Archive of Our Own

One of the things Changkyun is most proud of is his sense of smell. He can smell things from kilometers of distance, if he puts enough effort on it.

That’s why when the door of the bedroom opens he doesn’t even move.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty”, and it’s obvious that the lips which moved to produce such sounds are curved upwards in a smile, two big dimples in each side of the interlocutor’s face, his eyes like crescent moons.

Changkyun grunts, pulling the covers up to his face. It’s too early still, he can feel it in his bones, in the way someone seems to have died in the back of his throat (which is funny, because there’s nothing really alive in him).

“What time is it?” He whispers.

Jooheon chuckles even if no joke was told, walking inside the bedroom and going around the bed. Opened curtains make Changkyun hiss like a cat, hiding completely, and more laughter is heard before the answer comes, “Five fifty-three, c’mon, baby.”

The noise of the window being opened is loud, and Changkyun waits for the small sight of light to curse and tell Jooheon to close the damn thing when nothing comes.

Darkness. Silence.

Squinting, Changkyun lowers the covers until he can see Jooheon even if Jooheon cannot see him back, the too long black fringe acting like a barrier between their eyes.

“Why are you here so early?” Changkyun asks, voice heavy with sleep.

“Got a ride”, Jooheon explains, and Changkyun watches as he takes off his beanie and runs his fingers through his hair, making it messier. He almost envies those hands, hands he’ll be holding in a few minutes because messing with Jooheon’s hair is one Changkyun’s favorite things in the world.

“From who?” He sits down, scratching absently his collarbone, more out of habit than real itch. Nothing itches anymore.

Jooheon looks at him; now that the streetlight is entering the apartment, not only his dimples are visible but also the color in his cheeks, the brightness of his smile.

(When first meeting Jooheon, Changkyun wondered how happiness and positivity exuded from him like a wave, like a tidal wave, and how God damn warm this man could be.

Not even when he wasn’t dead had Changkyun met someone that alive.)

Sitting in the bed as well, Jooheon blinks once, twice, the smile never leaving. One of his legs is over the mattress, bent, and the other is straight, feet resting on the ground. His back is curved, relaxed, neck slightly projected forward in the posture Changkyun is always correcting.

“Kihyun-hyung”, he answers. “My coworker, remember when I told you about him?”

Changkyun’s eyebrows go up in disdain, but it’s good Jooheon still doesn’t see them. His boyfriend doesn’t like to be left in silence either, so Changkyun brushes the hair back, finally reveals the face that has the man in front of him smiling even more, if that’s possible, small spasms of his body showing he almost leaned forward for a hug.

Not only hearing the sound of the blood rushing inside Jooheon’s veins, Changkyun can almost see the fibers of the muscles moving, even under the track pants and the padded jacket he’s wearing.

“Is it cold?” Changkyun asks, deducing it to be true because the sky outside is too dark for five, almost-six in the afternoon.

Jooheon laughs like it’s the stupidest question ever asked in the story of humanity. He shows his fingers, their tips pink like raw pork. Jokes: “I feel like I’ve been holding your hand for hours straight.”

Changkyun rolls his eyes, but doesn’t refrain from laughing. “Shut up. If it’s cold, why did you open the window?”

“Because it smells here”, Jooheon scrunches his nose. “When was the last time you washed your sheets?”

Changkyun remembers himself to blink. It gives more effect to the fake-innocence of his words, “I don’t sweat, hyung. I physically cannot smell like anything.”

“I know”, Jooheon smirks. It’s still surprising how natural everything is to him even if Changkyun himself wakes up some days and feels disgusted and horrified at himself. “But I do, and I sleep here. That’s why you need to change the sheets, I gave you more than one for a reason, baby.”

The reminder Jooheon shares the bed with him is enough to make Changkyun’s (dead) insides all funny.

Sometimes the bed stays warm for hours after he leaves for work. Changkyun stays lying on his side with his hand motionless over the place Jooheon’s body was, thinking of the steady rhythm of his breathing, his closed lids and moist lips, the snoring that is like music to his ears even if Changkyun knows it would have bothered him if he was alive, one that always had a light sleep.

“Your fault it’s smelling, then”, he teases.

Jooheon pouts, the dark curls on his forehead making him look younger – which he is, by three hundred and forty six years – but Changkyun died at twenty-seven and Jooheon is now twenty-eight, so technically he is the younger one.

Also, Jooheon likes being called hyung. Doesn’t make much sense, however Changkyun would never dare to judge, not when a simple baby whispered in his ear just turns him crazy.

“You said you liked how I smell”, Jooheon pouts, using a cute voice Changkyun pretends to hate. “Even after gym, you said—”

“Hush”, Changkyun interrupts, pushing the covers to the side. He wonders how cold it is outside, how many degrees, if Jooheon is wearing that much clothing. It’s been so long since he felt something other than anything, all the stimulus dead to his dead body but the things related to one’s blood. He can’t even remember how it felt, to hold a hot cup of tea or splash cold water in his face. “Come here.”

“I’m in my working clothes”, Jooheon plays hard to get.

“You know I don’t care”, Changkyun smiles. Opens his arms. “Come here, hyung.”

Jooheon blinks, embarrassed, cheeks getting flushed as he slumps a bit in his spot.

(Funny, the contrasts of his personality. It’s never boring to analyze him, how he’s never ashamed of holding hands, of kissing cheeks or hugging when they’re in public, but when it’s the opposite – Changkyun tapping his side on the bed for him to lie on, the smallest of smiles and the simplest of requests – it’s almost like the biggest indecency is being said.)

He lies down and yes, also smells so fucking good. The sound of his blood under his skin is clear but peaceful like a calm river; Changkyun almost whines, pulling Jooheon closer to sniff at the juncture of his neck and shoulder as if he is starving, and it’s cute and dangerous how Jooheon doesn’t flinch anymore, immediately hugging Changkyun back.

They have developed trust, and that’s the most stupid thing both of them must have done in their lives for sure.

Jooheon kisses Changkyun’s forehead, humming contently. “Missed you, baby.”

Changkyun smiles, lifting his head to kiss the lips he loves so much. His heart stopped beating three hundred and seventy-five years ago, but he knows if he still had an alive one it would be hammering in his chest.

“Huh— Excuse me.”

Changkyun turned around to find a man staring at him with a big, curious, dimpled smile. His heart beat fast like a drum and Changkyun’s nose was suddenly hit with a sweetness he hasn’t smelled in years, centuries even; it almost made him lose his balance.

“Yes?” Was all he could brokenly-whisper.

The man kept smiling. Bowed, even.  “I need to get—” he gestured to the drinks in front of them, “this one.”

Changkyun frowned, but then his mouth opened in a quiet oh. He had been staring at the convenience store’s refrigerator for a while now, spaced out as tried to imagine what all those colorful drinks must taste.

“Sorry”, he stepped aside, giving space for the man to get what he wanted, which happened to be a protein shake.

“No problem”, the man shook his head. It was uncommon to see someone being so sympathetic like that; it surprised Changkyun at first. No one usually asks permission for anything these days. “Too many options, right? It confuses us.”

Changkyun forced himself to blink. “Yes.”

The man bowed at him again as thanks but the smile on his face dropped a bit after such a vague answer.

“Are you fine?”

He smelled not only sweet but something musky, stronger. It made Changkyun’s mouth water, the tips of his fangs already making his gums itch, indicating they were going down.

Oh-oh.

Changkyun shook his head, hair covering his face. He’d have blushed if could, embarrassed for such a weird interaction, how many physical reactions he was having because of such an insignificant encounter.

 There was genuine worry showing in the man’s face even if they didn’t know each other.

“Do you know… Korean?”

Changkyun stopped looking at the flush of his cheeks to frown.

He thinks I’m a foreigner?

Maybe it made sense, the way he was staring at the labels without any expression.

“Do you speak Korean?” The man tried again in English, a bit of an accent but still nice. It was completely different from his previous voice, and Changkyun, having lived in the United States for forty years before coming back, was surprised.

“Yes”, he answered in English, trying as much as possible not to move his lips. “Both.”

“Ah”, the man smiled. Dimpled. Changkyun himself had his, but not as distinguished as those. “I thought you needed help”, he changed to Korean again.

Smiling and not knowing why, Changkyun turned back to the refrigerator, so many colorful letters and flavors staring back at him. What was vanilla? Would raspberries be good? That Pepsi thing sounded interesting, but Changkyun never tasted anything, just the gas.

He lied. “I kinda do. Which one is the best?”

The man blinked. He looked at Changkyun rather confusedly, and then at the drinks in front of them.

“Among all?”

Changkyun nodded, turning at him again. The stranger was wearing a black shirt so tight the muscles of his pectorals were visible, and a drop of sweat trickled down his neck so slowly Changkyun again wished he could blush.

Another thing he couldn’t do was breathe, but still did so. Deeply.

“I drink this because I have to”, the man shook the protein shake. “But the better ones aren’t here.”

Changkyun hummed, trying to calm himself down. He had fed a week ago, so it wasn’t hunger, the weird feeling he felt spreading all over his body – but the smell of sweat, yes, and the veins going down the man’s arms made him feel a bit different, that was for sure.

“Where are they?” Changkyun asked. Straightforward.

The man seemed to hesitate a bit, an embarrassed smile different from his previous one making only one dimple visible.

“Are… Are you talking about alcohol?”

Changkyun snorted. Not exactly, he licked his fangs as more sweat went down the man’s neck to soak the collar of his shirt.

“If you are.”

“I like whiskey. And beer”, the man said after a small pause, turning around, as if searching for it. “But none of the ones that sell here, and—”

“Do you want to have a drink in a place that sells it, then?” Changkyun asked, which surprised even him, too late to back out after the words made their way past his half-closed lips. They knew each other for less than five minutes and he was already flirting, what the hell? More than three-hundred years of experience taught him nothing? How stupid was he, risking himself like that in front of a stranger who was only minimally kind to him?

The man’s eyebrows went up, but he didn’t deny. His cheeks got even redder, and Changkyun had the urge to press his hands against them, try to feel something besides the numbness he was so used to.

The man nodded, which wasn’t very smart of him either.

Changkyun closes the windows after Jooheon comes out of the shower, steam still evaporating of his skin. There’s only the natural scent of his body now, blood and something inherently human, that has Changkyun almost vibrating with the need of being close to him, to again nuzzle his nose on his neck and listen to his pulse loud and clear.

He does nothing, though. Takes out pans and opens the fridge to get leftovers from it, heats them for Jooheon, who comes inside the kitchen and hums appreciatively before turning Changkyun’s head to the side and planting a kiss on his lips.

“Are you hungry?” Changkyun asks when they break apart. Jooheon grins, ruffling his wet hair with a towel, walking barefoot to the living room.

“I am, but wait a second – it's so damn hot here. What temperature did you set?”

So many years and Changkyun still hasn't gotten used to adjusting the damn heater.

“Probably too much.”

A pause, and then Jooheon’s loud laugh.

Changkyun smiles despite himself, opening the microwave and starting the rice machine.

“Thirty-two, holy shit! Do you want me to melt?”

Yes, Changkyun thinks. If Jooheon melted, he could drink him, feed himself like he wanted for years – but also no, because his physical form is everything. Squishier. Warm. Alive. Much better than any blood or liquid.

“Sorry”, he apologizes. Jooheon comes back not long after, towel around his shoulder. “Don’t wear it wet like this. Put it to dry.”

“I will”, Jooheon smiles, arm around Changkyun’s waist. He pecks his cheek this time. “Eat with me?”

Changkyun hums absently. Vampires don’t need to feed with anything but blood, but it’s not like they can’t eat normal food sometimes. Changkyun personally prefers to avoid it.

“I’m not hungry.”

Jooheon pouts, moving his hips side to side as if they were dancing. It’s a bit silly like all the things he does, like all his little jokes, but Changkyun would be lying if said he doesn’t love all that.

Food is warming, so he’s free to turn around and hug Jooheon as wanted before, arms around his shoulders, feel the poke of the counter against his lower back. Jooheon cleans the surroundings so he’s put sat over it, legs around his boyfriend’s waist.

The human smirks with the new position and does the lame impersonation of a character of an old American sitcom Changkyun hates but still watches with him.

“How you doin’?”

The vampire rolls his eyes, fixing them on the heart-shaped lips in front of him. “Cooking for you as a good malewife I am.”

Jooheon laughs. “Saw a cat today and thought of you.”

“You could have sent me a picture”, Changkyun pouts, tilting his head to the side, a bit more relaxed.

It’s always like this, since they met seven years ago – every time they spent a few days without seeing each other it’s like their intimacy vanishes for Changkyun, like they’re getting to know each other again, until Jooheon slowly takes him out of his shell.

“It wasn’t, like, real life. It was a Reel. Kihyun-hyung showed it to me during break.”

Changkyun bites the inside of his lower lip, eyes now following the movement of his hands as he runs fingers through Jooheon’s hair and goes down his neck, his arms. He changed his workout, he said. Progress is noticeable.

“Was it cute?”

“So much.”

“More than me?”

Jooheon chuckles, crescent moons and dimples. “No. No one is cuter than you.” It has Changkyun very satisfied, but soon Jooheon’s eyes change and his entire body language does too. Changkyun knows what is coming when he widens his eyes and speaks with a baby voice, “No one is cuter but—”

With a sigh, he adds, “Honey.”

“Honey!” Jooheon smiles widely, moving hips side to side. The damned aegyo. “Honey and…”

Sighs. “Kyunnie.”

“Kyunnie!” Jooheon smacks a kiss on Changkyun’s lips, loudly, making him laugh and almost lose his balance, holding firmly to the pajama shirt in front of him. “Kyunnie and Honey…”

“Are the cutest”, Changkyun completes again, snorting. He pushes Jooheon back with palms sprawled over his chest, not before squeezing a bit. “Alright. Get off, I need to set the table for you.”

Jooheon doesn’t let him, getting closer until they’re practically breathing the same air (if Changkyun breathed).

“No.”

The vampire tries again, but everything is too solid under his palms. It makes him nervous but excited at the same time, a weird mixture of things he didn’t have the opportunity to feel when could, when his body wasn’t a time-traveling relic.

“Hyung”, he scolds gently. “Let me, please. Didn’t you say you were hungry?”

Jooheon smiles, but it’s not the cute nor the usual one. It’s a smirk, and Changkyun likes this the most because of what is usually associated with it.

“You’re pampering me too much these days, Changkyun-ah.”

Changkyun shrugs, index finger and thumb raising the pajama shirt until the eagle in Jooheon’s stomach is visible. He has a small obsession with the drawing like Jooheon has with the roses on his back, done a few years ago with a vampire tattooer.

“How can I not pamper you, hyung?” Changkyun smiles lazily. “You, who I love so much?”

He lets himself be kissed.

It’s time for Jooheon to retribute the favor, sliding his hands under Changkyun’s shirt to map his dead body as if he has never before, hungrily licking inside his mouth and fangs as Changkyun moans, back arching to meet more of Jooheon, feel more in a way they’re indeed melting into each other for all the god-damned eternity his curse promised him.

(It’s so arousing, the fact that Jooheon always treats him like something precious even if he’s an atrocity of nature, an aberration. If was alive, Changkyun is sure that he would feel everything the movies and the books describe as butterflies in his belly.)

Jooheon’s thumb is bitten playfully as Changkyun parts his mouth to accommodate it, but there’s no joke in the way he’s looking at the supposedly younger man before him.

The microwave beeps. Jooheon ignores it in favor of sucking a mark that will never be visible in Changkyun’s neck and chest, but that feels like lava against the cold surface of the vampire’s skin.

“Your food”, Changkyun whines, breathless even if his lungs stopped working hilariously long ago.

“I’m eating another thing right now”, Jooheon says, voice low, before also lowering himself on his knees right there, in the middle of the kitchen.

It was supposed to be a fun thing, something to distract himself from his own misery. A dimpled, sweaty and warm-blooded man smiled at him in a convenience store and Changkyun suddenly felt very silly and indeed a twenty-seven-years-old like the first time – but then said man paid for their beers in a bar next to his apartment and even if alcohol is bad for results, my hyung said, they drank enough for the place’s owner to have to tell them to go home.

The surprise of having his random invitation accepted didn’t leave for the entirety of the night.

Changkyun heard, fascinated, as the man told him stories about people he would never meet, about college, about family and cats and music and dreams that were so poetic they could be in a book.

Even living more than three hundred years, Changkyun had absolutely nothing compared to such a young person like the man sitting beside him on a bar counter. Civilization wasn’t anything compared to what is today, and for one entire century Changkyun was a recluse, hiding in the shadows as he tried to come to terms with immortality and the freak he had become, not accepting what fate reserved for him.

He met personalities and saw everything evolve to become what it is today – but it wasn’t like he could tell the man that nor like that was actually fun. The grace of life is precisely its finitude, the risk of any second being its last inevitably and unconsciously making humans enjoy the little things.

Changkyun didn’t have that.

He did drugs, drank, did everything he could and that (living) people could only dream of to the point absolutely nothing made sense anymore; but the second he made the man in front of him laugh, loudly and funnily, dimpled and sincere, and earned a playful shoulder bump because of it Changkyun realized he was feeling alive for the first time in decades.

Distracted and enticed, the company so pleasant, the vampire only remembered his curfew when they set their feet on the street.

That morning of May started out hazy, the sun hidden by clouds, the sticky summer moisture in the air visible on the skin of the man across from him. Suddenly Changkyun found himself envying something incorporeal like air, because he could touch and make this stranger feel something.

Panic invaded his system, made him look at the old watch in his right wrist with wide eyes. He had twenty more minutes before six in the morning, which was way past what he should have been out.

He only wanted to buy a soda, for fuck’s sake.

“Where do you live?” The man asked. His eyes were glazed, shiny, cheeks even redder than before that made Changkyun’s mouth water – yet he controlled himself. He didn’t need to feed, not for at least another month. “Do you want me to walk you there?”

“No”, Changkyun shook his head, a bit taken aback by another act of gentleness. “I live far away.”

Drunk but a bit conscious, the man tilted his head and it was cute. How? Changkyun didn’t know.

“But what would you do around here if you live far?”

Actually, Changkyun lived fifteen walking-minutes from there, but he didn’t want company when was so distressed and when the man in front of him looked way too drunk.

“Don’t worry about me”, he tried.

The man clicked his tongue. “Stop with the bullshit”, and intertwined their arms together. “There”, he pointed forward, but then exaggeratedly turned backwards and almost made Changkyun fall, “Or there? Or—” to their right, “that—”

“Let’s go”, Changkyun had no option but to walk, pulling the man with him.

They were safely home just as the first sun rays started to come out. Fog meant sunny days, always.

“Damn”, the man kicked his sneakers in the hall, staggering inside. Changkyun had to hold his arm to prevent him from falling, the third time that night. “You live like this?”

“Like what?” He asked, making sure the man wasn’t going to fall and walking fast to close the curtains. It bathed the living room in darkness, pitch black.

A snort, but then silence. Changkyun turned around to see the man shrinking in his form, drunkenness disappearing from his shiny eyes as he tried to see something, which obviously was impossible. Only one of them had nocturnal vision.

“Dude”, he said in English, cleaning his throat. Changkyun heard his heart beating faster, the movement of his throat swallowing in anxiousness. “W-why is everything so dark? Why did you close the curtains when it's morning already?”

Changkyun almost laughed at the terrified expression in the man’s face. It hit him how weird all that situation was, how careless was his attitude of accepting an invitation from a stranger he met in a convenience store staring at a refrigerator without even blinking.

Mortals, always so innocent.

Years of practice made Changkyun lie easily: “So you can sleep.”

And the man did so – again, innocent. A little lamb fell into the wolf’s trap, and Changkyun thought it was both fortunate and unfortunate he had fed only a couple of days before.

It took a bit of convincing, but the man ended up sleeping on Changkyun’s couch after a shower and a brush of teeth. When they lied down to sleep, the sound of his breathing and the life pulsing inside of him was so loud it was deafening even with a wall between them, the sweet smell of his blood intoxicating enough for Changkyun to stay awake for even longer.

Eyes only closed before noon, because strangely or not, from all the physiological needs, sleep was the only one that the curse didn't take away from him, which in a way could be a compensation for everything else – Changkyun would want to die much more if he couldn't even disconnect from reality for a few hours.

When he woke up in the next evening, the man wasn’t there anymore. There was only a folded blanket over the couch, a cup in the sink and a note written in a napkin, stuck on the fridge by a magnet.

A messy, hurried handwriting. Had personality.

Thank you and sorry, the note began with. It was a nice night and also nice to meet you. Let’s go out again sometime! My name is Jooheon, by the way. I didn’t remember yours, so text me if you want to. Then, a sequel of numbers and a smiley face.

Changkyun stared at it for longer than necessary, trying to recreate the scene in his mind. The man – Jooheon – getting a pen from the kitchen counter, a napkin from over the table and hurriedly writing it before going back to his mortal life, a life in under the sun with all those people he had talked about the night before.

Text me.

Changkyun never had a phone. He never needed to; no one to call, nothing to keep his attention for too long but work and games he played on his computer, the sitcoms he watched during mornings he couldn’t sleep – yet two hours later he had a new phone and the first contact he put on it was Jooheon.

“You’re so grumpy today”, Jooheon mumbles. He’s sleepy already, too early for Changkyun’s taste – barely past one. “Something happened? Are you hungry?”

Changkyun reminds himself to blink, even if no one is seeing him do so. He hates how even being an emotionless, empty body, Jooheon can see every little thing he spent so much time cautiously burying under thousands of layers.

“No.”

Jooheon snorts with the short answer. “No for something happened or are you hungry?”

Changkyun purses his lips and lies, “Both.”

Nothing happens for a while.

After a couple minutes Jooheon slowly moves, hands around Changkyun’s nude form as he turns him around so they’re looking at each other. His eyes are small and his face is shiny with a product he puts on before sleeping every night to keep his skin young, the consistency of it sticky.

(Changkyun wonders if he would use the same things if he had to worry about aging.)

“Tell me”, Jooheon whispers. “Don’t be bad. You know it’s not good to sleep mad at someone.”

“I’m not mad at you”, Changkyun chuckles, because he isn’t.

(At least not completely.)

“But you’re not being good either”, Jooheon points out, and it’s a bit unnerving, how he can say that out of context and still make Changkyun bothered. “What happened?”

“Nothing”, Changkyun holds the strong forearms around him, feeling himself small inside the embrace. Jooheon’s chest moves up and down with his breathing and leads him to repeat the movement, consciously making the effort to breathe in and out. “Sleep. It’s late.”

“Night’s a child”, Jooheon jokes, making Changkyun chuckle. It always makes the human happy, to see Changkyun laughing at his antics. “Seriously, tell me what’s wrong.”

Changkyun rolls his eyes, wanting to lean forward and kiss his boyfriend for him to shut up, but not doing so because he knows Jooheon is one to talk things through whenever there’s a problem and he won’t shut up until everything is solved.

What he said about never sleeping mad at each other is a motto he has repeated since the early days of their relationship.

“Everything is fine, hyung”, he replies. “You have to work tomorrow. Why don’t you sleep?”

Jooheon pouts. “I want to be with you. If I sleep, you go.”

“I’ll still be here”, Changkyun says nonchalantly as if the words he just heard didn’t make him want to hide his face on the pillow and scream, kick his feet in the air. “I’ll be with you until you sleep, and then I’ll work. I have stuff to do.”

“Like what?”

“I have a few projects to finish. A few books I need to proofread.”

The pout is still there, paired with a cute voice. “But… I love you.”

Changkyun laughs. “This doesn’t change the fact I have to work, hyung. I have bills to pay.”

A kiss is pressed in the corner of his lips; Changkyun hears the blood moving like trains inside Jooheon’s veins and feels warm by osmosis.

“I meant it.”

“I know.”

Jooheon pinches his waist, as if it would make Changkyun feel tickles. It’s lovely, how the human keeps treating his boyfriend like he’s not dead, like he forgets he doesn’t have a nervous system anymore nor feel anything but what his curse allows.

“Say you love me.”

Changkyun smiles, refraining the urge to roll his eyes. The L-word is something important to Jooheon, and he knows that well after so long (in human years) together.

“I love you, hyung”, Changkyun kisses him.

Jooheon snuggles closer until there is no space between them. Heartbeats and blood pressure increase as Changkyun smirks, pinching Jooheon’s cheek, forcing him to let the pout go and substitute it for a smile.

He feels a little overwhelmed like back in the kitchen, the typical restlessness buzzing that makes him want to devour Jooheon both ways, bad and good.

“You didn’t like something I said”, Jooheon says after a while, after his breathing subsided enough for Changkyun to believe he was falling asleep. “Not from today. You've been grumpy for a few days already. Did you—”

“I did”, Changkyun doesn’t let him finish. There’s hesitation, but before Jooheon keeps on with the questions that usually follow the first one, Changkyun finds it better to confess, “And I didn’t.”

It’s a victory even if Jooheon knows he did something supposedly wrong, his form wiggling quite violently inside the cocoon they built to try to make Changkyun smile.

“I’m sorry”, Jooheon apologizes without even knowing what he had done this time.

(Is it a toxic trait of Changkyun, to make his boyfriend feel guilty and happy about it?)

It sounds so stupid the vampire would blush again, but now from shame: “It’s nothing bad, really. I’m just… bothered.”

“Because of what?” Jooheon insists, pressing little kisses over Changkyun’s eyes, forcing him to close them. “C’mon. Don’t spare me, I know you like to do that. Bring it on, I can handle it, dude.”

Even if it’s funny whenever Jooheon speaks with the exaggerated English accent like he’s from some ghetto or whatever, Changkyun still thinks it’s hot, the way his voice tone lowers significant octaves when he does that.

Anyways.

Focus.

He feels utterly stupid as vocalizes it, low enough it’s barely audible, “You’ve been talking too much about a certain person.”

Jooheon frowns, his pretty forehead with small wrinkles. He’s genuinely confused and Changkyun hears his heart beating a bit faster this time, another rustling of covers as he caresses Changkyun’s foot with his own, warm palm of his hand sprawled between the vampire’s shoulder blades, blunt nails going up and down.

“Hmm. That wasn’t what I was expecting”, he admits. “Who?”

There’s a face that Changkyun had only seen in photos, always smiling, always seeming important, one that you would meet and immediately know that you can trust. He knows said person doesn’t exactly work with Jooheon in the same space but somehow is always there, in all the stories about his day his boyfriend religiously tells during dinner, as if he wanted Changkyun to be a part of the life he has outside the apartment they kinda share.

He scowls to the darkness. “Your Kihyun-hyung.”

Jooheon doesn’t answer for a while. When Changkyun opens his eyes. he sees his boyfriend half-up, elbow on the mattress supporting him as he stares down, mouth wide open in a way it’s even funny – Changkyun giggles more from nervousness of having admitted his problem than the actual fun of the thing.

“Baby”, and fuck, why does a simple nickname need to sound so perverted even if spoken innocently? Changkyun was supposed to be mad, not aroused. “What’s wrong with me talking about Kihyun-hyung?”

He turns around before Jooheon can prevent him, forcing his body to face the closed door of the bedroom (which is stupid, there’s only the two of them in the apartment, why do they need to close the door?).

There’s a little push and pull before Jooheon gives up and lies back down with a huff.

The table clock Changkyun bought in China in 1912 is still working, tic-tacing in the corner of his dresser. The air is suddenly heavy and, again, even if he literally doesn’t feel anything, he’s sure that if he pretends enough he can hear the sound of his heart beating fast in anxiety.

“Baby”, Jooheon kisses Changkyun’s nape. There’s a calloused hand moving up and down the slight curve of his waist now, the hip’s protruding bones and the soft skin of the beginning of the thigh. “Are you jealous?”

“No”, Changkyun immediately denies.

The question flares up anger inside his heart.

How can Jooheon dare ask something so ridiculous?

“You are”, the human ignores Changkyun’s protest, sounding a bit amused. “Baby, are you jealous of my coworker?”

Falling in love is out of a vampire’s plans. Humans can be fun, can serve for a lot of purposes, but in the end they are only good for one thing: satisfy hunger.

Changkyun threw all precautions in the air after meeting Jooheon – that’s why he’s here, sulking in his own bed having the most ridiculous argument about whether he is jealous of one of his human boyfriend’s friends or not.

“Don’t be”, Jooheon continues without an answer. He kisses all the way up Changkyun’s throat to his ear and back down to his shoulder. “Oh, my God. Baby, don’t be.”

“I’m not”, Changkyun stubbornly insists. “I’m just suddenly curious why you’re talking so much about him all of a sudden, that’s all.”

“I talk about all of my friends!” Jooheon protests. He tries again to turn Changkyun over but he’s still not done with sulking. “Changkyun-ah, c’mon. Look at me?”

Changkyun scoffs. “Why?”

“Because I want to talk to you.”

“You are talking to me right now.”

“No”, Jooheon insists. Changkyun feels his leg making space between his own, and the queen-sized bed is quite good enough for both of them but now it’s like there’s no sufficient space, like they’re sharing a child futon. “Why do you feel this way?”

There’s a lot of things the curse takes from its victims, but in return they all get a small gift, even if they lose more than the value of what they gain.

Some vampires Changkyun met throughout the years had incredible intelligence, others could read minds. Some could predict the future, could hypnotize with great facility, hear spectacularly well. Changkyun himself has a keen sense of smell, a centuries-old memory he doesn’t know if it's a heritage of the curse or not.

Vampires don’t exactly need to work, many having enormous amounts of money saved from early ages (read it: by killing and robbing rich people – but that’s details) or living on the fringes of society, hidden by the organization, as they call it, that handle vampire affairs. Changkyun did that for years, enough to now really be like an adult in his late-20s with a shitty job and sometimes without too much money at the end of the month. The good thing is that vampires don't need to eat, therefore he never bothers in buying food unless Jooheon insists too much, and don’t shower because they don’t sweat neither smell; usually they’re sleeping during the day and can see in the dark, which lowers the electricity bill considerably.

Those can be advantages or not.

The thing is: after Jooheon entered Changkyun’s “life”, he started to think that maybe he had also gained the ability to feel.

First it was interest, the desire to know more about the man that made him buy a cell phone for the first time, that made him want to leave the house to do mundane things like go to the movies or take funny photos in a photobooth.

Why only a smile, some gentleness, affected him like that?

Secondly, curiosity. Jooheon was a person so full of energy, so completely the opposite of Changkyun even before the turning that the vampire didn’t know how to proceed, how to behave around him. They’d meet in bars and shopping centers, they’d drink and eat and Changkyun would only listen to the most different stories, stories that would stay with him when he lied his head on the pillow to sleep, the sound of life outside his apartment as the day started to rise always the background noise.

What would Jooheon do that day? Who would he meet, what would he eat? What would be the things that would make him smile, the songs he’d hear on his way back home on the subway, like he said he always does?

And almost three months after their first encounter Changkyun felt what he likes to disguise as an infatuation, just because naming the amount of feelings he was feeling was too much for his (paralyzed) heart. Changkyun had many partners during the course of his (dead) life, obviously, but none he could call romantic; yet all he could feel when Jooheon dared to kiss him on a rainy August night after sharing street food and watching a horrible German movie was, unmistakably, love.

But nothing comes easy when you’re a monster.

Even if Changkyun didn’t effectively attack humans for blood anymore, even if he had disguised himself and learned how to live among them, he was pretending to be someone he wasn’t, purely because he had never gone so far with someone like he went with Jooheon. The lies he usually told people started to sound wrong to his own ears, taste bad in his mouth; it wasn’t pleasant to see the smile in Jooheon’s face disappear when he apologized and said he couldn’t meet him for lunch, for a breakfast, or that their encounters would have to be nocturnal since he was “very busy” during the day.

Being a vampire, Changkyun’s life would never be normal. Jooheon would never have normal if they had anything – but the vampire was too selfish to let go of that tiny particle of happiness.

Scared, too.

It didn’t really matter for a while: the human would stay, would let Changkyun dictate the norms of their weird friendship with benefits without a word. He always stared at Changkyun with adoration, let him tilt his head back to barely graze his teeth in the golden flesh, the vampire moaning as he heard the blood flowing in all directions, some more than others.

Jooheon whispered the things Changkyun wanted more to hear but never told anyone, laughed and made everything comfortable around them even if Changkyun was always so cold during summer, even if every time he reached his climax nothing ever came from him, no indication of arousal but the unholy volume of his moans and the way he called Jooheon’s name like a prayer (which was ironic, since he was a demonic creature).

Jooheon always fucked him like they were lovers, careful and intense, whispering look at me whenever Changkyun got too shy and averted his eyes. It was so overwhelming that the vampire would beg to be filled, to be marked in a way he wished was permanent like himself.

The emptiness inside him was only filled by the fire that seemed to spread when Jooheon finished, the sweat running all over the human’s body and the sweet smell of his blood driving Changkyun crazy.

After, Jooheon would jump immediately to aftercare – wet, warm towels to wipe the evidence of their night from Changkyun’s body. They usually ordered takeout, ate while watching silly things on Changkyun’s phone, and fell asleep cuddling.

All that was, apparently, fine to Jooheon.

The only problem was that Changkyun declined every single attempt of meeting the friends, as the human used to insist.

It was September, almost October, when Jooheon came back from the bathroom and sighed, leaning against the door jamb. He seemed tired, but Changkyun knew it wasn’t because of their late roll in the sheets; they didn’t even make much effort, the vampire slowly riding his boyfriend as he only cradled Changkyun’s face between his hands and kissed him during the whole thing.

“Answer me something.”

Changkyun hummed, smiling. “Yes?”

Jooheon crossed his arms.

“What are we?”

All the (inexistent) blood inside Changkyun’s veins freeze.

“What do you mean?” He went with, but that was never a good thing to do with Jooheon, to beat around the bush. He liked things crystal clear all the time, and maybe that’s why he was the first one to admit his feelings.

Jooheon shrugged, eyes down to his feet. He had blond hair at the time, icy fried strands he said a friend dyed for him. Another of the many people Changkyun refused to meet.

“We’ve been going out for months, yet every time I want to take a step further you take twice the amount back. I even said I loved you.”

Changkyun forced himself to blink. “I do, too.”

“You what?” Jooheon asked. Tired, tired. Dark circles under his small eyes, his cheekbones sharper with the dim lighting of the bed lamp.

“I love you, hyung”, Changkyun said. “Of course I do.”

Not even that was sufficient to make Jooheon smile. He wasn’t going to drop the subject, and Changkyun knew he was fucked in the bad sense of the word, not in the way he was a few minutes before.

“But then… Why don’t you want to be a part of my life?” Jooheon asked, his voice breaking in the end. Was he going to cry? “Why don't you want to meet me for lunch, during my breaks at work, meet my friends? I had so many parties I could have taken you with me, so many people know that I’m seeing someone yet I have no one by my side during gatherings, during lunches. They’re starting to think I’m pretending to be dating just because I’m the only ‘single’ in the group.”

Changkyun frowned. “That’s mean.”

Jooheon scoffs. “No, it’s just a joke. Friends do that—what about your friends? Why don’t you ever talk about them? Why don’t you want to introduce me to them?”

To whom? There was no one, even before the turning. Changkyun liked living up to the tale that vampires are reclusive and mysterious; the last human he effectively interacted for more than ten minutes was his supervisor at the phone, a man in his forties who accepted Changkyun in his book publisher as a translator even if he didn't have any indication or reference but fluency in a dozen languages.

In a small voice he replied, “I don’t have any friends, I told you that.”

“How are you in your twenties and you don’t have friends?” Jooheon asked; Changkyun saw in his eyes how those were all questions he was keeping to himself but now spilled through his lips easily.

Jooheon loved him, yes, but did he trust him?

Did Changkyun give enough proof that he would be someone trustworthy?

The lies were all accumulating and in a certain point it would be impossible to sustain so many untrue stories.

“I’m… shy”, he tried, not really knowing what to say.

“I know that, but it doesn’t make much sense when you were so upfront when asked me out all these months ago—”

“I wasn’t interested in you like that”, Changkyun felt embarrassed. “I just thought you’d be nice—”

The smell of your blood and the sound of your heart beating was too much for me not to want to be close.

Also – dimples.

Jooheon’s face was red, forehead frowned in an expression Changkyun hated seeing on his face. “Didn’t you ever think someone else would be nice?”

“Hyung”, the vampire sat on the bed, the covers pooling on his waist. No marks, no scratches. No reds or purples like the ones in Jooheon’s shoulders and jaw. “Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“Because it’s my birthday next week and I want you to come, yet I know you’ll say no”, Jooheon answered. Changkyun’s face dropped, surprised; the human scoffed at the reaction. “What, tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you will come to my favorite barbeque and you’ll finally meet all my coworkers and friends, that you will eat and drink and allow me to introduce you as my boyfriend, that you’ll go to my parents house on the next day to have lunch with them, that you won’t just text me after I’m done with my shift to come here and fuck, because that’s apparently—”

“Hyung.”

The words stung so much because they were all facts.

If was alive, Changkyun would cry.

Jooheon stopped, breathing hard. Now that he knew so much about human’s physical reactions and how to associate them with feelings, Changkyun got a bit nauseated with such intensity, the anger and disappointment he could see in Jooheon’s eyes.

“What?” He asked, blinking quickly, rapidly. “Do you have something to say?”

Was there any other option?

“I do.”

Silence. Patience was running low.

“Then. What?”

Changkyun’s lips trembled.

“I’m a vampire.”

“Use your words, Changkyun-ah”, Jooheon says gently. Brushes the long strands of hair aside, cups the cheekbones and the jawline and traces the slight slope of Changkyun’s long nose, kisses the tip of it. “Why does it bother you when I talk about Kihyun-hyung?”

Taking a deep breath to fill his (frozen) lungs, Changkyun confesses, “He’s driving you to places, eating with you during your break. He texts you songs and movies for you to watch, he sends you funny things he sees on the internet. He met your parents.”

Jooheon hums, cautious. Like a stray cat, he knows he can’t play with Changkyun when he’s angry like that. It’ll earn him kicks and scratches.

“But all my friends do that”, he carefully argues. “They’ve all met my family.”

“Yes, I know”, Changkyun turns around, a bit angrier now. He can’t cry but the weird feeling in his throat could be an indication that, if he was alive, he’d be shedding tears right now. “But none gave you rides with that frequency. No one calls you on video, no one knows all your preferences like I do, no one became so close of you all of a sudden, no—”

“Shh”, Jooheon gently shushes him. Changkyun is trembling. “Do you want me to stop talking to Kihyun-hyung?”

The vampire sits up abruptly, getting out of the bed. He doesn’t care that he's naked. Jooheon has seen him in all ways possible, they have more than enough intimacy for him to wander his apartment nude because he wants to avoid a confrontation.

Jooheon follows, as he always does.

“Baby, don’t do that. Talk.”

“That is—” There’s a turmoil inside of Changkyun that was awakened after Jooheon said the three damned words, all those years ago, and now he’s here, envying a human that has the opportunity to be more present in Jooheon’s life. “That is so absurd. How can you ask me such a thing?”

“What?” Jooheon is genuinely confused, which pisses Changkyun off much more. “If you don’t like him, I can stop talking to him.”

“I’d never ask that of you!” Changkyun’s voice is brittle. “I never said I don’t like him!”

“You just did!”

“I never even met him!” The vampire shakes his head. “How can I say such—”

He suddenly stops, slapping his own mouth. It doesn’t hurt, but the way Jooheon’s expression changes from confusion to understanding and then finally victory again is a bit hot at the same it is infuriating.

“No”, Jooheon smirks, the old cotton pants hanging low on his hips, the skin around the eagle tattoo marked with bites and scratches. “You never met any of my friends, therefore there’s no way you can say you don’t like them.”

Changkyun wishes there was still blood on his veins so Jooheon could see his face red in anger.

“Stop.”

Jooheon shakes his head, the smirk turning into a genuine smile like when he’s about to act cute on purpose just for the sake of being annoying. Changkyun blinks, uses the fangs to bite the inside of his mouth as he walks backwards, not even remembering his surroundings but realizing he knows every single trait of his man’s personality with his eyes closed.

“Kyunnie”, Jooheon says in that stupid saccharin and deep voice at the same time, “Don’t you want to meet my friends?”

Seven years and he never gave up.

“No”, Changkyun feels the couch on the back of his knees and falls sitting on it, knowing that even if he’s a vampire, he’s nothing but Jooheon’s prey most times. “I told you so, how am I going to explain—”

“You don’t need to explain anything, baby”, Jooheon says like it’s the first time. He kneels on the floor between Changkyun’s legs and there are tiny little wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that hadn't been there a few years ago (he’ll be thirty soon. Thinking of Jooheon’s mortality is scary. The only thing Changkyun is afraid of).

“S-so what”, he stutters. “You want me to sit there and expect no one will question me about anything? Do you still talk about me to them?”

“All the time”, Jooheon answers with a shrug as if it isn’t the exact opposite of what they agreed on. Impossible for someone so extroverted to be discreet. “Minhyuk-hyung always says he wants to meet you when you’re in town.”

Changkyun scoffs, ignores the sweaty palms going up and down his thighs, the shine of Jooheon’s lip balm. “In town? What, did you convince them you’re in a long-distance relationship?”

“Duh. I’m very convincing when I want to”, Jooheon moves his head and blinks foolishly, feigning arrogance. “I told them you’re a model.”

Changkyun laughs, way too loud for two in the morning.

“What the fuck, hyung? And they believed?”

“I mean”, Jooheon shrugs, a bit flushed by the reaction. He really loves Changkyun’s laugh. “I showed them some pictures, there was no way they wouldn’t.”

“What?” Changkyun slaps his arm. Jooheon flinches, but he’s not really in pain. “You showed them my—which pictures? I don’t have any!”

“That you know”, Jooheon says sheepishly and receives another slap. “Ouch! I take pictures of you all the time, Changkyun-ah! You’re just not paying attention.”

Changkyun crosses his arms, tries to lie down on the couch but can’t, not having such a big man between his legs.

(Is it bad, that he always gets aroused by Jooheon scolding him or winning their small fights?)

“I’m not going to meet your friends, hyung. I don’t feel comfortable”, Changkyun also says like it’s the first time.

“I know you don’t, but it’s because you’re afraid they’ll find out what you are and freak out. They won’t”, Jooheon assures him, brushing Changkyun’s hair back and kissing his forehead. “Just because you’re pale and don't speak much no one will think you’re a vampire. It’s not like you make your existence known, is it?”

Changkyun laughs inevitably. He can never stay mad at Jooheon for too long, even if he wasn’t exactly mad at him this time.

The way his voice comes, deep but meek, how he avoids staring back at Jooheon as he does the silly thing of moving his head side to side to try to force Changkyun to stare back is a sign that he lost the battle he so fiercely fought for so many (and at the same time, few) years.

“No, it’s not.”

Jooheon smiles. He presses his fingertips on Changkyun’s thighs, watching as it doesn’t change colors, how it continues being marble white no matter how much he pinches or touches; his expression changes, though, when he starts speaking much lower, almost shyly. It’s not common for Jooheon not to be a big ball of energy, not common for him to not scream or just talk loudly in general, so now Changkyun is a bit alert, the sound of his heart beating a bit faster, blood pressure a bit higher.

“Why are you jealous, anyway?” He asks. “Don’t I make you feel safe eno—”

“Hush”, the vampire leans forward, hugs Jooheon to not let him finish because he knows what’s coming after this. Changkyun is also terrified to hurt his boyfriend’s feelings because he’s literally the only person he has, ever had in his life (dead) time. “You do, hyung. You do.”

“So why—” Jooheon’s voice is thick like he’s about to cry, and Changkyun feels so guilty. He shouldn’t have said anything. “Why don’t you trust me? Do you think I don’t love you, do you think I’d do something like cheat on you—”

“No, hyung, no—” Changkyun kisses his ear, scratches the base of Jooheon’s head like he knows he likes. The hands on his thighs snake up until he’s being hugged. “I know you love me, you always show me. I don’t doubt of you—”

“Then why, Changkyun-ah?” Jooheon asks in a whisper. “I’d never do anything like that, you know that, you know I lo—”

And it’s not intentional how the words “Because he can give you what I cannot” slip past Changkyun’s purplish lips, but it’s kind of good they do.

There’s a pause where he pretends the thudding sound he hears is his heart and not Jooheon’s.

The human pulls apart. There are fresh tears down his face and Changkyun wants to kiss them all in a way to ask for forgiveness, that he didn’t mean to upset him or kill the mood they were in before, but is too scared to say anything right now.

“Give me what?” Jooheon asks.

Changkyun gulps. He doesn’t salivate, not when he’s not feeding, but there’s still a lump in his throat that needs to be swallowed so words can slip past.

“Don’t make me repeat”, he whispers.

Jooheon sits on the floor, almost brings Changkyun with him.

“What can Kihyun-hyung give me that you can’t?” Jooheon asks, suddenly so serious, even if the tears are still falling down his cheeks.

Isn’t it obvious?

“He… He does all that.”

“All that what?”

“He goes out with you”, Changkyun vaguely answers, staring down at himself in Jooheon’s arms. Starts to get ashamed of his nakedness. “Let me dress something.”

“You go out with me too”, Jooheon retorts. “And dress for what? You’re great like this.”

It angers Changkyun at the same time he feels giddy.

Jooheon just doesn’t get it.

“You know what I mean, hyung.”

“No, Changkyun-ah”, Jooheon purses his lips, the beautiful heart-shaped lips that were one of the things that made the vampire fall in love. “I can’t think of anything any guy could give me that you c—”

“He eats with you during your work breaks”, Changkyun gives up, blurts out while throwing his head back to the couch and staring at the ceiling. If he’ll do that, it won’t be looking at his boyfriend’s face. “He met your parents. He’s so close to you and you’re able to take him everywhere, and he probably doesn’t worry about you leaving him because one day you’ll wake up and realize he’s a monster, that he’s dead and he drinks blood and that you should be afraid of him and not lov—”

The kiss is rough at first, clearly a shut up.

Changkyun doesn’t mind.

He lies down without any protest when Jooheon hovers over him; his eyes are still on the ceiling, angry, disappointed and sad even when hands ghost over the inside of his thighs and he trembles in anticipation, when he’s still wet and stretched from a few minutes (or hour? Changkyun lost the track of time in the nineteenth century) ago.

“You’re not a monster. I would never think this of you, I never thought that of you”, Jooheon kisses the column of Changkyun’s neck and it almost makes him laugh. Again: who’s the prey? “You can be dead and can drink blood but I fell in love with you before you told me that and I never stopped loving you after.”

“Stop”, Changkyun protests. When all hands and lips are off him, he groans. “No. Not this. Stop talking.”

Jooheon chuckles, his adorable and stupid dimples on full display. Changkyun hates how much he wants to be able to shred a few tears.

“I won’t stop talking until you understand you don’t need to feel insecure”, Jooheon licks a nipple and Changkyun swears he’s seeing stars, the contrast of the warm tongue on his cold skin absolutely perfect. “I’m not leaving you.”

You are, Changkyun disagrees. Your life is a mere blink of an eye to me and one day I’ll have to watch you die while I stay here—

When Jooheon presses forward, all oxygen leaves Changkyun’s (non-functional) lungs. It’s tight and hotter than hell and he moans despite himself, holding for dear (death) life to Jooheon’s biceps, strong, his nails piercing the skin.

“You’re the only one I want, baby”, Jooheon whispers in his ear, hips going forward and backward, really slow, provocative. Changkyun almost mewls. “I only want what you have to give me, I only want you. Got it?”

Changkyun has to bite the couch, his fangs cutting through the upholstery, as his whole body shakes with dry release.

At first Jooheon blinked. And blinked. And blinked a little more.

Then he screamed and left.

Changkyun stayed there for three entire days, still like a stone statue sitting on the bed. His (withered) brain was freaking out, his mind a complete mess, but all he could do was reminisce the last traces of Jooheon in his apartment – the human’s skin scent, the dirty socks on the floor, the dirty plates on the sink, his wet towel on the bathroom, probably over the toilet lid, the toothbrush on a tiger plastic cup Jooheon got in a small store in the children’s section, his clothes inside Changkyun’s wardrobe.

And Changkyun knew Jooheon was the most scared man in the world, easily startled by every little thing – yet when he came back, he was scared, but not like the first night.

He stopped by the door of the bedroom and frowned, jaw set thigh – genuinely terrified.

“Prove me.”

Changkyun’s voice was rough with disuse. “What?”

“Prove me you’re a vampire. Prove me you’re not fucking crazy and that I fell in love with a lunatic—”

“How?” Changkyun asked. There was no color in Jooheon’s face, and for the first time the sound of his heart beating fast was unpleasant. “I am a vampire. It’s a fact.”

Jooheon laughed even if it was clear he didn’t find anything funny. “Vampires don’t exist.”

“They do”, Changkyun told him. “Like every other supernatural entity. You just never met one before, or maybe did and they didn’t tell you.”

“If you’re a vampire, why didn’t you try to kill me?” Jooheon asked. His voice trembled, and Changkyun snorted at the absurdity of the idea. “Shouldn’t you try to drink my blood—”

“I don’t need to feed from you.”

Jooheon looked and sounded almost offended. “Then—who?”

“None of your business”, Changkyun said as gently as possible. “What you should know is that I really am a vampire and I don’t want you to be afraid, but that’s why I don’t want to meet any of your friends or family. One thing it’s to explain it to you, the other thing is to explain it to the others. I can’t.”

He watched as Jooheon’s hand raised very slowly, as if moving fast would make Changkyun attack. The lights of the bedroom suddenly went on and his face was impassive, no darker skin under his eyes like Jooheon had.

“You know that sounds like so fucking bullshit to me”, the human whispered.

Changkyun nodded. “But it’s the truth.”

“I think you’re the most fucked up person I ever met”, he continued. “You could have just said you don’t actually love me or that this is only about the sex. You didn’t need to—”

Changkyun closed his eyes. Jooheon smelled like coffee, deodorant and sweat, probably having ran from the subway station to the apartment complex Changkyun lived in, but also sweet like honey, a blood he knew was so thick and rich that would have him fed for weeks, months even, a pure innocent heart beating so fast inside such a body of a man that drove Changkyun crazy, that made him forget he wasn’t able to feel, that he shouldn’t feel like this over a human.

Then he smiled, really openly, a bit forced, his canines now so long they poked his lower lip, eyes not a deep black but purple-red.

Jooheon gasped, taking a step back.

“Believe me now?”

“Jooheon-ah! Over here!”

Changkyun is dragged by the hand to a table already full of plates and glasses, of faces he never met but knows every single one.

“Sorry we were late! Had to pick Changkyun-ah at the airport, the traffic was horrible”, Jooheon apologizes, untying the scarf around his neck and taking off his jacket.

“Ah, yes! I saw it on the news!” A man that once was blond and then brunette but now has blue hair gets up to gesture to two empty seats, putting the bags that were there before on the floor, under the table. Changkyun recognizes his voice from phone calls he overheard. This is Minhyuk-hyung, smiling openly at him when their eyes meet. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re really here! I was dying to meet you!”

Before they sit Changkyun forces himself to blink and hold his chin up high, turning to look at Jooheon. He’s almost blinded by the light of his smile.

“This is my boyfriend, Changkyun.” He turns to the men at the table. “And these are the guys.”

“Won’t you introduce us?” Minhyuk asks.

“No”, Jooheon shakes his head, a bit shy. “He knows everybody from pictures already.”

There’s excitement in the air; Changkyun can smell it. All types of blood, some like Jooheon but not exactly like his, some completely different; so many hearts, so many necks and veins and smiles and eyes and words that aren’t even processed by his ears.

Overwhelmed by humans, the vampire just nods and smiles with closed lips when sits down.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you”, a big man by the end of the table says. His shoulders almost don’t fit the cramped space of the booth they’re sitting in. He is who Jooheon calls Shownu-hyung. “Jooheonnie always talked so much about you.”

“Yes!” Minhyuk nods, clapping big hands. He’s loud, exactly like Jooheon. “We didn’t even believe him at first, but then he said you’re a model, is that right? We were so excited. Really.”

Changkyun sighs, agreeing. What is another lie when he already told so many?

“Yes.”

“Ooh, his voice is deep!” Wonho-hyung, the guy who goes to the gym and cat cafes with Jooheon, exclaims. He’s one of the few Changkyun liked when saw pictures. “You could be on TV, too!”

“We’re really happy to meet you”, one extends a small hand, and Changkyun looks at him at the same time he bites the inside of his cheek. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kihyun.”

“I know”, Changkyun doesn’t bother smiling when retributes the handshake.

Kihyun hums, blinking as if expecting something but then quickly speaking again, “Jooheonnie said you work abroad almost the entire year. For how long are you staying in Korea this time?”

“A couple weeks”, Changkyun vaguely answers. Kihyun-hyung is smaller than he thought, probably the same height as him, cheeks a bit flushed and smart, small eyes and a pointy nose, all paired with a big smile full of white teeth – unquestionably handsome.

Damn it.

Jooheon’s hand inside Changkyun’s thigh squeezes in both a warning and a reminder but he’s looking completely chill, taking food from the portions served and putting pieces of meat on their plates.

“And where were you this time?” Shownu asks, distracting him from feeling jealous again.

Changkyun says the first thing that comes to his mind: a city he was in the last time during 1987: “Bergen.”

“Ooh. Where is that?” Minhyuk asks.

Jooheon bites his lip not to laugh when his boyfriend answers, “Norway.”

Shownu frowns, a bit confused. “Jooheonnie said you were in the US.”

Changkyun turns to find his boyfriend’s ears red. They should have agreed on telling the same story, but it was hard to think of something when Jooheon spent the last days making sure to prove his affection in all rooms in Changkyun’s apartment.

(He catches Wonho and Minhyuk snickering at Jooheon’s very purple hickey on his neck and smiles despite himself.)

“I was in the US at the beginning of the year.”

“And what companies do you model for?” Kihyun asks, serving himself a bit more of beer and gesturing the bottle at Changkyun’s direction, offering. Changkyun shakes his head. “You don’t drink?”

“Not very fond of”, he answers. Knowing nothing about the modeling industry, he continues, “I work for some designer brands. Backstage. I’m not really allowed to say which.”

The men exchange a look while Jooheon hums, mouth full as a squirrel as he speaks, “It’s very exclusive.”

Minhyuk’s eyes are huge. Changkyun notices his blood smells the most different from the others, faded, like an anemic would smell. He’s paler than everybody, even.

“Wow, you must know so many famous people! What do you do?”

Changkyun hums, accepting the lettuce wrap Jooheon just made for him. It tastes like nothing. “I do the first fitting of clothes. I also help with the designs.”

“This is cool”, Shownu nods, but Kihyun beside him doesn’t look convinced.

“What is your family name, if I’m allowed to ask?” He takes his phone from his pocket, probably opening Naver. “I mean, Jooheonnie already showed us some pictures of you, but I’d love to see—”

Minhyuk interrupts him to get up on his feet, arms open as he waves and calls, “Hyungwon-ah!”

Changkyun turns around, his annoyance towards Kihyun quickly replaced by confusion for not recognizing a name. He sees a man in black – clothes, hair, eyes – coming closer, passing by a few tables with a small smile on his face. He’s gracious in his movements, towering with his height – Changkyun thinks he could be a model.

Still, his face is one the vampire doesn’t exactly recognize but has something definitely familiar, something that has him intrigued.

Minhyuk moves and makes space for the newcomer in the spot beside him, excited and a bit violently tapping Wonho’s back for him to get up too and change places.

“I’m sorry I’m late”, the man, Hyungwon, says, taking off his leather jacket to reveal a black sweater underneath. Minhyuk doesn’t even let him sit, hand on the back of his neck as he brings Hyungwon’s face closer, jumping slightly. Hyungwon chuckles and taps his back as a way to calm him down. “Hi there. I’m glad to see you too.”

“I thought you couldn’t make it!” Minhyuk finally sits down, Hyungwon sitting beside him, the new guest’s biceps hidden under Minhyuk’s hands. “You took so long!”

Jooheon feeds Changkyun another lettuce wrap but he’s still paying attention to the dynamic happening in front of him, how… peculiar Hyungwon looks, exaggeratedly white just like him but with plump, reddish lips instead, a face not sharp but round and big, shiny eyes.

Hyungwon smiles at Shownu and apologetically at Wonho, greeting Kihyun with a nod and Jooheon with another smile. “Traffic was bad”, and his eyes finally fall on Changkyun. He smirks. “Oh, who do we have here?”

Changkyun frowns.

“Hyung, this is my boyfriend, Changkyun.” Jooheon smiles at his boyfriend. “This is Hyungwon-hyung, he’s Minhyuk-hyung’s boyfriend.”

The vampire nods, retributing the greeting. Hyungwon seems much less energetic than Minhyuk, but there’s still something weird about him that has all Changkyun’s attention.

Plus, he doesn’t really smell like anything, which is odd.

“Finally, we meet the famous boyfriend”, Hyungwon says, still smirking. His voice is low and calm, even kind, but if there’s something Changkyun learned in his four hundred and two years of existence is that you should always trust your gut. “I heard that you are super busy.”

“He’s a model”, Jooheon repeats the lie. “He’s spending the month with me.”

“That’s great!” Hyungwon now smiles genuinely with his mouth-closed, running his pale hands through his hair. No visible veins under the skin, which is odd. Someone so pale should have blue veins visible. “We have a lot to catch up, then. I was also working—”

“Hyungwonnie won a very difficult case”, Minhyuk interrupts, kissing his boyfriend’s cheek. He looks and sounds so proud. “Didn’t you?”

“The one you were telling us about? About the children?” Shownu asks.

“Yes”, Hyungwon nods. Before Changkyun can ask what he does, he turns to him and explains, “I’m a lawyer.”

“Oh”, is all Changkyun says.

Hyungwon smiles at him and turns to Kihyun immediately, who’s busy typing on his phone.

“Kihyun-ssi, could you stop searching for Jooheonnie’s boyfriend on the internet and give us some attention? Aren’t you the one who insists for us not to use our phones at the table?”

Kihyun scowls at him, blushing. “I’m not doing… Anything.”

Hyungwon tilts his head to the side, severely. “Kihyun-ssi.”

Kihyun groans, locking the screen and putting his phone down. “Alright. How did you know?”

Hyungwon smiles, pleased, gracefully taking the glass of soju Minhyuk serves himself and drinking it instead, blinking innocently when his boyfriend pouts. “You cannot handle any alcohol, don’t pretend to make Jooheonnie’s boyfriend amused”, he stage-whispers, eyes on Changkyun that again make him intrigued.

Jooheon snorts and kisses the back of Changkyun’s hand, serving him more food as if his plate isn’t already full.

Kihyun crosses his arms over the table, frowning a bit. “I just think it’s curious how could a person work in the backstage of famous brands like Changkyun-ssi said he does and don’t have at least a LinkedIn—”

“Drop the subject, already”, Minhyuk complains. “Changkyun-ssi came to meet us for the first time in what, seven years? And you’re asking him things about work? Let him breathe.”

“You can drop the honorifics”, Changkyun says, a bit shy. Jooheon squeezes his thigh again, smiling, and everybody stops to listen to him. “I’m… certainly younger than all of you.”

“How old are you?” Wonho asks.

Changkyun tries to do the math. “Twenty… seven.”

“Oh! He’s the youngest!” Minhyuk claps, excited. “Jooheonnie was the youngest before you!”

“I’m the oldest”, Shownu raises his hand. “And then it’s Hoseokkie, Minhyukkie, Kihyunnie, Hyungwonnie and you two.”

“Isn’t it cute”, Wonho (Hoseok?) beams, serving Kihyun a glass of beer so he stops frowning, “That the youngest are together?”

“No, Hyungwon-ssi dates an older guy”, Kihyun teases, accepting with a smile the drink. Changkyun notices how he got the phone again, like he’ll insist on the search; maybe he was right on not liking him but also needed to do a better planning before agreeing in such a stupid plan like pretending he was a model but having no portfolio to show.

“I prefer older men”, Hyungwon jokes. He leans a bit in Minhyuk’s direction, resting his head on his shoulder. “Right?”

Minhyuk giggles, covering their faces as he probably kisses Hyungwon. “As if! You’re way older than I am.”

“Isn’t Hyungwonnie two months younger than both of you?” Shownu asks, pointing between Minhyuk and Kihyun.

Hyungwon hums, but the way Minhyuk laughs and the look they exchange are too weird for no one to notice anything.

It’s looking at Changkyun, who was staring openly, that Hyungwon answers, “Sometimes I think I’m almost two hundred years older.”

“So what do you do?”

Changkyun snorted, turning to find Jooheon staring at him, curious as a child.

“I’m a translator. I thought you knew.”

Jooheon rolled his eyes, smiling that just one dimple appeared. “No, duh.”

“You didn’t?”

Jooheon ignored him. Always said Changkyun isn’t that good with humor. “What do you do as a vampire, dummy?”

“Ah.” Changkyun rolled so he was on his side, facing his boyfriend. His human, filled-with-blood lover who just accepted the truth of his nature with nothing but wide eyes, a scream, and then a bit of tears that dried when Changkyun assured him his fangs were no joke and he wasn’t in a sitcom, but that he wasn’t going to be killed either. “Lots of things, I guess.”

“Like what?” Jooheon insisted.

“I think it’s easier if I list what I cannot do”, Changkyun took Jooheon’s hand and kissed the back of it under attentive eyes.

“Is there something you can’t do? I thought vampires were invincible.”

Changkyun laughed at that. “No, we’re not. Well, for example, I don’t need to eat nor drink.”

Jooheon’s mouth opened wide. “But you’ve been drinking and eating all this time!”

“I do, but it was only because of you. Food doesn’t taste like anything because I don’t have taste buds. It’s not like it’s bad for me, but I prefer not doing it.”

“Oh”, Jooheon whispered. “That’s… weird. Do you digest it?”

Changkyun chuckled. “Kind of. My intestines don’t work, but don’t ask me to explain it, I don’t really know about the anatomy. It just goes straight down.”

Jooheon giggled, scrunching his nose. “Disgusting”, he joked, but it was clear he was still a bit afraid. “Huh. Alright. What else?”

Changkyun kissed his knuckles again and frowned in thought. “I cannot sweat nor cry. I don’t salivate when I’m not feeding. I don’t blink. I’m really, really dead. I’m a corpse.”

Jooheon nodded. His heart-rate was higher when he asked, “How do you feed? Or… When?”

“Don’t worry about that”, Changkyun shook his head. “Seriously. What you should know is that I’m not killing anyone. I stopped doing that at the beginning of the past century.”

Jooheon gasped, whispering in fear, “Have you ever killed someone?”

Changkyun chuckles at the reaction, quickly kissing him to make him less afraid. “Obviously. I mean, it was that or starving. And starving isn’t good, makes the next meal a bit more… Intense. The less hungry I am, the better.”

There was another significant change in the rhythm of Jooheon’s heartbeats. Changkyun smiled.

“Are you hungry now?” The human asked in a small voice. Didn’t fit him and his big presence of mind, his shiny spirit.

Changkyun shook his head. “No, hyung.”

“You’re not killing me, then?”

“No”, Changkyun answered even if that was the most stupid question. “I’ll never hurt you. I want you to know that.”

Jooheon hesitated, but finally nodded. “Not even when you’re hungry?”

“I have ways of feeding myself. Don’t forget I met you only a few months ago. I had a whole life before that”, Changkyun tried to tranquilize him.

It didn’t work – Jooheon pouted, childish. It was an indication of his good humor, at least.

“Don’t say that. Makes me remember you lived for so long before meeting me”, he brought Changkyun closer, kissed his face carefully, like he was seeing him under another perspective now. “Did you ever date someone before me?”

“I’m three-hundred and ninety-five years old”, Changkyun answered. When Jooheon didn’t say anything, he sighed, forcefully. “But no. Not like you, hyung.”

Jooheon laughed loudly, clearly satisfied. “You’re still calling me hyung?”

Changkyun grinned, mischievous. “I know you like it when I do.”

Earned him a really long kiss.

When they parted so Jooheon could breathe, he asked, “Can you feel this? When we kiss?”

Changkyun nodded, pecking him again. “I can feel anything related to blood or body fluids.”

Jooheon hummed, his lips slick with spit. “Like what?”

“Like your body temperature. I know when you’re hot or cold because of your blood. I taste your saliva, your sweat. I can smell everything, too. I actually have a very keen sense of smell, like an animal – but only what is related to the human body.”

“And when we…” Jooheon’s face got a bit redder, his eyes darting down to the space between them on the mattress. “When we… you know.”

Changkyun brushed the fringe out of the human’s eyes, kissing over his lids. Happy, genuinely so, that he was able to still have this after such a misunderstanding, that Jooheon believed and even accepted him. He was sure he would go away and never come back.

“Fuck?” Changkyun guessed. Jooheon groaned, shaking his head like it was the most forbidden thing, to say such a word. “Yes, everything related to body fluids. I feel you warm, I feel when you come. I hear everything, too, like your heart beating and your blood moving inside your body. It’s nice.”

“But you never came because you can’t, is that it?” It was always something Jooheon asked after they finished, if Changkyun came too. They’d never talk about that, but Changkyun always knew it made Jooheon extremely bothered, since a person with a dick but without blood would never get hard, obviously. “Do you get in the mood? Because I never saw you—”

“I’m in the mood right now”, Changkyun confessed, making his boyfriend laugh in embarrassment. “But it’s not physical, at least not completely. I cannot explain. It’s a feeling, only, but it’s really good. I feel everything but only in my head. I can’t express it with my body.”

Jooheon nodded, although still looking confused. “I thought you didn’t want me, because you never…” He gestured vaguely. “I don’t know.”

“I want you, hyung”, Changkyun reassured him. “I really do. I always want to have sex, I always want to be close to you. I know it’s hard to understand, but I love you.”

Jooheon smiled, kissing him again.

“And what you said about smelling blood and stuff. Is it everybody’s or just mine?”

“Everybody’s, but yours a bit more. Guess it’s why I got attracted to you.”

Jooheon smirked, making Changkyun roll his eyes. “Uh-uh, don’t roll your eyes at me, sir. Tell me more about it.”

“I just thought you smelled too good”, Changkyun shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant. “Like no one I met before.”

Jooheon’s eyebrows went up as he made an exaggerated surprised face. Changkyun laughed, trying to break the hug – even if he was the supernatural creature, the vampire, he couldn’t do anything inside Jooheon’s arms, always at his mercy.

“Okay, I’m flattered. You kinda met a lot of people, right?”

“Yes”, Changkyun nodded. “Is there anything else you want to know? Because if you’re done with the interrogation I’d like more kisses, please. You owe me three days of it.”

Jooheon laughed, pinching Changkyun’s sides. Now he got it, why his boyfriend never reacted when he did so.

“Don’t be bad. I’ve never met a vampire before, I want to know these things.”

“Okay”, Changkyun sighed, faking annoyance. Jooheon smiled at that. “Ask away.”

“Do you like, shine under the sun? Has super strength? Mind control?”

“No”, Changkyun chuckled. “Forget about the movies you saw. That’s all bullshit. I’m literally a corpse, nothing that special. A few of us receive something after the turning, like an enhancement of some characteristics. My sense of smell is good like I said, night vision, good memory. But not too much. I can't fly or anything like that.”

“You’re like a dog, then?”

Changkyun slapped Jooheon’s arm, making them both laugh. There was a new shine in the human’s eyes as he stared at Changkyun, like everything was new and he had never seen his boyfriend before. Got the vampire a little embarrassed.

“How was it, when you were… turned?” Jooheon asked, cautious. “Is it the term you used?”

Changkyun nodded.

If there was a thing he wished he could forget was that day – nothing would ever compare to the terror of being chased, of seeing his entire family wither like a fallen leaf, the color fading from their bodies until they turn to ash.

If only the vampire spared Changkyun’s life by killing him too.

“I don’t really like to talk about that”, he confessed. “It was really fucking horrible.”

Jooheon pouted, kissing the tip of Changkyun’s nose. Always cold, he said (and exactly like a dog’s).

“Alright. Let’s not talk about that anymore. But can I ask if you’re immortal, too?”

Changkyun snorted. “Kind of. I’m immune to most things, of course, but if you burn me alive, shoot me with a silver bullet or cut my head off, I’ll be dead.”

Jooheon groaned, releasing the hug and covering his face with his hands. “That’s fucking horrible!”

Changkyun giggled at the reaction. “Don’t think about it too much, alright? I’m not going anywhere.”

Jooheon hummed, changing positions and lying over Changkyun’s body. A heated blanket, always making him happy. It was even better after all the misunderstanding they had, and Changkyun wished he could drown in Jooheon or at least share the same space, become one with him.

“I still can’t believe it”, the human whispered, smirking, all silly. “Won’t you turn me into a vampire, too? So we can be a cool vampire couple together?”

Changkyun crossed his ankles on the small of Jooheon’s back. The position was one he liked the most, one he could be chest by chest with his boyfriend and feel all of his life surrounding him like a halo (which was ironic, since he was a sinful creature himself).

“I’d never want you to share my curse”, Changkyun whispered, pulling Jooheon’s neck closer to his mouth to just lick at it, making the man inside his arms tremble.

Changkyun waits at the sidewalk as the others pay the bill. It’s late in the evening already but still the beginning of a vampire’s day – he has work to do when get home, drunk-Jooheon to take care of.

(Changkyun always tells him not to mix soju and wine, but who says the human listens to him?)

Hyungwon is the first one to come out, Minhyuk still arguing with Jooheon over the calculator on his phone. Shownu is sleeping on Wonho's shoulder, the second-oldest chatting with a waitress, and Kihyun is putting the leftover food in styrofoam containers for everyone.

“Changkyun-ssi”, Hyungwon calls, beckoning the vampire to come closer. He’s standing beside a smoking sign.

Changkyun does so a bit hesitant, watches as the other pulls something from his jacket – a pack of cigarettes – and puts one between plump lips.

“Hey.”

Hyungwon bows politely. “Nice to finally meet you.”

Changkyun hums, bowing back. There’s something that bothers him in Hyungwon, like how he effortlessly twists a lighter that seems years old between slender pale fingers and lights the cigarette up, lightening it but not taking his eyes off Changkyun.

“Likewise.”

Hyungwon smiles, always close-mouthed. He takes a drag of the cigarette and flicks the ashes, long fingers moving like in a dream.

“So. You don’t remember me, am I right?”

Changkyun frowns, not expecting that at all.

“Excuse me?”

Hyungwon laughs. It’s a funny one, not suiting his cold, cool persona, even if his smiles are supposedly warm.

“You don’t remember me, am I right?” He repeats. When Changkyun doesn’t answer, Hyungwon shakes his head like he’s disappointed, flicking ashes again. “Ah, I’m sad. I thought you were going to.”

“Sorry”, Changkyun says even if he’s not apologetic. “When did we meet?”

“Seattle, summer of ’90. Right after that Nirvana concert at Moore Theatre.”

Changkyun’s memory does the outstanding job of reminding him where he was more than thirty years ago – indeed, Seattle. Grunge was at its peak, and Changkyun couldn’t believe he was seeing in person all the bands he enjoyed so much. There was a garage party after said concert, thrown by a guy he befriended in one of the shows, and so many people were there Changkyun could never remember everybody, not even with his talent of not forgetting.

But.

Hyungwon wasn’t that older than him, like Shownu said during dinner. It would be impossible for him to have enough age to be in a grunge party in Seattle during 1990, for him to remember Changkyun and still look in his twenties—

Staring at the pale hands without visible veins, at the pale face without the usual flush winter always brought humans, the joke Hyungwon and Minhyuk shared about him being almost two-hundred years older and how he just seemed to know what everybody was thinking before they even spoke was…

Weird.

And familiar.

“Bingo”, Hyungwon says, smiling, even if Changkyun didn’t open his mouth, taking another drag of the cigarette.

Changkyun frowns, hands on his pockets even if he can’t feel cold. “Bingo, what?”

“Don’t try that with me”, Hyungwon points to his forehead. “I can read minds.”

Changkyun grimaces, annoyed. “Pardon me?”

“Exactly what you heard. I can read minds”, Hyungwon repeats. “Really useful in my job – you can’t imagine how easy it gets, to get confessions from people when you know if they’re lying or not. What do you have?”

“What do you mean—” Changkyun tilts his head to the side, “what I have?”

Hyungwon smirks, smoke coming from his nostrils. He doesn’t say anything, only points to a car that passes by them slowly.

“Check the reflection.”

And Changkyun does, his eyebrows going up when he realizes – both with long black hair, pale face and dark clothing, almost like they’re twins.

“You already guessed, Changkyun-ah”, Hyungwon says. From up close he looks almost ethereal, like a prince. Immortal beauty. “We recognize our kin, even if unconsciously.”

The door of the restaurant opens and before Changkyun can turn around to see their group finally exiting the place, Hyungwon’s eyes flash crimson, deep and rich like blood. There are fangs showing under his upper lip, fuller than the lower.

Changkyun grins. Everything makes sense now.

He thinks, I suspected the moment you crossed the door, and Hyungwon nods, flicking the ashes.

“I recognized you immediately. Is Jooheonnie your feeder, too?” Hyungwon whispers, eyes moving fast as he sees the group getting closer.

Changkyun shakes his head, grimacing. “No, I don’t feed from him.”

“No?” Hyungwon asks, surprised. “Do you use the organization?”

“Yes, they’re much better now. There are so many blood banks we can use”, Changkyun tells him. “Do you feed from Minhyuk-ssi?”

“Since he was eighteen”, the tip of Hyungwon’s cigarette burns orange, making his eyes shine even more. It’s not usual for vampires to relate to humans intimately like Changkyun does to Jooheon, but it's even rarer when a human willingly gives their blood to a vampire. It's almost like selling your soul to the devil. “We met when he was in college. I thought Jooheonnie was your feeder too.”

“No, no. I never even considered feeding from him”, Changkyun shakes his head. “I smelled Minhyuk-ssi, by the way. He looks like he’s low on blood. Are you taking care of him?”

“So, smelling is your thing? Nice”, Hyungwon takes another drag. “I fed from him yesterday, that’s why I also didn’t let him drink. Relax, I know I have to take care of my human, he’s not the first one.”

“What are you whispering about?” Minhyuk puts his arm around Changkyun’s shoulders as if they knew each other for centuries, interrupting their conversation. “Oh! Are you friends already?”

Hyungwon smiles, his eyes black and canines back to normal again, pulling Minhyuk closer to him. The other vampire kisses his human discreetly, moving the scarf he wears so Changkyun can see the two small holes at the base of his neck, the red, irritated skin around the wounds.

“Changkyun-ssi is very nice”, Hyungwon tells Minhyuk. “I feel like we've known each other for years.”

“Kihyun-ssi didn’t like me.”

Jooheon laughs. They’re drying themselves after a shower, trying to fit inside the small bathroom in the human’s apartment, mirror foggy, him trying to multitask with his toothbrush on his mouth and foam running down his chin while Changkyun dressed.

(He only agreed to wash because of the promise of something else during the process.)

“Baby, stop. He did like you. He was just curious about your work, nothing else.”

“Sure. He was really nice, insisting on knowing what I was working on because apparently there isn't any evidence that I'm a model. Really nice”, Changkyun rolls his eyes. “By the way, shouldn't we have come up with a better story? You told them a bunch of things you didn’t tell me. I had to keep remembering all the cities in Europe I’ve been to.”

“Not a problem to you”, Jooheon teases, bumping their hips. Changkyun chuckles because he’s right. “But he did like you. He’s just a bit wary of things, that’s all.”

Changkyun doesn’t answer. He plants a kiss on Jooheon’s shoulder as the human hangs their towels, opens the door so the steam goes out the bathroom.

“I still don’t like him.”

Jooheon chuckles, like already expecting the answer. “But what about the others?”

Changkyun did enjoy the gathering, but he’d enjoy it much more to be home.

“They’re fine. I didn’t like Minhyuk-ssi always touching you, though.”

Jooheon spits the toothpaste on the sink, laughing. He’s smelling so good it’s insane. Changkyun wants to glue himself to his back to smell him forever.

“That’s his way of showing affection. He’s a very lovable person”, he says while mouth washing with water. “Don’t be jealous of him too.”

“I’m—I’m not”, Changkyun lies, annoyed and embarrassed. “I just don’t like people touching you, that’s all.”

“That’s—”, Jooheon pokes his ribs, Changkyun slapping his finger. “Jealousy.”

They get dressed and ready to go to bed. Jooheon’s apartment is always a mess of sneakers and workout equipment everywhere, dirty clothes on the floor that Changkyun will collect and wash while he sleeps, still needing to work a little. He’s feeling warm and sleepy after being surrounded by his human for so long, almost considering falling asleep with him even if it’s like an afternoon for a vampire, but if he does rest now he’ll spend the entire morning awake and that’s not good for his sleep cycle, even if means spending a day with Jooheon.

“How long have you known Hyungwon-ssi?” Changkyun asks, sitting on the bed and getting his laptop ready.

“A few months. Minhyuk-hyung introduced him not so long ago”, Jooheon answers, snuggling under the covers. His feet are unusually cold against the vampire’s always cold shins. “Why?”

Changkyun inserts his password (Jooheon’s birthday), unlocking the screen, ignoring how the human smiles as notices this, poking his ribs.

“Nothing”, Changkyun shrugs. Waits for the question that will certainly come:

“Did you like Hyungwon-hyung?”

Changkyun nods. “He’s a vampire too.”

A gasp. “What?”

“He’s a vampire”, Changkyun repeats after laughing. Jooheon is so cute. He wants to devour him. “Your hyung is his feeder.”

The bedsheets rustle as Jooheon turns around like a worm, making the vampire laugh more.

“What the fuck? Oh my God, what the fuck?” He’s shocked. “Minhyuk-hyung is giving his blood to his vampire boyfriend? Is that a thing?”

“Of course it is”, Changkyun tells him, patting his head for him to calm down. The same amount of energy as a child. “You could too, if wanted.”

Jooheon stops, eyes wide with interest.

“Can I? Do you want me to?”

“No”, Changkyun says severely, frowning. Doesn’t like very much when Jooheon keeps insisting about feeding him his blood, or asking when and how he feeds himself. “Stop getting ideas. I’m fine.”

Jooheon pouts. “But… Minhyuk-hyung does it. Isn’t it a nice gesture?”

“Feeding a vampire means you’d have to change your entire routine. Weakens you for a few days. I don’t want this for you”, Changkyun explains patiently. “He smelled anemic, for example. Takes a little while for the body to replace lost blood volume – plus, I’d never want to put you under the stress of having to deal with a hungry vampire. It’s dangerous even if I’m very aware of my force and power.”

Jooheon sighs, pulling the vampire closer by the waist, resting his head on Changkyun’s stomach and looking up like a puppy.

“I wouldn’t say no, if you wanted. I’m stronger than you think.”

“I don’t want to”, Changkyun gently pokes where the dimples appear. “I never asked you to, so it’s obvious I don’t want to.”

Jooheon hums, squeezing him. The laptop almost falls from Changkyun’s lap, making him yelp.

“Hyung! Careful!”

“Sorry, baby”, Jooheon apologizes sheepishly. “I’m just making sure you know I’m here, if you ever want me to be. Also— How come I never noticed that Minhyuk-hyung's boyfriend was a vampire?”

“We’re discreet”, Changkyun grins amusedly.

“Uh-uh. The signs are kind of obvious, now that you told me!”

“Are they?”

“I mean, did you see how pale he was? Just like you. Also he has no sense of humo—” Jooheon laughs when Changkyun slaps his shoulder. “Alright, it was just because you’re both pale. How did you find out?”

“Couldn’t smell him. Also, physical appearance like you noticed, and because he told me”, the vampire answers.

“When? While we were paying?”

Changkyun hums, opening the document he needs to translate and a new one. “He recognized me from thirty years ago. I don’t exactly remember him but we met in the US.”

Jooheon laughs loudly, the absurdity of it all still amusing to him like a fairy tale. It makes Changkyun love him even more.

“Baby”, the human calls after a few silent minutes. He’s almost asleep, the sound of his heart low, much slower like his breathing.

The nickname makes Changkyun smile, remembering it being whispered in his ear as Jooheon fucked him from behind in the bathroom, pulling his hair and making Changkyun feel like he was on fire.

“Yes?”

“Don’t be jealous anymore. I love you”, Jooheon says. “All my friends liked you. You even found yourself a vampire friend. You said you have no friends.”

Changkyun snorts. He wasn’t worried about being liked. For him, it’s only Jooheon’s affection that counts.

“I know, hyung. They’re all nice. I can see why you like them.”

Jooheon chuckles against the cold skin of Changkyun’s belly, covered by one of Jooheon’s old football jerseys.

“You’re lying, aren’t you?”

The vampire doesn’t answer, making the human laugh again.

“Do you love me, baby?” Comes the usual question, asked religiously before Jooheon drifts to dreamland.

Changkyun snorts, nodding even if his boyfriend can’t see him. “I don’t know why you keep asking this.”

Jooheon whines playfully, placing Changkyun’s hand over his head to have it scratched like one would do to a pet.

“Even if I was a worm? If I was a worm, would you still love me?”

Changkyun laughs, tapping Jooheon’s nape gently. Sometimes he comes with these crazy questions, waking in the middle of the night to find Changkyun up working. He then kisses the vampire's face until he gets annoyed and insists on cuddling him to sleep, asking if Changkyun would still love him if he was a random animal.

Yesterday was a frog, today is a worm.

“If I was a worm too I’d love you a lot”, Changkyun answers, starting to read the Russian text to translate it.

Jooheon kisses his belly. “But what if you were a bird? Would you eat me?”

“I could eat you, but I wouldn’t want to. It would be a forbidden love, don’t you think?” Changkyun squishes the human’s cheeks, sticky with skincare products.

“Uh-uh. Birds and worms can love each other”, Jooheon disagrees, voice heavy with sleep. “Like you’re a vampire and still love me. There’s nothing forbidden in this either.”

Changkyun stops, eyes going from the laptop screen to the man beside him.

“What do you mean, hyung?”

Jooheon doesn’t answer, instead snuggling closer, pressing a small kiss to where Changkyun’s heart would be beating if he was alive, and falls asleep.