Forever Rose ✓ k.th

Chapter 17 : Broken Man

You and Taehyung dropped by the drug store to buy a few necessities in regards to your current wound. "Pay for it," Taehyung snarled. Huffing a puff of air, you bring out your wallet to pay for your meds. After handing out the money to the guy who looks at both of you with quite assumptions in his head, you moved along.

Walking back through the pathway that leads to the old mansion, Taehyung suddenly complained. "Why do humans walk so slow?" You looked at Taehyung, whose shoulders are down, with straightened eyebrows.

He talks as if he was born as a vampire and according to the books you've read, vampires can't procreate. The only problem is that the books you've read are fiction and you don't know if it is probably legitimate in the real world.

While strolling, you heard him yawning, and then suddenly he tapped your shoulder. "Hey, you're going to the mansion right?"

You nodded at his question. "I'll just meet you there." With that, Taehyung zoomed away and disappeared in front of you.

Flexing his abilities doesn't make him cool. You thought to yourself, but to be honest, your heart screams excitement. For some reason you've thought about how great it would be if you become a vampire (minus the killing spree that you need to do to survive).

The moment you arrived in front of the mansion, the gate was left open. Abruptly, you entered and gently you closed it without making a sound. Once you reached the porch, you were about to knock on the front door when it suddenly opened.

"What took you so long?" He groaned. You entered his home without answering his question and you directly sat on the familiar sofa. Observing your surroundings, you noticed how a few things were wrecked inside.

"What happened here? I was gone for a day and your house already looked like a dumpster." Your voice sounded disgusted and when you look at him, he starts to mock you by making face.

"Excuse me, blondie, you were gone for a week." He contradicted which made you confused.

You were sent back home for a week? How come you don't remember? "I wasn't." Your forehead creased as you retaliated.

"Blondie, I'm so bored to the point that I had to visit you in your sleep and bring back your memories." He sighed in exhaustion as he sat slouchily right next to you. You move a little farther from him to keep some distance.

"You. You meddled with my brain again?!" You exclaimed and jumped from your seat because of madness. Suddenly, you felt something dripping down your palms.

"Do you mind cleaning your wound again? It's making me hungry." Taehyung's eyes dropped on your palms and you glared at him even more. "No offense, though." He smiled innocently.

You puffed a heavy amount of air before grabbing your shoulder bag again. Grabbing the antiseptic and new bandages, you hurriedly fixed your wound. "Why did you erase my memories? Why did you want to suddenly bring them back?" You scoffed.

"Again, I'm bored. You should get your gorilla ears cleaned." You sneered at Taehyung's comment.

"You know what? I'm hungry, can you just at least cook some food for your guest?" You forced a smile. "And while you're in the kitchen I'll clean your mess." Cocking your head on various sides, you pertained to his house.

"I can cook the guest." An evil smirk stretched on his face.

You two both held a staring contest. His eyes were full of excitement while yours was filled with rage. Eventually, Taehyung rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, stay here." You unknowingly smiled at how he gave up.

He sprinted into the kitchen and it was a sign that you should get working. Taehyung's mansion reeks vintage but displays trash. All of his stuff are either properly fixed or broken into pieces, there's no in-between. After fixing his living room, you realized that every mess leads to another one.

You went upstairs as you were following a trail of chaos. While picking up a few litters and sweeping off the dust, you stumbled upon a room with an opened door.

Curiously, you opened the door, and you were greeted by enormous paintings of girls displayed on the wall. This must be Taehyung's room. You thought to yourself as a sudden realization came into your mind that this was the room that has always been locked when you were here.

Although you know that Taehyung might chop you into pieces for this, you can't help but wonder about the persons on the paintings. You approached them one by one and somehow you managed to know their names.

Tazina, Tabitha, and Tatia are the names of the portraits of the women displayed on the left wall. You proceeded on the right side and there's another set of three paintings. This time the girls were named: Tamara, Tamira, and Talia. The first two looked the same and you're thinking that maybe they're twins.

You roamed your eyes more and there you noticed another portrait of a lovely girl. Unlike the others, her painting is the only one hanging up on the wall in front of Taehyung's bed. Your face moved closer as you try to wipe off the dust that makes it harder for you to see the name.

After making the portrait clearer, the name became visible. "Tania," You muttered.

In just a flash, you fell on the soft bed when a heavy force pushed you onto it. "You really want yourself killed, don't you?" You blinked rapidly as you try to comprehend why Taehyung is hovering above you.

You stared at him. His veins resurfacing on his face, a beautiful shade of purple for his eyes, and there go his long and sharp fangs as he continues to hiss like a monster at you. Regardless of those scary features, he has right now, you find him very alluring.

Is it weird that I feel this way? Your subconscious talks. Your instinct tells you to push him off of you and earn some distance away from him but your body rejected the idea.

Breathing heavily with your arms shaking, your right-hand finds its way towards Taehyung's cheeks. The shock was evident on his face because of your sudden gesture, but you can see how it slowly softens the moment you rubbed your thumb on his skin.

Seconds went on just like that, not until Taehyung himself grabbed your hand and tossed it away from him. He walked away from you and stared at the portrait of the girl named Tania.

Worriedly, you rushed next to him. Noticing how he admires the photo, she must've been an important person in his life. It's just that you don't have any clue about who she was to him.

Unlike when Taehyung looks at the portrait of Annais, he is looking at Tania with more guilt and... pain.

"Who is she?" You courageously asked.

"None of your business. Go down and eat your food then you may go home." He deadpanned. He was planning to walk away when you absentmindedly got ahold of his arm.

If your memories served you right, Taehyung just lost Yeonjun, he can't save his friend Jimin, he traded himself for him, he's current friends with you whose face was from an angel who killed his beloved, and now, this mysterious portrait of a girl around eleven to thirteen years old. You can't imagine how much he is dying from the inside.

"I'm just here if you want to talk about things." You said your short piece. He looked at you with blazing eyes but seeing how his lower lip trembled, you know he's on the verge of breaking down.

Huffing, he took his arm back and walked out of his own room.

Standing there with your worried expression inside a melancholic room, you sighed in disappointment.

Every monster was a broken man at first.