seulhan had no option but to stay silent as taehyung laid her down on the soft black sand. it welcomed her with the same urgency it did with her stilettos, which sat dejectedly in the sand a few feet away from her.

her eyes looked into his. it must've been a wonder to see the way her face had lit up before him with the sunset around her eyes, the flush in her cheeks, and the bright red of her lips. she wondered what it looked like.

"i don't want to slow dance."

her words even surprised herself. he seemed less surprised. a faint smile made it's way to his face as he wiped the blood off of the knife with the dark blazer.

"then look at the stars," he advised her. "i promised you that you would be able to look at them after we danced."

the knife was put away somewhere she did not see. shortly afterwards, he reached down to pick up the dark mask on the floor. when he picked it up, it looked different from when she had first gazed upon him. the mask would cover up the being that gave her the enthrallment of that last dance.

her arm weakly reached out to him as if it would prevent him from hiding behind the mask.

the same smile he had given her only hours before reappeared on his face. the same expression that she made her wonder why he looked at her like that. taehyung lowered himself down and placed a gentle kiss onto her lips before rising up again and leaving.

she had noticed three things:
one, he had not put the mask back on.
two, he had left the rose from the lapel of his jacket in the wild tresses of her hair.
three, his lips were now stained red.

it wasn't the bright red-orange she saw cover her own lips. instead, it was a dark crimson red, much like the rose in her hair. when she lifted her hand, she realized it was covered in the same crimson that covered his lips.

and despite being moment away from death, she had never felt so alive.

perhaps, this is what it meant to be slow dancing in the dark.

end.