Chapter 32

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„Just a little longer! We're almost there." Jungkook promised, praying he was right. This was the first time he'd visited this area, and while the GPS told him that it would only take another five minutes of driving... finding a parking place and not getting lost was an entirely different issue. Especially when Taehyung looked close to throwing up next to him. The siren wasn't used to much more than the twenty minute car drive to his university, yet they had been sitting in this car close to two and a half hours.

Jungkook really didn't want to make the siren throw up. Both to save Taehyung's dignity as well as the car. Probably mostly the car. Taehyung could really use to lose some of that pride. He had so much of it, Jungkook really wasn't sure what other characteristics he could use to describe him aside from that.

"I swear, just around that corner." He really hoped that wasn't a lie. "I'm sure it will be worth it. Amusement parks are way too expensive but also fun, trust me." He drove around the corner, letting out a sigh of relief when he spotted a parking lot right away. His car was saved.

Trying not to upset Taehyung's stomach any further he parked in slowly, careful not to make any abrupt turns. "And here we are. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

The glare Taehyung sent him told him not to push his luck any further. Jungkook opened the door, watching as Taehyung did the same. Jungkook kind of got it, admittedly. He remembered how annoyed and frustrated he had gotten every time he'd grown sick to his stomach in the backseat of his mum's car.

Actually, Taehyung had been in a relatively good mood when Jungkook had woken up. At first he had been certain last night had been a dream. After all, Taehyung had taken a bath with him, and there was no way that had really happened, because first off... Jungkook wasn't that dumb and secondly... Taehyung would never let him...

But Jungkook also – quite quickly – realized that no, that hadn't been a dream. Too much detail. More than he could ever remember of his dreams. His half asleep self had actually stepped into a bathtub with Taehyung and he had been too tired to even think much about it. Instead he had listened to Taehyung talking. Another thing that he really couldn't believe had actually happened.

At least Taehyung had gone back to being mute the morning after, so everything seemed to be normal again. Just that Taehyung had actually smiled a little more than usually in the morning. Something that still made Jungkook's heart race.

The drive had certainly taken the urge to smile away from Taehyung, who looked probably the most miserable Jungkook had ever seen him. He got that. More than just got that. He had lived it.

"Come on. I'll get you something dry to eat. That helps." Jungkook patted Taehyung's shoulder. It was still weird that the siren just allowed Jungkook to touch him now. He didn't even react. Just stared at a couple walking closeby, giggling among themselves.

Right... the last time he had come here it had been with Minji. They had acted just like that. Jungkook found himself not caring as much as he'd thought he would. He should have felt bad but he didn't. Maybe because the constant threat on his life put things into perspective. What was some lost relationship if at least he was still alive?

He ended up buying Taehyung some rice crackers at a store conveniently located right at the entry of the amusement park. Jungkook already knew everything inside was probably going to be double the price so he picked the cheaper option.

When they entered the actual amusement park he realised that this wasn't going to be as easy as he had hoped it would be. He had intentionally chosen a day in the middle of the week to visit the amusement park with Tae, just to make sure it wouldn't be too crowded. But sadly reality was that, even though it wasn't even the afternoon yet, the park was already overrun by tourists and children. So much for keeping Taehyung away from crowds.

"Okay... I know it's quite obvious, but no hissing at anyone here. No one knows you're a siren and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Understood?" Jungkook glanced at Taehyung, who was taking in the area, his shoulders stiff and chest a little puffed up. Jungkook could already tell the other was tense. This was going to go great, he just knew.

"Taehyung? Did you hear me?" Jungkook tried again, tapping Taehyung's shoulder. The siren startled, quickly turning his head to look at Jungkook. At least he immediately gave up his defensive stance once he realized it was just Jungkook.

"I need you to promise you won't hiss at anyone. At best they will think you're weird and at worst they will try to get you into some mental care, so please try not to let anyone know you're not human. I can promise you, no one here is going to try to attack you," Jungkook tried again, feeling relief wash over him when this time Taehyung nodded slowly.

At least he had acknowledged what Jungkook was saying.

"I promise you, this place can be really fun and I doubt you have ever seen anything like it before," Jungkook continued, carefully placing his hand on Taehyung's shoulder to lead him away from the entrance of the park. People kept passing right next to them and Taehyung was very obviously on high alert because of that.

Part of him couldn't help but feel a little satisfied that Taehyung barely reacted to Jungkook touching him though. While he seemed more than ready to claw everyone that dared to step a little too close to him, he didn't seem bothered with Jungkook touching him. Maybe it was not much, but it was progress nevertheless.

Their first stop ended up being a rollercoaster. Jungkook vaguely remembered riding this one with Minji as well. From what he could remember it was relatively harmless. Probably a good way to test the waters to see what Taehyung was comfortable with.

"Last time I came here was with my ex." Jungkook stared up at the wagon dashing past them at high speed. The queue in front of them was pretty long. Even if it wasn't exactly a busy day, a lot of people came here all the time.

"Ex?" Taehyung tilted his head. Jungkook still wasn't used to Taehyung answering, even when it now happened every once in a while. Whenever the siren broke the silence it took him a few seconds to respond since he was just not used to do anything but hold monologues when Taehyung was around.

"Uhm... like someone you used to love but then you fall out of love and go separate ways," Jungkook tried to explain.

For a few seconds Taehyung said nothing, but then he shook his head. "Weird."

For some reason that made Jungkook laugh. The way Taehyung had said that had just sounded all too funny. He'd really sounded like he couldn't imagine such a weird thing as falling out of love. Jungkook hadn't been able to imagine it either. Minji had felt like the one and yet here he was... alone and possibly a little bitter that she had left him like that.

"Humans are weird. We fall in love so quickly even though we know it's likely not going to last." He sighed, staring up at the sky. "Honestly, being a siren sounds easier. Falling in love once and then just... staying in love, no questions asked. No 'Would someone else have been a better choice? Should I break up and look for something better? Should I really let myself be tied down by this?' Honestly, I envy you a little." Jungkook turned to Taehyung to find him looking a little skeptical.

Jungkook continued as they slowly got closer to the entry of the roller coaster. "I mean, of course it would be cool being a siren. All powerful and scary and not having to give a shit about anything. Falling in love only once but for real... like Jimin did. Even though they barely talk while I'm there, it's easy to see they love each other a lot. Being a siren honestly just sounds great."

For a while Taehyung didn't say anything. Just stared at the ride, watching as it did loops and dashed along the lane. Jungkook had pretty much given up on Taehyung answering and instead was about to just start talking about how hot it was when Taehyung finally said something.

"It's lonely."

Jungkook had no idea what to say to that. He'd never really heard Taehyung admit to any kind of emotion... he almost felt like he was intruding even though Taehyung had just said that himself. Asking why felt like it was too much... and yet Jungkook couldn't stop himself.

"Why? Why is it lonely?"

Once again Taehyung took a bit to answer. This time it seemed to be more because he was struggling to find the right words. "Just... there are no sirens. I don't know any other sirens aside from Jimin. And I was out there for a long time."

Taehyung actually sounded... sad. Jungkook felt a little sting in his heart. Taehyung didn't know anyone but Jimin... didn't that mean he'd been completely alone for hundreds of years?

"So... you were all alone out there?" Jungkook asked, suppressing the strong urge to reach out and pat Taehyung's shoulder or, worse even, hug him. These were feelings he couldn't afford having towards the siren, even if he did sound a little vulnerable right now.

It was weird that, out of all places, Taehyung would end up opening up at an amusement park. In the middle of a huge crowd, where he usually would have been way too tense to even listen to Jungkook, and yet Taehyung seemed almost relaxed as he stood right next to him.

"For a long time." Taehyung glanced back up at the rollercoaster, almost like he was avoiding Jungkook's eyes. "A while ago I found a pet though. It has been a little less lonely."

"Pet?" Jungkook asked, half expecting the answer to be him. He was the pet or something, but to his relief that wasn't the case.

"I found a big... octopus? That's the right word?" Taehyung smiled and Jungkook had to avert his eyes because it felt weird. Jungkook really wasn't used to this. Wasn't used to Taehyung talking... wasn't used to Taehyung smiling like that. Smiling almost affectionately. Even if this was about his pet, it still felt weird, because Jungkook had only ever seen Taehyung smile when he was amused.

Jungkook couldn't let that smile do anything to him. All of this was just such a mess. Jungkook wasn't sure whether he wanted to have a better relationship with Taehyung. Part of him really wanted to because he could see parts of Taehyung's character every once in a while, parts that usually stayed hidden, that he really liked and wanted to see more of.

But at the same time he didn't know if this was the right way to go about this. Whether instead he should have been trying to keep Taehyung away from him... to stop himself from building up any positive feelings towards him. It was still the same question... was Jungkook going to ask Taehyung to come back or not?

Did he want to open up a little to the siren and risk his life in the process or was he going to play safe and push Taehyung away? His voice of reason told him to push Taehyung away with all his might, but to every other part that felt wrong.

Maybe Taehyung had come on land because he was searching for something or someone that could make him feel less lonely? It was mainly speculation, but what if? Taehyung was obviously trying with Jungkook now. Otherwise he wouldn't have opened up like this.

But did Jungkook want to be that person that gave Taehyung a chance? Every part of his being that wasn't reasonable wanted to... but generally wanting to survive was a bit of an iffy thing in this case. He had to hold back a sigh. Even if it was dumb... the stupid emotional part of his brain was stronger than his will to survive it seemed. He wanted to talk to Taehyung... wanted to see Taehyung open up a little.

And most importantly he didn't want to react distantly when Taehyung was opening up and telling him about himself even the tiniest bit.

"You with an octopus? I honestly can't imagine that... and it helped?" They were getting closer to the ticket booth now, but Jungkook was going to make use of every bit of the time he had to talk to Taehyung, now that he was finally speaking.

"A little." Taehyung answered, pushing his hair back out of his face. Jungkook realized that... his face had gotten a little more normal over time. At first, when Taehyung had come here, it had felt... off. Absolutely stunning and Jungkook hadn't been able to take his eyes off of it, but still a little inhuman. The progress from that to where they were now had probably been so slow that he had never consciously noticed, but while still looking inhumanly pretty, Taehyung's face looked passably human now.

His features were a little less sharp and the unnatural glow was gone. It seemed Taehyung had gotten better at faking human looks, but that made everything even more confusing because Taehyung really no longer appeared to be scary and intimidating when Jungkook looked at his face.

He just looked like a ridiculously pretty boy that Jungkook would have tried to flirt with if they had met under different circumstances.

"Jimin said you really miss the ocean. Is that because of your pet or something else?" Jungkook continued asking and this time Taehyung only shrugged his shoulders. Maybe Jungkook was being overly cautious, but it felt like Taehyung just no longer wanted to talk so Jungkook simply left it at that, instead shifting his focus on the ticket booth.

"Hey, two tickets please. One student, one adult." Jungkook knew he could have passed Taehyung for a student too, but if they were to ask for their ID he wouldn't have had one for Taehyung anyways. He paid for the two tickets, feeling Taehyung standing right beside him. He was squeezing to Jungkook's side as much as he could without touching him too much, probably to get as far away from the other people in line as possible.

Jungkook couldn't help smiling to himself as he waited for the staff to give him back his change so they could walk towards the rollercoaster. Especially now that they were surrounded by everyone waiting to get onto the next carriage he stuck close to Jungkook, his hand clasped tightly onto the back of Jungkook's jacket.

"I should probably warn you... doing this for the first time might be a little intense." Jungkook pointed at the rollercoaster that was rushing through the air above them. "But it's completely safe. Scary but safe, unlike you."

Jungkook snorted when Taehyung threw him an unamused glance.

"You don't look scary but I really wouldn't wish your wrath upon my worst enemy. Drowning with you... no fun." Jungkook wasn't even saying that to be mean at this point. He had done that a lot in the beginning, but right now it was mainly a joke.

"Sorry." Taehyung actually looked apologetic. Part of him felt happy at that... he was glad Taehyung seemed to mean it when he said that. That certainly lowered the chances of him doing it again.

"Don't worry about it. It's been a while. I can barely remember it now." That was a big lie. He still dreamed about drowning every once in a while. He still remembered gasping for air and instead breathing in water all too well. But Taehyung didn't have to know that.

"You-" Taehyung didn't get to finish the sentence because in that exact moment the rollercoaster entered their part of the platform, which meant they had to get in with everyone else. "We have to get in. Let's continue talking later."

Jungkook led Taehyung to one of the free spaces and told him to sit down. There were double seats in each row and Jungkook was glad because having anyone but him sit next to Taehyung probably wouldn't have been a good idea.

He helped Taehyung with the placement of the bar to make sure he was safely held in place, before taking care of his own. It was still such a weird sense of accomplishment he felt every time Taehyung let him touch him. It was a little stupid but knowing he was one of the few people that Taehyung even allowed to touch him... felt special. It probably wasn't and Taehyung was just tolerating it, but that didn't stop Jungkook from feeling somewhat proud that he had gotten this far.

"I haven't been on one of these for a while... feels weird." He chuckled, looking over at Taehyung, who seemed more tense again now that he was in an unfamiliar situation. "This thing is supposed to be scary... like, it goes really quick and you get an adrenaline rush because it moves so abruptly, but you really don't have to worry about anything happening, okay?"

Jungkook reached his hand out to rub Taehyung's shoulder. Slowly Taehyung nodded, his eyes falling onto Jungkook's hand. Jungkook quickly pulled back. He felt almost caught. He really shouldn't try to be affectionate with the siren, even if Taehyung was tolerating his touches, he really didn't have to test his limits.

One of the guys working there closed all the doors to the carrier before checking whether they were safely tucked into their seats and then giving the okay to start the rollercoaster. As usual it started moving slowly with a bit of a rumble. The whole ride started with a long way up, where it moved pretty damn slowly, but Jungkook knew it wouldn't stay that way for a long time.

But even with how slow they were going Jungkook could tell Taehyung next to him was growing more and more tense. He wasn't looking at the wide view like Jungkook had when he had first taken this ride. Instead his hand was gripping the bar tightly and his eyes were directed at the ground that was getting farther and farther away. Had... was Taehyung scared of heights?

Jungkook really had a hard time believing that, but everything indicated that being the case... especially because it made sense when Jungkook thought about it. Taehyung had spent all his life under water. There was no such thing as height you could fall from there... still, it was surprising to see Taehyung, who was not scared of anything... be scared of something.

Before he could stop himself he reached out to grab Taehyung's free hand, squeezing it tightly. Finally Taehyung tore his eyes away from the ground beneath them and instead looked at Jungkook.

"I... uhm, thought this could maybe help a little? I used to be scared of roller coaster rides when I was younger and my mum holding my hand helped. If you get nervous you can squeeze it."

He half expected Taehyung to laugh at him actually. Expected that the siren would pull his hand out of Jungkook's and shake his head disapprovingly or something like that. But it didn't happen. Instead Taehyung's hand hesitantly adjusted a little in Jungkook's hold before squeezing it just for a second, testingly. Then Taehyung was back to staring down into his obvious demise. He really didn't look too happy to be up there, but he hadn't rejected Jungkook's attempt at helping him a little.

Jungkook barely noticed when they reached the highest point. He was still a little distracted by the fact that Taehyung was openly showing how anxious he was. His fingers were even whiter than usual where they were wrapped around the metal bar and his expression mirrored the tension of his body.

And then the tipping point came and suddenly the wind was whistling around them as the wagon sped down the rails. Jungkook had to bite his lip to stop himself from making a sound when Taehyung squeezed his hand. He'd completely forgotten about Taehyung's supernatural strength. He was pretty sure that there was no such thing as blood circulation in his hand right now. They hit the first loop and Jungkook was convinced he'd just heard Taehyung yelp.

The grip around his hand tightened and he was pretty sure that, if Taehyung were to squeeze any harder, he probably would break a bone or too. Jungkook was about to lean over to tell Taehyung to be careful because humans really were fragile... but then he saw the bar under Taehyung's other hand. It was bending and crumbling apart.

Taehyung was holding back with Jungkook's hand... a whole lot it seemed, actually. Jungkook ended up not saying anything, instead just reassuringly squeezing Taehyung's hand back. It was almost cute how Taehyung tried his hardest not to let his fear show as they took another loop. This time he was more prepared, which was why he managed to hold back any sounds, but his eyes were a whole different story. They were wide, nervously dashing around to check for whatever awful thing was going to come next.

And of course his hands were betraying him too, every time he got scared they grabbed a little tighter. When they took yet another loop Jungkook forced himself to look away. He didn't want to put Taehyung on the spot like that. He knew the siren was prideful and he very likely wasn't a fan of showing any weaknesses.

So instead Jungkook focused on his own enjoyment of the adrenaline rushing in when they took another rash turn before turning around. All he did was hold Taehyung's hand and enjoy the ride. After another turn Jungkook could actually feel Taehyung relax a little more in comparison to before. He had probably realized that he wasn't going to fall off this ride no matter how many times they would be flipped over.

Jungkook could feel the hand around his loosen its grip a little and he expected Taehyung to let go, but he didn't. Even when they took their last few turns before the wagon gradually slowed down to enter the exit area. Even when the wagon stopped and they got out, Taehyung didn't let go of his hand. Instead he adjusted his hold a little before pulling Jungkook away from the rollercoaster. If Taehyung's steps had been only a little less hasty and if he had been willing to look back at the rollercoaster even for one second, maybe Jungkook would have believed that Taehyung had gotten over his fear of heights.

But Jungkook couldn't say he minded this at all. Knowing Taehyung also had his own fears... made him seem just a little more human.

A/N

Wow I already have the second chapter done... let's see when I'll post that👀💜

How did ya'll like the chapter?😖