My Sweetest Thing (I Will Devour You) TAEKOOK COMPLETE (18+)

Chapter 2

Once a week, on Wednesdays, Taehyung takes his only day off outside of Sundays when the bakery is shut. He takes the metro to the city centre to bank the week's profits and he usually collects some speciality spices at a foreign market on the way home, after spending a nice day out.

Every week, the same objections are being raised by the women he works with.

Su-Mi objects the loudest. The youngest at the bakery, she is a live wire of a tattooed emo youth with hot pink hair, she always says the same thing:

"You really shouldn't go on your own, Taehyung... It's too dangerous, especially with all that money. Let me come with you." Her fingers always tug at his sleeve and she pleads, with those puppy eyes glistening. Her tiny frame barely reaches Taehyung's shoulder.

He finds it sweet. He's not worried, he likes going on his own. "Oh, I'm a big boy now, I can look after myself." He winks.

"At least let me meet you at the station to walk you home when you come back."

Taehyung laughs brightly. "So, a young lady like you, standing around late at night on your own, waiting for me? Think not. Stop your worrying, nothing's going to happen."

The distance from the station to the apartment is not that far, but it's a lonely distance after sunset, after all the shops have shut and the streets are deserted – and only partially lit.

There are long stretches of darkness under the overpass which never seem to shorten despite the years Taehyung has travelled them. But he's not scared, he can look after himself.

Nothing even remotely worrying has ever happened before.

The thing is...

If Taehyung knew about his Cake mutation and the risks that come with it, he'd probably be more careful, pay more attention to who is on the streets, he wouldn't travel in the evening when there are long shadows to hide among.

He would wear something other than a light jacket, a loose shirt and tight jeans, he wouldn't look so... pretty, if he knew. He would hide every ounce of beauty to keep himself safe.

If he understood the temptation he presents to those, the most desperate among them, hungry enough to look for even the slightest suggestion of a scent of those who are yet to activate... if he knew, he wouldn't be like this... walking slowly, humming and casually looking at the heavy clouds dyed pink by the streetlamps in between the overpass lanes. He wouldn't dilly dally, he would walk fast and he would look behind his shoulder.

If he had done all that, Taehyung would know that there is someone behind him, tracing his footsteps exactly, sniffing the air and panting when the very subtle scent hits them.

The man is sinister, his eyes too dark for an average man, his skin too pale for someone healthy. If Taehyung looked right now, he would be scared of the intense hunger so obviously all over the tormented figure.

Oblivious, Taehyung turns around the corner, he can see the bakery in the distance, he's almost home – which is just as well because he can smell the impending rain.

Just when he's about to step out of the shadow of the overpass, there is a sound behind him that alerts to danger. Taehyung gasps when he looks back and there is a man right there, reaching for him.

The noise that leaves Taehyung isn't quite human.

Fear shoots through him like a cold lightning and just for a moment, his legs refuse to work.