Stigma

Chapter 5

Jungkook had only partially succeeded in his goal. He hadn't let Taehyung catch him off guard again with his flirtations, but he hadn't exactly rebuked them either.

He had almost enjoyed their little exchange in the kitchen. After the incident with Felix though, Taehyung seemed to have vanished and Jungkook didn't see him for the rest of the party.

Taehyung was odd.

His first impression of the blonde was that he was incredibly arrogant, presumptuous, and devilishly handsome. And all of those things were true. But there were other details that he began to think about as he aimlessly wandered.

Like the fact that on the first night they'd met, Taehyung's hair had been a stunning honey blonde color. But the next day, his hair was almost black, and just after that it was blonde again. That on it's own could be explained away fairly easily. But when Jungkook had inquired about it Taehyung's answer had been that he could hardly keep track.

Then there was the matter of little details Taehyung seemed to know about Jungkook, such as his last name.

No matter how far he went, Jungkook couldn't seem to get the blonde out of his head. So he walked, and walked, and walked until he wasn't entirely sure in which part of town he was.

He tried to appreciate the lovely ambiance of his new home as he ambled along. There was a crisp note to the air, and he took in the scent that was so uniquely fall.

The small houses he passed were decked out in various shades of orange and yellow, gourds and pumpkins taking up residence on porches in place of sunflowers and wind chimes.

Vivid leaves swirled on the sidewalk, and he heard a satisfying crunch as he stepped over them in his boots.

After awhile, the sidewalk abruptly stopped at the end of the street he'd been following, and the lights from the street lamps seemed further away, as if they didn't dare to illuminate the path any further.

Jungkook's eyes had to adjust to the slightly dimmer lighting, though the waxing moon provided some luminescence.

In front of him was the entrance to what appeared to be a graveyard. Small stones littered the landscape, broken up by grand mausoleums and tombs.

He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and the now familiar inkling that he was being watched returned.

He didn't remember seeing this particular graveyard on his way into town and he began to wonder how far away from home he'd walked.

For a moment, he stood and looked into the cemetery, and he stiffened when he thought he observed movement from behind one of the larger headstones.

Frozen in place, he kept his eyes glued on the stone, but after a minute nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. It was probably just a squirrel.

Looking over his shoulder, Jungkook turned around and decided it was time to go back the way he'd come. He'd wandered a little too far.

His pace was brisker on his way back, he felt slightly nervous though he didn't know exactly why. Every once in a while he'd purposefully change up his pace, and he could have sworn he heard uneven foot steps that were not his own. But every time he turned around, there was no one there.

The halloween season is already getting to me. He thought, trying to logic away his increasingly panicked feelings.

"What's someone like you doing out this close to the edge of town?" A man suddenly appeared out of the shadows, causing Jungkook to jump backwards and almost fall in his surprise.