Chapter 29

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Jungkook was not spared the annoyance of wiping up cat piss. After waking up, admittedly feeling quite weird about opening his eyes and facing Taehyung first thing in the morning, he got out of his bed and walked over into the living room. To his surprise, Taehyung didn't wake up even when Jungkook climbed out of the bed right next to him, but Jungkook didn't mind Taehyung sleeping just a little longer.

Especially when he entered the living room and was confronted with the strong stench of cat piss. That was... right what he had expected, admittedly.

Jungkook spent about thirty minutes cleaning up his apartment when it probably should have taken only ten, but he kept looking at his phone to answer Eunji's messages. She was out of town to visit a close friend of hers and now she was spamming Jungkook with pictures she had taken, a random mix of food items, selfies and sceneries.

Once he was finished cleaning he sat down to do some homework... which was when he first realized how weird it was to not have Taehyung in the living room or bathroom down the hall. Usually, the siren was always around him unless he was out for a swim... but now it was just oddly quiet.

He got up from where he was sitting to go back to his room, just to check and make sure that Taehyung was still there. Jungkook really wasn't used to being awake while Taehyung was still sleeping, but when he carefully pushed the door to his room open Taehyung was still in bed. His eyes closed, his claws gripping at Jungkook's pillow that admittedly looked a little damaged now. But he was still asleep. His breathing was slow and his face relaxed, looking all innocent and sweet. It was so weird to see Taehyung like this.

Jungkook sat down on the chair by his desk and just stared. It still was a mystery to him how Taehyung, who usually looked so full of pride or angry, could look this innocent and warm. His long silver lashes, lips a little pouty and shoulders relaxed as he slept on his side. He looked stunning and Jungkook knew this was part of the whole siren thing and partly made to draw people in... but was Taehyung genuinely bad? Was what Jungkook saw right now really just meant to lure him in?

Was it even okay to use his own morals with Taehyung? Jungkook certainly wasn't an angel but he didn't think of himself as a bad person. Still, he ate meat. Chicken, pork, fish. How was that any different from what Taehyung was doing? How was he better in any way? Taehyung was simply sustaining himself too.

So did Taehyung feel good about killing? Jungkook couldn't know. Maybe he just didn't feel anything in particular about it or maybe he even felt bad. It was simply a necessity to him though. But even if Taehyung didn't feel anything... Jungkook couldn't even judge him for it. Realistically speaking, if he had to hunt the animals he ate himself, he'd probably stop feeling bad soon as well.

There were still so many things Jungkook didn't know about Taehyung, but he was genuinely becoming more curious about them now and actually felt like maybe he would be allowed to learn a little more about his new roommate.

He startled when Taehyung moved and just seconds later his eyes met Jungkook's. Jungkook was probably never going to get used to the way Taehyung's irises looked whenever he took his more natural form. They just... felt off, but at the same time they also looked so pretty. It just felt a little haunting too.

"Morning." Jungkook smiled, hoping that Taehyung wouldn't feel weirded out about him watching him in his sleep. Seemingly he didn't, just nodding curtly before sitting up in the bed and stretching his arms. Jungkook watched the way the short sleeves of his t-shirt slipped down, revealing the toned muscles of his pale upper arm.

Why was Jungkook this hyper-aware of how attractive Taehyung was looking right now? He had barely ever noticed before. Maybe a fleeting thought or some acknowledgment, but not like this. He'd never had the urge to stare before. Probably because he had been too nervous about making the siren angry.

"Come on. How about you get dressed and then we go to the shopping mall to buy your cat everything she needs?" Jungkook got up from the stool and started gathering some clothes for both of them.

"Okay." Jungkook might have gotten a mini heart attack when he heard Tae's voice right behind him.

"Alright. Here. Get dressed. I'll go downstairs and check what we need."

Shopping went surprisingly well. A lot better than Jungkook had expected at least. Taehyung appeared to have grown a little more accustomed to crowds. He still seemed a little tense in his shoulders, but he mostly stuck to Jungkook's side and didn't hiss at anyone.

When they entered the pet store and the employee gave them some advice about what they needed for a cat and Taehyung didn't even react when Jungkook carefully pulled him a little further away from the woman. He could tell that just one step forward from here would get her too close for Taehyung's comfort and Jungkook wasn't really excited about potentially having to explain why his friend hissed.

Taehyung didn't eat any of the animals in the pet store either, although there was this moment when the employee let them hold a small bunny that Jungkook couldn't help but worry. Taehyung had that expression again and he did kind of scrunch up his nose when Jungkook told him that he wasn't allowed to eat it. Whether that had really been his intention Jungkook wasn't quite sure, but he also wasn't keen on finding out.

Just to be safe Jungkook ended up buying Taehyung some McDonalds, which Taehyung ate feeling obviously content during the way home. Jungkook had honestly expected the day to be mostly over now. Maybe they would watch some TV, he'd do some homework and then he'd go to sleep just to get a proper night of rest before he'd go to uni again, but all those plans went out the window when he spotted two familiar figures standing in front of his door, looking a little awkward.

Jimin was the first to notice them. He turned around, smiling brightly before he waved his arm over his head. Jungkook couldn't help noticing that he had a different hair color this time. Last time it had been a soft pink, now it was black with slightly brighter tips. Yoongi was standing behind him, holding his phone up to his ear, and at that exact moment, Jungkook's phone started vibrating.

"Hey!" Jimin yelled before he ran over to them, quickly hugging Taehyung, who lifted his arms to return the hug... pretty comfortably actually. It didn't seem awkward, like it had with Jungkook. Instead, he buried his face in Jimin's neck, which was a little weird given how disgusted Taehyung usually seemed with physical contact, but then again, it was Jimin. Maybe he was different.

"How are you?" Jimin asked, turning his head to look at Jungkook. For a second Jungkook looked over to Yoongi, who had ended the call and was now looking at them with an unreadable expression again. Jungkook always had a hard time telling what was going on in his head or even reading him as a person... he just... Jungkook couldn't imagine knowingly being with a Siren. Especially not when Sirens were this fucking scary.

"I'm okay... I think. We just bought some cat food." He lifted the bags in his hands and Jimin's eyes widened in excitement.

"You guys have a cat?!"

Jungkook couldn't help snickering at the question. "Yeah, apparently. It was Taehyung's decision." He nodded in the other's direction. "Didn't let go of it and said he'd feed it and do all the work."

Jimin raised an eyebrow, looking back at Taehyung. "You did?"

He seemed just as surprised as Jungkook had been when Taehyung nodded, pulling back from Jimin, who had been holding him for more than twenty seconds now.

"Huh. That's surprising. You and a cat..." Jimin seemed to remember something. "Your second pet! Did you give it a name yet?"

This time Taehyung shrugged his shoulders and Jungkook answered for him. "We only took her home yesterday." He wondered what Taehyung's first pet had been though... what kind of pet could a siren have? Maybe he'd eaten that one...

"What are you guys doing here though? Taehyung was just at your place a couple of days ago." Jungkook moved over to the door to unlock it. Taehyung and Jimin followed right after him, while Yoongi stayed slightly behind.

"Actually..." Jimin wrapped and arm around Taehyung's waist, pulling him closer. Even when Taehyung just let it happen Jungkook couldn't help the anxiety creeping up on him... usually he always had to make sure no one touched Taehyung. "...I'm here because we're going to move soon and we have to show Taehyung where to find us."

Jungkook pushed the door open and gestured them to come inside. "Why are you moving? Your current apartment is amazing, isn't it?"

He watched as his entryway filled with bodies. It was so weird to have more than one person over... especially two sirens.

"It is amazing, but sadly we still have to move. As you know Yoongi produces music and the public eye is on him, but because he's with me he doesn't age... and that's slowly becoming a bit of a problem. It's not really worrisome yet, but people are starting to joke about it now and I think it's a good time for Yoongi to disappear from the public eye."

"Disappear?" They moved to the living room. This time it was Yoongi who answered.

"Jimin's going to help me fake my own death. We just wanted to make sure you two knew in case you heard something on the news." Yoongi squeezed Jimin's shoulder, who turned around just a second to smile at him. Jungkook felt a spike of jealousy. He could tell just how fond they were of each other from one single interaction.

However, Yoongi could stomach being with a Siren. He was clearly happy with the way things were, even if it was a little inconvenient.

"Won't it be hard since people know you around here?"

Jimin nodded. "We're moving over to the states. I doubt anyone would recognize him there and we'll just keep a low profile for a while."

Didn't that mean that Taehyung wouldn't be able to visit Jimin anymore? Even if he knew where they were going to live, America was quite far from Korea.

"What about Taehyung?"

"Taehyung?" Jimin sat down on the sofa, gesturing for Yoongi to join him.

"How is he supposed to visit you in America?"

Jungkook grabbed the food bowl they had bought from the grocery bags and placed it down on the floor before filling it. Even with guests here they had to feed that cat... he didn't know how long it had been since it had last eaten. Not that he had any clue where the cat was either. The sound of food certainly didn't seem to draw it closer.

"Ah no, don't worry. Sirens can move pretty quickly under water. Especially Taehyung with his little skillset."

"Moving water around?"

Jimin nodded. "Man, I wish I were able to do that too. I've always envied Taehyung."

They continued talking while Jungkook busied himself with the litter box.

"Not every siren can do that?"

Jimin shook his head. "Taehyung and I developed quite differently. I've always been more interested in the human culture, which is why I changed form a lot and sang a lot, while Taehyung prefers staying at the bottom of the ocean. The pressure down there is hell... even for us, so he's quite thick skinned and strong." Jimin ran his fingers over Taehyung's thigh, squeezing it in such a friendly familiar way it made Jungkook almost jealous.

He always had to worry when he touched Taehyung and then there was Jimin, simply doing whatever he wanted without a wasting a thought on it. And Taehyung seemed to enjoy it too, slightly leaning on him. Jungkook had barely ever seen him this relaxed.

"Taehyung also prefers his natural form over anything else, which is why he honestly sucks at shifting."

Taehyung hissed quietly, but he didn't even bother to move away from Jimin, who giggled. "But yeah, Taehyung can do cool stuff. Inherited it from our dad... the water control thing. I tried all my childhood, but I just can't do it."

"If I were you I'd probably still be trying." Jungkook chuckled, carefully filling the box with cat litter, when the shrill sound of the doorbell cut through the apartment. Jungkook hadn't invited anyone to the apartment since Taehyung had shown up... and neither had he ordered anything online.

"Wait a second. I'll be right back." Jungkook declared, getting up from the floor. He had absolutely no clue who to expect as he wiped his hands off before unlocking the door.

When he opened it he could feel his heart rate speed up. This was the last person he needed here right now.

"Hey Jungkook. I was certain you had died with how little I have been seeing you around."

Jungkook pushed his hands into his pockets, trying to give of a relaxed impression.

"Hey Jin."

A/N

Surprise update! I already said it but just so you guys know... I'm not abandoning this story. I'm just really stressed with my final year rn and just wanna get it over with.

I'll be updating really infrequently until I finish it... and probably spam write once I'm through skdbsmxnsmsm