A cup of tea is pushed in front of me as Yoongi takes a seat on the other side of the coffee shop's round table, and he wraps his hands around his own drink while taking in my avoiding gaze and pale complexion.

"How are you feeling? The boat ride must have been exhausting for you, did you not have any blood samples on you? Your father mentioned that you need to have one every six to eight hours to maintain your good health".

I purse my lips, then look at the tea to find that they added fresh blood, most likely his request since I didn't ask for that extra.

"I'm... alright, I think. I'm sure they put some in the bags, but I didn't know which one and... I thought I'd have time to make it to the house before it was too late" I mumble the pitiful excuse, ashamed even if it's the truth.

Many have called me a spoiled child throughout the years, and really, who can blame them for thinking that way? I was indeed raised with my every needs taken care of, and I was never forced to work since they were afraid that doing so would make me weaker.

It was very stupid of me to think that it would be safe to wait past the eight hours limit, and we were incredibly lucky that the blood crave hit only when Yoongi was there, and not when I was with the other humans. They wouldn't have been able to defend themselves, and I could've killed them.

Had the crave gotten any worse, I could've done some serious damage back there.

Yoongi stares at me a little longer before drinking his coffee, and I do the same with my tea. The mellow taste fills my mouth, and I swallow with a sinking sensation of relief, my body eagerly accepting of the blood to process it into my system like always.

I take my time drinking, unsure of what to say otherwise, and I watch from the corner of my eye as he sits back in his chair before staring outside towards the water beyond the docks.

After putting all of my bags in his car, he took me to the coffee shop with a steady hand around my wrist, then sat me down at one of the cute little tables before going to the counter to order for the both of us.

It all happened in silence, which served to increase my discomfort, though none of it is his fault. He had to deal with my sudden tears after drinking his blood within the five minutes that we'd met, as if any of that was normal. I'm sure he has a lot of questions.

His eyes flit back towards me and I quickly look away, still not willing to meet his gaze.

"Y/N, look at me, would you?" he requests softly, his voice letting me hear of his despair, as well as a growing annoyance that I understand all too well. This must all be confusing to him, dragons are hot-blooded creatures and most often deal with things rationally, so my reaction is not something he can easily understand.

Even if it's hard for me, I comply to his demand and raise my gaze to look at him, if only because I don't want him to feel like I have something against him, or like I don't want to be with him. I am not rejecting my mate, no matter how our story began.

I just... I just need to process it, that's all, but staring him in the eyes reminds me from earlier, and I'm entirely helpless as I live the guilt all over again, with the sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach telling me that I did something terrible.

I really don't understand how he can pretend like nothing happened. I drank his blood. Something that requires so much trust... he gave to me without even thinking twice about the consequences.

Our mana bounces back and forth between one another, the only thing that comforts me at the moment, the only thing that makes my body relax on that chair. I don't know what to do with myself right now, I'm sure it shows all over my face.

Yoongi's lips purse at what he sees in my expression, and it both bothers him, and saddens him. It's not like I committed a crime, I didn't force him into anything he didn't want, so why am I acting like I deserve punishment?

"As a doctor... there were other ways to give you blood" he starts as he brings his gaze back to the window, to the grey sky and the darker clouds. "I could've brought you to the car, drive to the clinic and give you blood from the reserves. That was always an option".

My hold tightens around the mug of tea, and I frown at the table.

"Why didn't you, then?".

"Because you're my mate, and I wasn't going to let you suffer when I was the closest and most compatible blood for you. I can't go and pretend like I know what it's like to live as a hybrid, but I know enough to see when it's getting dangerous for you, and when there's time to plan".

"There are vampires who drink so much of their mate's blood that they end up killing them" I utter softly as I stare at the liquid that sways as I turn the mug. "They lose their mind over the taste, and they can't stop until the body has nothing left to give".

"You didn't have that problem" he counters quickly, clearly he doesn't see the problem here, and I huff with a shake of the head. Why can't he understand what I'm trying to say?

He trusted me so easily to control myself despite barely knowing me. He might be a dragon, and sure, he could've pushed me away no problem, but who's to say that I wouldn't have attacked him? That I wouldn't have blacked out and become a monster? Even I don't trust myself that much.

"My mother taught me to count to ten when I feed on someone. Enjoy the taste, because it's a gift of life, but never forget to count so you don't end up taking more than you need. Ten seconds, because any longer is when the brain starts to turn cloudy".

Silence resumes at that, but he's tapping a finger on the table now, more annoyed than earlier.

"Tell me, Y/N, what's bothering you? Is it that I fed you my blood? Would you have preferred that I leave you to deal with the crave on your own? That I ignore my mate when she was clearly unwell?" he asks with a sharper tone of voice that hits me hard, though I don't show it.

I take another sip of the tea as I try to find how to explain how it made me feel. I understand rationally that what he says makes sense, I probably would've done the same thing in his shoes, but as the one who received, I can only react emotionally.

"I promised myself" I eventually murmur.

"I promised that meeting my mate wouldn't be chaotic. That I would be the best version of myself, and that I would never push them into uncomfortable situations, nor would I hurt them. But I ended up needing your blood as soon as you appeared in front of me, and if you hadn't given it willingly, there's the possibility that I might have taken it by force. I was careless and you paid the price. That's what bothers me, Yoongi".

"You speak as if you did it on purpose, but mistakes happen, Y/N. Plus, you didn't take my blood by force, because I offered my wrist. It didn't hurt either, because you were very careful. You didn't make me uncomfortable. None of what you said happened, you do see that, don't you?".

I nod slowly, and he exhales deeply, his boiling blood will need time to settle back to its regular temperature. He stares at the outside another time to see that the clouds are getting a lot closer, the sky now darker than a minute ago.

"We should go, I'll drive you home before it starts to rain".

Not willing to contradict him, I quickly finish the tea before following after him out of the shop and to his car, then sit in the passenger's seat when he opens the door for me. His hand safeguards my head when it nears the frame, and he closes the door before going around to the driver's side.

I wear my seatbelt while he sits inside, then link my fingers together as the tension comes back between us. I wish things wouldn't have happened the way they did today, and I regret that I didn't search in my bags to find the blood snacks after all.

All of this could've been avoided, but what's done is done. There's no going back in time to change things, otherwise I would have done so in a heartbeat.

All I can do from now on is to be careful and make sure this never happens again. It's not Yoongi's fault if I feel this way, I just wish that things had been different. It feels as if I've failed my family and all that they taught me.

"Where do we go from here? Do you know where the house is?" he asks after starting up the car, to which I nod before pointing towards the hill we can see from here. Dad said that it could be seen from the docks, and he was right.

"It's over there. Dad wrote the directions on a paper" I answer while reaching into my pocket to find it, and then I give it to him since he's the one driving. He takes a quick look, then hums in what sounds like amusement.

"I see. Lucky for you, I know the way pretty well. Let's go".

With that said, he starts driving us away from the shops, then over to the hill, and I keep to my side of the car as to take as little space as possible, head against the window as I watch tiny droplets of water fall on the glass.

My first day in Crimson Bay isn't quite what I had in mind but... this is the part that I prefer so far.

The rain's music as it falls from the sky like pearly tears, the sound of the car driving onto the wet road, Yoongi's even breathing, his mana's soft caress against mine and his scent hugging me closely... those are all things that I consider soothing.

I close my eyes, senses focusing only on the things that calm me, on the noises that sound like peace, and I remain this way for the entire drive while Yoongi finds his contentment in having me by his side as he brings us both closer to home.

---

"I'll bring those bags inside, can you open the front door in the meantime?".

With the key already in hand, I head to the nicely sized house before unlocking the heavy red door, and I push it open before stepping aside when I find Yoongi standing behind me with two of my most loaded bags in hands.

He smiles at me, then walks inside to settle them in the entryway. There's something very... domestic about this, for some reason, and I come to wonder if this could be a side of the future that awaits me from now on.

Not wanting to be useless, I head back outside to grab one of the remaining bags, but feeling the rain on my skin has me stopping in front of the car, face tilted upwards as I let it soak me from head to toe. It's gotten a lot stronger in the short amount of time it took us to get here, and it's something I've always wanted to try.

My family never once allowed me to stand in the rain when I was a kid, by fear that it would make me too sick and feverish, but there's no one to keep me from it this time. It feels nice and freeing. Scary, but exciting.

The rain muffles any sounds, but it can't keep me from sensing Yoongi's mana as he reaches my side again.

I look at him curiously when he doesn't move anymore, only to find him mimicking my posture, his black hair already sticking over his face with how wet it is. His clothes are taking the shape of his toned body, which doesn't leave much to the imagination. He looks very... sexy like this.

Wouldn't this kind of meeting have been better? I feel like this could have been romantic in any other scenarios. As if reading my mind, Yoongi lowers his gaze on me, uncaring that water is getting in his eyes, as they do in mine.

Like this... he looks ethereal, like a creature sent from another universe, far, far away from here.

His looks are unlike anything that I'm used to from the city, and that helps me to better understand why I never developed crushes on others in the past. How could I, when my type is that godly glow of his?

As I observe him, I somehow notice in his body language that he looks tempted to do something. He looks like he wants to get closer, to touch me, to take me in properly, all of me, without anything getting in our way, but in the end, he doesn't do any of those things, and it disappoints me a little.

He exhales deeply, then pushes his hair back with one hand, as if it costs him to hold back on those urges.

"Come, we shouldn't stay in the rain for too long, a cold is quickly caught" he states before going to grab the last three bags, and I close the car's door before rushing after him, the both of us now soaking wet.

A puddle of water forms at our feet once we make it back inside, and I grimace when the inside of my shoes turn squishy. He sets the bags with the others, then closes the door before the inside gets any colder.

"There should be towels somewhere... stay here, I'll get one for you" he mumbles before taking off his boots and heading in one direction while I take that time to observe the surroundings, my sneakers left to dry on the side with his.

It's my first time here so I didn't know what the house would look like inside, but it's pretty nice. The furniture fits well with the brick wall that stretches from the living room to the kitchen, where the kitchen island has three stools underneath it and ready to be used.

I can see a large opening leading into another bright room from there, but I can't see it from where I'm standing. I imagine it's either a dining room, or a solarium. Maybe it's a door leading to the backyard, who knows.

Yoongi comes back quickly, and I drop my inspection to instead watch as he patters his way over to me.

"Here, keep this one over your shoulders while I dry your hair, then you should take a bath and get changed into something warmer. The fireplace is a good way to rise the temperature on cold days like this, so you should make use of it when you can" he says as he drops one towel over me before using the other to pat and rub my hair dry, careful even as he keeps dripping with cold water himself.

Why didn't he take a towel too? This is making me feel bad.

"Aren't you cold? You should take this one for yourself" I mumble with an attempt to give him the one over my shoulders, but he smiles with a shake of the head as he gently grabs my hand to keep me from removing the towel.

His hand is so warm that it feels burning against my shivering skin, and he very softly strokes his thumb over it before regretfully letting go to continue with drying my hair.

"My dragon blood keeps me warm at all time so I barely feel the cold. I'm fine, is what I'm trying to say. I'll take a shower once I'm home, so don't worry about me. You're freezing cold though, taking care of your temperature is more important right now".

I pout a little, but otherwise keep quiet as I let him continue. I wish I'd kept only the warm blood of dragons, or only the coldness of vampires, because having both really sucks sometimes. I'm always either too hot, or too cold. When I'm both, it usually means that I'm sick.

"You spoke about the fireplace earlier, but I don't know how to use one" I admit when he considers himself done with my hair, only now using the same towel to dry what he can of his hair, neck and shoulders.

At my admission, his eyes crease with a teasing grin, and I almost frown until I feel him pet my head softly, which has my defenses falling like dominoes.

"I'll show you how it works next time, it sounds harder than it is, but for now, you really should focus on taking a bath to get the chill out of your bones. I'll take care of the fire, then go home to shower and dry up. After that... I could come back with Jimin, so you two can meet too. He'll complain all night if I don't introduce him today".

Jimin... the vampire. Of course, it would be unfair if he was the only one left behind. A mate of Yoongi's is also a mate of mine after all, and this time, I wouldn't get a blood crave all of a sudden since I'm full, so there's no risk of danger.

"That sounds good to me. Erm... the bathroom? Where is it?".

Smooth laughter slips out of his lips at being asked that question about my own house, but he still points in the direction he went to earlier. "Second door to your right, the first one is the boiler room. There's a pile of clean towels on the shelf next to the sink, they should do for now".

Embarrassed, I nod while using the towel over my shoulders to hide my blushing, then look at one of the windows to see the rain falling so hard that mist has begun to rise from the ground. "Will you be okay? Driving in that weather doesn't sound too good".

Another pat to the head and I relax unknowingly. He seems to like doing that a lot, patting heads, or maybe it's just because he doesn't know how to show his affection any other way. Either way, I don't mind it.

"You worry too much, Y/N" he coos. "I'll be fine, I'll walk so there won't be any accidents" he adds before winking at my bewilderment. "Jimin and I live next door. It's the house before yours, you could even see our driveway from here if it wasn't for the fog".

Oh. That explains his weird reaction from earlier, then. He knew that we were neighbours from the moment I gave him the paper and he didn't even say anything.

"Okay... that's good then. Well... I'll see you later? With Jimin" I mumble, suddenly feeling shy. Why? I have no idea, but I feel as if I asked a dumb question for some reason, even though there's no way I could've known unless he told me.

Leaving him behind in favour of running to the bathroom, Yoongi chuckles to himself as he makes his way to the living room to have a look at the fireplace, careful to not leave more footprints of water on the way.

This first meeting certainly could've gone better, but he's just happy to see that I'm finally easing up around him. He was scared that this day would end with us being on bad terms, he doesn't think he would've been able to leave if that were the case.

"Well, let's get you bright and warm for my mate, shall we?" he muses as he throws some wood on the fireplace grate before using his magic to start the fire. Like a dragon breath, it lights up with a silent roar, painting a golden glow onto his face and a warm halo in his eyes.

Warm, cozy, and possessively filled with his mana, just as it should always be.