Switchblade - 4
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"What do you mean.. America?"
Taemin was never praised for his intelligence, but until that moment he'd never felt stupid before. He couldn't for the life of him comprehend what Aaron was trying to say. It was the language barrier. It must have been.
"Ya otta come with me," Aaron told Taemin very seriously. He was so expressive that even when he was being serious, his face appeared to be lit up. "It's good people. Like me, like ya dad."
"I don't understand," Taemin spoke slowly, staring at Aaron with wide eyes. "You're not making any sense."
Aaron gave a large huff, crossing his arms, raising his brows so his huge eyes widened in a nearly humorous way. "People are dyin'."
If Aaron's Korean was far from perfect, one thing that he was good at was words like 'dying' and 'killing'...
"I gotta protect home," Aaron added after a moment. With those words, the moment finally sunk in.
"You're leaving me." Taemin meant to question it. It came out as more of a statement than he meant it to be.
Aaron shook his head and uncrossed his arms, "I want you to come," he said for the second time.
"My destiny," Taemin whispered.
This late at night, everyone else in the hotel must be sleeping. It's a good thing, because Taemin walks through the corridors with bare feet, loose pants, and a t-shirt while carrying his switchblade in a tight fist.
Miyeon is a contrast, fully dressed in nice clothes with a constant tiny smile on her lips, like she's replaying a joke in her head.
"How far?" Taemin asks her when they get to the staircase. He lets a heavy door fall shut behind them before he starts descending down along with her.
"Not," is her very quick answer.
"Not?"
"Not far, of course."
As they move down the cement stairs, Taemin's feet suddenly begin to feel cold. He looks down at them, almost confused by the sensation for a moment before he realizes with horror that he's barely had any vampire blood tonight. If this turns out to be a trap...
After they've moved down a flight of stairs, Miyeon opens a door labeled 'Lobby'. Though she moves through the doorway, Taemin holds the door open, ready to tell her he'll be back in a moment, when a man's voice cries out, sounding anything but masculine.
"AHH! You brought him down here?!"
With a jolt, Taemin follows the sound to a young man. Rather, a man who appears young, perhaps older than Taemin is now. Likely older, in fact, because Taemin is almost sure that he's a vampire, just as most young attractive people that hang out at night are.
The man's eyes are wide, watching Taemin, looking almost scandalized. When Taemin moves a bit closer without really thinking about it, the man hurriedly stumbles back - almost tripping over one of the lobby's lounge chairs.
Taemin really can't help but smile.
Miyeon chuckles in a soft, sweet sounding way that almost puts even Taemin at ease. He realizes then that he's loosened his grip on his switchblade, and hurriedly corrects this, tightening his fingers on the hilt and lifting it somewhat as if to show off - even though they appear to be the only three around.
"I did bring him," Miyeon says in a kind and patient voice, "Because I think he might trust you more than myself after all."
"Do you know who I am?" the man asks, looking quite cautious about it.
"Lee Joon?" Taemin guesses.
"That's right," the man nods, "I'm Lee Joon, I know stuff. A bunch of stuff, useful stuff. You can put that thing away.."
Taemin glares at Joon at the very suggestion, taking a step closer, lifting his switchblade even higher and saying a firm, "No."
Joon throws his hands up as if in surrender, eyes wide. "Whatever. Fine. No big."
Since vampires usually try to fight or simply run from Taemin, he's never until now let their horror of him sink in. It's satisfying, to say the very least. He freely smiles now, almost grins.
Joon seems to feel the air around him for a moment before he kind of drops onto the chair behind him, the one he almost tripped over before. Of course, he's sitting in it wrong, his legs high up over the arm in a silly way when he says, "I heard you were looking for me."
"You know how to find Onew?" Taemin asks quickly.
"Well yes. Of course I do. I'm Onew's very good friend. I happen to remember meeting him one certain night when he was bringing you chicken.."
The memory triggers not a flicker of happiness from Taemin. He takes several steps closer to Joon, until the vampire looks like he's trying to sink through the chair. Then he repeats the words, "Onew's very good friend.."
"Well," Joon hurriedly says, "That is to say, I'm sure I don't know him as well as you do. Or I mean, maybe a little earlier than you do, but friends grow apart and lose touch.."
"Where's Onew?" Taemin asks, currently conflicted between his anger and pride, but trying to sound perfectly angry all the same.
"Ah." Joon holds up a finger, then climbs his way out of the chair, moving behind it before facing Taemin once again. "I said I know how to find him, not that I know where he is. More importantly, is that why you were looking for me after all?"
Minho.., a voice of Taemin's mind whispers.
"I can't come," Taemin told Aaron. "My destiny is here. I have to find Minho, Minho is counting on me. If we... just until we find Minho, can't you stay? Stay in Korea.."
Taemin had told Aaron all about Minho, from when they'd first met until the very end. Aaron never said too much on the matter, but now his expressive eyes stared at Taemin in a way he very much didn't like. Finally, Taemin raised his voice, feeling defensive, "Minho is alive. Jonghyun has captured him, Jonghyun.. does that, I've been there, and it's horrible. Minho is alive and miserable. I have to save him, I have to save Minho, it's my destiny!"
"Don't be a fool now," Aaron told Taemin quickly. If he hadn't understood everything Taemin said, he'd understood enough.
Tears stung at Taemin's eyes and he seemed to shrink, "Just until we save Minho. Please stay in Korea.."
Aaron shut his eyes and shook his head, and all of Taemin's further protests died away..
Taemin's pride, his satisfaction, and his anger all melt away. He looks almost blankly at Joon, saying the truth, "I heard your name when I was looking for Jonghyun. The person I want to find is Minho."
"Minho?" Joon looks thoughtful for a moment before he straightens up, "Well, I didn't come here to offer this information for free, you know."
Taemin raises his voice, stomping closer to Joon, "Then I'll eat it out of you!"
Joon hurriedly crouches down behind the chair, which is now the only thing between himself and Taemin. "What-what-what the hell!? Miyeon!"
Taemin's voice calms but still sounds strong, saying, "Tell me what you know."
"You can't kill me, because if you kill me, you'll kill my bonded too," Joon says urgently to Taemin, giving a quick nod towards Miyeon.
Taemin looks at her, wondering how horrible of a consequence that is. As he tries to figure that out, Joon continues to speak, fast and urgent.
"The Council is keeping tabs on you. The only reason you're even still alive is because they're using you as a tool, they say, they say they want you to get rid of the weaker vampires - they want you to get rid of the ones who don't follow them, too. They've even been leaving you hints, you know, you probably only got my name because one of them was trying to have me targeted. Hear me out, okay?"
Though Taemin starts to calm down, his heart is beating hard now. There's a chill in the room, especially from his bare feet, and at this point he's wondering just how good Joon's blood might taste. He says nothing, but at least listens as Joon goes on.
"I want to help you," Joon stands up, "But we want you to help us. Okay? Someone that can go out in the daytime who knows what they're doin' fighting, you know, that's good. We can't risk our bondeds and--"
"Who are you talking about?" Taemin finally asks, "Who is 'we'?"
Joon blinks at Taemin. "VAI. UFI. We tried out a lot of different acronyms, but we're not sure yet."
Taemin tilts his head at Joon, "You're the rebel group that The Council has been afraid of."
Joon smiles. For the first time since Taemin emerged from the staircase, the vampire looks unafraid. He looks cocky, full of pride, and he stands up especially straight. His eyes look devious and he even leans slightly on the chair between them, "That's us."
"If I help you, you'll help me," Taemin clarifies, "is what you're saying.."
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