Chapter VII

"I thought I told you not to intrude into affairs which don't concern you, Kibum. I know what I'm doing."

"You've really become an expert at lying, Jongin. You don't know what you're doing. You don't and that irritates me beyond words."

"It irritates you so much that you tailed me."

"Oh, don't talk like that! I was not tailing you at all."

"You were standing outside Taemin's apartment. I felt your presence."

"Well, Hongdae is still my hunting area. Am I wrong?"

"These tricks don't work with me, brother. And stop smiling like that, it makes me want to slap that smirk out of your face."

"Me? I would be playing? Ah, Jongin. Your naivete is hilarious."

"You still address me as if I was a child. I wasn't born to obey your orders."

"None of us were 'born', for that matter. We are 'not dead', remember? Well you evidently tend to forget it, as you keep buzzing around that human."

"'That human' has a name. And you know the reason why I approached him."

"The way you look at him, the way you talk to him and touch him ... it's no longer just about your old problem, Jongin. You crave for that human just like any thief would crave for the jewels of the Queen of England."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your eyes speak differently. You'll put us in trouble, brother. Our father won't be as patient much longer."
 

[...]

"It's been a while." Jongin smiled, as he came out of nowhere. As if he was taking back his shape and substance only in that moment, after approaching in silence, pitch black and elusive as smoke.
 

He smiled and turned his gaze to the violinist who was standing beside him. Taemin was placing back the violin in its case. He had just ended another performance of his. 
"Just one day." Taemin said, deliberately mimicking Jongin's voice.
"Isn't 'just one day' a lot of time already?" That was funny. Like each passing day would matter for an immortal. Jongin was more breezy than usual that night. Taemin couldn't know that for sure, but he noticed it, in some kind of way. As for Jongin, maybe it was for the rush of moving that situation elsewhere. In a more secluded, 'safe' place. Maybe it was because of the discussion he had with Kibum the previous night. Now it was not only Taemin's company he desired, but he was determined to prove to his brothers and father that he was right. Taemin was not dangerous at all. 

That attitude of Jongin made the violinist chuckle a bit while shaking his head. That was a new kind of feeling, after all. Not only having someone to come picking him up after attending all his street performances, but also someone who appreciated his company that much. It never happened before. Taemin finally grabbed the violin's case and put it on his shoulder as always. Jongin reached for it with his hand, cautious.

"Let me bring it for you." 
"There's no need sir, thank you."

That answer felt bitter in Jongin's mouth for a few seconds. For some kind of reason, he couldn't stand the idea of doing nothing for Taemin. Even less, the knowledge that Taemin didn't need his help. 
The vampire stood still, looking at the other with his obsidian eyes. he looked like the projection of an old vintage photo. Rigid, without a single crease. A whirlwind could befall on that square, and it wouldn't even scratch him.

"Sir?" 
Taemin's voice echoed in his head. 
"Sir? Are you okay?"

Jongin looked back at him, finding a couple of precious gray eyes pointing at his. He would have to pay much more attention. Was he starting to lower his defenses? No. That would mean to agree with Kibum, and all the others.
 

"Yes. It's all right, forgive me. Should we go? I hope you remember our appointment for tonight." There was no time to lose. And time had never been so relevant for Jongin until those days. Until he met him. Every second passing by was a second less in Taemin's life and no matter how cruel such a thought was, it was the truth. The only one he believed in. 

Taemin smiled and nodded, his fragile back a bit lowered due to the violin's weight. 
"I would've never miss it." That was the kind of reaction Jongin loved. 
"Let's go, then." He held him out his arm, and Taemin softly placed his hand on it as they started walking. 

Jongin almost found it difficult to walk at normal speed. He was too used to cross an entire continent in a matter of minutes. The speed of a vampire would increase with advancing ages of the latter. The older was a vampire, the more his powers would be accentuated, until reaching the maximum peak, and at that point it was up to him, to keep them at that level. Jongin, by the way, was still growing. He was only 184 years old after all. 
 

Around five minutes passed by after they left the square where Taemin used to play to enter a parking area. There, in one of the most secluded corners it was parked an old Mustang of the 1964, lacquered black. Jongin's house was in Gangnam after all, and it would be rather far-fetched to say he had reached Hongdae by foot in so little time, and the same was for the trip back. Forcing Taemin to walk that much? Like Hell he'd have done it. Also, although rarely exploited, Jongin still had a driver's license. He couldn't remember when he managed to take it, though.

Taemin stopped a few steps away from the car, blinking his eyes. 
"Are we going to your house with this?" He marked the last word and parted his lips. Jongin smiled gently and lowered a bit to look at him in the eye.
"You don't like it?" Taemin bit his own lips. 
"I love it."
"Let's go then." He opened the door and there he let his special guest sit down. That car smelled fresh, like a new one, as if it had been used only two or three times.
 

Hands on the steering wheel, no other words. The ride was quiet, but despite this, Jongin found many ways to peek at what Taemin was doing, often encountering his glance already pointed at his. If only Jongin still had a living heart, it would've lost a beat at that moment. Why an "unknown", so to speak, necessarily had so much influence over his existence?

Once through a gate they parked not far from a driveway and Taemin got out from the car with the same little smile he left with. Jongin held him out his arm again, never getting enough of that mere contact.
 

Jongin's house was a villa. The building stood tall in the middle of a large garden, the different marble columnars played a magnificent effect and Taemin inevitably looked up at them for the whole time until they crossed the threshold.
 

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter