^{Hello, yes I know it's literally been a complete year later but at least I finished it... finally T___T} 

^{I am so sorry :')}

---

 

It was the day before the Hallow’s Eve festival and the town was in utter chaos.

The town square was swarming with volunteers putting together last minute decorations, and there were a lot of teens skipping school to finish getting ready for the event. The festival was usually the biggest event of the year for everyone, so it wasn’t uncommon to see so much going on before the actual day.

Taehyung found himself helping his mother decorate the stage in the center of the square. A live folk band was scheduled to provide music, and he was honestly looking forward to it. Music always made Taehyung feel happy and light.

“These chrysanthemums are going to look so beautiful in the firelight,” his mother commented with a gentle smile. Her hands brushed the petals and they bloomed wider for her. “That should do it for the stage. Go see if your father needs help, Taehyung-ah.”

Taehyung nodded dutifully and took off towards the group organizing the game and food stalls. He briefly wondered if Hoseok and Seokjin decided to go to school today. Jimin was at the mall with his brother looking for an outfit for the festival, but there was no telling where the others could be.

It was as he was walking that he happened to catch sight of a mop of pitch black hair. His eyes latched on to the person who had stopped at the edge of the square. They seemed to be observing the hustle and bustle curiously, like they wanted to help too.

It was Yoongi.

“Hi there.”

Yoongi seemed a little startled by his greeting, but he brushed the black strands away from his dark eyes and nodded slightly.

“Oh, uh, hi.”

Taehyung bit his bottom lip to hold himself back from giggling. He refused to admit that Yoongi’s awkwardness might have been a little… cute.

He joined Yoongi in looking out over the chaotic scene before them. It was quiet between the two of them for a while, but then he shifted his weight and decided to break the silence.

“I haven’t found out anything new since yesterday, but I heard that two more people were killed this morning.”

Taehyung could practically hear Yoongi’s knuckles crack with the force of his balled up fists.

“Yeah. I heard so too.”

“But don’t worry about it too much,” the wiccan went on. “I feel like i’m getting close in my investigation. As soon as this festival is over i’ll have more time to look into it.”

“You really don’t have to, you know.”

Taehyung glanced over at Yoongi. The older male was already looking at him with earnest eyes, so he quickly looked away.

“I know I don’t, but I’m already really interested in it so I might as well, right?”

Yoongi shrugged.

“Hey, do you maybe want to… help out?”

A black eyebrow raised above obsidian eyes. “Help out? Me? You mean like… with the decorations?”

“Correct!” Taehyung mustered up his best smile and clasped his hands together. “We could really use all the help we can get. I hate seeing my parents so stressed out every year.”

“...Ok.” Yoongi hesitantly answered. He started to roll up his long black sleeves, revealing smooth, milky white skin underneath.

“Ok?” Taehyung blinked in surprise.

“Yeah, where do I start?”

If someone had told Taehyung a few months ago that he would be working alongside Min Yoongi to prepare for the Hallow’s Eve festival he would have referred them to a healing session with Hoseok pronto. Never in a million years did he think he would look over after nailing up a banner on a stall only to see Yoongi hammering in a nail as well. It was all too surreal for his brain to process at the moment, so he decided to just go with the flow and not question it.

Mother nature always has a plan.

Taehyung was just glad his friends weren’t around to about it.

“Yoongi hyung?! Is that you?!”

But he guessed that didn’t rule out Yoongi’s friends.

Yoongi groaned before climbing down the ladder. Taehyung climbed down his own ladder as well and was only a little surprised to see Kim Namjoon approaching them. He had a crate of glass bottles in his arms, and gently set them aside to address the two.

“I just stopped by to drop off these lemonades my mother made,” he explained with a dimpled smile. “She knows how hard everyone has been working.”

“That’s really nice of her,” Taehyung commented. He only ever talked to Mrs. Kim a few times before, but she did seem like a really thoughtful lady.

“What are you doing here, Hyung?” Namjoon asked, addressing Yoongi once again. “I never thought i’d see you… um… How should I put it?... Decorating?”

For some reason, Yoongi’s face started to turn a light shade of red.

“Oh shut it,” he grumbled, reaching over to whack Namjoon in the arm.

The alchemist laughed wholeheartedly and Taehyung simply watched this all from the sidelines. The more he saw Yoongi behave like a normal teenage guy the more he couldn’t understand how anyone thought he was capable of murder. Taehyung was even starting to feel frustrated with his own self for judging the guy for the past ten years.

“Did you two snag dates for tomorrow yet?”

Taehyung shook his head with a frown. He hadn’t really thought about having a date. He just assumed that he would be going with Jimin and Hoseok like he did last year, and completely forgot to ask the both of them if they already had dates.

If it were any other event he wouldn’t have really cared, but for some reason showing up to the Hallow’s Eve festival alone was considered pathetic in their town. It meant being teased for the rest of the school year.

“I’m not going.”

The statement snapped Taehyung out of his thoughts and had him looking at Yoongi like he was crazy.

“You’re not going?” he asked incredulously. “But- But it’s the Hallow’s Eve festival! Everyone goes every year!”

Namjoon fiercely nodded along.

“Well I don’t,” Yoongi answered back with a sigh. “Never have.”

Taehyung’s brows pinched together in disbelief. “Not even once?”

“Not even once.”

Taehyung couldn’t believe that he never noticed Yoongi’s absence at all of the past Hallow’s Eves. He guessed it was because there was so many people and so many things to do.

“So… you two are friends now?” Namjoon blurted.

Taehyung looked over to see something that looked a lot like a twinkle in his eyes.

Yoongi squinted up at the alchemist. “What are you trying to--”

“Hey why don’t the two of you go to the festival together? That way you won’t look weird for not bringing someone,” Namjoon suddenly suggested, looking absolutely pleased with himself.

Yoongi let out an exasperated sigh. “Didn’t I just tell you i’m not--”

“How about it, Taehyung-ah?”

Taehyung nervously glanced back and forth between Namjoon and Yoongi. The necromancer looked like he was trying to telepathically tell him to say no, while the taller male looked like he desperately wanted his friend to go out and socialize.

Taehyung had to admit that he did find it kind of ridiculous that Yoongi had never been to a Hallow’s Eve festival before.

“Sure.”

Yoongi looked like he had stopped breathing. His mouth slightly parted in shock.

“Let’s… go together,” Taehyung elaborated, all while fiddling with a lock of his lilac hair. “It’ll be fun?”

“You don’t sound so sure,” Yoongi muttered, a grimace taking over his features.

“Great!” Namjoon said with a big smile. He picked up the crate again and winked at the flabbergasted duo. “I’m going with Jin hyung so I guess I’ll see you two during the festivities tomorrow.”

And then he went on his merry way.

“I hate him.”

Taehyung looked to Yoongi as the older male stuck his hands in his pocket and hunched over. His jaw was clenched in anger, but no matter how sharp he tried to look it did nothing to hide the blush dusting his cheeks.

“I hate him and I hope he rots in hell.”

“He seems to love you a lot,” Taehyung pointed out, a teasing edge to his tone.

Yoongi glanced over at him a couple of times before turning away.

“I should head home now. I guess i’ll see you tomorrow.”

Taehyung nodded, but then a thought came to him. “Wait, are you picking me up or do I pick you up? And what time do you want me to leave? Is there a certain color I should--”

“Wear whatever you want,” Yoongi replied with a wave of his hand, not even bothering to look over his shoulder. “And quit worrying about who’s picking up who, we literally live right across the street from each other.”

“Oh… um… right.”

With that, Yoongi left, and Taehyung now had the opportunity to think about a lot.

How would tomorrow go? What was he going to wear? Where was the live band and why weren’t they rehearsing? What would everyone think when they see him show up with Yoongi?

Taehyung shook away the last thought as soon as it entered his head. He was never one to worry about what other people thought of him, and he shouldn’t start now. Sighing, he trudged over to his father to see if the man knew when the band planned on showing up.

The butterflies in his stomach were doing flips and dives at the prospect of tomorrow.

~^~

Half of the contents of Taehyung's closet were now in heaps and piles all over his room. He texted Jimin pictures of outfits and called him several times for his opinion, but his best friend was also going through his own crises it seemed. His hair was giving him trouble and his melt down was almost as bad as Taehyung’s.

Taehyung tried asking Hoseok for help too but the older boy said yes to every item Taehyung sent him a picture of, and it made it extremely hard for the wiccan to narrow down his choices.

Calling Seokjin for help was also a viable option, but the call went straight to voicemail and poor Taehyung was left standing in the middle of his room with a dejected sigh.

He didn’t know why he was getting so worked up over this night. It usually only took him a few minutes to get ready for the festival, because he was too excited to worry about the intricacies of his outfit.

But now that he was going with someone other than his usual group of friends…

Throwing down the shirt in his hand, Taehyung padded over to his window and peeked through the curtains.

Yoongi’s room light was on, so that must have meant the necromancer was also getting ready.

“Wear whatever you want.”

Taehyung the balls of his feet and stepped over the mess on his floor to dig into his closet again. A soft, pink sweater that he bought last year suddenly came to his mind, and now he couldn’t imagine wearing anything else to the festival.

After a lot of digging and throwing aside small trinkets here and there, he finally pulled out the soft material and hugged it to his chest.

Perfect.

Scrambling to his feet, Taehyung grabbed a pair of blue skinny jeans and went over to his full length mirror. He pulled on the sweater and it fit loosely over his shoulders, exactly how he liked it. The material was cozy and it still smelled clean so he smiled happily before stepping into his jeans. He didn’t realize he picked up the one with a rip in one knee, but it worked somehow so he decided to keep it on.

His smile faded slightly when he glanced up at his bird’s nest of a hair. The lilac locks were going every which way and doing a weird cow- thing in the back.

Taehyung gritted his teeth and started to quickly run his fingers through the tangled strands until they were soft and in order. After deeming it good enough, he reached for the flower crown hanging by his mirror and plopped the blue roses unto his head.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Taehyung stepped back and took a good look at himself.

Even he had to admit he looked pretty damn cute.

His lilac hair and the blue flowers complemented the pink sweater perfectly.

Jimin would have probably and called him a fairy, but honestly it might as well have been a compliment.

Bouncing over to his dresser, Taehyung picked up his little good luck charm and hung it off of one of the loops in his jeans. He was going to need all of the help he could get.

It didn’t really hit him that he was about to go on a date (?) with The Min Yoongi from across the street until he was walking downstairs and freaking out before even opening his front door.

His cheeks started to feel warm and he was pretty sure his heart was going to jump right out of his chest.

Was it normal to feel this way before a date with a… a what?

A friend?

The lamp bulb next to Taehyung popped, and he jumped in surprise. All of the lights in the house went off one by one and Taehyung heard a groan from upstairs where the rest of his family was getting ready.

“Sorry!” he called to them, and slipped out the door before they could lecture him on controlling his energy.

As soon as he closed the door behind him and turned towards Yoongi’s house he was met by the sight of Yoongi also emerging from his house. The necromancer looked surprised to see him as well and they both kind of stood on their own doorsteps, staring at eachother.

Taehyung opened his mouth to say something but paused when his eyes took in what Yoongi was wearing.

In all the years Taehyung spent observing Yoongi from afar (again, he is not a stalker, he swears) he had never seen Yoongi wear any other color but black.

But now Yoongi was in a steel grey sweater that had rips in the collar and all Taehyung could do was gape. The color went so well with Yoongi’s pitch black hair and dark eyes, and the thin material was finally showing the shape of his skinny but toned arms and chest, which were usually buried beneath heavy black jackets.

“I should change,” Yoongi suddenly blurted, probably taking Taehyung’s silence the wrong way.

The wiccan instantly stepped forward with a protest at the tip of his tongue when he saw Yoongi reach for his doorknob.

“No! It’s… I really like it.”

Yoongi looked to him again, brows furrowed. “You do?”

“Yes, I do,” Taehyung answered truthfully. “It’s different. You look… nice.”

Taehyung had the pleasure of seeing a hint of gums when Yoongi smiled down at his feet. “Oh, um, thanks. You too… I mean, yeah. You look great.”

Taehyung rocked on the balls of his feet with a shy smile and pink cheeks, hands tangled in the hem of his shirt. It almost felt surreal for them to be standing in front of each other like this, but something in the back of his mind told him that this was the way things were meant to be.

Intuition, maybe?

“We’re kind of early but let’s get going,” Taehyung announced, hopping down the small steps leading from his door and heading over to Yoongi’s side of the road. “I want you to try the candied apples before all of the little kids get to them. They’re delicious!”

Yoongi nodded with his bottom lip between his teeth and an apprehensive look in his eyes, but he fell into step next to Taehyung nonetheless and opted to just listen to the boy chatter as they walked to the festival.

The sun had only set an hour ago so the night was still young. They weren’t the only ones heading to the festival earlier than usual. There were families and couples strolling towards the twinkling lights and faint folk music.

Taehyung trailed off in his rant about pumpkin carving when he noticed that Yoongi was looking down as they walked, not really saying much. He tried to think of something that would pull the older boy out of his head and get him to open up more, but he didn’t really know what might interest Yoongi.

“So Namjoon hyung and Jin hyung, huh?” he casually mentioned.

Yoongi let out a snort. “It’s about time.”

Taehyung glanced at him curiously. “You knew they liked each other?”

“Of course I knew,” Yoongi answered back with a raised brow. “Only an idiot wouldn’t have seen how… wait. You had no clue, did you?”

Taehyung scratched his cheek, laughing awkwardly. “Well you see…”

“Those two become such dorks around each other,” Yoongi continued in an exasperated tone. “How the hell have you never noticed?”

“Too busy watching you, I guess.”

Taehyung froze for a split second after the words left his lips. He stumbled a bit but kept walking, refusing to see what kind of face Yoongi might have been making.

Great, Taehyung. If he didn’t think you were strange before he definitely does now.

“I’m sorry, I don’t why I said--”

“I-It’s ok.”

Taehyung peeked over at Yoongi out of the corner of his eye and was surprised to see a glimpse of red cheeks.

“Looks like we’re here.”

Taehyung directed his attention ahead after the words left Yoongi’s lips, and smiled wide at the sight of the Hallow’s Eve Festival. It looked even more beautiful than last year, and he mentally patted himself on the back for helping his parents and the committee put the whole thing together.

When he looked at Yoongi he was delighted to find the boy looking just as amazed, maybe even more.

“Come on,” Taehyung giggled, reaching out and grabbing the necromancer’s wrist. “The candied apple stall is this way.”

Yoongi didn’t pull his wrist away and Taehyung didn’t rush to let it go.

“They look like they’ll give me cavities,” Yoongi grumbled at the sight of the caramel and candy dipped apples. Some of them had other extra toppings on them like sprinkles and nuts, but Taehyung picked out a traditional, plain caramel dipped one for Yoongi to try as his first.

The vendor gave the two a weird look before handing over their treats, but if she had any comments about the odd pair, she didn’t voice them.

“What is all over yours?” Yoongi asked as they stepped to the side to enjoy their apples.

Taehyung beamed at him with a mouthful of the sugary stuff. “This is one of the candied ones that’s been dipped in gummy bears. Want to try some?”

Yoongi shook his head and gently nudged Taehyung’s hand away. “No thanks. I’d rather not die at my first festival.”

Taehyung laughed at that and continued to munch away. He liked that Yoongi was slowly starting to loosen up with him. It almost felt like he was hanging out with Jimin or Hoseok.

“Do you like yours?”

Yoongi wearily glanced down at the caramel apple in his hands.

“It’s good!” Taehyung insisted. “Trust me!”

Sighing, Yoongi finally brought the apple to his mouth and took a bite. He chewed for a bit and ignored the way Taehyung eagerly studied his face for a reaction. He didn’t like how the caramel stuck to his teeth but he did like how the taste of the apple and the caramel worked together.

It was pretty good.

“I like it,” he mumbled, and Taehyung let out a triumphant shout.

“Yes! Ok, now you have to try the ghost cider.”

“Ghost cider?”

“TaeTae?”

The pair turned around to see Park Jimin walking towards them with a nervous smile.

“Hey Jiminie,” Taehyung greeted. He was happy to see Jimin but he felt a little weird to have his best friend and Min Yoongi right next to him at the same time. “I love the green eyes. It’s a nice touch.”

Jimin shrugged nonchalantly, but Taehyung knew he was internally happy to be praised. “Thanks. It was either this or blue, but I felt like the green would capture the night better.”

“Jungkookie?” Yoongi blurted, sounding extremely confused.

Taehyung followed his line of sight and noticed Jeon Jungkook approaching them from the same direction Jimin came from. He unconsciously moved closer to Jimin, hiding behind his smaller but muscular frame.

“Hey, Hyung,” Jeon Jungkook mumbled, looking completely unfazed by the festivities going on around him. His eyes were lined with dark coal and his ink black hair fell into his face, making it hard to read his expression. “You decided to come this year?”

“I could say the same for you,” Yoongi scoffed. “What are you doing here? Who did you come with?”

Jungkook ignored the questions and glanced around, eyes landing on Taehyung and then Taehyung’s hands clutching Jimin’s arm.

“Huh. Pink.”

“Oh, right, I guess I should introduce you two,” Jimin chuckled, like he wasn’t standing next to their school’s resident practicer of voodoo.

Taehyung was beyond confused now.

“TaeTae this is my date, Jungkookie. Jungkookie, this is my best friend, Kim Taehyung.”

“Date?!” both Yoongi and Taehyung exclaimed in surprise, mouths hanging open  

Jungkook sighed and grabbed Jimin’s hand.

“Let’s go, Hyung. They’re boring.”

“Oh! Well um, see you later Taehyung-ah!” Jimin called to his friend before disappearing into the crowd of people.

Meanwhile, Taehyung was still spluttering about in shock. “But-- When-- How did they…?”

“Don’t look at me,” Yoongi shrugged, still staring at where Jungkook and Jimin had walked off to. “I’m just as clueless as you are this time.”

Taehyung shook his head in awe.

~^~

“You’re quiet again,” Taehyung pointed out, after winning Yoongi a carved baby pumpkin during one of the stall games. It fit adorably in the palm of the older male’s hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m not… used to all of this,” Yoongi quietly responded. He stared down at the pumpkin in his hands for a while before placing it in his pocket. “The band sounds nice.”

Taehyung brightened at the necromancer’s obvious attempt to start a conversation.

“I picked them out myself,” he stated with a proud smile. “I love music. Next to nature, it’s one of the only things that can brighten my mood whenever i’m sad.”

“You? Sad?” Yoongi snorted to himself, as if the very thought of a gloomy Taehyung was unheard of.

“I have a wide range of emotions just like everyone else,” Taehyung argued back. “I’m not all sunshine and rainbows, you know?”

The band finished the song with the lingering shake of their tambourine and Yoongi sighed.

“I know,” he whispered. “I know because even though i’m a necromancer and everyone expects me to be dark and dreary, I can be happy too... I can.”

Taehyung surprised Yoongi by grabbing his hand and interlocking their fingers together.

“I believe you, Yoongi hyung.”

“You know…” Yoongi began, gently squeezing Taehyung’s hand as they walked. “That’s probably the first time you’ve said my name since I moved into that house across the street from you ten years ago.”

Taehyung nearly fell over in shock at this revelation, and he was also a little happy to know that Yoongi knew how long they had been living across from each other.

“That can’t be true,” he protested.

“It is,” Yoongi insisted. “But… it was worth the wait.”

Taehyung felt something in his stomach flip. It was a peculiar feeling to say the least, but he liked the tingling warmth that came with it.

Yoongi used to always give off a cold feeling to him, but now it was something entirely different. Not as warm as holding a hot cup of cider, but the kind of warmth you can only get while snuggling under a blanket during a thunderstorm.

Taehyung didn’t know what all these new feelings and thoughts meant.

But he liked it.

“Let’s dance.”

Yoongi’s head shot up in surprise, eyes widening.

“D-Dance?” he stuttered out, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. “But I don’t--”

“It’s ok. I’ll lead,” Taehyung encouraged with a smile. He dragged Yoongi closer towards the stage, where a small group of people were dancing and clapping cheerfully to the music.

There was a small bonfire set up in the middle of the festivities. Tiny embers flitted through the air and up into the sky, reminding Taehyung of fire flies. He liked the way the flames made everyone’s face gain an ethereal glow.

Including Yoongi’s.

“Taehyung-ah, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Yoongi mumbled. He nearly stepped on the wiccan’s feet when Taehyung found a spot for them to dance and pulled him closer.

“I think that’s the first time you’ve said my name too,” Taehyung giggled. He started to freely move his arms up and down, which gave Yoongi no choice but to do the same since they were holding hands. “Relax, Hyung. Just listen to the music.”

Taehyung watched on as Yoongi’s frozen expression slowly melted into a soft smile. He kept looking down at his feet because he was afraid he would step on Taehyung, but at least he seemed to be enjoying himself. He let Taehyung twirl him, dip him and pull him into his embrace. Taehyung was even rewarded with an actual laugh from the necromancer, and if he could record the sound he would have.

“It’s crazy to think about how nervous I was when I first talked to you a few years back,” Taehyung commented. The song had switched to a softer melody, and now they were swaying calmly in the bright embers of the fire.

“Ugh, the mail right? That was so embarrassing,” Yoongi groaned. He buried his face into Taehyung’s shoulder and the younger felt his cheeks warm. “I wouldn’t come out of my room for a few days after that. I was sure you thought I was a weirdo or something.”

“Hey, I was embarrassed too!” Taehyung reassured him. “I couldn’t even talk properly.”

Yoongi was still complaints into his sweater, and Taehyung felt himself smile.

“But we’re here now, Hyung.”

Yoongi pulled away so that he could stare up at him properly. Taehyung’s smile was as a bright as the flames beside them.

“We’re here now,” the younger repeated softly.

Yoongi his wet lips, desperately trying to form words in his muddled brain. It scared him how easily he and Taehyung mixed together. Over the years, catching glimpses of the boy out of the corner of his eyes, watching him laugh and talk with his friends, he had seemed so unattainable to Yoongi. Taehyung was like the sun. He was the very breath of life, and Yoongi didn’t want to corrupt that. He didn’t want to bring his death and darkness to someone like that. His twisted magic had no place in Taehyung’s life.

He was so sure of that.

Until now…

Now Taehyung was holding him in his warm arms. He was smiling down at Yoongi like he had found a precious treasure, and Yoongi wasn’t used to it. He wasn’t used to someone like Taehyung looking at him with those type of feelings in their eyes.

“We’re so different,” Yoongi mumbled. A frown had taken up his face, causing the smile on Taehyung’s lips to falter a little. “What do you even see in me? I’m a necromancer, Taehyung-ah. And you? You are life itself. You love nature and light and--”

“I don’t care about that,” Taehyung interrupted. He pulled Yoongi closer, until their chests were pressed together. “I don’t see a necromancer when I look at you. At one point, I might have, but I don’t now. I just see you, Yoongi hyung. I’ve seen you for the past ten years. Only you.”

Yoongi felt like the wind had gotten knocked out of him.

Taehyung let out an exasperated laugh and shook his head in amusement.

“My friends were so right. I’ve had a stupid crush on you all these years.”

“You have?” Yoongi asked in disbelief. “But--”

“I have,” Taehyung confirmed. “And it feels really good to finally admit it.”

Yoongi had the sudden urge to jump into the fire and make the flames swallow him whole. Anything would be better than feeling this fluttering sensation in his stomach.

“It’s ok if you don’t like me back.”

Yoongi snapped out of his mental breakdown upon hearing the dejected words. He looked up at Taehyung to see a sad smile playing across his delicate features.

“You probably just want to be my friend, right?”

And then it clicked to Yoongi. He never really made it clear to Taehyung about how he felt. It wasn’t like Taehyung could read minds after all, but did the younger really think he would come to a festival with someone he didn’t like? Did he really think someone he didn’t like could convince him to slow dance? To even dance at all?

“You’re an idiot.”

Taehyung looked taken back as the words left Yoongi’s lips. They had stopped swaying a while ago, and were basically just holding each other now. Taehyung opened his mouth to say something, but Yoongi pressed on.

“You’re an idiot if you think I would go to this stupid thing with anyone but you.”

Taehyung’s eyes widened.

“I’ve liked you from the start.”

“From the start?”

“From the start,” Yoongi confirmed. Slowly, hesitantly, he reached up a hand towards Taehyung’s hair and readjusted the flower crown on his head. He then used the opportunity to glide his fingers through the soft, lilac strands, and he couldn’t help thinking the boy looked like a damn fairy or a prince.

He was beautiful.

“I don’t know how it happened or when it happened, but sometimes I think it might have been that first time I spotted you in school.”

“Really?” Taehyung breathed. His voice sounded breathier and heavier than usual, causing a shiver to run down Yoongi’s spine.

“Yeah. You were with your friends and Park Jimin was tickling you. The first thing I thought was something along the lines of ‘that kid has stupid hair’.”

Taehyung playfully slapped Yoongi at that. “Hyung!”

The corners of Yoongi’s lips actually lifted. “But the second thing I thought, the most annoying thing I thought, was ‘wow, he’s beautiful’.”

Taehyung flushed red. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not romantic enough to make this up.”

Taehyung leaned into the feeling of Yoongi playing with the small hairs at his nape. His instincts were telling him to lean down and finally taste the older male’s lips. Their faces were so close, and the tension was building, but a part of him wondered if maybe they were moving too fast.

Too fast? It’s been ten years Kim Taehyung!

He really hated his conscience sometimes.

Taehyung rocked forward on the balls of his feet. His eyelids grew heavy and his his head lowered just slightly. A few more centimeters and--

“Taehyung-ah… there’s something I should tell you.”

His eyes flew open to see Yoongi staring at him with a serious expression. The elder even went as far as to take a couple of steps back, and Taehyung suddenly felt cold, despite the fire blazing beside them.

“What- What is it?” he nervously asked, not at all liking the vibe Yoongi was giving off. The young wiccan fiddled with the good luck charm hanging from his belt loop, and tried to not jump to the worst conclusion.

Yoongi ruffly ran a pale hand through his midnight hair and sighed.

“I think--”

A blood curdling scream suddenly ripped through the night, making even the folk band bring their instruments to a screeching halt. Everyone paused what they were doing, all curiously staring at one another and wondering if they had heard things, but then another shout sounded, followed by the loud moan of something clearly inhuman, and then everyone went into a panic.

Taehyung looked to Yoongi with wide eyes as people screamed and ran in all different directions. The necromancer immediately reached out for him and latched onto his wrist, so that they wouldn’t be separated in the chaos.

“It’s another attack,” Taehyung concluded, voice shaky with fear. “Like the ones that have been happening all month.”

“I know,” Yoongi said gravely. He pressed a hand to his mouth and cursed. “We gotta--”

“If we follow the screams it will lead us right to them,” Taehyung suggested. “We can finally end this.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Yoongi protested. He was stiff and rigid, but Taehyung attributed it to everything that was going on.

“Hyung, we can finally figure out who’s doing this,” Taehyung whispered, reassuringly clutching Yoongi’s shoulders. “Don’t you want to clear your name?”

Yoongi said nothing.

Taehyung sighed and grabbed his hand. “Come on. If you’re scared, i’ll protect you.”

The younger started to drag them towards the chaos.

“I’m not scared, I’m just--”

“Jin hyung! Namjoon hyung!” Taehyung suddenly shouted.

The two ran up to a panicking Namjoon. He was snapping his fingers in front of Seokjin’s face and desperately trying to get him to move, but the seer was rooted to the spot. His beautiful brown irises had turned into a milky white color, and when Taehyung touched his arm it was hard like rock. Completely cold to the touch.

“He’s having a vision,” Taehyung concluded.

“A vision?!” Namjoon exclaimed in exasperation. “Now?! Of all times?!”

Taehyung started to look around for something, eyes scanning the floor and some of the abandoned stalls. “He usually has better control of them. I don’t know why this is happening either, but I know how to pull him out of it.”

“What are you- Wait, why do you need a broken piece of glass?”

Yoongi stared at Taehyung in confusion as well, but the younger boy ignored the necromancer and the alchemist. He grabbed Seokjin’s stiff arm with his left hand and brandished the broken piece of glass he had found with his right.

“You’re going to cut him?!” Namjoon asked incredulously, face draining of color.

“I have to!” Taehyung argued back. “Physical pain is the only way to snap Jin hyung out of his trance when he gets like this. We can’t leave him here.”

Namjoon just rubbed a hand down his face and turned away. “Do whatever you have to do,” he muttered hoarsely. Yoongi rubbed his back in consolation and nodded to Taehyung.

“Hurry.”

Taehyung nodded back and faced Seokjin again.

“Sorry, Hyung,” he whispered, before quickly swiping the sharp glass across Seokjin’s fair skin.

Blood immediately seeped out of the cut, and at first there was no reaction from Jin’s face, but then the color slowly returned to his cheeks and his eyes began to flutter.

His white eyes turned brown again and Taehyung breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a hiss escaped the older male’s mouth.

“T-Taehyung-ah? Ow! My arm!”

Namjoon whirled around at the sound of Jin’s voice and rushed at him until he was hugging the life out of the seer.

“Hyung! You’re ok!”

Seokjin chuckled weakly. “Yeah, Namjoonie. I’m alright. Sorry about that.”

Another, loud groan punched the air and made a shiver run down Taehyung’s spine. He could see concern cloud Seokjin’s eyes when he realized what was going on around him.

“What happened, Hyung?” Taehyung asked him quickly, while Namjoon wrapped his arm in a piece of cloth from one of the stall decorations. “I thought you had control over your visions now?”

Seokjin swallowed thickly, his face taking on a grave look. “I do! Well… at least I thought I did. Taehyung-ah… I just had a vision that didn’t relate to me at all.”

Taehyung stiffened. “You what?”

“I know, it’s crazy.” Jin hissed as Namjoon knotted the makeshift bandage. “That’s always been the one weakness in my abilities, that I can only see visions related to me, but this time they were about… Yoongi.”

It felt like the world had been ripped out from beneath the Wiccan’s feet.

“It started to happen during the slow song,” Jin continued on. Namjoon nodded along, confirming the story. “I suddenly fell into a vision and it was like I was seeing everything through Yoongi’s eyes. I knew it was him because one second he was looking up at you, feeling so happy, and then the next second he was facing someone’s back, feeling so sad and- and scared.”

Jin shuddered and tucked himself into Namjoon’s side when the alchemist placed a comforting arm over his shoulder.

One of the stalls nearby suddenly crumpled to the ground, and they all turned to it with fear in their eyes. Whatever was attacking everyone was close.

Taehyung still felt numb with shock.

Why would Jin have a vision about Yoongi?

Who was Yoongi going to face?

“Taehyung-ah?” Jin called to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Yes, Hyung?”

Jin frowned.

“Where’s Yoongi?”

 

~^~

Yoongi pushed through the screaming crowd of fleeing people, barely catching a glimpse of one of the gruesome monsters out of the side of his eye. His heart was pounding furiously in his ears, and he just wished that his suspicions weren’t correct.

That none of it was true.

He now had fewer people to maneuver around. The festival grounds gave way to the edge of a forest, and Yoongi ran into the foliage. He felt bad for leaving Taehyung and his friends behind, but this was something he had to do himself.

Abruptly, he stumbled into a clearing with a single figure standing before a pentagon. There were candles and various herbs set up in a ritualistic like fashion.

Even though the figure’s back was turned to Yoongi, he already knew who it was.

“Eomma?”

The woman turned around in surprise, her face growing pale at the sight of her son before her, but she didn’t stop chanting quietly to herself. She kept squeezing her bleeding palm over the center of the pentagon, all while staring directly into Yoongi’s eyes.

“I hoped it wasn’t you,” he whispered. There were tears building in his eyes. “But the more I looked into it, the more things kept pointing back to home, back to you.”

His mother glanced away.

“I stood up for you!” Yoongi shouted, angry at her silence. “I told them I was the only necromancer yet here you were, practicing the craft right under my nose. Why mother? Why are you doing this?”

“Because they deserve it!” she suddenly bellowed. Her eyes returned to Yoongi, but this time they were bloodshot and determined. “At first I only started because I wanted to find a way to wake your father.”

Yoongi in a breath, a look of shock and disgust taking over his face.

“Appa told us to never do that to him. The dead aren't the same people when they are resurrected.”

“I know! I know but I-- I miss him so much, Yoongi,” his mother sobbed. “I missed him so I tried to bring him back, but then a thought occurred to me. The people of this town would never accept him once he returns. If they’re awful to us, imagine how they would treat your father?”

“Eomma, please stop this!” Yoongi begged. He took a step towards her with his arms out, palms facing upwards pleadingly.

“I can’t, honey,” she whispered through her tears. “A few more drops of my blood and the deed will be done.”

“I won’t let you continue.”

The crying woman shook her head. “If you stop me you’ll be ruining any chance of us ever being a family again!”

Yoongi lowered his hands to his side, a single tear slipping down his face.

“We were already a family.”

And then he lunged at her.

 

~^~

 

Taehyung ran as fast as he could as soon as he realized what was happening.

Yoongi was going to face the culprit all on his own, and the wiccan refused to let his new friend do such a brash thing. He pushed through the thick forest, stumbling over roots and leaping over flowers. Jin’s words were repeating over and over in his head, and he just hoped that he would get there in time.

Yoongi hyung.

Yoongi hyung!

Yoongi hy--

Taehyung stopped in his tracks as soon as he entered the clearing.

There was a large diagram entered into the soil, with candles placed at each point, dripping wax into the grass. Other herbs and spices were strategically placed among the lines, but the intricacy of the display wasn’t what had him standing stalk still, barely breathing.

It was the sight of Yoongi’s hunched over back kneeling on the ground.

Soft crying matched each shake of the older boy’s shoulders, and Taehyung literally felt his heart drop to his toes.

“Y-Yoongi hyung?” he called out in a gentle whisper. He tried to take a step forward but Suddenly Yoongi was stiffly raising his arm in a halting motion.

“Don’t!” he choked out, and Taehyung listened.

He took a step back and swallowed thickly.

“Hyung… what happened?”

“I had to,” Yoongi said in a watery voice. He started to slightly rock back and forth, head lowering towards whatever was in his arms. “She wouldn’t have stopped. She wouldn’t have stopped! I had to!”

Instead of moving forward, Taehyung walked to his right. He wanted a better view of what Yoongi was holding, and he held back a gasp when he realized it was a body.

The cold body of Yoongi’s mother.

“I had to…”

 

~^~

 

7 MONTHS LATER

 

Taehyung sat in the grass of his school’s courtyard, waiting for Jimin and Hoseok to show up.

The new school year brought many changes with it. Students were now allowed to enjoy lunch outside. Taehyung liked being able to feel the sun’s warmth on his skin and the pulse of the earth beneath his crossed legs.

But being able to sit outside wasn’t the only change, there was also the background checks being done on every student enrolled.

Ever since what happened at the Hallow’s eve festival all those months back, everyone in town had grown weary of each other. People were even too scared to practice magic for a while, but eventually that died down and things somewhat returned to normal.

Taehyung tried to talk to Yoongi for weeks. He knocked on the necromancer’s door and called out his name time and time again, but Yoongi never answered. He knew the older boy was in there, because he sometimes saw the light in Yoongi’s room on, but Yoongi never opened the door.

Taehyung didn’t blame him. He couldn’t imagine how horrible it must feel to lose both parents, not to mention the fact that it had been Yoongi himself who ended his mother. He just wished he could comfort the pale male in some way.

It was torturous hearing all of the rude comments people made about Yoongi. Taehyung knew who Yoongi truly was and despite everything, he knew Yoongi was a kind person. So many more people could have gotten hurt if Yoongi didn’t step in and put an end to what his mother was doing.

Eventually, Taehyung stopped banging down Yoongi’s door every single day, and only showed up once a week instead. He was tempted to stop trying plenty of times, but a little part in him still hoped.

Suddenly, a small wildflower dropped into Taehyung’s lap.

He startled a bit at the sight of the thing and looked up, wondering where it came from.

Only to be met by the sight of Min Yoongi staring down at him.

Taehyung’s eyes widened.

“Yoongi hyung? W-what are you doing here?”

“Came to clean out my locker,” Yoongi answered, nonchalantly sitting down as if he hadn’t been avoiding Taehyung and the world for the past seven months. “I was kind of… unavailable during the last couple of weeks of school.”

“Yeah,” Taehyung nodded, still struggling to find his voice. “I’m glad you were able to graduate despite the, um… circumstances.”

Yoongi mumbled a thanks at that, eyes shifting to the side and running over the faces of students calmly chatting to one another in the grass. Taehyung never noticed it before, but Yoongi’s eyes weren’t as pitch black as he originally believed. The sun hitting them brought out a deep brown mocha holding flecks of gold. So warm and full of emotion, he was pretty sure he could get lost in them.

“You tried to tell me,” Taehyung blurted.

Yoongi’s eyes focused on him again.

“Back at the festival,” the younger boy continued. “You tried to tell me who it was but I didn’t notice. I kept wondering why you didn’t seem so interested in clearing your name anymore, and now it all makes sense.”

Yoongi looked down and picked at the grass.

“I’ve been avoiding you, and i’m sorry for that,” he whispered hoarsely. “I just- I thought you would see me differently now, after what I did. I thought you would see me like everyone else does.”

A tan hand curled over Yoongi’s, effectively stopping his nervous tugging on the poor greenery.

“I know you didn’t enjoy doing what you did, Hyung,” Taehyung said with a comforting of his thumb. “You’re still the same guy I danced with.”

Yoongi’s eyes finally rose to meet his.

“I don’t deserve you.”

Taehyung smiled warmly at that. He cupped Yoongi neck with his warm palm and thumbed at his jaw.

“You deserve to be happy, Yoongi hyung. Necromancer or not.”

A rush of air left trembling lips.

“Are you going to kiss me?”

Taehyung didn’t realize how closely they were sitting until that moment. His exhale was Yoongi’s inhale, and he liked the feeling of the elder’s hand on his waist, fingertips inching towards the little strip of skin exposed by his bunched up sweater.

“Your foresight is almost as good as Jin hyung’s,” he cheekily replied, before closing the distance and touching his lips to Yoongi’s.

He knew people were looking at them with judging stares. A necromancer kissing a wiccan? How odd.

But Taehyung didn't care, because he didn't see a necromancer when he looked at Yoongi.

He saw the boy who danced shyly in the firelight, pink lips stretched into a gummy smile.

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

^{Sorry if the ending was lame, I hope you guys liked it! Thank you to everyone who commented, and I'm sorry for taking so long to finish this!!}

^{I'm also going to post this on my ao3}