The Reflection Of True Love

The Gloves

Silence as Tae re-entered the reception room where Jungkook was standing. The atmosphere was suddenly charged with something else with neither of them being in this situation in the entire time they'd known each other. There was usually something to occupy them, whether that be in the form of the spritely little vampire or a task within the grounds of the house.

Everywhere they looked, the rooms were slowly being transformed with sunflowers appearing in most of them. The cushions on the sofa were from Yumi's room and it seemed that the little girl was making her presence known. There was no doubt in Tae's mind that his daughter adored the ancient vampire so all he had to do now was find out whether there really was anything between them as adults.

"Another game?" Tae asks.

"Did your wife know you liked men?"

Tae is taken aback by the question as Jungkook appears to be deep in thought. "Yes... but we didn't live in a society that accepted it and I would never have put my family at risk."

"You are a very honourable man. Yumi talks about you all the time."

"She talks about you all the time when we are at home. It looks like she is slowly moving herself in." He says with a smile, gesturing to the decorations in the room.

"I didn't think I'd ever have contact with anyone again. I owe her a lot."

Tae takes the steps needed to cross the room and stand near Jungkook. The large lightly frosted glass provided the backdrop to the age-old vampire dressed in black.

"You never need to hide ever again."

Jungkook looks at the farmer and turns back to the window. "I'm still getting used to that."

Tae reaches out tentatively and touches the ice cold skin of Jungkook's arm. They've touched briefly a few times over the weeks and then touches began to linger. While building the shed, they'd been close and Tae felt that every opportunity to make contact had been taken, even if he was frustrated by the gloves that Jungkook continued to wear. He'd tried to convince himself that it was his imagination when Jungkook passed him a piece of wood and as Tae took it, their hands were connected, time pausing. Every look, every touch, every interaction that felt like more he'd explained away as his imagination or accidental but now he wanted to know if there was something there for real.

Jungkook looked down at his right arm where Tae's fingertips stroked downwards from his elbow. The farmer was so close, he brought something into his life that had departed a long time ago. He also brought a newness, a freshness that ignited and awakened embers within him, injecting him with hope and fear in equal measure. No one had looked him in the eyes so intensively since a time when he was so much in love and that look turned to one of pure disgust and loathing in the blink of an eye.

Tae was encouraged when Jungkook stayed where he was and didn't retract his arm. He waited as the ancient vampire slowly lifted his head and their eyes met. The farmer was intoxicated. He knew the power that vampires held with their features and ability to draw someone in but he thought that was reserved for humans as prey. This ancient man was all-consuming and Tae wanted him to feel as beautiful as he was.

Jungkook hadn't ever taken a breath in his entire existence but he'd stopped many from breathing. He'd scared a mortal being and watched as they held their breath and he imagined that he would be holding his breath right now if he could. However, Jungkook wasn't petrified, his body pulsed with a dormant desire. He reached up with a gloved hand and removed the hat from Tae's head so he could look at him properly without the shadow cast on his face from the rim.

Tae moved his hand from Jungkook's arm to his chest, placing his palm flat and leaving it there. "I agree with Yumi... you really are pretty." He says quietly.