"Taehyung!" As I walked into the school, I found him loitering near his locker, and I trotted over to him. He looked my way and offered me a weak smile. I stopped in my tracks and eyeballed him suspiciously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answered breathily, pulling me into a half-hearted hug. "Just tired."

I stepped back and scanned over his entire form. Stylish clothes, as usual, but it was evident that today, he didn't put in as much effort as usual. Some clothes were wrinkled, which wasn't a bad thing, though Taehyung always dressed impeccably. His hair looked on the brink of messy, as if he had just combed through it with his fingers. His expression was tired and void of all emotion.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ventured slowly. "Did you not sleep?"

"No, I did," he replied, shaking his head. I couldn't help but notice that he was speaking in monotone. "I guess it's just one of those days."

"Nothing's wrong?" I pressed. Something was off about him today, and it wasn't just exhaustion. I'd seen him tired before, and he'd only been sleepy and sluggish while trying to smile. Looking into his eyes, I saw that he had purposely closed himself off today. That was strange.

"Nothing's wrong," he echoed. "I'm completely fine."

Was that a slight charm at the end of his voice? I narrowed my eyes, though I couldn't help but feel compelled to drop the subject. Before I could get over the charm, Taehyung pretended to say hi to someone across the hall and proceeded to disappear into a corridor behind me.

What? I thought incredulously. Something's very off today...

The rest of the day dragged along. Jimin was his usual cheery self, which distracted me for the time being, as I had no classes with Taehyung and all with Jimin. However, when lunch rolled around, the time where I was usually uncomfortably sandwiched between the two as they both clearly didn't trust each other with me, Taehyung was nowhere to be found. Jimin didn't even question it, which made me suspicious.

"I wonder where Taehyung is..." I sighed dramatically. I didn't feel Jimin in my head, which I had learned to do after numerous surprise interruptions, so he didn't pick up my intentions.

Jimin looked up. "What?" His eyes were wide in slight disbelief. "You don't know?"

"I don't know what?"

"Oh." He shook his head. "Then it's not my place to tell you. It's too personal."

"He's been ignoring me this whole day!" I complained. "Can I at least know why? Did I do something?"

Jimin chewed his leaf of lettuce thoughtfully.

"Not you," he answered, "though I can see how it's related to you. Don't take it personally if you find out, though. He can't help it."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're defending Taehyung?" I gasped. "Do you have a fever, Jimin-ah?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, laughing a little. "You know I don't hate him, right?" he whined. "We've been over this before!"

"Well I can hardly tell," I said. "You guys have one hell of a complicated relationship."

"Whatever," he scoffed. "Anyways, if I'm gonna be openly nice about him, today would be the day. After all, it's--oh yeah, I should stop talking about now."

"What is it?" I demanded. "You're my guardian angel! Shouldn't I also be able to read your mind?"

No, said Jimin. I kicked him from under the table. Ow! Sori!

"If you tell me, I can help him, right?" I pleaded. "You're basically my conscious, Jimin. You're a part of me, and you know something that the rest of me needs to know."

Jimin huffed in compliance. I smirked. Sometimes it was good being someone's only loved person. He couldn't afford to lose me.

Alright, but I didn't tell you this, he projected in my head. Today's the first anniversary of both of his parents' deaths. Last year, they were killed by monster hunters.

I coughed. "What?" I cleared my throat. "You mean when he said that his family was hunted... they were literally hunted and not chased? You're telling me that he's straight-up told me before, and I didn't realize it?"

"I'm not telling you any of that." Jimin resumed his clueless, innocent gaze. "Those are all your assumptions."

"I'm an asshole," I groaned. "And I thought nothing of it at the time..."

"But you understand why he might be keeping his distance from everyone, especially you?" Jimin asked in a lowered tone. I nodded solemnly. "Good. Don't take it personal."

"But..." I sighed. "Does he blame me for being human?"

"I highly doubt it," Jimin replied. "He hasn't had any other problems with you, right?"

I nodded. "Say," I said, "can you tell me where Taehyung is right now?"

Jimin snorted. "What do I look like to you, a GPS?" he retorted. "I don't, but you can probably can catch him sulking near the trees in the field after classes end. That's what a lot of people do here when they're upset."

-

"Taehyung!" I marched through the field that bordered the school precisely three minutes after school had ended. My jacket was zipped up over my torso in a weak attempt to shield myself from the winter weather. Taehyung, who had found his solace leaning against a leafless tree and staring at the marble sky, looked in my direction in surprise. I had to admit that a surprised Taehyung was a hot Taehyung. "I need to talk to you!"

"Yes, Sori?" The surprise had been brushed away, and a mask of coolness settled over his gorgeous features.

"I know why you're ignoring me," I said, now standing directly in front of me. I changed my expression into one of mock offense. "And I just want you to know that if you think that I'm remotely like those hunters, you're a jerk."

Taehyung's face morphed from surprise, confusion, and finally to slight amusement. The corners of his lips turned up just ever-so slightly as he gazed at me.

"I would never," he chuckled, though the coldness in his eyes told me otherwise.

"Yes you do," I huffed. My tone softened. "I know you don't mean to, but I get it. I'm human, just like them, but I'm not them. You get that right?"

"Of course I do." He couldn't make eye contact with me, and I knew that I was treading on thin ice. However, I pushed on because that was what I needed someone to do to me when my father died. It was better to face what had happened, rather than slowly rot away on the inside like I had done. If someone had made it painfully obvious that they had my back, maybe it would've hurt a little less.

"I also want to say that I'm sorry for your loss, but you don't want to hear that," I said slowly. "And that I know what you're going through."

Taehyung chuckled darkly. His eyes had never looked darker, but I didn't let that faze me. I would do something for him that I wished someone had done for me, whether he liked it or not. I couldn't let him fall into the same spiral of depression like I had.

"I do." I remained defiant. "My own father was murdered three years ago. It was a long time ago, yeah, but sometimes it still hurts, and I understand."

My voice caught on the end of my words, but I refused to start crying. If I couldn't remain strong, how could I expect Taehyung to? I knew he was listening with interest now, so I continued.

"He was killed by assassins," I explained, my eyes to the sky in case of tears, "because he was this CEO of a nonprofit organization. They wanted him to cave in and become corrupt, so they killed him. I was there, actually. He knew they were coming, and my mom was out, so he locked me in a closet, and I got to hear everything. I heard when they broke into the house. I heard when they started yelling. I heard when they killed him. They weren't nice enough to use a bullet, so I had to hear my own father's death screams, and-"

I wasn't cut off by my own crying. I had become entranced in a grieving daze, and I only snapped out of it when Taehyung plowed into me. He threw himself into me, wrapping his arms around my torso tightly and burying his face in my shoulder. He started to cry, his shoulders moving with his agonized sobs.

Strangely enough, I didn't start crying along with him. It was like I had suddenly become numb to the grief. He was the one that was hurting more, and it was my job to console him, not to break down with him.

"It's okay, Taehyung," I murmured, my arms still bound to my sides by his embrace. "I understand, I understand. You're not alone."

"I felt so guilty when I found out you were human," he cried, his words muffled against the cotton of my shirt. His voice cracked and broke with emotion, wracked with agony. "I felt like... I felt like I was betraying them, but I couldn't help it! I couldn't!"

"Shhhh," I whispered, leaning my head against his. "There are bad humans out there, I know, but I'm not one of them. I'd never do that to you, Taehyung."