It was starting to get dark out and the temperature began to drop as Donghae slowly walked back to the apartment after spending the day in town. He hummed softly and stared up at the stars that were beginning to come out, ignoring the crunching noise of dry leaves under his feet that had fallen from the golden autumn trees. He shivered slightly as a gust of wind blew through the trees, causing a swarm of colorful leaves to fall down. He grinned at the pretty sight, wishing that Eunhyuk was with him to see it. He already missed his boyfriend even though it had only been yesterday morning since they’d parted. But even the smallest amount of time apart was too much.

As the sun finally disappeared from sight, the complex turned up and he quickly walked into the building and headed up the stairs to the apartment and pushed the front door open.

“Hyung, I’m home!” He called out as he kicked his shoes off at the entrance. There was no response so he stepped further inside and made his way back to Heechul’s room and pushed open the door, finding Heechul and Kibum sitting together in bed.

“Donghae, come here,” Heechul said, patting the bed. Donghae grinned and quickly jumped on and crawled over to them. He glanced over at Kibum and smile at him, in which Kibum returned softly.

“What are you doing in here?” Donghae asked them curiously, making himself comfortable under the blankets since he was still a little chilled from being outside.

“Well, we’ve been talking about things for awhile,” Heechul told him.

“About the family secret?” Donghae confirmed, and Heechul nodded.

“Yes, and we’ve decided on something. I’m going to give Kibum some of my blood because it’s going to help defer his problem,” Heechul replied. Kibum kept silent, keeping his gaze focused on the blanket.

“What? But hyung, you said it only works if someone is sick or dying, and Kibum isn’t either of those,” Donghae said, puzzled.

“I know, but Leeteuk and I discovered that…Oh, I’m not explaining it again. It’s going to help him and that’s what matters,” Heechul said exasperatedly.

“Okay, if you say so hyung. When are you going to do it?” Donghae asked curiously.

“Later tonight, I just have to get some stuff first. I’m going to go out for awhile, but I’ll be back soon. Stay here, don’t touch the stove or oven, I’ll bring food back, and don’t answer the door,” Heechul said, getting out of bed.

Once he was gone and they heard the front door closed, Donghae turned and looked at Kibum. They just stared at each other in silence for a few minutes, and Donghae knew that he was probably wandering what was really going on. It was really a lot to take in, but when Heechul had told him about it a few years ago he’d just taken it like it was told, no questions asked. It seemed like Kibum was accepting the truth too, but this situation was completely different from his own. Donghae had no idea what had happened; Heechul had just changed him because he was unconscious and dying and then when he woke up, that was it. He never really thought much about it after that, because life just returned to normal.

But for Kibum, this was entirely new. No one was absolutely sure of anything and that fact alone was a little scary. Donghae felt sorry for Kibum, he was going to be used as a guinea pig for a plan that could very well fail. But he really hoped it didn’t, he wanted whatever Heechul was planning on doing to work. If it was going to stop the m