"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.

"Are you okay?" was the first thing he managed to choke out.

I nodded. "Are you?" I offered lamely.

Taehyung smiled weakly. "Could've been better, but I guess I'm alright," he answered.

We fell back into an uncomfortable silence. My eyes were glued to the gritty pavement, and I suddenly regretted agreeing to come walk with him. What was there to say?

"So... you're human."

I glanced up at Taehyung. He wore a mask void of any expression, but I could see the hurt in his eyes. His pupils dilated, and I looked away. Something ached in my heart, but why? Why should I feel bad? It wasn't like I tricked him or anything.

"And you're not." The words left my lips, and I looked up again. His features were human enough. Perhaps a little unnaturally attractive, but you could easily chalk it up to miraculous genes, makeup, or even cosmetic surgery. He looked completely mortal, and it was hard to believe that he was an all-powerful monster.

"I guess not." Taehyung didn't break his stare.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He sighed. "We're supposed to be secret, Sori," he replied in a hushed tone. "Do you know what would happen if we weren't anymore?"

Seeing that even now, during an age of globalization, some older adults found it hard to see anything but malicious stereotypes in other ethnicities and races, and that some couples couldn't get married because of their parents' disapproval of having grandchildren with a trace of foreign blood, I was too scared to imagine what would happen if it was revealed that another species was living among us. It would not be good, to say the least.

"I don't know how I found the school," I confessed. "Don't ask me. I thought I was enrolling in a normal high school."

Silence settled over us again, like an auditory void. We kept walking, but to where? There wasn't a destination, and we were just moving for the sake of moving. The chemistry that we'd had on our date was long gone, and I didn't know which words could fix this.

"Are you afraid of monsters?" he murmured, his dark eyes fixated on the white clouds. "The very creatures of your nightmares? Are you afraid of me?"

I hesitated. "Are you of me?" I shot back. The way he'd spoken about humans had made me realize that maybe there was a mutual fear.

Taehyung sighed quietly. I glanced over, and he seemed deeply lost in thought. Was I someone that could induce fear? Was I someone that could induce fear in monsters?

"I should be," he said finally. "My family was hunted by your kind. But... I'm not."

"Why?"

"You never answered my question," Taehyung interrupted. "Are you afraid of me?"

"I wasn't before, so why should I be now?" I stopped walking and turned to face him. "You've been the same all along."

"So I have." He stared down at me, bemused. A spark of an emotion I couldn't decipher flickered in his slitted pupils. "That's a good answer."

I looked up. The sky was turning violet, flame orange at the tips. The sun had disappeared behind a tall corporate building, and the air had begun to chill. Had so much time passed already? When we'd left, it was still bright and warm outside.

"I have to go," I said. "My mom's probably expecting me back home now."

Taehyung nodded. "I'm glad we had this talk," he said, smiling. "It would be terrible if a girl was afraid of her boyfriend."

Huh?

It was unexpected, but what was there to expect from Taehyung, a teenage monster? At least I didn't have to ask where we stood. My face flooded with warmth upon processing his words. Biting back a grin, I nodded quickly before pivoting and hurrying back in the direction of my apartment, repeating the word "boyfriend" over and over in my head. I guess things hadn't really changed between us after all. I'd been afraid that he would distance himself from me because of what I was, but now that we'd cleared up everything, there was no reason to. A cool breeze blew behind me, and when I turned my head back, Taehyung wasn't there anymore.

Be careful, Sori, said an alien voice in my head as I began to trot back home.

Jimin?! I screeched internally, bewildered. I swatted at the air instinctively. Get out my head!

I might be your guardian angel, he continued, ignoring my flustered tirade of curses, but I can't protect you from heartbreak.