A/N: 

Remember when I said that I wasn't going to rewrite the prewritten chapters from this point on? Welp, I lied lol. As I was rereading it, it didn't feel like the end game chapter I wanted for this, so what started off as a 5.8k thing became ~8.6k lol, this is a longer chapter than I usually do, but I didn't see any reason to divide it, or a way to do so without disrupting the flow of it so ^^ long chapter for my long absense
P.S. I can't get a hold of my beta so all mistakes from this point onward are my own, I and someone else tried to catch them all but sometimes they slip through the cracks >

Enjoy!!~ ♥

Seokjin hadn't set a single foot outside of the mansion while the sun was out in the 40-odd days that followed his reawakening. He had gone out into the garden a handful of times, but that was usually in the dead of night and pretty short lived.

He was still wary of the sun, despite Taehyung's many assurances. Seokjin was not entirely positive that he wouldn't turn into a pile of ashes the moment he was reacquainted with the sun.

Jin looked at the small tube in Tae's hands with a skeptical look, unwilling to trust it blindly. According to Taehyung, the cream inside acted like a second layer of protection against the sun. His brother had compared it to the invisible force fields that Seokjin had come to know in video games.

Though humans used it too, Taehyung said it was originally created by some western vampire a good century ago. Tae also warned that the sticky cream would only last for a few hours and would only lessen the effects of the sun on their skin, not make them completely immune. So caution was still necessary.

Once every part of Seokjin's skin that wasn't clothed was safely coated with the sun screen, Taehyung had pulled Jin into a detour and given his brother five bags of blood. Though delighted at the extra serving Seokjin had to question it.

"It'll help us in the long run, don't worry we aren't breaking any rules." Tae had assured Jin and left the older brother drink his fill. While Seokjin scarfed down the blood bags Taehyung fiddled with a few more bags and some iron containers.

Once that was done, Taehyung showed Jin a final surprise in the form of a face mask like the kind that he had seen on the television so many times.

"This isn't just any ordinary mask," Taehyung stated proudly, handing off the article of clothing to Jin and taping at an emblem on the fabric. "See this symbol? It stands for Jiyong hyung's company Peace Minus One, it specializes in clothing for vampires. The fabric is made to better protect our skin from the sun and things like that, but I think their best product so far is this mask. The face mask will help in filtering out all the smells so you don't have to worry about smelling humans from a few kilometers away. Even blood a few centimeters from you won't have the same effect as they usually would."

Seokjin felt a weight he hadn't even known he had been carrying on his shoulders lift with the reassurance and slipped on the mask. The change was felt immediately and the unfamiliar air around Seokjin suddenly felt less oppressive and foreign. The faint smell of wrongness was gone and replaced instead with something fresh… like the way the woods used to smell back when they lived in a secluded area.

Taehyung placed one of the masks on himself as well and deeming them ready. His brother hoisted what Seokjin recognized as a backpack onto his back and led the way to the entrance of the house.

Without any hesitation at all, Taehyung crossed the small bit of space between shade and sunlight and was immediately bathed in the golden rays of the sun. Jin gasped, his initial panic of losing his brother to the sun immediately replaced with wonder at seeing the phenomena first hand for the very first time. Logically Jin knew that Taehyung had to brave the sun alone centuries now, but his mind didn't know that. His mind still associated the Taehyung he knew back then to the one he saw now. Jin couldn't help but unconsciously think that his younger brother hadn't aged along with the times.

But he had. And the proof was staring at him from a mere meter away.

Still, Seokjin hovered at the threshold of the house and unwilling to jump into the sun so readily. He couldn't say that he was thoroughly convinced he wasn't about to burst into flames the moment the sun touched his skin despite his body technically being around throughout half a millenia. What if his skin hadn't received the memo and he just hadn't aged? What if his vampirism was placed on hold while he was asleep?

It took a moment, but eventually Seokjin managed to extend his pinky finger out, dipping the tip of his finger into the sunlight for a single second before pulling it back to his chest and then inspecting it. He wasn't in any pain, and his finger looked as it always did. Unharmed and unblemished.

Seokjin tried again, this time with his whole pinky, and left it out for three breaths before repeating the process with an added finger. Once more he was clear of any burns.

He did this again with his whole hand and then the other until he was convinced that the sun wouldn't be the end of him. Only then did Seokjin fully step away from the house and feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin for the first time since his days in the Joseon Dynasty.

Seokjin remembered the sun feeling warmer on his skin, but he couldn't be sure, maybe that was just his mind providing sensory details he had lost to time.

Taehyung shot Seokjin a smile that was filled with so much pride, it fueled the older's resolve to venture out of his comfort zone and into the new world.

That confidence lasted all of three minutes before it shriveled up and died, however.

The two brothers made it to the large gates of the estate, out of the mansion's perimeter and onto a strip of solidness that Seokjin could only compare to stones and boulders. Sidewalks if he remembered correctly, and beyond the edges of the sidewalks lay the pitch black strip of what roads had become.

A white streak passed them at that moment and sent a gust of air towards the pair of vampires, though what really startled Seokjin was the noise it left in its wake. He stepped back in surprise and followed after the foreign object with his eyes. It was a car, just like all the ones Jiyong had underneath the house, only those didn't move.

Seokjin swallowed harshly as the car disappeared from the road. Cars were still a big no on Jin's list of modern comforts. Jiyong had offered to let Seokjin step into one of the cars he had in his collection and Jin had been unable to step anywhere in it. The very thought of getting into an enclosed space in the dark had his skin crawling and his breath coming in quick bursts. Seokjin was associating darkness to his experience in his mind, every small and cramped space made him remember his time under and he responded in fear.

Taehyung, of course, was aware of Jin's wariness towards cars and gently guided him away from the road and along the inner side of the sidewalk, leaving him to walk alongside the edge of the road. "C'mon Jinnie, this way. The cars won't do anything as long as we respect the rules of the road. Always look both ways before crossing and even though a small car won't stand a chance against someone as strong as you, but we still shouldn't walk around without looking out for them. Technically, pedestrians have the right of the road, but that isn't always the case, so just be careful."

Seokjin nodded, making sure to keep that small tidbit of information to his ever growing collection of warnings.

The farther away the Kim brothers got from the mansion and closer to the city, Seokjin could make out more and more sounds. He had of course heard a variation of 'city noise' from the many games he had played and shows he had watched, but it was so much different hearing them in person. The cacophony of sounds was nearly overwhelming.

As they walked Seokjin wondered what all these sounds were linked to. He got his answer to some, but many others remained a mystery. Tae smiled in sympathy when he saw Seokjin grimace when a loud clunk sounded off in the distance, and assured him he would be able to disregard the noises in time.

The walk lasted around thirty minutes, maybe a little more—according to Taehyung, it wasn't supposed to last that long, maybe fifteen or twenty at most. But, Seokjin had been insistent in stopping to stare at a few new things along the way, there were just so many things that were either eerily familiar or interestingly and alluringly new.

Taehyung didn't mind it though, he was rather enjoying Seokjin's fascination to the new world.

Their walk ended with the two brothers looking at the largest building Seokjin had ever seen. There were a million windows and even more people walking past them as they rushed to their destinations, walking either alone, in pairs, or in groups.

"Are they all here for Mario?" Seokjin asked, watching in amazement as two large glass pane doors opened and closed for the latest group of humans that walked into the building.

Taehyung chuckled, "No, this place is like a large market filled with a lot of stores, the Mario one is just one of the many that are here."

"I see." Seokjin hummed as he watched another person enter the building just as a handful of them were exiting the building. Jin caught a glimpse at the inside of the market before the frosted windows hid the sight from him.

It definitely didn't look like any sort of market he had seen before.

"Ready, hyung?"

Seokjin nodded, unable to say more. After a moment of silence, Taehyung took his wrist and lead Seokjin into the giant market.

Thanks to the advanced feeding Tae had allowed Jin and the mask he wore, Seokjin could hardly smell the humans around him. He could still hear the steady rhythms of their hearts, but that wasn't enough to push at his hunger, not yet at least. Seokjin couldn't say that he was particularly comfortable around so many humans, but it was definitely tolerable.

Besides, his surroundings were doing a fine job at keeping his mind occupied.

While Taehyung guided him through the market, Seokjin gawked and marvelled through every window and open door to peek into every possible store they passed by, uncaring of what they sold. However, the stars didn't appear in his eyes until he was guided into the Mario merchandise store.

Seokjin had nearly ripped his brother's arm right out of his socket when he made a move to rush in, but Taehyung was quick to tug Jin back and sent him a stern warning look. Jin smiled sheepishly, reminded that he was supposed to be on his best behavior. That meant he had to keep his vampire advantages at bay.

"Sorry, Tae." Taehyung smiled and let Jin go.

The older vampire walked into the store, unable to keep the excitement out of his steps. The store had everything Seokjin never knew he needed in his life. There were plush toys and some that were made of plastic—figures Taehyung had called them—there were posters, clothes with every main character and even some that were lesser known. There were costumes and snacks, pens and pillows, wall decorations, and even boxers that sported the characters of the franchise.

Before Taehyung knew it, Seokjin was stuffing a bag with everything he could that he wasn't able to hold in his hands.

Taehyung came up to Jin, chuckling fondly and gently taking the bag from him, helping Seokjin pick out a few more things. When they had filled up two of the bags and Seokjin's entire arms Taehyung cut him off—it was probably for the best, even if the older vampire was loathe to admit it.

"Jiyong hyung has money to spare, but I don't think he would appreciate being the new owner of this store." his brother laughed. Seokjin's cheeks darkened behind the mask.

The human behind the counter and a shiny machine Seokjin couldn't remember the name of—but knew it had some relation with money—arched a brow at the two vampires but said nothing as they began the laborious task of looking over every item and passing them over a little red light.

A while later the vampires emerged from the store with their hands weighed down with two bags each. To the normal bystander, the two appeared to be carrying too much weight, but to the brothers it was much more bulk than weight in their hands.

"Anything you would like to see, Jinnie hyung?" Taehyung asked as they made their way to nowhere in particular within the market.

Seokjin thought about it for a moment and immediately found the answer when he glanced at a distant sign. "Can we try the food?"

Taehyung smiled fondly. Food was the next logical stop when it came to Seokjin, there was absolutely no doubt to anyone who was acquainted with him that didn't know about his love for food.

He agreed easily and they made their way over to where all the food was. Seokjin could smell the scent of food even with his mask on—a testament to how strong the smell was.

Jin's mouth was watering behind the mask, and he had to resist his rising urge to sprint the final distance between himself and the food. While it was true that a vampire's body no longer needed human food in order to survive, that didn't stop Seokjin—or anyone, really—from loving food. It was too good not to love.

When the two vampires reached the edge of a sea where dozens of tables were spaced before them, Taehyung motioned to Seokjin to take off his mask. Though reluctant to do so, Jin complied when Tae made the motion again. The older brother braced himself, he curled his hands tighter around the bags within them and pulled down the mask.

To his relief and surprise, Seokjin wasn't bombarded with the scent of human and blood, but instead he was swathed with so many different smells he couldn't exactly distinguish where one ended and another began. One thing was for sure, though, and that was that it all smelled delicious.

While Jin was busy trying to pick out familiar scents Tae nudged him towards one of the empty tables. "Wait for me right here, I'm gonna get us something to eat and drink and be right back, okay?"

"I'm not a child, Taehyungie." Seokjin grumbled with no real bite to his words, but conceded anyway. "I'll be here."

Tae grinned, "Of course you're not, but I just wanted to let you know where I was headed, hyung. I'll be right back, okay? I'll take five minutes at most. I'll leave these here too, so look after them." and with that he unloaded his two bags onto one of the two chairs at the table and took off.

Seokjin caught Tae shooting him one last look before fully disappearing into the crowd. Jin wouldn't lie and say he didn't feel a sense of panic overcome him when he lost Taehyung to the crowd, he could feel the underlying fear of being abandoned at the table until he reminded himself that he was not being abandoned and Tae would be back. He was fine.

In an effort to distract himself, Jin entertained himself with looking at the people around him and observing what they were doing.

Pretty soon, Seokjin was marvelling at how… entranced humans were by their hand held devices. Most if not all of the people around him weren't paying attention to their surroundings, instead they had their eyes trained on a little device held in their hands. A cell phone, Jin recalled from his soap drama watching. He, himself had yet to actually hold a cell phone for more than a few minutes when Lisa had tried to teach him about them but Jin hadn't seen the appeal to them and dismissed them.

The same couldn't be said of the rest of the household. Jin knew they all owned a phone, Taehyung did, and Yoongi, and Jimin, even Seunghyun and Jiyong hyung weren't immune to the phone's charms. Seokjin often saw them poking away at them, but his curiosity on them hadn't sparked yet so he didn't ask too much on them.

Seokjin was more interested in how people lost themselves in those small tiny screens than the actual device itself. And, while it was true that he was the last person to be making that observation considering his habits lately, he just couldn't help but be fascinated by the sight.

"Oh man, it's bad enough waiting in one line, but five of them? It's torture, I'm lucky there weren't many people intersted in paella today otherwise we would've been in trouble." Taehyung's voice drew Seokjin out of his observations and over to his brother who set two flat trays onto the table, each of them filled to the edge and b with food.

"What is all that?" Seokjin asked, brow furrowed in confusion as he looked at the strange things Taehyung had piled onto the plates.

"Food, what else would it be?" Taehyung chuckled and pointed to a few plates. "These, of course you already know what they are, kimchi fried rice, bulgogi, japchae, and samgyupsal. But these," he pointed to foods Seokjin had either only seen on television or never before.

"Are foods from other countries. This is called a burger, I'm sure you recognize it, long skinny potatoes are always served with them, they're called fires, and these are called hot dogs, it's not actual dog meat just… you know what, I don't even know why it's called that. Then you have lamb kabobs, seafood paella, and chicken noodle soup."

Jin's head was spinning trying to remember the names of the items and which dish they belonged to. He had only seen a handful of those foods on television and the others he had never even heard of, much less imagined; but they all looked amazing if not completely out of place in his perspective. Jin swallowed the looked uncertainly towards his brother, how was he supposed to eat the majority of these?

"Are they good?"

Tae smiled, "I think so, but there's only one way to find out. American's like their finger food so you don't have to worry about using utensils on those three, and the kabob has a stick, you just bite off what you want to eat. The noodle soup you'll need a spoon, and the rest you'll be fine."

When Jin didn't make a move on the food, Taehyung took the lead and grabbed a thin slice of golden potato. "We'll start off small then, and work our way up."

Tae popped the fry into his mouth and took another one in hand, offering to Seokjin, who took it gingerly between two fingers and after turning it around a few times, he bit into it.

Seokjin's eyes widened as the taste of the fry seeped into his taste buds. He hadn't really known what he was expecting in all honesty, but he hadn't been prepared to taste anything like that! Jin sat back for a moment, stunned with silence as he came to terms with the lingering taste in his mouth. It was a delicious mix of soft and crunchy potato with salt, but there was more to it. A taste he couldn't quite place.

Jin figured he would ask about that later and wasted no time in eating the rest of his potato and went for another and another until Tae halted him with a gentle hand.

"Hey, this isn't a race hyung, you can slow down a bit. Besides, there's way more for you to try." And with that, Taehyung showed his older brother how to eat the rest of the foreign foods.

Seokjin wouldn't deny how strange some of the food looked, smelled, or tasted. But he didn't dislike any of them. After his initial caution, Seokjin grew more confident and threw away whatever reservations he held about experiencing new things when it came to the food in front of him.

Each of them was amazing in their own way and Seokjin was falling in love with food all over again. He loved some of the food more than others, the paella was by far his favorite aside from the Korean dishes. And the hot dogs landed in last place. They were good, but they didn't compare to the rest of the food.

While Seokjin was finishing up the japchae Taehyung told him to wait once again and vanished for a few moments before coming back with a new tray.

It was then that Seokjin was filled with even more food, the fabled desserts he had heard of but hadn't tried yet. Ice cream was introduced to him early on in his awakening but never in the flavors that Taehyung showed him. After one bite of the strawberry flavored ice cream Seokjin immediately shoved it aside, claiming it tasted nothing like a strawberry and just being a terrible imitation.

Brownies, Seokjin decided were a chocolate lover's paradise. And he very much liked whatever kind of nuts macadamias were. Jin also took an immediate liking to almonds within chocolate ice cream and fluffy white puffs Tae named marshmallows. Parfaits were also a delight, Seokjin appreciated the real strawberries used in this particular dessert. In the end, the real competition came down to dangos and bungeo-ppang, but Jin ultimately gave the title of best dessert to the bungeo-ppang. It wasn't overly sweet like everything else, there was a subtlety to it that Seokjin appreciated.

"I can't believe I missed the birth of all of those." Seokjin lamented after taking the last bite of his fish shaped pastry, savoring the treat.

Just how much food was out there for him to try? Seokjin would love to find that out, but his stomach was quick to remind him that even though he was no longer a human, his stomach still had the same limitations as when it came to the solid foods.

Jin's hunger was still there, pulsing steadily in the pit of his stomach, held back only by the large amount of blood he drank before leaving the mansion. That was a testament to how no matter how full his physical stomach was, the relentless hunger of his vampire side was still very much present.

"How are you feeling, Jin hyung?" Taehyung asked, gathering the plates he was going to throw away.

Seokjin hummed, forlornly looking at the empty plates in front of them. "Full? But I'm fine. The hunger is tolerable."

His brother smiled sadly, Seokjin had long since given up on lying to Taehyung about his hunger because for one, Tae always picked up on the lies. And, well, there was no point in hiding his hunger, it wasn't like Seokjin could keep it from showing itself ultimately. So he had learned early on that it was best to tell the truth.

"Okay… we should be heading back home soon, but before we do that, would you like to make a quick stop somewhere first?"

Seokjin wondered what could possibly be better than being surrounded by the smell of food and the Mario store they visited earlier, but he was curious all the same. "Where would we go?"

"That Jinnie, is a surprise." Taehyung's lips curved into that bright rectangular smile of his as he slipped out of his chair and collected the trash they left behind on the trays and disposed of it.

After that, they collected their bags and were on the move again until they stood before a large store front with a colorful display that read "Cypher Arcade".

"Arcade?" Seokjin read aloud, blinking up at the sign and immediately feeling excitement run its course throughout his person. "You mean and arcade for games?"

"Is there any other type of Arcade, Jinnie hyung?" Taehyung mused, voice b with amusement.

"If there is I don't know about it." Seokjin laughed, turning his head back to the store front with colorful advertisements and posters on the windows.

His brother just laughed and led the way inside. "C'mon, wait 'till you see the inside."

Seokjin followed without protest, and paused just beyond the entrance, his eyes widened unbeknownst to him as he took in the scene before him.

Seokjin didn't known what he had been expecting when it came to the arcade. Perhaps more lighting? He wasn't sure why, but darkness wasn't the first on his list, it was strange, to be pulled into a dark building after so much artificial light on the outside of the store, but darkness wasn't really the right word to describe the interior of the arcade. Seokjin felt the small seed of unease in his gut, but there was a soft of comfort to his environment that helped him keep calm despite his dislike of the dark.

The lights were dimmed to their lowest settings, but that didn't mean that the vast room itself was lacking light. If anything it was filled with lights of all different colors and intensities. Everywhere Seokjin's eyes roamed he could be sure to spot the sight of a flickering light, or the light of a screen where little caricatures invited him to play with them. A variety of music floated over to him, all of it blending into one another in a pleasant way. No one sound seemed out of place. There was even a muted atmosphere to the smell of the arcade, Seokjin wasn't really sure why this particular store didn't smell as much of humans as the rest of the mall did, but he was grateful for it since it meant he could keep his mask off.

Jin almost immediately decided that the arcade was, in short, the most magical place he could ever imagine. There was a lack of people, which could explain the less oppressive scent of them, and there were at least a dozen games he could see that he was familiar with and eager to test out the difference between the ones he owned to those of the arcade.

"Take a look around, I'm gonna put these away for a bit." Taehyung encouraged his brother onwards, taking his bags from his hands and nudging him in the direction of the games before walking away from him.

Jin was about to scurry after him—not feeling comfortable being left alone in his new surroundings without his brother there to metaphorically and literally hold his hand—but he stopped himself.

He was new to this day and age, that was true. And as much as the thought saddened him, Seokjin couldn't say with certainty that he would always have Tae or someone else from the coven next to him to help him out with matters that he didn't entirely understand. Jin had to do his part in fitting in as well as figuring out his place in the new era.

So, with a deep breath Seokjin strode forward. His steps were small and unsure at first, but soon they too became a little more confident until he wasn't hunched in on himself and instead peeking around curiously at anything and everything.

In no time Seokjin was mesmerized by the games he was actually familiar with. They included Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man, Space Invader, Donkey Kong, Tetris, and there was even a sign for Pong! However, for every game that he knew there were two others he didn't recognize.

Knowing that there was even more for him to learn about games, Jin continued to round the large room—he hadn't thought that the arcade was this big, it was probably twice the size of the mansion's dining hall, which to him equaled to the space of two large houses. Every now and then, Seokjin would pause and watch in unveiled amazement as kids and older humans alike expertely pushed the buttons and twirled the joysticks of their games. Well some of them at least, others weren't so skilled with them, but it was clear that they were still enjoying themselves.

After a while, Seokjin found himself walking down a row of machines that weren't like the other games. They were large boxes three heads taller than him with windows on three sides, it had a control panel that held the same buttons and line joystick as the others, But what set it apart from the rest was the large hook-claw thing positioned above a sea of plush toys filling its insides.

While Seokjin was wondering how this sort of game was played, one of the claws jerked to life and shocked him out of his musings. Jin felt a small twinge of embarrassment at being spooked so easily, he had seen that the isle was occupied by someone else, but he really hadn't placed one and one together until that moment. Luckily, the player either hadn't seen him or chose to ignore him. Seokjin didn't mind either way, he was content just seeing the game play out.

The claw began to twirl above the unsuspecting plushes, it moved in no distinct pattern as it swayed from right to left and headed north only to scurry back down south. Seokjin wondered if that was how the game was supposed to be played. He tried to place a pattern to the movement, but before he could figure it out, the claw began to lower and opened its claws. Seokjin watched as it went lower and lower, closing in on it's prey below.

The claw buried itself in the shallow sea of plushies, seemingly landing in a mass of toys without any purpose. Just as Jin was starting to lose interest in the game the claw retreated, triumphant in its mission and holding up it's prize, a small stuffed alpaca.

"Ah, that was amazing!" Seokjin exclaimed before he could stop himself as he watched the claw deposit it's prize into a small hallow space.

The person in front of the machine jerked his hands away from the controls and turned to Seokjin, eyes wide with surprise as if noticing him for the first time.

"I—it was… Thank you?" his cheeks darkened with what Seokjin could only presume to be a blush.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I had an audience." the young man said shooting Seokjin a sheepish dimpled smile.

Seokjin didn't really know what to say to that, he hadn't even been completely sure if he had used 'amazing' correctly, but before he could figure it out the toy was extended to him. "Would you like the alpaca?"

Jin blinked at the small plush and then to the boy who was holding it.

He was young, Seokjin was sure of that. Possibly within the early twenties of his life, or maybe mid-twenties, Jin was finding it harder to tell ages in the new time frame than his previous one. He was tall too, surpassing Seokjin's height by a couple of centimeters, though his hair gave his him a few more illusionary centimeters in height. Jin didn't know the name of the style the other man chose for his hair, but he would say it was somewhere in between Seunghyun's choice of hairstyle and Youngbae's. It was closely cropped at the sides and free to grow at the top, where it was free to flow back down and frame his youthful features. Seokjin could tell—even in the dim lighting—that his hair was dyed a much lighter color than Youngbae's. But what really caught Seokjin's attention was the dimpled smile that had become less sheepish and more friendly, completely at home on his soft face.

"The machine gave it to you." Seokjin finally stated, holding his hands up between himself and the stranger. "It's yours."

The young man hummed, considering Seokjin's words.

"I guess you're right." he agreed easily, and Jin swore his eyes sparkled in the low lighting. "And because he is mine, I can decide what to do with him right?"

Seokjin could only nod unable to deny the logic to the statement and unsure of where that train of thought was going.

"Well, I have come to the decision that he has a better home with you." he declared, dimples deepening.

When Seokjin didn't reply, the other laughed. "Don't look so worried, really it's not that big of a deal. I always play these games on my time off and leave the prize or tickets for a kid to find." and with that explanation he placed the alpaca into Jin's hands.

"I figure if I'm given an unlimited amount of coins to play with, might as well put them to good use, so you know? Besides what kind of winner would I be if I didn't share a trophy with my biggest fan?" he added with a wink that had Seokjin scrambling for a response.

"I—uh, yes?" Seokjin stuttered out oh so eloquently, bowing to the friendly human, "I appreciate the gift, thank you, it is very kind of you."

"Don't worry about it, really." the human was smiling again when Seokjin came back up from his bow. "Just promise me you'll take very good care of him, okay?"

Seokjin nodded readily, holding the little alpaca to his chest and earning another dimpled smile from the stranger.

The human opened his mouth to say something else when his eyes suddenly flicked away from Seokjin and his mouth fell into a small o. "Oh no. Looks like someone is cheating at the hoops again. I better go look into that, I'll catch you later, kay?"

And just like that, he was running off to a different part of the arcade, leaving Seokjin staring after him, puzzled as to why he had caught the boy's attention and why he wanted to bask in it for a while longer.

"Hyung, there you are!" A body crashed into him with that declaration and Seokjin nearly lost not only his balance but the toy in his hands too.

His brother seemed to either not notice or care that he had almost sent them tumbling to the ground as he chaisted Jin. "I was so worried, I thought I lost you!"

"Tae, you were the one to suggest I venture out here alone." Jin rolled his eyes fondly, sure that his brother hadn't truly lost him and it was just for the dramatics. Seokjin didn't mind it though, and let his younger brother get his hug in to its fullest until he could feel his bones protesting the death grip.

"Oh hey! What's that?" Taehyung's attention switched immediately to the alpaca in Jin's hands after he released Seokjin from his quite literal bone crushing hug—luckily Seokjin's bones were stronger than a regular persons otherwise he would've been doomed.

"A human was playing these machines and gave it to me?" Seokjin was still a bit fuzzy on what had exactly happened between himself and the other male, but he was sure of one thing. He had been gifted the toy.

"That's cool of him," Tae said with a boxy smile, "did you say thanks?"

Seokjin rolled his eyes again, but laughed good naturedly. "I lost my social interaction skills while dead to the world TaeTae, not my manners."

"Right, right, sorry. Anyway, weird gift dude aside, what would you like to play? I got us a few coins to play with." and almost like magic, Taehyung produced a palm sized bag from his hoodie's pocket.

Seokjin eyed the bag that chimed melodically with coins every time Tae bounced it in his hands. Then his eyes scanned the area around them, unsure of just which game he wanted to try first.

"Are those games too?" Seokjin asked after a while, pointing at a row of doors that had different names written across the top of each of them. They read: Contamination, Dystopia, Wild West, and Safari Adventure.

"They are games yeah… wanna try them out?" Taehyung asked a little too dubiously for Seokjin's liking.

"Yes?" Seokjin ventured, unsure why his brother was looking at him in the way that he was.

Taehyung shrugged, mischievous smile on his face and led the way, "Jin hyung, you do know what zombies are, right?"

Seokjin squinted his eyes suspiciously, "No?"

Taehyung laughed and didn't say anything else when Seokjin tried to get more information about what zombies were and why the question mattered in the first place. The doors lead to small rooms where helmets—Seokjin had learned not too long ago that they were called 'virtual reality vizors'—held the game and three large screens surrounded the players.

Zombies turned out to be the most terrifying creatures that Seokjin had ever had the misfortune to know.

Contamination, the game that Seokjin had chosen to play was not exactly about people who were sick. Instead it was a horrifying game where he was handed a device called a gun and sent out to a random place within a desolate and crumbling city with the sole intent of making it out alive and unscathed by grotesque decaying humans.

"It wont go down!" Seokjin panicked as he aimed and shot at his latest attacker in the pixelated game for the upteenth time. In all fairness, it didn't help that Seokjin was a really bad shot, but when he did manage to hit the damned creatures, they just didn't die.

What kind of game was this?!

It really wasn't doing Seokjin's health any good that the undead tended to just sneak up on him whenever he thought he was safe. And to add to his trauma, the person who was supposed to be watching his back would much rather sit back and watch him until his eyes watered from laughter at Seokjin's misgivings.

Taehyung had taken the second device and helmet into his hands earlier and was supposed to be helping Seokjin, but his laughter had gotten the better of him along the way and his character had long ago fallen prey to the zombies. So now the younger brother was cheering him on and shouting out 'helpful' tips while Seokjin screamed in either panic or surprise whenever a new adversary showed up on the screen.

"There! There hyung!" Taehyung cried out. "Shoot!"

"I can't! I need them to stop! No!" Seokjin aimed and fired, hitting the damned thing but not getting its head and thus not killing it.

"C'mon Jinnie hyung you're almost there! Shoot!"

"Stop yelling at me!" Seokjin pleaded and somehow managed to land a lucky shot at the zombies head.

However, his triumph was short lived. The moment that Seokjin turned to the screen of his left, he was greeted with an open mouth filled with rotting and missing teeth, melted flesh and bones stripped of their flesh. Jin screamed again, raising his arms defensively on instinct, though that did little in helping his video game persona. All screens dulled around them and a flashing red sign appeared shortly after.

Game Over. His character had finally died.

Seokjin heaved a sigh of relief as he took off the helmet and placed it as far as he possibly could from his person.

"Look hyung! You got the eighth highest score!" Tae ran excitedly to the helmet Seokjin had abandoned and entered his name on the screen. "J-I-N"

"Want to try something else now?"

"Anything as long as it doesn't include zombies." Seokjin shivered and took his alpaca from where he had set it down before the start of the game and allowed himself to be led away by a laughing Taehyung.

Over the next twenty minutes the two brothers managed to play a variety of games. None of them were as intense as Contamination, and Seokjin was more than grateful for that small mercy. They were able to place in the top tens in a couple of machines and Seokjin found that he was rather skilled in driving games. Though when asked if he wanted to drive in one on his way back, Seokjin had immediately refused.

Throughout their stay at the arcade, Seokjin wondered if the boy from the claw game was still around. He would occasionally glance around and get momentarily distracted enough to earn a questioning glance from Taehyung.

However, before his younger brother could ask, a cheery voice caught their attention. "Tae? Hey what's up man? Haven't heard from you in years. I know you said you needed a term off, but since when does that include dropping off the face of the Earth from your roommates too?"

Seokjin turned in time to see a young man with one of the sunniest and brightest smiles he had ever seen as he slung an arm around Taehyung's shoulders in a very friendly manner.

"Hey Hobi!" Tae greeted in response, not at all bothered by the affectionate embrace he found himself in. "Sorry I haven't checked-in in a while. I told you guys I had a family thing come up. I'll do better though… how's Kookie, miss me yet?"

The boy, Hobi, laughed. "Dude he missed you from the moment you said you had to leave for a bit. He hasn't stopped sulking around the apartment or glaring at his phone cuz he doesn't want to send the first message. If I knew I was gonna bump into you here I would've dragged his along with me just to stop his moping."

Taehyung laughed, though Seokjin managed to catch a glint of guilt in his brother's eyes before he took notice of the inquisitive gaze he was on the receiving end of. "By the way, who's your friend?"

Tae followed his line of sight and immediately disentangled himself in order to stand next to Seokjin, beaming proudly as he announced. "This is my older brother, Seokjin. He just came back from doing some volunteer work in Antarctica, you know helping penguins and stuff. He's kinda lost with alot of the newer technologies and needs help with getting the hang of society again." the last part of Tae's words were whispered theatrically.

The more that Tae lied, the brighter the stars in Hobi's eyes became, and soon those starry eyes were on Seokjin. "Oh man, that's so cool! How was Antarctica?"

"It was…" Seokjin had to fight the impulse to look over to Taehyung to help him as he searched his brain for what he knew about the fabled Antarctic place. Seokjin and Jiyong had gone over Jin's supposed story of why he was just now entering the country after his long absence. And someone along the way had chosen a wild tale of a world of ice and snow where flightless birds roamed free and bears could blend into the very snow they walked on.

"Cold?" Seokjin finally found the word he was looking for, though it came out more as a question than a statement.

"No ." Hobi laughed, not at all minding the pause that Seokjin had taken. "Bet you were freezing out there, but welcome back to society! My names Jung Hoseok, it's awesome to meet ya."

Weeks of living with the Coven and listening to some conversations here and there had made it pretty clear to Seokjin that swear words were indeed becoming more common, even if they hadn't made it onto television yet, so he didn't flinch back now that he heard Hoseok use it.

Bowing his head Seokjin smiled, "Kim Seokjin, nice to meet you too."

"So is getting your big brother back, like, the reason you had to take a sabbatical?" Hoseok asked looking back to Taehyung who only shrugged a shoulder.

"Social sciences was kicking my too, but that's part of it, you here visiting mooching games again?"

"Yeah, but Joon says there's only so many coins he can give me in a week. He wouldn't be saying that if Kookie was here, but you know Namjoon is. He always gives Kook more leeway." Hoseok lamented, though his sunny expression betrayed any sorrow he may have tried to feint.

Taehyung hummed knowingly, "You have a point, but you know you can always just buy some more coins."

"I guess, but you can't use that card. Come back to me when you have to worry about rent money and having to pay for your own toilet paper. I didn't even know that was a thing until I was living on my own. The things you take for granted." he sighed.

Seokjin was getting more and more lost with each word that was being exchanged between the two. He didn't know what a sabbatical was, or who the people they kept mentioning were, just to name a few other things. Seokjin was aware of what toilet paper was, but he wasn't sure how that fit within a normal conversation that wasn't held within the privacy of one's own home.

"Look, I'd love to drop by and say hi, you know I would, but I—" Seokjin stopped listening and gave up in following along with the words he understood but couldn't make sense of. Instead he turned to the side and noticed that the boy from earlier who had given him the alpaca had been standing a few machines down, looking at them.

When he noticed that Seokjin had become aware of him as well, the young man showcased his friendly dimpled smile and waved in Seokjin's direction.

Seokjin looked around and then pointed to himself, asking with the gesture if that wave was meant for him.

When Jin got a series of nods from the alpaca guy, he glanced over his shoulder to Taehyung who was still getting reacquainted with Hoseok and quietly slipped away to where the other human was.

"I didn't know you knew Tae." the boy said once Seokjin was within earshot. "Are you from one of his classes?"

"Ah, no. He's my younger brother." Seokjin answered with a genial smile of his own.

"Oh! So you're the mysterious brother Taehyung spoke to us about." the boy mused and once again his hand was extended towards Seokjin, though it didn't contain an alpaca this time around. "My name's Kim Namjoon, happy to meet you and to finally be able to place a face to Tae's mysterious brother. We were wondering when we would get to meet you after he said he had to go live with his family for a while."

Seokjin's brows knitted before he could help himself. Had Taehyung not been living in the manor while Jin was asleep? Had Tae been doing more than just spending some leisure time with these humans? What exactly were they to Taehyung? And most importantly, why had he not told Seokjin about them since they clearly meant alot to him?

When Seokjin realized that he was just standing there, staring at the guy—Namjoon—and not taking his offered hand, he ducked his head in slight embarrassment, "Kim Seokjin. Sorry. You know of me?"

Seokjin couldn't help but notice that the hand he held was slightly larger than his own, not by much but enough to where the size difference was noticeable, Though the most prominent thing that struck Seokjin was the warmth that was exuded out of Namjoon's palm. Before he could bask in it, however, Namjoon's calm pulse reverberated through Seokjin's skin and sparked the dull thrum in his veins into a raging inferno. The thirst hit Seokjin with enough force to send him back a step, and would have ended the handshake if Namjoon hadn't already retrieved his hand.

It had been so long since Seokjin was introduced to that sort of body heat and even more since he had felt the pulse like that underneath thin delicate skin.

He is human, his mind supplied helpfully inevitably causing his mouth to water and remind Seokjin that his hunger had been building steadily while he had been too busy playing games.

Seokjin's throat constricted as he swallowed back the accumulated saliva. He couldn't go feral. Not here, not in a place where Seunhyun wasn't around to stop him.

Unbidden tears gathered in the corners of Seokjin's eyes as he was suddenly hyper-aware of Namjoon's radiating body heat and the sound of his blood pumping lazily under his skin. It was like a siren's song that he couldn't ignore. Not when his body demanded that he feed it the one thing it needed to function. How long had it been since his last meal? Two hours? More?

"Taehyung has spoken very fondly of you, which struck us as kind of weird considering he never spoke of you before until like two months ago." Namjoon was saying, not catching on to the quickly rising panic in Seokjin's chest. However, there must have been a trace of it left behind to clue him in since he was quick to add, "But they were all good things, I promise… are you okay?"

Seokjin could only take a step back, not listening to the friendly banter of the young man. He could only try to focus on the drumming sound of his pulse and of those around them. Suddenly the scent of human was overwhelming, how hadn't he noticed just how much it smelled of them in there? Then there was the heat. It was oppressing and it hung over Seokjin like a thick blanket, wrapping around him again and again until he was suffocating in it.

But worst of all was the thundering beat of pulses. Some of them were slow and calm like Namjoon's, others quick and erratic like Seokjin's, a few had palpitations added into the mix, but the rest were steady and strong. None of them was equal to another and yet they all melded perfectly into one another until it was just one big chorus of temptation driving Seokjin closer to madness with each ear pounding beat.

Seokjin felt his gums ache with need, his canines getting long enough to where they were pushing against his lower teeth. He was so hungry… he needed to feed. His eyes went up to the nice man with silver colored hair and sweet dimples.

Luckily Taehyung chose that exact moment to return, snapping Seokjin's face mask back onto his face and dulling one of his senses. "Jinnie hyung, there you are. I turned around for one second." his brother said exasperatedly, quickly. The tremors were beginning to shake Jin's shoulders.

Tae beamed at Namjoon through his thinly veiled concern. "Thank you for finding him, hyung."

Namjoon looked from one brother to the other, dimples long ago erased by a troubled frown. "Sorry Tae, I led him away from you, does he need to sit down? I can take you guys to the back room?"

"No it's okay I just didn't realize how late it was. And hyung is on some really strict medication; nasty Antarctic virus." Taehyung confided, his grip on Seokjin's arm tightening slightly, reassuring the older brother.

"Don't worry though it isn't contagious, unless you're a penguin. So yeah, I'll text you guys later kay! See you around!" Tae was already moving Seokjin away from the scene and out of the claustrophobic arcade. And down to a bathroom, locking the steel door and ping his backpack.

"Jinnie, listen to me. You're going to be fine." Tae reassured him, gently pulling the mask down and raising the container from earlier to Jin's lips. "Drink please?"

Blood seeped down his throat in greedy gulps and Seokjin closed his eyes, though that did nothing to stop the tears rolling down his cheeks burning hot with shame.

A/N: 

NAMJOON'S INTRO FINALLY ARRIVED (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ)

And what a bittersweet way for them to meet, no? Was this how you guys imagined them meeting? Or did you have something else in mind?

UPDATE!!~ Click for NamJin Cuteness

Oh and before I go, I want to get chp. 6 out by Oct.31st, since NaNoWriMo starts Nov. 1st, updates will be really slow or pause for the month of November while I participate in that, I'll either do chapter 6-7 in November or chp.6 in November and 7 the first week of December >< these are guesstimates as I am not the greatest with time management and the Holidays are the worst

But anywho! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you in the next one ^^ Thank you to everyone who has read, subscribed and especially to the commenters, you keep this story going! And as always, feel free to yell at me on twitter under the same username ^^ Till next time!~ ♥