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It's only fifteen minutes into the party that Jeongguk spots him.
He's dressed just like Jeongguk, all modern-day frills that stand out just enough to be considered from a time long gone, and that's only the first of many suspicions that Jeongguk's finally struck gold. He's also standing in a group, and even though he's not the center of attention, Jeongguk can easily tell all eyes are on him because of how captivating the man is. The second suspicion. The third suspicion isn't even a suspicion at all because there is no denying how absolutely and breathtakingly gorgeous the man is. He has the kind of mysterious and elegant beauty that Jeongguk's only fully comprehended when reading about it in his many, many novels.
As if the man can sense Jeongguk's staring (another suspicious trait), he looks up, meeting Jeongguk's gaze for a few seconds before he noticeably takes in Jeongguk's outfit. His eyes widen. Jeongguk's suspicions are quickly turning into irrefutable evidence. Maybe all of Jeongguk's extensive research hasn't been for naught.
Maybe Jeongguk's finally found his future vampire lover.
"Jeon Jeongguk, please tell me you did not come to this party dressed as a vampire again."
Jeongguk startles, turning around and seeing Jimin there, with crossed arms and a deep sigh escaping his lips. Jimin's dressed up as Zoro from One Piece, green hair and scar and everything. Jeongguk can't even come up with a comeback. He's too flustered, his heart racing faster and faster with every passing second.
He grabs Jimin's arm, pulling him roughly so they're standing in the corner of the room and Jeongguk does his absolute best to ignore the heavy feeling that he's being watched. "Jimin," he whispers. "Jimin, I've found one."
Jimin stares at him, already pulling his hand out of Jeongguk's grasp with a heavy sigh. "What?"
"A vampire."
Jimin keeps staring at him. Jeongguk wonders if he should even keep whispering because, obviously, it's pointless, isn't it? His vampire can definitely already hear him. Well, probably.
Maybe.
It depends on which lore was correct, really.
"What?" Jimin repeats.
Jeongguk rolls his eyes. "I've found a vampire!"
Jimin starts laughing. Jeongguk frowns. Jimin stops laughing. "Wait. You're being serious?"
"Of course I'm being serious. When have I ever made a joke in my life?"
Jimin gives Jeongguk a meaningful look that Jeongguk promptly ignores. "Well," Jimin asks, "who is it then?"
Jeongguk goes still. "Okay, well if he notices and then kills me later for ratting him out then I hope you feel guilty for the rest of your life."
"I'll be heartbroken," Jimin deadpans.
Turning so Jeongguk can face the vampire, he breathes a small sigh of relief when he sees he isn't already looking at them. Jeongguk points at him, as unsubtly as one can, of course.
Jimin laughs again. "Are you talking about the guy with the beret?"
"Shh!"
Jeongguk forces Jimin to turn back around.
"That's Taehyung, Jeongguk. Kim Taehyung."
"Kim Taehyung is a vampire."
"And you think this why?"
"Don't you see how he's dressed?"
"He's an art major, Jeongguk. That's why you think that. He's the type to go to museums and get lost in a field of dandelions and enjoy life. You'd love him, actually."
"Of course I'd love him," Jeongguk agrees immediately. "He's a vampire."
Jimin momentarily looks like he's contemplating his entire friendship with Jeongguk. Instead, he just sighs. "Do you want me to introduce you to him?"
Jeongguk stiffens immediately. "What? You actually know him?"
"He's friends with Hoseok and Seokjin. We've met before. Like I said, he's an art major and very nice. I think you'd like him."
But Jeongguk is already shaking his head. "No, no, you can't introduce him to me. He has to come to me naturally… Jimin, do I look hot right now?"
"Oh my god."
"I'm taking that as a yes."
"Okay, yeah, I'm leaving you now. Poor Taehyung doesn't know what's coming for him."
"Yes, he does because he's a vampire," Jeongguk immediately hisses back at him, but Jimin is already walking away, leaving Jeongguk alone and vulnerable to the sexy vampire in the corner of the room.
If Jeongguk wasn't Jeon Jeongguk, he might be pretty scared right now, but luckily, he is Jeon Jeongguk and being alone is just the first step in Jeongguk's already-developed plan. Obviously, he can't be surrounded by dozens of people because how would the vampire feel safe coming up to him?
The next step is also just as obvious and Jeongguk doesn't hesitate for a single second. He reaches up and pulls his collar off, unbuttoning the top few buttons of his shirt, and angling it just right… and… there.
Neck? Exposed.
Jeongguk wonders if he should go outside and have a short run to get his blood pumping to entice "Kim Taehyung" even more. But what if while he's outside "Kim Taehyung" chooses someone else because Jeongguk was too busy running outside? What if Jeongguk loses sight of him?
Paranoid, Jeongguk turns again to look for the vampire, and with horror he realizes that he's already lost sight of him.
Shit.
(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)
Taehyung thinks it's appropriate to say that he's freaking out. Just a bit.
Honestly, this wasn't a problem he expected to run into when he agreed to come to Hoseok and Seokjin's party. He didn't even come with any "vampire intentions" (as Hoseok and Seokjin like to call them), but the only decent costume he has is his vampire one so his vampire one it was. He spent way too much money on it to not wear it after all.
But now here he is, running deeper into the house to avoid the gorgeous vampire that seems to be angry at him. Taehyung didn't even notice him at first, but when he felt like he was being stared at, he had looked up and met the vampire's gaze and Taehyung knew right away.
The outfit. The intense gaze. And it made sense why he seemed so passionate about Taehyung's costume. It's probably so good that the vampire must have thought Taehyung was a vampire for a second there before obviously realizing Taehyung was just a frail and fragile human. That's probably why he's so obviously pissed at Taehyung because, well… Taehyung isn't an idiot. He can tell when he's being stared at and when the vampire even pointed at him when talking to Park Jimin (obvious intel gathering on the vampire's part), Taehyung knew he had to retreat to a safe space to think about what he was going to do about this.
There's nobody else in this corner of the house and Taehyung considers texting Jimin to ask him what he told Jeongguk, but then he gets anxious that by doing so Taehyung will accidentally reveal more information to the vampire. What if the vampire is a detective like Yoon San in The Vampire Detective? What if the vampire can read minds like Edward in Twilight?
Taehyung can't take those chances.
So, he decides, he should just stay with his friends. If he's with someone, he won't be murdered outright. Maybe he can start casually slipping how much he loves vampires into conversation to get on the vampire's good side. Hopefully, the vampire will come over and join the conversation so Taehyung can get a better read on him. Taehyung is good at talking to people and making friends.
Although, of course, Taehyung is hoping for more than friendship.
But… baby steps.
First, he just needs to make sure that he doesn't remain the vampire's prey.
(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)
If someone told young Jeon Jeongguk that one of the major goals in his future life would be to seduce a vampire, he's sure his younger self would ask if maybe they confused him for someone else. Of course, they would then have to explain to his younger self how halfway through high school, Jeongguk would stay up late one fateful night reading about vampire theories, which would then lead to Jeongguk spending an entire year consuming every piece of media about vampires he could get his hands on.
It isn't a real problem, obviously. It's just another one of his hobbies. Jeongguk has a life. He has friends. He makes great grades and he's majoring in non-vampire studies in university and he likes to work out and he has a stable job and he likes to draw and make music every now and then too.
His love of vampires is and always has been just a hobby, but not because he thinks they aren't real, but because the chances of him coming across one were, unfortunately, very minimal.
So, he lets it just be a hobby, albeit definitely one of his more involved ones. He's a part of a few groups, both in real life and online. He even has a close friend in one of his vampire groups (who goes by the name of "V" which stands for "vampire," clearly), and about two years ago, he became very interested in dressing up as a vampire due to the many merits of doing so, which are, of course related to a vampire deciding Jeongguk was the love of their life.
Two years and many costume parties later though, Jeongguk still hadn't yet met his future vampire lover, but Jeongguk has always been fine with that. It's not like he expected that he'd meet his vampire lover so early on in life. He had the rest of his life after all.
Until, that is, tonight. And tonight will forever be one of the most important days in Jeongguk's life because after years and years of searching Jeongguk's finally met gazes with one of the most alluring men he's ever seen. After years of searching, he's found a vampire.
And Jeongguk doesn't know where he is.
He wanders through the party as casually as he can, all the while panicking the entire time. He's only been to Hoseok and Seokjin's place once before, but the layout isn't too confusing. At least that's what he thought until he realizes he's turning back into the main living room area again just minutes later.
Which is exactly what Jeongguk meant to do because as he soon as he does, he spots his future husband.
Once again, the vampire is surrounded by a group of people and Jeongguk internally groans. This isn't going according to plan at all.
Jeongguk isn't one to back down in the face of adversity, though. So, he pats out his clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles so the cheap quality isn't so obvious, and stands up straight so the vampire will see him as an equal. Then, he tilts his head out, just so his neck is even more exposed, and he walks toward the group with a determination fueled solely by Jeongguk's desire to get railed by a vampire.
As soon as he gets closer though, "Kim Taehyung" spots him and frowns at Jeongguk, which causes Jeongguk's determination to vanish in an instant. He turns as casually as he can and simply walks past them, his neck still exposed all the while of course. Jeongguk hopes the vampire noticed at least that.
Okay, so the vampire wants him to stay away for now. Maybe the vampire has plans for him? Maybe this is just the beginning of their game of seduction? Well, two can play at the game.
Jeongguk turns around again and walks past them again, but this time, he moves slower and doesn't glance at the vampire at all. On his way across the room, he accidentally runs into someone, but he shrugs it off easily, not willing to look any kind of uncool in front of his vampire.
When he does reach the other end of the room, he sneaks a quick glance at him again and Jeongguk can't help but smile a bit when he sees the man is staring wide-eyed back at him.
That means Jeongguk's plan is working, Jeongguk can't help but preen.
So, he does it again. And again. And again.
He'll make this vampire yearn for him.
(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)
Taehyung has no idea what's going on. He thinks it couldn't be more obvious what the vampire is doing, which is obviously staking his claim over Taehyung. He's waiting for Taehyung and Taehyung doubts it's for the same thing Taehyung wishes.
It's been twenty times now. The vampire has walked back and forth across the room, always passing by him in a weird stance, his head all jutted out, twenty times. Twenty times.
Taehyung almost thinks he should be terrified, but, really, he's trying to figure out how to make the vampire stop and talk to him already. He considered just talking to the vampire first, maybe even invite him to join his group? He isn't close friends with anyone in this group but he doubts they'd mind.
What if the vampire feels offended that Taehyung would ask him first, though? What if he doesn't want to talk to Taehyung right now?
Better not to risk it. Taehyung would prefer the vampire just come over and join the group himself. Then Taehyung can charm him.
Unfortunately, just minutes later, this plan is ruined.
"Taehyung!" Hoseok shouts, coming over and wrapping his arms around him. His outfit is just a simple skeleton outfit. Seokjin, who was with Hoseok, is dressed in exactly the same thing. Taehyung grins at both of them. He bets they received some kind of two-for-one deal.
"Hi, Seokjin-hyung. Hoseok-hyung."
"You seem stressed," Seokjin comments, humming at him. "Are you okay?"
Taehyung shakes his head. He doesn't want to worry them right now. That's the last thing he wants. "Yes, I'm fine. The party is fun by the way."
"Of course it is, I'm helping run it."
Taehyung rolls his eyes and is about to say something about Seokjin's big head, but then Hoseok is unlatching himself from Taehyung and running toward the exact person Taehyung didn't want him to.
"Jeongguk! There you are. Jimin said he saw you. We've been looking everywhere for you."
The vampire—Jeongguk—says something that Taehyung can't hear, but then, horrifyingly, Hoseok starts pulling him toward where Taehyung and Seokjin have been left behind. Taehyung can't help but notice that the group he was in previously has dispersed, probably afraid of Hoseok's energy right now.
Wait, Taehyung thinks, realizing this isn't as horrible as it could have been. This is his chance.
"Don't listen to him, Jeongguk. We looked for you for a total of five minutes and then gave up. Hoseok spent twenty minutes trying to convince Yoongi and Namjoon to suddenly want to come. It didn't work."
"I bet they're at home watching a movie they've already seen," Taehyung snickers.
Seokjin laughs. "Yeah, that or they're fucking in the studio."
"Taehyung, have you met Jeongguk?" Hoseok asks before Taehyung can reply to Seokjin. "This is Jeon Jeongguk. You would love him. He loves vampires maybe even more than you do."
And, oh.
"I'm Kim Taehyung," Taehyung says as charmingly as he possibly can. He doesn't even break eye contact when he says it.
Jeon Jeongguk only continues to stare at him, his mouth slightly agape (Taehyung can't help but notice his fangs look similar to Taehyung's fake ones, which only proves how good Taehyung's costume is), and Taehyung can only stare back.
"So… you like vampires?" Taehyung asks, unable to help the teasing tone in his voice. That's a very interesting cover for Jeongguk to choose, but it would explain away a lot of his probably obvious vampire traits.
Jeongguk seems to blink himself out of his stupor as he immediately starts nodding. "I love them. They're really cool." A beat. "Also, I think vampires should be accepted into human society," he suddenly adds.
All three of them go quiet after he says it, but the silence doesn't last long at all since Seokjin immediately breaks it by laughing out a, "You two really would love each other. You both think vampires are real."
"That's because they are." "They are real!"
Taehyung and Jeongguk both give each other an embarrassed look at that. Seokjin starts laughing more.
"You two are so adorable," Hoseok then says. "Weird, but adorable."
"Hyung," Jeongguk huffs, pouting prettily at Hoseok, and oh, not only is the vampire gorgeous but he's cute, too?
Hoseok's phone rings and he's bounding off before he can say anything else. Seokjin smirks at them. "Have fun, lovebirds," he laughs again before following Hoseok.
Which leaves Taehyung alone with the vampire.
"I love your outfit," Jeongguk says before Taehyung can say anything.
That surprises Taehyung. He thought Jeongguk was angry at him.
"Thank you. I like yours too," he replies, swallowing. "So… you're not angry at me, right?"
Jeongguk looks confused. "No?"
"Oh."
"… Are you angry at me for anything?"
"No."
"You won't kill me?"
That makes Taehyung smile. "Why would I kill you? Or, better yet, how? Does the stake through the heart thing even work?"
Jeongguk cracks a grin at that. "I don't know, you tell me."
And, after that, it's easy to talk to Jeon Jeongguk. Taehyung is just glad they could talk so openly about the whole vampire thing.
(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)
Jeongguk doesn't think he's ever felt more relieved and excited than he does right now. Taehyung (Jeongguk believes it's his real name now) is so fascinating. He talks about how he's majoring in art and when Jeongguk asks what else he's majored in before (because he figured there'd have to be other previous studies of interest), Taehyung only shakes his head and says he's an artist, through and through.
Jeongguk thinks he's in love.
At some point, Namjoon and Yoongi do show up for the party so Seokjin and Hoseok declare the party will go on for a bit longer, and Jeongguk doesn't mind at all because he thinks talking to Taehyung is one of his new favorite things ever.
Jeongguk thinks that even if Taehyung wasn't a vampire, he'd love talking to him just as much.
Eventually, they break away from the party completely, going outside and walking around together. It's nighttime (the perfect time for a kiss from a vampire, Jeongguk thinks) and the weather is perfect (just right for a vampire kiss) and at one point, Taehyung ruffles Jeongguk's hair and takes off his own beret to put it on Jeongguk's head instead, and yeah, Jeongguk's in love.
Finally, they find a nice bench to sit on together. Which is exactly when Taehyung asks Jeongguk something that makes absolutely no sense.
"So, what year did you become a vampire?"
Jeongguk's brain comes to a full stop. He blinks at Taehyung, who looks shy and pretty. Jeongguk blinks again. "Wait, what do you mean?"
Taehyung smiles, his fangs glinting. "What do you think I mean?"
"I have no idea."
Now, Taehyung seems confused too. "What do you mean you don't know?"
But Jeongguk only stares at him. Now that he's looking closer, Taehyung's fangs look an awfully like his own. And Jeongguk's are…
"Wait," Taehyung suddenly says.
"Wait," Jeongguk can only repeat, his confusion quickly turning into realization. "Wait," he says again. His stomach drops. "Wait, oh no."
And—
"Oh," Taehyung says back.
Then.
"Aren't you a vampire?" "You aren't a vampire?"
Then.
"Wait, what?" "You aren't a vampire?!"
Then.
They both start laughing.
Jeongguk doesn't know how long they both laugh for. Whenever they think they've finally stopped, they catch sight of each other and each other's outfits and start up again. Jeongguk laughs so hard that his ribs hurt and he bets the same for Taehyung, who's near tears.
Finally, their laughter turns quiet and they both sit in a silence that weirdly seems even more comfortable than before.
"I was so convinced you were a vampire," Jeongguk says finally, after the mortification begins to hit him in full force. He groans. "I even told Jimin. Do you know how long Jimin is going to hold that over my head for?"
Taehyung snorts. "I should have realized when you told me you were in online chat groups for vampires. Like, I'm in those. Why would an actual vampire be in them?"
Jeongguk giggles. "We're so stupid."
"I was going to seduce you," Taehyung adds, but after he says it, he goes quiet again, looking down at his hands in his lap. Jeongguk doesn't let the silence linger. He already knows what he wants. He knew hours ago when Taehyung first smiled at him.
"I was going to seduce you, too" he replies, his voice only just louder than a whisper. He laughs, reaching up and taking off Taehyung's beret to put it back on Taehyung's head. "Actually, I still want to."
Taehyung's head snaps back up and for a few seconds, they just take each other in.
Eventually, Taehyung smiles back, fixing the beret on his head before he takes Jeongguk's hand in his. "Okay. That sounds like a plan then."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
A few seconds later, Taehyung shakes his head solemnly. "This is going to break my online boyfriend's heart. Especially since you aren't even a vampire."
"You have an online boyfriend?"
Taehyung snorts. "That's what we call each other, but we're not really boyfriends. He goes by JK. I don't know his real name."
Jeongguk thinks this has to be some massive cosmic joke. He grins, recalling all the conversations he's had with the man sitting next to him and it's no wonder he seemed so familiar. It's no wonder it's so easy being with him.
"What are you grinning about? You should be heartbroken that I have an online boyfriend at all."
"If I'm heartbroken that means he's heartbroken as well, V."
"Yeah, of course he'll—no way."
"V for vampire?" Jeongguk snickers.
Taehyung shoves him. "You said it was cute!"
"It is cute, but the originality is something to be desired."
"You literally go by JK. That's even less original than mine."
Jeongguk laughs. "I didn't say mine was."
Taehyung rolls his eyes. "So, JK. What was up with you walking around back and forth earlier? That was so creepy."
Jeongguk can feel how warm he becomes. "I was… it was part of my plan, okay? You seriously didn't even notice?"
"Notice what? That you were walking around weirdly and ran into, like, four people?"
"Okay, no," Jeongguk flushes. "I mean," he gestures upward at himself, "my exposed neck."
It takes less than five seconds for Taehyung to take that in.
"That is such a good idea—"
"I know, it's embarrassing."
"—why didn't I think about doing that?"
"Oh, okay, I take it back then, thank you for recognizing my genius."
Taehyung is beaming at him. "We're sort of perfect for each other, you know that, right?"
Jeongguk can't help but beam back at him. He squeezes Taehyung's hand. It's warm, rather than the rigid cold that Jeongguk suspects a vampire's hand would be, and rather than smooth, perfect skin, Jeongguk can feel Taehyung's calluses and imperfections. He can feel everything that makes Taehyung human.
And that's exactly what Jeongguk loves and will always love about him.
❤️
"If we do meet a real vampire, I will be breaking up with you immediately by the way."
"Oh, yeah, same here."
"Okay, good, good, as long as we're on the same page."
❤️
"Well, we could always just seduce them together."
"I was just thinking that."
❤️
"Yeah... together."
"Together."
(㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ) (㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)