^{This is the longest chapter of anything I have ever written ever!}

^{SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!}

^{Also I honestly think this could have been so much better and I feel like I did a crappy job but If you guys like it than thas all that matters to me . Please tell me what you think because i'm really unsure about this.} 

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Living in a town of magic wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Kim Taehyung knew this better than anyone. He knew that there was both beauty and fear in magic, and that finding the perfect balance between the two was nearly impossible.

“What are you thinking about?”

Taehyung looked away from the window to stare at his childhood best friend, Park Jimin.

Jimin was a perfect example of that perfect balance in magic. Some might say his ability to shift was a gift, while others might say it was a curse. No one in their town really had a clear view on shifters. Not many people trusted them.

“Everything and nothing at all, Jiminie,” Taehyung answered with a grin. He took another bite of his sandwich and stifled a giggle when his friend gave him that ‘you’re so weird dude’ look.

The cafeteria of their academy was quickly starting to fill up with hungry students, and eventually every table was filled up. People usually left Taehyung and Jimin alone to their own table, but the two were surprised to see senior, Kim Seokjin, heading their way.

“There’s been another attack,” he said as way of greeting, before easily sitting down next to Jimin and digging into his school lunch. It wasn’t every day that Jin decided to sit with them. He was a peculiar guy who worked in mysterious ways.

Sometimes he skipped school entirly, stating that “Today isn’t going to be a good day for me.”

“Who do you predict the killer is?” Jimin asked. He picked at his sandwhich and screwed up his face in discust at the soggy tomato inside.

“You know my visions don’t work like that,” Jin said through a mouthful of pasta. “They just pop up whenever they want to, and majority of the time it’s a vision that directly relates to me.”

“What a waste,” the shifter mumbled.

Jin shot him a withering look.

“It’s definitely a necromancer behind this,” Taehyung spoke with conviction. “It has to be. Monsters that should be dead just rising up like it’s no big deal? Murdering people and then decomposing right on the spot? This type of magic has necromancer written all over it.”

“Not necessarily,” Jin retorted. “Voodoo could also be involved.”

Jimin shivered. “Don’t even say the word. Every time I hear it I feel like Jeon Jungkook’s bottomless eyes are staring holes into the back of my head.”

Taehyung laughed and nudged the brunette. “Don’t be ridiculous, Jiminie.”

“What are we talking about?”

Taehyung dropped his sandwhich into his plate and gasped. “Hoseok hyung! You’re back!”

Jung Hoseok shot the trio a bright smile and took a seat next to Taehyung.

“I told you guys I wouldn’t be long. The town the storm hit was very small. We were able to heal everyone quickly.”

“That’s so nice of your family to do those kind of things,” Taehyung said. “And traveling must be fun too! My folks haven’t left this town since I was born.”

“Same here,” Jimin sighed. “They’re too scared that other places might not accept shifters at all. At least here it’s fifty, fifty.”

“We accept you, Jiminie!” Hoseok cheered, reaching over to pull the boy into a crushing hug.

“Ah! Hyung~ Let go of me!”

Taehyung and Jin laughed at the two’s antics, but Taehyung’s laughter died down when a pale figure dressed in all black walked through the cafeteria’s doors and headed for the lunch line.

“Isn’t that Min Yoongi?” Hoseok asked, noticing Taehyung’s line of sight.

Jin’s gaze shifted to the lunch line as well and he nodded. “Yeah. He’s in a few of my classes.”

“He’s a necromancer, right?” Jimin asked. “I wonder if he smells like dead people.”

Jin smacked him.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

The seer smirked. “For being rude and for every future dumb thing that’s going to leave your mouth.”

Hoseok cackled with unbridled laughter, but Taehyung didn’t even pay attention to what his friends were saying. He was closely watching Min Yoongi, following the seniors movements as he left the lunch line and joined a small group of people who were sitting in a shadowy corner of the cafeteria.

He wasn’t a stalker or anything.

You see, Min Yoongi has lived across the street from Taehyung for ten years now.

Taehyung has never really trusted the necromancer.

Ever since Yoongi, with his translucent skin and jet black hair, moved in across the street, Taehyung had taken up a habit of looking out his window and observing the senior’s eerily quiet house.

The only thing he’s learned over the past ten years is that Yoongi always reaches home from the academy an hour later than him, and on weekends he and this woman, who Taehyung assumed was Yoongi’s mother, would go out into the night with lit candles to somewhere.

It was all so… suspicious.

“When will you stop making googly eyes at him and just ask him out already?” Jimin blurted into Taehyung’s ear, startling the boy out of his intense staring.

“What? Ew, no! I’m not--”

“Whatever you say, Taehyung-ah,” Jimin teased, causing his best friend to glare at him.

He was not making googly eyes at Yoongi! And he most certainly would not be making a move on him!

The last time Taehyung had even spoken a word to Yoongi had been two years ago. For some reason, the mail man accidently mixed up their mail and Yoongi had walked over to Taehyung’s house to fix the problem. Their conversation basically went like this:

“Hey.”

“Um… H-Hi.”

“The mail man… I think he mixed up our mail.”

“Yeah.”

“So here.”

“Oh!... Thanks.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.”

“Ok, well, bye.”

“Yeah, bye.”

And that was that.

“Why do you stare at him like that, anyway?” Jin asked. “It’s like you want to tell him something.”

Taehyung no longer had an appetite for his food.

“I don’t want to tell Min Yoongi anything, and I never will! Even you should be able to see that, Jin hyung.”

Jin only smiled and stared down at his pasta with a thoughtful expression.

“The future is always changing, Taehyung-ah.”

 

~^~

 

More attacks happened over the next few weeks.

Taehyung was beginning to worry for his family every time he went to school. His brother and sister were still in primary school, and his mother and father often spent long hours at the florist shop they owned. They didn’t have enough money to higher many people, so most of the time Jimin or Taehyung would help out part time.

But when they weren’t there, Taehyung’s father and mother were at the shop alone, and because of that he couldn’t seem to focus on any of his recent lessons.

“So today in P.E a kid gets hurt and, naturally, they ask me to help, right?” Hoseok rambles. Jimin is enraptured by this story but Taehyung is nervously twirling his lilac hair around his finger. “I only have a few herbs to work with and I tell the kid this before I get started. When i’m done his cut is looking ten times better but he’s still feeling pain, and you know what this jerk has the nerve to tell me?”

“What? What’d he say?” Jimin asked eagerly.

“'You could have done better',” Hoseok said, using a nasaly voice. “I didn’t even know what to say, I was so mad.”

“Aish! People are so rude these days,” Jimin grumbled. “Gym wasn’t all that great for me either. They kept asking me to change into a cheetah and see how fast I can do the mile run, but when I did they told coach I was using my magic to cheat!”

Hoseok shook his head in disgust. “Real bastards if you ask me… Taehyung, are you even listening to us?”

Taehyung winced and sheeplishly glanced at his not so pleased friends.

“Um… yes?”

Jimin sighed. “You already know Taehyung-ah’s head is always up in the clouds, Hyung.”

Hoseok nodded. “Yeah… thinking about a certain necromancer.”

Taehyung didn’t even indulge them this time. He let them have their fits of giggles and hoped his family wouldn’t fall prey to any resurrected monsters.

“Speak of the devil.”

As soon as the words left Hoseok’s lips, Taehyung’s eyes latched unto Yoongi entering the library and going straight for the ‘ancient archives’ sections.

“What’s he doing, going in there?” said Jimin, voicing the same question Taehyung was thinking. “Those books are so dusty and boring. I had to go in there for a project once and I swear I saw a family of bats nesting in the rafters.”

“You don’t think Min Yoongi could be the necromancer behind all of the…” Hoseok’s words trailed off, the implications already apparent in his tone of voice.

Taehyung frowned.

Why did the thought of Yoongi being some secret murderer make him so… disappointed?

Didn’t he already expect this of the necromancer?

“It isn’t him. He’s always home when the attacks happen,” Taehyung announced, not even stopping to really think about what he was saying, or realize that he was standing up for Yoongi.

Hoseok and Jimin shared a look.

“Of course you would know,” Jimin snickered.

“And whoever’s doing this is sending out revived monsters to kill people, Taehyung-ah. They aren't doing the dirty work themselves,” Hoseok said in a matter of fact tone. “So your argument is invalid.”

Taehyung huffed and slouched lower in his seat just as the bell rang, signaling the end of their independant study period.

As the trio got up to leave, Taehyung found himself looking back at the dark entrance of the ancient archives section.

Yoongi was still in there.

 

~^~
 

When things got too hectic and the world seemed to loud, Taehyung would go to the forest just on the edge of their small town and lay in the grass.

He would spread his arms and legs out wide, soaking up the sun’s rays and breathing in the crisp air. Being surrounded by nature like this always revitalized him. It made him feel whole and at peace with himself.

A twig snapped.

Taehyung opened his eyes and stared up at the trees surrounding him. It was rare to run into anyone else out here. Maybe if he stayed very still and quiet they would continue on their way and not even notice him.

“Oh, it’s you.”

So much for not being noticed.

Taehyung lifted himself up on to his elbows and was surprised to see Min Yoongi staring back at him.

The green brightness of the forest contrasted greatly with Yoongi’s dark clothing and white skin. It was almost foreign for Taehyung to see him in such an illuminated setting.

“Yes,” Taehyung said lamely. “It’s me.”

Yoongi looked nervous. Which was kind of amusing since Taehyung always assumed he didn’t even know the meaning of the word.

“Why are you laying out here like that?” Yoongi asked hesitantly, fiddling with the small leather book in his hand.

Taehyung answered with a tilt of his head. “Embracing the earth.”

Yoongi narrowed his eyes. “Right.”

Taehyung sighed. This is why he could never get along with necromancers. They never understood his love for life. His parents always taught him to treat every human being equally, and to never judge someone or their craft, but Taehyung couldn’t help it when it came to Yoongi. He just couldn’t.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked, turning the question back around on the senior.

Yoongi glanced around at the trees surrounding them and gripped the book in his hands tighter.

“I’m going to the cemetery.”

Taehyung wasn’t even surprised. Of course he was going to the cemetery.

While Taehyung found his comfort in the living, Yoongi found his comfort in the dead.

“Ah, I see. Well, um, have fun?”

He really wanted to smack himself for sounding so stupid. It was too late to take the words back now.

Despite his word vomit, the corner of Yoongi’s lip slightly lifted, making Taehyung’s eyes latch unto the action and drink it in with wonder.

“You too. Have fun… I mean,” Yoongi muttered, before carefully stepping around Taehyung like he was a delicate flower and continuing on his way.

Taehyung turned his head and watched Yoongi disappear through the trees.

He could not lie to nature about the feeling in his chest.

 

~^~

 

“When are you going to stop staring out your window and actually help me with my homework?”

Taehyung tore his eyes away from Yoongi’s house long enough to acknowledge Jimin pouting on the floor of his room.

“This is due in two days and I rather not be a poppet in Jungkook’s voodoo doll collection.”

It had been a month since Taehyung’s encounter with Yoongi in the forest. During that time, the attacks continued, everyone went about their daily lives, and Jimin had been paired up with Jeon Jungkook for a project.

Instead of actually working on it together, Jimin had been working on his side of the project alone, not really wanting anything to do with the dark haired freshman.

Well, not completely alone, since he had been harassing Taehyung for the last two weeks.

“You would have finished this a lot sooner if you just worked with Jungkook, Jiminie.”

Jimin’s eyes practically bulged right out of his head. “If I just- If I- Me, work with Jeon Jungkook? The guy who practices voodoo and could probably curse me if I look at him the wrong way? Yeah, sure.”

Taehyung frowned at his friend. “You never know what a person is really like until you meet them. You shouldn’t be so quick to--”

“Where is this coming from?” Jimin interrupted. “Just last month you were accusing a necromancer of doing the attacks, and then when Hoseok hyung suggested it might be Min Yoongi you got all defensive.”

Taehyung squirmed under Jimin’s observant gaze.

“Now you’re sitting here, telling me Jungkook might not be all that bad.”

“Do you want help with this project or not?” Taehyung grumbled, joining Jimin on the floor and picking up a random textbook.

He didn’t even notice he was holding it upside down.

Jimin sighed and glanced at Taehyung’s open window, sheer curtains billowing in the slight breeze.

“You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

 

~^~
 

Taehyung jolted up in the middle of the night to the sound of a shout.

He glanced around his dark room and noticed that the window was still open. The moon was shining prettily, making the curtains cast strange shadows across his floor. He would have sat and admired the tranquility of it all a little longer, if it weren’t for the yelling that continued to disrupt the peace.

Rubbing his eyes, Taehyung gingerly got up and nearly slipped on a marker Jimin had left behind. After regaining his balance he padded over to the window and peered out, squinting against the brightness of the moon.

Down below, standing on their front yard with a group of people before them, stood Yoongi and his mother.

“You can claim it’s not you all you want, but that doesn’t erase the fact that you people trifle with the dead! Those decaying monsters are abominations you raised up! Take responsibility!”

The crowd behind the man who was yelling all of these things raised their voices in agreement.

Taehyung could make out Yoongi standing protectively in front of his mother with clenched fists.

“Leave my mother out of this!” he yelled. “I’m the only practicing necromancer in this house!”

“Take the boy!” someone screamed.

“Yeah!” another shouted. “Make him pay!”

Taehyung was wide awake now. He clenched his window sill tightly and felt his heart sink. Yoongi and his family did nothing to deserve this. So what if he was a necromancer? He wasn’t the only one in the area… right?

“Enough!”

Taehyung’s eyes widened in surprise at his father’s voice. He leaned further out of his window to see him walking across the street bare-foot, looking well rested for someone who just woke up way before the sun.

“This family has done nothing to deserve this,” his father said, voice serene and full of patience. “So unless you have some solid proof against them, I think we should all go back to bed, yes?”

The crowd mumbled and grumbled amongst themselves, but it seemed like they were calming down. Taehyung spotted the charm hanging from his father’s wrist and immediately knew why.

“We’ll have proof eventually,” the man announced, who seemed to be leading the angry crowd, and his heels before walking away.

Taehyung let out a deep breath in relief. He watched on as Yoongi and his mother said their thanks. They seemed to be truly grateful, and Taehyung could see his father’s genuine smile even from up here in his room.

Yoongi and his mother went back into their house and Taehyung’s father headed back across the street.

Taehyung jumped when his father looked up, staring right at him with a twinkle in his eye.

“All is well, Taehyung-ah. Go back to bed.”

He nodded with a smile. “Ok, Appa.”

Taehyung ran back to his bed and hopped under the covers.

He dreamt of Yoongi’s fiercely protective gaze as he stood in front of his mother.

 

~^~
 

The hallow’s eve festival was coming up, and Taehyung was busier than ever.

Not only was he helping his parents with the floral arrangements for the event, he also had school and the growing number of attacks to worry about.

Taehyung found himself being even more and more curious about the recent murders, especially after he saw Yoongi get harassed like that in the middle of the night. He told himself that he just wanted to prove everyone wrong about Yoongi, but... maybe... he was trying to prove himself wrong?

Whatever it was, he needed to know who was really behind all of this.

“Oppa, look, am I pretty?!”

Taehyung set down the reith he was making to stare down at his little sister. She had a flower crown in her hair, orange petals dusting her honey colored strands and making her eyes shine brightly.

“Very pretty~,” he cooed. “Definitely the prettiest.”

She beamed up at him before running off to go show their parents and their other sibling.

“Namjoon hyung!” Taehyung’s little brother cheered, and Taehyung blinked in surprise at the figure walking through the flower shop’s doors.

Kim Namjoon was an alchemist Taehyung had known for almost as long as he knew Jimin. Namjoon was the mayor’s son, and for some reason Taehyung’s parents doted on him like he was one of their own. It wasn’t uncommon to see Namjoon stop by every once in awhile to say hello and play with Taehyung’s siblings.

Taehyung himself didn’t mind namjoon much, he just hadn’t seen him in a while which was why he was so surprised to run into him now.

He was only slightly weary of him because of the friends Namjoon liked to hang around.

One of them being Min Yoongi.

And the other being Jeon Jungkook.

The three of them always sat in that shadowy corner of the cafeteria, and Taehyung didn’t know if he was curious or concerned about what they discussed over there.

“Hey, Taehyung-ah,” Namjoon greeted, taking off his hat to be polite.

Taehyung fiddled with the reith in his hand. “H-Hi, Namjoon-ssi.”

Namjoon smiled, a single dimple showing itself. “No need to be so formal. We’ve known each other for years, haven’t we? 'Hyung' is fine. Do I have to remind you every time?”

Taehyung blushed in embarrassment but Namjoon nudged his shoulder playfully, charming eyes framed by thick glasses. Taehyung’s never seen him without them on.

“No worries. Hey, I came to talk with you, actually.”

Taehyung’s eyes widened slightly. It wasn’t common for Namjoon to seek him out for anything.

“Me?”

Namjoon nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to ask you something… about Jin hyung.”

Now Taehyung was really confused. Since when did Namjoon and Jin know each other?

He bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from exploding with questions.

“Ask away.”

Namjoon took a deep breath.

“Do you know if he’s going with anyone to the festival?”

Oh, Taehyung thought.

OH!

Taehyung quickly shook his head. “Nope! Not that I know of. Um… why do you ask?”

Taehyung knew very well why Namjoon was asking. He could see it in the way the older boy’s cheeks flushed red and he tried not to make eye contact with Taehyung.

“No reason,” he squeaked out, making Taehyung giggle at his nervousness. “I have to go now. See you around… I guess.”

“Yeah, see you at the festival,” Taehyung called after him. “And tell me if you need a good luck charm!”

The back of Namjoon’s neck turned even redder as he made a hasty exit.

Taehyung laughed softly to himself.

Maybe that hyung wasn’t so bad after all.

 

~^~
 

“I think i’m starting to notice a pattern.”

Jimin groaned and flopped onto his stomach.

“Is this how you felt when I kept harassing you about my project, because your obsession with the attacks is really starting to get out of hand now.”

Taehyung ignored Jimin and continued to stare down at his paper.

For one, the attacks always took place at night, right around midnight.

Two, it was always random people who happened to be around at the time, never a specific target.

And three, what the media failed to inform, was that these so called monsters were basically zombies. They were dead people who used to be very much alive, exhumed from their graves without permission and set on a course to kill.

It also made all of the recent grave robberies make a lot more sense now.

“Why don’t you just join the police force?” Jimin whined, clearly bored out of his mind as he rolled back and forth on Taehyung’s bed.

Taehyung glanced over at him and was only a little surprised to see a voluptuous woman now sitting comfortably on his bed, wearing a long red dress.

“Cut it out, Jiminie,” he said flatly, turning back to his papers.

Jimin pouted and changed back, golden amulet on his neck swinging back and forth.

“Not even the curvy lady got your attention?”

“It never did.”

“Fine,” Jimin harrumphed, rising to a stand. “I’ll go hang out with Hoseok hyung. Call me later if your parents need anymore help.”

Taehyung nodded. The festival was in two days and everyone was scrambling to finish last minute preparations. The town’s yearly festival committee only consisted of a few individuals, so they were accepting help from wherever they could.

Taehyung played with his pen and stared out his window.

It felt like something was missing from the paper before him.

Suddenly, Yoongi’s front door opened and said boy stepped out, clutching that same leather booklet tightly in his hand.

Taehyung stood up from his desk to get a better look. He completely forgot Yoongi usually went out at this time on the weekends.

Once again, he is not a stalker.

Feeling bold all of a sudden, Taehyung stepped away from his desk and went downstairs, not even considering what he was doing as he opened his front door and waved to Yoongi who was just stepping onto the sidewalk.

Yoongi looked back at him, clearly startled, and hesitantly raised a hand to give a little wave of his own.

Taehyung felt heat scrape at his cheeks.

“I just wanted to say hi,” he said, walking forward until he was on the sidewalk as well, only the street dividing them.

Yoongi nodded, charcoal hair falling into his eyes. “Hi.”

Taehyung smiled. “I’m sorry that had to happen to you the other night. No one should be accused of something they didn’t do.”

Yoongi tilted his head to the side, and for a second Taehyung was afraid he had been too informal, but then a slow, heart tingling smile was spreading across Yoongi’s face.

“You seem pretty sure i’m innocent. Why is that?”

Taehyung took a step back, the question catching him by surprise.

“I...Um… You see- Well--”

“Thank you.”

Taehyung’s brows furrowed.

“What?”

Yoongi shrugged, slipping the book and his hands into his pockets.

“Thank you for believing me.”

Taehyung opened his mouth. He wanted to say more, he really did, but it was like a noose had been tied around his neck. Yoongi’s smile was blinding. He’s never seen anything so pure on someone so dark before.

Noticing Taehyung’s speechlessness, the raven haired male chuckled softly and his heels, starting down the side walk to wherever it was he was going.

Taehyung snapped out of his dazed stupor and raised his hand that was tightly clutching on to the paper.

“I’ll figure out who’s doing this!”

Yoongi turned around, walking backwards as he regarded Taehyung with that same smile ghosting across his lips.

“I’ll hold you to it!”

 

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^{This is just part 1 so there will definitley be more soon. Part 2 will be either next week or probably even sooner who knows. but yeah This story is only going to be a two parter.} 

^{HAPPY LATE HALLOWEEN <3}