color me | lee taeyong

✧.* E

taeyong's room wasn't particularly suited for human conditions. though the room was dimly lit for once, it was still the brightness of a phone turned to the lowest. a constant hum of machinery echoed throughout the room, possibly from the work happening above the location. but despite the noises, a melodious conversation carried out quite joyfully within the room without disruption.

"why the hell do you look like an idiot in this picture-" jihye's laughter echoed throughout. it refused to let go of her as she stared at the ancient pieces of taeyong's collection. some were absolutely aged to the point where you could tell that it was from the early stages of photography, where photographs were something so rare. there were even a few portraits, possibly from before the age of photography, "how old were you, 17?"

the two intimately sat next to each other, closer than they realized on a hard surface that served as taeyong's bed (that he never slept in).

taeyong lightly tugged the picture away to have a better glance, though not before shooting a not-so-kind glare at the girl who was continuously laughing her ass off, "it's a picture. do you even know when photography was invented?"

"uh...before I was born?" jihye took a wild guess, tilting her head as she questioned the exact answer to the question in her mind. it was idiotic for one to spend time memorizing useless dates like this, yet she was so desperate to remember, "like maybe the 1700s? wait, when were you born?"

"first, no, it was invented in the 1820s. second, I was born in 1621," taeyong corrected her casually, putting the picture on his side as he began to explain, "it was taken around in the early 1900s, probably. I don't really remember. that means I was-"

"you were around 280? damn that's cool- then how come you look like a nerd-" jihye cut in, stifling her laughter after the vampire prompted it. it had never properly sank in that taeyong held the experiences of many lives. that the man she had fallen for had most likely gone through many near-death experiences and pulled through.

"I do not look like a nerd. to let you know, I lived out of korea for a while. maybe for a few decades after the whole revolution happened," taeyong informed, his tone stable and comfortable and his eyes glistening with confidence.

the girl let out a silence, like the words didn't process through her head. her eyes didn't meet with taeyong's though, staring straight forward into the concrete wall.

the man pulled jihye to face him, "you know, living for 400 years as a vampire does really bring you through a lot. fighting in wars, moving around constantly to avoid getting caught, everything. I knew some of the people you read about in history books. trust me, it depicts them wrong. I've lived long enough to climb up the hierarchy and meet the people who lead. I guess it only got boring when we finally settled and the thrill was gone."

it wasn't uncommon for the vampire to be serious in unexpected situations but as jihye processed the information, again and again, it continued to sink in how much he had been through.