A knock startled him out of the daze he’d been in, wandering halls of blurring memories like a mindless zombie. Yoongi blinked and frowned as he realized he was still in his room, leaning against the door. For a moment, he wondered if he was merely hearing things, but then he felt someone outside his bedroom just before another knock came.

                “Yoongi?”

                That was Wonho. Why was he here…? Maybe if he didn’t say anything, the younger vampire would just go away.

                “I know you’re in there,” Wonho persisted, sounding like he was chewing on his lip uncertainly. Like he would know as a Rank 1 vampire… “Jungsu said he felt you here earlier,” he added, almost like he could read Yoongi’s mind.

                Scowling to himself, Yoongi leaned his head back and took a breath. “What?” he finally grumbled, not moving yet.

                “Namjoon said you need to go see the Crone today,” he explained hesitantly.

                The answer made him even more cross. “I thought you said Jungsu came by earlier.”

                “He did,” Wonho answered, just a hint of irritation present. “I got a message from Namjoon a couple minutes ago.”

                “Why didn’t he just message me?” he grumbled, lowering his head to look at the floor between his legs.

                “Is your phone on?” came the quick question in response.

                Grimacing, Yoongi patted his person and then frowned even harder when he saw his phone very nearly under his bed. “Ugh…” he scowled, wishing for just a moment that he was a Rank 4 vampire so he wouldn’t have to get up to check it. Then another thought occurred to him and he rolled his shoulder as he activated his cloak. Elongating it into a snakelike rope, he reached out and snagged his phone in the malleable darkness before yanking it back. Namjoon would have been cross with him for using his cloak in such a trivial manner but he wasn’t here right now. “No,” he muttered after finally checking to see if it was . Somehow, he’d turned it off last night. There was still a charge which meant it was likely intentional.

                “She’s expecting you around nine,” Wonho added, obviously lingering close to the door if his energy signature was any indication.

                “So stupid,” Yoongi scowled as he flipped through a series of messages from Namjoon.

                Don’t mope in your room all day. – Namjoon 5:43 a.m.

                Since you didn’t answer, you’re either ignoring me or your phone is off. I’m busy today but Hyuna has requested you go by Sanctuary. Make sure that you do. – Joonie 6:54 a.m.

                Don’t worry about Jungkook. He’s staying for breakfast and then taking the long way home. You’ve got time. – N 7:26 a.m.

                Check your phone, Yoongi! Jungsu says you’re there so you better go to Sanctuary today. – Vampire Lord Namjoon 8:11 a.m.

                Brat. I’m sending Wonho to get you. This is an official order. Be at Sanctuary by 9am today. Do not disappoint me. – Coven Leader Kim Namjoon. 8:32 a.m.

                “Ugh!” Yoongi scowled, very tempted to throw his phone across the room as the time of 8:43 a.m. blinked at him from the screen.

                “You okay?” Wonho asked softly from the other side.

                “Fine!” the older vampire snapped back as he stood up and brushed at his rumpled clothes with agitated energy. He roughed his hair up briefly before it settled back into place and then stuffed his phone in his pocket with a disgusted groan. Opening the door, he felt further irritation stab him when he had to actually look up to meet Wonho’s eyes. “I’m going,” he announced, curtly brushing past the vampire as he slammed the door behind him.

                “Alright!” Wonho yelped, stepping aside with his hands up and a confused look on his face.

                Yoongi made it a couple feet before he wrinkled his nose and stopped from the sliver of guilt worming its way into his awareness. He partially turned and raised a hand as if he was going to say something, but when he caught Wonho’s eyes, words failed him. Instead, he nodded once and dropped his gaze before resuming his trek. “So stupid,” he whispered at himself, shaking his head.

                Public transportation would be too slow and he really didn’t feel like running there so that left… With a roll of his eyes, he stuffed his hand into his pocket and retrieved his lighter again. With a deadpan look, he clicked the flame to life and disappeared from the coven. When he reappeared, he was standing directly in front of a sunlit Sanctuary on a beautiful bright day with the last patches of snow lingering on the ground and greenery in the area. It was irritably cheery. Beyond the building, he saw the gentle hills of their mountainous region rising to overshadow it and in the distance to his left he could just see the water zone, full to the brim of aqueous magical creatures and their kin.

                Waving his hand dismissively, he turned his attention back to Sanctuary and frowned. It seemed unchanged from the last time he’d been here in person. His skin tingled from the sheer amount of latent magic that had been built and poured into the area, and not for the first time, he wondered what Hyuna had done to tie so much to this place and still be left mostly alone. He flinched though when the door opened and there she was, standing in the doorway exactly as he remembered her.

                Maroon hair gently framed her flawless but pale face.

                Cherry red lips shone in the sunlight.

                Bare feet were obvious beneath the hem of her long ruby colored dress.

                Dark brown eyes sparkled with warmth and life.

                And turned up with the always easy smile before her lips parted to reveal gleaming white teeth. Even now she seemed more like a creature from a fairy tale than the reclusive owner of an orphanage for magical creatures. “Hyuna,” he nodded in hesitant greeting.

                She reacted by clutching her hands over her chest and gasping as if hurt, turning from majestic fairy creature to an overdramatic actress in the blink of an eye. “Oh!” she opined, turning hurt eyes upon him. “You haven’t come to see me in forty-three years and this is how you greet your mother?”

                Yoongi rolled his eyes at the reminder and immediately rebutted, “You’re not my mom.”

                Unphased by his comment, Hyuna glided from the doorway and moved to stand beside him, placing her hands on his shoulders gently. “An adoptive mother is a still a mother, and you will always be my child. Whether you want to believe that or not,” she pressed, tapping him on the nose, much to his annoyance.

                “Yeah well…” he trailed off, awkwardly shrugging her hands off and stepping aside just a bit so there was space between them again. “Namjoon told me to come so… here I am,” he grumbled, keeping his gaze down even as he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.

                She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head before she wagged her finger at him. “You were always grumpy but you’re far more recalcitrant today. I wonder what happened,” she mused in a tone that made him think she knew exactly what he was troubled about.

                “Hyuna…” he groaned, setting his jaw as he gave her another side-eyed glare.

                “Fine, fine Mr. Impatient,” she chuckled, moving close to grab his shoulders again so she could shepherd him inside. “How are you? Have you been well?” she asked, reaching up to grab his chin and inspect him quickly. But before he could answer, she continued anyway. “You look hungry. Have you eaten lately?”

                “I’m fine,” he grumbled, frowning at the focused attention. She always had a way of seeing to the heart of everything with him and it made him uncomfortable. He was too exposed around her, even when he was as guarded as he could be.

                “Oh, no,” she chided softly, holding him still to step in front of him while she gave him a quick look up and down. “Today you must eat,” she nodded once, stepping back to cross her arms again and nod once in firm agreement.

                “I’m fin-”

                “Don’t make me make you,” she warned him with a sigh. “You know I can.” Yoongi stiffened immediately and closed his mouth before nodding in mute agreement. She could and had in the past. “Wait here and I’ll bring you something,” she winked before turning around and practically disappearing in the same moment.

                Yoongi worked his jaw for a second and then exhaled in quiet frustration. With Hyuna gone for the time being, it allowed his attention to wander to the rest of the familiar place and he couldn’t help but look around. Very little had changed from when he’d been here before. Light filtered inside in a familiar array of brilliance on the dark carpet. Pictures littered the walls and the architecture still seemed to scream Victorian from the eastern part of Euria. Ornate ornaments adorned the walls and trim with curlicues and dainty wooden leaves and the wallpaper was awash in dark curling, winding lines on beige. Even the standing lamps hadn’t seemed to change with their antique shades at this point. Beyond that, the full couch was still in the den and he recalled a great many hours spent lounging on the cushiony dark blue material – and preventing others from sitting there with him…

                Jonghyun had gotten so annoyed with him for making one of the other children cry at the time. He wandered close and touched the back of the couch with light fingers. He’d heard the Baku had passed away not that long ago. Old age and whatnot, but he still felt a twinge in his chest at the thought. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the nightmare eater had helped him a lot more than he cared to say in those days. Looking around to try and shift his focus, he caught sight of the pictures on the wall. One in particular held his eye and he made a face as he approached it. The painting was a perfect replica of him from about… two hundred and eleven years ago. He had black hair back then but he looked otherwise the same. How had the picture not faded at all?

                “You were just a baby back then,” Hyuna’s voice surprised him as she appeared at his side.

                How did she still manage to do that…? “Hardly,” he scoffed, looking over to see the glass of blood in her hands. It smelled better than his usual food and he narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

                “It’s not mine, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she laughed once, pressing the glass into his hands. “You know I don’t skimp on food for my children,” she added, placing one hand on her hip and pointing her finger at him again.

                He couldn’t argue with that. Taking the glass, he tried a sip and figured it was some kind of magical creature but he couldn’t immediately place it. Might have been a blend too… They stood in silence for a moment, just looking at the pictures on the wall, some familiar and most not, before he finally spoke again. “So what do you want my help with?” he asked in a resigned tone.

                “Maybe I just want to visit with you?” she grinned happily, giving him a warm sidelong look.

                Yoongi laughed once and shook his head slightly. “You wouldn’t have Namjoon order me here for just a visit,” he reasoned, taking another sip.

                “He ordered you, did he?” she laughed, clearly amused by the thought. “That was his choice. Not mine,” she pointed out, playing with a strand of hair by twining it around her finger. That made far more sense than it should have. Yoongi made a face and rolled his eyes. “Should I command him for you?” she winked mischievously, recalling the day he’d met Namjoon.

                It made Yoongi laugh, finally, and he shook his head. “Tempting, but no. He, like you, has his reasons,” he sighed, taking another sip.

                “True enough,” she conceded, placing a hand on his arm again.

                This time though, it felt rather like she was really seeing him. Or maybe looking through him. It was slightly disconcerting, made worse by the fact it was not the first time she’d done it. Yoongi looked down and leaned away slightly.

                “It’s alright,” she soothed, moving her hand to caress his head instead, the gesture infinitely motherly in its touch. It hurt in a way he couldn’t really explain.

                Wincing, Yoongi stepped away. “Hyuna.”

                Her smile turned sad but she laughed anyway and raised her hands in quiet surrender. “I need you to help train one of my children today,” she explained honestly, lowering her hands to clasp them in front of her.

                “Why?” he wondered, at a loss. She was normally quite capable of such things.

                “As you may have noticed, the others are away for their lessons,” she explained, gesturing at the otherwise strangely empty building. “But my daughter is in a unique position.” Yoongi narrowed his eyes curiously and waited for her to continue. “I have been training her but she’s stuck right now and… I don’t think it would be good for me to be the one to break her through this next part.”

                Looking back in his memories, Yoongi tried to pull the missing piece into focus. He sharpened his awareness of smell and leaned a bit closer to get a better scent. She smelled familiar, as usual, but it was different from when he’d lived with her before. Her smell had changed a couple times since living with her but that usually coincided with new children of a certain type. She smelled not unlike him but infinitely different as well. Today, it was more like the scent of a sunny day after the rain fell. She was missing some things…

                Hyuna watched him with thoughtful eyes as he puzzled her over. “Shadow is the one I’m concerned about,” she chuckled under her breath, laughing harder when Yoongi wrinkled his nose at the admittance.

                “That one,” he grimaced, pointing a finger at her. “I remember what can be done with that, you know?”

                “And that’s why I’m asking you, Yoongi. You who has never been afraid of shadows and the dark. You who knows what to expect and how to counter them. You who is not her mother living under the same roof together,” she added with a sideways quirk of .

                “Hah! You want me to be the big bad here,” he accused with a finger pointed at her.

                She shrugged innocently and hummed. “If that’s how you see it, who am I to argue?”

                “You’re terrible,” he grumbled, making another face. “Why didn’t you just ask Namjoon?”

                Her raised brow was answer enough but she did continue, “He’s busy. So is Jungsu. And none of your juniors are up to the task. Furthermore, you’re free today,” she winked. Before he could get upset, she also tacked on, “And it’s not like I’m going to invite some random vampire into my home, now am I?” She turned serious then and placed her hands on his shoulders once more, making him face her directly. “I’m asking you because I trust you. Trust you not to hurt her and not to get hurt in turn. At least not too much anyway.” Hyuna shifted her hands to gently clasp his face between them. “That and I think you might be getting rusty, my lazy child,” she teased with a bright smile.

                “Terrible,” he mock scowled as he brushed her hands away and took a breath.

                “Nearly two decades without a trainee now-"

                Had it been that long?

               "-and don’t think I didn’t hear about your encounter with the chimera not that long ago,” she chided, both hands resting on her hips in obvious disappointment. “That should have been child’s play for you to catch him,” she tsked with a shake of her head. “Unless…” she hummed, turning a thoughtful expression on him. “You had a reason not to.”

                 “Fine,” he conceded with a falsely dismissive snort at himself to avoid the topic. “I’ll help your mystery child.” His words fell into lingering and observant silence for a very long moment, during which he felt Hyuna’s gaze acutely. But then the atmosphere shifted as quickly as a lightning strike.

                “Wonderful!” Hyuna chirped in delight, hopping in place and clapping her hands together more like a little girl.

                “How old are you again?” he asked with a dubious look at her.

                “None of your concern,” she grinned back with another finger pointed his direction. “Now go wait by the basement. I’ll bring my daughter down shortly. And finish your drink,” she added sternly before turning to head up the stairs.

                Yoongi pursed his lips as he watched her go but then took a breath and quickly downed the rest of the contents of the glass. That was why she wanted to feed him. To make sure he could do this next part without too much trouble. Then again, it would depend on the girl’s level. He made a detour to the kitchen first to wash the glass out and then headed to wait by the basement door. It didn’t take long for Hyuna to return with another woman at her side.

                She was obviously young and just on the cusp of adulthood, but she felt more like a teenager. Shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled into a half horsetail so he could see her face but she kept it mostly turned down. Ripped jeans and a baggy t-shirt hid most of the rest of her and she screamed insecurity and a lack of confidence. For just a second, she reminded him of a much younger version of himself at a certain point. With a quick shake, he banished the thought and waited for introductions.

                “Yoongi. This is Hyosung, my shadow daughter,” she introduced with obvious pride.

                “Hello,” Yoongi greeted first, leaning down slightly to try and see under her bangs.

                “Hyosung,” Hyuna nudged gently.

                “Hello,” she mumbled, glancing up and then back down before holding her hands together.

                “Don’t worry, love. He’s not afraid of you either,” she promised, petting the back of Hyosung’s head with a soothing hand. “He’s a vampire,” she added, smiling when Hyosung looked up at the explanation.

                “Like…?” she whispered, pointing at Hyuna uncertainly.

                Hyuna nodded and then gestured towards Yoongi with a light hand against her daughter’s back. “Go on. It’s alright,” she promised in the same gentle voice. “I’ll be right here if you need anything.”

                “Okay,” she nodded, very clearly dragging her courage together.

                ‘Be nice,’ Hyuna mouthed when Yoongi looked over the girl’s shoulder.

                He raised a brow. When was he not nice? Before Hyosung could see him, he waved at Hyuna dismissively and then opened the door for the younger woman. “After you,” he urged, even giving a slight bow out of politeness. When he looked over at Hyuna, she rolled her eyes at his theatrics and then waved him off dismissively. She didn’t even wait for them to close the door before she turned and left, off to something else apparently. Yoongi scoffed once and made a face at her back.

                “Yoongi?” came the uncertain voice down the stairs, pulling him from his focus.

                “Coming,” he promised before he turned the lights on and then closed the door so they could train in the basement like old times. For him anyway.

                The sun was starting to set when Yoongi finally limped back to the coven after getting off the buffer zone bus. He’d hoped it would give him time enough to heal more before he returned but that wasn’t quite the case. Either he was getting rusty or she’d been stronger than he initially thought. Both were actually possible. Glancing down, he grimaced at the state of his unfortunately tattered clothes and was only grateful no one had asked him questions on the way back. One of the benefits of wearing mostly dark clothing some days was that you couldn’t see the dried blood on it, though he was pretty sure a couple of magical creatures had smelled it on him earlier. Regardless, after a morning of literally being swallowed by shadows and having to claw his way out again, he wasn’t quite ready to use the shadow paths to get home again so soon.

                Grimacing, he scratched at the back of his head and laughed once. He had kind of asked for it though. If you were gonna piss someone off, you had to be prepared for the possible backlash. But it had been a while since he’d dealt with that particular kind of opponent. Pausing in front of the coven doors, he stood up straight and stretched, wincing when everything pulled uncomfortably. As ready as he was going to be, he headed inside.

                For a wonder, no one was in the entryway. It wasn’t dark yet so that made sense, but it also meant no busybodies trying to ask what was wrong. “Let’s go,” he urged himself, willing his body to move at least a little bit faster as he tried to make it up the stairs. Miraculously, no one appeared before him and he made it to his room without incident.

                The bed felt magical when he fell on top of it, arms and legs spread out haphazardly. He was quite content to simply lie there for hours, but then his phone reminded him he had a message or two waiting for him. Groaning dramatically, he rolled over on his side to make it easier to draw his phone out of his pocket and then flopped on his belly to look at it with his arms resting on the bed. There were three messages. One from Hyuna. One from Namjoon. And one from Jungkook. He opened Hyuna’s first.

                Thank you for today. I think this will really help my daughter, so you have my gratitude. Make sure you eat plenty and try to come see me again before another fifty years go by. Love, your (adoptive) mother Hyuna 3:52 p.m.

                “Yeah, yeah. You owe me,” Yoongi grumbled, clicking out without responding. Jungkook’s was next but he skipped it for Namjoon’s message instead.

                Heard you went by Sanctuary today. Good on you. Let me know how it went later. – Namjoon 12:35 p.m.

                “Nosy busybody,” he scoffed, deleting the message quickly. “You just want to hear about what it’s like inside her home.” That was certainly something about the Crone – she barely let friends or acquaintances inside her home and definitely not strangers. Namjoon as good as fell in the acquaintance category and was treated more like a stranger when it came to visits. Most people knew about Sanctuary but what happened inside was generally a mystery. She really was protective of her children.

                The last message was from Jungkook and the text in the preview wasn’t enough to give him a solid idea of what it was about. It made him nervous… What if he’d decided to stay home? What if he didn’t want to become a vampire anymore? What if he wanted to leave Yoongi just like that…? “Ugh!” he groaned rolling over on his bed to stare at the phone screen above him. Glaring at it didn’t open the message. Nor did it make him feel any better. The screen went blank from inactivity and he scowled again. “Fine!” he grumbled, unlocking it and quickly tapping the message while he looked away. He couldn’t see the message that way but it was open… Slowly, he dragged his eyes back to focus on the screen and read the text therein.

                Hey Yoongi. Finally back home. Yoongi frowned. “Which home? Home home? Your home? My home?” He hurriedly continued reading. Namjoon let me know you’d be busy today so it took longer than I wanted to get back. “So Tradeborough then. Damn you, Namjoon. Definitely a busybody.” I just wanted to let you know I know why you took me home yesterday. And I’ve made a decision, but I want to talk to you first. “Is that a red flag?” Yoongi wondered with furrowed brows. “I feel like I should be worried,” he grumbled, letting his eyes continue to finish the message. So yeah. Let me know when you’re back. – Jungkook 3:22 p.m.

                Making a face, Yoongi dropped his hand to the bed with his phone nestled safely in it. “He wants to talk. Most conversations that come from that line don’t end well,” he reasoned, staring at the ceiling. “And what decision was there to make?” he added, lifting his hand and head to glare at the screen again. “Ugh. Brat. This should not be stressing me out,” he scowled, lifting the phone back into place above him so he could send a message in response.

                I’m back. Where are you? He heard the send notification and realized it was definitely not the politest of messages but he was too tired to dance around the topic right now. Sighing loudly, he let his hand fall back down to wait for a response, unsure how long it would take. He was not expecting within thirty seconds though and flinched as a message dinged. “What the…?” he frowned, staring at the response from Jungkook.

                In my room. – JK

                Yoongi’s frown deepened. Which room?

                Another almost immediate response followed. In the coven.

                Seriously? “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” he wondered, eyeing the message almost suspiciously. Oh.

                Where are you?

                “What are you, just waiting for my responses?” Yoongi exclaimed, staring at his phone as it almost immediately notified him of another message. It did not completely escape him that he was basically doing the same thing. My room. He sent the message and waited for the response but was almost disappointed when one didn’t come back in an instant. Impatiently, he tapped the screen and checked the signal. “So stupid,” he grumbled, lowering the phone to the bed and taking a breath as he tried to melt into the surface. It really did feel nice. But then that bit of bliss was interrupted by a message notification. He pursed his lips before looking at the phone and then blinked in surprise.

                Can I come over?

                It felt like it had taken him a while to send that… Then again, Yoongi was in no hurry to respond either as he stared at the message. He could pretend to be tired and put it off. But then he’d just have it nagging at the back of his mind. That meant he should probably get it over with now, but what if the decision wasn’t a good one? That would just throw his day off more. No. Better just to eat the garlic and get it over with. Yes. As soon as he hit the send button, he froze with a glance down at his clothes. Immediately, he tried to recall the message but it showed as already being seen. “Seriously?!” he rolled his eyes and groaned, dropping his arms to the bed again. “Whatever,” he muttered. Just part of being a vampire anyway. Now if he could only convince himself to sit up…

                The knock at his door came much too quickly for his liking and he glared at the wooden barrier. “It’s open,” he called instead of getting up to answer it.

                With a quiet click, the doorknob turned and the door swung inward, revealing Jungkook in the entryway. He looked rested if a bit nervous and he brushed at his dark hair while his lips quickly. But then he actually saw Yoongi on the bed and his eyes widened in obvious alarm and surprise. It was mildly gratifying seeing such an open and honest response. “Are you okay?” he asked with a gasp as he rushed over to the bed with every evidence of beginning panic.

                “I’m fine,” Yoongi answered with a ghost of his usual smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. He was doubly grateful for the dark clothes color and Jungkook’s poor sense of smell. It was true his wounds had long since healed but dried blood was another matter. With a wince and a groan, he hauled himself into a sitting position on his bed and hung his elbows over his slightly bent knees.

                “What happened?” Jungkook asked, lingering close with his hands hovering like he should try to help but not sure how.

                “An unexpected training session,” he admitted with a dismissive wave, content not to go into great detail. “Seriously. I’m fine,” he reiterated when the other man seemed frozen with indecision. “Have a seat,” he gestured instead, motioning towards the side of the bed.

                “Right,” Jungkook murmured hesitantly, still looking over Yoongi’s tattered clothes and then stopping on his face, apparently trying to determine just how okay he was.

                “What did you want to talk about?” he asked, unable to keep himself from shifting a little uncertainly himself.

                “What?” his mentee asked in brief confusion. “Oh. Yeah,” he nodded a second later, hands finally settling in his lap as he took a breath before nibbling on his bottom lip. “Well,” he started, one hand gesturing out to help him do the talking. “Like you saw in the message, I made a decision this morning after talking with my parents. I mean, I’d already made a decision,” he admitted with both hands fluttering, “but this time I really made it,” he looked at Yoongi, “and I just wanted to let you know that even though I know it’s a big deal, I still think things are gonna-”

                “Jungkook,” Yoongi stated simply, reaching out far enough to touch the man’s thigh to help halt his flow of words. It was impossible to miss that he was nervous and it was making Yoongi even more nervous just watching him. “What did you decide?” he asked, voice quiet and gaze steady. If he’d had a regular heartbeat, he imagined it would have been fairly fast just then.

                Jungkook just looked down at the fingertips on his thigh with one hand hovering over them where they’d stopped in the story telling at Yoongi’s words. Then he dropped his hands to rest on top of his thighs again, so close they almost touched Yoongi’s fingers, but not quite. It seemed he measured the distance between them like it was a test or something of the sort but eventually looked up to meet the vampire’s eyes. “I’ve decided to stay.”

                Yoongi blinked and his fingertips twitched in response to his understanding of the words. He was going to stay? The unofficial promise, a statement of intent at the very least, sank into him like a soothing balm and he almost missed the following stream of nervous words that came to help explain why.

                “I’ve decided to become a vampire. I know that it means losing my humanity. And that it means drinking blood to survive. And that it also means I’ll have to see my human friends and family grow old and… die,” he trailed off with a slightly pained grimace. “But I’ve decided this is what I want. I… want you to be my mentor. I want to be a vampire. So… I’ve decided to stay,” he stated again, shifting his hand just enough for his loosely curled fingers to brush against Yoongi’s fingertips.

                Yoongi’s internal monologue was awash with a stream of frustration. ‘This is what you wanted to ‘talk to me’ about? This is what you made me stress about? Ugh!’ His outer words were far fewer and exponentially less stressed. “Foolish human,” he responded with a nod, allowing his hand to stay where it was as he looked at Jungkook with a coy smile. “That’s good,” he assured the other man, still confused about there having been the need to make a decision again. “But that does mean you’ll become a part of my world and all that entails,” he teased with a wink. “You ready for that?”

                Jungkook suddenly gained the look of a deer in headlights and he blinked once. “Yes?”

                “If you say so,” he laughed once, lifting his hand to pat Jungkook’s in a friendly manner. “Was there anything else?” he asked, peering at the young man with a curious expression.

                “Oh. No,” Jungkook answered with a shake of his head, obviously a little surprised by the direction things had gone.

                “Okay then. Good talk,” Yoongi nodded once, motioning towards the door with a quick hand. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to change,” he explained, picking at his tattered clothes as a reminder.

                “S-sure,” the younger man stammered, hopping off the bed like it was lava. “I’ll just be in my room,” he added, hands fluttering around him in his nervousness again.

                “Okay,” the vampire nodded once and waved, staying where he was on the bed. He watched as Jungkook stepped out and quietly closed the door behind him, eyes looking up once from his downward turned face before their line of sight was broken. “Ugh…” he groaned softly, falling back on the bed to stare at the ceiling. It was obvious Jungkook wanted to get closer to him but he didn’t know if it was a mentor-mentee thing or an attraction thing or just a desire for greater friendship thing… His last mentee had been easy. He very clearly was only interested in women (at the time) and the friendship-mentee thing moved along fairly naturally. Here… it was worse because Yoongi himself didn’t really know what he wanted to feel.

                He said he was going to stay though. And that he wanted to be a vampire. And he wanted… Yoongi to mentor him. That was a start. Something he could work with for sure. They couldn’t really train yet, due to the difference in abilities and skill levels, but he could spend time with him and teach him more about becoming a vampire. The positives this time. Yeah.

                “Okay,” he nodded once, threading his fingers together over his chest as he decided what he was going to do. “You can be a mentor at the very least. You were kind of like one for Hyosung today and you have done it before so… just do that for Jungkook.” He blinked and frowned, shaking his head at himself. “Oh, for fangs’ sake. Why are you even making this an issue? Idiot,” he scowled at himself, hauling his body off the bed so he could strip and head for the shower. “Why do you always have to make this difficult when you get a new mentee?” he berated himself before he stepped into the bathing room.