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The first time Kim Jonghyun meets Lee Taemin, it does not go well. It’s not Jonghyun’s first time tending bar, it’s not even his first time tending bar here. He has no explanation for his behavior except, well. Lee Taemin is probably the most beautiful person he’s ever seen and it makes him a little stupid.
It goes like this.
The night is young and the bar is slow, their clientele mostly still asleep, shaking off the last vestiges of their slumber, drinking mugs of caffeinated coffee or whatever it is vampires do when they first wake up and Jonghyun is bored, playing football with some cherries on the bar. Kibum is standing a few feet away, smiling playfully at a pretty young thing for a better tip and Jonghyun rolls his eyes. He’s past the point of caring about the poor life choices Kibum makes.
He returns his attention to his little game and cheers happily as he gets the cherry through the goal he’s made out of two shot glasses, wiggling his hips in a victory dance when someone clears their throat and he starts, looking up in alarm that’s not really professional. There’s a young man standing there, looking sort of bewildered, but amused and Jonghyun is floored for a minute by the artistry of his face. Smooth skin, high cheekbones, soft mouth, he’s gorgeous and Jonghyun takes a second to collect himself and means to say, What’ll you have, but what comes out is,
“Are you even old enough to be in here?”
It’s probably not the dumbest thing that he’s ever said, he’s sure Jinki has something much worse stored in his memory or phone, but it’s definitely top five. The kid looks a little offended, if the furrow of his brows is anything to go by and he says, “I’m 112, thank you very much.”
“Oh, wow, you’re a baby,” Jonghyun says and immediately kicks himself, literally, under the bar. He’s not wrong, really. The minimum age to be considered an “adult” vampire (and, therefore, enter blood bars like the one they’re in) is 100, barely a blip in the life span of most vamps. It’s still rude, Jonghyun knows, because he’s been living around vamps for years, he knows these things, can still hear Kibum’s snide voice hissing, You don’t just ask a boy something like that, Jonghyun.
“Excuse me!” the kid says, voice rising in both pitch and volume and Jonghyun makes a frustrated noise.
“Sorry, sorry, that’s rude, I’m sorry, can we start over?” he asks, shooting the kid an apologetic look.
There’s a long tense moment where Jonghyun doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but eventually the kid just sighs and sits on the stool, giving Jonghyun an unimpressed look.
“Alright, fine, because I’m tired and I just want a drink,” he says, leaning his head on his hand.
“I’m Jonghyun,” Jonghyun says with a winning grin. “Welcome to Jinki’s Place.”
“I know,” the kid replies, pointing at the little badge on Jonghyun’s chest.
“Oh, right,” Jonghyun says and he had almost forgotten, the little square badge with his name and three red bars that indicate yes, he is human, but no, he is not a Feeder. Across the room, a girl around Jonghyun’s age is giggling as an older female vamp nuzzles against her neck. Her badge has 4 bars, which means she is a Feeder, a human employed by Jinki for the very special job of being fed upon by high paying customers, never in excess, of course. It’s a specialty service hugely monitored by the Bureau for Extrahuman Affairs, and it’s part of what makes Jinki’s so successful.
“I’m Taemin,” the kid says, drumming his fingers on the counter.
Jonghyun smiles at him, happy for the second chance at a good impression. The kid - Taemin - looks a little poleaxed but he smiles back and Jonghyun counts it as a win.
-
The first time Jonghyun met a vampire, he was seven years old and lost in the park. His knee is skinned and he sits in the bushes as he cries, fat tears rolling down his dirty cheeks. He has no idea where his mother is, or where he is and he’s in pain and scared. He cries and he cries and he doesn’t know what else to do.
A shadow falls over him and he looks up frantically, a quiet plea for his mother slipping out, but it’s not his mom. It’s been years and Jonghyun can’t remember what he looked like, really, he just remembers the pointed smile and the reassuring tone. “Are you lost?”
Jonghyun hiccups wildly. “I can’t find my mom,” he wails. “Can you help me?”
The vampire chuckles. “Aren’t you scared of me?”
Jognhyun sniffs. “My mom says we shouldn’t be scared of the Extras unless they try to hurt us. She says its mean. I’m not mean!”
“I believe you,” the vampire says, patting Jonghyun’s shoulder. His hand is warm. “Let’s find your mom.”
“You can do that?” Jonghyun asks, face lighting up.
“Of course,” the vampire says, with a grin as he taps the side of his nostril. “I just have to follow my nose.”
They find his mother after a few minutes of searching and Jonghyun runs to her the moment he sees her, flinging himself into her arms with a gleeful giggle. Her relief is palpable as she clings to him, petting his hair and squeezing him and asking where he went and how he found her and it takes a moment for Jonghyun to get past his glee at being reunited with his mother. When he does, he pulls back and says, “It’s ok, the nice man helped me!”
His mother tilts her head, quizzical and faintly worried and she says, “What man?”
Jonghyun turns, ready to point out the man who had helped him, but the street behind them is empty, save for a few people walking to work or school or some other moment of their lives. Jonghyun frowns but turns back to his mother and smiles, “I guess he left!”
His mother still looks nervous, but she smiles back and takes his hand. They get ice cream on the walk home and Jonghyun is happy as he bounces on the balls of his feet.
Looking back on it, he knows it was pretty ridiculous to trust a stranger, a strange vampire, so implicitly, but he had been young and he wanted to find his mother. It worked out for the best, he supposes.
He wonders, sometimes, what happened to that vampire, but never for long. He’s thankful, that the man helped him find his mother and, in the long run, well. Even now there are still people who fear the Extras, who are distrustful and cruel. It makes Jonghyun sad, but he knows he’s a rare case, someone who was exposed to the kindness of a vamp so young.
The entire trajectory of his life can likely be traced back to that day. Jonghyun is human, probably always will be, but he works in a blood bar and his roommate is a werewolf and it doesn’t really make sense but it works.
-
After the first time, things get better.
They get pretty great actually, in Jonghyun’s opinion. Taemin, Jonghyun learns, is an old friend (old, old by Jonghyun’s delicate mortal standards, as Kibum puts it) of Jinki’s who has recently returned to town. He is young, but not as naive as his gentle face would have you believe. He’s smart and quick witted and brimming with a dry humor that always makes Jonghyun smile.
He becomes something of a regular and it’s pathetic, but not inaccurate, to say that it takes no time at all for Taemin to become the highlight of Jonghyun’s day. He spends all of his shifts waiting for Taemin to show up and, when he does, Jonghyun’s palms itch and he grins too much and it’s embarrassing and unprofessional and Kibum mocks him for it relentlessly, but Jonghyun doesn’t care.
Taemin is beautiful and he laughs at Jonghyun’s jokes and that’s all Jonghyun cares about.
-
The first time Jonghyun sees Taemin outside of the bar, it goes a little better.
Or, well, ok, it starts somewhat disastrously, in the 24 hour market between Jinki’s and Jonghyun’s apartment, where he’s picking up some emergency supplies since Minho texted him something that didn’t make a lot of sense, but included a lot of exclamation marks. Jonghyun got the gist, anyway, and he’s got a basket full of beer and snacks and he’s staring at his phone trying to decipher the poorly spelled demands when his cart jerks and someone swears.
Jonghyun drops his phone into the basket in alarm as he looks up, an apology forming on his lips. “I’m so-oh my God,” he stammers when he sees Taemin standing there, frowning down at the cart with annoyed confusion. “Oh, Taemin! I’m sorry, I was distracted.”
“Are you always this charming or am I a special case?” Taemin says and his tone is deeply sarcastic, but his eyes are fond and Jonghyun grins.
“What can I say, you just bring out the best in me,” he says with a wink and Taemin laughs and it’s nice. There’s a comfortable air settling around that comes with a month and a half of familiarity and, for once, being on the same side of the bar. Taemin’s laugh settles across Jonghyun’s shoulders like a warm blanket and he leans closer. They chat as they shop, casual and comfortable. Jonghyun knocks down a row of cereal boxes as he tells an overly animated story about the time Minho got plastered two days before the full moon and ended up streaking through downtown Seoul. Taemin laughs so hard he snorts and that makes Jonghyun laugh and it’s nice.
Until it isn't.
At least, this time, it isn't Jonghyun's fault. The disaster comes when they step outside to see the world just past the store front's overhang completely obscured by torrential rain. Jonghyun sighs, glad for Minho’s nagging just this once as he fishes his umbrella out. Beside him, Taemin swears in a way that is hugely at odds with the softness of his face and Jonghyun’s eyes widen comically, umbrella brandished like a weapon. Taemin glances at him and he snorts, some of the annoyance easing from between his eyes and says, “It’s just, I walked. And I live across town.”
“Oh!” Jonghyun says, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He thinks about asking what Taemin is doing at a market so far from his home, but what he says, instead, is, “My place is right around the corner and,” he shakes his umbrella for emphasis, the spines clattering against the stem. “I have an umbrella. If you want to share? You can wait out the storm. My roommate won’t mind, he’ll probably just sleep, he always sleeps when it rains.”
Taemin is watching Jonghyun with an expression of fond exasperation and Jonghyun smiles nervously and his pulse flutters and his hands itch like they always do when Taemin looks at him like that. “If you want,” Jonghyun finishes slowly.
“Alright,” Taemin says, scooting closer as Jonghyun opens the umbrella. Jonghyun gulps, his pulse beating faster. “But don’t go trying any funny business, mister. I’m not that kind of vamp.”
Jonghyun sputters indignant denial and his ears feel so hot he’s sure they’re going to melt off his head. “I? What? No, I mean, I wouldn’t, I’m just-”
“Jonghyun,” Taemin interrupts with a small smile. “I was kidding. Let’s go.”
“Right,” Jonghyun says, clearing his throat and they step out into the downpour.
The walk back to Jonghyun’s place is quick and quiet. Any attempts at conversation would have been drowned out by the rain anyway. The downpour is so fierce that the umbrella helps very little, but the trip is short and soon they are shuffling into the building’s foyer, shaking excess water off the umbrella and their pants. Jonghyun sneaks a peek at Taemin while he checks his mail, lips curling fondly as he watches Taemin shake the water out of his shoe with a small frown.
“I hate wet shoes,” Taemin whines as he slides them back on.
“Does anyone really like wet shoes?” Jonghyun asks, sliding his mail into his bag and jerking his head towards the elevator. “C’mon.”
Taemin follows, nose wrinkling with every wet scrunch of his shoes on the linoleum, looking around the building as they head in. It’s not fancy, but it’s nice enough, but Jonghyun still feels nervous and jittery, like he’s going to phase through the wall like the Flash. It has nothing to do with the apartment and everything to do with Taemin standing there and he’s not particularly warm and he doesn’t smell like anything but rain water, but Jonghyun feels like lightning. Taemin meets his gaze and Jonghyun flushes, but Taemin just grins.
At the door, Jonghyun juggles with his bags and his umbrella while trying to get his keys in the door and he’s so flustered by his umbrella jumping from his grasp as he kicks his shoes off that he doesn’t notice Taemin isn’t following him. Jonghyun looks around Taemin is standing in the hall, squinting one eye at the door frame with a wrinkled nose and he says, “Um, ah-”
And Jonghyun remembers. “Oh! Right, fuck. Yeah. You can come in. Please come in.” Taemin comes in, setting down his own bags and toeing off his shoes as Jonghyun babbles. “I’m sorry, it’s been forever since I’ve had anyone new over, it’s only even Jinki or Kibum.”
“It’s fine,” Taemin says absently and he starts wandering around the apartment, eyes wide with curiosity. He pokes around Jonghyun’s things as Jonghyun puts things away and scurries into the laundry room to throw a couple of towels in the dryer.
“I need to give these things to my roommate,” Jonghyun explains, holding the boxes in the air and shaking them. “He likely won’t come out of his room, it won’t take long.”
“Sure,” Taemin says and he’s still distracted, holding a picture frame between his hands delicately.
Jonghyun smiles at the back of his head before disappearing down the hall to crack open Minho’s door. The room is dark and musty and Jonghyun can just barely make out his tousled brown hair amongst the balled up sheets. He looks terrible and Jonghyun drops the boxes of snack cakes onto his head.
Minho stirs with a groan and swipes ineffectually at a spot no where near Jonghyun. “What the hell.”
“What the hell, yourself,” Jonghyun counters, poking at Minho, who groans again. “What’s wrong with you? Is this some weird werewolf thing?”
“What?” Minho blinks at him, eyes foggy and confused. His face is puffy and his hair is a mess. Jonghyun leans away. “No, man, I’m just hungover. Leave me alone to die.”
“Alright,” Jonghyun replies, waving over his shoulder as he trips out of the room. “Just do it quietly, I have company.”
“Nrrgh,” Minho says around a mouthful of snack cake.
Jonghyun snorts as he closes the door and returns to the living room. Taemin has abandoned pictures and is sitting cross legged in front of the bookshelf, peering curiously at Jonghyun’s manga and manhwa collection. He’s got one of Jonghyun’s One Piece volumes on his lap and Jonghyun feels warm all over. He looks up when Jonghyun enters the room and smiles. “How’s your roommate?”
“Deeply irritating and possibly dying, but it’s fine,” Jonghyun says with a wave of his hand. He notices that Taemin is shivering slightly, his hands shake gently in his lap as his head tilts.
“That doesn’t sound fine,” he says as Jonghyun moves into the kitchen.
“He deserves it,” Jonghyun says, a bit too loudly, but he hopes Minho hears it. “If he can’t learn to say no when Kibum calls him in the middle of the night, whining for a drinking buddy, then he can learn to deal with the monster hangovers.”
“Kibum hyung can be very persuasive,” Taemin says very seriously, but he’s smiling.
“That’s a word for it,” Jonghyun mutters, rooting around in the fridge. He has some pre-packaged animal blood in here somewhere, a side effect of having so many vampires in his life. He finds a package, finally, and makes quick work of pouring it into a mug. It goes into the microwave with a cup of coffee for himself right as the dryer beeps.
Taemin is still looking at the One Piece manga when Jonghyun comes back and he startles when Jonghyun drops the towel over his head, scowling out from under the fluffy pink fabric and Jonghyun can’t help but laugh. “Here,” he says, passing Taemin the mug of blood.
“Oh!” Taemin says, placing the book back on the shelf before pulling the cup to his chest. He smiles at Jonghyun, touched. “Thank you. I really, ah. Thanks.” Taemin looks away and bites his lip. He looks a little like he might cry and Jonghyun’s heart clenches.
He sits beside Taemin on the floor and sips his coffee as he pulls the One Piece volume off the shelf. “Taemin,” he starts and Taemin looks at him. “can I ask why you were at a market so far from your house? I’m just curious.”
“It’s-” Taemin says, then stops, picks at his pants, before he says, “It’s embarrassing.”
Jonghyun raises his eyebrows and nudges Taemin’s knee with his own. “I promise not to laugh,” he says with a grin.
“I just, um,” Taemin lifts the mug to his face and mutters something that Jonghyun can’t hear.
Jonghyun leans closer, cupping his ear and their shoulders are pressed together through the fluffy towels and Jonghyun says, “Hmmm? I couldn’t quite hear you, Taemin. My pitiful human senses aren’t as strong as yours.”
Taemin scoffs and rolls his eyes, knocking his knee against Jonghyun’s before sighing, “I was hoping to run into you.”
“Oh,” Jonghyun breathes, face flushing, feeling winded. “I, uh, why?”
Taemin wrinkles his nose and drinks some blood. “I just wanted to see you, okay? Outside of the bar. I mean, I like seeing you at the bar, but it just feels like this wall and you’re so untouchable back there and, I,” Taemin looks up and Jonghyun realizes how close they are now, realizes that he’s been leaning closer as Taemin spoke, his hand on the floor by Taemin’s hip.
Taemin swallows. Jonghyun licks his lower lip. “Taemin,” he says and his voice is soft, rough. “Do you want to touch me?”
“That’s not what I-” Taemin protests, but his words die in his throat as he watches Jonghyun’s mouth and Jonghyun’s heart pounds in his chest and he’s sure Taemin can hear it (vampire hearing and all) but he just leans their foreheads together.
“Taemin,” he murmurs and he means it to be a question but it comes out like a prayer and Taemin whispers, “Yeah,” and Jonghyun moves, catching Taemin’s mouth against his own. It’s soft and short and that’s all Jonghyun means for it to be, but when he pulls back, Taemin utters his name on a groan and grabs Jonghyun’s face with his hands to pull him back.
Jonghyun barely has time to put his mug down, doesn’t even think about what happened to Taemin’s, just surges forward until he’s halfway straddling Taemin’s lap with one arm around his neck and the other on his hip. Taemin kisses him hotly with his hands sliding around Jonghyun’s waist to grip his hips and they tilt backwards, losing their balance and collapsing in a pile of limbs. Jonghyun bites his tongue and laughs and Taemin sniggers before he kisses Jonghyun again. Jonghyun is reasonably sure they’ve knocked the mugs over but he can’t find it in himself to care when Taemin’s legs are bracketing his hips like they are, lifting his hips to bump against the hardness growing in Jonghyun’s pants.
Jonghyun licks into his mouth and heat spreads through his veins like fire, lighting him up from the inside and he groans and gasps when his tongue catches on too sharp fangs. “Ahh,” he says, pulling back and he feels blood ooze past his tongue. Taemin’s eyes dialate at the sight, breathing ragged and hair mussed and Jonghyun feels wild and smirks, licking his lip and smearing the blood across his mouth and Taemin makes a low feral noise and grabs him, hands rough, mouth rougher as he sucks the blood from Jonghyun’s lips. Jonghyun writhes in his grip, his head is clouded with desire and pleasure and his body is too hot, his skin too tight and Taemin’s hands aren’t cold, aren’t warm as they slide under his shirt, under his still-damp pants to grind their hips together tightly.
This is ridiculous, Jonghyun thinks as Taemin rolls them over and drags his mouth along Jonghyun’s jaw. He feels like he’s drowning, but in a good way, he can’t think beyond Taemin’s mouth and hands and the way their hips rut together and he’s going to come in his pants like a teenager. He doesn’t care.
He doesn’t care, just thrusts against Taemin and breathes roughly against the side of his face. Taemin’s mouth is open against the side of Jonghyun’s neck and it feels, dangerous and heady and the smallest bit of fear snakes down his spine, but he still slides a hand into Taemin’s hair and breathes his name, voice low and shaky.
“Can I,” Taemin asks, fingers digging painfully into Jonghyun’s hips, his entire body shaking with restraint and arousal. “Jonghyun,” he pants. “Please, I-”
“Yes,” Jonghyun growls, tilting his head and Taemin makes a desperate noise and Jonghyun feels-
Pain, first, immediately clouded and smothered by an overwhelming surge of pleasure, white-hot and cresting, his hips spasm and he realizes he’s coming, head banging against the ground and he must be howling because Taemin slips his fingers into Jonghyun’s mouth. He shakes against Taemin’s body, surrounded and devoured utterly and completely. Taemin’s mouth is still on him, but Jonghyun feels light, whiteness closing in on the edge of his vision.
Then, he feels hands on his shoulders, Taemin’s voice drifts into his consciousness and he sounds worried. “Aggh?” Jonghyun says.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Taemin sighs, slumping a little.
“Did I black out?” Jonghyun asks, sitting up and rubbing his face.
“Only for a few minutes,” Taemin says and Jonghyun realizes that Taemin is rubbing his shoulder. It’s nice. “I just, ah. For a second I thought I took too much.”
Taemin’s mouth is red, Jonghyun realizes, with his blood. His heart beat skips. “Sorry,” he says.
Taemin just smiles, but he looks uneasy.
They stand and Jonghyun is pleased to note that they didn’t spill blood and coffee all over the floor and Jonghyun wobbles a little picking up the mugs. There is dried blood on his neck and dried come in his pants and he sighs. “I need to shower,” he says, looking over at Taemin. “Do you wanna…?”
“Ah,” Taemin starts, mouth a surprised O. “Yeah, sounds, um, good.”
Something feels off. Jonghyun isn’t sure what it is.
He puts their clothes in the hamper and they shower and it’s nice, idly chatting and Taemin’s hands are gentle as he helps Jonghyun wash his hair, but he shies away when Jonghyun offers to wash his back and he still won’t quite look Jonghyun in the eye. Jonghyun tries not to let it bother him, because it’s late (for him, such that his schedule is) and he’s exhausted (from exertion, bloodloss) and he just wants to sleep.
He pulls some extra clothes out of the hamper of clean laundry Minho still hasn’t folded and hands them to Taemin, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m tired and I want to go to bed and I’d, well. I’d like for you to join me.”
Taemin nods, smiles, follows him and they slide under the covers. Jonghyun notices that Taemin is staring at him, mouth tight and eyebrows knit and he sighs, “What is it?”
“Can I bite you again?” Taemin asks.
“What?” Jonghyun sputters, shifting back a little. “No, Taemin, you just- I’m still a little woozy from before. You can’t.” He’s a little shocked Taemin even asked, even more shocked when Taemin grins happily, all the tension and unease draining from his frame.
“Good! Good,” he says, running a hand through his hair.
“I’m a little confused,” Jonghyun admits.
“I just, ah. I’m still fairly young,” Taemin says slowly. “There’s still, there’s a lot of things that I don’t know, about being a vampire, and I was a little worried that somehow I’d-”
Jonghyun makes a knowing noise. “You thought that you had somehow glamoured me or something and I was just giving you whatever you wanted.” Taemin nods, sheepish. “But since I wouldn’t let you bite me again-”
“I know you’re doing this over your own free will,” Taemin finishes, smiling.
Jonghyun frowns and pinches the soft flesh of his side. Taemin yelps and gives him a wounded look. “That’s ridiculous,” Jonghyun says. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since you first walked into the bar and it’s not like I wanted to any less after we became friends. Stop being silly and come let me cuddle you. I’m tired.”
Taemin slides down and lets Jonghyun starfish out all over him, which is a remarkable sign towards future happiness and Jonghyun knows they need to talk more, but that can wait, he think, laying his face on Taemin’s chest and breathing him in as his eyes fall shut.
-
Taemin comes to work with him later and Kibum’s eyes zero in immediately on the two red dots on Jonghyun’s neck. “Are you fucking kidding me,” he says, flatly and Taemin ducks his head and Jonghyun flips him off.
“Don’t be jealous, Kibummie, it’s an ugly color on you,” Jonghyun sings as Taemin slides an arm around his neck.
Kibum makes a disgusted sound and throws his hands up. “I’m surrounding by weaklings, honestly. I can’t believe this.”
“Be nice, Kibum,” Jinki says, appearing from the shadows with a placating smile at Jonghyun and Taemin. “He’s just mad because he lost the bet.”
“Unbelievably rude,” Kibum huffs.
Jonghyun furrows his eyebrows, opens his mouth, then closes it again. “I’m just going to ignore you both,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m in an excellent mood and I’m ignoring the fact that my friends have bets on my sex life and I’m going to go to work.”
Kibum is still complaining and Jinki is giving him a knowing look, but Taemin is grinning at him like he’s the only thing in the room, so Jonghyun really doesn’t care.