Twenty-Seven

Seokjin, Namjoon, and Hoseok left Taehyung's house. Jimin went off to somewhere as well and suggested for Jungkook to give the other two some private time, so Jungkook silently took his things and went off to an internet cafe.

The house was quiet and calm. Getting away from such drama put Yoongi at ease, but Taehyung was slumped back into his couch, chewing at his inner cheek.

"Hey." Yoongi crossed his legs on the couch as he turned to Taehyung. He only glanced back at Yoongi, but Yoongi reached for his hand as usual anyways. "You act like you killed my dog or something, Tae. I've gotten over the mark. I've gotten over demanding to know about it. If it makes you uncomfortable, then—"

"I don't mean to be so uncomfortable like this," Taehyung cut him off with a sigh. "It's just so many memories and I hate it. I didn't think I'd ever have to explain this to anyone, but here we are."

Yoongi frowned as Taehyung did. "Then you don't have to tell me anything."

"But I want to." Taehyung curled up into the couch, pulling his knees towards Yoongi and resting them back into the couch. They were now facing each other. Taehyung let his head fall into the couch as well. "I just need a minute to think, please."

That's what Yoongi gave him. They sat there for about ten minutes, Taehyung with his eyes closed and eyebrows scrunched together. He'd give Taehyung all the time in the world. But, he didn't understand why he needed such time. Isn't the mark a soulmate mark? Did Taehyung not want to meet his soulmate? Is there something wrong with that?

Taehyung's eyes fluttered open and Yoongi watched with curious eyes as he reached forward and grabbed onto Yoongi's shirt sleeve. He pulled the sleeve a little and leaned forward, looking at Yoongi's shoulder.

"It's gone."

Those words made Yoongi's head tilt and a frown made its way to his lips. The T is gone, so that means that he's not Taehyung's soulmate? Since when did the mark disappear? How had he not noticed that?

He watched as Taehyung leaned back to his original spot. "I put that mark there, you know," he said. Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head.

"How? I didn't know that."

Taehyung smiled weakly. "Do you want to know how I did it or why I did it?"

"Both. Why, first."

"Okay." Taehyung nodded to himself as he started fiddling with his fingers nervously. "I had a lover way back when I was a new vampire," he began, his voice small. Yoongi bit his lip as he thought about Taehyung having someone. Taehyung had once told him that he usually messed around with people, but was he in love with said person?

"You did?"

"I was a vampire for about twenty years when I met this person," Taehyung told him. He had that smile on his face, but Yoongi found himself wanting to rip the head off of the person he's talking about even if that person had made Taehyung so happy. He just felt like he did when he saw Taehyung kissing someone else. Awful. "I loved them."

Yoongi swallowed hard.

Taehyung loved them. He deserves love, but what does that have to do with Yoongi? Why is he telling him these heartbreaking things?

"And?" Yoongi asked almost bitterly.

"I was in love with them, really." Taehyung chuckled darkly to himself. "But, they were a human. Just like you." He said the last part in almost a whisper. Yoongi is no longer a human, but he understands what he meant. "I let my guard down, back then. I was a naive vampire, and I was in love."

He could see the hurt in Taehyung's eyes. His eyes were dark, almost black, but Yoongi could tell that by the way Taehyung was looking down at his own lap and playing with the hem of his shirt, he was upset.

"He was beautiful." Taehyung smiled despite his voice being so weak. "And he was so great to be around, so funny, and he always had such random outbursts of energy. His hair was always so lovely, too. I used to play with it and braid it when he let me. It was the prettiest hair I've ever seen." Yoongi was being stabbed at every little thing he spoke about, but Taehyung seemed so happy speaking about him.

"Did you turn him into a vampire?" Yoongi asked. He regretted it, seeing Taehyung come back into the real world again. A frown came onto his face as he shook his head. His lover must've died like a normal human. He didn't get the same choice Yoongi did.

But, if he was Taehyung's lover, then didn't Taehyung kiss him as well? Why didn't his lover turn into a vampire like Yoongi did? And how come nobody else did, either? Why is Yoongi the only one?

"I didn't want to turn him into a vampire, Yoongi." Taehyung sighed. "I don't want to turn anybody into a vampire. It's so boring and there's people out to get us as well."

Yoongi buzzed in confusion. "Out to get you?" he asked. "Huh?"

"Hunters." Taehyung shrugged. "It's been years and years since those have been around. We killed most of them out. That's not the point, though," he said. "My lover, my boyfriend, I had never told Jimin or Jungkook about him. I hadn't even met Jungkook yet, and I barely knew Jimin, but I didn't want them to know about him. I didn't want them to know about your mark, either."

Yoongi reached back to his shoulder at the mention of his mark. It's gone.

"I was so in love with him that I let my guard down around him," Taehyung mumbled. "I didn't mean to. But, as I said, vampire hunters were a thing back then. I was with my lover one day, when the hunters didn't understand how to kill vampires yet." He straightened up and cleared his throat. "I didn't notice that anybody was near us, but he did. He saw the hunter coming at me with a fucking sword and I hesitated. I hesitated like an idiot."

"I don't understand," Yoongi said.

Taehyung closed his eyes again. "He didn't know that I was a vampire," he let out weakly. "I didn't tell him. I never planned on telling him, either. He didn't know, and so when he saw some suited-up guy coming at me with a sword, he didn't think twice to step in front of me. He didn't hesitate to save me from something that wouldn't even kill me."

Taehyung clenched his fists. "A wooden fucking stick to the heart would've even killed me, but a God damn sword would've made me laugh in their face. I would've fucking ripped their insides out, but I was too busy focused on him. I could've easily taken that sword and reversed that attack."

So, Taehyung's lover sacrificed himself.

"I'm sorry, Tae."

"Don't be," Taehyung muttered. "The story isn't over yet. I killed the hunter, but he stabbed the person I loved the most. So what do I do? I carry him to the only place I knew to take him to. You heard of witches before?"

Yoongi tilted his head. "Witches are real too?" he asked in awe.

"What do you think Hoseok just used on us?" Taehyung chuckled. "Magic."

Yoongi's lips parted as he thought about Hoseok. He had completely looked over that. He thought it was a vampire thing.

"What did the witches do?

Taehyung looked back at Yoongi with guilty eyes. "I asked them to do me a favor. As you should know, things aren't free. I had to give something in return." He sighed as he spoke about it. "I asked them to mark Taen's soul in return for a little, tiny curse."

"Taen?" Yoongi questioned. "His name was Taen?" He gave Taehyung a knowing look before he realized what was just explained to him. "Wait, you marked Taen's soul. I was marked. I was Taen? I- I'm him?" For some reason his eyes started to water.

"Well, perhaps," Taehyung mumbled quietly. "B-But they told me if I ever found you, a kiss would turn you into a vampire. A kiss has always been the seal to a deal, you know? And I never wanted you to be a vampire. You were such a lively human, and," tears started to roll down his cheeks all of a sudden, "I never wanted Taen to die. I never wanted you to die, either, damnit. I keep killing the people I love and I fucking hate it, Yoongi."

Yoongi had reached out to Taehyung's hand and brought it to his chest. "Taehyung, you can't keep blaming yourself for that." He scooted forward onto the couch and brushed Taehyung's hair out of his face, lifting his chin. "Don't cry, Tae. You didn't kill him. He loved you, so he sacrificed himself."

"And I sacrificed his soul," Taehyung cried out more. "I forced the mark onto you so that I could find him, but now I've just turned you into a vampire. I knew this was going to happen. You sacrificed yourself once before, so I knew this was going to happen again if I let it. And of course, I let it."

"Tae, Taehyung..." Yoongi pressed his lips to Taehyung's knuckles as he cried softly. "Listen, the witch's curse isn't shit to me. I'm absolutely happy like this. You don't need to blame yourself for so many things."

Taehyung's sad eyes glistened up at Yoongi. "I loved him, though, Yoongi." He wiped his tears away. "He was killed in my place, right in front of my eyes. I- I didn't save him."

"You saved him," Yoongi clarified. "I'm right here, aren't I, Taehyungie?"

"But now you're dead again."

Yoongi pouted. "And I chose that. Don't blame yourself. I may not be the Taen you prefer, but I'll be the Yoongi you want."

Taehyung whined even more. "Please, don't get me in my feelings even more." He chuckled as he wiped his tears. "I want you, Yoongi. And I tried to forget about Taen, but I saw you in school one day. I saw you in gym class while you were changing— don't ask why I looked, but I saw the T mark. The T doesn't stand for Taehyung, it stands for Taen. It was handwritten by me."

Yoongi's mouth opened in surprise. He had always thought it meant Taehyung. He always thought it was a soulmate mark.

"It disappeared, though," Yoongi stated. He kind of wished it had stayed.

"Yeah," Taehyung nodded. "It disappeared the moment you kissed me. What it was— it held my venom inside of it, so the moment you kissed me, it started sinking into your skin. My bite didn't turn you. The mark did. I only bit you so that you would turn faster. The mark was going to be slow and painful."

"It was slow and painful, either way," Yoongi complained. "But I honestly thought it would hurt a lot more. I woke up completely fine," he told Taehyung. "But I don't want you to hate yourself for this. You can ask Namjoon or Jungkook, I wanted to be with you guys no matter what, anyways. I just happened to not believe you when you told me not to kiss you and I messed it all up."

Taehyung shook his head. "You messed nothing up. And I'm sorry that I never told you, but I was never ready to talk about it, really. It annoyed me that Hoseok knew."

Yoongi hummed. "Hoseok is a witch and a vampire? How did he know about the kiss? Why didn't he tell me about it? What was the piece of paper he gave you last night?"

"The paper was an explanation to the spell the witch used. And Hoseok is a little snitch," Taehyung huffed. "Jimin threatened Hoseok into telling him information, and then Jimin got angry at me for not telling him. As I said, I never wanted anybody to know. I was never going to even talk to you, but when I saw that Jimin was about to hurt you, I went freaking crazy. I couldn't let you die again."

"You saved me."

"I had no choice, Yoongi."

Yoongi leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Taehyung's. "Can I just kiss you, please?" he asked. Taehyung placed his hand on Yoongi's cheek and put his other on the back of Yoongi's neck, gently pulling him forward. He pressed his lips into Yoongi's, so soft that it made Yoongi feel like pudding. He felt so light by merely this gentle kiss.

He pulled away and pressed his lips to Taehyung's cheek, then smiled at him. Taehyung looked so hopeful.

"I'll never leave you now, Taehyung," Yoongi said. "I may no longer be Taen, but I sure as hell will be yours if you'll let me."

Taehyung nodded. "I'll hold you in my arms for the rest of our lives, Min Yoongi."

~2/4