Archive of Our Own

It’s a desire Yuto never meant to develop—the desire to have his blood sucked, that is.

As the adopted son of a hunter, it goes against pretty much everything he’s ever been taught and raised to believe. He remembers the years of hard training starting from the age of 10, honing his reflexes and instincts all so he could avoid getting bitten by the various monsters lurking in the shadows, vampires included.

“Once they get their teeth in you, it’s over.” That’s what his father always told them, him and his older brother Seungjun.

Naturally Yuto had done everything in his power to make sure that never happened, once he started joining his family on hunts at the age of 14. He had become even more cautious after their father’s passing a few years later, when their hunting group had been reduced to Yuto, Seungjun, and a recent addition named Jaeyoung. So nobody could ever accuse Yuto of being careless around the supernatural, and he’d never been even slightly curious about vampire bites, either. He’d never wondered about what it feels like when a vampire feeds on you, or why there are a surprising number of humans willing to let themselves be used as “donors” or “feeders.”

Then, about half a year ago, he’d been bitten during an investigation into a particularly elusive vampire. The group had employed a simple hunter-acting-as-bait scenario, the sort of thing all three of them have done dozens of times before, and Yuto had been the bait. Only this time, for reasons still unknown to Yuto, it had gone wrong. The vampire had taken the bait and rushed in to feed on him, and instead of fighting back like usual, Yuto had just...frozen. Not due to fear, not due to confusion, not due to any emotion he could identify. It had just happened without warning, leaving him standing still as the vampire lunged at him and sank its fangs deep into his neck.

There'd been a hard, searing sting that hit him like a shock, followed by bliss—within seconds, Yuto had felt warm and light as a feather, every nerve alive and tingling with pleasure. A sharp and piercing pain would break in every few moments, mixing and blending with the heady euphoria until Yuto couldn’t separate one from the other anymore. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before; even as he felt his lifeblood draining out of him and his knees going weak, Yuto had found it all so intoxicating.

It had taken Seungjun and Jaeyoung together to pull the vampire off of him and finally kill it with a stake through the heart. Yuto had lost almost a liter of blood that night, but he had gained a new and dangerous craving.

He’d been able to keep that craving at bay for weeks afterward, but it turned out that denial could only go so far. The memories of that night replayed in his mind constantly, whether he was awake or dreaming, and he knew it wasn’t because of trauma or whatever Seungjun claimed he probably had. It was because of something stranger, something more shameful. Yuto would spend all his free time reading obsessively through “fang-seeker forums” in the dark corners of the internet, websites where humans shared stories and swapped tips about letting vampires drink from them. At his lowest Yuto had taken to biting his own arm sometimes and pretending—god, he cringes to think of it now.

The point is, he’d wanted to be bitten again and he’d wanted it bad. Bad enough to eventually call up one of their group’s shadier contacts, a man with all kinds of connections in the supernatural world, and ask if he could set Yuto up with someone. Bad enough to sneak out and meet those vampiric “someones” in person and let them feed on him. Bad enough to keep on doing it until it had become a habit he still can’t break.

Yuto could never tell Seungjun and Jaeyoung about it. Even if they could somehow overlook the degree of danger involved, they’re both old-school, like Yuto and Seungjun’s father had been. According to them, all supernatural beings are monsters, and all monsters need to die. Simple as that. In their worldview, there’s no room for peacefully exchanging bodily fluids (blood and venom, nothing weird) with vampires, not even the more civil ones. They’d never be able to understand Yuto’s habit. Hell, they’d think he’s lost his mind. After all, Yuto’s supposed to be the smart one. The pragmatic one. The responsible one.

But they just don’t know how good it feels.

Starting from the moment the fangs slide into him, it typically goes like this: There’s a throb of blistering heat at the site of the bite, almost enough to make him cry out, and then a thrill of warmth rushes through his veins all at once. Within moments he’s lightheaded and dizzy, nearly untethered from his body but for the intermittent grounding flashes of exquisite pain. At some point the vampire might detach, readjust, break new skin—and Yuto will feel every scratch and prick, rising out sharp from the pleasure like a mountain’s peak breaking through low clouds. The entire experience seems to last much longer than it does in reality; every second feels like a minute, every minute feels like an hour.

There’s a definite “coming down” feeling near the end of it, and that’s the most dangerous time. That’s when Yuto would happily let a vampire keep on drinking and drinking and drain him completely dry. Then his mind will pass through the haze as the venom wears off and he’ll become fully aware of himself and his surroundings again. A wave of deep and bitter shame usually follows—but not enough to ever stop him from coming back for more.

And that’s the general experience from start to finish, although it’s a little different with each vampire. With some there’s more pain than pleasure, with others more pleasure than pain. With all of them there's the giddy rush that comes with knowing you're enjoying something you really shouldn't be enjoying, and the adrenaline surge that comes with doing something uncharacteristically reckless. It isn't any one of those feelings that has Yuto hooked (and it isn't solely the venom itself, either). It's all of them together, and Yuto spends his secret evenings chasing the perfect balance, a mix so complete that it creates an entirely new, nameless feeling.

He finally finds it when he moves to a new town and meets Minkyun.

† † †

Minkyun is a vampire who tries to stay on his best behavior…for the most part. He’s not above a little mischief and mayhem every once in a while, to keep things from getting boring, but terrorizing people or trying to make someone his thrall isn’t really his idea of a good time. Never has been. He had attended a blood banquet once, because he’d gotten a personal invitation from the host and he didn’t want to be rude. He’d left within fifteen minutes, though, when they’d brought out the human “appetizer” and everybody around him had just…grabbed a limb and clamped on. Definitely not Minkyun’s thing, especially since the appetizer himself hadn’t seemed to be enjoying it at all.

He can say that he at least makes an effort not to feed from anyone unwilling, not unless he’s literally in danger of going feral from hunger and has no alternative. It’s happened a few times, and he's never felt good about it, but hey, a vampire’s gotta eat too. And it’s not like Minkyun ever asked to be made into a bloodsucking abomination in the first place. But those instances are rare exceptions, especially in recent years. It helps that they’ve actually got a feeding club in their town now and it’s almost always full of willing human donors.

Minkyun’s relatively peaceful behavior means that hunters have never troubled him too much in the past. They’ve usually been too busy fighting members of the more vicious vampire broods or packs of evil werewolves to bother with a small-timer like him. Usually.

But there’s a new group of hunters snooping around now, three young men who moved here a month ago. Minkyun’s already had a run-in with two of them himself, and not a pleasant one. They’d caught him feeding on a woman and completely misunderstood that it was, in fact, a consensual arrangement. The one with the muscles and the deep voice (Jaeyoung, Minkyun has learned since) had given him quite the collection of bruises. The other one (Seungjun, delicate-looking but deceptively fierce) had nearly managed to drive a stake into him before Minkyun had escaped.

The lesson Minkyun should have learned was don’t fuck with these guys. The lesson Minkyun had actually taken away from the experience was fuck with these guys. And that’s what he’s been doing whenever he gets bored lately: following them around when he sees them out on patrol, distracting them with weird noises and hiding when they try to locate the source, leaving fake clues for them to follow and spreading rumors of fake monsters hiding out in increasingly gross places. So far he’s sent them on a series of wild goose chases involving an old slaughterhouse outside of town, a trash dump, and the sewer system. Minkyun doesn’t feel bad about it; he’s not the one who’d started shit, and none of his actions put them in any real danger anyway. Besides, it’s hilarious to watch from a distance as they fumble around in sewer water and trash heaps, muttering and swearing and groaning.

Minkyun has seen quite a bit of Seungjun and Jaeyoung in the past few weeks, but the third hunter has proven to be more elusive. Minkyun has only spotted him with the other two a couple of times so far, and he doesn’t even know that one’s name. Apparently not even the supernatural rumor mill has been able to figure out what he’s called. The only thing the gossips know is that the other two appear to be extremely protective of him.

So imagine Minkyun’s shock when he walks into the feeding club one night and finds the smallest of the three new hunters standing in a corner alone, watching the human-vampire pairs around him with palpable longing. He’s dressed like a completely different person than the one Minkyun has caught glimpses of before, which makes him hard to place at first. Tonight, the young hunter has traded his comfy jackets and practical athletic pants for a club-going outfit and eye-catching accessories—including a thin leather choker with a red teardrop gem dangling from it. It’s that choker that Minkyun recognizes first. Seungjun had been wearing one exactly like it the night he’d gotten into that little altercation with Minkyun.

Unpleasantly reminded of the other hunters, Minkyun scans the club for any sign of Seungjun or Jaeyoung and finds nothing. He turns back to the one in the corner, trying to figure out why he’s here. Undercover, maybe? Investigating? But the man isn’t talking to anyone, and besides, the other two are supposed to be highly protective of him. Would they let this one come into a feeding club all alone, disguised as a regular patron? Probably not.

Unable to resist the pull of curiosity any longer, Minkyun finally decides to stop observing the hunter from across the room and actually approach him. Just to see what happens, of course.

The hunter’s large, intense eyes meet Minkyun’s as he makes his way over to him, and Minkyun watches his adam’s apple bob beneath the choker as he swallows nervously. Yes, he’s nervous, despite the mask of practiced indifference he’s wearing. Minkyun can hear it, smell it, sense it: jittery uncertainty mingled with excitement.

“You must be new, right? I’m a regular, and I’ve never seen you around here before,” Minkyun opens, giving the man a very conspicuous once-over. He’s a pretty little thing, especially up close, with shapely lips and eyes and a slender waist. It would be easy to misjudge his strength the way Minkyun had misjudged Seungjun’s. So try not to piss him off too much, Minkyun warns himself. He could probably take you in a fight. “I’m Minkyun, by the way,” he adds aloud, with a teasing hint of a smile. He’s approaching the guy like he’s any other donor he might connect with here, and not someone who probably wants Minkyun dead. Or, deader.

“I’m Haru,” the young hunter says, avoiding the first question. He fixes his own appraising look on Minkyun, a more brief and subtle up-and-down. Like he’s sizing him up for a fight.

“Mm, you’re lying,” Minkyun replies. He’d heard the unsteady rhythm of his heart, the slight hesitation in his voice when introducing himself. “What’s your real name?”

A look of annoyance flits across the hunter’s face. “Why does that matter?”

“Because I gave you mine in good faith. You ought to do the same.”

The fake name might be proof that “Haru” really is undercover, but that’s not what Minkyun’s senses are telling him. His hunches, insights, and intuition are scarily accurate, the result of all the raw data from the environment constantly flowing into his subconscious. And something about this hunter’s body language, heartbeat, breathing, scent is signaling to Minkyun that there’s another reason for his unwillingness to be identified. Minkyun recognizes Seungjun’s perfume on him, likely “borrowed” along with the choker, and thinks that maybe he’s really not supposed to be here.

Those two have no idea you’re out tonight, do they? Minkyun thinks smugly. He’s figured it out. All that protectiveness, and look where it’s gotten them.

“You’re a vampire, right? Do you want to feed on me or not?” The youngest hunter asks the question in a warning tone, like he’s on the verge of turning Minkyun away. An obvious bluff; Minkyun can practically smell his desperation to be bitten now. So he decides to play the game right back.

“I want to feed, but it doesn’t have to be on you,” says Minkyun casually. “Plenty of humans here tonight. I’m sure one of them wouldn’t feel the need to lie and be rude to me.”

He turns his head to scan the tables, chairs, and dancefloor behind them, as if assessing his options. Even with the noise from the crowd and the pounding bassline of the club’s music, he can hear the hunter swallow thickly.

“I’ve been watching you for a while,” Minkyun continues, still in an offhand kind of way. “As far as I know, I’m the only one who’s bothered to approach you tonight.”

He cuts his eyes back to the hunter just in time to see him twitch. It’s a barely-perceptible movement, one that even Minkyun’s heightened senses almost don’t catch. Bullseye, he thinks. Beneath the satisfaction of being right, though, Minkyun does feel a pang of sympathy for the young hunter. Desperate or not, it must have taken a lot of courage for him to come here, and it’s not hard to feel sorry for someone who is clearly in over his head. Minkyun lets some of the coolness in his voice defrost and takes a step closer to him.

“You wanna know why you’re not getting any attention?” Minkyun starts in a confidential tone. “The whole closed-off, edgy thing you’re doing—People don’t like that here.”

The hunter frowns, looking offended. “I’m not being edgy.”

“You're acting all secretive for no reason and you’re just standing in the corner staring at everybody like a serial killer.”

“I’m not— ” The hunter cuts himself off, then lets out a sigh and relents at last. “Fine. You can call me Yuto. That’s my real name.”

“Yuto,” Minkyun tries, giving the name a taste. “And this really must be your first time here. Isn’t it?”

Yuto nibbles at a fingernail self-consciously. “I guess it must be obvious. Especially to a regular.”

“Well, you don’t have anything to worry about,” Minkyun assures him. “We all try to take good care of our human guests here. It’s how we keep them coming back. Flies and honey, you know.”

The pair of them watch as one of the human-vampire couples nearby breaks away from the crowd and moves towards a low couch, the vampire’s fangs already elongated. They tumble down onto the couch together, barely able to keep their hands off each other, and then the vampire sinks her teeth into the human woman’s neck. Minkyun looks back to Yuto with a smirk as the woman moans loudly.

“As you can see, we’re all here to have a good time and get certain needs met.”

He watches the little shiver that runs through Yuto at the last two words and makes up his mind then: he’s going to get a taste of this hunter tonight, if he can. It’s probably a bad idea, knowing who and what Yuto is, but honestly that just makes it even more appealing to Minkyun.

“You ever been bitten before?” he asks next.

“A few times. The first was an accident.” Unconsciously, Yuto lifts a hand to the side of his neck and drops it back to his side again. Minkyun can make out a sliver of a bandage partially covered by the collar of his shirt, something he hadn’t noticed before.

“And that… awakened something in you?”

Yuto bites his lip and averts his eyes. “I just—I never imagined it could feel so...” He trails off, but the unspoken good is as loud as a shout in an empty room.

Oh, I bet you were surprised, hunter.

“Tell me about the other times,” Minkyun says curiously. “The ones that weren’t accidents. You didn’t meet anyone here at the club?”

“No.” Yuto shakes his head. “It was in the city I lived in before I moved here. Someone I knew put me in touch with some vampires he trusted. I’d meet one of them at a park or something and…” Yuto trails off once again, leaving Minkyun to fill in the blanks himself.

“A dangerous method.”

Yuto shrugs. “I thought it seemed safer than a feeding club.”

“That’s a misconception. A club is always safer,” Minkyun informs him. “But you seem like you know your way around danger, at least.”

“What makes you say that?” Yuto asks the question casually, but Minkyun notices the way he tenses up a little.

“Just a vibe you give off,” Minkyun answers airily.

A brief lull follows, and Minkyun waits for Yuto to take the lead. He’s not going to bring up feeding himself, no. He wants to hear this hunter ask for it.

“So…How does it work here?” Yuto begins at last, lowering his voice to a murmur. “At a club?”

“Well, first you approach someone, or wait for them to approach you. Vampires are better at picking out humans than the reverse, so usually it’s waiting until somebody comes to you. Then you make small talk, exchange names,” he says pointedly. “After that, you figure out what both of you are looking for…”

Realizing that Minkyun is staring at him expectantly, waiting for an answer, Yuto blushes slightly. “I’m—I’m looking to be fed on. Again.”

And yes, there it is, in his voice and expression and posture and scent—a wave of desire from Yuto, mingled with a delicious hint of shame. That’s when Minkyun knows for sure that this isn’t a ruse, or the beginning of some kind of trap. Yuto really is here to be fed on because he wants it. Minkyun should have known from the very start. It’s always the ones you’d never expect…

“What’s your limit?” Minkyun asks straight-out.

“I, uh, I can go up to a pint.” Yuto clears his throat, dispelling some of the nervousness in his voice. “Does that work for you?”

“Sure, but I doubt I’ll take that much. I’m not too hungry tonight, just looking for a little taste.” Minkyun glances over his shoulder and spots an unoccupied couch close by. He nods his head in that direction. “Shall we, then? Or would you like something to eat or drink first? Maybe a dance?”

“No, I’m good. Let’s go.”

The two of them sit down on the low sofa, which is draped in a fresh white sheet to make for a quick and easy cleanup in the event of a messy feeding.

“Straight to it, huh? Is that how you like it?” Minkyun teases. He knows some humans want to be wooed a bit first, while others are ready to go immediately. Minkyun’s own preference depends mostly on how hungry he is.

“I don’t have a lot of time most nights,” Yuto answers vaguely, and Minkyun doesn’t press him.

“Well then…Let’s make this quick, hmm?”

At once Yuto’s pulse spikes, his heartbeat ringing loud in Minkyun’s ears. His breathing quickens, the blood rushes audibly through his veins, sweat starts to collect at his hairline. The signals from Yuto’s body are obvious, even if the hunter is clearly trying to maintain a calm facade. Another human might be fooled by Yuto’s outwardly cool and collected demeanor, but not a vampire. To Minkyun, Yuto’s anticipation is clear and obvious.

You want it bad, don’t you?

While Minkyun has got a good idea of what Yuto’s feeling, he’s suddenly overcome with a desire to know what he’s thinking right now. What might be going through a hunter’s mind, as he’s getting ready to let one of his sworn enemies feed on him? Is he making excuses to himself? Vowing that this will be the last time? Or has he let his mind go blank? Unfortunately, Minkyun’s vampiric abilities stop short of telepathy.

Minkyun watches and waits as Yuto shrugs his unbuttoned top off of his shoulders, revealing more of his neck—including the adhesive bandage Minkyun had caught a glimpse of before.

“Is that recent?” Minkyun asks, meaning the bite that the bandage is almost certainly concealing.

Yuto freezes up at the question, then brushes over the bandage with two fingers. “This? No, it’s…”

“The one from the ‘accident’?” Minkyun knows it’s from an investigation gone wrong more likely than not, which would probably explain the whole protectiveness thing with Yuto’s fellow hunters.

“Yeah. It happened a while ago,” Yuto answers. “But the scar’s been healing a lot slower than I’d like.”

After a moment’s consideration, he removes the bandage to show Minkyun the scarred gouge marks beneath. It’s the remnant of an animalistic bite, the kind left by a reckless vampire with no manners or self-control. Minkyun almost winces at the sight of it. Ugh. You’d think that was left by a werewolf…

“Well, you don’t have to worry. I won’t leave a mark like that,” Minkyun promises. “So where do you want me to bite you? The other side of your neck?"

Yuto shakes his head. “No. Even if you’re careful, the mark will still be there for a while and I don’t want my hy—my housemates to get suspicious.”

Like most vampires, Minkyun prefers drinking from the neck, but Yuto has a point. If anyone was going to be suspicious of a second bandage on Yuto’s neck, or a sudden preference for scarves and turtlenecks, it would certainly be the two other hunters he lives with.

“Just tell me where, then. As long as it’s not near that scar.” Minkyun represses a grimace as he imagines putting his mouth where some probably half-feral beast had made such a savage bite. “No offense, but it would be pretty nasty for me to bite you there.” Despite his attempt at a joking tone, he sees a flash of indignation in Yuto’s eyes that doesn’t bode well.

“And how would that be ‘nasty’?” Yuto inquires, raising an eyebrow at him.

Shit. Maybe Minkyun hadn’t fully repressed that grimace after all. And he’s suddenly got the feeling that if he doesn’t explain himself adequately, the only thing he’s going to be feeding on tonight is his own foot in his mouth.

“Uh...Think of it like this. If you were eating a cookie that some gross stranger had taken a bite of, would you want to eat the part that’s covered in their spit or the fresh part they didn’t touch?” Minkyun tries.

Yuto makes an affronted noise. “Food metaphors? Really?”

“Shit, okay, I know that sounds kinda bad. But I mean you’re literally a source of food to me,” Minkyun reminds him.

“That’s…true enough, I guess,” Yuto admits reluctantly after a long moment, unable to deny the logic. He still doesn’t look pleased, though.

“Look, I swear this isn’t some religious sex-ed chewing gum metaphor thing where I think you’re nasty for having been bitten before,” Minkyun assures him. He can see now how his initial comment might have come across the wrong way. “I just think it’s gross to bite where someone else has bitten before when the scar isn’t healed. That’s all.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to ask you to bite there anyway,” Yuto tells him, rolling his eyes. “I was going to suggest my upper arm. That’s where the other vampires fed from. But if you don’t want to bite where someone else has—”

“Are there scars there? It’s about the texture more than anything.” Minkyun bites his tongue before he can make another potentially offensive food metaphor.

“No, I’ve been taking care of the bite marks,” Yuto responds. “And the other vampires were more…gentle than the first one.”

“Then that will be fine,” says Minkyun. Thankfully, it seems like the storm clouds around Yuto’s head have mostly dissipated. “And, uh, I'm sorry. For being tactless.”

“It’s alright. Humans can be kind of weird and picky about eating...I guess it makes sense that vampires can be the same way.” Yuto says it like vampire feeding preferences are something he’s never given any thought to before. And he probably hasn’t, up until now.

“I swear I’m not that picky, aside from that one thing,” Minkyun jokes weakly.

“So you’ll feed from just anyone?”

“All right, I do have some standards...”

“Wow, ‘some standards.’ I suppose I should consider myself lucky for making the cut,” Yuto says dryly. Minkyun chuckles, and it’s clear that that little speed bump is behind them now.

At last Yuto fully removes his button-up shirt and drapes it carefully over the back of the sofa, leaving on his sleeveless black undershirt. He’s not built like Jaeyoung, but there’s more muscle on Yuto’s upper arms than Minkyun had been expecting. (To put it bluntly, he’d been expecting noodle arms, even in spite of his earlier warning to himself not to take Yuto lightly).

“Oh, you work out?” Minkyun asks innocently. Of course Yuto probably does—he needs enough upper body strength to be able to drive stakes and swords through bodies much bigger than his.

“A little,” Yuto says simply. Then he offers his left arm to Minkyun, his pulse pounding faster as Minkyun’s cold hands reach out to take hold. “Try and bite as high up as possible, alright?”

As Yuto had said, it seems he’s taken good care of the skin here; there’s no sign of any bite marks or scars from other vampires, and it’s nice and smooth below Minkyun’s thumbpad as he brushes over a spot near the inside of his upper bicep.

“How about here?” Minkyun asks.

“Yeah, that’s good,” murmurs Yuto, swallowing heavily.

The younger man’s body is alive all over, Minkyun notes, a collection of thrumming systems working together to keep him breathing, awake, alert, healthy, and growing. Yuto’s bicep feels so hot against Minkyun’s hands, his pulse and breathing sound so loud in Minkyun’s ears. It never fails to amaze him in these moments before he takes the bite, how steady and strong and yet how fragile the human body is. He’d never been aware of it when he was alive, but now that he’s undead, now that he needs to steal a portion of that vitality for himself, Minkyun can’t help but take notice.

His fangs elongate as he lowers his mouth to Yuto’s arm, automatic as blinking, and then Minkyun carefully slips them into the warm skin, visualizing a tiny needle piercing through silk. No matter how careful he is, though, there will always be a sting; there’s no painless way to puncture skin and veins with teeth. He feels Yuto shudder all over the second before his fangs find the vein, the second before the first drop of blood hits his tongue. And then Minkyun’s getting his first taste and holy shit.

It’s sweet like licorice, sweet like jelly, sweet like chocolate-covered strawberries. Okay, those are exaggerations, but as far as blood goes Yuto’s is almost syrupy compared to all the blood Minkyun’s tasted before. He gulps that first mouthful down greedily, the liquid sliding down his throat like warm honey, and then sucks in more of the delicious nectar. So fucking good.

The familiar red haze comes over Minkyun soon after, the haze every vampire knows and only the half-decent ones ever try to resist. It’s a wild urge to feast, to indulge, to take and take and take with no concern for his prey—the donor, he reminds himself forcefully. Not his prey, not his quarry, not a tasty bloodbag to suck empty on a whim.

God, but this is the most tempted he’s been in a while, and if Minkyun takes more than “just a little taste,” well…Yuto had said up to a pint was okay. As long as Minkyun doesn’t drink too much. So he laps up more of the hot liquid with his tongue, thinking of chocolate lava cakes and gooey pie filling straight from the oven and maple syrup on steaming waffles. He’d never been that much of a sweet-tooth in life, but slurping up Yuto’s honeyed blood makes him deeply nostalgic for all those things. So good…Just a little more…Just a little more… But finally Minkyun snaps himself out of it by forcing himself to focus on the bloodba—on the donor. On Yuto.

Yuto’s arm is quivering slightly and he keeps making these little gasps of pain or pleasure or maybe both. Minkyun opens his eyes, never taking his mouth from Yuto’s upper arm, and sees that his head is turned away from Minkyun’s. He tries to read Yuto’s profile, the half-parted lips and fluttering eyelid, the head tilted almost onto his own far shoulder. He can’t ask if Yuto’s enjoying it, not with his mouth full, so he makes a questioning hum in his throat instead.

“Good,” whispers Yuto in a faraway voice, seeming to understand. “It’s—It’s good.”

Minkyun takes one more pull from the vein and finally, reluctantly, slips his fangs back out again. He swishes the blood around in his mouth like a fine wine—a mulled wine, in this case—and swallows it down before licking his lips. As quickly as it had come on, the red haze begins to dissipate again. Without that ravenous instinct goading him, Minkyun can appreciate how full and warm and energized he feels already.

Now that he’s back in full control of himself, Minkyun licks up the remaining drops and rivulets starting to stream down Yuto’s arm like he’s cleaning his plate, and then he takes his post-feeding kit in its little tin case out of his pocket. He presses a wad of gauze to the wound, a little envious of the fabric for getting to soak up more of that sweet blood, and holds it there a while. The secretion from his fangs will quickly do most of the work patching up the punctures in the vein; Minkyun is only taking care of the last few trickles.

Meanwhile, Yuto’s breathing is evening out and his heart rate is returning to normal as the venom starts to wear off. He lifts his head and blinks his eyes open, although they look unfocused and his pupils are dilated wide. Minkyun gives him a moment to come back to the present and puts a dab of ointment onto the bite mark, to help it heal better, before sticking an adhesive bandage over it. When he looks up from his handiwork, he finds Yuto looking at him with clarity in his gaze once again.

“Hey. Are you diabetic?” Minkyun asks immediately.

Yuto stares at him like he’s insane. “No?”

“Are you sure?”

“I went to the doctor like two months ago and all my bloodwork came back normal. Why?”

“Because your blood is...So. Sweet.”

“Is it? None of the other vampires ever mentioned that. Well, some of them said it was a little sweet,” Yuto amends, still looking confused.

But that doesn’t track with the saccharine bliss Minkyun has just experienced. “Seriously, you don’t have—?”

“No. If anything I’ve been cutting back on sugar lately.”

Then it’s probably just a weird quirk in the way that Yuto’s blood hits Minkyun’s taste buds; it’s likely down to both of them, with Yuto’s blood being sweeter than average and Minkyun being more sensitive to sweet tastes than average. Minkyun has no idea. All he knows is that Yuto’s blood is downright delectable to him to the point that it’s almost scary.

“Huh. You patched it up already,” says Yuto, looking down at the bandage on his arm. “I usually do that myself. Thanks.”

Minkyun holds up his tin case and gives it a little shake before sticking it back in his pocket. “I always come prepared.”

“Yeah. That’s…good. Not what I’d expect from a vamp.”

And then Minkyun suddenly remembers that Yuto’s not just Yuto, a guy at a feeding club, but Yuto, a hunter at a feeding club. A hunter that Minkyun has just shared a very pleasurable moment with, sure, but also one directly connected to Minkyun’s new rivals. He watches Yuto take a bottle of water and a mini bag of peanut M&Ms from a staff member who darts over in the wake of the feeding and mulls over what comes next. He’s got two options in front of him now: keep pretending like he doesn’t know about Yuto’s connections and let him leave none the wiser, or get it all out in the open and admit that he knows Yuto’s true identity. Minkyun decides to do the “right” thing and tell the truth—he supposes he owes it to Yuto, even if Yuto’s also been keeping secrets here—but figures there’s no reason he can’t have some fun with it.

“So, Yuto, tell me…” Minkyun starts innocently, as Yuto swallows down a big gulp of water. “...Do Seungjun and Jaeyoung know you’re into this?”

He’s unable to suppress a laugh as Yuto coughs and chokes on the water, his eyes going wide.

“You—How the hell do you—?” Yuto sputters, heart hammering as he jerks away from Minkyun on the couch. “How do you know about us?”

Minkyun senses the spike of adrenaline in him, the mingled anger and even a touch of fear. He feels a little regretful now; he’d only meant to embarrass and maybe irritate Yuto, not force him into a fight-or-flight mindset.

“Word travels fast when new hunters show up on the scene,” Minkyun explains calmly, as Yuto watches him through narrowed eyes. “And your hyungs have already established a bit of a reputation for themselves here.”

Yuto glances nervously around the club, as if expecting to be beset by enemies at any moment. His hand goes for the right side of his belt, like that’s usually where he keeps a weapon of some kind, and brushes against only leather.

“Hey, relax,” Minkyun says. “You’re still kind of an unknown. I’m probably the only person in here who’d recognize you, and that’s mostly because you have that choker and you smell like Seungjun’s perfume.” And somewhere beneath that, like honey-glazed bread, but that’s not relevant.

Yuto blanches. “You know what they smell like?”

“They beat me up in a park three weeks ago. So yeah, I’m pretty familiar. And before you ask, the woman I was drinking from wanted it just as much as you. Last time I take a donor out of here and into a public place,” Minkyun adds sourly. “Now that Meathead and Maltese Man are roving around…”

“Wait, ‘Maltese Man’?” Yuto actually snorts, temporarily forgetting his discomfort. “Is that supposed to be Seungjun?”

“You don’t see a resemblance?”

“Actually…Yeah, I kind of do.” Yuto laughs in spite of himself, eyes crinkling. His expression quickly hardens again, though, as he seems to remember he’s supposed to be suspicious. “But what were you playing at, pretending like you didn’t know me this whole time?” he demands, his frown back in place.

Minkyun raises a brow at him. “You were perfectly willing to pretend not to be a hunter, so I think we’re even on the whole deception front.”

“Touche,” admits Yuto, shoulders sagging. “...I am surprised you knew what I was and still wanted to feed on me, though.” And that you didn’t take the chance to kill me goes unspoken, but Minkyun knows the thought must have occurred to him.

“We’re both moths drawn to the flame, I guess,” says Minkyun with a shrug.

Yuto lets out an awkward laugh that nevertheless breaks some of the lingering tension between them. “I guess.” He takes another long sip of water, still not looking entirely settled. His gaze keeps roaming, like he still feels the need to keep an eye on his surroundings.

“I'm the only one here who knows,” Minkyun repeats quietly, hoping to reassure him. “And I'm not telling anybody. I mean...As long as you’re not planning to burn the club to the ground and kill everybody. Or go on a staking spree.”

“No,” says Yuto immediately. “Even I can see that there’s a difference between the vamps here and the ones that attack people on the street.”

“That makes one of you at least,” says Minkyun, sounding just a bit resentful.

Yuto rubs at the back of his neck, hesitating a bit before he continues. “Yeah, well...I'm sorry they hurt you. My hyungs can be a little overzealous. Especially when it comes to vampires.”

Minkyun thinks that “a little overzealous” is an understatement, given the fact that Seungjun nearly killed him, but he holds his tongue.

“So what’s up with those two anyway?” Minkyun just has to ask after a moment, lowering his voice to a gossipy whisper. “Are they actually your brothers? Are they a thing? They kinda seemed like a thing to me.”

At first he thinks he won't get an answer—it might appear suspicious that Minkyun’s asking personal questions about them—but it seems like his shameless, blatant nosiness has disarmed Yuto.

“Seungjun’s my brother. His dad adopted me when I was a kid,” Yuto explains. “Jaeyoung came along later and started hunting with us, but he’s just my hyung, not actually my brother. And yeah, him and Seungjun are…a thing.”

“Ah. Makes sense.”

“...Yep,” says Yuto awkwardly.

“And their attitude towards vampires... I’m guessing that’s to do with your…?” Minkyun gestures vaguely in the direction of Yuto’s neck.

“Yeah,” sighs Yuto, looking miserable. “And they’ve been treating me like a kid ever since. It wasn’t even a full liter and it was more than half a year ago, but according to them I’m ‘still recovering,’ and should ‘take it easy.’ Which means less hunting. But I guess I can’t be too upset about it,” Yuto adds after a moment. “All their ‘cases’ lately have been a bunch of weird dead ends—”

Minkyun purses his lips innocently.

“—and it gives me more opportunities to go out without them noticing.”

And tonight must have been one of those opportunities. Plural.

“So…will you be coming back here again, then?” Minkyun asks, trying not to sound too hopeful. Like his mouth hasn’t just started watering at the thought of feeding on Yuto again, tasting that nectar-like blood again. “I promise I’ll keep your secret,” he adds. “What happens at the feeding club stays at the feeding club, you know?”

Yuto hesitates and sweeps the room with his gaze again. “I’d like to come back. But if you were able to identify me as a hunter so easily, maybe it’s not a wise idea. I can’t imagine every vamp in here would be as laid-back about it as you are.”

“Well…” Minkyun’s mind scrambles for an idea and catches on something Yuto had mentioned earlier. “Maybe the two of us could meet up privately somewhere else from time to time. Like you used to do with those other vampires before you came here.”

Yuto lifts an eyebrow and smiles slightly. “Didn’t you say that was dangerous?”

Minkyun grins back at him. “I also said you seem to know your way around danger. Was I right?”

“You were,” says Yuto, his hint of a smile growing into a full smirk, and excitement sparks inside Minkyun.

They exchange contact info before Yuto heads out, once he’s got his blood sugar up again and he’s fully hydrated.

“Whenever you want me, just let me know, sweetblood,” Minkyun tells him with a wink, and he listens with pleasure as Yuto’s heart starts beating double-time.

Feeding on Yuto becomes a regular thing after that, the two of them meeting up whenever they can. Hyojin and Changyun are always teasing Minkyun about his “bloody booty calls” now, which gets old really fast. (He doesn’t dare let them know that his “suckbuddy” is actually a vampire hunter—he would never hear the end of it then). For some reason they refuse to believe Minkyun when he tells them that there’s nothing erotic about drinking an attractive acquaintance’s blood in the back seat of his car every once in a while. Not that Minkyun would be opposed to erotic blood-drinking, because he’s definitely down for that. That’s just…not where he and Yuto are right now.

“You two are practically exclusive, though,” Changyun points out one night, when he and Hyojin return home from the feeding club. Minkyun had elected to stay behind, still satisfied from his meetup with Yuto the previous night. “Or at least that’s what it seems like. It’s kinda weird for a vampire and a human who aren’t together.”

That sets Minkyun off thinking—They never actually agreed to be exclusive, him and Yuto. Not explicitly. He knows Yuto isn’t going to the feeding club, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t set up another “private arrangement” with somebody else. And even though Minkyun’s never seen any other bite marks on Yuto, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any; they could simply be hidden from Minkyun’s sight. On his legs, maybe. Minkyun feels disgust coil inside him at the thought of some other vampire daring to put his fangs to Yuto’s skin, daring to lick up the smallest drop of Yuto’s blood. It’s only a vague possibility, but Minkyun doesn’t like that possibility at all.

So…yeah, maybe this is a conversation the two of them need to have. The next time they meet up, Minkyun tells himself he’s going to bring it up casually before they part ways.

That’s not quite how it happens though.

“Are you seeing anyone else?” Minkyun blurts, as soon as Yuto gets into his car at the designated street corner. “Any other vampires?”

Yuto clicks his seatbelt on and stares over at him, puzzled. “‘Hello’ to you too. Why do you want to know?”

Minkyun tries to think up a reasonable excuse that doesn’t make him seem weirdly possessive. Because not all vampires have the kind of self-control that I do, and you should be careful. That’s a good one. He knows that Hyojin, for example, is kind of a glutton and would probably drain Yuto dry after just one taste. That’s why Hyojin had had to turn Minkyun in the first place—he’d accidentally taken too much blood and had almost killed him. That’s why he’d had to turn Changyun too, actually. It’s a bad habit of his.

“Your blood’s really good,” Minkyun tells Yuto. “Some other vampire with less self-control might not be able to stop himself from drinking it all.”

“All the ones I’ve chosen to meet with so far have known when to stop,” Yuto replies with a shrug, killing Minkyun’s objection easily.

“Yes, but—but—” Damn it. “I don’t want to share you with anyone else,” Minkyun reluctantly admits, feeling childish. But it’s the truth. He really hates the idea of any other vampire drinking Yuto’s blood, dosing him with their venom, experiencing that mutual pleasure with him.

Yuto looks amused, but not irritated or disgusted at least. “You want to be the only vampire I go to for this?”

“Yes. And it’d be mutual,” Minkyun adds, with a regrettable hint of desperation. “I wouldn’t feed on any other humans. I—I haven’t been feeding on any other humans.”

That’s because Yuto’s blood has basically ruined all other blood for Minkyun. None of it tastes good enough any more; it’s all too bitter, or too salty, or too bland. He’s stopped drinking from live people because it’s too hard for him to hide his disappointment, and they get hurt or offended. Instead he’s been relying on (ugh) bagged blood to hold him over. It’s disgusting, but at least he doesn’t feel bad for pulling a grimace when he drinks that.

After a pause that feels excruciatingly long, Yuto gives a little nod. “Alright. I guess it’s only fair. If you haven’t been feeding on anyone else...”

Relief and a sense of victory over some invisible rivals wash over Minkyun. Mine mine mine, a greedy little monster voice chants triumphantly in the back of his head.

“And no, I haven’t been meeting with any other vampires since the start of our agreement,” Yuto says at last, with a hint of a smirk. “I only have so much blood to give, Minkyun.”

Minkyun drives them out to an empty parking lot in high spirits after that, singing along to the radio, occasionally yowling out a note horrifically off-key to make Yuto laugh. He remembers when he thought Yuto would be too uptight to ever goof around with; he’d been astounded the first time he’d made a stupid joke and Yuto had actually giggled, holding his hand up to cover his mouth like some kind of demure noblewoman. He’s an odd person in his own way, Yuto is, a little bundle of contradictions. Tough and no-nonsense but soft and sentimental (his ringtone is a gentle romantic ballad), outwardly serious but unable to keep a straight face whenever Minkyun starts getting even slightly silly, quiet but confident but easily overwhelmed. And of course there’s the whole “hunter who likes to be fed on” thing, the reason they’re here in the first place.

Minkyun parks under a streetlight at the back of the parking lot, turning the radio volume down but not switching it off, leaving it on the R&B station. Minkyun turns to Yuto as the singer's voice floats quietly out of the speakers, watching expectantly as he takes off his denim jacket and lays it on his lap. Then Minkyun’s reaching to grab Yuto’s arm, his mouth already starting to water…

“Careful,” says Yuto, wincing a bit. “There’s—”

Minkyun rolls up the short sleeve and sees a huge, nasty bruise there on the lower part of Yuto’s bicep, just below the spot Minkyun likes to drink from. “What the hell is this?” he questions, his hand freezing above the discolored skin.

“We were investigating a poltergeist a few nights ago,” says Yuto, shrugging. “It threw this statuette thing at me, got me pretty good.”

Yuto sounds more or less indifferent, but the more Minkyun looks at the black-purple spot, the more it pisses him off.

“I’m going to go to that stupid ghost’s house and burn it to the ground,” he vows in a low mutter. Damn spirits can’t be allowed to put bruises on Yuto like he’s some cheap piece of fruit.

“People live there, Minkyun,” Yuto informs him. “A family. With children.”

“They can move. They should move, if there’s a poltergeist in their house.”

Yuto rolls his eyes. “We took care of it. And if the bruise is such a big issue, just drink from the other side tonight.”

It’s not a big issue, it’s just…unexpected. As much as Minkyun relishes the knowledge that he’s been feeding on a hunter—especially when he imagines how pissed Seungjun and Jaeyoung would be if they ever found out—he doesn’t usually think of Yuto actually hunting. He’s seen him snooping around graveyards and abandoned buildings with a flashlight before, sure, but nothing more intense than that. Nothing that would directly lead to a big, ugly bruise like this one.

“Do you get a lot of bruises? When you go out on hunts?” Minkyun frowns as he glances down at the bandaid on Yuto’s neck, the one hiding the scar that must still be there. “And scars? Is that…common?”

“Sure, I get them all the time. Not as much now that Seungjun and Jaeyoung are always flinging themselves between me and every light breeze,” Yuto adds dryly. “But yeah, it’s just part of the job when you’re fighting monsters.”

Well, Minkyun doesn’t like it, although he’s glad to hear that Yuto’s hyungs seem to take his safety seriously. Better for one of them to get bruised or slashed or ugh, burned than Yuto. His skin is too soft and pretty to be marred by marks (unless it’s Minkyun leaving them), and his blood is too precious to be recklessly spilled.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to start being like them,” groans Yuto, once Minkyun’s concerned silence has gone on too long.

“No, no…” replies Minkyun quietly. He’s already heard enough of Yuto’s grumbling to know that he hates being condescended to about his safety. “Just…take care of yourself out there.”

“I do. Now, are you going to bite me or lecture me?”

Minkyun licks his lips. “Bite, definitely. I’m no good at giving lectures.”

They get out and move to the backseat then, swapping sides so Minkyun can go for Yuto’s other arm. He’s satisfied to see that there are no bumps or bruises there, just a clear expanse of skin over light muscle like a blanket of new-fallen snow. It’s hot to the touch though, as always, Yuto’s body heat overwhelming to Minkyun’s undead senses.

When Minkyun’s fangs slide in and pierce the vein, Yuto’s pulse bangs loud as a drum in his ears, surrounding him like he’s inside one of the chambers of Yuto’s heart itself. Then the fresh, hot blood is filling Minkyun’s mouth, delighting his taste buds. It’s as sweet as ever tonight, that same addictive flavor Minkyun knows he’ll never tire of.

And it tastes even better now that he knows it’s all his.

† † †

It’s half past one in the morning and there’s a shadowy figure lurking outside Yuto’s bedroom window.

“Good evening, sweetblood,” the shadow says, before scrambling in clumsily through the open window. Minkyun’s still kind of awkward at angling his body through the small frame, although he’s done it multiple times by now. Sometimes he hits his head on the top part and starts whispering swears in every language he knows. It’s oddly charming and kind of adorable, though Yuto would rather jump out the window than admit that. Minkyun’s use of sugary nicknames, though…not so much.

“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?” Yuto asks, cringing at the stupidity of it.

“When your blood stops being the sweetest I’ve ever tasted, I will,” answers Minkyun.

The first time he’d appeared outside the window, asking to be let in, Yuto had been shocked to say the least. It seemed borderline suicidal for a vampire to enter a cramped townhouse occupied by three hunters, two of them hostile—but apparently Minkyun likes a good thrill just as much as Yuto does.

“Seungjun and Jaeyoung…If they catch you in here…” Yuto had hissed that first night after letting him in, and Minkyun had flashed him a toothy grin.

“I know. That’s half the fun, isn’t it?”

So now this is a regular thing, Minkyun sneaking into his room like the love interest in some cheesy high school romance. Yuto still thinks it’s a terrible idea, but then again who’s he to judge?

“Are they home tonight?” Minkyun whispers, meaning Seungjun and Jaeyoung.

“Yes.” And fast asleep on the couch in the living room, thankfully.

“Just the way I like it.”

Yuto rolls his eyes and scoots back on his bed to make room for Minkyun to join him, a couple of towels already laid across the bedspread to catch any spilled blood. Minkyun slips off his shoes—finally without needing to be reminded by Yuto—before he crawls onto the bed. The moon is full outside the open window, its faint silvery light mingling with the warm yellow glow from the small lamp on Yuto’s bedside table. Minkyun’s pale face seems to glow in the soft light, which gives him a deceptively angelic look.

“You locked the door though, right?” Minkyun asks in the faintest whisper, moving in close to Yuto on the bed so he can be heard more easily. His cold breath tickles the shell of Yuto’s ear.

“They could break it down if they needed to. But yes. I did.”

Minkyun huffs out a quiet laugh. “You’d protect me if they burst in here suddenly, wouldn’t you?”

“Nope. Coming here was your idea, so you can deal with the consequences yourself.”

Minkyun cracks a smile. “Harsh, but fair.”

It’s strange how normal this seems to Yuto, whispering stupid banter back and forth with an undead monster sitting on his bed with him. He knows exactly how this whole situation would look to outsiders, if a random stranger were to walk in right now: it’d look a lot like some sexy vampire has stolen into his bedroom to seduce him, smutty urban-fantasy style.

Not that Yuto thinks Minkyun is sexy, of course not. He’s just aware that most other people would probably classify Minkyun as sexy, because he’s stylish and well-proportioned and objectively handsome and has this kind of energy about him that’s hard to put into words. But none of that really matters to Yuto. All he cares about is how Minkyun’s venom sings through him when it hits his veins. (Or at least that's what he tells himself).

He’d played it cool back when Minkyun had asked for them to only see each other, but Yuto had been so relieved. No vampire has ever made Yuto feel as good as Minkyun does, and he’d been worried that Minkyun might grow tired of the taste of his blood and move on to someone new. But here he is, months later, still coming back for more whenever Yuto can afford to give it.

“Got a preference for which arm tonight?” Minkyun asks, and Yuto hesitates.

“Well…The weather’s getting warmer and I’ll be wearing shorter sleeves. Maybe even some sleeveless shirts when I’m exercising with my hyungs,” he says slowly.

What’s really got Yuto reconsidering is the close call he’d had since their last meeting. He’d been wearing a t-shirt, and Seungjun had grabbed a fistful of the back of it to stop him from leaving the kitchen for some nonsense reason. The fabric had bunched and pulled the right sleeve up almost all the way to the shoulder, revealing the fading remnant of Minkyun’s last bite mark. It was sheer dumb luck that Seungjun had been behind him at an angle where he couldn’t see it, and that Jaeyoung had been elsewhere. Yuto had quickly yanked the sleeve back down, barely able to keep his panic in check. Ever since then, he’s been trying to think of new spots for Minkyun to feed from, spots that can be concealed even more easily.

“Hmm…So you’re saying we need to get creative this time?” asks Minkyun.

Yuto nods, then shivers with anticipation as Minkyun’s gaze roams over him ravenously, seeking out a different place to sink his teeth into. At last Minkyun fixates on one of Yuto’s thighs, both of which are on full display thanks to the shorts he’s wearing. They aren’t short shorts, but the fabric is quite loose and they’ve rolled up a bit while Yuto’s been relaxing in bed.

“Mm,” says Minkyun hungrily. “You’ve got some nice-looking thighs, sugar.”

Yuto instinctively pulls the fabric down lower, but Minkyun pushes it right back up, even higher this time. A hint of Yuto’s briefs become visible, and he smacks Minkyun’s hand away indignantly.

“Don’t be a pervert.”

“What? I’m just looking for a place you can keep covered easily,” Minkyun says innocently. “And this seems like the best spot available.”

Minkyun has a point there. Does he? A skeptical voice in the back of Yuto’s mind asks. Yuto ignores it. A bite mark on his upper thigh would be easily covered by most pairs of shorts Yuto owns, allowing him to dress for the summer heat without arousing any suspicion from Seungjun and Jaeyoung. It just makes sense. It’s practical.

But when Minkyun instructs him to sit on the edge of the bed with his legs hanging over the side while he gets on his knees on the floor, Yuto starts feeling a little funny about this whole thing. He tries to reassure himself that this isn't that weird. If Minkyun was on the bed with him, or if Yuto was standing, then it would probably be kind of weird.

“Spread them a bit,” Minkyun says, patting Yuto’s knees. “So I can get in there good.”

Yuto obliges, but then he bites his lip, reconsidering, as Minkyun shuffles a little closer to him. “Ah…Minkyun, I don’t know about this…” he says at last.

“About what?”

“This spot,” Yuto answers, as he follows Minkyun’s gaze to a patch of skin near the inside of his upper thigh. “It’s very close to my…” His voice fails him.

“Blood sausage?” Minkyun suggests, and Yuto whaps the top of his head lightly with his open palm.

“Thank you for completely ruining this experience. The window’s there, have a nice walk home.”

“Nooo,” whines Minkyun. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“Fine. Consider it strike one.”

“Ooh, does that mean I get one more I can use freely?”

“You get two strikes before I send you home hungry.” It’s a hollow threat—of course Yuto wants to be fed on just as badly as Minkyun wants to feed—and Minkyun knows it. But he plays along anyway.

“I’ll be on my best behavior. As always,” Minkyun promises. “Now…where were we?”

Yuto bites his lip again as Minkyun gives his thigh an appreciative squeeze.

“Isn’t this too much, though?” he asks awkwardly, staring down at Minkyun’s hand splayed across the bare skin. “Wouldn’t it be too much like…?”

“Like me blowing you?” Minkyun finishes bluntly, then snickers as Yuto chokes on air. “Come on…Don’t tell me that this is where you get all self-conscious about me putting my mouth on you and pleasuring you.”

Yuto wants to protest that that’s a completely unfair and misleading description of what they’ve been doing together—except that it actually isn’t. That’s pretty much exactly what’s been going on, he’s forced to admit to himself.

“What?” Minkyun teases, speaking up in the wake of Yuto’s long silence. “Don’t like the way I phrased that?”

“You make it sound…” Yuto clears his throat. “Intimate, this thing we’ve been doing.”

“And you think it isn’t?”

When he thinks about it, even Yuto can’t deny that there is a certain level of intimacy involved in letting someone drink your blood. Aside from the physical closeness involved and the obvious swapping of fluids, there’s also the issue of trust. Every time Yuto lets Minkyun feed from him, he’s putting his life in his hands (or fangs) and relying on Minkyun not to take too much, not to hurt him when his mind gets all cloudy and foggy. Up until now, Yuto would have said that this whole thing involves more danger than it does intimacy. Now he sees that the danger and intimacy have always been closely intertwined, two dance partners waltzing together along a knife's edge. But that's not what Yuto's comment had meant.

“I meant intimate in a different way,” Yuto clarifies to Minkyun. He’s not going to say any more than that.

Minkyun’s lips curl up into a knowing sort of smile. “Well, for some vampire-human pairs, it can be intimate in that way, too. It’s pretty common, actually.”

It almost sounds like an offer—or is that just Yuto’s imagination? Everything Minkyun does and says is always dripping in that slick and sultry vampire charm, like he couldn’t turn it off even if he wanted to. But still Yuto can’t help but wonder…What if it is an offer, or at least a hint at a possibility?

Yuto is silent for a while. Thinking. Pondering. Considering.

Minkyun is definitely…pretty attractive. Okay, very attractive. Sexy, if Yuto’s going to be honest with himself for once, and also overflowing with the kind of animal magnetism that makes a mostly-sensible person like Yuto do some pretty dumb shit. Like letting a vampire into his house when he absolutely knows better. He can’t even say that it was his desperation to be fed on that had led him to invite Minkyun in back then. If it was any other vampire, Yuto would have been reaching for his bottle of holy water at the mere suggestion of them coming anywhere near his home. But all Minkyun had had to do was bat his pretty lashes and ask so sweetly if he could please come in, and Yuto had crumbled like a cookie.

Aside from his charm and good looks, Minkyun is also really good with his mouth, as Yuto knows from experience. Considerate, too, which is unexpected in a vampire. And Yuto personally likes Minkyun more than anyone else who’s ever drunk his blood before. He can joke with him, share his complaints with him, talk about random stuff like movie and music recommendations with him. He can also laugh at some of the truly ridiculous things that come out of Minkyun’s mouth sometimes.

(“Yuto,” he’d sighed a short while ago. “You know who’s lucky?”

“Who?”

“Ticks. One of them could cling to you for days and just gorge itself on that sweet blood of yours ‘til it explodes. Ah, what a way to die…”

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you?” Yuto had asked, before he’d broken down laughing.)

If he was ever going to give more than just his blood to a vamp, then, that vampire would probably be Minkyun.

But isn’t it bad enough that Yuto’s letting a vampire feed on him regularly without bringing other favors into it? Shouldn’t he try to maintain at least the barest shred of what’s left of his dignity? Is there any of that left? A smartass voice in the back of his mind asks. Yuto pretends not to know the answer.

“So, are you okay with this spot?” Minkyun asks, bringing Yuto back to reality at last.

He’s been thinking and pondering and considering in silence for too long, he realizes. Now there’s a feeling like the moment has passed, like they’re moving on and he might have missed a chance. He barely gets any time to regret it, though. Minkyun presses two chilly fingers into the soft flesh of Yuto’s inner thigh, mimicking a pair of fangs, and suddenly that’s all Yuto can focus on. Cold sparks dance up his spine when he imagines the real thing, pointed canines breaking the sensitive skin as Minkyun latches on to drink from him, and every reservation deserts him.

“Yeah, I think so.” When Minkyun looks up at him questioningly, Yuto nods and makes his answer firmer. “Yeah. That’s…a good spot.”

That’s all the encouragement Minkyun needs before he lowers his head and noses at Yuto’s thigh like a dog at a meaty bone. The light contact makes Yuto’s stomach swoop and his pulse jump into his throat—and shit, he’s not sure that this is just the usual excitement he feels right before a bite. But there’s no time to reconsider his choice, because now it’s Minkyun’s lips brushing against the skin, now his cool breath, now the pinprick-sharp tips of his fangs…

Yuto’s whole body jolts as Minkyun bites down, and then it’s too late. Once they get their teeth in you, it’s over. The euphoria kicks in within seconds, hitting him like a flash flood. Yuto feels himself—or maybe just his head—tilt back as stars dance on the insides of his eyelids. So good…

Then comes the pain, lightning under his skin, to shock him back to reality every few moments. His eyes flutter open on a larger spark; he tilts his head down and sees only the top of Minkyun’s head, sleek black hair shining in the light. He hears Minkyun give a greedy gulp, the sound almost as obscene as the image of Minkyun on knees in front of him.

“You taste so good, sugar,” Yuto can all but hear Minkyun saying, and then he loses himself in another billowing swell of pleasure.

For the first time then, the usual ecstasy is accompanied by something else: a twinge low in Yuto’s belly, a more concentrated, localized thrill somewhere below his waist.

Somewhere very close to Minkyun’s face.

At first Yuto’s mind is too far out of his head to pay much attention to his…other head, but then there’s movement, a little twitch, unmistakable even with Yuto blitzed out of his skull. The sensation, and the ensuing rush of muted panic, get their hooks into him and drag him closer to earth. Close enough to form a coherent thought: Oh fuck, I hope Minkyun doesn’t feel—

“You really like this spot, don’t you, angel cake?” Minkyun teases, after slipping his fangs back out and smacking his lips. His mouth is ruby-red and messy with blood; some of it dribbles down his chin and drips back onto Yuto’s thigh. He looks gorgeous, Yuto thinks, and that’s really not doing anything to help his situation. “Can’t say I blame you. I bet some of these wires are crossed pretty good down here, huh?”

With a snort of amusement, Minkyun lowers his head again and takes another bite, puncturing the delicate skin in a new spot just below the first. The spike of pain draws a hastily cut-off moan from Yuto, and he feels another twitch of movement down below. No, no, stop that…Why is this happening now?

With a shock, Yuto suddenly realizes he’s got a handful of Minkyun’s silky hair clenched in one fist. He lets go immediately, feeling his face grow fever hot, and he wills himself to think of unsexy things. It’s hard when it feels like he’s been reduced to a loose cloud of rapidly vibrating molecules in danger of floating up onto the ceiling at any moment, though.

Unsexy…unsexy…Please, I need something…

Like a housecat proudly presenting a dead rat to its owner, Yuto’s brain brings him a memory he’s been trying to repress: Jaeyoung and Seungjun fucking on the couch in the living room a few weeks ago, as if they didn’t have their own damn bed in their own damn bedroom for exactly that purpose. A hideous thing to think of at a time like this, but it works like a charm. Target neutralized. Mission accomplished.

“Mmmm.” Minkyun’s hum of satisfaction against Yuto’s flesh almost undermines his hard-won victory. It sends a static-buildup sensation through him, makes his body shudder. It’s just too easy to imagine that mouth a little higher, a little more to the left…

But at last Minkyun slides his fangs back out for good, with one last jolt of delicious pain that makes Yuto's breath catch in his throat. Yuto is both indescribably disappointed and indescribably relieved that it’s over. The haze of bliss begins to dissipate more quickly this time, those clouds already half-parted by the earlier intrusion of Yuto’s awareness. He blinks down at Minkyun as his vision becomes sharper, watching with fascination as he laps up the remaining blood trickling from the puncture marks like a kitten lapping up milk. For a fleeting moment Yuto feels a weird sense of something like pride, knowing that it’s his blood nourishing a being as beautiful and impossible as the one before him. Then Minkyun licks his lips, lets out a contented sigh, and takes out his little first-aid kit as usual.

“Mm, you’re gonna give me cavities, Yuto,” he says as he dabs at the bite marks with gauze.

Hearing his own name breaks the last of the spell over Yuto and brings him fully back to reality. The soft, floaty feeling from just a few moments ago is gone, replaced with a solid, heavy awareness of his body, his limbs. And a solid, heavy awareness of everything that just happened. Yuto's sense of shame draws itself back up to its full height, and he hooks his fingernails into his bedspread like claws, flinching as he wonders what might have happened if the feeding went on just a little longer. He doesn’t have to wonder very hard.

This is what he gets for being honest with himself. It’s always the slipperiest fucking slope when Yuto allows himself to acknowledge his feelings. One second it’s “Minkyun is pretty attractive” and then quick as a blink it’s almost losing control in the most embarrassing possible way and—What had he just called Minkyun in his mind a moment ago? A “beautiful and impossible being”? For fuck’s sake. Zero to one hundred, as always.

“It can’t be good for my teeth, drinking blood like yours so often,” Minkyun goes on in the meantime, and Yuto tries to buck off the shame and throw himself seamlessly back into their usual dynamic. To pretend like everything’s normal, which is how Minkyun seems to be acting, thankfully.

“You can stop any time you like,” Yuto replies, his voice still somewhat unsteady. He fumbles for the bottled orange juice on his nightstand and takes a gulp of it.

“You know that’s not true,” laughs Minkyun.

“I thought you had better self-control than most vampires. Isn’t that what you told me?” Yuto shudders lightly again when Minkyun rubs a bit of cool ointment onto the bite.

“I do. But you’re just that irresistible.” Minkyun flashes a dimpled smile, the expression more “boy next door” than “creature of the night.” He sticks a bandage on Yuto’s leg and gives it a gentle pat. “Only a matter of time before my will breaks down and I drink up every last drop.”

“You wouldn’t,” Yuto refutes immediately.

“I wouldn’t,” Minkyun agrees. “Then I wouldn’t ever get to have any more. I’d have to try to find some new human with blood as delicious as yours…”

“And my hyungs would kill you,” Yuto points out.

“That too.”

They lapse into silence, Minkyun still down on the floor and gazing at Yuto, Yuto gazing back at Minkyun. The shame comes back then, stronger than before, and even though he’d rather just pretend the whole “almost popping a boner” thing never happened, Yuto can’t help but feel like he should at least say something. Clarify that it was completely unintentional and…yeah. So he clears his throat and shifts awkwardly on the mattress.

“Uh,” says Yuto, looking at the Howl’s Moving Castle poster hanging above his crossbow on the far wall and not at Minkyun. “Sorry about…that, by the way.”

“Hey, it happens,” chuckles Minkyun. Yuto feels the mattress dip as he finally joins him on the bed. “You did pull my hair pretty hard though,” comes the teasing whisper in Yuto’s ear.

Yuto’s head whips towards Minkyun, who’s still leaning in close to Yuto’s ear, and it’s a miracle that their faces don’t collide and seriously fuck up someone’s nose or teeth. “Oh god, I didn’t even—I’m sorry for that, too.”

“It’s okay. I kinda liked it,” Minkyun admits, without batting an eyelid. “Nice to get a little pain with my pleasure.”

Yuto’s mouth goes dry, and he feels that warm spark of something south of his stomach again. But this time he’s stone-sober, and Minkyun’s mouth isn’t right next to his crotch. Yuto lets out a hasty little “ha,” just a single one that hangs in the air all alone, and waits for Minkyun to laugh, too. Only Minkyun doesn’t laugh. He only keeps smirking and lets his silence underline and then double-underline his words. Just like that, Yuto’s thoughts return to Minkyun’s earlier remark, the one that was maybe an offer: “it can be intimate in that way, too”. And he thinks that maybe he hasn’t missed a chance after all. There’s only one way to find out, though, and that involves opening his mouth and actually getting words out to Minkyun this time.

“Minkyun…That other kind of intimacy you mentioned,” Yuto begins slowly, cautiously, feeling like he’s stepping out onto a frozen lake. “Have you ever thought about it before?”

“Sure,” Minkyun says readily.

Yuto shakes his head; he’d phrased that badly. “I don’t mean in general. I mean…you and me.”

“Yes.” Minkyun answers without hesitation again, although his head is lowered slightly and he’s looking at Yuto out of the corner of his eye, almost shyly.

A tingle dances up Yuto’s spine like electricity. “You have?” he asks, a little too breathlessly.

Minkyun nods. “Lots of times. I think it really started after I asked for our arrangement to be exclusive.”

And suddenly that changes everything. Yuto feels it as a shift in the air, like a storm is approaching his bedroom. Lots of times. Lots of times. That means more than once. That means probably it was on purpose.

“What kind of things did you think about?” The question slips past Yuto’s lips at the same time it hits his brain, his usually diligent mind-mouth filter nowhere to be found.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” teases Minkyun with a breathy laugh. He flashes a wink that makes Yuto want to groan. “I’ll just say I’ve spent a lot of time wondering if your lips taste as sweet as your blood.”

There it is again. A lot of time. A lot of time thinking about kissing Yuto. The admission makes his heart pump faster, the way it does when Yuto’s facing down something impossibly huge, a monster that could smash every bone in his body if he makes the wrong move.

Yuto takes a deep breath and licks his lips. He knows it makes no sense, but somehow the thing he’s about to do next feels riskier than letting a vampire bite him (...There’s probably something actually wrong with him). “Do you want to go ahead and find out?” he asks Minkyun, slow and deliberate.

Minkyun doesn’t even waste a breath saying “yes” before he’s fitting his lips to Yuto’s, cool meeting warm. The suddenness of it catches Yuto by surprise; he lets out a startled “mph” against Minkyun’s mouth and his hands sort of flail uselessly for a few seconds before they find Minkyun’s shirt to cling to. And then he’s kissing back, curious and careful where Minkyun is greedy and unrestrained, an awkward mismatch not unlike a couple trying to dance to two different songs. But they adjust to each other quickly after those first few sloppy seconds, and then it's—Well, it's certainly different. While Yuto's used to Minkyun’s hands and breath always being cold no matter the temperature, the lack of heat when they deepen the kiss is strange at first. And Minkyun’s entire mouth tastes of copper although yeah, Yuto should have seen that coming. Odd as it all is, he still doesn’t pull away until he needs to catch his breath, trying to hold out and savor every moment as long as he can.

“Well?” Minkyun asks, watching Yuto through half-lidded eyes. He looks rather pleased with himself, with one side of his mouth curved upwards and warm embers in his gaze.

“I don’t get it,” Yuto blurts out. He frowns slightly at the taste of his own blood lingering on his lips. “I tasted some of my blood, but I didn’t pick up on this 'sweetness' you’re always talking about.”

The other side of Minkyun’s mouth pulls up, too. “Well, of course it would be more subtle for you,” he replies, shrugging. “A lot more subtle. Probably undetectable.”

“Hm.” Yuto waits until the metallic tang has mostly faded from his taste buds and then smiles at Minkyun. “Well, in that case…Maybe I need to try again? Just to be sure.”

Minkyun’s grin widens. “Right, just to be sure. C’mere.”

He wraps his arms around Yuto’s body and gives him a pull, urging him closer. So Yuto puts a leg across Minkyun’s lap, and then the other, and then he’s tilting his mouth up to meet Minkyun’s as he leans in again. For him the first kiss had been more of a novelty than anything, with Yuto trying to adjust to the strange sensations involved in locking lips with a vampire. It’s still a bit weird, but Yuto’s ready for it now—the faded taste of pennies and the lack of body heat. He can overlook those things more easily this time, can focus more on what it's like kissing Minkyun. He can focus on Minkyun's own taste, the way his lips are so soft and plush even if they aren't warm, the quiet noises he makes against Yuto's mouth. A forceful shiver runs through him as Minkyun’s hand finds the site of the bite in the middle of it all, making the soft little hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Yuto’s sure of one thing, then: he wants to make this his next bad habit.

“No, still don’t taste the sweetness,” Yuto reiterates, once they’ve pulled away. “...But that was nice anyway.”

“Oh, just ‘nice’?” questions Minkyun, feigning hurt.

Yuto rolls his eyes. “Fine, better than nice. Unusual in some ways, but…I think I could get used to that.”

“Well, I’d be happy to help you get used to it,” Minkyun says, waggling his eyebrows.

The two of them smile at each other, and Minkyun lazily traces a finger along one of Yuto’s legs, which are still in his lap. Yuto doesn’t feel like scooting away yet, and besides, he remembers reading that it’s good to keep your legs elevated after donating blood.

“Looks like your hyungs have another potential reason to want me dead,” jokes Minkyun.

“I’ll…see about talking them into a more open-minded approach,” Yuto assures him. “Slowly. Subtly. Without naming any particular names.”

“We’ll see how that goes, I guess.” Then a devilish grin steals across Minkyun’s handsome face, one Yuto already knows well. “So, when I was down there earlier…” he starts, and Yuto lowers his head and groans quietly. “...Was that really just a fluke, or were you actually into that?”

Yuto thinks back to it, to Minkyun on his knees with his mouth high on Yuto’s thigh, and squirms. “I...think I did," he admits, feeling himself grow hot all over. “But I don’t know for sure. Because of the venom. It makes it hard to tell exactly what’s going on and why.” Yuto swallows before meeting Minkyun’s eyes. “But maybe we could try and find out sometime? Without the venom and the blood-drinking?”

“Oh, I’d like that,” purrs Minkyun. “I’d really like to see what gets that sweet blood of yours pumping.”

At this point, Yuto thinks he already knows the answer. He decides to keep that to himself for now, though.

“Sometime when I’m not so full and sleepy,” Minkyun adds after a moment. He gives a little yawn that would probably be much cuter if his teeth and the corners of his mouth weren’t still slightly stained with blood. “And you’re not recovering from blood loss, of course.”

“...Next Saturday night, then?” Yuto ventures. “Seungjun and Jaeyoung will be having a date night.”

Minkyun perks up at once. “Next Saturday,” he confirms eagerly. Then he yawns again and rests his head on Yuto’s shoulder, nuzzling against him once and closing his eyes.

“Minkyun,” urges Yuto, wondering how he’s gotten to this point in his life—being used as a pillow by the type of bloodthirsty being he’s been trained to fight against since childhood. “Minkyun, you’d better not fall asleep.”

“Mm.”

“Minkyun, c’mon. I’m tired too, and if we both fall asleep, I’m gonna wake up with a pile of ash on my bed.”

“Good point,” murmurs Minkyun sleepily, cracking open his eyes. “And you can’t have much fun with me like that. Not unless you get a little more creative and a lot more depraved.”

“I’m already getting dangerously close to necrophilia,” says Yuto dryly. “How much more depraved could I get at this point?”

“Oh, there’s always new depths to sink to,” laughs Minkyun, giving Yuto’s legs one last pat before lifting them off of him and forcing himself up off the bed. “Though if I’m going to tempt you into them, I’d prefer to be aware and conscious for it.”

“You’re not half as tempting as you think you are.”

“No?” Minkyun holds out his arms, gesturing to his surroundings: Yuto’s bedroom, the private sanctum he had very successfully tempted his way into. Yuto has lost this particular argument before it’s ever really started, he realizes.

“Okay, fine, you’re pretty tempting,” he admits.

Minkyun’s face lights up, once again looking very pleased with himself. Then he reluctantly slips his shoes back on and makes his way over to the open window. Yuto is unexpectedly sorry to see him go, sorry that Minkyun can’t simply fall asleep on Yuto’s shoulder and stay with him until the sun rises. Then, in typical Minkyun fashion, he opens his mouth and ruins it.

“See you soon, cupcake,” he says on his way out the window. “I hope I'll get to taste your cream filling.”

Yuto flings his Totoro plush at Minkyun just before he disappears from sight. It bounces off his shoulder and falls back into the room, accompanied by the sound of Minkyun's fading laugh.

You're lucky that wasn't a throwing knife, Yuto says to Minkyun in his mind. ...You're lucky I like you.