Even though both Jeongguk and Jimin are still in the back alley, the change in temperature is evident. He had left his coat in his car when he ran from the studio. The mere thought of returning to get it back makes him feel incredibly uneasy.
His small fingers sweep over bare arms in a pitiful attempt to regain some warmth. He peers at Jeongguk through disordered strands of blond hair, noticing that he's either careless or that the sudden occupancy of cool air doesn't impact him. And in fact, he seems entirely aloof to the situation.
"Where's your jacket?" he questions callously.
The timbre of Jeongguk's voice makes Jimin feel pathetic while he sits on the dirty concrete in a pile of filth. "I left it in my rental car," he murmurs.
Jeongguk releases a drawn-out sigh, removing his leather jacket. He tosses it onto Jimin's head while the blond is focused elsewhere.
Jimin squeaks, tugging it off of him. He holds the jacket close to himself, glaring at Jeongguk who reveals a tight-lipped, cocky smile. He shoves his hands into the back pockets of his jeans while raising an eyebrow, appearing puzzled.
"Don't act like I was supposed to catch that," Jimin grumbles, sliding the leather jacket over his arms. Finally, he stands up and wipes his pants down. He stares at the sleeves as they fall over his hands. He's basically swimming in it but he's warm. It smells like what he presumes to be Jeongguk's natural scent.
"Are you smelling it?" Jeongguk jeers.
"N-No!" Jimin exclaims, looking up at the brown-haired man with knit eyebrows, clearly feeling slightly offended by the accusation. "I can't help it when it's right in front of my nose."
"Mhm." Jeongguk grins, sounding unconvinced by Jimin's sad effort to defend his actions.
A brief, chronic moment of quietude settles and all that's left to the ears are the rattling of cars that pass by and an occasional whistle from the wind. Jimin notices a white, folded up piece of paper by his feet, feeling an instant spike in adrenaline. He leans down to pick it up, only for it to be plucked from between his fingers.
He's looking up at Jeongguk through long lashes, fists balled beneath the length of the leather jacket. The brown-haired man is extremely close, holding the paper in his hand. "What is this?" he asks.
"Nothing," Jimin murmurs. "Give it back."
"If it's nothing, then why is your heart beating so quickly?" Jeongguk questions, tilting his head to the side curiously.
Jimin blinks at him in disarray. He reaches for the paper, on the tips of his toes but to no avail. He stands limply, watching as Jeongguk does just as he suspected he would, unfolding the paper leisurely as to prolong his own enjoyment and the blond's suffering.
He's thankful for the looming obscurity of the approaching night. His cheeks heat up the second he sees Jeongguk's reaction to the drawing he had done of him, and yet a cold wave of dread washes over him just the same. Given the abstruseness of tonight's developments, trying to gauge the man's response is basically impossible.
"Did you draw this?" he asks, eyeing it critically.
Jimin shrugs. "It fell out of my pocket. Who else's would it be?" he questions, shoulders sluggish in clear defeat.
Jeongguk hums, folding the piece of paper back up, sticking it in his pocket. "I'm keeping it," he proclaims.
Jimin's eyes jolt in their sockets as he examines Jeongguk's fixed and serious expression. "Why do you want a drawing of yourself?" The inflection of his tone droops as his words become quiet.
"I don't want a picture of myself. It's the fact that you won't be needing it. You're going to be seeing a lot more of me because of the decisions you've made tonight. Isn't that what you wanted?" Jeongguk reminds him.
He isn't wrong and Jimin knows it. He chews on the inside of his cheek, looking away. His feet shuffle but he doesn't move. He knew what he wanted before everything happened tonight and so soon as well as unpredictably. Now, he's just as confused as he was when they were mere inklings.
"You aren't regretting the choices you've made, are you? There's still time to backtrack. I can do just as I've done before, showing up only when you need me and not because you seem to enjoy purposefully putting your life in danger," Jeongguk mentions, rolling his tongue into his bottom lip. "...But you know what's out there now and one might argue that you're safer because of it. But you aren't. It will only put you in more danger."
"You're trying to scare me away," Jimin alleges boldly after taking a second to collect his thoughts. "This is what I want. I still want you to tell me everything."
Jeongguk's eyes spend a short amount of time lingering over the blond's small frame before he simply turns around and begins walking down the alleyway. The level of Jimin's pinched expression only seems to be increasing as each word Jeongguk utters or action he pursues develops into a spectacle. And lucky for him, he has front row seats.
"Keep up. I won't come running after you if you take a wrong turn," Jeongguk says from a distance.
Jimin sighs, doing the best that he can to avoid putting too much thought into his snarky remarks. All they seem to be are empty threats.
He catches up to Jeongguk, staying a reasonable distance away. His hands are stuffed into the pockets of the man's leather jacket, sleeves bunched from the size difference. He isn't too sure where they're going but the silence during their walk gives him some time to think.
As much as Jimin hates to admit it, he's still as fascinated with Jeongguk as he was before the man opened his mouth. His life has been dull for so long, lacking a luster he thought his dream job (at the time) would bring him. Aside from the occasional outing with Taehyung, he spent just about every waking moment inside of a small box. And he even enjoyed it. Now, he doesn't know what to make of his employment or his best friend. The only thing he seems sure about right now are his curiosities involving the handsome douchebag in front of him and the fact that vampires are real.
"We're here. Are you wearing your big boy pants?" Jeongguk asks, folding his arms over his broad chest.
At that same moment, Jimin makes a realization that he unthinkingly grazed over amidst his obsession with discovering Jeongguk's true identity. His attention shifts from his dress shoes to the brown-haired man cautiously.
"Vampires are real," he mutters, taking a single step back. "...Are you...?"
Jeongguk places his hands on his hips; the weight of his irritation is noted profoundly on his face. "A monster?"
There are so many things that Jimin wants to say but the words refuse to form on his tongue. He feels even smaller than he already felt while being in Jeongguk's jacket.
"Are you?" Jimin asks once more, this time quite sharply.
Jeongguk hums, tilting his head to the side. He saunters in the way of Jimin's direction, stopping right in front of him. He reaches one of his hands forward, placing an index finger below his chin, tilting his head to the side.
Jimin swallows automatically at the feeling of an arid throat. He feels Jeongguk's lips brush up against the shell of his ear. The action itself is elusive and simple but the repercussions it has on his body are drastic.
"What if I said yes?" he replies breathily.
Jimin's eyes bolt shut and his limbs both feel like jelly and concrete. He can't tell if the sudden fear instilled in him advocates for running or simply submitting.
"...If you're like he is, don't you want to hurt me?" Jimin questions.
Suddenly, there's an empty space felt right by his head. He pries his eye opens slowly, dragging his tongue over parched lips.
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm nothing like him. You have to clean up; you smell awful and I can't tell if it's because of him or the garbage you were sitting in. At the end of the day, I guess they're both the same." Jeongguk brushes his fingers through his hair, taking a left down a flight of stairs behind a wall.
Jimin remains still, casually pulling the collar of Jeongguk's jacket up to his nose. He can't catch a whiff of anything other than the man's pleasant scent. He makes the executive decision and decides that it's Dong-ha he's smelling and his nose is extra efficient. It doesn't even occur to him that he's now more self conscious of smelling bad than he is worried about the fact that his so-called protector drinks blood and probably sleeps in a coffin.
Taking a peak around the corner, Jimin notices that Jeongguk is out of sight. He clearly isn't too worried about the blond's safety at the moment as there isn't even a trace of him left behind. Despite his initial weariness, Jimin descends the stairs slowly, keeping his eyes open. They sweep the vicinity as the shine from a lighthouse would at night for lost sailors.
The only difference being is that Jimin seeks the unknown. His fingers glide along the rough concrete wall, over the worn posters of missing people within the city. White teeth graze his bottom lip curiously as an insatiable state of wonder and worry begin to multiply. Nevertheless, he hugs himself, feeling a little bit more secure in Jeongguk's leather jacket.
Jimin proceeds to follow the only route there appears to be, stopping a few feet away from an obscure door. Tepidly, his shoes scrape the ground beneath him as he advances toward it, still taking the occasional look over his shoulder.
It seems like it hasn't been used in years. And in fact, the entirety of the passage way looks to be abandoned. Cracks riddle the concrete, home to lumps of bright green moss. He walks the rest of the way, analyzing it up close before curling his fingers around a door knob. It twists and unlocks.
Without another second of hesitation, Jimin pulls it open. He stands there foolishly, in silence, gawking at the inside. It's not at all what he had expected it to be. And in fact, the complete opposite.
It's similar to a pub, but it looks to be much larger than the typical establishment. There are people everywhere, drinking, dancing and chatting. He notices Jeongguk just to the right, talking to a couple of women. They seem entertained by his company and Jimin can only wonder why. He clearly treats the people here differently than himself.
Jimin's eyes dart from left to right as sudden noises occupy the air. His fingers loosen around the door and he considers stepping back, pretending that he was never here. However he feels an abrupt urge to take another glance in Jeongguk's direction, meeting the brown-haired man's eyes.
Even with a mere tight-lipped smile, Jimin can feel his arrogance from across the room. He watches as Jeongguk takes a swig from the glass in his hand, left with remnants of red on his lips. His tongue washes the blood clean off.
"He's so full of himself," Jimin mutters while feeling challenged, finally letting the door close behind him.
Bravely, Jimin wanders into the building, trying to stay in his own little bubble. Despite how friendly looking all of these people seem, if any of them are drinking something, it's somber red. There's a bar counter to his left and an opening to his right, filled in by tables and chairs. In general, the atmosphere itself feels quite warm. However, even that doesn't stop him from feeling a cool chill with every glance from a stranger. Because they must all be vampires. They have to be.
Suddenly, Jimin bumps into something and stumbles backward. Someone has reached for his arm, preventing him from falling down. He looks up, staring at a man with cadet gray hair parted down the middle, reaching just above his bold yet somehow beautiful eyes. Simply based off of his looks, he seems amiable. His full lips stretch into a pleasant smile.
"I haven't seen you around here before," he mentions, voice soft like a feather.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Jimin looks around to see if he can spot Jeongguk in the crowd. He doesn't seem to be where he was earlier and in fact he doesn't spot him anywhere.
"I'm not really..." he trails off, playing with one of the small leather straps on Jeongguk's jacket.
"That's his."
Jimin looks up, mouth parted. This man is a lot taller than him. "What?"
He grins. "You're wearing Jeongguk's jacket. I hardly ever see him without it."
"Oh," Jimin says, taking another glance at his sleeves. "I don't know. It was cold and I didn't have anything to cover up with. He gave it to me."
The man hums. "Interesting."
Again, Jimin peers at the man with a muddled expression. "You're making me very curious," he mentions.
He chuckles. "I just think it's interesting. I don't remember a time I've ever seen him without it. You must be pretty special if he's letting you wear it, especially to keep warm—"
"Jung-nam" Jeongguk chimes in, throwing his arm around the man's shoulder. "What's going on over here?"
Jung-nam winces and Jimin notices the grip Jeongguk has on one of his shoulders. "I'm just talking to your new friend. He's different," he adds.
"He isn't my friend," Jeongguk denies. "He's a responsibility. That's all."
Jimin sneaks a peak at Jeongguk, unable to help the small pang of disappointment he's feeling. It was obvious that he was nothing more than a chore but it's still unfortunate to hear it out loud. Especially because he still doesn't know why.
"So that he means he can be my friend, then?" Jung-nam questions and if Jimin didn't know any better, he'd say that the man in front of him was being flirtatious.
"Absolutely not," Jeongguk declines almost immediately. "He's here on business. Go back to your table and forget you ever saw him." He pushes Jung-nam by his chest softly but earnestly.
Jung-nam eyes Jeongguk, it appears rather bothersome. He walks away with his drink and doesn't look back.
Jimin nips at his lip. "Why were you so mean to him?"
"I wasn't," Jeongguk deadpans, taking another sip from his glass while looking in the other vampire's direction. "We have some things we need to talk about. Follow me and stay close, understood?"
As much as Jimin loathes following Jeongguk's directions as though he's some kind of mutt, he does as he's told. He knows that Jeongguk wouldn't bring him to some place that could endanger him. So he obeys, clinging to the man's heels.
He can feel everyone's eyes on him. He presumes he's the only human here, although his assumptions may be wrong. Either way, he has never liked the attention. When they split off into a secluded room, he inhales deeply.
"First and foremost, I don't want you talking to him. He's bad news, alright? I have enough shit to deal with already," Jeongguk says, taking a seat in one of the available chairs with his legs spread and a single hand behind his head.
Jimin refuses to look at him, staring at the ground instead. He's finally able to catch his breath, nodding his head as opposed to responding verbally.
"I had been given orders when you were much younger to take care of you and keep you safe," Jeongguk utters, swirling the thick blood in his glass.
"What?" Jimin looks up at Jeongguk, studying his face eagerly.
"I've known you since you were in college. I've been watching over you since then. I did a good job at staying hidden, didn't I?" Jeongguk grins.
Jimin falls into the door, lost in a frenzy of questions without any clue what to ask first.
"I'm technically thirty-eight. I got turned into a vampire when I was twenty-four. Someone close to you had left you in my care and I promised I would do everything I could to keep you safe. You've been testing my patience a lot, lately. You're a royal pain in my ass," Jeongguk sighs, looking over his nails as if unamused by the topic.
Jimin's mouth feels impossibly dry. He wants to know who but he's afraid to know all the same. "Who?"
Jeongguk stares at Jimin in short silence, almost as if giving him time to prepare. "Your father."
(a/n): i found these on pinterest and thought i would show y'all because this is kind of jk's vibe in this story. c: