Minho was at a loss. He didn’t know what to think anymore. He didn’t know how he was supposed to feel anymore.

For days on end he had spent his time just thinking about Taemin. Only Taemin. The boy latched onto his brain and stayed there like a tick. Part of him wanted to believe that Taemin was using his powers to put the thoughts in his head, but he knew that wasn’t possible. Taemin was too scared to use his powers on anyone.

But then, that simple fact made it worse. If Taemin wasn’t putting the thoughts there, why was he having them in the first place. He shouldn’t be feeling this way, much less around Taemin. They were good friends, nothing more. There was nothing deeper between them, whether he wanted there to be or not. There was nothing besides friendship between he and Taemin.

So why did his heart beat faster when he was around the boy? Why did he suddenly feel nervous? He felt like he should constantly be making a good impression on the boy.

He almost kissed Taemin.

He’d never forget that experience. Had his mother not walked in on them when she did, he probably would’ve kissed Taemin. That wouldn’t have been fair to Taemin. It would’ve been a mistake. What if Taemin was saving his first kiss for the person he loved? What if Taemin actually did like him? He wouldn’t be able to return the feelings then. How could he, when he wasn’t even sure of his feelings?

What about the fact that Taemin was a vampire? I supernatural creature, supposedly a myth. He wasn’t supposed to be real. But he was. Taemin was alive and well, abilities and all. Minho had seen enough to know that Taemin was indeed real. He’d seen the fangs, the eyes, put his hand on his chest and felt no heartbeat. He’d seen Taemin use his abilities on a random animal. Taesun’s ability had already been used on him. What more proof did he need?

Taemin said that it was possible for a human to be turned into a vampire, but he never said if it was okay to do it. Even if he had feelings for Taemin, they would never be able to act for them. They were two different species. It was almost like Romeo and Juliet. Vampires disliked humans, saw them only as food. Humans had no idea vampires even existed; those who believed it thought it was cool, most would fear them. Even if they never did find out Taemin was a vampire, there was still the fact that Taemin was a boy. He may have no problem with it, and his friends probably wouldn’t either, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the community liked it. They’d be shunned if they ever openly dated anyway.

Taemin was a Capulet and he was a Montague. Fated to be and yet forced apart by their families, forced to meet in the dead of night when no one would know, few people to help them with their love. Fell in love at first sight, spent a night together in burning passion. One was exiled, the other forced to marry someone she did not love. And in the end, both died to be with the other, a mistake that could have been avoided had their families at least tried to understand their love.

Minho hated the story of Romeo and Juliet. He thought it was stupid, falling in love so quickly, blinded by appearance and forgetting their heart. Loving each other solely based on their looks, and allowed themselves to die for a so called “love” that lasted only a day or two. He did not pity their deaths, nor their families. Romeo had been too rash, believing Juliet was really dead before listening to the Friar’s words, and Juliet foolishly following behind.

The saddest part was that people died for their so called “love.” Not only that, but the idiotic families had to wait until their two children killed themselves to realize that their whole feud was pointless. Two teenagers had to die for their parents to realize that they had been wrong about everything all along.

So if Taemin was a Capulet, and Minho was a Montague, would they die for each other? Would they kill each other to prove a pointless feud? Could they risk everything simply for a so called “love” that was barely even there?

But Taemin had said that he’d fight his own family for him. He’d protect him no matter what. Taemin would be willing to be labeled as a traitor for him. He’d give up his life, his family, just to keep him safe. But could he do the same? Could he give up everything for Taemin?

He couldn’t ask for advice from anyone. No one would understand unless he revealed Taemin’s secret, and he couldn’t do that. Not ever. But he’d still try to ask someone. The only person that would understand the most with even the least information.

“So, what did you want to talk about,” Key asked.

Minho sighed. Key was a difficult person to talk to, and yet, also easy. The biggest problem with Key was that he liked getting a lot of information, and tried to pull it out of you. But he was also very understanding, and great with giving advice because of his straightforwardness. Key wouldn’t force him to say anything he didn’t want to, or simply couldn’t.

“I... I don’t know,” he said.

“You mean to tell me you called me out here when I could be out doing something more productive and you don’t even know what you want to talk about?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Minho said. He had no idea how to even begin explaining things to Key without at least hinting that Taemin wasn’t who everyone thought he was. It was difficult enough trying to sort out his feelings, which he still couldn’t do, and now he was trying to ask someone else to help him. He couldn’t even understand all the thoughts going through his head, how was he supposed to tell someone else about them? “There’s... Someone.”

“And does this someone have a name?” Key asked. Minho didn’t want to say, so he shook his head. He’d maybe tell Key later, or the teen would find out on his own. Either way, he wasn’t comfortable saying Taemin’s name out loud. He was afraid it would only bring more unwanted thoughts to his head. “So there’s an unnamed person. What about them?”

“That’s the thing,” Minho said. “I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“Well it’d be easier for me to help you if you explained.”

“I keep thinking about them, and I shouldn’t. I haven’t know this person for too long. I found out something I wasn’t supposed to, and we’ve gotten a bit closer since, but that’s the problem,” Minho said. He and Taemin were too close. Much too close. He shouldn’t be thinking about he and Taemin years from now. He shouldn’t constantly be seeing the boy’s shy smile whenever he closed his eyes. That soft voice, those lips, it was all haunting him. Like a ghost. A friendly ghost.

“Do you like this person?”

“Yes, their a good friend.”

“Do you like this person, Minho?”

“I... I-I don’t know. I shouldn’t Key. We’re too different. Much too different. We can’t be together,” Minho said. Key stared at him, inspecting him. Minho felt intimidated under the older’s gaze, wondering what could possibly be going on inside his head. Key looked away from him, seemingly now focused on his latte that he had barely touched, using a little straw to play with the foams above it.

“Ever heard the saying, ‘Opposites attract’?” Key asked. Minho nodded, focusing on his own coffee that was warming up his hands in the cold winter that had fallen upon them. There was still no snow outside, but it was cold enough to seem as if there would be at any moment. “So if you like this person, why are you hesitating so much?”

“Would you believe me if I said it was a guy?” Minho asked. Key nodded, looking not at all surprised, which made Minho wonder if Key was just very perceptive, or if he had done something to make Key believe it. Even so, now he had to make up an excuse as to why he couldn’t be with Taemin. “Would you believe if I said both are parents are quite homophobic. They’d kill us Key.”

“Although I believe when you say your father is homophobic, I don’t believe for a second that your mother would care. She’s too sweet to say anything against it. That being said, if you really liked him, wouldn’t you be willing to do whatever it takes to keep him by your side?”

That was the question that was confusing him most. Would he do everything for Taemin? Taemin was already willing to risk everything for him, so could he do the same?

“I almost kissed him the other day,” he said. “Umma walked in when I was about to, and I had to make up an excuse that we just fell and landed like that. I almost kissed him, Key.”

“Did he say anything against it? Did he looked scared or frightened? Did he try to push you away?”

“No,” Minho said. Taemin had done none of those things. He couldn’t even describe the look in Taemin’s eyes. Anticipation? Hope? There was something different in Taemin’s eyes when their lips were so close. There was a cloud of unhappiness in his voice when Taemin had denied any relationship between them past friendship. “It hurt... It hurt saying we were nothing but friends, that we would never be more than that.”

“Do you love him?”

He couldn’t answer that. Not now. Not so soon. He couldn’t say yes, he wasn’t certain enough. He couldn’t say no. It hurt to say no. Key had taken his silence as his answer, and continued.

“I’ll ask you this again. Would you be willing to do whatever it takes to keep him by your side?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then find out. Because until you do, you’ll only be hurting him, and yourself.”

With that, Key left, leaving him to his own thoughts. He wanted to be able to protect Taemin. He didn’t want to be defenseless. Even if he and Taemin were to be together, it would only be a matter of time before Taemin’s family found out, and Taemin would have to keep him safe from any possible threat. He wanted to keep Taemin safe. He wanted to be able to help Taemin, not just sit there and do nothing.

When that time came, there would be nothing he could do to keep Taemin with him. And even if they did get out of it, Taemin would eventually stop aging. He would stay the way he is while Minho would grow old and wither away. Taemin would never turn him into a vampire. He’d be too reluctant to cause Minho any pain. Taemin would live on for who knows how long while he would die from either old age, some illness, or whatever managed to kill him first. Taemin had more resistance against a bullet would. It could hit a vital organ and Taemin would be in pain, but it wouldn’t be too life threatening.

But what if the possibility to be changed arrived; that Taemin would willingly change him. Would he take it? Would he throw away the rest of his life just to be with Taemin for who knows how long? A part of him thought he could. He thought he could do anything for Taemin, no matter what. As long as he was able to, he’d do it. But another part of him wasn’t so sure. He didn’t know if he could take that leap, risk jumping off the cliff in an attempt to reach the other one, with the possibility of falling to his death in the pit below.

Could he be Romeo?

Taemin lay on his bed, Jongin beside him, an arm around his waist. Taemin just needed the comfort. He needed to be close to someone, to be held even if these weren’t the arms he wanted to be holding him. Jongin was trying to understand, trying to make sense of everything, but not even he could find a bright side to this. He couldn’t see where everything would just end up happily ever after. It was much more complicated than that, so much more complicated. Taemin wished it wasn’t like this. He wished that things were different, that he had been born normal so that none of this would’ve happened.

Jongin, no matter how hard he tried, could do nothing for his cousin, not now. Not in the situation they were facing. It was all too dangerous, much too risky. It should’ve never come to this, and he should’ve warned Taemin before hand, but he hadn’t. He had failed to warn his cousin, and now everything had fallen too deep to get it back. There was nothing he could do to help Taemin when things were like this, no matter how much he wished he could.

He knew Taemin was tearing up, but he wouldn’t let the tears fall. Taemin hated crying, and always did his best to keep them in. That worried him. Taemin was trying to be strong, but keeping everything locked up the way he was doing wasn’t helping anyone. Taemin needed to let it out, or one day it would just burst, and no one would be able to calm him. It would just hurt him more.

“Why couldn’t it be easier Jongin? Why does it have to be like this?” Taemin’s voice broke a few times, just proving how hard it was become for him to hold his tears. Jongin ran a soothing hand up and down his back, placing Taemin’s head on his chest as he cradled his older cousin to him, trying to console him the best he could.

“I’m sorry Taemin.”

“We do we have to be so different? Why can’t we just all live peacefully, without having to worry about people finding out who we are?” Taemin asked.

“You know why Taemin. We just can’t. People won’t accept us.”

“But he does. He accepts us, he accepts me,” Taemin said. “I hate feeling this way Jongin. I hate it.”

“I know you do Taemin. I know.” He held Taemin closer to him, holding him tighter but being careful not to put too much pressure on the weaker boy. Taemin was much too fragile for that. He’d be crushed if he used any more of his strength. Taemin clung to him tighter as well, trying desperately to be in the arms that he wanted to be in, arms that weren’t his. He couldn’t take Taemin’s mind away from the person he wanted at the moment.

“Do you think I’m stupid, for feeling this way?” Taemin asked.

“Of course not,” he said. “It isn’t your fault you feel this way. It was inevitable. I just wish it wouldn’t be so difficult for you. I hate seeing you like this hyung.”

“It was inevitable. I didn’t ask for this, and it happened. I don’t know what hurts more. Knowing how risky the relationship would be, or knowing that he’d never feel the same.”

“Don’t say that hyung. You don’t know that,” Jongin said. “What if you changed him, before anyone could say anything against it? You could change him.”

“I can’t,” Taemin said. “I can’t do that to him. He deserves more than this life. He could meet someone else, a girl, who could give him a family, happiness, and he wouldn’t have to give anything up for her. His family and her’s would accept them. They wouldn’t have any problems being together. He’d be happier if I hadn’t shown up.

Jongin didn’t believe that. He hadn’t known the guy before Taemin introduced them, but he could tell that they were connected, somehow. He could see the bond between them, slowly pulling them closer together. They both clearly felt the same way, the only difference was that one was denying it and the other was unable to realize the other’s confusion. Taemin couldn’t see his feelings as clearly as he claimed he could.

“I love him so much, Jongin. I love Minho too much.”

“I know you do hyung.”

“I can’t love him this much.”

“I know.”

“Why do I love him so much?”

“Because he makes you happy. He was able to make you more confident. He gives you the confidence you need. He makes you laugh and smile. There should be nothing against you two being together,” Jongin said.

“But there is,” Taemin replied. There shouldn’t be, but there was. There would always be something to try and pull them apart. Jongin wasn’t sure if he should hate Minho or not. He wanted to. He wanted to hate Minho for making his cousin feel this way. He wanted to hate Minho for being who he was. But he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t Minho’s fault. None of this was either of their faults. They were just unfortunate to be born under the circumstances they were. If Jongin could, he’d change everything in a heartbeat. He’d allow Taemin to be with Minho. He’d allow them to be happy together. To live peacefully.

But their family would never allow it, not unless Minho was a vampire too. There wasn’t much of a problem with them both being male. Their society didn’t care much about gender. It didn’t matter to them too much if there were two boys bonding. The only problem was that Minho was a human, and Taemin didn’t want to change him. He feared ruining the man’s life.

But not doing so was ruining both of them.