Chapter Text
The winters were colder than they had been in the years before. The snow fell earlier, at least Sunghoon thought so. He wasn't entirely sure. He thought the city looked prettier with a blanket of snow covering its surfaces. Sunghoon sidestepped a group of girls who stopped to take a photo in the snow. People were bundled with long scarfs up to their noses and jackets so thick it made them waddle slightly. This was always his favorite season, everything just seemed so much quieter, innocent. Snowflakes landed on Sunghoon’s skin but never melted. He wasn’t cold—he never was. The wind bit at his exposed skin, but it may as well have been a whisper. The world around him moved too slowly, the people sluggish, their blood a faint hum beneath their scarves and layers.
His pocket buzzed and Sunghoon swiftly took out his phone to answer the call,
“Hey, hyung, do you think you can stop for chocolate on your way home?” Sunoo’s voice came statically through the speaker and Sunghoon smiled.
“You couldn’t have called five minutes ago when I passed the convenience store?”
“Please?”
Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “Yes, fine, I’ll be home in like ten.” He clicked off the phone, turning around on his heel to go to the convenience store he had seen a few blocks back.
It was decorated for Christmas, but walking in he was hit with a wave of heat. He headed straight to the snack aisle, picking through the selections to find the brand of chocolate he knew Sunoo liked. He placed several of the bars on the counter, paying for it and stepping back out into the cold.
The city’s quiet was broken by a sudden crash to Sunghoon’s left. He stopped mid-step, instinctively tensing. A gust of wind sent snow swirling across the pavement, but the street was otherwise still. Then he heard it—a sound so soft he almost missed it. Crying. Faint, uneven. Not the muffled sniffles of someone upset, but deep, shaking sobs. Something about it sent a prickle of unease down his spine. He should walk away. But he couldn’t; like a moth to a flame. It led him to a small alleyway, dark and cramped, just out of reach from the streetlights. Sunghoon heard the sobbing before he saw him. A thin, reedy sound, curling through the cold night air like a ghost. He should’ve walked away. Should’ve ignored it. Instead, he turned into the alley.
His eyes adjusted quickly but not quick enough that he didn’t trip over the object laying in the middle. He crashed to the ground with all the grace of a wet piece of paper, just barely turning in time so he didn’t smack his head against the concrete. He rolled onto his side, groaning and rubbing the shoulder he landed on.
“What…?” He turned his head. Eyes. Sunghoon scrambled back, hitting a far wall and staring at the body. It was a man, maybe middle-aged and staring blankly through Sunghoon. His throat was torn open and a puddle of blood stretched its way with greedy fingers towards Sunghoon.
Then he saw the boy. Wide-eyed. Trembling. Mouth slick with blood.
“ What the fuck? ” His voice barely felt like his own.
The boy’s chest heaved. He pressed himself into the corner, like he wanted to disappear into the brick. His hands clutched at his own shirt—a shirt stained in deep, wet crimson.
“I—” The boy’s voice cracked. “He attacked me, I swear—”
Another sob ripped out of him. Sunghoon flinched.
This wasn’t normal.
“How old are you? Where is your coven? Why are you out here?” Sunghoon rattled off question after question. Why was this fledgling out here all by himself? Without any sort of supervision?
The boy only sobbed harder, “What are you talking about?”
Sunghoon was taken aback for a second, “Your coven,” He paused, “Who turned you?”
“Turned me? I don’t know what’s happening to me!”
Sunghoon blew out a breath. This was a lot more complicated than he originally thought, “Do you feel that fire? In the back of your throat? In your veins?”
The boy looked at him with wide, dark eyes and nodded his head, Sunghoon continued, “Do you know what that means?”
Sunghoon watched fear claw its way back into his eyes and took it as a ‘no’. “It means you’re hungry. ” He gestured halfheartedly to the absolute disaster behind them, “For that. It means I need to get you as far away from here as fast as I can.”
He dug through his pocket for his phone, dialing a number, “Hey, I’m going to be home a lot later than I thought.”
“What? Why?” He heard crashing in the background and someone cursed, then a door closed, “What’s up? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just…caught up with something. Tell Jay I’ll be late for dinner.”
Jake sighed, his voice full, smooth, “Okay, he’s not going to like that. Be safe.”
“I will. Talk to you later.” He hung up the phone and turned his attention back to the boy. He was shaking, his breathing uneven, eyes locked on the blood staining his hands.
“I killed him,” he whispered, the words barely escaping his lips. “I—” His voice cracked, and he choked back a sob.
Sunghoon hesitated before crouching beside him, his fingers tightening around the boy’s wrists to still his trembling hands. “I know,” he murmured, “But you didn’t ask for this. You didn’t know.”
The boy leaned into his touch and up close Sunghoon could see the shadows under his eyes and the sunkenness of his cheekbones. “You stay here, okay?” He shrugged off his jacket to wrap it around the boy’s shoulders; it wouldn’t do much but it made Sunghoon feel better nevertheless.
Sunghoon rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and hooked his arms under the man and dragged him over to prop him against the wall. His head lolled to the side and Sunghoon wrinkled his nose at the smell.
“Talk me through what happened.” He grabbed a nearby tarp from on top of a trash can.
The boy sniffled, picking at the skin of his fingers, his fingers trembling “He grabbed me?”
His voice wavered and Sunghoon glanced at him, “Uh huh, then what?”
“He pushed that against my throat.”
Sunghoon looked up to see what he was pointing at. The light glinted very slightly off the blade of a pocket knife.
“He pushed it against my throat and then…I don’t remember what happened!” He said with a bite of anger that had Sunghoon’s head snapping up. But just as quickly as it came, it fizzled out, “And then you were here.”
Sunghoon sighed, “You were probably starving and attacked on instinct. How long have you been feeling like this?”
“Maybe like a week? Week and a half?”
Sunghoon stopped wrapping the body and whipped around, “ What?”
The boy froze, “I’m not entirely sure! It’s been like twelve days? I thought I had the flu for a while but…”
“ Twelve days?” Sunghoon blinked at him blankly, there’s no way he would've survived twelve days. Right? “This is the first time something like this happened?”
He nodded.
“Holy shit. This is so much worse than I thought. I need to get you out of here now.” Sunghoon finished wrapping the body, hauling it into the dumpster against the wall and closing the lid. He’d have to come back later. “Stay right here. Do not move.” He waited for some sort of affirmation before rushing back into the convenience store to grab some baby wipes. When he returned the boy was still in the same spot as before.
“Take your shirt off.”
For the first time the boy showed something other than fear, albeit it was confusion but it was something, “What?”
Sunghoon waved him off, focusing on opening the baby wipes, “Take off your shirt. You can’t walk around like that.”
The boy cautiously removed his shirt and Sunghoon quickly buttoned up the jacket. The baby wipes were colder than he thought and unfortunately he had no way to warm them so he just muttered an apology when the boy flinched back. He was taller than Sunghoon had originally anticipated, which Sunghoon had only realized after he had to reach up a bit to properly clean off his face. His hair was dark, which only served to bring out his even darker eyes that stared at Sunghoon cautiously; like he wanted to trust him but was afraid to do so. Once Sunghoon was done he took the boy's blood-soaked shirt and tossed it in the dumpster with the body.
“What’s your name?”
The boy paused, searching Sunghoon for something he wasn’t quite sure of, “Riki.”
Sunghoon smiled, “Hi, Riki. I’m Sunghoon.”
Riki nodded, bringing his arms up and Sunghoon’s eyes drifted to his chest. It was covered in long, deep scratches that Sunghoon guessed came from Riki’s own nails. He pursed his lips and Riki quickly covered the exposed skin.
Resigned to not saying anything, lest he break the already fragile trust established, Sunghoon fitted a small face mask over Riki, fussing with it until he got it to his liking. A pit settled in his stomach, something that Sunghoon didn’t even have time to decipher at the moment. Riki was too new. He had no coven. No sense of control. And he should’ve been dead if he’d gone twelve days without feeding.
So why wasn’t he?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunghoon practically dragged Riki to the trains, the hold he had must have hurt but to his credit he didn’t feel Riki resist against him once. He shoved him on the trains, forcibly sitting him down on the furthest seat away from people he could find. Riki was antsy, fidgeting restlessly, his jaw flexing under the mask. Sunghoon could feel his discomfort, it was rolling off of him in waves. His body was tense, wound up like a coil ready to snap at any given moment. The entire atmosphere of the train shifted as every person became aware subconsciously that their lives were in danger. Sunghoon used his body as a shield to both protect them from Riki and Riki from them.
“What’s wrong?”
“It hurts.” Riki’s voice was strained, emphasized by another flex in his jaw.
Sunghoon tightened his hold with one hand but brought the other up to tug Riki's mask under his nose.
He recoiled, “That’s worse, that’s so much worse.”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” Sunghoon pulled him down, pressing Riki’s nose against his neck, trying to overpower the scent of blood with his own. After a second his body began to unwind, like undoing a coil. Sunghoon idly ran his fingers through his hair, hyper aware of Riki, trying to be read when he was going to snap again. When they stopped Sunghoon pulled the mask back up over his nose and dragged him through the crowds of people.
About ten minutes later they were walking on a small dirt path. The moon was clearer now, illuminating the path before them as if telling them where to go.
“Are you…Are you going to hurt me?” Riki didn’t stop walking but his voice was quiet, resigned, as if he already knew the answer but just wanted to hear it aloud.
Sunghoon made a disbelieving sound, “What? You think I would bring you all the way out here to kill you?” He scoffed, “No, that’s too much work; if I wanted to hurt you I would’ve just done it in the alleyway.” After he said it out loud, Sunghoon realized that it probably was not what Riki had wanted to hear, if his flinch was any indication. He reached to touch the boy’s shoulder, to apologize but he bit his tongue, staying quiet.
He let Riki lead the way mostly, only redirecting him when he strayed too far in the wrong direction. It seemed to calm him, the sense of control and Sunghoon was not going to be the one to take that away from him so he let him lead, nearly running into his back when he came to a shortstop.
He stood there, as if unwilling to further enter the property and Sunghoon looked back at the house. Sure, it was big, but it didn’t look old, in fact, Heeseung had gotten it remodeled to fit a more modern appeal not that many years ago.
“What’s wrong?”
Riki only shook his head, “It feels weird here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like strong, something’s really strong here.” His face held a certain degree of desperation, like he needed to convey that feeling to Sunghoon and have it reciprocated.
Sunghoon cupped his hands again and pulled him a bit further into the property, “It’s okay. I won’t let anything hurt you, I promise.”
When they reached the front door Sunghoon slid his key into the lock and pushed open the door. The hallway was empty, which was fairly odd considering who he lives with. He led Riki to the living room, gesturing to one of the couches, “Sit, I’m going to grab you some bags.”
He helped Riki settle on the couch, pushing him down by his shoulders when he felt arms wrap around his waist.
“You’re late.”
The words were whispered into his ear and Sunghoon fought the urge to roll his eyes, “I called and told you I would be late.”
“Not this late.”
Sunghoon physically felt when Jake’s attention wandered over to Riki who was sitting cautiously on the edge of his seat.
“You brought home a baby?”
Sunghoon nearly snorted until he heard Riki scream. Heeseung had him pinned to the couch by his throat and Sunghoon scrambled to be rid of Jake’s arms.
“Hyung! Hyung, stop!”
Heeseung only looked at him, confused and Jungwon’s voice wafted over to him, “Who is this?”
Heeseung stepped back, allowing Jungwon to get closer to Riki. Riki shrunk back and Sunghoon instinctively grabbed one of his hands. Jungwon’s eyes flicked up to him, “Why would you bring home a fledgling?”
Sunghoon sighed, “I found him.”
Jay entered so quietly that Sunghoon barely noticed him until he spoke, “You found him? And decided to just take him home? I think that’s called kidnapping .” His voice was amused, but there was an underlying sharpness to it, as if he was already calculating the risks. Sunghoon sighed, not in the mood for one of Jay’s lectures.
“I–What? No. Just, everyone back up.” Jungwon and Heeseung stepped back and Sunghoon squeezed Riki’s hand before running to the kitchen. He rifled through the cabinets, searching for a cup. Once it was found he grabbed a knife, slicing open his palm to allow his blood to drip into the cup. He came back with a full glass and handed it directly to Riki. “Drink this.”
“What is going on?”
Sunghoon sighed and turned to Jungwon, “I found him in an alleyway. He’s scared and starving, I didn’t know where else to take him.”
Jungwon pinched the bridge of his nose, “You can’t just take him. What about his coven? Now they have a missing fledgling.”
“He doesn’t have a coven.”
All movement in the room stopped, “What?”
Sunghoon turned to Riki who was watching them with growing fear, “Riki, who turned you?”
Riki shook his head rapidly, “I don’t know, I swear I don’t know.”
“What do you know?” Sunoo sat, perched, on the arm of the couch, peering down at him and Riki jumped, knocking himself into Sunghoon and completely spilling the cup of blood.
“Why would you do that?” Sunghoon got up to retrieve the knife from the kitchen, “You’re all scaring him.”
“We need to know what we’re dealing with.”
Sunghoon scoffed, slicing his palm open again and handing the cup back to Riki once it was full. Riki wrinkled his nose and pushed the cup away.
“Riki, you need to drink, otherwise you’ll never feel better.”
Riki took the cup reluctantly, curling into Sunghoon’s side to get away from the prying eyes of everyone else.
Sunghoon smiled, content with petting his hair while he drank until he felt Jungwon’s stare on him, “Start explaining.”
He held Jungwon’s eyes for a while, but as always, caved, “When I turned back to grab Sunoo his chocolate I heard crying,” He paused when he felt Riki stiffen, “So I followed it and found him in the corner of an alleyway.”
“You’re not telling us the whole story.” Heeseung gave him a sideways glance when Sunghoon made a disagreeing sound. “You reek of blood. Why is that?”
Sunghoon stuttered a little, caught off guard, “What?”
Heeseung rolled his eyes, leaning into Sunghoon’s space, “How long have we been together? You can’t lie to me, it doesn’t work.”
He winced, “There was a…person,”
The intake of breath in the room was audible and Heeseung pulled away. Next to him, he could feel Riki freeze, even the rise and fall of his chest coming to a halt. Sunghoon turned to face Riki, carefully taking the glass out of his hand and placing it on the table next to the arm of the couch. Tears formed a silent path down his face and Sunghoon hastily wiped them away.
“I didn’t mean to,” It was a broken whisper and Sunghoon could feel everyone inch a little closer.
“I know you didn’t; it’s okay,” Riki didn’t look quite like he believed him but he allowed Sunghoon to gather him in his arms. He quickly pressed his nose against Sunghoon’s throat and Sunghoon sighed, pointedly not making any sort of eye contact with any of the others as he waited for Riki to calm. “I know you didn’t.”
“Hyung?” Sunghoon looked up, “Can I have a word?” Jungwon nodded his head towards the kitchen.
He disentangled himself from Riki to follow him into the kitchen but not before shooting a look at Heeseung and the others in an attempt to communicate ‘ don’t do anything stupid.’ Once in the kitchen Jungwon whirled on him.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You really think I can’t tell when you’re leaving things out? I know you; you can’t hide things from me, at least not successfully.” He cornered Sunghoon, walking him back until Sunghoon hit the counter.
“Jungwon…”
Sunghoon leaned back as Jungwon pushed himself into his space, placing his hands on either side of Sunghoon’s waist.
“I’ll ask again, hyung, what aren’t you telling me?”
To Sunghoon’s credit, he fought it, but to Sunghoon’s disadvantage, Jungwon always had an uncanny ability to make any and all of them cave in an instant.
“It was drained.”
Jungwon groaned, his head thumping against Sunghoon’s chest. “He drained someone?”
“Not efficiently, to be honest.” Sunghoon laughed when Jungwon threw half-hearted punches at his shoulder.
“It’s not funny. The council will be after him.”
“...Not if we get there first.”
“What are you suggesting?”
Sunghoon jumped but Jungwon merely turned to look at Heeseung, his eyes trailing over him lazily. “I think it’s quite clear what he’s suggesting, no?”
“Where’s Riki?”
Heeseung rolled his eyes, “He’s with Jay, he’s fine.”
Jungwon, who still hadn’t released Sunghoon, ghosted his lips down Sunghoon’s carotid artery, lightly resting his teeth there when he felt Sunghoon shiver. “You care for him.”
“He was attacked, from what I’ve gathered. He’s alone and afraid,” Sunghoon tilted his head back to allow Jungwon more room, “I know what that’s like.”
Heeseung stepped closer to them, guiding Sunghoon to look at him, “What do you need from us? Hmm? How can we help?”
“I’ll go back tonight, before the sun comes up, to get rid of the body. Just stay here? Make sure he eats?”
Jungwon hummed against his throat, finally pulling back enough to see Sunghoon, “No, we’ll go, you stay with him; he’s more comfortable around you.”
Heeseung nodded his agreement, tangling his fingers with Sunghoon’s and pulling the both of them towards the living room again. Riki was sitting next to Jay who was very worriedly asking him all sorts of questions that even Sunghoon hadn’t yet gotten to. Sunoo was still perched on the arm of the couch, gently running his hand through Riki’s hair, who seemed to relax into his touch.
“He seems to be okay so far, taken quite a liking to Sunoo in my opinion.” Jake looped his arms around Sunghoon’s neck, answering Sunghoon’s question before it ever left his mouth. Heeseung made his way over to Jay and Sunoo, leaving a kiss on Jake’s cheek as he went. Jungwon clapped his hands and all the attention diverted to him.
“Jay-hyung, hold down the fort?” Jungwon didn’t wait for an answer but Jay snorted anyway.
“When do I not?”
Jake pulled away from Sunghoon and Sunoo slipped away from Riki, much to his dismay and then they were gone.
Jay also departed from them under the ruse of getting the spare bedroom ready. Sunghoon settled back on the couch next to Riki.
“How are you feeling? Do you need more blood?”
Riki leaned heavily against the couch but shook his head. “What do I do now? I didn’t ask for this.”
Sunghoon worried at his bottom lip with his teeth, “I know,” that seemed to be all he was saying as of late.
“I want to go home.”
Sunghoon’s heart cracked, he knew that feeling, but Riki couldn’t go home. Not while he was a danger to everyone and everything around him. “Riki…” Sunghoon started, keeping his voice low and gentle, “Do you remember anything about your turning? Anything at all that could help us find the person who did it?”
“I don’t remember much.”
“That’s okay,” Sunghoon assured, “But if you remember anything I need to know.”
Riki fidgeted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable about reliving that memory. “I don’t remember everything,” Riki said, voice hoarse. “But… I remember pain.”
Sunghoon didn’t say anything. He let Riki talk at his own pace.
“I was just walking home.” His fingers curled into his sleeves. “There was this man—he had too many bags. Groceries. I offered to help.”
A pause. Riki’s breathing stuttered.
“Then… it was like the air changed.”
Sunghoon frowned. “Changed how?”
“I don’t know.” Riki swallowed. “It felt wrong. Like the world shifted out of place or something."
His hands were shaking now. Sunghoon could hear his pulse spike.
“I woke up on the ground. My throat was burning. And I was so hungry.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I thought I was going to die.”
A heavy silence.
“But you didn’t,” Sunghoon murmured. “That’s the weird part.” He cringed when the words left his mouth, “I’m sorry.” He reached for Riki.
Riki ducked under his hand, “It’s fine,” He pushed off the couch, taking quick steps and disappearing into the kitchen. Sunghoon wasn’t sure he knew where he was going but he also recognized that Riki needed any sort of space he could get right now.
So, instead of following Riki, he traced the sounds of Jay and went to go help. Jay was doing his nervous fluttering around the guest room, adding one set of sheets then stripping the bed and adding different colored ones.
Sunghoon stopped him in the middle of him replacing yet another pair of sheets. “I don’t think he’s going to pay any mind to whether the sheets are blue or black.”
“You don’t know that.” Jay moved to continue and Sunghoon stepped in front of him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re such a liar, Jongseong, ” He crowded into Jay’s space, backing him up until Jay had no choice but to look at him.
“I just—what about his family?”
Sunghoon rubbed soothing circles onto the small of Jay’s back. Riki’s voice echoed in the back of his mind; I want to go home . “I don’t know. He can’t go home yet; it’s not safe.”
Jay glared at him, “Yeah, I know that, but what are we going to do? What if his family reports him as missing? How do we explain to him that one day he is never going to be able to see them again?”
“Jay, we’ll cross those bridges when we get to them. Right now the goal is to get him to survive until tomorrow.”
“He didn’t ask for this.”
Something in the back of Sunghoon’s mind burned, both Jake and Riki’s voices fighting to the forefront of his memories; one decades old, another just a few minutes. I didn’t ask for this.
“Did we?”
Jay looked at him, “What are you talking about?”
“Did we ask for this? Did Heeseung? Did Jake?”
Jay flinched at the last name, muttering, “ No.”
Sunghoon sighed, guilt making itself at home in his chest when he saw how ridgid Jay went, “I’m sorry, that was mean,” Jay’s shoulders relaxed a little, “I know that what happened to Riki was unfair. I know that he didn’t ask for this. But we can’t change that right now.”
“What are we going to do?” Jay grasped the front of his shirt, twisting it in his hands, “Hoon, I haven’t had a bad feeling like this since Jake’s turning.”
Sunghoon’s heart froze; he hadn’t either but he had been hoping beyond hope that he had been the only one feeling that way. That it was some kind of fluke.
“We’re going to do what we always do; we’re going to figure this out together.” He uncurled Jay’s hands from his shirt, leaning down to kiss his knuckles, “But for now, one step at a time. We need to keep him fed and alive, everything else comes after.”
Jay deflated against him and Sunghoon was more than happy to hold him up for the time being, pressing small kisses everywhere he could reach. Jay pulled away first, mumbling something about continuing to ready the room and disappeared into the hallway. Sunghoon hesitated at the doorway, glancing back at Jay and the staircase where he could hear Riki shuffling around.
Their heartbeats were calm, steady, safe for now.
But Sunghoon couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut. Something was coming.
A storm. A reckoning.
And when it arrived—
He would burn the world down before he let them take his coven.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“This is the place?” Jungwon asked, standing in front of an alleyway that, in his opinion, made the perfect place for a murder. Very few people still lingered on the streets, most already settled into their homes to escape the snow and the temperature. It was still dark outside, and the low light of the street lamps didn’t make it into the alley, which only served to put Jungwon more on edge.
“Uh…yeah, this is the address he texted.” Sunoo’s nose was wrinkled and his lips were turned down at the corners.
Jake stepped a bit closer, not fully entering the alley without Jungwon’s explicit order. “It smells like blood. A lot of it.”
Jungwon took a minute to breathe, confirming Jake’s statement, it almost clogged his nose with how potent the smell was. “Great, alright, Sunoo-hyung, you stay here, keep watch. You two,” he gestured to Jake and Heeseung, “Help me.”
Sunoo looked relieved, turning on his heel to watch the dying life of the city and the snow as it clung to every available object. Heeseung strode forward, heading towards the back of the alleyway first. Jungwon waited the brief second it took for his eyes to adjust fully, almost immediately finding the blood stains on the concrete. The building loomed over the alleyway, blocking most of it from the snowfall but it didn’t block out the cold.
“Is it fresh?”
Jungwon startled a little, not having expected Jake to be hovering so closely over his shoulder. Jungwon shrugged, dragging a single finger over the patch of blood. Most of it had frozen over but the puddle was large enough that Jungwon’s finger still came back stained red.
Jake pulled back, his face contorted with mild disgust, “That’s him. That’s what Sunghoon smelled like earlier.”
“Didn’t like the smell?”
From somewhere in the back Heeseung shouted, “He didn’t smell like us at all. It made me feel itchy.”
Jake groaned, “Oh my god, I wanted to force him to take a shower right then. I couldn’t stand it.”
Heeseung’s laugh echoed their way, “Yeah, I know, you were practically gnawing at my shoulder. You’re not subtle.”
Jake squawked, ”I was not.”
Jungwon could hear the smile in Heeseung’s voice, “Sure, baby.”
“I didn’t like that he didn’t smell like us either.”
Jake looked at him approvingly, taking Jungwon’s hand and wiping the blood off with the helm of his shirt.
“Jungwon?” Heeseung called, sounding further away than he was even two minutes ago.
Jungwon and Jake pushed to their feet, finding Heeseung standing by a dumpster pushed tightly against the wall. Jungwon gagged, the smell of lightly decomposed body was certainly not his favorite scent. Heeseung lifted the top and they all peered inside. It was entirely empty aside from a neatly folded tarp. Jake reached inside, grabbing it and holding it in his hands like he was unsure what to do with it.
Heeseung took it from him, unfolding the blue tarp that smelled like it had a dead body wrapped in it, because it probably did.
“Huh?” He dropped the tarp, which fell heavily to the floor. Instead in his hands was a T-shirt, rather large, and stained in blood all the way down the front. His eyes went wide and without a word he handed it to Jungwon.
Jungwon took it, turning it over in his hands. A small black card rested on the top, almost like a business card. On it, printed in pretty swirly letters was the name, “ Nishimura Riki,” Underneath the name was a single mark, like a tally.
On the back–just two words
Tread lightly.
His grip tightened.
“Fuck,” Heeseung muttered. “That’s not good.”
Jake shifted uneasily, “What does it mean?”
Jungwon exhaled sharply. His headache pulsed in time with his rising anxiety, “It means we’re being watched.”
Jake paled, “By the council?”
“ I don’t know.” He took a calming breath, “The body’s gone, I’m presuming?”
Heeseung and Jake nodded.
“Who—?”
His fingers tightened around the bloodstained shirt. His voice quieter this time, “We don’t know.”
Heeseung’s ringtone shattered the silence. Jungwon flinched. Heeseung fumbled for his phone. Not good. Not good at all.
“Hey—“ Heeseung paused, “Woah, hold on, slow down. What do you mean?”
Behind them Sunoo shouted, “It’s almost sunrise, we should head back soon if we want to check on the others.”
Sunlight wasn’t instant death, but it did drain them, fast—especially when they were already running on empty. Jungwon couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen Sunghoon eat something and Riki was new, his state fragile. They couldn’t risk it.
“Did you check his room?”
Jungwon’s attention snapped back to Heeseung who was now pacing back and forth. He heard Jay’s panicked voice through the phone and held out his hand. Heeseung handed it over without a fight.
“What’s wrong?”
Jay took a deep breath on the other side of the phone, “I can’t find Sunghoon or Riki.”
Beside him, Jake locked up, immediately pulling out his own phone to call Sunghoon. It went to voicemail. He tried again, nothing.
“What?”
“I can’t find them. They’re not in the house and the snow is throwing off their scent. It’s like they’re everywhere and nowhere all at once. I can’t track them.”
Jungwon slowly counted to ten in his head, of course this would happen right now. “He’s gone? They both are? Are any of the windows broken or maybe the back door?” He heard a blur of movement and then Jay’s bordering-on desperate voice.
“There’s nothing .”
“Fuck, okay, we’re on our way.” Jungwon hung up the phone, handing it back to Heeseung. He tucked the card into his pants, folding the shirt and gesturing to Heeseung and Jake to follow him out of the alley.
Sunoo turned to greet them, the words dying on his lips when he saw their faces, “What’s wrong?”
“Jay can’t find Sunghoon or Riki.” Heeseung said, taking the lead down the street.
“What? But the sun is coming up soon, neither of them are strong enough–”
Jungwon’s headache intensified, momentarily blinding him, “Yeah, we know, that’s why we’re panicking.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Find them.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Escaping already?”
Riki froze with his hand on the door knob and Sunghoon chuckled, leaning in the doorway.
“And here I thought we were good hosts,” Flashes of Heeseung grabbing Riki by the throat and Jungwon’s terrifying interrogations flooded to the forefront of his mind and he winced, “Okay, well, maybe not.”
Riki turned to him, “I should go.”
“You can’t. Where are you going to stay?” When Riki didn’t have a response he hammered on, “How are you going to eat? Will you be able to control yourself around people yet–” Sunghoon edged closer until he had Riki pinned up against the very same door he was going to escape from.
“I managed twelve days by myself !”
“I know, and that is both admirable and incredible but how long are you going to last a second time?”
Once again Riki didn’t answer him, slumping back against the door. When Sunghoon looked up he could see the tears clumping his eyelashes, “I don’t know what to do.”
Sunghoon slid his hand down from Riki’s shoulder to his hand, pulling him away from the door, “Come with me.” Riki followed him hesitantly as Sunghoon led them to the back door. He slid the glass open, then turned back to Riki, waiting. Riki seemed to be weighing his options, eyes darting between the house and the woods that lay just beyond. Sunghoon watched him, “Let’s go for a walk.”
Sunghoon started towards the woods without Riki, hearing him take a deep breath and then the door closed. He heard the crunch of snow under Riki’s steps as he approached. He kept a general distance from the boy, keeping close in case something went awry but letting him get a feel for his surroundings.
Snowflakes stuck out against Riki’s dark hair, pure white against ink black. He weaved in and out of the trees, his footfalls quieter now, moving with a fluidity that Sunghoon only ever saw in one species: Vampires . He found it hard to look away as Riki ran his fingers over the rough bark of trees or caught snow in his hand that would never melt.
It was still dark, the stars seemed to wink at them and the world was still quiet. Even between them. Especially between them. Riki’s face clouded with something dark before clearing and Sunghoon, not for the first time, wished he had some insight into what Riki was thinking.
“I’m sorry.”
Riki turned to him in surprise, “For?”
“I’m sorry that you were turned like that.”
“It’s not your fault.” It was a whisper, but Sunghoon could hear the grief in it.
“I’m still sorry, Riki, that shouldn’t have happened.”
Riki shrugged, but he didn’t brush off the hand Sunghoon laid on his back. “I just—I can’t—“ He looked at Sunghoon, something akin to desperation etched into in his face.
Sunghoon nodded, it hurts to talk about. It hurts to face all the things you’ve lost in such a short period of time. At least when Sunghoon turned he had Jay to lean on, Jay to share the grief with. Riki was alone. For twelve days.
They continued in silence until Riki started fidgeting. Sunghoon tensed, eyes immediately sweeping their surroundings in case Riki was picking up on a threat he wasn’t. But he got nothing.
Then Riki spoke.
“How did you become…? How did you meet…?”
Sunghoon relaxed a bit. If this is what Riki needed to keep from falling over the edge, Sunghoon would happily oblige.
“Jay was my first; my first in practically everything. We met before all this.” Sunghoon said, almost surprised by the memory. “Back when we still had curfews and report cards. Jay used to pass me notes in class–stupid drawings mostly. He was always like that though–easy to be around.”
They were just boys back then–boys who didn’t know how to say I love you, so they said stay with me instead.
Jay had been the steady one, the thoughtful one, always noticing things Sunghoon thought no one saw. And Sunghoon followed because it was easier than saying don’t leave me behind.
They sat too close on rooftops, passed each other small notes, snacks and pretended they meant nothing, stared too long when no one was looking. Everyone saw it. Everyone but them. And then their world changed. They never got to say it, not really–not before the fangs and fire and fear took everything soft away. But somehow, that love stayed, twisted and sharpened, maybe. But it was still there. It was still theirs, even as they were learning to be soft again.
Sunghoon cleared his throat, “The night we turned…Jay wasn’t supposed to be there. We had gotten into a fight, one of our worst ones.” He closed his eyes, willing the memories away. “I was jealous, it was petty and so I left and he followed. He always does.”
He let out a small laugh, like it was ridiculous, “I don’t even remember most of it–like you–I just remember not being able to see Jay but I could hear him screaming. I could feel that he was in pain.”
Riki made a small sound. “You were attacked?”
Sunghoon nodded. “Just grabbed off the street mid-fight, it was…awful. If I hadn’t fought with Jay, if I hadn't been so jealous maybe we…” He cut off, “I don’t know.”
He shuddered, and Riki drew closer, almost like he was trying to offer comfort.
“When were you… y’know?”
Sunghoon raised an eyebrow, ducking underneath a low-hanging branch. “Turned? A long, long time ago… 1934, maybe?”
“You lived through WWII ?”
Riki was blinking so rapidly at him, mouth hanging open, that Sunghoon had to laugh at his expression. “I lived through both, actually. I was just really young during the first one.”
“You’re joking.”
“Not at all. Jay, Jake, and I were two when it started and six when it ended.”
Riki whistled. “That’s insane.”
Sunghoon elbowed him in the ribs, and he doubled over.
“Jay and I met Heeseung at a bar.” He continued, running a hand through his hair.
Riki raised an eyebrow.
Sunghoon shoved him half-heartedly. “It was some late-night place in the city. Jay and I used to pick up strangers from places like that–feed, vanish and move on. It wasn’t elegant, it wasn't safe either, but we didn’t know any better. We were barely holding on by a thread at that point. But we thought we were clever.” He smirked a little, “Two reckless fledglings pretending we weren’t falling apart.”
He shifted, like the memory still made his chest ache.
“Then Heeseung walked in.” The name landed like an exhale. “He didn’t even look at us at first. He just walked in, coat still damp from the rain, like he belonged in a different timeline altogether but just hadn’t noticed yet. The whole place had quieted. No one turned to stare, not really but it was like the air tilted around him, like the music didn't know what key to play anymore.”
A small smile played at the corners of Riki’s lips, like he could picture it, like he found it amusing.
“He smelled like something I still can’t name,” Sunghoon added, almost distantly. “Warm, clean, a little sweet–like candle smoke or citrus. It didn’t make any sense. He didn’t make any sense. His skin was too smooth, too bright in the dark light. His eyes swept over the room like nothing particularly caught his interest.”
Sunghoon smiled faintly, almost embarrassed. “I didn’t breathe right the entire time he was in the room. He sat down, ordered something he didn’t end up drinking and then, just as we were about to spiral–make a mess we couldn’t really get out of again–he looked right at me. And he smiled.”
Riki tilted his head.
“I don’t–I don’t even know how to explain it but it was like he knew. Like he’d already seen the worst parts of us and didn’t care.”
He paused. “Then he said something stupid, like ‘ You boys always hunt this sloppily?’ And I–” He broke off, groaning and rubbing the back of his neck, “I nearly choked. I thought we were being slick, right? That we were in control. But this guy–this inhumanly beautiful guy–was watching us like a hawk and flirting while we barely contained ourselves from tearing everyone’s throats open.”
Riki laughed, eyes crinkling up.
“He bought us drinks, laughed when Jay made poor attempts to flirt back. He stayed exactly two steps ahead no matter what I did.” Sunghoon shook his head. “By the end of the night I couldn’t tell if I wanted to kiss him or run away and hide forever.”
He glanced over at Riki, still flitting in between trees and bushes covered in the bright white snow, but his eyes never left Sunghoon.
“Heeseung got us out of the city when things got ugly. Cleaned up our messes before the Council even caught wind. He let us stay with him–took us back to this tiny place with one bedroom and one window with black-out curtains taped up on the wall. ‘If you want to stay’” Sunghoon recited, “‘you follow my rules.’”
A beat passed.
“I think he’d been alone for a long time. You could feel it, even when he smiled. Like the quiet around him was older than anything we knew.”
Another pause, softer.
“But that night…I remember thinking, He’s dangerous, and not being scared. Just drawn. Like something in me recognized him before I had the words for it.” His mouth curved up, “We thought we were the hunters, turned out he was just letting us play pretend.”
“You loved him?”
“Love.” Sunghoon corrected automatically, “But, yeah, he just…it's pretty hard not to if I’m honest.”
Riki was watching him softly, the snow in his hair piling up. Sunghoon averted his eyes, “We met Jake next. In 1936, when he was twenty-four. He was… he was everything. He had this light about him that just drew us right to him.”
A voice in the back of his head whispered like a moth to a flame. Except they had always been the flame.
“He actually brought us together in a way.”
“What do you mean?”
“We had all been dancing on the line of friendship for years at that point—Jay and I for almost seven years. I think Jake was the little puzzle piece that clicked for us. We were all completely enamored by him. Always have been.”
Riki swung around a tree trunk, his movements lithe, silent. His steps no longer made a sound at all and if he didn’t leave behind tracks, Sunghoon would have never known he was there in the first place. “I can see that,” Riki mused, almost to himself.
“Yeah?” Sunghoon asked.
“Hmm, you all kind of gravitate toward him.”
Riki wasn’t looking at him but Sunghoon watched him, surprise not even beginning to cover how he felt. Then Riki met his eye and made a small gesture with his hand in an impatient sort of ‘go on’ way.
Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “He was so different from what we were used to. He used to make us laugh until our ribs hurt. He’d run through the house barefoot, hair still wet from the rain, dragging us out just to see a star he liked. Said it made the city look softer. He had a way of turning the world quiet.” Sunghoon laughed. “He had us completely wrapped around his finger. Anything he wanted, we would fight over who got to give it to him.”
Sunghoon snagged a low-hanging branch, twisting it in his hands “He knew what we were. He didn’t care. But he also didn’t want to be a part of it. He never had any desire to live forever, and we were okay with that. We were okay with loving Jake for the rest of his life as long as it meant getting the privilege of loving him. But when it came down to it…”
Riki’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why did he change his mind?”
Sunghoon sighed. “In 1940, we went out for Jake’s twenty-sixth birthday. Some idiot was driving when they weren’t supposed to be. They hit Jake. He was dying, and we weren’t ready to lose him. So… Heeseung turned him.”
He paused, squinting up at the sky for a moment.
“He had the hardest transition out of everyone. It took him decades to feel normal again. It was… difficult for all of us. Heeseung-hyung didn’t sleep for weeks after. He kept trying to feed Jake himself, trying to ease the pain but Jake would push him away every time. He didn’t want to turn, he didn’t want this, but we did it to him anyways.”
Riki watched him with wide eyes, and Sunghoon was involuntarily reminded of Jake.
The car hit him so fast. One second, Jake had been laughing, the next—he was crumpled on the pavement, limbs twisted wrong. Sunghoon couldn’t think. Just ran. Just dropped to his knees beside him, pressing shaking hands against the wounds that wouldn’t stop bleeding.
“Jake—Jake—stay with us, please—”
Jake’s fingers twitched against his wrist. His lips moved, but no sound came out.
The street lights flickered. Too bright. Too harsh. Heeseung was saying something, but Sunghoon couldn’t hear him over the pounding in his own skull.
Jake was dying.
Heeseung moved first. His hand was already at Jake’s neck, jaw clenched, fangs bared—not from hunger, but determination.
Sunghoon snapped out of it. “Hyung—what are you—”
“He’s slipping, we don’t have time!” Heeseung’s voice cracked. “I can do it. I have to do it.”
Sunghoon’s breath caught. “He—he didn’t want this.”
Heeseung’s eyes were wild, wet. “And he didn’t want to die either.”
Jay approached, his voice shaking, panicked. “You know what Jake said. You know he never—”
“Are you willing to watch him die?” Heeseung shouted.
Jake let out a choked gasp, his eyes rolling back.
Sunghoon stared down at him, panic clawing up his throat. Jake’s skin was cold. His blood was everywhere.
“Sunghoon.” Heeseung’s voice was shaking. “Say it. Please. I need you to say it.”
Sunghoon looked at Jake—his Jake—and whispered, “Do it.”
Heeseung was already moving.
Sunghoon felt a hand on his shoulder, prodding. He shook his head, like he was trying to shake off the sight of Jake’s blood, his body. He turned to Riki, “We never really told Jake it was okay to be angry. We just tried to fix him. I think that made it worse.”
It was quiet for a moment, then Riki nudged him, “What about Sunoo?”
Sunghoon’s smile slowly returned, “Jake met Sunoo first. 1963. He was working the counter at some record store we lived near. Music was…Jake’s anchor back then. It was the only thing that made him feel normal.”
Normal wasn’t quite the word. It was the only time Sunghoon could catch a glimpse of the Jake from before, before they stole his humanity. He looked so human whenever he sang, like the melody and lyrics gave back life. “He came home talking about this ‘kid at the shop’ every day. Said he had a smile like sunlight. Naturally, we got curious.”
Sunghoon laughed, “So we started dropping by the store, each of us on our own, like we weren’t all doing the exact same thing.”
Riki was grinning now, “Did he ever notice?”
“He noticed everything,” Sunghoon said fondly, “He found a photo, from 1927 with Heeseung right there in the background. Clear as day. He brought it to our apartment and said, dead serious: ‘You’re vampires.’ Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.”
Riki laughed, nearly running face first into a tree, and Sunghoon realized that it was the first time he’d heard Riki laugh. “Yeah if you think that’s funny you should have seen Heeseung-hyung’s face.”
Riki wiped away a tear, “Wait, so that’s how he got turned?”
“No, we were moving away, we had stayed there too long, people were starting to ask a few questions here and there. We were packing up when Sunoo actually threatened to jump in front of our car if we didn’t take him with us. Jake tried to convince him not to turn; I think it was one of the things Jake liked about him first, just how human he was. But Sunoo threatened to go find someone else to turn him so we figured it was safer if he was with us. A week later I turned him. I think it was right after his twenty-fifth birthday.”
Sunghoon looked up, the sun was just starting to beat away the dark, they’d have to go inside soon. He stole a glance at Riki. He was swinging around the trunk of the trees, so much snow in his hair that Sunghoon almost couldn’t see the black underneath. Before he could think his decision through his hand shot out to grab his wrist. Riki looked at him quizzically and Sunghoon reached up, shaking the snow out of his hair. It was damp now, falling a little bit in Riki’s eyes but his skin seemed brighter, less sunken than it had when Sunghoon had first found him. He tongued a bit at his fangs and Sunghoon made a mental note to get him some more blood when they got back to the house. He released Riki, leading them further into the woods.
They reached an edge. Sunghoon crouched at the very end, looking out at the city as it began to wake up. He could hear everything if he strained but it didn’t feel as ear piercing as it did some decades ago. In fact he found it comforting now. Riki stayed hidden in the treeline for a while but Sunghoon could feel his presence. He waited and eventually Riki inched closer, staying at least two paces away from the edge.
“And Jungwon?”
Sunghoon startled, turning to look at him. “What?”
Riki looked at the edge suspiciously, “How did you meet Jungwon?”
“Jungwon…We met Jungwon at a party. He was twenty-four, and it was not a good party to be at per say.” When Riki raised an eyebrow he continued, “In the eighties there were these massive parties people–vampires–would throw, with dessert .” He looked at Riki meaningfully.
“What?”
Sunghoon pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger, “People, Riki, people.” Riki’s mouth opened in a small “o” and Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “We went because an old friend of mine invited me, we didn’t usually go or participate in those things but he had insisted, so we went. Jungwon caught our attention pretty quickly, he was adorable–obviously– but also it didn’t seem like he belonged there. Most humans at these parties wanted to be there, they–mostly–knew what they were getting themselves into. Jungwon did not seem like he knew what he was doing there. Jay shadowed him like a guard dog most of the time but the one time he looked away he was gone.”
Riki cocked his head, his eyebrows scrunched together. “They got him, didn’t they?” He asked softly bending down to pick up a small rock and tapping his finger against the pointy end.
Sunghoon didn’t have to ask who “they” were. “Yeah, we heard him screaming; so we all went running and some guy had him pinned at the wall and was draining him. Draining humans had long been outlawed, parties like that weren’t even really allowed unless all humans participating were adults and consenting to being fed from. By the time we processed what was happening and got the guy off of Jungwon his pulse was so weak. We took them both back to our place.”
Sunghoon winced, “Jungwon…was in bad shape. He only gained consciousness once, just for a second. His eyes were barely open and his throat was torn up, but he looked at us without fear. Like he knew we were the ones who could save him. He said ‘Help me.’ That was it. Just that. And then he slipped back under again. Heeseung threw everyone out of the room, wouldn’t let Jay anywhere near him and Jay–Jay was hysterical. He was pacing, throwing things–I had to stop him from killing the guy–five separate times. I’d never seen him like that before–not even with Jake.”
He shifted, head tilted up to try to recall the details. “When Jungwon woke up…he didn’t say much. But when he opened his eyes, there was this…stillness. Like the whole house leaned toward him. He adjusted slower than some but steadier too. Like something was building. Even when he was still in pain, even when he couldn’t sleep, he watched us. Heeseung didn’t really talk after he turned, just watched him back, like he was trying to figure out who Jungwon reminded him of. Jay, on the other hand, never left his side and Jungwon only really seemed to relax if Jay was in the room–at least in the beginning.”
“What happened to the other guy?”
Sunghoon smiled, “We turned him in. When we dragged him home we just kept him in Bloodlock until the Council came to get him. They do not take the threat of human lives lightly.”
Riki looked at him sideways, “He’s dead?”
Sunghoon hummed, “Yeah, he broke the law, that was the price that came with it.”
“Have you ever…? Do you remember…the people you killed?”
Sunghoon sucked in a sharp breath, “Yes. Always.”
“Do you ever feel guilty?”
“Yes.”
“Does it ever go away?” Riki asked quietly.
Sunghoon shook his head, “Human life is a…fragile thing. And when you feel it slip from your fingers for the first time–it’s overwhelming, especially if you’re already disoriented” He turned to look at Riki, “I won’t tell you that it’ll get any easier. But you become almost…numb to it. When you live forever you’re surrounded by it. It’s everywhere, everything you touch eventually dies. Except for us.”
Riki’s features darkened with an emotion Sunghoon didn’t have the words for; guilt? Grief? He couldn’t tell. “I felt him die. But I didn't stop.”
“You couldn’t.” Sunghoon reminded him gently. “I still remember the first person I killed; her name was Alice. She was a tourist from America and she was twenty-four. She had a little sister, parents that loved her, and I took that away from her. She was scared, terrified out of her mind, I could taste it.”
“I’m sorry,” Riki whispered and Sunghoon couldn’t help but feel like the roles had reversed.
“It was a long time ago, but I never forgot her. I don’t think I ever will.”
They sat in the quiet for a little while as Sunghoon fought down the bile rising in his throat. He hated that memory. He could remember how her heart slowed, and slowed, and slowed until it stopped completely. He could remember how it felt for his clothes to stick to his body with her blood. He could remember how her fear tasted, how she looked at him like he was a monster. He hated that part of himself.
“My point is that it’s not your fault, Riki. Any of it.”
Riki nodded, looking up at the sky to hide tears Sunghoon pretended not to see, “Thank you.”
Sunghoon took a look out over the city and saw the sun peaking through a bit, “Shit, we got to get inside,” He grabbed Riki’s hand, dragging him back through the woods. They hadn’t been living here for that long yet and the longer they tracked through the woods the more Sunghoon worried he didn’t actually know where he was going. The sun was beginning to reach the edges of the woods and Sunghoon felt like a cold hand had gripped his heart. Just when the panic had begun to set in, Riki pointed to the house in the clearing. Sunghoon ran , slamming the glass door shut once they made it inside.
Jay was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, his phone held to his ear. He looked up when they walked in, “Where were you?” He pulled Sunghoon into a one-armed hug, holding him to his body. “Yeah, no, I got him, they’re both here.” Sunghoon heard Jungwon’s voice on the other side of the phone before Jay hung up.
Sunghoon pulled away a bit but Jay didn’t let him get far, pulling him closer by the belt loop of his jeans.
“Where were you?”
“I was just taking the fledgling out for some air,” He jabbed a finger towards Riki who waved awkwardly.
Jay sighed, his shoulders dropping as he leaned forward into Sunghoon’s chest, “You’re a fucking idiot; the sun’s out.”
“Yeah, I cut it a bit close. I’m sorry,” He wrapped his arms around Jay’s shoulders and pressed a small kiss to his hair, then he turned back to Riki, “Don’t do what I do, got it?”
“Huh?”
Jay mumbled something against his collarbone but pulled away, moving towards Riki. Riki didn’t move away but he tensed up the closer Jay got, “Are you hurt? Did you get burned at all?”
“I’m okay,” Came Riki’s response.
But Jay didn’t seem convinced until he had ensured with his own eyes that Riki was fine. Once he had finished his inspection he addressed Riki again, “Are you hungry?”
Riki’s eyes slid to Sunghoon who just nodded back at him, “Yes, please.”
Jay nodded, opening the fridge and rummaging around until he pulled out a bag with the letters ‘O+’ written in sharpie on the front. He poured it into a glass and handed it to Riki before turning on Sunghoon.
“Are you hungry?”
Sunghoon shrugged, “Not really.”
Jay nodded but Sunghoon could still feel the anxiety radiating off of him, could hear how fast his heart was beating. He was pacing a bit and Riki watched him warily until Sunghoon snagged his hand.
“Hey,” He cupped Jay’s jaw and angled his face to look at him, “I’m sorry we worried you, but we’re okay I promise.” He saw some of the anxiety in his eyes fizzle out, “No one is hurt, we’re okay.” Jay’s arms slipped around his waist and Sunghoon wrapped his around Jay’s shoulders. They stood there for a while, Sunghoon holding Jay and Riki quietly sipping on his glass until someone streaked past them, nearly knocking Riki right over.
“You’re an idiot ,” Jake’s hair was tousled and he looked like a dangerous combination of worried and angry.
“Funny, you’re the second person to say that in the past five minutes.” Sunghoon let Jay go with one arm, extending it to Jake. His eyes softened and he took Sunghoon’s hand.
“We have a problem.”
Sunghoon turned, finding Heeseung leaning against the doorframe with Jungwon not that far behind, “Oh no.”
Jungwon shot a look at Riki, “The body’s gone.”