Yoongi yawned as he followed Jungkook out onto the training grounds the next day. He was handed a wooden sword and dagger and a harness with holsters that he guessed was what slayers used to hold their weapons. “It’s too early for this ,” Yoongi grumbled trying to get the belt on. He couldn’t figure out how to tighten the clasp as it was too big to fit around his hips. The straps on his shoulders fell by his elbows as he struggled. “How do I put this stupid thing on?”

Jungkook looked at him and laughed. “Let me help.” He pulled Yoongi closer to him by the shoulder strap and put it back into place. He then adjusted it carefully making sure not to make it too tight and adjusted the belt at Yoongi’s waist. Jungkook took the wooden sword and dagger from Yoongi’s hands and set them carefully into the holsters on the gear and examined the other up and down. “How’s that?”

“Good… I guess,” said Yoongi, his cheeks flushed a soft pink that Jungkook didn’t notice. “Do I really have to do this?”

“Yes, you do,” said Jungkook as he pushed the sleeves of his grey hoodie up to his elbows. “Do you have any fighting experience?”

“Yeah, my dad taught me some stuff in case someone came to the cabin when he was gone.”

“Good then, you’ll do fine.” Jungkook led Yoongi over to where Taehyung and Jimin were talking with each other.

“I would rather be sleeping,” said Yoongi as he rubbed his eye sleepily.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll just tell Jimin hyung to go easy on you.”

Yoongi rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his sweatpants pockets. “Whatever.”

“Hey, morning,” Jungkook said to greet the others.

“Morning~” Taehyung beamed. He looked at Yoongi and bowed slightly. “Nice to meet you. I’m Taehyung.”

Yoongi smiled awkwardly. “I’m Yoongi.”

“I’m excited to start training with you. I’m kinda new here too, you see? Only came here about two weeks ago.”

“Actually, Tae, you have drills with me today,” Hoseok said as he walked up behind Yoongi. He placed an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders and smiled as he twirled the katana he had in his hand. “Jungkook said he wants you to try some sword techniques with a real sword today.”

Taehyung’s eyes lit up as he carefully took the katana from Hoseok. He admired the blade for a moment, his eyes shining. “Really?” A wide grin spread across his face. “This is going to be so fun~!”

Jungkook chuckled. “Don’t hurt yourself, okay? And remember your stance.”

Taehyung nodded firmly. “Got it~”

Hoseok glanced at Yoongi who stood there yawning. “You sure he should be sparring so early in the morning? He looks tired.”

“I am.”

“You’ll be fine.” Jungkook looked at Jimin. “Go easy on him a little, okay? He’s new to all of this slayer stuff.”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Sure, whatever.” He turned, going over to the sparring ring and waited.

Hoseok pat Yoongi’s shoulder. “Good luck,” he whispered as he moved to the side with Taehyung.

Yoongi sighed and walked up to the sparring ring, standing across from Jimin. ‘He definitely doesn’t like me,’ Yoongi thought as he noticed Jimin glaring at him. He noticed Jimin’s eyes flick toward Jungkook for a second when he stepped up next to the ring. Yoongi glanced at Jimin curiously.

Jimin held up his wooden sword and got into his fighting stance. Yoongi awkwardly pulled out his sword and held it out. He faked an unstable fighting stance knowing Jimin would notice it and Jungkook started their match. Jimin lunged forward going for Yoongi’s legs to sweep him off his feet. Yoongi dodged all of Jimin’s strikes and at the last moment, stepped on Jimin’s sword, breaking it in half and skillfully moved behind him before Jimin noticed and whacked his back with the sword.

Jimin grunted as he stumbled forward and looked at the now broken wooden sword in his hand with disbelief. The sparring swords were made to be unable to break no matter how much force you put into them but Yoongi was able to break it like it was nothing. Jimin threw the piece to the side and turned, shooting a piercing glare toward Yoongi as his eyes flashed a bright red. Yoongi yawned as he held out his sword.

“I’m bored,” said Yoongi. “You at this.”

Jimin’s eyes blazed a brighter red and he swiftly ran at Yoongi striking with his dagger. Yoongi blocked it quickly and smirked holding Jimin back as the other tried to push him. He could tell how pissed off Jimin was and couldn’t help but feel satisfied.

Jimin growled under his breath as Yoongi smirked. It infuriated him how calm Yoongi was while sparring with him. It infuriated him how no matter hard he tried he couldn’t beat him. It infuriated him how close Yoongi seemed to be to Jungkook even though they had just met and it infuriated him more knowing that Yoongi was staying with Jungkook in his room.

Yoongi chuckled. “How amusing.”

“What is?”

“You’re in love with Jungkook, aren’t you?”

Yoongi was quick to notice how Jimin hesitated slightly at the mention of Jungkook and used that to his advantage. He faked a punch to Jimin’s left which the other tried to block but as he was distracted, Yoongi swung his sword and knocked Jimin to the ground with a hard blow to the chest. Jimin groaned as his back made contact with the ground and lay there trying to catch his breath.

Yoongi sighed and bent down next to Jimin. “What a shame. I thought slayers were better than this.”

Jimin rolled his eyes and stood up, walking off angrily. Yoongi looked at Jungkook who was looking at him in shock to notice he was also joined by Taehyung and Hoseok.

“Holy ,” Taehyung exclaimed. “How did you do that? I can never beat him.”

Yoongi shrugged. “It’s easy. Get him while he’s distracted.”

“But he’s never distracted…”

“Yes, he is. You’ve just never noticed.”

“Good fighting,” said Hoseok. “Who taught you?”

“My dad.”

“Really? Was your dad a slayer?”

Yoongi shook his head. “No, but he knew one. By the name of Jeon Joonhyuk.”

“My dad? Your dad knew mine?” Jungkook looked at Yoongi perplexed. It had never dawned on him ever that his dad would have known Yoongi’s. Then again, he didn’t really know much about his dad’s past at all.

“Yeah, but he never said how they knew each other. Just that he knew him and hated him. Maybe your dad tried to kill mine, who knows?”

A few hours later passed and Yoongi won several sparring rounds against Jungkook. He gulped down some water and sat on the ground to catch his breath. “You know, I thought slayers would be better fighters.”

Jungkook let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his shoulder to ease the pain. “How the hell did you beat me?”

“Yeah, how did I beat you? Aren’t you like one of the top slayers?” Yoongi mused to tease Jungkook a bit. The other male rolled his eyes at that and said nothing.

Taehyung and Hoseok joined both of them and sat on the grass. Taehyung hummed happily. “I am officially in love with the katanas we get to use. I should have decided to become a slayer a long time ago.”

Jungkook finished the water in his bottle and turned to Hoseok. “How’d he do?”

“He did great. He just needs to relax his shoulders more. But, for his first time, he did well. He could use more practice though,” said Hoseok as he peered in Yoongi’s direction. “I noticed that he won many rounds against you, Jungkook. What happened?”

“Dunno,” Jungkook replied. “Maybe it’s just an off day for me.”

Yoongi snorted. “No. You just at fighting. My dad trained me better than your dad trained you.”

Jungkook shrugged, an unreadable smile spreading on his face. “Or that.”

Hoseok could tell that Jungkook was upset that he had lost so many rounds. He had never seen Jungkook lose a sparring match ever. Not once since Hoseok arrived at headquarters.

“Hey,” Jiwoo said as she walked up to them, “it’s time for lunch.” As all four of them stood from the ground, she turned to Yoongi. “You definitely have to be there. You have to introduce yourself in front of everyone. It’s kind of tradition for the new recruits to introduce themselves during lunch.”

Yoongi’s eyes widened. “E-Everyone?”

“Yeah. All the slayers come together for lunch so it’s the best time for you to introduce yourself.” Jiwoo smiled and hooked her arm with Jungkook’s. “All you have to say is your name, where you’re from, and one thing about you or you can talk about why you decided to come to headquarters. Don’t worry, it’s quick and easy.”

Yoongi froze in his spot as Jiwoo led Jungkook and Taehyung away. He let out a frustrated breath and put his hand to his forehead. He had to talk in front of people, and not just people, it’s everyone that’s in slayer headquarters.

Hoseok nudged Yoongi gently noticing how anxious he looked. “You okay?”

Yoongi shook his head quickly. “No, I’m not alright. I don’t want to introduce myself in front of everyone. I knew I shouldn’t have come here. I should’ve just stayed in that cabin. Away from people…”

He buried his face into his hands and groaned. “Oh my god…”

“I can hide you in my room if you want,” Hoseok said.

Yoongi chewed on his bottom lip. “I want to hide but… I should probably just get it over with, right?”

“Do you want me to introduce you?”

Yoongi paused considering it for a moment but shook his head. “No...no, I think I should introduce myself.”

“Okay, come on then.”

Yoongi followed Hoseok as he rehearsed what he was going to say in his head. ‘Min Yoongi. Daegu…’ he paused. His mom was from Daegu, it’s also where he was born. Or at least that’s what his dad told him. But what was he going to say about himself after that, there was nothing remotely interesting about himself other than him being half vampire but he wasn’t ready to trust people with that information.

His heart started to race as he approached the mess hall with Hoseok. Maybe he should tell them that he doesn’t like people and would rather be sleeping or in his dad’s cabin in the woods. Or maybe he should tell everyone about his anxiety. Or that he actually doesn’t want to become a slayer and is only there for Jungkook.

Maybe not. None of those sounded pleasant. Especially the last one.

He took a deep breath as he walked through the doors after Hoseok. There were a lot fewer slayers than he thought but he was still anxious regardless. He followed Hoseok to the table Jungkook sat at and took the empty seat next to him.

Yoongi folded his hands on the table and fiddled his thumbs. He glanced at the two new recruits from the table next to theirs as they stood. He stayed quiet as they introduced themselves.

“Uh, hello. I’m Jungwoo and this is Yukhei, or you can call him Lucas.” He gestured to the male standing next to him. “We both came here from...uh, well, we both have been stranded together since all our friends are… pretty much dead now so, we’ve been to so many places, we don’t really have a place we’re from anymore…”

Lucas nodded. “We both wanted to become slayers because, as he said, all of our friends are dead. They were killed in front of us and we wanted to become strong to make them proud.”

They both sat down and a few other new recruits took their turns to introduce themselves. Suddenly, Yoongi felt faint when he noticed that his turn was coming up. He felt his heart race and his body heat up. He looked around at everyone and, even if no one was looking at him it felt like all eyes were on him. He swallowed as the last recruit before him introduced themselves.

They were just about done with their introduction and Yoongi stood and ran out of the mess hall before anyone could react. He heard Jungkook and Hoseok both calling after him but he didn’t stop and kept running. He hid behind one of the dorm buildings and crouched behind a bush.

“I just want to go home,” he mumbled and leaned back against the building. He looked up at the sky and watched as the clouds rolled by. He could hear Jungkook’s voice calling for him getting closer and quickly stood up to run again but he bumped into Hoseok.

“Here you are. Are you okay?” Hoseok touched Yoongi’s arm gently, his touch seemed to relax the other which Yoongi found strange.

He shook his head in response to Hoseok’s question.

“No? Come then. I’ll hide you in my room until you feel better.” Hoseok held his hand out to which Yoongi was quick to take. Yoongi blushed as Hoseok interlocked their fingers and dragged him away. All of a sudden, Yoongi felt like he was in another world. The sound of Jungkook’s voice faded away and it felt like only he and Hoseok were the only ones there.

Hoseok led Yoongi into the dorm building and up the stairs.

“You’re on the same floor as Jungkook,” Yoongi observed as he looked at Jungkook’s dorm room door just three doors down the hall.

“Yeah, but don’t worry. I don’t think he’ll look for you here.” Hoseok opened the door and let Yoongi in.

Yoongi looked around, his eyes lighting up when he saw beds in the room. “Oh, you have a bed.”

Hoseok chuckled. “Yeah. The other bed is Jimin’s so…” He directed Yoongi to his bed to which the other happily sat down on it.

“Isn’t he a vampire? Why does he need a bed?”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t always and he’s having a really hard time with being a vampire. He doesn’t want to get rid of his bed because it’s the only thing that he has left to feel human.” Hoseok sighed. “I feel really bad for him.”

Yoongi nodded slowly. “I see… He doesn’t like me much, huh?”

“You’re right about that.” Hoseok passed Yoongi a bottle of water and sat next to him on the bed. “Though he didn’t like me much either when I first came here. And look at us now, we’re sharing a room and we’re fighting partners. He didn’t like Taehyung either, but they seem pretty close already even though Tae’s only been here a short while. You just have to wait for him to lighten up to you.”

Yoongi took a sip of water. “Is there a reason it’s like that?”

“It was really only him and Jungkook for the first two years when Jimin got here. He’s just a bit overprotective over him. You know, like hyung instincts.”

Yoongi snorted. “He’s in love with him, it’s not instincts.”

Hoseok laughed. “How did you know?”

“I may not like people, but I know how to read them. It’s so obvious that Jimin has feelings for him.”

“You’re right about that.” Hoseok looked at Yoongi. “So, why did you run?”

Yoongi looked into his lap and played with the bottle cap between his fingers. “I’ve lived a very sheltered life. I don’t like people. I have a hard time trusting them. I just don’t do human interaction anymore after everything that happened in the past.”

“Then you probably don’t want to be talking to me right now,” said Hoseok in a slightly disappointed tone.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind if it’s just you.”

“Why’s that?”

Yoongi shrugged. “I really don’t know. There’s just something about you that makes me feel comfortable. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Hoseok smiled softly. “That’s good to hear, but you should probably be getting some rest.” He stood up off the bed. “I’ll let Jungkook know you’re here.”

“You’ll let me sleep here?”

“Unless you’d rather sleep on Jungkook’s couch.”

Yoongi quickly shook his head. “No.”

Hoseok nodded. “That’s what I thought. Now, rest, okay?”

“Okay.”

Yoongi quietly watched Hoseok leave the room and pulled himself up to the pillow. He laid his head down onto it gently. It smelled mostly like vanilla but with a hint of lavender. Yoongi almost immediately felt relaxed and didn’t even realize just how tired he was until he had fallen asleep not five minutes later.