Minho couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t really sleep before, just thinking about Taemin, but at least he got in a few hours of sleep. Now, he was on his way to school with only an hour of sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about Taemin’s conversation with his brother yesterday. He couldn’t stop thinking about what these abilities were. Was it musical abilities? Athletic? Academic? But those aren’t abilities you needed to control, or hide.

Minho never believed in anything supernatural. It was impossible that such a thing existed. Even if it did exist, wouldn’t it be easy to tell them apart from everyone else?

He never believed in it, but he was considering it. Nothing else made sense. There were no other abilities one needed to hide or control. So if it was something supernatural, what did that make Taemin? Was he some sort of monster? Minho couldn’t imagine that. He could tell when someone was being genuine, and everything about Taemin was real. Taemin wasn’t acting like he was scared or like he didn’t know anything; Taemin was really terrified.

So if he was some sort of supernatural being with abilities, why was he so scared? Shouldn’t it have been the other way around? If he truly was some monster, why was he the one scared of people? It didn’t make any sense to Minho, and at the same time it did. Taemin’s parents really did isolate him, he knew as much based on what Taemin said and his conversation with his brother. If Taemin really was a monster, then he must be afraid because he wasn’t used to being around people, or he was afraid his secret would be found out.

He felt like he should be scared, like he should get away from Taemin, but he didn’t want to. Taemin was sweet, clearly too scared of everyone to ever hurt anyone. Taemin seemed too kind to ever attack anyone. Taemin was sweet, so why did Minho have to ignore him? Until the day that Taemin does something to prove otherwise, Minho decided he was going to continue being friends with the boy. If Taemin wasn’t going to hurt him, there was no problem right?

But Minho was still curious. He wanted to find out more about the mysterious boy. He usually didn’t like being so nosy, but something in him was telling him to do it, to find out Taemin’s secret, while another side said it would be best if he didn’t know.

“Ow,” he heard. He looked around before realizing no one was around him, until he heard a small groan below him. He looked down to see Taemin on his knees in front of him, and Minho guessed he must have crashed into the boy. He hadn’t even realized it while he was so caught up in his own thoughts.

“Taemin-ah! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” Minho said, immediately helping the boy up.

“Ah- no, it’s okay Minho-ssi. I shouldn’t have just been standing there,” Taemin responded, bowing to Minho in thanks before following the older teen on their way to school.

“Ssi? You don’t have to be so formal with me. You can just call me hyung.”

“O-Okay hyung. Are you okay? You look tired,” Taemin said, staring up at him, and Minho could see the concern in his eyes. Clearly, Taemin couldn’t be some evil monster right? There was no way such a kind boy could hurt anyone. While Taemin was looking up at him, Minho got a really good look at the boy. His eyes were big, not as big as his own, but still big. He had a double eyelid, long eyelashes, chubby cheeks despite how skinny he looked and pink, almost red plump lips. His features were definitely masculine, but at the same time, it was impossible to deny the feminine like qualities. He had no doubt that if Taemin was dressed as a girl, he would confuse many people.

“Yeah, I just didn’t much sleep is all.”

“Again? Hyung, are you sure you’re okay? Its not healthy to lose so much sleep.” Taemin didn’t think he was the best to give advice about sleeping, when he himself didn’t have to, but he knew how important it was to others, and it worried him that Minho was lacking. Other than food, sleep and a good night’s rest keep a human going, Taemin was sure of that. So the fact that Minho was losing so much sleep must be a problem.

“Really Taemin, I’m fine. Thank you for worrying though,” Minho said, ruffling Taemin’s hair. It was soft, much softer than he had thought it would be, but he brushed the thought aside. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about how soft hair or pretty Taemin is. Right now, he should be trying to get more information about Taemin.

“If you say so.”

“So, Mr. Lee is your brother?”

Taemin chuckled nervously and nodded. It must have been both embarrassing and great having your sibling as your teacher. At one side, it was so much easier for the teacher to embarrass you, and at another, Taemin could get help whenever he wanted, at any hour, though Minho didn’t think he needed it. If Taemin did, he wouldn’t have been moved up in classes.

“Y-Yeah. I honestly had no idea he worked here. I didn’t even know he was a teacher,” Taemin said.

“How much older is he than you?” Minho asked. Taemin tensed a bit. He couldn’t tell Minho the real age difference. That would be too long, and quite a few decades. His parents didn’t plan on having kids after Taesun, but they wanted one since Taesun was away so much. Taemin’s real age was 16, but he wouldn’t know how long he’ll leave. He could live for hundreds of years so long as no one killed him. He was afraid to think of his parents’ ages.

“T-Ten,” Taemin replied. Minho nodded, wondering if they were close. Ten years was a pretty big gap, so he wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t talk much. It could be the reason for not knowing that his own brother was a teacher. Then again, Taesun sounded quite protective of Taemin in their conversation yesterday, so it could just be that Taesun moved out and didn’t visit often.

“Are you two close?”

“Sort of. He moved out a long time ago, so I don’t see him as often as I used to.”

So Taesun had moved out, though it was normal considering he was twenty-six. Minho found it weird to be saying his teacher’s first name, even if it was only in his head. That wasn’t what was important at the moment though, so he ignored the thought and continued to focus on the conversation. If Taemin was indeed some sort of supernatural being, he must have some strange physically quality. Minho saw brown eyes, no horns, so signs of a tail, no out of place features, normal teeth. Other than Taemin’s slightly feminine looks, the boy was ordinary.

Unless he’s wearing contacts.

His cousin had color contacts to make her eyes look blue, so it was possible Taemin was wearing color contacts to make his eyes look brown. That was the only possibility, and if that wasn’t it, then either Taemin really did a great job blending in, or Minho was over thinking everything and Taemin was just an incredibly shy ordinary boy.

One thing that he learned from his cousin having color contacts was that in a bright light, you could always see the original color behind the color of the contacts. She had showed it to him one day when the power went out and they were walking around with a flashlight. She put it up to her eyes and showed him that you could still see the brown behind the blue. The only question now was how he was going to see Taemin’s eyes under a bright light.

He’d think of something later.

“You know, I think we should hang out sometime and really get to know each other. I mean, we’re friends right? I barely know anything about you,” Minho said. Taemin looked surprised at first but nodded as they continued on their way to school. It was the third day now, and as they approached the gates, they could see more and more people gathering and entering the school.

“Y-Yeah, that’d be nice,” Taemin replied. Minho hummed in response and moved a bit closer, noticing that Taemin had shifted a bit away from him.

“When are you free?”

“A-Any day, really,” Taemin said. Minho nodded and thought for a bit. Soccer hadn’t started yet, so really didn’t have anything to do yet either.

“How about today after school?” he asked.

“But aren’t you tired? You should really get more sleep hyung.”

“Fine then, how about tomorrow?” Taemin nodded and Minho was glad that he could get this over with as soon as possible. Now the only problem was where. “So, your house or mine.”

“U-Uh...” Taemin was starting to panic. Minho couldn’t see his house. There was no food in the refrigerator, it was practically in the woods, and his parents would never allow it. They would freak out if he told them a human was going to their house. It would be a disaster. Being friends with Minho is dangerous enough for his family. Bringing Minho to his house was dangerous for the both of them. Minho could find out and he wasn’t sure if his parents had as much self restraint around humans as he did.

“Yours. Our parents are having some friends over tomorrow,” a voice said behind them. They turned to see Taesun standing there, a smile on his face as he walked over. “It’d be better if Taemin went to your house instead. When our parents have friends over, it means a lot of people.”

Taemin knew what that really meant. More vampires were going to be at his house tomorrow, so he definitely couldn’t let Minho anyway near his house. It’d be like throwing a piece of meat to a bunch of hungry lions. It was chaos. A regular vampire was fine. A thirsty vampire was scary, and thirst seems to rise around humans.

“Okay then, my house it is. Tomorrow after school?” Minho asked.

“I-I have to go home first to meet the friends my parents are bring over, b-but house about after?”

“Sure, I’ll text you my address,” Minho said, taking out his phone.

“Text?”

Minho hoped the boy was joking, but just by looking at the boy, he could tell he wasn’t. The boy clearly had no idea what Minho was talking about, and Minho wasn’t sure what to think about it. Should he pity the boy for not knowing what that was? Did the boy even have a cellphone?

“Taemin, do you have a cellphone?”

“I have a house phone,” Taemin replied. Minho sighed and shook his head. He couldn’t blame the boy for not being able to get out much. His parents must have had their reasons.

“I’m taking him out today to buy him a phone. How about you just give him your number so that he can text you later?” Taesun recommended. Minho nodded and pulled out a pen and a sticky note from his bag, quickly writing his number and giving it to Taemin.

“You go on ahead. I need to talk to Taemin,” Taesun said, pulling Taemin along with him. This time, Minho didn’t follow. He decided that he’d let them talk privately this time. He’d find out everything he wanted to know later on.

After all, good things come to those who wait.

“You have to be more careful Tae,” Taesun said.

“I know hyung. I’m just not used to all of this. Umma taught me what I needed to know for school, but being social wasn’t one of those things,” Taemin replied.

Taesun sighed, knowing that Taemin had a point. It was their own fault for isolating him so much, so now they had to deal with the consequences.

“I know, I know. I’ll tell you everything you need to know later, and we’ll go and get you a cellphone. You’ll need one if you’re going to be here,” Taesun said. Taemin nodded and shuffled his feet a bit.

“Shouldn’t we be getting to class?”

“Yeah,” Taesun responded. “And Taemin?”

“Yes?”

“Try not to get too close to anyone.”

“I know...”

The walk to the class was silent. Taemin hated the fact that he couldn’t be himself around others. He hated that he had to hide himself, and as a result, couldn’t get close to anyone. He’d make friends, but no close friends he could tell anything and everything. That was impossible for him. He hated it, but he chose this, and he wasn’t going to regret it. He knew the conditions and rules he’d have to follow if he chose to go to a public school, so he’d have to deal with it. This is what he wanted. It may not be exact, but its close enough. Closer than he ever thought possible.

He sat in his seat, which was lucky right beside Key’s and across from Minho, who sat in front of Key. Minho looked back at him, as if asking if everything was okay, and he nodded, offering a small smile. He couldn’t let Minho know about his troubles. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t.

Minho was the last person he wanted to find out about his true nature. Out of all the new friends he made–that being Minho, Key, Onew, and Jonghyun–, Minho was the one he felt the most comfortable with. He guessed it was because Minho was the first one he met, and was the one he saw the most, but he wasn’t sure. There could be many reasons, and he didn’t think it was important to identify which one it was. The point was that he felt closest to Minho, which was also a problem.

He didn’t want to think about what would happen if Minho found out. He was scared to lose the first friend he made in this school. Would Minho run? Would he call him a monster? Would Minho hate him?

Taemin could barely pay attention to his brother’s history class with all the thoughts in his head. He just wanted the day to end already so that he could go home.

He was a bit excited for tomorrow though. For starters, he’d get to spend the day with Minho, which was nice. On top of that, he’d get to see some of his family. His parents friends were always distant relatives, and some friends, which meant they were bringing their children. He was mainly excited to see his cousins:, Jongin and Luna. They were very different from each other, but they all managed to get along. They were the only people Taemin ever thought his friends, but seeing as they were family, people didn’t really consider them friends.

Either way, they didn’t get to see each other often. Jongin and Luna were both younger than him. Jongin was six months younger, while Luna was only a month younger. They were the only reason he decided to go home before going to Minho’s house. He wanted to see them first and tell them all about school before going. Jongin was freely allowed out, since he had gotten his abilities earlier and was a lot stronger than him, which was not just because his ability was physical strength. Luna was allowed out sometimes, but not as often as Jongin. She still hadn’t gotten her abilities.

Taemin, although the oldest in their little group, was the most sheltered, because his parents were the most protective. Not to mention, he was the weakest, physically and verbally. Jongin was the strongest, and when it comes to arguments, Luna could hold her own with no problem. Taemin was too shy to argue much despite his stubbornness, and he wasn’t strong. He was quick and agile, but he wasn’t strong. He wouldn’t be able to fight back if he got into a problem.

Even so, Jongin and Luna weren’t allowed to go to school yet, so he wanted to tell them all about it. He was definitely excited to see them. It was just sad that they couldn’t spend much time together, but if he was lucky, he could convince their parents to let them go to school with him. It wouldn’t be too bad. They were just about the same age, so they’d end up in the same grade. He wouldn’t have every class with them, unless they managed to get to the classes he was in.

Just like that, with his mind in elsewhere, the school day passed. Just like the day before, he bought his lunch, making sure to get the bag of baked chips he liked. There were many choices of lunches, but Taemin decided he would settle for a small sandwich and chips, along with his strawberry milk he got from home. He was starting to wonder if he could just put blood in banana milk until it was pinkish and pretend it was strawberry milk, but he didn’t want to risk it. It was better to be safe than sorry.

At the end of the day, he said good bye to his friends and left with Taesun. They went to a place called a mall that Taemin had never been to before. All of the clothes he owned were given to him by Taesun, and he never questioned where they were from. Now he knew though. The building was enormous, much bigger than the school, and filled with stores packed with different clothes. They went to a store that had the little devices that looked like what he saw Minho with, and his eyes lit up.

Taesun bought him a regular phone, nothing too fancy or expensive. It was huge, Taemin noted, but it was thin, and it wasn’t heavy. The screen was large, and he marveled at all of its features when it . He had fun tapping the screen, because a rippling noise was made, and ripples appeared where he touched. The background was water too, making it all look so much more real.

His brother taught him all about it. He showed him what texts were, how to make calls and add numbers, and even how to use the internet, something Taemin had never even heard of before. Taesun took him into another store, also filled with electronic devices, but these were much bigger, and you have to open them up by lifting the top. It amazed Taemin that people apparently used these things daily. Taesun explained that he would need it to do school work. He called it a laptop.

When they got home, Taesun taught him how to use the internet on his new laptop, and how to type on it. He had to go eventually, be he told him to remember to text Minho.

And he did. Once Taesun left, Taemin pulled out the sticky note from his pocket and quickly sent Minho a text, telling him that he had just gotten and learned how to use his new phone. Minho seemed happy, based on the smiley face Taemin saw in the text, and sent one back, because he was happy too. He told Minho that Taesun had also gotten him a laptop, though he still wasn’t completely sure how to use it.

Minho told him that if he brought his laptop with him tomorrow, Minho would teach him how to use it, and Taemin was happy about that. He was happy that Minho was so willing to help him learn new things. It was nice knowing he had someone else to help him, even if that other person didn’t know the truth about him.

But then again, Taemin didn’t know everything about Minho either, especially not what the other was planning.

I was able to update it tonight! Yay!!! :D

Anyway, I'm going to make this short, because I want to start working on "Being With You." 

I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! Thank you very much for reading!

Please COMMENT and tell me what you think! Comments really help bring up my mood (which has been pretty down lately).

Bye bye~