JM : It was not your fault.

She could once again look straight into his eyes. Jimin had a sense of affirmation in his remark for it to reach her in sincerity and not seem some blank words. Dan Hwa's eyes had a soft glisten, receiving them just how they were intended.

JM : If my opinion matters, that is my take.

All these time, the kins, the neighbors, everyone who learnt the truth blamed her without a hesitation. Called her names, cursed her existence as a demon child who doomed her own life-giver.

Those detrimental mouths were constantly there to remind her of her reckless behavior. And that, she was not a conscienceless toddler to blatantly breach the road rules. They even commented how resentful her mother must've been towards her daughter while counting her last breaths.

Despite that, her family and especially Mr.Baek never once held her liable. The father tried in his best power to protect her from all the harms and chaos that ensued after the catastrophe. Nonetheless his care simply couldn't console her. It could not reach her reserved heart.

Jimin's words reminded Dan Hwa of her father's. A certain twinge of affliction soured in her heart. Realizing that, her father did not take her side simply because he had a nurturing role in her life. And that she was actually capable of being guilt-free.

Jimin, that evening, gave her the unbiased answer she had always silently craved for.

The song slowly filled the silence. Tears now more prominently visible in her eyes. To shield their flow, Jimin embraced her, ever so gently.

JM : Even though we are aware of the disclaimers, sometimes we don't realize the gravity of them.

They stretched apart and Jimin once again guided her figure into some elegant moves. Dan Hwa, this time, very obediently followed along to reach that immense level of oblivion she newly discovered was possible. A peculiar void and space where nothing mattered. A complete apathetic and unconcerned state of mind.

Everyday, past regrets and the duels of present, conspired to strangle her tomorrows. They brutally consumed every breath of air she inhaled, leaving her to suffocate. She experienced such constraints rip free from her one by one. For she was alleviated to such heights of repose that they couldn't reach her anymore.

JM : Sometimes we are too overwhelmed by our emotions, we fail to take some basic heeds.

A swift one-arm tug towards him, pulled out a soft gasp from Dan Hwa as she impacted with his body. Their faces came in plain sight, her arm now resting on his chest.

Jimin sharply twisted their bodies to the side, concluding the step tastefully. With that snatch, the lazy knot in her hair unfurled, letting the restrained lock cascade into its natural fall. As if a theatrical undertone was cued right that instant.

The scarce light hitting Jimin's features so intricately, Dan Hwa could not take her eyes off him. Who knew the grey of shadows could be so enthralling. He likewise shared a serene gaze back into her gleaming sight.

JM : And that's okay.

The right amount of hush delivered by the dusky voice, struck her heart with a tickle.

She experienced a piquant peace in her head, a kind of blankness to be more specific. Now, completely under the influence of the foreign but miracle aid.
The final drop of beat created an even more intense ambience.

That moment of thoughtlessness felt like a delicacy tasted by the soul. It was so intoxicating that it plunged her to drive her lips onto his.

The song beaming around them orchestrated that exquisite first meet of the two souls. Helping them carry it all the more gracefully.

Jimin let her communicate through the kiss as he ravenously reciprocated the zeal. With the same delirium and intoxication that sparked her insides.

The rush of hormones riding their vulnerable hearts, the emotive rapture arrested a long moment of skinship.

They experienced little spurts of heavenly relief tickle their highs. It had a weird pinch of pain hurled into the mix. Not to their bother or prime attention that instant. The amorous interaction between the souls warmed their bodies like nothing before.

Jimin's hand from her body rode up to support her head from the back, while the other securely wrapped her torso, as he devoured the moment of ravishing blooms and fireworks, popping in his rapidly beating heart.

How for the first time since forever, their heads felt so empty and light. They almost grew a greed for the same in that little time. Every second, it seemed to be slipping through their hold as they strived to clasp it. The sweet spot.

The physical act contained only to their lips, without casualties, it almost seemed like an unnaturally perfect kiss. Enough to form stereotypes.

The parted lips, now a little tired and panting, slowed down to a tender caress. So brimmed with fond and a delicate care. Her nose poking against his soft flushed cheeks, presented how tightly interlocked they were.

The darkness granted them an extra layer of defense against the fear of getting caught. Their conscience. Their virtues. All such qualms were suspended.

They stretched it so long as it helped to fight themselves. To battle against the numbness crippling their insides since days beyond recall. But there was only so long they could extend it.

Swirl of passion gushed around them. It bedazzled them with its ecstatic blaze. It traversed their senses and left behind, the tragic ashes of transient haze.

The momentum of their spiritual union had its last twitch as the persistent knock and slams of rationality finally made Dan Hwa stop. Her situational awareness aligning; she realized her body running a warmer temperature. The singer was still dazed, unable to fully comprehend the episode.

Dan Hwa moved out of Jimin's grasp, both unable to hold an eye-contact. A few strands of her hair slipping through his fingers as she raced off.

Oblivious to the intimacy they had grown for each other, the unexpected epiphany only stunned them with further perplexity.

Jimin's freeze was motioned at the sharp door-click from Dan Hwa's room. As if the spell has been broken, he experienced a superfluous blankness.

.

.

The next morning

.

.

JM : (-over a call-) Yes, I know, I have a schedule at eleven. I might just make it to drop by the dorm before that.

The singer heard his manager speak through the line as he fumbled to get his shoes on right.

Manager : Okay. Don't be late-

Following that, Jimin heard a ruffle over the phone before another familiar voice spoke, "Jimin-ie?"

JM : (-puzzled-) Taehyung-ie?

TH : Yes, so what happened? Why didn't you come home last night?

JM : I texted you, right? Or did I just-

Jimin doubted himself for a second, if he only imagined informing Taehyung the dusk before. But, the latter relieved him in his brief crisis.

TH : Yeah, you did. You said you will stay back at your apartment for the night. I asked,"why".

Jimin simply had too many things in his mind to tend to, that he couldn't bother a return the previous night. He was confused, afflicted, and in a confuzzling dilemma. He barely got any sleep. In addition, that he didn't carry his medicines with him simply warded off the sleep even more.

JM : Nothing serious. I just figured it was too late-

TH : It was nine-thirty-six when you texted me. Quit the lies. Were you drinking?

Jimin sighed defeated.

JM : It's a new house, Taehyung-ah. There's nothing here.

TH : Exactly. Then, why?

Jimin, now outside his apartment, made sure the door was locked before he marched away. The call still in progress, Jimin felt a little bothered at Taehyung's persistence.

Normally, Taehyung wouldn't insist that much. Only that after he found out about Jimin's health, the former grew more paranoid.

Reaching the elevators, Jimin's eyes lifted up at the single figure standing inside. Dan Hwa and Jimin shared a moment's gaze, their faces looked hungover without an actual intoxication.

Jimin's daze was knocked on by a muffled voice over the line, when he finally spoke back.

JM : Oh, yes, Taehyung-ah. I- I'll see you later.

The singer immediately ended the call to tend to the waiting Dan Hwa. She held on to the elevator.

Dan Hwa : Get in.

JM : Ah- It's really okay. I can take the next one.

Dan Hwa : Get in.

The phrase just as nonchalant and poker like seconds before, he felt a peculiar insistence in her repetition. Jimin walked in, but took a step farther inside than her.

She read his body language. His avoidance of a straight sight-line was unduly apparent. Therefore, Dan Hwa sealed her lips. A single step was an answer enough, that she appeased herself with.

Jimin decided to fill the silence once the elevator began its long descending journey.

JM : I recently bought 7101. I didn't know you lived next doors.

The singer was careful not to leave any creepy doubts in her head. Wisely explaining his sudden spawn at her door last night.

Dan Hwa accepted his narration readily, with verbal responses. Albeit, very minimal.

Jimin experienced a prick in his heart that Dan Hwa did not spare him a glance through that little communication.
The two had revised themselves of their 'no-expectation' policy. Yet, the subtle interpretive actions pinched their wounds nonetheless.

There was a brief silence before Jimin spoke again, this time more hesitantly.

JM : Uh, I-I am very sorry about last night.

Dan Hwa took a sharp breath and turned around, looking straight at him. She walked towards him, intimidatingly, to close the distance.

Jimin, almost in a reflex, grabbed on to the lateral handles on the elevator walls to balance himself. His eyes dilated, he felt hypnotized to look at hers.

Dan Hwa : I remember, I was the one who initiated it.

Along with her words, as if a movie sequence, the scene flashed before his eyes. He pursed his lips, his cheeks burning up a little at the recollection.  

JM : We-Well, I-I didn't pull back-

Dan Hwa : (-talking over him-) Unless you thought it was a pity-kiss, you should not be sorry, 'cause I am not.

Jimin gulped in a knot of nervousness, while Dan Hwa remained as resolute and unwavered as she could pull off then.

Dan Hwa : So... was it?

There was slight softness in her earlier sharp gaze. Jimin's eyes shrinked to normal at the change of her tone. He responded calmly, locking the eye-contact as the testimony of validity.

JM : It was not.

Dan Hwa : And yet...

Her words trailed off with a diminished confidence. She avoided his eyes. The tire shadowing her features revealed that her night was no different than Jimin's. That, it was spent in disturbed rumination and internal hesitance for both. They were unsuccessful in separating themselves from their unresolved, barely functioning minds. The fond—was it just a convenient consequence of their vulnerable hearts? They had no clear answer. They couldn't defend their feelings for each other.

Jimin now loosened his grip on the handle, the ambience growing lighter. He felt the space to breathe once again. She was not nearly as close as she seemed to be, he observed.

JM : It's just that...

Even though, Dan Hwa kept her eyes stern, they still seemed hopeful when she lifted them up to him.

JM : I am not sure if...

Jimin persistently failed to form the words, he so desperately did not want to pronounce. Yet, his reluctant choice simply caught the reception in her heart. As if she knew the words without them spoken. As if she had the same for him, too.

She took a moment to herself, closing her sight. Dan Hwa, then spoke again, before the silence overwhelmed them. 

Dan Hwa : Right. So, there's one last thing left to do, I guess. 

Jimin looked at her curiously, slightly tilting his head. He anticipated her follow-up, as the latter finally matched her eyes with him again.

Simultaneously, the elevator doors slid open behind her, in the basement.

Dan Hwa : I will text you.

Dan Hwa exited the premise first with her final comment, keeping Jimin in complete wonder.

.

.

.

And just as Dan Hwa had asserted, she arranged everything, leaving Jimin to only do so much as to simply show up.

That fine moment eventually rested on their lives. Dan Hwa, straight from work, headed home. She gave it one last thought during the whole elevator ride up. Once the doors opened, Dan Hwa walked ahead and through the corridor, anticipating the evening planned out forth. The clatter of her work-heels echoed with a sharp feminine poise. She effortlessly snapped the tie, letting her hair cast free. And through her fast and strategic walk, the hair set itself as she flick them in a habitual maneuver.

A few spurts of her signature perfume misted out from the chic bottle she carried in her bag. A pleasant scent is the key ingredient of confidence and authority. A habit that she unconsciously imbibed from her mother.

By the moment she arrived at the slick modern door, Dan Hwa was all set. That little shift from her designer persona back to Dan Hwa was just the right and neat effort that made the difference. Little was more, she believed. Teasing a subtle smile to her lips, she rang the bell.

Dan Hwa :

_____