coming undone

however, it seemed that that was more easily said than done. something about the choreography was off. maybe it was their chemistry with one another. or was it something else? she wasn’t too sure. it was difficult for her to pinpoint, but the male outrightly brought up the issue. “uh …” she bit down on her bottom lip, scratching her head. “yeah … but i don’t know what …?” she looked over, confusion knit between her brows. 

“No, it’s much too late for that. Perhaps it’s some misstep…perhaps we aren’t as connected as we should be?” he suggested, brow still furrowed and hand still placed upon his hip. He knew that at times that was a concern with his dances. By himself he was perfectly fine, he knew what to do and had no trouble fixing what difficulties the choreography presented. But with others, it tended to be a bit more chaotic.

          Break time comes rolling in and she heads to where her bag lays strewn upon the ground, searching around for a water bottle to hydrate her parched throat. She didn’t expect someone to come up to her, chocolate hues widening briefly in surprise as she immediately stops drinking and tucks her water bottle away. A tilt of her head in wonder as to what the stranger wanted. She had seen him, she had watched him earlier too with how his movements looked so precise and so powerful in their forms. Nothing like her.

          While the statement was not one that she would have preferred to hear from him, she certainly admits inside that she had it coming. It wasn’t that bad that she should slap him across the face or be upset - it wasn’t as if he suggested she was hopeless and should just drop out for the better of all around her. A small an awkward chuckle escapes from rosy lips, a sheepish smile dancing on her face as slender digits go to run through her hair. No reason to quip at him now.

Seeing the look of surprise upon her face, he felt a glimmer of guilt in the pit of his stomach. “Sorry, I know, that might have been uncalled for,” he excused himself, knowing that he was still probably coming across as too brash and callous for most people. But he wasn’t exactly good at anything to do with softening himself, whether it was his tone or the words he chose, everything was a part of his very careful armor.

He smiled cheekily at Jongin’s words. “Haha sorry about that, I tend to stare and blank out a bit,” he said rubbing the back of his head. “Its nice to meet you Jongin! No offense or anything but, you don’t seem like the type of person to dance, then again you fit that aesthetic pretty well too,” he said trying to make conversation. It was in his nature to try and make friends with everyone. Even if the receiving end didn’t want to have anything to do with Taehyung.

He noticed, of course, that the other’s gaze seemed to keep trailing to the inked marks on his skin. It made him feel mildly self conscious, unsure of himself for a brief moment. He knew it wasn’t all that common considering the age, but he generally didn’t intend to show them off as some kind of statement either. So getting attention for the runes that had been etched into his skin was something mildly uncomfortable.

The vampire has half a mind to simply neglect any reply and to walk back the way he came. Of course he doesn’t, there’s more important things keeping him here, making him approach Jongin than would be so easily swayed. Out from under the watchful eye of his elder brother, the vampire does his best to question the human for some kind of truth that Soohyun certainly wouldn’t be willing to give. Jaejoong has no desire to spell any of his more personal details to the professor that shares blood with this student, and he hopes that the student is less frustrating to deal with. 

That hope isn’t exactly well founded after the teenager’s reply though. And now Jaejoong must think carefully, must find a way to word his questions so as not to give away information about himself, or to cause suspicion in this young man. Now keeping his hands to himself, the water elemental professor does at least give the teenager a scowling glance of a glare around the shadow of his bangs, for the tone with which was used to reply to him, before Jaejoong averts his gaze away from Jongin altogether. On the side of his body that is not facing Jongin, the vampire’s fingers fidget with the sleeve of his blazer, the tiniest of betrayals to the anxiety the elder feels. 

“Admiring.”

The word is a lie he has to bite out through his teeth while he does his best to keep his face free of emotion. The very sight of man-made runes curls his guts, but he doesn’t want Jongin to know that. 

A brow lifted slightly at Jaejoong's mention of "admiring," suspicion probably rather clear on his expression. It wasn't as though he doubted what he was saying, only that he was rather questioning of the way that the older man was going about it. He'd been a student of his for some time, and the idea that he was just noticing, or just getting around to it, was slightly odd. But he supposed that the vampire was odd anyway.

"Uh huh," he hummed, though the other's question of his knowledge brought a slight shrug from him. "No, I don't know what some of them mean, honestly. My brother marked them on me, he said they were all for protection. Some of them he explained, others not so much," he explained. Normally he simply didn't discuss his tattoos all that much. It wasn't out of shame or not knowing, it was just the simple explanation that he didn't explain most things to people.

Kim Soohyun made no secret of his relation to Jaejoong’s elemental student. The man could often be found bothering the teenager, or so it appeared to Jaejoong when he glimpsed them in moments of familiarity. The vampire couldn’t help feeling emphatic, just a little bit, with the younger’s plight, because he too couldn’t say he was fond of the Runes professor.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t interested though.

There were two suspects Jaejoong was constantly in surveillance of now. Two gifted human professors who were more familiar with runes than the vampire was comfortable with. Which brought him to Jongin in a moment of privacy now. 

Sneaking up on the student is not polite, nor is it proper at all, but Jaejoong’s own desires for knowledge regarding connections to his own body’s runes curb all thoughts of kindness for other people’s situations. He does not draw away even when the young man flinches at the surprising and likely improper touch Jaejoong takes without permission. With the sight of a rune peeking out from the sleeve, Jaejoong’s fixation on the likeness to his own style of cursed runes has him touching at the marks on Jongin’s skin. He does not spare the young man a single meeting of eyes, not until the student has spoken in a manner to show that he is uncomfortable. 

Only then does Jaejoong pull back on his need to know more, yet he does not make to stop the turning thoughts inside his head for how to seek more information from this young man about his marks. It would seem so very strange a question to ask, what with vampires not having the affinity for runes that many humans and elves seem to. Being of a more instinct driven and dark species, Jaejoong has no business discussing such a personal matter with Jongin, and yet… the vampire feels as though he must anyways. The allure of altering his fate is too great a temptation to pass up just because of a student’s discomfort. 

A moment passed when he realized who it was that had bumped into him, and he had to struggle to keep a blush from rising over his tan skin. His elemental professor was one who Jongin had observed for many years, yet it seemed as though lately he was finding himself thinking inappropriate things about the older man in the quiet recesses of his mind. However, the thoughts quickly flashed before he actually recognized what was happening and that Jaejoong was actually touching him. "What are you-" he began to ask when the other's hand graced his arm.

Irritation flooded him, feeling violated that the other would bother to invade his personal space. All too often he ended up getting irritated at a simple glance, and here the professor actually deigned to touch him. But he also couldn't bring himself to actually get angry with the elder. He pulled his sleeve down further, hiding the marks once again before he heard the other's question.

His face turned into one of confusion. Three years ago? He was too young to be getting tattoos. He furrowed his brows together, wondering what would cause him to get tattoos at a young age. He decided not to voice the questions floating through his head, not wanting to anger the other. It was probably something very personal, he didn’t want to push the other into telling him something he doesn’t feel comfortable talking about.

“Ahh no I don’t,” he replied with a small smile. “I wish I did though! They’re really cool but I wouldn’t know what to get,” he said with a pout. Well, maybe their was something he’d like to get tattooed, like a dragon or something. Maybe even the names of his family. He immediately frowned at the thought, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to get a tatto after all. He looked up at the other as he stood up fully. The male was taller than him by a few centimeters. He smiled sheepishly at his comment, “well yeah but I can always talk to them later!”

“I can see that,” he shrugged a little at the other’s mention of not knowing what tattoo he might get. “Mine are almost all runes, a bit of protection and all that,” he offered, not immediately making the connection for him that it was the school’s resident runes teacher who had given them to him. It didn’t exactly help his reputation that much to have one of the teachers as a brother. “So if I’d made the choice myself, I guess I’d probably be in the same predicament,” he said.

Jongin watched the darkening sky with an air of wistful passivity. A couple of blackbirds circled near a tree, and his gaze wandered there with a hum. He wondered if they were fighting, perhaps seeking the same territory or food. But then, he honestly wasn’t even sure if blackbirds were that type of bird. And truthfully, he couldn’t even be sure that the birds he was viewing were, in fact, blackbirds at all and not some other bird that happened to have an obsidian color.

Shrugging at his own idle musings, he wrapped his arms tighter around his legs. He was sitting on the steps to one of the many buildings, off to the side to attempt and stay reasonably out of people’s way. Dark eyes glanced down at his ink-ridden skin, and he reached to pull the sleeve down further to hide the marks. It wasn’t as though he was ashamed of them, he was glad to have them, a reminder that his brother cared enough. But they also served as a reminder that he was in need of protection.

He scrunched his nose up at the other males reply, the annoyance clear in his voice. However, he didn’t let it phase him, and instead offered a smile. He’s dealt with these types of people before, so he was used to the cold words. It seemed as though anything can irritate the other, from a simple hello to a small pat on the back. Taehyung took note not to bother the other even if he couldn’t resist making friends.

“Mm, thanks,” he hummed at the question, a brow lifting slightly. It was a harmless question, he supposed, but one that reminded him only of the reason his brother had put them into his skin in the first place. “A while ago. I guess they started around three years ago?” he shrugged, knowing that it was evident he was very young when he had begun getting them. But he’d had to be. More or less.