, everything was inevitable. In a mere snap, he would see his whole world crumble and burn into ashes.

That moment was not yet to come in the present, nor in the future.

He was going to kill that moment.

A slow heartbeat in my ears, bump, bump, bump,

He could feel the trace of heartbeat on his fingertips, resonating through his entire body, devouring every organ which he once considered vulnerable to the society. His heartbeat was choking his mind, into the deathly trance he wished to escape from.

Trying to escape but with no avail, jump, jump, jump

He was leaping forward into the apocalyptic abyss that ruled his empty and aimless gazes, but there was no escape from the contradictions that ran through his mind, trampling their way into the voices in his head.

No tune affects me anymore, weeping a silent cry,

The unverbalized thoughts in his heart remained as the unfamiliar shadow that wilted slowly under the ebullient gaze of Jimin. It was not the embodiment of a smile, but rather a scar that rooted its way to the deepest and darkest desires.

An ocean where daylight never touched yeah, yeah, yeah,

He was a mirage to the world, trapped under the treacherous gazes that ruled the world. Trapped in the chains where the ocean never touched daylight, he stayed hidden under the enticing darkness.

Every noise, every sound becomes filled with pain yeah, yeah, yeah,

Everything was brutally painful, and the broken whispers of his heart became aimless. Everything was inevitable and futile.

"Will Byeol kill you again, Jimin?"

*******

Time will wait for us to unite.

********

A/N's note: Who do you think is the killer?