Fear {Taeil // NCT au}

two

The previous night's rain had ushered in heavy fog, an endless blanket suffocating the streets. Though it was a perfect setting for Halloween, houses and cars were swallowed in the mist, making any type of driving difficult. It took Tamsin much longer to get to her destination than she'd calculated and hoped she didn't keep the others waiting.

Luckily for her, when she arrived at the location of the haunted house, it was only her friend Ten and his girlfriend Crystal that were waiting at the gate. It was their first Halloween together, and as expected, they had chosen a couples' costume. Dressed up as Edward Scissorhands and Kim, the two of them looked great, and Tamsin knew she had some fierce competition in the annual Halloween costume contest at Johnny's party later on the night.

"Hey guys," Tamsin greeted them, waving quickly.

"Tamsin! I've missed you!" Ten replied and gave her a big hug.

Tamsin wasn't as close to him as she was to some of their other friends, so they didn't see each other that often. However, that didn't stop Ten from pretending like they were the best of friends. Ever since Tamsin had first met him, he'd been a little extra. He had a bubbly, over-the-top personality and definitely loved being the center of attention.

"You've met Crystal before, right?" He asked as he stepped back, placing his hand on Crystal's lower back.

"Once before. Hi," Tamsin answered.

Ten's girlfriend was the complete opposite of him. She was quite the introvert, and as they hadn't been dating for very long yet, she was still a bit shy around his friends.

Tamsin wasn't sure if a hug would make her feel more comfortable or awkward, so she just ended up giving her a friendly smile instead.

"You look great, Tamsi! That scar looks so real," Ten complimented her on her costume and, being his talkative self, kept rambling on about costumes until the others arrived.

His best friend Taeyong was the first to show up, and not much later a car pulled up, dropping off Taeil and Yuta. Their roommate Sicheng was behind the wheel and cutesy waved at the others, telling them he'd see them at the party.

Yuta excitedly hopped over to Tamsin dressed as L from the anime Death Note, and scooped her up for a hug.

"How's my pirate girl doing?" He asked as he put her back on the ground, smiling down at her as he checked out her costume.

"Good. Excited for tonight!" She replied and mirrored the same buzz he was showing.

There were many reasons why the two of them were best friends, their shared love of Halloween being one. The fact that they hadn't visited a haunted house yet in all those years they had been friends, was actually astonishing. And Taeil seemed to think so, too.

"I can't believe you two have never been to a haunted house before. You'd think this is something you do every year," he said, before greeting Tamsin properly with a short hug.

No matter how short or long he would hold her, it was enough to release the butterflies Tamsin so desperately tried to ignore. It also didn't help that Taeil wore a Dragonball Super costume. Although not her favorite character, he looked really good as Goku. He had dyed his hair bright red and Tamsin was fast to notice the freshly shaved undercut. It was almost like the boy knew exactly how to mess with her feelings more and more each time they saw one another.

Tamsin got lost in her thoughts for a moment, not realizing she was staring and that someone else was speaking. The drowned out voice suddenly became louder as Yuta nudged her in the ribs, bringing her back to reality.

"Sorry, what?" Tamsin said and hoped Taeil didn't think too much of it.

"Did you buy tickets online?" Taeyong repeated his question.