Chapter 16

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Just like last time Taehyung ended up being gone for hours. Jungkook used the time to play some games and finally catch up with Eunji, since that was something he had been procrastinating on for days.

He really struggled coming up with an excuse that made him not sending even one message for days look believable. But in the end, he just settled on the excuse that he had been feeling down and hadn't wanted to talk to anyone. He felt pretty bad about lying to her... but then again it was better than making her think he was crazy or having her risk her life.

By the time Taehyung came back and hefted his body out of the water Jungkook had almost fallen asleep just sitting there. Tiredly he watched as the siren simply slipped into his clothes, not minding that his whole body was still very wet.

Once he was done he expectantly looked at Jungkook like 'are we leaving now?'. Jungkook yawned but moved to stand. His feet hurt once he put weight on them again and he had to rub the feeling back into them.

It was how late now? One, maybe two am? He couldn't help but wonder what Taehyung had done all this time. He looked just like always. His hair falling into his eyes that looked normal again. His body now clothed and human-looking.

A scary thought came to Jungkook. What if the siren had fed? It wasn't too unreasonable. Taehyung had never said he'd stop while he was with Jungkook... and from what Jungkook had understood sirens had a big appetite and usually ate a lot more than humans did... so what if he had been hungry? Jungkook shuddered at the thought.

Before he could really think about whether that was a question he actually wanted to hear the answer to his mouth opened. "Did you... hunt?"

A knot formed in Jungkook's throat when Taehyung nodded. Nevertheless, he asked the next question because apparently his mouth didn't care about what his brain actually wanted and didn't want to hear.

"A human?"

For a few seconds, Taehyung looked at him, but then he turned away again, moving back to the softly lit street.

Jungkook pressed his lips into a thin line. He wasn't going to think about what Taehyung's lack of answer could indicate. He decided to simply be glad that he hadn't received a confirmation right away. Because this way he could make himself believe that Taehyung wasn't killing... drowning people as he lived with Jungkook.

As long as Taehyung's fingertips stayed the pale white they were instead of bright red... Jungkook could make himself believe that he wasn't living with a cold-blooded killer.

The warmth of Jungkook's apartment greeting him was probably one of the best things that had happened that day. It was like a soft blanket wrapped around him the second he opened the apartment door. Taehyung followed right after him, unsettlingly close to his body. Jungkook had to stop himself from cringing away.

He knew it would stop being like that soon. It always did. Jungkook remembered what Taehyung was and just for a few minutes he grew really wary, but then Taehyung acted like a normal human for like ten minutes and Jungkook forgot about everything right away.

"Do you want some dinner?"

Taehyung shrugged and once again Jungkook cringed. He forced himself to breathe in. Just a few minutes, then everything would be alright again.

Taehyung had been pretty nice to him all day long. Doing what Jungkook had told him. Really trying to act like he was one of the students sitting in the lecture instead of standing out. He'd even offered Jungkook the second half of his sandwich today.

Jungkook knew Taehyung was trying now. Trying to make Jungkook feel a bit more comfortable around him. And really, Jungkook appreciated that. Because Taehyung did seem nice when he smiled... but that didn't change a thing about what he was. About what he could do.

"I'll make some rice and heat up some of the stew from the day before yesterday."

To busy himself he started right away as Taehyung took a seat by the table, patiently waiting.

Jungkook let his mind wander. He'd have to do things with Taehyung that were typically human, but he really didn't have many ideas. He had taken Taehyung to the café this morning, but that hadn't felt quite right... maybe he should take Taehyung to an actual restaurant.

It would even have the positive side effect of Taehyung trying actually good human food, not just the questionable things Jungkook could make. His cooking wasn't bad per se... it just wasn't too great either.

"Hey Taehyung, wanna go to a restaurant tomorrow? You could try all kinds of food and it's pretty normal for humans to eat at restaurants. You probably saw it on TV before, it's where people don't have to make their own food but someone else makes it for them."

The siren looked at him for a couple of seconds before nodding. Jungkook took that as a yes and continued talking. "Maybe we could go after uni tomorrow. I have a course at about five pm so we could go after."

Once again he got a nod as the siren listened to him. It was weird. There were so many things about Taehyung Jungkook genuinely disliked, but something about the way he listened to Jungkook felt like he really was listening.

Whenever Taehyung focused on something he really focused on it, blocking out anything else. It was pretty easy to notice, especially when he was doing things like watching movies and listening to the radio. Maybe it was just the language.

Jimin had said that Taehyung understood human language alright, but he wasn't perfect at it. Maybe he just had to focus hard to understand what Jungkook was saying.

One way or another, Jungkook liked having someone's undivided attention. Even if it was just because the person was trying to understand what he was saying.

"The stew is done. I'm sorry it's no longer fresh. But you already ate, so if you don't like it just leave it." Jungkook sighed. He didn't want to keep coming back to this. Taehyung had probably just eaten some fish.

Jungkook put the bowl down in front of Taehyung and the siren grabbed the spoon, clumsily scooping the soup. For a couple of seconds, Jungkook watched. If he and Taehyung were to go to the restaurant tomorrow they were going to get a lot of weird stares if Taehyung couldn't at least eat with chopsticks.

"Wanna try eating with chopsticks? If we want to go to the restaurant tomorrow you should be able to do it... otherwise, people might notice that you're not... normal." Human probably was a better word. But Taehyung wasn't acting normal either, so it fit too.

When Jungkook handed Taehyung the chopsticks, something Jungkook had never seen Taehyung eat with before, the boy seemed rather hesitant about how to use them. It wasn't much of a surprise. Who would know how to use two sticks to eat right away?

"Like this." Jungkook grabbed a pair of chopsticks for himself and showed Taehyung how to hold them before picking up some of the vegetables from his stew. The siren watched him curiously before trying to mimic the motion.

Even before he actually tried to pick up the food Jungkook could already tell that it wasn't going to work. Taehyung was just loosely holding them in his hand without any real way to control the motion. When he moved them to copy Jungkook, grabbing some food, one of them simply slipped from his hand and jingled against the tile floor of the kitchen.

Jungkook couldn't help the little chuckle escaping him, but the death glare Taehyung sent him quickly shut him up. The siren leaned down to retrieve the fallen piece of cutlery before trying again. This time he didn't even make it to the bowl. Instead, both chopsticks slipped out of his hand. One of them landed on the table, the other rolling into Taehyung's lap, probably staining the clothes he was wearing.

Jungkook watched as Taehyung pressed his lips into a thin line, trying once again.

It was obvious that Taehyung was growing more and more agitated by the second and Jungkook certainly wasn't happy about that. The way Taehyung's eyes turned into slits as he glared at the chopsticks made Jungkook's stomach drop. It should have been funny. After all, Taehyung was incapable of eating with them and instead kept accidentally dropping them, but the last thing Jungkook wanted to do was anger the siren.

Who knew what he would do if it got too far.

So instead Jungkook quickly continued talking to stop Taehyung from growing more annoyed. "You need to try it like this. Copy what I'm doing." Jungkook repeated the motion of putting his chopsticks in place, really focusing on the placement of each finger and showing Taehyung how to move the chopsticks.

Taehyung tried again, hissing angrily when it didn't work again. The sound made Jungkook's hackles stand, his body automatically flinching back when Taehyung chucked the chopsticks away and angrily hit the table.

Jungkook could feel his stomach drop at the small dent that was left behind.

He quickly gathered his thoughts despite his shock because he had to get Taehyung to calm down again. Before he either killed Jungkook in a tantrum over not being able to eat chopsticks - what a dramatic way to leave this world - or started destroying his apartment.

Soothingly he put up his hands, trying to catch Taehyung's angered eyes. When their eyes met Jungkook was looking into that grey void again.

"You don't have to get angry over this. Everyone struggles when they try eating with chopsticks for the first time. That's nothing to be embarrassed over..." The siren interrupted him with a warning hiss and Jungkook quickly corrected himself. "It's nothing to get this angry over. If you calm down I can show you how to do it, but I really need you to calm down before that because I honestly don't want to touch you while you're like that."

Taehyung didn't look too thrilled at the aspect of Jungkook touching him, but after a couple of seconds his eyes turned back to normal and his body relaxed as he got up to get the chopsticks again. Jungkook's heart was still racing in his chest, but he ignored it, instead focusing on helping Taehyung with those chopsticks.

"Give me your hand."

Hesitantly Taehyung did, warily watching Jungkook as he took it.

"There you go." Carefully Jungkook placed both chopsticks in the right position before showing Taehyung how the movement of his fingers could affect the way the chopsticks moved. For a couple of seconds, it seemed to work, but then Taehyung dropped one of the chopsticks again.

But instead of getting angry again he just grabbed it and reached his hand out for Jungkook to put them back into the right position. Jungkook did, his heartbeat steadily slowing down.

Taehyung's hands felt oddly human like this. They looked human too. And they were soft, unlike Taehyung's claws. Jungkook quickly focused back on the job at hand. He was walking a thin line.

The siren sitting next to him seemed calm right now, but that wasn't a constant state.

After guiding his hand a couple of times Jungkook suggested Taehyung could try on his own. He did, and while it did take a couple of times he finally succeeded and Jungkook could feel relief flood him. At least he wasn't going to die over some stupid chopsticks.

"Now try to pick up some food with them."

Jungkook found himself explaining more than just how to use chopsticks to Taehyung. He actually showed him how to use a spoon as well, and just for good measure he also taught Taehyung how to use a knife and fork.

While easily irritated, Taehyung was a quick learner. It didn't take him too long to get to the point where the way he ate almost seemed normal. It only got weird when Jungkook focused on it for too long, but for the most part, Taehyung almost looked human now as he ate the remaining stew.

"You did really well." Jungkook found himself saying when they were done eating. It kind of just slipped out and then Jungkook grew anxious. What if Taehyung didn't react well to the compliment? Like, who was Jungkook to even compliment him?

But all of the fear went away when Taehyung looked up at him for a couple of seconds before glancing back down at the table. "Thanks."

A/N

JK's daily life... almost dying over some chopsticks😂

This story is way too much fun💕😖