Monster High - Kim Taehyung (BTS V)

Chapter 7

"How was studying?" implored my mother as soon as I walked through the door to our home. I turned back to twist the oval knob that locked the door before stooping down to unlace my shoes. Slipping them off, I stepped onto the cold hardwood floor.

"It was good," I replied, shouldering my bag off onto the couch before continuing to the kitchen, where my mother was, to browse for snacks. "Jimin helped a lot. I finished everything."

My mother glanced at me. "He didn't try anything, did he?" she asked warily.

Immediately, my face flushed. "No!" I protested. "No, no, it's not like that!"

Jimin would never. He was physically and emotionally incapable of attraction as long as he was with me. And even if he was able to fall in love, Jimin wouldn't try anything with me. He'd told me that he loved me, of course, but more as a parent, because, after all, he's been looking after me since birth. The mere mention of anything between us send shivers up my spine in rejection.

Mother clicked her tongue. "Good," she said. "If he ever does, don't be afraid to speak up."

"Mom," I groaned, drawing out the word to demonstrate my annoyance. "It'll never happen."

"If you say so." My mom turned away to cook, tying her apron behind her back with expert speed. "Do you want steamed fish for dinner?"

I nodded and leaned against the dining table. "Sounds good," I answered, plucking a White Rabbit candy from the porcelain sweets jar. It disappeared into my mouth, and as I chewed, I glanced at my bandaged arm. The beige strips encircled my pale forearm, covering the wounds, but I could still feel my blood pulsing underneath the punctures. As I looked at it, I felt prickling on my skin, like a phantom bite in memory of the real one.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" cried the school nurse as she wrapped the bandage around my arm. "You look like you've been bitten by multiple snakes!"

I laughed nervously. The bite wound had been the only one I'd showed the nurse, because the slashing would only raise more suspicion about how a monster couldn't defend herself. It was alright though, because those weren't too severe, and I could deal with them myself.

"We have a succubus friend," Jimin explained smoothly, "and she accidentally tripped."

It wasn't that good of an explanation, but it worked. The nurse knew what my injury was, but she didn't need to get any of the girls in trouble, who could've reported on my lack of supernatural defenses. It was lame, but it was safe, and that was all that mattered.

"Say, Mom," I said, mindlessly unraveling and raveling the bandage, "do you believe in monsters?"

She stiffened but didn't turn around. "Monsters?" she chuckled. "I know I'm horrible at watching scary movies, but don't question my sanity!"

I raised an eyebrow, but before I could pursue my conversation topic of choice, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Turning and swallowing the quickly-dissolving candy, I trotted to the door. When I opened it, Taehyung stood in the doorway. A friendly smile was stretched across his pretty face, and I felt butterflies bubble in my stomach immediately. "Oh, hi, Taehyung!"

"Are you available to walk and talk?" he asked. Then, in a lower voice, he added, "Jimin told me what happened."

"Oh." I immediately bent down to yank on my shoes, hiding my paled expression. The butterflies were gone, replaced by festering anxiety. "Mom, I'm taking a walk! I'll be back for dinner!"

The door slammed behind me, and Taehyung and I walked down the stairs to the entrance of the apartment building, all without exchanging a single word. The silence soon became suffocating, and I couldn't seem to look at him the whole way down. He was a monster, and I had no idea how to talk to him anymore. It wasn't until we were out on the street when he spoke first.