moonlight convenience - part 7
summary: Jaebeom had been alive a long time. He never really got the hang of humans. They confused him, always so warm and frantic and fragrant. He could barely remember being one. He mostly stuck with his handful of immortal friends, clinging to their relationships for some semblance of normalcy. Then there was you. And you… were different.
warnings: vampire au, soulmate au - eventual smut, fluff, blood is involved, some violence bc vampires, a lil exhibitionism/voyeur stuff - jaebeom can see into her apartment window.
pairing: female reader/jaebeom
note: i started writing this while tipsy so i HOPE i got all my typos and mess-ups. there is some fighting in this one just fyi.
prologue | part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six
_________________________
Jaebeom doesn’t see you for four days. Every second of it hurts. He doesn’t leave his apartment the entire time. He knows it’s wrong, but he watches you through his bedroom window, hoping that maybe you’ll look back and see him too.
He doesn’t try to push any boundaries other than that, that wouldn’t be fair. He doesn’t text you, doesn’t call. If you wanted to speak to him you would, he thinks, so he leaves his phone on full volume and watches it as if it carries some kind of otherworldly secret.
On the fourth day, near midnight, Jinyoung bangs on his door. He has his own key, of course, but he knocks out of spite.
He answers the door, disheveled and malnourished, having refused to drink since you had left. Jinyoung, looking as immaculate and unimpressed as he usually does, forces his way inside and closes the door behing him.
“This is not productive,” He says, giving Jaebeom a once over, “Moping will not get her back.”
Jaebeom shrugs, “Look, man, I don’t want to -”
“I literally don’t give a fuck,” Jinyoung says, “You staying healthy is my priority. You need to feed. Get dressed.”
Jaebeom pauses, digging his heels in at getting direct orders. After a moment he sighs, knowing that Jinyoung is the only one who could ever get away with it.
“Fine.”
He dresses simply, not caring very much about what goes on his body. All black, loose fitting shirt and thick winter jacket, dark jeans and comfortable shoes.
He lets Jinyoung fuss over his hair, smoothing it off his face so it doesn’t hang into his eyes. He doesn’t even bat an eyelash when he chastises him for not cutting his hair more often.
“We’re going to BamBam’s,” Jinyoung says, guiding him back towards the door, “You’re going to drink and we’ll all hang out like we normally do.” He opens the door, turning back to look at him, “Got it?”
Jaebeom nods, “Got it.”
_________________________
It’s Annie’s idea, which is how you should have known not to follow through with it. You did, though.
Dressed to the nines in a tiny red dress with a high neck and low back you step out of an Uber in front of Evening. There’s a long line tonight. You debate turning around, but you’re mad and confused. Jaebeom had either lied to you or was mentally unwell - you’re not sure what’s worse. Out of everyone, his friends would know what was going on.
It’s fucking freezing, despite the coat you have wrapped around you, and you step through the thin layer of snow on the sidewalk to approach the club.
You don’t recognize the bouncer but clearly he recgonizes you. He calls your name, waving you to the front of the line. You follow his instructions despite the dirty looks the people already waiting give you.
“You’re Jaebeom’s girl, right?” He asks.
Your heart jumps into your throat. You want to cry or vehemently disagree, but you figure you’ll get in faster if you just say yes.
“Yeah, I am.”
He opens the door for you, “Go ahead.”
You thank him and step inside. A girl with a glowing red choker takes your coat, stashing it quickly into a closet by the door.
“None of them are here yet,” She says, frowning, “Other than BamBam, he’s by the bar.”
“Thanks,” You say glancing around nervously.
“Here,” She grabs your wrist in one hand, pulling it up and stamping a bright green stamp onto the back of your hand, “They’ll leave you alone now. We missed you last time.”
You glance down at the stamp, green ink depicting a set of fangs crossed out.
“Sure,” You nod, stepping away.
The bar is the only bright thing in the whole club, light up by white lights instead of the red LEDs illuminating the rest of the club. You navigate your way through the crowd towards the bar. There’s a single empty barstool and you hop on to it, looking around.
The girl next to you is flawlessly beautiful, with dark ebony skin and a puff of curls that surround her face. She glances over, giving you a slow smile. She gives you a once over, then glances back up at your face.
“That’s a shame.”
“Huh?” You ask, stunned by her beauty for a moment, before realizing that she was referring to the green stamp on your hand.
“Someone’s got dibs already,” She takes her drink, a dark red cocktail, and disappears into the crowd.
Almost immediately her seat is filled by BamBam, Jaebeom’s friend who owned the club.
“I was not expecting to see you here,” He says, looking at you through blue tinted sunglasses.
“I wasn’t really expecting to make it all the way here, to be honest.”
He sighs, taking off his sunglasses and hooking them onto the collar of his shirt, “What do you like to drink?”
“Gin.”
He glances at a bartender, who appears in front of him without a hint of delay, “Get her a gin and tonic. Clear.”
Clear? Gin and tonic are both clear what the hell was he talking about?
The guy steps away to make it, and you watch him spin glasses and pour things faster than you thought was possible. When he’s done he places it front of you with a little black napkin.
“How much?” You start to say, but BamBam cuts you off.
“I own this bar, you can have whatever you want.”
“What if I want information?”
He smiles, “That too.”
Across the room, someone yells, and he straightens up immediately.
“Let me deal with that and then we can go to my office.”
“Okay,” You take a sip of your drink, “Thank you.”
He nods, “Stay here.”
You don’t know what you’re really planning on asking him. Obviously the whole vampire thing is at the front of your mind, but it’s so outside your realm of comprehension that you can’t even begin to understand what the world would be like if it were true.
The staff in the club, with the glowing red necklaces, all seem to have bruising around their necks and some of them seem dazed when they come out of private booths.The patrons of the club all move in a very specific way. They’re light on their feet but intimdating at the same time. They move with purpose. They move like Jaebeom.
BamBam is gone for a long time. Long enough that you finish your drink and desperately need to go to the bathroom.
You manage to make eye contact with the bartender and he abandons the person he’s currently talking to come up to you.
“Where’s the bathroom?” You ask, pitching your voice above the music. You must have been too loud, though, because he seems surprised at your volume.
“Oh, um,” He says, “There’s just the one downstairs for staff.”
“Am I able to use it?”
“Of course! Whatever you need!” He says, pointing across the bar to where a door says Employees Only, “It’s the door at the bottom of the stairs.”
“Thanks.”
You hop off your stool and push through the crowd again. It’s all gyrating bodies and soft sighs over the music, people pressing against each other in the dim light. You make eye contact wtih a girl who has her mouth on someone’s neck.
Your brain tells you she’s just kissing them, but it looks a bit more sinister with the glow of the employee’s necklace casting a red shadow over her lips.
The Employees Only door is unlocked and it swings open easily. There’s a staircase to the left that goes up and one directly in front of you that goes down. You follow it down, your ears useless from the sudden halt of the music. You don’t even hear the door close behind you they’re ringing so bad.
You open the bathroom door and are confronted with a small but clean bathroom. It’s dark, the single lightbulb flickering when you turn it on. You close and lock the door behind you, hiking up your dress to use the toilet.
When you’re done you flush and wash your hands, surprised at the sweet smelling soap sitting on the counter.
You unlock the door and pull it open, stepping back away from the doorway as it swings inward. On the other side is a tall, broad figure. You flinch, surprised at their presence more than anything else.
You look up and it’s a man you’ve never seen before. His face is gaunt, cheeks sunken as if he hasn’t eaten in weeks. His clothes are high end, though, expensive and perfectly fitting. His buzzed blonde hair looks disheveled and sickly in the yellow light.
“I don’t care whose you are,” He says, sounding as if he’s talking around something in his mouth, “I want a fucking taste.”
_________________________
The first thing Jaebeom hears when they enter the club is you screaming. They had picked up the rest of the group, other than BamBam, on their way but he ignores all of them to follow the sound of your voice.
No one even tries to stand in his way. He can’t even imagine how he looks right now but everyone is smart enough to get out of the way.
He shoulders open the Employees Only door, leaving a hole in the wall where the handle smashes through the drywall.
The door at the bottom of the stairs is ajar. Through the opening he can see you, furiously fighting against a vampire that has you pressed against the wall. He’s weak, though, probably hasn’t fed in a while. You’re able to put your hand on his face and push, keeping him away from your throat but his fangs knick the soft skin of your palm.
You hiss in pain and the smell of your blood floods his senses. Jaebeom is down the stairs in a fraction of second. He tears the guy away, flinging him back onto the steps.
Positioning himself in front of you Jaebeom kicks the guy in the sternum - hard. He hears something crack, and the guy cries out.
Everything seems to happen in a flurry of movement. Three bouncers clamber down the stairs to drag the guy away, and BamBam and the others stand at the top of the stairs, staring down.
Behind him, he hears you panting and crying. Turning around, you’re slumped against the wall nearly hyperventilating and holding your bloody hand to your chest.
Jaebeom isn’t good at this. He’s not good at being in love, at showing everything he is and everything he’ll never be. All he really knows is that he’ll be wherever you need him to be, forever.
You make eye contact with him. He feels a bit like he’ll vomit, but he doesn’t.
He holds out a hand to you, “Come here.”
You look hesitant for a second, but then you take a few shaky steps forward and fall face-first against his chest.
_________________________
You end up in BamBam’s office in the end. He sits you down on a cushy leather couch, pressed up against the wall. Jaebeom refuses to leave your side, sitting on the arm of the couch beside you and draping his arm over your shoulders. He tugs you in against his side.
One of the guys, who you think is named Mark, kneels in front of you with a bandage.
“It’s not too bad,” He says, voice smooth and deep, “You okay?”
You nod slowly. Despite everyone apparently being friends Jaebeom does not relax until Mark has finished bandaging the cut on your hand and steps away.
“You’re kind of bad luck,” BamBam says, perching on the egde of his desk, “Shit always goes down when you’re here.”
“She’s an unclaimed human of course shit goes down,” Jinyoung snorts, leaning against the wall beside Jaebeom. He’s the only one that seems to be able to be within a foot of you without Jaebeom tensing up.
The six of them start talking, Jaebeom remaining silent next to you.
All you could see in your mind’s eye was that man coming towards you. His teeth morphed into fangs and he was stronger than anyone you had ever met. It felt like his bones were titanium, his mucles cords of metal, completely immovable.
You glance up at Jaebeom to find him staring down at you.
He raises an eyebrow. It’s a million questions wrapped in to one expression and you’re somehow able to understand that he simultaneously means “are you okay?” and “do you believe me now?”
You nod.
“I’m going to take her home.”
The room falls immediately silent. They all defer to him, you realize. Everything from their body language to their behaviour tells you that Jaebeom is in charge of this little ragtag group.
They all surround you, escorting you safely out of the club and out the back door you had been taken out of the first time you were here. Somehow, BamBam had retrieved your jacket and he drapes it over your shoulders as you get outside.
Jaebeom’s car is parked there again, all dark leather and matte black paint.
You barely remember getting into the car, much less the drive home. You’re exhausted and scared, your whole body trembling.
Jaebeom takes you to his apartment, bundling you up in his big jacket over your coat since you’re shivering so much, and holds you under his chin as you ride the elevator up to his floor.
Once you’re inside his apartment he carefully helps you unzip your dress and gives you a big t-shirt of his. It hangs off one shoulder but clings to your hips and butt, you tug on the fabric until it fits more comfortably.
Everything feels foggy, as if you’d just woken up from a fever induced nap. You know it’s not because you’re injured - the little cut on your hand barely hurts anymore. It’s because the things you thought were true suddenly... aren’t.
Luckily, Jaebeom’s bed is supremely comfortable. Everything smells like him and you burrow into the pillow beneath your head until you fall asleep.
_________________________
Jaebeom doesn’t even try to sleep. He drinks a pack of blood from the fridge around two in the morning, his only break from anxiously pacing the hallway outside the bedroom.
He knows that you’re physically fine. Any venom from the knick on your palm was clearly out of your system, if it was there in the first place. The venom in a vampire’s bite is meant to subdue and calm a victim, almost like drugging them.
Even knowing that you were okay is not much comfort, though. You had been terrified last night, completely silent from the time he found you to when he got you safely into bed. It’s a lot to take in, knowing suddenly that vampires exist, much less supernatural beings as a whole.
He finally convinces himself that it would be okay to sit next to you. He reclines against the headboard with his headphones on, listening to music and idly scrolling through his phone.
You sleep soundly, tucked up on your side facing him, arms pulled tight in against your body. He takes a moment to smooth some hair from your face, hoping it helps you sleep better.
It’s nearly 9 when you wake up, sun streaming aggressively through the window. He notices the change in your heartbeat first, then your breath, and then you’re opening your eyes.
He takes his headphones out, putting his phone on the side table, “Morning.”
You slowly sit up, the shoulder of his shirt draping down your arm and revealing the long expanse of your collarbone and throat. He wants to kiss you, but it’s definitely not the time for that.
“How long have you been up?” You ask, voice hoarse as you blink slowly at him.
“All night,” He laughs a bit, running a hand through his hair.
You look concerned, rubbing at your face, “Why didn’t you sleep?”
“I don’t really... need to,” He says and you go still, slowly nodding, “It’s not really necessary for, uh,” He clears his throat, “For vampires.”
“Oh,” You say, “Okay.”
“Look,” He says, suddenly terrified that you’ll think he’s presumptuous for bringing you to his home, to his bed, “I can walk you home if you like. Last night it was just easier to bring you here.”
“No, no,” You sit up straighter, shaking your head. Your hair falls down across your face.
Without thinking, Jaebeom reaches across the bed and pushes it back, behind your ear. You’re still half asleep, moving on what looks like instinct, but you turn your head and rest your cheek on his palm.
Meeting you has made him unsure of his own biology. It feels like his heart is racing despite the impossibility of that statement.
You open your eyes slowly, “I’m sorry.” You reach your hand up and wrap your fingers around his wrist, thumb slowly smoothing over his skin.
“What?” He says, stuttering, “What for?”
“Calling you a liar.”
Jaebeom laughs softly, “That was a very rational response. I don’t blame you.”
“So, uh,” You drop your hand, lifting your face from his palm, “Do you have coffee?”
He doesn’t. He doesn’t actually have any food. At all.
“Uh, no,” He quickly stands up, trying to smooth out the wrinkles that formed in his shirt overnight, “I’ll go get you some. Right now.”
You laugh, “No, it’s fine. I’ll take whatever you have.”
“I don’t... eat.” He said, and you look up at him slowly, “I can drink coffee and stuff but I don’t really keep it on hand.”
“Right,” You sigh, “I guess that makes sense.”
“Just... stay in bed,” He says, “I’ll get you coffee and breakfast and bring it back. Okay?”
You look at him pensively. He wishes he could read your mind, could know what you were thinking while you stared at him like that.
“Okay.”
He throws his coat on and grabs his wallet. He pauses in the doorway of the bedroom.
“Please don’t leave again.”
You lock your eyes with his and Jaebeom feels everything he felt the very first time he ever saw you. You glow, soft and warm with your beating heart, the morning sun illuminating every curve and arch of your body.
“I’ll be here when you get back.”