Chapter Text
---
“You want another beer?”
Yoongi tips his head back on the couch, blinking at the upside down view of Namjoon in his kitchen, head stuck in the fridge. “This is my apartment,” Yoongi points out. “Those are my beers.”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Namjoon says easily, withdrawing from the fridge with two bottles in his hand.
Rolling his eyes, Yoongi tilts his head forward again, gaze falling on the television. He doesn’t know what’s even on, having zoned out a little while they’ve been watching. “How many are left?”
“Enough,” Namjoon says, plopping back onto the couch beside him. “It’s not like you’re going to go on a bender or something.”
“You never know,” Yoongi huffs. “I could decide to get shitfaced.”
Namjoon twists the cap off his beer, not looking at Yoongi. “Uh huh,” he says, taking a sip from his bottle. “And I’m going to win the Nobel Prize.”
“Not with that attitude you’re not,” Yoongi grumbles, taking a swig of his own beer.
They fall into companionable quiet, Yoongi picking up the remote to switch through the channels. Nothing seems all that riveting so he settles on a baseball game and shifts on the couch, tucking himself into the corner. He’s decently comfortable, in old pajama pants and a ratty hoodie. After a long day at work, doing absolutely nothing with Namjoon isn’t a bad way to spend an evening.
Blinking sleepily, Yoongi gazes at Namjoon over his beer. “You could, you know.”
“Could what?” Namjoon asks, turning away from the game to stare at Yoongi in confusion. “Drink all your beer? Thank you, I just might.”
“No,” Yoongi corrects, eyes narrowing. “Win the Nobel Prize, you do a lot of good work.”
Namjoon cocks an eyebrow at him, looking unimpressed. “Maybe you’ve had enough beer for tonight, hyung.”
“Shut up,” Yoongi grumbles. Squirming on the couch, he extends his legs, shoving his bare feet beneath Namjoon’s thigh.
Grunting, Namjoon scowls at him. “You can’t just do that anymore.”
Yoongi sticks his tongue out at him, shoving his feet further under Namjoon’s leg to steal some of the warmth from his thick sweatpants. There’s no further protest, Namjoon just rolling his eyes and sipping his beer again before he turns his attention back to the television.
Sighing, Yoongi lets his head fall back against the pillow, trying to focus on the game in front of them. Baseball has never been his favorite, he’s not sure why he chose this. Namjoon moves slightly and Yoongi can feel the flex of his thigh atop his foot when he makes himself more comfortable. He half expects Namjoon to push him away or tell him to move, but he doesn’t, just leans his elbow against the arm rest and pillows his cheek on his palm.
Maybe Namjoon is right, maybe Yoongi can’t do this anymore. Or maybe he shouldn’t. These easy, almost thoughtless gestures. They wouldn’t have been weird before, but maybe they are now. He side eyes Namjoon, who looks completely unbothered as he stares at the screen.
Is it weird? Because they’re exes and even though it’s been a while, and things are… normal, sometimes they’re not. Sometimes Yoongi forgets how to act or Namjoon forgets boundaries and things get a little… Yoongi doesn’t know the right word. Confused? Maybe they’re just too comfortable.
Yoongi feels like it shouldn’t be weird. They were always better as friends, were friends before anything else. Are still friends now. Maybe it’s because they haven’t really talked about it, just pivoted and then, easily, seamlessly, shifted backwards.
It was inevitable, probably, that they would try dating. Friends since high school, best friends, knowing everything about each other. Yoongi was the person Namjoon came out to, Namjoon was the person Yoongi felt most comfortable with.
He doesn’t even remember whose suggestion it was. Post-college, established in their careers, a casual hey, what if we… A shrug, a nod, and then they were boyfriends.
Honestly, it seemed inevitable, when Yoongi looks back on it now, that they would break up.
The relationship wasn’t bad, not really. It was strange at first, transitioning from friends to something more. Holding Namjoon’s hand, cuddling on the couch when they would watch movies. It mostly felt the same, made both of them feel a little frustrated.
So they started kissing, which helped. Yoongi didn’t kiss his friends so it made the new dynamic more real, solidified things. And kissing Namjoon was nice, hugging him and holding him. They went on dates which, if Yoongi is being honest, was just like what they used to do. But sometimes they held hands.
Really, Yoongi thinks, the real problems began when they started having sex.
Which, you know, wasn’t bad. The sex was good, it was enjoyable. They knew each other well and that translated surprisingly easily to knowing one another’s bodies well. Reasonably matching preferences, though Namjoon was horny at the drop of a hat and Yoongi didn’t need to have sex every single day. But they made it work, and it was alright.
Describing their sex life as alright was probably part of the problem. But that’s how it was. They’d be together, bodies connected, kissing, touching, all that. And Yoongi would enjoy it, feel pleasure and happiness and all those things you’re supposed to feel but…
But there was something else that he felt like he wasn’t feeling. People talk about fireworks and sex so good your mind melts. And Yoongi never got that. Things were good, but they weren’t ever entirely right. And he thinks it was like that for Namjoon too, or he could sense that something was off.
Yoongi noticed a pattern, when things just didn’t get better. When things never felt different. Thinking back to previous relationships, hookups, one night stands. It was always… okay. Not bad, he wouldn’t say bad. Like it was never bad with Namjoon.
At first, Yoongi just tried to explain it away. It was just weird because they were friends first, so it was a little awkward. Or maybe he just can’t get out of his own head. Maybe he was demisexual and there wasn’t enough of a connection. But he ran out of excuses and explanations after a while. And while they had fun together, in and out of bed, there just wasn’t a… spark.
No butterflies in Yoongi’s belly, no constantly occupied thoughts. He didn’t crave Namjoon, didn’t want to be with him all the time. Sure, he liked being around him, but he likes being around Namjoon now. Yoongi tried as hard as he could, put in effort, did everything he could think of. But it was never enough.
Never enough to make it work. No matter how hard he tried, Yoongi just wasn’t in love. Not like that, not like he should have been.
If he really thinks about it, is truthful with himself, he doesn’t think he ever has been.
And that wasn’t fair to Namjoon, who was trying just as hard. It hurt their relationship, the foundation of it, at first. Both of them pulling away, awkward and unsure, before they finally talked about it.
The decision to go their separate ways as boyfriends made sense, even if their friends were surprised. You work so well together, they would say. And they did, they do, but as friends. The conversation really wasn’t that bad, they were probably both thinking about it for a while. And they agreed they were better friends and just… went back to being friends.
Well, Namjoon suggested they have sex one more time for old times’ sake, Yoongi hit him with a throw pillow, and then they went back to being friends.
It probably should have been more difficult. But it was just like they picked things right back up where they were when things were good. Back to friendship and closeness, just without the sex, without the kisses. Maybe sometimes the cuddling, sometimes the hand holding. But just - not for anything more than comfort.
And that’s why things sometimes seem blurry, Yoongi thinks. Why they’re sometimes confusing, because while he and Namjoon are best friends, they were more before. And now they’re less, but also still more, and it shifts sometimes and -
“Stop thinking so hard,” Namjoon says, pinching Yoongi’s thigh. “I was just kidding, hyung.”
Yoongi blinks a few times, focusing on Namjoon who is watching him with a curious expression. Of course Namjoon can still read him like a book. Yoongi flushes and averts his gaze, embarrassed that he’s so obvious.
“It’s not weird,” Namjoon continues. “We’re friends. We were friends first, and we’re friends now. This is normal friend stuff, right? Maybe you’ve had too much to drink.”
Yoongi has had two beers.
“I guess so,” Yoongi mumbles, gaze still fixed on the television, even if he’s not watching it. Despite his muddled thoughts, he makes no move to withdraw his feet from beneath Namjoon’s thigh.
They say it’s not weird, but it probably is. A little, at least, having this sort of relationship with his ex. They don’t kiss or do anything more, and they really don’t cuddle that often. Right now Yoongi’s feet are just cold and Namjoon is here and… and maybe it would be nice to be close to someone. Because even if dating Namjoon never felt quite right, never quite gave Yoongi what he needed, he still liked the closeness.
Maybe he craves it now. That physical touch, intimacy. Not necessarily with Namjoon but… it’s easy with Namjoon. And sometimes Yoongi just needs to scratch that itch.
Because, just maybe, he’s a little bit lonely.
“I should go,” Namjoon says a little later when his beer is finished and one of the teams has won the baseball game. Yoongi isn’t sure which one.
They hadn’t talked much after Namjoon’s comments, just random thoughts on the game, asking if either of them wanted another drink. Neither of them did. So Yoongi walks Namjoon to the door and wishes him a good night, watching as Namjoon walks to his own apartment a few doors down.
Left alone with his thoughts, Yoongi can’t help but think about how empty and still his apartment feels. How quiet it is when he’s all by himself.
God, he needs to get a grip. He’s not usually this emo about things, his life is good and he has great friends. He doesn’t even want to date, hasn’t tried in ages. Maybe he really did have too much to drink.
“Namjoon’s dumb,” Yoongi mutters to himself, heading for his stereo and punching play on his record player. He sinks back onto the couch, sighing in contentment as smooth piano music washes over him.
---
“Fried rice?” Hoseok asks, extending the takeout container toward Yoongi, wiggling it a little to entice him.
Yoongi shakes his head, swallowing a mouthful of noodles. “I’m good,” he replies. “Save me a spring roll though.”
With a hum of acknowledgement, Hoseok withdraws the takeout container, digging his chopsticks back into the rice. He stuffs some into his mouth, cheeks puffing out as he chews. Rolling his eyes, Yoongi tosses a balled up napkin at him.
“You’re so gross.”
Hoseok swallows and grins back at him. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“I wouldn’t if you’d just chew with your mouth closed,” Yoongi huffs.
That earns him a kick in the shin and Yoongi grumbles, ducking back over his noodles to keep eating. He’s not entirely sure how long of a lunch break they’ll get, and Yoongi wants to cram as many noodles into his face as he can before they get a call.
Especially because, true to Hoseok’s previous comment, he bought the noodles. Yoongi is absolutely going to get as much as he can out of a free lunch. Or free in terms of Hoseok feeling guilty and buying him food.
There hadn’t been too many calls in the morning, nothing really major. Only one actual transport, and even that wasn’t very serious. So it’s been a bit light, Yoongi counting them lucky for that. But Hoseok still felt like he owed Yoongi.
Probably because Yoongi handled most of the actual calls, Hoseok driving and being moral support. Yoongi doesn’t really mind, especially since Hoseok volunteers to do most of the paperwork. And because Hoseok will often buy him lunch when Yoongi deals with the more graphic injuries. Like today, when Yoongi handled a laceration and didn’t make Hoseok look at the blood.
Sometimes Yoongi wonders why Hoseok even wants to do this, how he ended up being a paramedic. But Hoseok is good at his job. He can handle the tougher jobs if he has to, and he’s excellent at calming people down. Hoseok’s bedside manner is much better than Yoongi’s awkward bruskness. So Hoseok handles the worried old ladies and the little kids and Yoongi handles the… wet work.
It’s mostly fair, and neither of them are complaining. They make a good team.
“You wanna go out for drinks this weekend?” Hoseok asks as he offers the container of spring rolls.
“Mm, maybe.” Yoongi plucks one of the spring rolls and takes a bite. “What’s the occasion?”
“Why does there need to be an occasion?” Hoseok asks.
Yoongi stares at him blankly, chewing his bite of food as Hoseok smiles innocently.
“Ugh.” Hoseok breaks, smile slipping. “Look, I met this guy.”
“Uh huh.”
“And I thought maybe we could do a group thing, you know? All go out for drinks and dancing and yeah.” Hoseok gives him a hopeful smile.
“I don’t know,” Yoongi hedges. “Last time we did that you abandoned Seokjin hyung and I to go make out in the bathroom.”
Hoseok makes a wounded noise, pouting at him. “It was just that one time.”
“Was it?” Yoongi challenges, raising an eyebrow.
Huffing, Hoseok slumps a little in his seat. “Okay, fine. I guess I’ll just ask him to get dinner or something.”
“There you go,” Yoongi encourages. “Where did you meet him?”
“Yoga class,” Hoseok responds. “He’s really cute and funny, I feel like we could have a lot of fun. Plus…” Hoseok wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “He’s really bendy.”
Yoongi snorts, nearly choking on the last bite of his spring roll. “Lovely,” he laughs. “Well, I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Maybe we can all go out for drinks another night.”
“I’ll hold you to that, Min Yoongi,” Hoseok promises. Or maybe threatens is a better word. “You can’t just stay cooped up alone in your apartment all the time.”
“I don’t,” Yoongi argues. “Sometimes Namjoon is there.”
There’s a momentary silence, Hoseok blinking owlishly at him. Yoongi realizes that was probably the wrong thing to say, that it maybe doesn’t make things sound better.
“I see,” Hoseok says slowly. “So you spend your time alone or hanging out with your ex-boyfriend.”
Frowning, Yoongi picks up his noodles again. “We’re friends.” Maybe it is weird.
“Mhm, right. Well, are you seeing anyone then?” Hoseok asks. “Any prospects on the dating horizon?” When Yoongi only shrugs in response, Hoseok sighs. “Have you tried any of the apps I told you about? They’re a good way to meet people.”
“They’re not,” Yoongi argues, shoving more noodles into his mouth. “It’s all dick pics and robots.”
“Sexy robots?”
Yoongi gives him a baleful look, loudly chewing his lunch.
“Alright,” Hoseok says, waving a hand between them. “I won’t push you, but I’m here if you want to talk about it. Or need advice on your dating profiles. Kay, hyung?”
“Okay,” Yoongi echoes. “Thanks, Seok.”
And it’s not really that Yoongi hasn’t tried, but he hasn’t made that much effort. The apps feel weird, blind dates even weirder. Yoongi has dated, had crushes, but they were never really all that serious. Even with Namjoon, it was just…
It just wasn’t the right fit.
So now Yoongi is just… Well, it’s not like he’s giving up on ever finding love or something like that. It’s just not his focus right now and he’s not going to put pressure on himself. No use pushing something that he’s not interested in right now, or that might not happen any time soon.
Maybe Yoongi will get lucky and his special someone will just fall into his lap. Tumble out of the sky or appear right in front of him, sweep him off his feet (hopefully not literally). Or twist themselves into a pretzel in a yoga class and Yoongi will have to untangle them. Not that he’d actually ever go to a yoga class but -
Yoongi’s internal thoughts are cut off by the crackle of the radio and Seokjin’s bright voice through the speaker, just a little distorted.
“Crew thirteen, are you still on lunch?”
Hoseok reaches forward to snag the radio, pressing the button to respond. “We’re around, hyung, what’s up?”
“You’re supposed to call me dispatch,” Seokjin scolds.
Rolling his eyes, Hoseok hits the talk button again. “Okay dispatch hyung, what’s up?”
“We got an emergency call of a pedestrian hit by a car. Victim on the ground, not moving.”
Hoseok immediately pales. “Is he okay?”
Seokjin snorts. “Isn’t that your job to figure out? Old lady hit him, said he came out of nowhere and she doesn’t know what to do. A lot of hysterics so I’m just paraphrasing. GPS shows that you two are the closest but I know you stopped for a lunch break.”
“We can go,” Hoseok says immediately.
“You sure? Crew eight is sort of nearby too, I could send them but they’re finishing up a call.”
“We got it. What’s the location?” Hoseok asks, insistent on the task.
Yoongi groans as Seokjin begins rattling off the address. They are close by, but Yoongi hasn’t finished his noodles yet. And if it’s a car accident of any kind, Yoongi’s probably going to be the one dealing with it. Blood, most likely.
“Don’t be a brat,” Hoseok chastises after confirming they’re on their way. “It’ll take a few minutes, you can finish them on the way.”
“Fine,” Yoongi grumbles, beginning to cram more noodles into his mouth, chewing as fast as he can.
Hoseok puts on his seatbelt and gives Yoongi a bright grin. “I’ll let you turn on the siren.”
“I’m not a child,” Yoongi huffs.
But he does, in fact, enjoy turning on the siren as Hoseok puts the ambulance in drive and pulls away from the curb.
---
It doesn’t take them long to get to the scene and Yoongi manages to scarf down all his noodles just before they arrive. There was a tense moment when Hoseok took a corner a little hard and Yoongi almost choked, but it was fine. Just a little excitement. Hopefully it doesn’t give him indigestion or make him puke later. Yoongi’s not squeamish, but you never know.
There are already a couple of police cars at the accident site, yellow tape roping off the side street they’re on. Yoongi hops out of the ambulance as soon as Hoseok stops, grabbing his kit and pulling out a pair of latex gloves.
“Get everything set up in case we need to make a transport,” Yoongi says, nodding to the back. Hoseok salutes and Yoongi closes the door, turning to head into the mess.
Breaking into a jog, Yoongi approaches where two policemen are talking to a frantic looking woman. “He just came out of nowhere!” she says. “He didn’t have a crossing sign and I couldn’t stop in time, it was so sudden!” She seems to be in a panic, tears streaking her cheeks as she shakes her head.
The two police officers nod along, one taking notes as she speaks. Yoongi slows to a walk, faltering for a moment when he hears the next words. “And now he’s not even a man anymore!”
What the hell could that mean? Yoongi really hopes the guy is still alive.
“Ma’am,” one of the officers begins, “are you sure you haven’t been drinking?”
She looks insulted, waving her arms as she argues that it’s the afternoon, of course she hasn’t been drinking. “You saw it on the ground! I swear he was a man before!”
It?
“Excuse me,” Yoongi interrupts. “I’m an EMT, what did you mean about the victim not being a man anymore?”
The woman turns to him, eyes wide and teary. “Go look!” she insists. “I swear I’m not crazy!” She shoots a glare back at one of the policemen. “Or drunk!”
Suddenly wary, Yoongi moves away, heading toward the car stopped just inside the intersection. It’s still running, driver’s side door open, as if the woman jumped out in a panic. From this angle he can’t see anyone, or anything, lying in front of the car, so he cautiously makes his way around it. He feels silly for being so nervous, but what could the woman have meant?
“You’re being ridiculous,” Yoongi whispers to himself. “Someone is hurt, you have to help them.” Forcing himself forward, Yoongi rounds the side of the car and freezes.
Instead of the man he expects to find on the ground, there is a bat.
A bat.
Just - a little brown bat. Flopping on the ground, making high pitched squeaking sounds that Yoongi originally thought were coming from the car’s engine after the impact.
“See!”
Yoongi startles slightly, not having noticed the woman and one of the policemen to have come up behind him. He glances at them before turning back to the bat on the ground. “Um.”
“Where’s the real victim? You said you hit a man.” The police officer looks annoyed.
“He wasn’t a bat before!” the woman insists. “I was turning at the light, it was green, and as I was moving through the intersection and - bam! There he was.”
“The bat?” the police officer asks.
The woman shakes her head, pointing at the front of her car. “Does it look like a bat did that?”
Yoongi follows the line of her arm to the car. He hadn’t taken much notice of it before, but now he can see there’s a sizable dent in her bumper, the hood a little crunched where it latches. Wow.
“That must have been some impact,” Yoongi points out, slowly turning his head back to the bat on the ground. It looks extremely strange, wings flapping as it lies on its back, stunned and confused.
“It was,” the woman says now. “But he was a man when I hit him! And he fell to the ground, but when I got out of the car he just - poof! There was a bat!”
Yoongi should be embarrassed. It takes him far longer than it should to realize what is going on. Somehow, he doesn’t even connect the pieces in his head until -
“Oh,” he breathes, taking a step into the crosswalk nearer to the bat.
The injured bat and the man are one in the same, the bat is the victim. It all suddenly clicks, everything falling into place. While they’re rare, they’re much more common than they used to be, though they're very good at blending into society. So this is the man, and he’s a vampire.
“Excuse me?”
The bat lets out a louder squeak, as if startled by Yoongi’s voice.
Yoongi takes another step forward, raising his voice to call to the bat, or man, on the ground. “Uh… sir?” Another step closer, he is nearly hovering over the tiny animal. “Are you alright?”
The squeaking and flopping stop at once, the bat freezing in place. Yoongi can see its small, dark eyes shift, the bat seeming to notice him there. There’s another moment of silence, the two of them staring at each other and then -
Yoongi jumps back as a puff of purple smoke erupts from the bat. It fills Yoongi’s vision and he closes his eyes, stumbling a little, encased with the scent of lavender. When he rights himself and reopens his eyes, the bat is gone.
Standing in the bat’s place is a man.
A man straight out of a Pride and Prejudice adaptation or a Shakespeare play. He’s wearing what Yoongi can only think to describe as britches, with a fancy purple velvet jacket and a billowing white ascot. An actual ascot. His hair is tousled and curly, a deep brown nearly the same color as his wide, startled eyes.
And he - well… Yoongi blinks. The man looks fantastic, he can’t not notice it. Devastatingly handsome, apart from the dust now on his clothes and the blood dripping from his nose.
“Ow!” the man says, bringing a hand up to his nose, frowning when his fingers come away bloody. He seems to notice Yoongi again and he blinks, hand falling away. “Hello.” His voice is rich and deep and he smiles warmly. “You’re cute.”
Yoongi gapes at the man, still standing frozen in place, until he remembers he’s supposed to be doing his job. “Sir are you alright?” He hesitates before taking a small step closer.
A stupid question, really, because he’s bleeding. But he's a vampire and he doesn’t seem to be in any pain.
“Oh.” The man blinks at him, looking puzzled. “Sure, I’m fine. I mean… I think so? I was just, you know there -” he gestures vaguely to the sidewalk. “And then I was there -” he gestures to the ground where he was just lying. “But now I’m here!”
Maybe he has some sort of head trauma? Can vampires get head trauma?
“Sir, are you a vampire?” Yoongi is already nearly a hundred percent sure that he must be a vampire. How else could he have just been a bat?
“Oh yes.” The man nods eagerly, as if pleased that Yoongi recognizes what he is. “Sure am!”
Yoongi has never really met a vampire before, and he’s definitely never seen one hurt. None of the calls he’s ever received as a paramedic have been to tend to a vampire. He’s not really sure what the protocol is here, or what he should do. This is something he absolutely has not been trained on, something he never expected. But this vampire is bleeding and that must mean something.
“Do you remember what happened?”
The vampire blinks at him, cocking his head to the side. It’s decidedly cute and Yoongi tries not to think about that. “I think so?” He glances at the car. “Oh. Yes. The car -” He cuts off grimacing as he sees the dent. “Oops.”
Oops.
Yoongi steps closer, hands held slightly in front of him. “Do you feel alright? Nauseous, dizzy? Anything hurt?”
Another blink, the vampire shaking his head. “No.” He studies Yoongi more closely. “You really are very cute.”
“I -” Yoongi cuts off, he can feel himself blushing. He also has not been trained for anything like this. “Sir, why don’t you come with me and we can get you checked out?”
“Okay,” the man says brightly, allowing Yoongi to lead him back toward the ambulance.
The police officers and woman who hit him watch them pass, all looking shocked. When they reach the ambulance, Hoseok is there waiting, standing beside the open doors.
Hoseok’s brow furrows as he takes in Yoongi and the man walking beside him. “Uh… is everything alright?”
“Have a seat,” Yoongi says, directing the vampire to sit on the edge of the ambulance. “Yeah, um.” He glances at the vampire again as he pulls on a pair of gloves. “This man was hit by a car.”
“And… he’s fine?” Hoseok looks confused. “The woman who made the emergency call sounded really upset.”
“Yes, well -” Yoongi cuts off. He sighs, snapping the last glove over his wrist. “He’s a vampire.”
Hoseok’s lips form into an o of surprise and he blinks rapidly, looking between Yoongi and the vampire. “Okay, well. I don’t really know what to -”
“Yeah, me neither,” Yoongi says, then waves a hand. “Maybe call Seokjin and let him know?”
With a nod, Hoseok turns and heads for the front of the ambulance, leaving Yoongi and the vampire alone. He stands in front of the man who just sits placidly, smiling vaguely at Yoongi.
“Is there anyone I should call for you?” Yoongi finally asks. “Someone who would be worried? Family or…” he trails off, not sure what vampires call their… groups?
The vampire perks up, nodding. “Oh yes! My government-assigned friends.”
“Your what?”
“Jimin and Jungkook,” the man says. “The government assigned them to be friends.”
“O - kay.” Yoongi stares, uncomprehending, but the vampire just looks serene, like this isn’t odd at all. “Do you - can you call them?”
The vampire nods again, reaching inside his velvet jacket. A moment later his hand emerges, this time holding an iPhone. He taps at the screen, smile slipping away as he swipes at it. “I really don’t know how to use this thing very well…”
Yoongi has no idea what to make of it, of any of this. This vampire is dressed like he’s from some gilded age so he must be old, but why does he have no idea how to use a phone? Vampires have been integrated into modern society for ages, using phones and other devices is just a normal everyday thing for most of them.
“Can I?” Yoongi hesitantly offers.
The man looks relieved as he passes the phone to Yoongi. “Call Jiminie.”
Doing as he’s told, Yoongi navigates to the contacts. There are only two, Jiminie and Jungkookie. He taps the first one and lifts the phone to his ear, waiting for it to connect.
“Hello?” The man picks up on the second ring, voice bright but confused. “Taehyung?” There’s a note of concern. “Are you alright?”
Yoongi glances at the man in the ambulance and puts his hand over the phone speaker. “You’re Taehyung?”
A nod. “Kim Taehyung.”
“Okay.” Yoongi nods back and removes his hand from the speaker. “Uh, hello, Jimin-ssi?”
There’s a pause. “You’re not my Taehyung.” The brightness vanishes, the man on the other end is immediately cold and suspicious.
“No, uh, Taehyung was in an accident.” Yoongi glances at Taehyung, who is watching him with curiosity. “He was hit by a car and -”
“He what?” There’s a groan on the other end of the line. “Oh my god, I knew it was only a matter of time.”
“You -” Yoongi pauses, puzzled. “What?”
“Where are you?” Jimin asks instead of answering. “I’ll grab Jungkook and we’ll be right there.” Yoongi recites the nearest cross streets and Jimin thanks him. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
The line disconnects without anything further and Yoongi pulls the phone from his ear, staring at it for a moment. The screen goes blank and he returns his attention to Taehyung. The vampire is sitting there, staring pleasantly at Yoongi. His nose is still dripping blood, which has started to stain his ascot. Taehyung doesn’t seem to have noticed.
“Are you hurt?”
“I think I’m okay.” Taehyung shrugs. “Vampires don’t really get hurt.” Another shrug.
“Okay, well.” Yoongi passes him back the phone, watching Taehyung tuck it away again. “Your friends are on their way, how about I check you out while we wait for them? Sound okay?”
“Okay,” Taehyung echoes and settles more comfortably on the edge of the ambulance, smiling amicably.
Yoongi hasn’t met many vampires, and he feels like he should be more wary, more nervous. But Taehyung seems fine, a little weird, but not scary, not like he would attack Yoongi or bite him for trying to help. Placing himself in front of Taehyung, Yoongi begins checking him over.
Taehyung is complacent as Yoongi does, moving as he’s directed and staring at Yoongi’s penlight. As Yoongi works on trying to stop his nosebleed, Taehyung begins to talk about what happened.
“I saw this really pretty butterfly,” Taehyung says, his eyes nearly crossed as he tries to look at Yoongi’s hand on his nose. “I was following it and I didn’t even realize I wandered into the road.”
Yoongi steps back, bloodied gauze in hand. “You were following a butterfly?”
“Yes.” Taehyung sighs dreamily. “It was blue.”
If he’s being honest, this is not at all what Yoongi expected vampires to be like. He didn’t expect scary bloodsucking monsters either, nothing like that. But… well, he didn’t expect a guy who follows butterflies and seems to, maybe, be not entirely all there.
Maybe he really does have a concussion. Can vampires get concussions?
Shaking his head, Yoongi ducks back in, tilting Taehyung’s head back and checking his nose. The bleeding has mostly stopped, he should be alright. Yoongi takes his penlight out of his pocket again. “Open your mouth?”
Taehyung does and Yoongi shines the light into his mouth, checking his throat and airway and - fangs. Okay, he should have expected that. Obviously Taehyung would have fangs but… they’re bigger than Yoongi imagined. They make him a little nervous and he steps back quickly.
“You don’t seem to have a concussion. Any pain?” Even when Taehyung shakes his head, Yoongi takes a minute to check his torso, roughly where the car must have hit him. Taehyung giggles as Yoongi palpates over his ribs.
“I’m ticklish,” Taehyung laughs, squirming slightly.
Definitely not what Yoongi thought a vampire would be like.
“Well, you seem to be -”
“Taehyung!”
Yoongi turns his head at the sound of the voice, recognizing it as the one from the phone. Two men are rushing toward them, darting between parked cars, their eyes fixed on Taehyung.
As soon as the two men reach them, they’re all over Taehyung. Yoongi takes a couple of steps back to give them room, though it doesn’t seem like they even noticed his presence. They’re both dressed in all black, though that’s where the similarities end. One is in black skinny jeans and heeled boots, a fuzzy fur coat over a black tank top, large sunglasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. His hair is blonde, artfully styled off his forehead. The other man has shaggy black hair and is dressed in black sweatpants and a black t-shirt, exposing tattoos on one of his arms. The boots he’s wearing look better suited for a rock concert than anything else.
Yoongi has plenty of time to study them, because they’re very busy fussing over Taehyung. He watches, bemused, as the blonde pokes and prods at him, the other man hanging back slightly after squeezing Taehyung’s hand.
“Taehyungie,” the blonde says, and from the voice, Yoongi is sure he must be Jimin. “Tae Tae, what have I told you about paying attention?” He squishes Taehyung’s cheeks between his hands. “You could have really gotten hurt!”
“I didn’t though,” Taehyung replies. He doesn’t sound petulant or angry at the scolding, just a bit confused. “I’m okay.”
Jimin strokes his hair, frowning at him. “Well that’s good, Taehyung, but someone else could have gotten hurt.” Taehyung’s eyes widen at that, as if he didn’t realize it. “What if that lady who hit you had gotten hurt?”
“I don’t want that,” he whispers, looking chastened. “I just got…” he trails off, shaking his head.
“I know, Taehyung,” Jimin says gently. “But we’ve talked about this. I thought things were getting better?”
Beside them, the other man, who Yoongi figures must be Jungkook, looks up from where he was tapping at his phone. “You did say that.”
Taehyung suddenly looks a little uncomfortable, squirming as both of them stare at him. “They are,” he says weakly. A pause, both of them still staring. Taehyung deflates a little. “Sometimes.”
With a click of his tongue, Jimin takes a step back, crossing his arms over his chest. His furry coat shifts with the movement. “Taehyung, you shouldn’t lie to us. How can we help you if you lie to us?”
“I didn’t lie,” Taehyung mumbles. “I just don’t want you to -”
“To what?” Jimin sounds exasperated.
“Be mad at me,” Taehyung whispers.
Yoongi suddenly feels very much like he is intruding.
Jimin softens immediately. “Taehyung,” he breathes, taking one of Taehyung’s hands in both of his. “I’m not mad at you, neither of us are. It’s okay. We just need you to be careful and pay attention a little better. Okay?”
“Okay.” Taehyung brightens a little. “I’ll try to do better.”
“Good,” Jimin coos, leaning in to kiss his forehead as Jungkook snickers at them. “You just keep doing your best, okay?” Taehyung seems to preen at the attention, nodding eagerly.
He doesn’t want to interrupt or break things up, but Yoongi would very much like to finish this call and get back to work. Or finish the last spring roll, if Hoseok hasn’t eaten it yet. “Excuse me?”
Three heads turn to him, and Jimin and Jungkook look momentarily surprised, as if they didn’t realize he was there. Jimin recovers first, straightening up and giving Yoongi a very clear up and down. He tries not to squirm, though he can feel power behind Jimin’s eyes. “You called me?”
“Um.” Yoongi glances between the three of them. “Yes, I’m a paramedic. I was helping Taehyung. My name is Min Yoongi.”
“Yoongi,” Taehyung repeats, smiling pleasantly. “That’s a cute name.”
There’s a momentary pause where Jimin turns to Taehyung, looking at him in confusion before shaking his head. He turns back to Yoongi. “We’re really sorry about him. He wanted to go for a walk in the park and I thought he’d be fine by himself.”
Yoongi frowns at that. “Is there a reason he wouldn’t be?”
Jimin and Jungkook glance at each other before Jungkook speaks. “Taehyung sometimes gets confused, or easily distracted.”
“Okay…” Yoongi doesn’t really understand.
“I’m sure you know Taehyungie is a vampire,” Jimin says. When Yoongi nods, he continues. “Taehyung is pretty old, a few hundred years at least.”
“Why don’t you have a definite number?” Yoongi asks. This entire conversation is puzzling. Well, this entire situation is. Taehyung definitely does seem to be a bit confused, but Yoongi assumed that was from the crash.
“I can’t remember,” Taehyung chimes in, smiling pleasantly.
Unsure how to take that, Yoongi just stares at Jimin and Jungkook.
“Taehyung was trapped in his coffin for a number of years, we’re not entirely sure how long,” Jungkook begins. “A building had collapsed on top of it and he was trapped beneath the rubble. He was found when they were doing some new city construction project.”
Vaguely, Yoongi recalls something about the story. Maybe a headline he read, or something Namjoon mentioned. “How long was he in there?”
“We don’t know,” Jimin admits. “Taehyung didn’t remember much of anything from before they found him. He’s fine, you know, for the most part, but being trapped in there for however long made him a little…” Jimin trails off, as if looking for the right word, “funny.”
“Jungkookie says I’m a space cadet,” Taehyung adds.
Jimin rounds on Jungkook, shooting him a poisonous look. “It was a joke!” Jungkook protests, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “I didn’t mean anything bad.”
“Anyway,” Jimin continues, turning back to Yoongi, “Taehyung has some memory problems, amnesia mostly. But he’s a little flighty and confused. Sometimes he just wanders off or forgets things. He’s getting better, but something he’s just, well, wandering into traffic.”
“I see.” Yoongi does, sort of. He glances at Taehyung, who seems unbothered by what they’re saying. It all makes Yoongi feel a bit sad, he wonders how lonely it would be to be trapped for… who knows how long.
“Yeah, so, we were tasked with helping him adjust to society and the modern world,” Jungkook says.
“Taehyung was assigned to me, like a fledgling and sire,” Jimin says. “Even though he’s probably older than me, he didn’t remember much. So the government thought sticking him with a vampire who is settled would help. Taehyung lives with me.”
“And I work with a program through my university and I act as a kind of mentor and friend,” Jungkook adds. "Helping him adapt and figure out modern stuff."
“Government-assigned friends,” Yoongi parrots.
Jimin scowls at the words. “Did he say that? Yes, the government may have assigned us to Taehyung, but we’re his actual friends too.” He turns to look at Taehyung. “Taehyungie, we’re your friends. We love you.”
Taehyung smiles and nods. “I know.”
Sidling back over to Taehyung, Jungkook leans into him. Yoongi can’t make out what Jungkook says, but Taehyung smiles and laughs at whatever it is.
“Is he okay?” Jimin asks, and Yoongi snaps his attention back to the vampire in front of him.
Yoongi glances at Taehyung again before shrugging. “I think so? Honestly, I don’t have any experience with vampire medicine. I think he’s alright, he had a bloody nose but he doesn’t seem to be in any pain.”
“Alright, well, thank you, Yoongi-ssi.”
“Just doing my job,” Yoongi says with a shrug.
Jimin gives him a slightly strained smile. “Not everyone would have been kind to Taehyung.” Yoongi wonders if he’s speaking from experience, before he can ask, Jimin continues. “Are we good to go? I’d like to take Taehyung home.”
“Sure, I just have some paperwork for him to sign or - you, I guess? You could probably sign for him, are you his guardian?”
“Something like that.” Jimin waves a hand. “It’s complicated, I am sure my signature will be fine.”
Yoongi turns to the ambulance, grabbing a clipboard and a pen. “This is standard stuff, a release and a waiver for refusing transport. I don’t think he needs it so…” He hands it over and Jimin barely glances at it before signing. “The police might want a statement though.” He can see the policemen hovering nearby.
“They can bite me,” Jimin huffs. “I’m taking Taehyung home.”
“Okay, well -”
Jimin rolls his eyes and scribbles a phone number on the bottom of one of the forms. “Tell them to call me if they need something, I’ll bring Taehyung to them.” He hands the clipboard to Yoongi. “I think Taehyungie has had enough excitement for today.” Jimin glances at the policemen. “He’s not always good with people,” he admits quietly. “Things can get confusing for him.”
“I’ll tell them,” Yoongi says, accepting the clipboard back. “Just go, I’ll cover for you.”
“Thank you.” Jimin smiles at him, and Yoongi sees the barest hint of fang. “Really, thank you, Yoongi-ssi. Taehyung’s really sweet, I’m sorry for any trouble he caused you.”
“It’s fine,” Yoongi says, and somehow feels like he means it. Despite how odd it was, Taehyung was friendly so… Yoongi’s definitely dealt with worse.
With a quick bow of his head, Jimin turns to Taehyung, helping him hop down from the ambulance. “Let’s get you home, okay? We can do face masks and watch a movie, yeah?”
“Okay,” Taehyung says brightly. “I want the green one.”
“Whatever you want, Jungkookie will even come too.” Jimin glances at Jungkook. “Won’t you?”
“Yes hyung,” Jungkook says immediately.
With that seemingly decided, Jimin links his arm with Taehyung and begins to lead them away. Jungkook falls in on Taehyung’s other side, putting himself between Taehyung and the police officers as they go.
“Oh!” Taehyung says, turning to look over his shoulder. “It was nice to meet you,” he calls to Yoongi, smiling widely and waving. There’s more than just a hint of fang in his grin.
“You too,” Yoongi says weakly, lifting a hand to wave in return. He watches until they’re around the corner, successfully avoiding the police. When they’re gone, Yoongi collapses against the side of the ambulance, confused and tired.
---
Later that night, when the work day is finished and he’s home alone, Yoongi looks Taehyung up. It isn’t hard to find the news story, though it doesn’t list Taehyung by name. From what Jimin told him, it’s very clearly about Taehyung.
A vampire discovered in the ruins of an old basement when they were trying to build a new office building. There had been so much stone debris over the top, it was a shock the coffin wasn’t broken. Despite the expectations of the heavily armored crew that freed and opened the coffin, Taehyung wasn’t feral at all from so long being trapped without blood. When they opened the lid he sat up and greeted them, asking for breakfast.
He didn’t seem dangerous at all, just confused and a little lost. And, apparently, hungry. No one was sure how long he was trapped, but it was agreed by “experts” that it had been at least a hundred years.
Yoongi can’t find anything further about him, and there are no follow ups to the story. He sets his phone down on his thigh, staring blankly into space where he sits on his couch. What would it be like to be trapped alone for over a hundred years? Maybe Taehyung was asleep for part of it, but what if he woke up like that? Stuck in the dark all alone with no way out.
Shuddering, Yoongi pushes the thought away, not wanting to consider the implications.
It was such a strange meeting, and Yoongi feels a little like he should have been scared. Logically, he knows vampires aren’t really anything to be afraid of now. It’s a primal thing, maybe, or the fact that Taehyung was the first he met.
But Taehyung seemed normal. Well, normal in a relative way. Not like a big scary vampire like some people talk about. Just a guy who was a little out there, but friendly.
And… Yoongi shifts on the couch, biting his lip. And he called Yoongi cute.
---
“I think this paperwork is all set,” Hoseok says, capping his pen and looking down at the forms in his hand. “Check and sign?”
Nodding, Yoongi takes the clipboard from him, scanning the report from their last call. Hoseok’s covered everything and it’s all written in his neat, efficient handwriting. “Looks good,” Yoongi says, signing his name at the bottom beside Hoseok. “Think we have time to grab lunch? Or do you think we’ll get another -”
Before Yoongi can even finish his sentence, the radio crackles. He slumps in his seat, stomach growling in protest.
Hoseok chuckles, reaching for the speaker and tapping the button. “You’re catching us right before lunch, hyung,” Hoseok warns. “You know how Yoongi hyung gets without sustenance.”
A squeaky laugh comes over the line before Seokjin speaks. “Tell Yoongi his poor little tummy is safe for now.” Yoongi scowls but Seokjin keeps speaking. “Not a call, just a… warning, maybe?”
“Warning?” Hoseok repeats, brow furrowing. “Is everything okay?”
“I think so,” Seokjin says. “But we have reports from other crews of some guy dressed up like a Victorian anachronism knocking on their windows.”
Yoongi stiffens in his seat. It couldn’t be…
“We’ve had a few crews call it in, so just be on the lookout. He could be dangerous or something, I guess.”
Hoseok listens and depresses the button again. “Hyung, is this a joke?”
“Dispatch hyung,” Seokjin corrects. “And no, it’s real. Some guy straight out of an episode of Bridgerton, apparently. Just be wary, I’ve got another call, talk later.”
With that, the radio crackles once more and Seokjin is gone. Hoseok glances at Yoongi, eyebrows raised. “That was weird.”
“Yeah,” Yoongi agrees. He shifts slightly in his seat, considering Seokjin’s words. The described outfits do sound like something he’s seen recently. “Seok,” Yoongi begins, “you don’t think -”
A knock on the window has Yoongi jumping, Hoseok letting out a squeak of alarm. When Yoongi whips around to face the window, there’s a man standing there.
Taehyung.
Waving and positively beaming at him, fangs flashing in the sunlight, Taehyung is standing just on the other side of the door.
“Yoongi!” he calls, voice slightly muffled through the window. “I found you!”