PLAY

Sighing, Vera walks into the room as calmly as possible, trying not to think of the situation she put herself into earlier in the day, when the class goes silent. What? “She’s wearing a skirt.” “Vera-ssi is wearing a skirt.” “Have you ever seen her in a skirt?” “Wow, this is the first time seeing Vera-ssi wearing a skirt!” spread across the room as she settles into her seat. Trying to nonchalantly hide her fear, anxiety, annoyance, and self-pity that were oh-so conveniently wrapped into one intense feeling, Vera quietly tries to take out her supplies for the day.

Randomly, some guy bumps into her desk as they walk to the back. “If she keeps dressing like that, maybe she’ll get a boyfriend one day,” he says, slumping into his seat. When his friends snicker at him, he quickly adds “But not me, of course. I only like Korean girls.”

Even though he was one of the group of guys Vera tended to not care for, the comment struck a nerve, especially when Taemin’s group of fangirls laughed at her (indiscreetly) behind their hands. Sighing, she just fixed her attention on the task at hand: not letting Taemin know she was upset.

Of course at this very moment, Taemin decides to finally walk into class, the teacher a few feet away. “Annyeong~” Taemin says, with a happy singsong tone as he sits behind her. Almost instantly, he notices her bare legs and tries desperately to keep his reaction under wraps. Shaking such thoughts out of his mind, Taemin notices that Vera’s upset. “Gwenchanna?”

“Dae,” Vera says, softly, not even bothering to turn around to prove it.

Impulsively, Taemin closes his eyes and tries to figure out the root of her unhappiness. Without having to open his eyes, he sees the scene from before he walked into class play in his mind. Furiously slamming his hands on the desk, Taemin stands up.

“Taemin?” Vera turns to look at him.

“Yah! If anyone wants to mess with my girlfriend, you’re going to have to go through me. Got that? I don’t want to say it again,” Taemin yells, out of character.

The teacher turns to look at him, curiously (with a tinge of fear in her eyes); his fangirls silence; the group of guys sit up straighter, as if in the presence of someone with high authority. Which is what Taemin was, as kingka.

“...T-Taemi-goon, c-can you s-sit down?” the teacher stuttered out, fearing his wrath.

In a huff, Taemin finally sits down and his eyes change back to brown.

Class resumes and Vera turns to face him. “Taemin, are you ok?” What was that?

“Dae,” Taemin says, a wide smile on his face.

“....thanks,” Vera whispers as she quickly faces the front again.

The day was fine after that, or so the two thought.

Vera finishes changing after gym and starts to go towards the cafeteria, when strong hands grab her and push her back inside the girls’ changing room, which is now dark. Suddenly a voice speaks. “Stay away from Taemin-ah. Or else you’ll regret it. Someone like you was never meant to be with someone like him. Stay away from him. OR ELSE!” as the lights flash on and off. A flash of bright red hair is seen before it’s pitch black again.

Trying to find her way back out, she realizes the doors have been sealed tight with something, forcing her inside. Pounding on the doors, hoping that someone hears the noise or that the door will open, Vera pushes with all her strength. “HELP ME!” she yells, at the top of her lungs, hoping someone would hear. Unfortunately for her, the doors were so heavy, that they were practically soundproof.

Yet, luckily for her, Taemin has hearing better than any human could dream off. And as he passed the changing rooms to get to his next and final class, he heard her cries. “Vera?”

“HELP ME!” she continues to pound on the doors, hoping that there are at least dents in the stainless steel doors.

“Vera?” he asks, louder this time.

Vera stays silent, trying to figure out who’s voice it was. Was that Angel?

“If you can hear me, back up.”

Obediently, yet confused, Vera does as he says. Ok?

Not even needing a running start, Taemin walks into the doors and pushes with all his strength, bending the metal in the process, but finally gets the doors open. “Vera, what happened?” he asks, running over to embrace his “girlfriend”.

Foregoing the obvious question, Vera goes for a more daring one. “Taemin-ah?”

“Yes?”

“What you said in class today, you were joking, right? You only said it to stand up for me, right?”

“...Why are you asking this?” Taemin asks, confused.

“I can’t be your girlfriend,” she says, avoiding eye contact.

“And why not?” he asks, again, out of character.

“I’m not pretty enough,” she says, trying to slip past him.

“What do you mean, of course you are,” Taemin says, easily catching up to her fast steps with his longer legs.

“I’m really not,” she says, walking out of the school premises, done with school for the day.

“You are,” he replies, stopping her.

Exhaling exasperatedly, she turns to face him, angrily. “I’m really not, Taemin. We’re in Korea, I’m not Korean. I at Korean, I don’t even follow the proper etiquettes of Korean culture. Compared to beauty standards here, I’m rather tan. I am a sarcastic, rude, negative person. I am not the one for you. Now if you excuse me-”

Taemin grabs her wrist and pulls her close to him, so that their faces are inches, or rather, centimeters away from each other. “But that’s precisely the one for me. You’re different. I like that. That’s why I want you to be my girlfriend,” he says, his voice taking on a deeper tone. And oh!, his eyes are turning a pale red. :) Stepping back, Taemin smiles widely at her. “So let me walk you home,” he says, starting to lead her home.

What the heck is up with him today? Vera asks herself as she reluctantly follows her strange friend.

_________________________________

So looks like Vera's getting a sneak peek of Vampire Taem. How do you feel about him reassuring her? Do you agree with her insecurities or did you squeel at Taemin's reassurances? What do you feel about the soon-to-be couple? They're technically not together yet.

ANYWAYS

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