Taehyung officially hated the Internet.

Like Jesus.

What the hell was Google Maps and how the hell was he supposed to find a police station with that thing?

What the hell was Naver? What the hell was YouTube? And how the hell was he supposed to contact someone while simply tapping on a stupid little display?

"What the fuck? Don't tell me you can take photos with this thing. Or is this a mirror?," he mumbled in confusion as he accidentally turned on the front camera and saw his own face in all its glory, displayed on the screen. However, he thought he looked quite good. Just as he was about to try out a few poses and attempt actually taking a snapshot, little feet stomped across the polished marmor floorboard of his grand living room and made a stop right in front of him.

"Oh, Mister. You're taking a selfie? Can we take one together?," he asked excitedly, positioning himself behind Taehyung who was currently leaning back in his rose gold-coloured sofa. The redhead shrugged. If only he knew how to take a photo...
"Uh... How do I take a photo?," he asked carefully, the toddler giggling heartily and sounding very amused.

"You don't know how to take a photo? You remind me of my nana, Mister. Just tap on the white circle there and say cheese!," he explained, smiling brightly as Taehyung actually managed to tap the correct spot and take an amazing snapshot. He slightly flinched at the sound of the camera shutter but the result turned out to be brilliant. It seemed that the redhead had quite the gift for photography despite never having taken a single photo in his whole life. The selfie did not have a single flaw: the lighting was perfect and so was the quality. And of course, both of them looked amazing.

"Hey, kiddo. You seem to be good with technology, can you please tell me how to use this Google Maps thingie? I need to find the police station," the redhead asked, feeling a bit humiliated as he had been adult for centuries and was asking a literal toddler for help.
To his surprise, Jungkook looked up at him with tear-filled doe eyes.

"Y-You're really making me go home? B-But I want to stay with you, you're so fun! And you look so beautiful, like a vampire prince. I love your house and I think your necklaces are really pretty! And I like how you always take me to restaurants so I can eat junk food, mommy and daddy wouldn't do that because it's unhealthy. Oh please, can't I stay at least a little longer?," the child rambled sadly, pouting and making something stir inside Taehyung.

Feeling a slight pain tug at his heartstrings, the vampire sighed deeply and patted the younger's hair in order to comfort him. "You belong with your parents, sweetie. If it makes you feel any better, I'm gonna miss you too. And maybe... we can meet again someday. I'll most likely be around for a long while. Do you wanna go to Starbucks again? I'll take you for breakfast before I take you to the police station. And I'm sure you miss your parents too, imagine how worried they are." Looking extremely defeated, the toddler nodded sadly with his eyes cast downwards and pooling with many, many tears.

"Awh," Taehyung cooed, getting on the floor and kneeling down so they were on eye level and pulling him into a hug as he ruffled his soft hair, smiling as he felt the toddler's chubby arms return the act of affection and hug his neck tightly. The redhead hadn't hugged anyone for ages, but he really did have a little soft spot for children. He surprisingly felt... affectionate.
"C'mon, let's go. Maybe you'll feel better when you eat a nice sandwich" he whispered as soon as the hug was loosened, pinching the ravenette's cheek softly and wiping a stray tear from his huge eyes.

°○●○●○°

It was weird, seeing the usually so bright and bubbly Jungkook so dejected. Depressed, even. As he bit into his ham sandwich and munched on it absent-mindedly, the corners of his mouth drooping sadly and his gaze directed towards the wooden table top, he looked like he was about to cry again. He was also being awfully quiet which slightly worrying Taehyung.

The redhead frowned, not knowing how to cheer him up as his social life wasn't the most eventful one. Normally, he would not care but due to his soft spot for children, he attempted lifting the ravenette's mood by buying him a fresh pineapple smoothie and a chocolate donut, patting his head again. "This isn't the last time we'll see each other, kid. I'm sure fate will let us meet many, many more times in the future," he spoke, feeling his own chest slightly ache. And he could not believe himself. Was he actually feeling human emotion?

Jesus Christ, I'm turning into Mina.

Despite only having known him for about a day and a half, the redhead may have gotten a tiny bit attached and since he knew this would probably be the last time he ever saw Jungkook, he felt kind of sad. Although he tended to be a bit annoying and irritating at times, Jungkook was still a sweet and fun child. And he appreciated that.

The vampire pulled something out of his pocket, placing it on the table nervously. "Um... This is a really special one. If you like it, you can have it. Maybe it'll help you remember me."
It was another necklace, this time with a bright green gemstone in its centre, its happy colour and vibrant glow basically screaming positivity and hope. Other than his other necklaces, this one wasn't decorated by fragile gold or silver swirls snaking itself around it in beautiful shapes, it rather looked like it was made spontaniously, appearing rather bold than delicate. And Taehyung thought that fit the young boy.

Checking Jungkook's astounded reaction, the redhead smiled in relief and started talking again: "This one is called a Demantoid. This one was made kinda spontaniously, so no special little details but so much meaning to it. It was made to portray emotion, actually. It's supposed to spread positivity. Rumours say that it glows when you feel strong emotions while wearing it. It also brings you luck, I guess." He slightly winked, standing up to leave Starbucks and make his way towards the police station, of course not paying any money.

Why would he pay when he had the amazing chance of compelling the unsuspecting, clearly demotivated staff members into giving him the food for free?
Luckily, Jungkook had been too sad to notice.

"I like it so much, thank you. Mister, who made all these necklaces? They seem to mean a lot to you and you seem to know so much about them...," the younger finally spoke as they stood outside, breathing in the fresh autumn air again. His voice was a bit more quiet than usual but Taehyung was still relieved to hear him talk again.

"Well, I used to have a friend who really loved making necklaces. Each of them tells a different story...," he told, and for the first time, the light in Jungkook's eyes lit up again and he smiled.

"Friend?! Jungkookie has friends too! I have a friend called Hoseok, a friend called Jimin and a friend called Eunbi! They're all really nice and they love to dance, just like me. And we all love G-Dragon, he's so cool!" And as they walked along the streets, the fallen leaves crunching under the soles of their shoes, Jungkook was back to his old self, enthusiastically talking and brightly glowing, huge and round eyes portruding.

"So you're a dancer, huh? I bet you'll be a real star when you're older," Taehyung spoke with a little smile, pinching his cheek playfully as the two of them kept walking, Jungkook clutching his hand again and pulling the taller male down with him every step he took. And this time, the redhead didn't even mind that much.

With the toddler reluctantly helping him with Google Maps, the two of them stood in front of the police office within about twenty minutes, the younger's grip on Taehyung's hand gradually becoming stronger. The building was shabby, grey and old. But it was all they had, there wasn't any other police station around.

Feeling slightly uncanny, the readhead pulled Jungkook, who started being silent again, into the building and checked the reception desk. To his luck, a middle-aged, also shabby-looking officer stood right behind the desk, looking extremely bored and not even noticing the pair at first. As Taehyung cleared his throat, his gaze snapped towards the vampire still holding the toddler's hand. "How may I help you?," he spoke in a bored manner, raising an eyebrow at Taehyung's interesting hair colour.

"Hello, officer," the redhead responded, feeling quite awkward as this was his first time at a police station, in all his years of existence. "Two days ago, I found this kid in a dark alleyway, in the middle of the night. He said he didn't know where his parents were so I took him home with me for a day." The officer raised another brow at his statement.
"Why did you not visit the police station yesterday? Are you sure you didn't take him purposefully to take advantage of him? Why keep a stranger inside your house for a whole day?," he questioned unfazedly.

Because I had to buy a fucking phone, dumbo. Are all police officers this nosy? Fucking hell, it's annoying.

The vampire scoffed. "Excuse me, what's up with all these questions? I come all the way here to kindly ask you to bring him back to his parents and you suspect me to be some kind of child molester? What the fuck?!," he snapped, his eyes slightly narrowing.
"Sir, please calm down. As a police officer, it is my duty to assure the safety of every citizen inside this coun--" Taehyung cut him off by grabbing the officer's collar and removing the glasses off his face.

"Stop questioning me and start searching for his parents. His name is Jungkook and his family seems to live around here somewhere," he hissed, his pupils dilating and contracting once again and energy seeping from his orbs, moving straight into the police officer's widened ones. After a while, the redhead let go of his collar with the sweetest smile he could muster, as if nothing had just happened.

"Of course, Sir," the officer spoke dreamily, looking at him as if he were in some sort of trance and grabbing the earpiece of a telephone lying to his right while dialling a number without taking his eyes off Taehyung even once. "We actually received a telephone call from two parents looking for a child named Jungkook yesterday. I will contact them to let them know their son has been found."

Another sickly sweet smile on his face, the redhead nodded smugly. "Do that, officer," he spoke softly, pulling Jungkook towards two chairs standing at the other side of the room. Jungkook, still too depressed to nothing anything, followed him with his head hanging low. As soon as they were seated, Taehyung started stroking the toddler's hair softly, knowing he was sad again and wanting him to feel better. It was needless to say he himself felt extremely down. He showed a little smile as he saw how the younger clutched the Demantoid necklace inside his hand tightly.

"Jungkook's parents will be here soon," the officer spoke again, still in trance and completely under Taehyung's influence, and Taehyung's influence only. The latter just nodded with his head, feeling satisfaction and sorrow at the same time.
"I guess it's time to say goodbye, kiddo. I'm sure you won't remember me after a while anymore, but that's fine. I enjoyed spending time with you and I'm sure you'll grow into a fine, little man," he mumbled, the ravenette looking at him with, once again, tear-filled eyes.

"B-But it sounds like you're saying goodbye forever! I will never forget you, Mister. You are the coolest person I've ever met!" The toddler bit his lower lip as he tried not to cry, grasping the sadly smiling vampire's arm steadily.

Only about five minutes later, a man and a woman in their late twenties came barging into the police station, their breaths ragged and their eyes wide of shock. "Where is my son?!," the woman exclaimed wildly, her chest heaving up and down als she gripped her husband's arm tightly, said husband looking just as astounded as her and glaring at the officer challengingly.

Jungkook did not lie when he said his mother was beautiful. With her silk-like raven hair combed back beautifully and tucked behind her ear delicately and her lips red as fresh blood, her skin flawless and absolutely spotless, the woman looked like she had walked straight out of a model magazine. Her clothes were just as elegant as her appearance: She was wearing knee-high leather boots and a thick furcoat with a leopard print on it, a black dress underneath. The smell of strong perfume spread throughout the whole police station. There was just one thing Jungkook hadn't mentioned.

Fake fur, fake leather and fake Dolce&Gabbana dress. Even cheap perfume. Kind of sad, I literally have an original of each inside my closet. That reminds me, I should really start wearing leopard prints again..., Taehyung thought, an amused smirk on his face as he propped his chin on his palm. His gaze then wandered towards Jungkook's father.

He was tall, strong and looked intimidating, just as Jungkook had mentioned. He also wore a thin pair of glasses, surprisingly making him look a hinch violent and evil. Just like his wife, he wore a suit from a fake brand, Taehyung being able to recognize within a single glance. He didn't have a sharp vampire sight for nothing.

Jungkook immediately jumped up from his chair, running up to his mother and wrapping his arms around her legs as he exclaimed a loud "Mommy!," over and over. His mother shrieked in either surprise or happiness, the redhead couldn't tell, and hugged her little son so tightly he was close to choking. Jungkook's father joined the hug by pulling his wife and son into his embrace and staying like this. Doing this, his sleeve rode up and his forearm was exposed, showing a little symbol tattooed- or carved?- on it.

Two crosses lined up under each other, a vertical one under a diagonal one. Left and right at exactly ninety degrees, two symbols that seemed to represent teardrops, the sharp ends facing each other. Taehyung temporarily forgot about his sadness and furrowed his eyebrows, staring at the symbol with narrowed eyes. Shockingly, Jungkook's mother, whose forearms were currently exposed aswell, had the same symbol on the same exact spot. Were they part of some kind of cult or something?

Almost reminds me of... Never mind.

"The officer said some man brought you home with him. What man, Jungkook? What man?," the woman asked, her voice a bit shrill and sounding almost panicked. As she began turning her head around and searching the room with her eyes sharply, Taehyung mentally cursed himself and used his vampire speed to hide behind a supply closet as quickly as possible.

Eyes narrowed, the mother seemed to let it go after a while, luckily not seeing him, and wrapped her arms tighter around her son, as if she were scared for him. "Let's go," she told her husband, turning around in order to leave the police station. The man simply nodded, turning around aswell and wrapping an arm around his wife's waist to accompany and support her and the boy in her arms.

Neither of the two seemed to notice their son blinking sadly and whisper a quiet "Mister!" with a tear glistening inside his doe eyes, sulking as he clutched a brightly glowing, green necklace in his tiny hands.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

(A/N: the things my mind comes up with, istg it scares me sometimes :D and baby jungkookie's gonna take his leave now :(

anyways, have you listened to blue side? i just vibed to it on repeat in the shower and i'm in literal love, i remember it was hope world's outro and tho it was just the outro it always was my favourite hobi track and now there's a full version🥺🥺 i feel so blessed and i'm patiently waiting for hope world 2💚

btw, in case you were wondering how i came up with jungkook's weird ass parents, my mom and i are watching this kdrama rn and there are two characters that inspired me lots, they're highkey psycho but somehow they fit the vibe i wanted for them🥰

that's them btw for visualization, as always i can't tell if my descriptions are somewhat understandable but eh whatever, i try my best👉🏻👈🏻

i hope you somehow enjoyed this chap, thank you lots for reading and i hope you have an amazing day, love you uwu💜💜)