Sixteen

"It was nice working with you Yoongi." Kwan looked down at her own feet weakly as she stepped out of Yoongi's house and turned to tell him goodbye. Yoongi nodded at her, agreeing that it was totally nice.

He could tell that she felt bad for kissing him, and she had apologized more than enough despite how many times Yoongi tried to reassure her that it was fine. He even apologized to her for not feeling the same way that she feels about him.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you back home?" he asked. "Why do you walk so far every time? I have a car, you know."

Kwan shrugged. "I think it's best for me to walk. I stay in shape that way." She smiled up at him before turning around. "I'll see you at school. Have a great night, Yoongi." Her smile was weak, but she was trying at least.

As she walked away, Yoongi sighed. He began to close the door, but the door was suddenly caught on something. He looked down at the few inches of the doorway and noticed a foot, then he noticed a body. He looked up immediately, preparing for the person that he already knew was standing there.

"Tae—"

"You have a girlfriend?" Taehyung asked as his foot pushed the door open even more. Yoongi allowed it, pulling the door. He watched as Taehyung invited himself in, clearly upset with Yoongi. "You have a girlfriend, yet you were asking me to kiss you?"

Yoongi shook his head, but Taehyung was groaning into his own hands, too busy to see him. "Taehyung, I—"

"I'm sorry for intruding, but what the hell Yoongi?" Taehyung removed his hands and frowned down at the human. "You had my hopes too high for no reason. Shit."

"Taehyung!" Yoongi reached down to both of Taehyung's hands, taking them into his own. "I don't have a girlfriend," he told, "and I'm not trying to get your hopes up. What're you saying? You know that we can't—" He stopped himself, seeing the look in Taehyung's eyes, the slight guilt and sadness. "Taehyung, we took forever to even freely be friends," he explained. "Imagine how fucked it would be if we tried to be anything other than that."

The vampire tilted his head. "You want more than that?" he asked. Yoongi merely shrugged, then let his head drop. "Yoongi, if you want me and I want you, then what's the big deal? Is it a problem with Jimin or Seokjin? We can fix that. We have before. I want to get to know you better. I want to ask you on a date."

Yoongi shook his head, despite how wonderful that sounded. He let go of Taehyung's hands and leaned against the wall, setting his crutches to the side. He let out a sigh as Taehyung walked towards him.

"You're a vampire."

Taehyung nodded as he stepped in front of Yoongi, staring down at his lips. The stare made Yoongi blush, his cheeks ablaze. He felt the courage oozing out of the vampire, which was very much addicting to him.

"I am a vampire," Taehyung stated, voice low as he leaned into Yoongi. Yoongi flinched as Taehyung put his hands on the wall on both sides of his head, trapping him in. As Taehyung leaned into Yoongi's neck, the human gasped, his previous dream suddenly coming into his mind. He pushed Taehyung away out of fear, earning the wanted freedom in return as Taehyung was no longer trapping him.

He hadn't actually pushed Taehyung back, but he had moved back on his own. Yoongi knows that he isn't strong enough to push him back so far, or even push him back at all.

"You're scared of me." Taehyung stared at Yoongi with glistening eyes. He looked hurt and sad like he had been betrayed. "You're scared of me," he repeated. "You don't even want me like that, do you? You're afraid because of who I am, aren't you?"

"T-Taehyung, no..."

Taehyung frowned as Yoongi put his hand on his neck. He didn't understand why the hell he did it, but he immediately removed his hand after he saw Taehyung's eyes watching his every move he made.

"I thought you were fine with us?"

"I- I am!" Yoongi pushed himself off of the wall and reached for Taehyung's hands, but a swift move and Taehyung's hands were snatched away from him.

"I am a vampire," Taehyung stated bitterly. "You might not want to touch me, right?" He chuckled darkly to himself. "Don't worry, Yoongi. I don't blame you. I'd be fucking terrified of me too if I were you. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I—" He closed his mouth instantly and stopped himself. Yoongi watched as he opened the door. "You're right," he said as he opened the door all the way. "Maybe we shouldn't even try. Take some time and think about whether you still want to be friends or not, while you're at it."

With that, Taehyung left Yoongi.

The door closed shut right in Yoongi's face, making him want to scream inside. His stupid dream is the reason why he suddenly got so anxious with being near Taehyung like that. He knows that Taehyung wouldn't harm him, but why did he fucking freak out?

He didn't mean to, did he?

Yoongi groaned as he took his crutches off of the wall and opened the front door, spotting Taehyung's car still outside. He left the house as quickly as possible, hurting his own arms and foot as he tried to get there quickly, but soon realizing that Taehyung had his head down on the steering wheel anyways. He went to the passenger seat door and opened it, noticing that Taehyung didn't even bother to lift his head as he sat in the seat.

He let his crutches fall to the ground and closed the door, huffing. He wanted to finally stand his ground to Taehyung.

"I'm not going to let us leave on a bad note again, Taehyung." He twisted the key to Taehyung's SUV and turned the heat on, realizing that he was shivering because he had left his jacket inside the house. Taehyung lifted his head slowly, only enough to turn his head and look at Yoongi.

"I don't want you to be scared of me," he half mumbled and half-whispered.

Yoongi shook his head. "I'm not," he tried to say, but Taehyung was already opening his own door and walking over to Yoongi's door to open it. Right before Taehyung got his fingers even near the handle, Yoongi immediately looked for the lock, locking the door on the inside.

Taehyung tried to open the door, but it didn't budge. He bored his eyes into Yoongi through the window, then rolled them.

"Get out."

"Make me."

Taehyung let his forehead hit lightly against the window, staring at Yoongi. "You're a pain," he mouthed. Yoongi shrugged with a soft smile as the vampire swiftly went back to his own door, getting back into the car. He shut the door and sighed. "Why do you like to torture me, Min Yoongi?" he asked.

"I don't mean to," Yoongi said.

"Then, I'll stop." Taehyung leaned back in his seat and let his eyes flutter closed. He was so carefree despite how cold it was outside, his shorts and t-shirt loose on his body. Yoongi wondered if vampires even get cold.

"You'll stop what?" Yoongi asked.

Taehyung shrugged, defeated. "You're right. I'll stop trying to be anything more than a friend." He opened his eyes and smiled sadly at Yoongi. "It's for the best. It really is."

Yoongi frowned.

Even if Taehyung is a potential person that Yoongi could try dating, Taehyung is also a potential threat, and Yoongi isn't a vampire. He won't be alive as long as Taehyung will be. He won't be alive as long as any of his friends will be. He'll be seventy years old with wrinkles and drinking wine with Seokjin, who will still look like a perfectly healthy teenager.

Maybe it is for the best.

"Let's go back to how it was," Yoongi breathed in the heat coming from the car. "Back when we went on the roof every evening. Or hell, we can even go back to the day you saved me. We could even go running in meadows or on the highway again, and go out to eat, still. We can restart and be just friends easily."

Taehyung nodded. "Right."

-

Yoongi found himself at Taehyung's house one evening, the place filled with photos on the walls and decorative pieces. He even made the spare bedroom into an art room, acrylic paints, canvases— one signed by Jungkook— an easel, a ton of paintbrushes, shelves filled with arts and crafts things, and a little black desk pressed neatly into the corner of the room. Yoongi loved that room.

Despite Taehyung not sleeping, he still has a bed in his bedroom. Of course, if Yoongi was a vampire, he'd still want to rest as well, right? He would totally keep a bed if he were. Beds are comfortable, even for vampires right? He and Hoseok cuddle all the time. Hoseok loves it more than Yoongi, a human.

Taehyung also had another spare bedroom. He explained to Yoongi that Jungkook usually sleeps in there, and Jimin usually finds himself in Taehyung's room or in the living room on his phone— sometimes he goes off to somewhere that Taehyung doesn't even know where it's at. Jimin claimed that it's a safe place and Taehyung assumes that it's a place that he and Seokjin used to hang out at.

Upon hearing that, Yoongi frowned.

"Why did they break up?" he asked. Taehyung shrugged at him, not knowing either.

"Personal reasons."

Yoongi sighed. "It's so sad, though." He pouted up at Taehyung as they sat down on the comfortable couch, the soft fabric brushing against Yoongi's fingertips. "To think that Jimin and Seokjin clearly miss each other, right? Why else would Jimin visit old places where they hung out? Or Seokjin keeping Jimin's photos on the wall. Why?"

Taehyung shrugged again. "They're so helpless," he said. "Always have been."

"Then I wanna help them."

Taehyung chuckled, but Yoongi was being serious. He glanced over at Yoongi as he leaned over towards the coffee table to grab the remote to the living room TV. "Have fun trying that, Yoonie." The nickname made Yoongi's heart sizzle inside his chest. The way Taehyung's eyes softly twinkled at him as he gave Yoongi the remote. The gentle touch as Yoongi actually did take it from him.

And Taehyung was someone he felt even safer with now. Yoongi thought about his stupid dream and decided to push it aside. It was made up, something that Yoongi knew wasn't true because he had been alone with Taehyung countless times now and not once did Taehyung even act like he wanted to bite Yoongi. Taehyung has saved Yoongi's life so many times. He feels safe with him, and he has ever since he first met the vampire.

He feels safe with Taehyung. It was in Taehyung's house that evening, after being invited so randomly in the middle of class that day, that Yoongi had realized. He had realized that there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to stop himself from falling for the vampire. After all, it was already happening.

"Are you cold?" Taehyung suddenly asked. He was looking at Yoongi, eyes focused on the way he had his feet curled up under him and the sight shiver to his body.

"Are you cold?" Yoongi asked.

Taehyung hummed, tilting his head as he started to rub his bare arms. "You know what?" He chuckled a little as he looked back at Yoongi. "I think I am. I'm in urgent need of some cuddles. I wonder if anyone would be up for doing that right about now."

Yoongi smiled at him. "Maybe you should call a doctor," he said, still smiling as Taehyung huffed at him.

"Or..." Taehyung pulled the decorative throw from the back of the couch and opened his arms to invite Yoongi into them. The human rolled his eyes but didn't mention the fact that he wanted to cuddle Taehyung. He settled between Taehyung's legs, loving the feeling of their skin touching so much. He let out a content sigh as the throw was pulled over him and he put his head on Taehyung's chest, snuggling into the vampire.

"I'm feeling better already," he muttered as he wrapped his arms around Taehyung.

He couldn't see Taehyung's face, so he moved his head to nuzzle into his neck instead. "Thank you," he said, his lips brushing against the skin on Taehyung's neck. He could feel how tense Taehyung had gotten by the action, so he tested the waters at full force— he pressed a small kiss to Taehyung's neck, just barely light enough to even feel. Taehyung held tighter onto Yoongi and cleared his throat, shifting to hold him better.

"Yoongi," he muttered lowly, not knowing what to do. Yoongi realized that he had hit him so suddenly, and he liked that. He liked catching him off guard because that's the only way he can really get a reaction.

"Yes?" Yoongi asked, now lightly brushing his nose right where he had just kissed.

"I thought..." Taehyung cleared his throat again as he wrapped his hands around Yoongi's waist. "I thought we're supposed to be just friends. Why are you kissing my neck?"

Yoongi's heart fell at the question, but he merely hummed at Taehyung. "You kissed my neck like four times the other day." He leaned in more to Taehyung and pressed another small kiss against his neck, this time lingering as he felt Taehyung's grip tighten on his waist, his hands big and cozy where they were. "You don't like friendly kisses?" Yoongi asked. "Hoseokie gives them to me, too."

Taehyung all of a sudden pushed Yoongi off, and they were instantly on the other side of the couch where Yoongi was sitting to begin with. This time Yoongi's back was pressed against the arm of the couch and Taehyung was above him, his arms trapping him against the couch with a warning look in his eyes.

"No," he said, voice low and stern as if he was scolding a pet or something.

The way he put the throw in Yoongi's lap and sat back down on his side of the couch, Yoongi could hear it all crystal clear. He understood that Taehyung didn't like the kissing, and Yoongi doesn't blame him. He knows that what he was doing was wrong, but he can't stop himself from wondering: what if?

What if Taehyung wasn't a vampire and they could have their happily ever after? Or what if Yoongi was a vampire? It was more realistic than the first option, believe it or not. But would Yoongi want to be a vampire? Would he want to give up his life to be one of them? Not only for Taehyung, because that would be ridiculous, but for his friends as well?

Yoongi doesn't want to be the seventy-year-old drinking wine with his teenage friends. He doesn't want to look like some freak who spends his time with just young people— but wait, there's more, because Seokjin and his friends wouldn't always stay here with Yoongi. They won't stay in Brighton High School for the rest of his life. They will leave. They can't reveal that they don't age, and they wouldn't risk it for Min Yoongi, the person who gave them so much hell.

So would Yoongi actually consider being a vampire for his friends and Taehyung?

Taehyung is his friend. Right.

But if Yoongi was a vampire, what then? What excuse could Taehyung have to not want to be with him? Is that it? Is Taehyung just making excuses to not want to be with him? Taehyung doesn't even like Yoongi, right? Just as a friend. And he's lying. He's lying so that he doesn't have to kiss Yoongi. He made up a lame excuse and it sucks. It sucks so bad that Yoongi was actually considering asking to be a vampire to be with him, because he was. He considered it all. But there's no point.

"I can hear you thinking from here," Taehyung muttered lowly to him.

Yoongi jumped, his thoughts leaving his head. "Y-You can read my mind?" he asked.

Taehyung chuckled. "No," he said. "But you're biting your nails," Yoongi looked down, taking his fingers away from his mouth, "and you're staring at the rug instead of answering me. It's like I'm not even here to you."

Yoongi looked up at Taehyung, catching his eyes with his. "You said something?"

"See?" Taehyung lightly chuckled.

"I'm sorry," Yoongi mumbled.

Taehyung shook his head. "Don't apologize," he said. "I was asking you if you were mad at me." His voice was nearly a whisper.

"N-No." Yoongi's eyes widened as he noticed the frown on Taehyung's face. He didn't like seeing him like this, so he held out his hand in search of Taehyung's. When their fingers brushed together, they immediately fell into place, holding hands because that's their thing. It's a comfortable way to show they care. "I'm not mad at you. I could never be."

Taehyung nodded sheepishly. "I hope not," he said. "I really, really hope not."

~