Upon the arrival of September, the spirit of Halloween began to sprinkle its way throughout the hearts of many. One of those hearts being Kim Kibum, who was turning 19 soon and in no way allowed his growing age to stop him from ever enjoying the classic thrill Halloween could offer him: costumes, candy, and everything in between, but most importantly… COSTUMES! Dressing up was certainly a specialty of his, and he looked forward to it every single year. It was always his goal to have the best costume at school, and now that he’d moved on from high school to a university, his focus had shifted from being the best costume at the school’s lunch contest to being the best at a wicked Halloween party.

With great luck (and perhaps pure coincidence), Kibum was able to find his first job at the local ‘only open once a year’ Halloween costume shop. He was nervous and certainly not too sure on what to expect, but none of that mattered, understanding that this job was only temporary anyway. He mostly took this as an opportunity given thanks to the season—a stepping stone into the workforce, and really he just wanted to be surrounded with the costumes after all. The possibility of having an employee discount to buy said costumes also helped any nerves he felt fall off his shoulders as easily as the coming autumn leaves; what could possibly go wrong at a simple costume store? Surely, it’ll be an easy job for a first time worker.

When Taemin saw the city’s annual Halloween store finally reopened its doors, he couldn’t help but to roll his eyes just a little. The season of Halloween was finally here, and along with came the rummaging of children and older, running around the city dressed in costumes begging for candy, or acting like complete fools… all the silly behavior, and for what? It just didn’t make any sense to Taemin and now that he was finally a senior in high school he couldn’t stand seeing people his age, or even older, get excited for childish festivities like Halloween anymore. Because Halloween had simply become just that to Lee Taemin; nothing more than a childlike festivity… and he was a ways away from being a child.

Even as an actual child, however, Taemin never sought out fun from this weird holiday. How could one enjoy walking miles in the dark dressed in lame attire just for candy… unless, of course, it had to do with scaring others. The darker thrill of Halloween—haunted houses, haunted mazes, and anything actually scary was what usually caught Taemin’s eye this time of year; if anything it was pranking people and scaring the living hell out of them that made this particular season totally worth it to him. He wasted no time in participating in such pranks as soon as he could in order to wash out the annoying mannerisms of everyone and everything else. Dressing in costume may not be his favorite, but smearing himself in blood and using horrifying props was definitely up his twisted alley of entertainment.

.  .  .

After classes on a breezy Friday afternoon Taemin decides to do just what the season called for him to do: stop by the local shop and check out the stock. He’ll maybe buy (or steal) whatever he can use as horror props for his pranks, anything he thinks is cool. Maybe he can start terrorizing people for fun early this year.

The store’s set up was different every year depending on the displays they received—the type of displays people would typically buy for the front of their homes. Taemin actually quite enjoyed those displays, especially the ones in which were meant to scare oncoming trick-or-treaters. There seemed to be a large number of them this year, all set up near the entrance this time around. Walking by many screeching witches and zombies Taemin makes his way further into the store and is immediately welcomed to the sight of children with their parents and other teenagers like him surrounded by rows of costumes, wigs, and tons of props set up on giant black walls.

He hears a welcome in from the registers to his side as he’s standing there scanning the area, ignoring the gesture immediately the moment he spots a section labeled in a red goo-like text spelling out the words ‘BLOOD AND PROPS’.  There he finds packets of fake blood of all types, colors, and textures, alongside things like vampire teeth and more advanced items like modeling wax and prosthetics.

“Oh sweet, this section is a total jackpot this year!” Taemin rejoices to himself in a smug smile. He can already imagine the types of pranks he could pull with the array of products displayed before him, and he decides to buy a packet of fake blood to start practicing. He also thinks to himself to be sure to wear a bigger jacket on his next visit… These props aren’t cheap for the budget of a 17 year old.

Snickering to himself and continuing to ignore the environment of scurried children around him, Taemin makes his way back to the registers with a pack of gooey blood in hands. It is then however, that Taemin’s evil thoughts and mischief come to a sudden halt, when he’s called closer by the cashier, the same voice that originally welcomed him in. At that very moment, Taemin’s smile fades and he just barely notices how  he’s holding his breath as he approaches the boy behind the counter, a boy whose head is half shaved… he keeps his breath held.

“Did you find everything okay today?” The cashier looks at Taemin suspiciously while ringing out his item, as he’s been staring at him with wide eyes since being called over. The cashier thinks to himself—for the hundredth time perhaps—shaving half his head wasn’t a good idea after all. He then sighs to himself, and when Taemin doesn’t respond to him he simply says, “Uh… Your total is $4.95.”

Taemin then realizes he’s been gaping at the cashier and snaps himself out of it to scan the name tag on his chest instead. Kibum. He’s about to enter another trance but this time Kibum interrupts him.

“Hello, did you hear me? Your total is $4.95… will you be paying with cash or card?” Taemin then looks back to him, now fully realizing he’s been asking for Taemin to pay—or just respond in general. 

“Oh—uh. Cash. Wait, let me just—” He can feel himself start to blush as he looks down to rummage in his pocket for the lone $5 bill he has and wishes to himself that Kibum does not notice. He isn’t quite sure why he’s suddenly acting this way—his whole cool guy vibe has been thrown off—but he’s certain that something about the boy in front of him is what’s making his mind fumble. Maybe it’s just the hair, Taemin really has never seen anyone with hair THAT cool… or with a face so pretty. He hands over the dollar bill as soon as he fishes it out of his pocket, this time avoiding eye contact, “You can keep the change…”

Without question, Kibum snatches the cash out of his small hand and bags the packet of blood, stuffing the receipt in with it. He hands the bag over to his customer quickly, in hopes of finally ending this odd, silent encounter, but little does he know the boy would only make the encounter more strange when he slowly grabs the bag out of his hand and says, “Thank you… I love your hair by the way”. 

Kibum isn’t given a chance to respond and instead stares back at the boy himself this time, watching his long hair fly back as he tries sprinting out of the store. Before fully making his exit however, Taemin crashes into one of the large displays while trying to avoid running into a kid, knocking himself over along with the whole display and setting off every screaming witch along with it.  Kibum gasps, jumps over the counter and runs to the incident. “Are you okay?” he yells as he approaches Taemin, who’s sitting confused on the floor, but as soon as Kibum’s voice rings through his ears he feels the same stain of blush return to his cheeks. In a panic, and before Kibum could even reach him, he jumps back up and finally makes his exit. He doesn’t even look back as Kibum continues to stare at him in the midst of flashing Halloween displays, confused but mostly irritated by the mess left behind. 

“Having a job is HELL!” is all Kibum can think to himself each time he has to drive himself over to his job at the Halloween store. He never thought working would actually be as miserable as everyone always made it out to be, but all his optimism about his first job was truly short-lived after the first week. If anything, he should’ve quit the moment he found out there are no employee discounts, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to quit so easily, and he did need to start getting some sort of work experience. So here he finds himself, every other evening, surrounded by costumes, props, and most of all, screaming children, their bad parents, and annoying teenagers.

The worst of them were certainly the bad parents, whom Kibum wasn’t really sure were actually bad parents, but with the way they would allow their children to run rampant and cause havoc in the store surely made him think so… He had also never been yelled at so much in his entire life, the source being said parents, angry that the pricing for costumes were mismatched or that their expired coupons no longer worked. Kibum had to learn to keep his eyes from rolling at each nagging adult every time, and if their children weren’t so cute and eager to celebrate Halloween, he would have certainly slapped one of them by now…

The second worst after the parents though definitely had to be the teenagers. All the children running around the store would only annoy Kibum at the expense of the parents, since it was the parents who allowed them to run around like maniacs in the first place. Cleaning the mess of a little 5 year old girl who wanted nothing more than to be a fairy princess to trick-or-treat will never annoy Kibum as much as the people his own age acting just as childish—if not more! Most of them go horsing around, destroying products, throwing things off shelves, shoplifting… Just name it! It only made Kibum feel like he was back in high school, but only worse since he couldn’t complain or be loud about everything bothering him. Hell, he was truly in hell.

Lately, the same boy who complimented his hair weeks ago had been the main source of Kibum’s headaches. He’s not sure why, but he sees this boy almost every time he works now; though Kibum never sees him buy anything anymore, despite still going up to the same section of blood and props like he did the first time. Kibum would probably place that boy into the same category of annoying teenagers he hates so much, considering the fact that aside from never buying anything, he also destroys the same display near the entrance every time he makes his way out. At first Kibum thought it was cute, since he clearly ran into the thing by mistake… but after the third time? He’s sure the act is nothing but a lame prank that only leaves him to clean and reset the entire display—which is honestly very time consuming and bothersome. If anything, that boy is probably the worst of the worst, no matter how cute his face may be, and each time Kibum sees him enter the store he only braces himself for the mess to come.

.  .  .

The moment Kibum sees that same boy with the long hair reenter the store for what feels like the hundredth time in 3 weeks, he feels ready. After the last time (literally yesterday) of having to reassemble a destroyed display left by the boy, he finally decides to take matters into his own hands and end the stupid pranks. It’s truly a miracle his managers are too dimwitted or responsible enough to care about such a bad customer… Kibum definitely has to do something.

“Enough is enough,” Kibum thinks to himself, “It's about time this kid either buys something again, or stops destroying the same stupid set up”. He doesn’t bother greeting the boy anymore (after the fourth time) and watches him with peering eyes as he makes way to the same section as always. Almost instantly he realizes the boy seems nervous, as he stands frozen while peaking slowly over his shoulder… assuming he’s noticed Kibum watching him. Kibum takes the chance and makes way to finally start his mission.

“Please tell me you’re going to buy something this time," Kibum wastes no time in taking his first punch, which only makes the boy flinch before looking over to him. Just like the first time they talked, and every time Kibum’s helped him off the floor after that, he is only met with wide eyes and a blushing face. He sighs to himself before saying, “Well whatever it is you’ve been looking at, I expect you to buy it soon. And can you please—”

“I’ll buy something this time don’t worry," and for the first time Kibum sees the boy’s plump mouth smile… maybe he’s going to start blushing himself instead. “I’m sorry for never buying anything… I-I just can never seem to make up my mind ya know?”

“Oh, is that your problem?” Kibum eyes the wall of product in front of them with a curious look, and then back to the boy who’s now looking down to his feet with his long fringe covering his eyes. For some reason now, Kibum starts to feel sympathy, “Well, you know I can always help you pick something out. I know I may just work here, but I'll let you know I actually love Halloween! I consider myself to be one of the best at dressing up and all things costume, so please don’t be shy to ask for help if you’re really stumped, because frankly I can't keep seeing you walk out of here empty handed…” The boy is now looking back at him with even wider eyes, and a redder face.

“You can’t?”

“Well… I can, but… but the manager’s noticed you a couple of times and alerted me to keep an eye on you.” Kibum lies through his teeth, “It really doesn’t look good when people visit multiple times without purchasing,” The boy only nods in response before reaching over to grab a packet of blood. He stays silent, and Kibum can’t help but think this kid must be really lonely and sad to be so awkward. 

“Can you ring me out? I think I’ll just get this again, for now…”

Kibum smiles at him, “Of course, just follow me to the register.” He’s met with yet another shy smile, and Kibum is sure he’s really blushing now too. Maybe if all this boy needs is a friend, Kibum thinks to himself that it wouldn’t be so bad to get acquainted then, especially if he’s in need of Halloween costume help… there’s no way Kibum can’t help him out. He’s sure to remind him as he hands over the packet of blood, now purchased and bagged, back to his small hand, “So next time, you’ll ask me for help right? I can find you a great costume.” This time the boy smiles wider than ever, showing off his gums and curling lips. Kibum’s heart skips a beat.

“I’ll think about it,” is all he hears before watching the boy’s long hair flow behind him yet again. Kibum then thinks to himself of a successful mission, now that he's finally gotten the boy to repurchase something while also opening the possibility of a new friendship. He sighs a sweet sigh of relief and turns back to help the next customer until he hears the same fateful crash he does each time that boy is in the store… along with screeching witches. He had forgotten to warn that punk to stop his lame prank.

With flaring nostrils Kibum yells “Yah!” loudly before running over to the annoying kid on the floor, yet again; the witches stop screeching by the time Kibum reaches him and waits this time for the boy to notice him before reaching over to help him back up. Kibum stands towering over him with crossed arms and an angry look; when the boy finally looks at him, he opens his mouth “Okay, what happened this time?”

“Aren’t you going to help me up?” and Kibum can’t help the curl that forms on his lips, the audacity of this kid…

“Can you not stand up on your own? I figure you would be used to falling and getting back up by now, you look fine enough to me!” He chuckles a bit when the boy gets startled at his reaction, probably confusing him with the sudden anger. “Hello?” He’s met with blinking, “Listen, whatever prank you’re pulling here, I’m telling you to stop. I’m sick of it!”

“Wait, prank? I-I I’m not prank-”

“Then what is this act!?” Kibum snaps while stepping closer, “You come into the store, don’t buy a thing, and then mess this stupid set up every damn time! I don’t understand!” By now the boy’s look turns concerned, shaking his head as if ready to explain himself while he finally makes his way back up the closer Kibum gets to him. Though, before having a chance to explain, the boy trips on his purchased bag of blood left on the floor, falling forward onto Kibum this time and spilling out 5 packets of blood from inside his jacket… the packets hit the floor, leaving the two standing in an intertwined mess before Kibum processes the situation and nearly explodes, the building annoyance finally overcoming his total anger. “OH MY GOD,” he gasps and attempts to push the boy off.

“Wait! Wait, please!” The boy withstands Kibum’s push and holds onto his arms, pleading worry in his voice and gripping Kibum hard enough to keep him still. “This isn’t what it looks like!”

“What? Like you haven’t been shoplifting!? Those packets of blood, I sure as hell didn’t ring them up! I didn’t even see you pick them off the shelf!”

“O-okay it is what it looks like but please—”

“That’s why you never bought anything holy , you were stealing this whole time!” Kibum gives one last shove at the boy and releases himself before picking up the packets off the floor, “You come in, steal, and pull stupid pranks! I’m reporting you to the police, what’s your name?”

“Please don’t, I can explain really...”

“What’s your name?”

“…Taemin. Lee Taemin.” And at that very moment, Kibum’s anger shifts from Taemin to himself as he starts to feel bad looking at how guilty and sad Taemin’s face is. He can’t even look Kibum in the eyes anymore. 

“Okay, Taemin… If you really have a good explanation for this behavior I guess I won’t report it, but you have REALLY got to stop. And it better be a damn good explanation...” He gets Taemin to look back at him instantly, moving his hair out of his face before responding.

“I can’t afford any of that stuff, but I really want them.” He blinks continuously, “I’m so sorry, I know it’s bad but I just want to have fun…” Kibum squints, not feeling satisfied and keeping quiet to hear more as Taemin continues, “Uh… I guess what I told you in the store is true, you know. I can’t decide what to be…”

“You guess?” Kibum raises an eyebrow.

“I mean—ugh, it’s just true okay? I don’t know what to dress up as so I just smear blood on me…” Taemin sighs. “Look, I really am sorry.” Kibum doesn’t fully believe him but lets it slide anyway.

“What about the prank?”

“It’s not a prank…” Kibum notices Taemin’s infamous blush reappear again, but he doesn’t follow up with anything.

“Taemin—”

“I did it to talk to you… though I would never talk, I know—I was too... shy to approach you.” Kibum loses his train of thought, surprised, and immediately turning as red as Taemin, he sighs while admitting defeat to the kid. He’s not going to report him, but now he’s more determined to help.

“Okay… well, like I told you earlier in the store you can always just… ask me. I’m very friendly, okay?” Taemin pouts and nods his head, “I wish you could just come up to me, I’m sick and tired of fixing this stupid thing.” Kibum turns over to the display and gives it a kick himself, setting off all the screaming yet again but Kibum doesn’t care this time, as he kicked it to release all the anger he couldn’t fume out on Taemin. How could he anyway? Now that Taemin is laughing at him for that kick, with his twinkling eyes and small hands attempting to cover his big smile… Kibum returns it with a smaller smile of his own, then brings attention back to the packets still in his hands.

“And about this—I’m sorry but I don’t think I can let you back in here.” Taemin’s smile fades as fast as the words leave his mouth, Kibum almost flinches at the sudden change in his demeanor. “You’ve come in here a lot, so I can only imagine how much you’ve stolen. I don’t know what you’re really doing with all this blood, but you can’t keep taking it. I won’t report you, but you’re banned from here… do you understand? I will call the cops.” Taemin nods a sad nod in response, looking and feeling beyond defeated before Kibum opens his mouth with something they both didn’t expect. “Though, you can come back on my day off… I’ll help you find a costume once and for all. Uh—to make sure you don’t go stealing in other stores instead. If you really don’t know what to be then maybe if we figure it out for you, you’ll stop stealing.”

Taemin is startled, and isn’t even sure what to think. He blinks a thousand times a second, staring dumbfounded and nervous, prompting Kibum to ask him, “What? Do you not want my help then?”

“I DO, I do… Sorry.” Taemin hides in his hair yet again, as he’s burning a brighter red than Kibum has ever seen, he then wonders how red he is himself... They both must look like glowing fools to the customers passing by.

“Come back here in two days, at 6pm. Wait outside, I’ll be waiting for you too.” Kibum bluntly ends their conversation with an awkward cough and turns away to return to his job after wasting so much time. Taemin stands there and watches him walk away, trying to keep his heart still from all the fluttering butterflies. His heart only beats faster though, as he races out of the store as soon as Kibum turns his direction again, annoyance back on his face, yelling “I WILL CALL THE COPS TAEMIN.”

When the Halloween store reopened its doors, Taemin never expected to be put into the situation he finds himself in now. He’s currently on his way there, to meet Kibum, the boy whose fault this whole thing really is. If it wasn’t for him, Taemin would have never been so distracted, never would have acted so damn foolish in touching the displays, he would have never done anything to give his shoplifting away… and yet he did. He couldn’t help himself though, each time he walked into that damn store and saw how cute Kibum looked. At first Taemin really thought it was just a haircut, but the more times he went the more he realized he had a crush…

He figured the best way to talk to Kibum was through messing up the displays, since he never bought anything anymore… and each time he did mess them up, Kibum would come running to his side to help him back up. It was never much of an interaction but it was certainly enough to keep Taemin’s heart smitten and sighing—dreaming of the boy’s larger hands and how they grip so easily around his arms… Now if only Taemin had known the trouble it would get him in. The trouble of costume shopping all because of his white lies.

“Ugh, this is going to be so annoying. Did I really have to agree to this? What was I thinking?” Taemin talks to himself in a low whisper, as he waits outside the store without Kibum in sight. “I bet you he’s not even going to show up, jokes on me after all…” He then squats down to his knees, pouting to himself as he replays his last conversation with Kibum… The way he smiled at him, and made him laugh while kicking the display after explaining how annoyed he was that Taemin would do the same thing. Taemin’s heart started to flutter once again, too distracted entirely in his thoughts to notice Kibum walk up to him.

“So you showed up after all, amazing. What if I had shown up with a couple of police officers?” Kibum announces himself loudly, scaring Taemin out of thoughts and causing him to land on his . Kibum laughs in return, offering his hand to help Taemin back up, “I suppose helping you off the floor is always going to be a thing.”

“You scared me!” Kibum laughs again, already causing Taemin’s face to glow red. “Anyway, of course I showed up… What would you have done if I didn’t?”

“I do work here, remember? I could have just… worked hehe.” Taemin rolls his eyes now, finding Kibum’s humor annoying. “Hey there’s no need for that! I’m just poking fun at you, remember we’re here because of you after all.”

“We are not!” Taemin exclaims back, following Kibum who had started walking his way into the store. “You’re the one who told me to come here!”

“Yes, but it was all from YOUR doing Taemin. I wasn’t the one shoplifting.” Kibum turns to Taemin in an evil smirk, knowing he got him good. Taemin only frowns back to him, unable to retort any further. Kibum was right, if he was never stealing in the first place, he wouldn’t have had to lie about costume shopping, and he wouldn’t have had to agree to Kibum’s requests… He continues to follow Kibum as they walk further into the store, eyeing his features and noticing how beautiful he really is. For once, instead of his heart fluttering, he feels like he’s floating.

“You bleached the shaved side of your head…” Taemin comments, catching Kibum off guard.

“I did, well I do… every week, the roots grow quicker since it’s buzzed…” Kibum reaches up to pet the side of his head they’re talking about. Taemin notices a hint of blush on his cheeks too. “You know, I never got to tell you that I like your hair too.”

“MINE?” Taemin snaps back, with open eyes and a look of disbelief.

“Yes, yours,” Kibum chuckles at how silly Taemin always reacts to him. “It’s not everyday you see a teenaged boy with hair as long as yours. Just like you don’t see many with a half shaved head either.”

“My hair is only long because I’m too lazy to cut it…” Taemin whispers, causing Kibum to look at him and release the loudest laugh Taemin has ever heard. It reminded him of the screaming witches from the displays.

“Oh Taemin, you’re really something. I’m glad we're here right now.” Kibum smiles genuinely, “Speaking of which, let’s start this mission! Costume shopping!” His smile widens, now scaring Taemin and little while also reminding him why they were there in the first place.

“…Oh yea,” Taemin replies unenthusiastically, “that.”

“Hm? What’s the matter? Don’t you need a costume?” Taemin then bites his lips, feeling bad he lied about being clueless on dressing up because he now realizes how serious Kibum is about this whole thing. He can just see it written all over his face, it’s the same look Taemin sees on the children he scares while trick-or-treating… the look of pure enjoyment and fun. Taemin isn’t sure whether he finds it amusing or just plain annoying, Kibum has to be older than him… why is he so into this all?

“Taemin, you seem to space out a lot don’t you?”

“I’m sorry I tend to get caught up in my thoughts…” Kibum just stares back at him with a tilt of his head, “I do need a costume…”

“OKAY, GOOD! Now I was thinking, since all you’ve been looking at in the store are the blood and props, maybe we can make you into some sort of vampire… Personally, I think you’ve got the looks to be some sort of dreamy vampire prince, but of course it’s all up to you! I know you said you didn’t have a clue on what to be, but that’s some food for thought, right?” Kibum smiles his brightest smile to Taemin, and is only met with scrunching brows and a scowling mouth.

“Oh WOW, you really ARE into all of this…”

“Excuse me?”

“I—I mean, Halloween seems to be very important to you…” Taemin starts as he allows Kibum to start picking costumes off the shelf they stopped in front of and place them in front of Taemin as if trying to see how they would look on him. “Don’t you think we’re too old for it, though?” 

Kibum stops his styling, and turns to him, “Why would we be too old?” The look on his face lets Taemin know it was a serious question, and for some reason he can’t help but to get nervous and think carefully of what to tell Kibum.

“Well, we’re both teenagers right? Isn’t Halloween mostly for smaller children? It’s not like we can go trick-or-treating without being looked at weird. Old ladies don’t want teens at their door, just smiling kids with googly eyes begging for attention.”

“That doesn’t sound very different from how you look.” Taemin is instantly shut down, and Kibum turns back to styling him. “There’s no age limit in having fun, I think. And dressing up is fun, don’t you think?” Kibum’s question is met with silence, so he continues, “I think it is, there’s a thrill in being able to pretend to be someone you’re not and get away with it. No one said trick-or-treating is the only thing you have to do, and costumes are certainly not just for that and the children who do it…”

By now, Kibum seems to have found a costume he likes, as he keeps it held up to Taemin, tilting his head and squinting his eyes while nodding. Taemin hasn’t cared much to look at what Kibum has picked out because he feels beyond embarrassed at this point, but not nearly as annoyed as he had thought. The way Kibum spoke to him really struck him, and what he had to say was not necessarily wrong. Taemin just can’t come to terms on why he had never seen it that way. Then again, Taemin couldn’t fully understand where the ‘fun’ in dressing up really was anyway. He was torn.

Is dressing up in costumes and enjoying yourself in that sense any different from pranking people in order to scare the living wits out of them? If ‘fun’ is the main objective, does it matter how anyone really achieves it… Though, Taemin figures maybe dressing up in a Halloween costume is a lot less harmless than pranking people. So now he can only wonder, why does it bother him that people might find ‘childish’ activity as entertainment. Was there anything really wrong with it?

“Taemin, I’ve been talking to you this whole time… Have you heard a single thing I said?” Kibum brings Taemin back to reality by shoving the costume into his arms. Taemin could only blink back at him in a guilty look. “Forget it, can you please just go try this on really quick?”

And so Taemin does, and finds that Kibum has picked him exactly what he had proposed: a vampire prince. Looking at himself in the mirror, Taemin couldn’t believe he was truly wearing a garment so frilly, or even remember the last time he was dressed in costume—but he also couldn’t lie… the suit looked pretty damn good on him. Even Kibum was overjoyed when Taemin stepped out to show him, exclaiming that he’s a genius and that Taemin was truly too handsome to believe. Taemin could only laugh at Kibum’s words, wicked blush mirroring his and feeling giddy enough himself that at that very moment, every last drop of annoyance left his body. He starts to float again and before he knows it, Kibum leads him back out to venture for more, adding props to his costume, sure to add the elements of blood and gore Kibum figured Taemin enjoyed so much—which he obviously did.

.  .  .

By the time the boys finally reach the line at registers, Taemin’s floating comes to an end as panic crashes into his reality. There was no way on earth he could afford everything he and Kibum just picked out… What is he going to do? He surely can’t steal any of it, that’s for sure. And actually, he’s not even sure where the hell he’s going to wear this thing. It’s much too elaborate to prank in anyway, and he’s sure his pranking days for this year are over anyway… He wasted his time picking this outfit out for nothing.

“Um… Kibum?”

“Yes?”

“…I’m really sorry, I-ugh you’re really going to believe I’m a giant airhead now, I—” Taemin looks down to his toes before finishing his sentence, sadness overwhelming him. “I totally forgot I can’t afford any of this, I can’t buy them. And—” Taemin’s sadness and sentence is quickly interrupted however, when he hears Kibum’s witch cackle return.

“DUH! Oh, Taemin…” Taemin looks baffled. “Why would I think you can afford this stuff? You were caught stealing $5 packets of blood, remember? You truly are so lucky you’re too damn cute for this world, your ditziness is bearable because of it.”

“Okay,” Taemin rolls his eyes, “I’m going to ignore that backhanded compliment because… I don’t understand what you’re telling me?”

“I had planned on buying all of this for you, don’t worry about it.” He smiles his same bright smile at Taemin, causing him to hold his breath in order not to scream at the perfect being that seems to stand in front of him. Taemin can’t believe this boy standing here with him is real, he can’t believe even more how he makes him feel… and most of all, he can’t believe how he can’t seem to win over him. 

“You don’t have to thank me for it or anything either, I’m sure you’re too shy to try to cough up a thanks right now anyway.” Kibum finishes before finally buying Taemin’s new costume. They walk out slowly together, but before fully exiting Taemin stops in front of the same old displays that played his victim in catching Kibum’s attention. Kibum stops in his tracks, looking back at Taemin with a curious look to prompt him to talk.

“I’m really not allowed back in here, am I? Taemin then asks Kibum, looking up to him slowly in a puppy-eye look.

“Nope!” Kibum states bluntly and walks back to Taemin to hand him his bag full of properly bought items. “I can’t forgive the shoplifting, though I did enjoy my time with you. I hope we can put this behind us, and I’ll be even more happy if you enjoy this costume. Wear it, and have fun. Don’t get into more trouble, please…” Taemin breaks eye contact with Kibum immediately, guilt washing over him yet again.

“Wear it…”

“What? You are going to wear it right?”

“I—I can…” Taemin feels a slap to his arm. “HEY! Don’t hit me!”

“Then say you’ll wear it, there is NO way I’ll let you not wear this and let it slide past me! Shoplifting I can live with, but this? Not this!” Kibum reaches back to slap Taemin yet again, but Taemin stops him in midair.

“I will, okay? I’m just hesitant because I don’t have anywhere to wear it, I don’t know when to wear it, or what to do in it?” The sincerity in Taemin’s voice is only met with a warm stare in Kibum’s eyes, and a hint of pink peeking through on the tip of his nose.

“I will never get tired of how cute you are Taemin… How old are you?”

“Huh? I’m… 17.” Taemin answers Kibum without question, though he’s confused yet again at his usual unusual behavior. He’s blinded by a wicked bright smile before Kibum breaks himself free from his grip.

“Oh, you’re only two years younger than me. I guess that’s old enough!” Kibum reaches into his pocket to pull out a cellphone and opens it up to the contact section within. “Do you have a cellphone? Share your number with me, and I’ll take you to a Halloween party!” He chuckles while handing Taemin over the device. Taemin punches his number into Kibum’s phone silently, and nervously controls his breathing yet again because he’s giving his crush his phone number. Not only that, but Kibum is really offering to take him to a party…

“You didn’t even tell me if you wanna go, are you in?” Kibum asks when Taemin hands him back his cellphone. “Or do you just want me to send you goodnight texts?”

“I’ll go… I’m just happy because I thought I’d never see you again, you know, considering I’m banned from here.” Kibum laughs at the way Taemin sighs.

“I’m happy you’re happy, and I’m even happier you have NO excuse to NOT wear that costume now! Hehe.” Taemin blushes at Kibum in a pout after he winks at him… Taemin really can’t win, can he?

When Kibum gets home, his head is filled with thoughts and memories flooding out of his brain—all of Taemin and his time with him today. In the end, he can’t believe he ended up flirting and perhaps developing a mini crush on a 17 year old, but most of all he invited that annoying seventeen year old to a party at his university… Though, Kibum can’t come to fully blame himself when Taemin makes him genuinely smile (and often), and feel so refreshed at heart aside from dealing with his irritable child-like behavior—such as spacing out every other sentence. Yet, even that is so bearable when it’s countered with the squeaking laughs, and timeless expressions that all come from Lee Taemin’s being…

Maybe Kibum feels like he’s slowly inching off the ground, and though he won’t ponder on it much, he really is happy Taemin messed up all those displays at his ty job after all. If he never did, who knows if Kibum would have ever thought of talking to him more than just simple customer service talk.

.  .  .

Taemin lies in bed, staring at his ceiling fan and reflecting the events of the day. He can’t seem to get Kibum’s smile out of his brain, he’s almost certain it’s buried deep inside by now… He also can’t come to believe his Halloween this year has been completely shaken to its core. His pranking was done—thanks to that stupid ban—and aside that, he’s bought a costume. A Halloween costume, which he’s going to wear to a party... 

“Who has Lee Taemin become?” Taemin sighs to himself and kicks his feet in bed, turning over to hug his pillow. He feels his heart start to elevate in rate as Kibum’s face starts to cloud his mind again—he comes to finally admit that if he were to have never seen Kibum in that store, everything would have stayed the same as every year before this. He could have kept stealing, kept pranking, and he most certainly would have never obtained a costume… Though, He isn’t sure if that would’ve been more ideal…

His mind continues to flood with more thoughts, and even more images of Kibum as he allows the night sky to get dark without giving a damn about the passing time. He’s completely submerged in bliss and just before dozing off, Taemin hears his phone vibrate on the bedside table. 

Goodnight vampire prince ;)