Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 4

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IV: Jungkook 

When I was eight years old, my parents and I had taken a tour of Buckingham Palace. With all of its towering pillars and exquisite paintings, I remember thinking that it was the largest and most lavishly built thing in the world.

In the human world, it probably was.

But it was nothing compared to Armad Castle.

The castle itself was massive, with beautiful stained glass windows reflecting in the bright moonlight from outside. Many obsidian statues lined the hallways, and their eyes seemed to follow me as we walked. Almost everything was in some shade of black. Black marble pillars, high domed ceilings, even the paintings had black backgrounds.

"What's up with all this black?" I asked Jimin, who was leading the way through the numerous twisting hallways.

"Huh?" He looked around, as if he hadn't really thought of it. "Well, I suppose it's because vampires are naturally weak to light. Staring at pastel and light colors can make us dizzy if we look at them for too long."

"So the rumors are true?"

Jimin looked at me quizzically. "What rumors?"

"That if you guys go out into the sunlight, you automatically burst into flames?"

Jimin grimaced. "Uh no. We start to feel a bit weak, yes, but we're not going to die simply because we stood outside during the daytime. Though of course, many vampires still prefer the night. Daylight is too harsh for us to do any meaningful work."

"Work?" I repeated. "What work?" Jimin was about to reply, when Baekhyun cleared his throat loudly from the back. "If you two wouldn't mind, we're getting closer to the throne room, and I don't exactly think the King should be disturbed with all your talking. And Jimin, I would be more careful at telling humans our secrets, if I were you."

Jimin rolled his eyes. "He's not just any human, Baekhyun. We can trust him." Baekhyun shook his head. "No, you can trust him. I still have my doubts about this one." He stared at me through narrowed eyes. I frowned, and looked away.

Jimin leaned in closer to me and whispered, "Sorry about Baekhyun. He's more prickly than a hedgehog at the moment, but he's not usually this bad-tempered. He's actually pretty nice once you get to know him."

"You would be prickly too, if you've been doing this job for more than 300 years," Baekhyun retorted, overhearing. "Honestly Jimin! I would have at least expected you to understand." He shook his head in mock sadness.

"300 years?" My eyes grew wide. "Exactly how old are you two?"

Jimin started counting on his fingers. "I think that I'm about 350 years old. And Baekie here is even older than that!" My head spun. "You guys don't know your exact age?"

Jimin shrugged. "Well, when you live almost indefinitely, the years start blurring after the first 100. I can always check the records to find out my real age, so I don't really think about it too much. Besides," he flicked an invisible speck of lint off his immaculate tunic. "What good would it do to be constantly obsessing on how old you are?"

"You guys live forever?" I almost couldn't believe my ears. 

"Well not forever, strictly speaking. It's just that we haven't found any vampire to die of old age yet. All the deaths are either from battle wounds or unfortunate circumstances."

"Unfortunate circumstances." I echoed. Something told me that it would be smart to avoid that topic entirely.

While I was busy trying to think of another conversation starter, we stopped in front of a pair of large gold double set doors at the end of the hall, and my eyes grew wide. It was probably one of the most intricately carved doors I had ever seen, with graphic designs depicting the Sirius Clan's victories and captured enemies of war. Golden blood dripped from wounds of their rivals, while they were on their knees, pleading for mercy. The whole door seemed to tell a story of an epic battle, starting in the upper right hand corner, and working its way down to the bottom. In the middle was a large lion head knocker, fangs open in a ferocious growl.