Changjo lay in the darkness trying as hard as he could to fall asleep. He his lips slowly, hoping that the taste of the girl's blood he drank a few hours earlier might still be lingering there. It wasn't. He closed his eyes and heaved a sigh, shifting restlessly beneath the blankets. He wasn't hungry anymore, and Minsoo said that he wouldn't be for another two weeks or so. It didn't matter to him whether he needed it or not anymore; he wanted blood. And he wanted it now. He kept replaying the moments from the club in his head: the feel of her body pinned beneath his, the sound his fangs made as they pierced her neck, and most of all the taste of her sweet, wonderful blood. Changjo ran a sweaty palm through his tangled hair.

"You okay?" Ricky asked from the mattress on his right. Changjo started in surprise and turned to look at the other boy. He had clearly just woken up between dreams and was looking blearily at Changjo with one eye.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go back to sleep," he whispered, faking a smile.

"Feeling guilty?" Ricky continued, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. Changjo decided that right now, it was better to lie.

"A bit."

No he wasn't. He knew he wasn't. He was feeling the opposite of guilty. All he was feeling was the need for blood, the need for a struggling body beneath his.     

"It'll be okay. We'll talk in the morning. Don't let it bother you too much, just get some sleep and you'll feel better. Okay?" Ricky grinned sleepily at Changjo before rolling onto his other side. Changjo could hear him snoring less than a minute later. After letting out another heavy sigh, Changjo closed his eyes and somehow managed to fall asleep.

xxx

Byunghun could tell as soon as he woke up that today he would need to feed. He could feel the ache in his body and the dryness in his throat before he even opened his eyes. He could also feel Chunji's arm beneath him, the boy's head resting against his chest. Byunghun tried as gently as he could to disentangle himself from Chunji without waking him; it didn't work. As he sat up, he heard a groan escape Chunji's lips.

"I don't want to wake up yet," he mumbled, loosely grabbing Byunghun's arm and trying to pull him back down. Byunghun couldn't stop himself from staring at Chunji's neck, but he restrained himself from biting it. For now.

"Too bad, so sad for you," he replied, ruffling Chunji's hair and standing up.

"Great. Now I'm cold."

"Then get up," Byunghun said, stretching his arms above his head and curling his toes. He let his eyes slide over Chunji's body while he laid sprawled on the mattress. He wasn't attracted to Chunji in any way other than for his blood. They weren't exactly just friends, but they weren't exactly anything more, either. Sure, they were almost always touching and slept in the same bed, but besides that and the biting nothing else ever happened. Neither of them wanted anything else. There wasn't really a word or a way to describe the attachment between the two of them, Byunghun had decided. It wasn't human.  As he looked at the pale scars criss-crossing the other boy's arms, he felt a pang of guilt. Chunji didn't deserve to have this done to him, but Byunghun couldn't help himself; after drinking it for so long, Chunji's blood was the only blood he wanted. And this morning, he wanted it badly. He crouched down back on the mattress.

"Are you going to go back to sleep now?" Chunji asked, his eyes still closed. Byunghun let his finger trail from Chunji's collarbone up to the middle of his neck and back again.

"No, and you have to get up too," he replied, entranced by the feel of Chunji's pulse against his skin.

"You need to feed today, don't you?" Chunji's eyes were open now and looking up at Byunghun with an expression that he tried to make as blank as possible. Byunghun nodded and let his other fingers brush against Chunji's neck. "Fine," he sighed, "do you think you can handle biting me yourself? Or do I need to bleed for you?"

"I can control myself," Byunghun said, "if we do it now."

"Alright, just let me take my shirt of first so you don't get it all covered in blood like last time," Chunji said, gently pushing Byunghun away from him and getting up. He slipped the oversized t-shirt off of his head and grabbed a towel off of the door handle before returning to the mattress. He placed it down and then laid himself upon it. "You can start now."

He closed his eyes and turned his head slightly, bracing himself for the pain that was to come next. Byunghun quickly swung his leg to the other side of Chunji, straddling him and gripping his shoulders. Carefully, he lowered his head until it was level with the other boy's neck. He breathed in the scent of Chunji's blood as he slowly let his tongue glide up the path his fingers had traveled a few moments before. 

"Just do it," Chunji pleaded, his voice tight with nervous anticipation. Byunghun didn't have to be told twice and sank his fangs into Chunji's neck without hesitation. He gripped Chunji's shoulders tightly as he bucked beneath him, a gasp of pain escaping his lips. Byunghun drank the blood as fast as he could, savoring it as he did. He struggled to keep control of his senses, making sure that he only took as much as he needed. He didn't want to make Chunji pass out, or worse, kill him.

Chunji grabbed the sheets on either side of him and balled them up in his fists, trying to ignore the searing pain in his neck and the weight of Byunghun's body on top of his own. No matter how many times they did this, it still hurt. It felt like his blood was on fire, and the longer it lasted the blurrier his vision got. He tried to bear it as best he could, taking out his pain on the sheets, but it was agonizing. He endured it silently, trying to think not of himself but of Byunghun, who needed this. When the corners of his vision began to go black and he started to see stars, he knew it was almost over. Gently, he moved his hands up and pushed on Byunghun's chest. 

"That's enough," he choked. Byunghun reluctantly a few final sips of Chunji's blood before pulling back. He watched in a daze as Chunji's body slowly relaxed and his breathing returned to a normal pace, a few drops of blood falling from his lips onto the other boy's pale cheek. Byunghun quickly wiped them away with his thumb before ducking down to the two small puncture marks on Chunji's neck. His Virus-laced saliva would quickly seal the holes and hide any sign of a scar. 

"Thank you," Byunghun mumbled after a moment of silence. Chunji managed a faint smile.

"Don't mention it," he replied, weakly pulling on Byunghun's arm, "now can we please go back to sleep?" Byunghun rolled his eyes, nodded, and laid down beside Chunji, pulling him close until their foreheads were touching. It didn't take long for the two of them to drift off into sleep once more.

xxx

Changjo nearly ran into Minsoo when he shuffled out of his bedroom later that morning.

"Morning, Sunshine," Minsoo said, ruffling Changjo's already matted and wild hair.

"Mrndingsf," Changjo mumbled in return, rubbing his eyes with one hand and pushing Minsoo's away with the other.

"I need to talk to you...come to my room after you clean up a bit," Minsoo said, his voice suddenly serious. Changjo nodded blearily before stumbling into the bathroom.

"Don't you know how to knock!?!" screeched Niel, who was standing in front of the sink with nothing but a bathrobe on, a toothbrush in his hand.

"Dude. Volume. Lower it," Changjo replied.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there?" Niel asked after a moment, brandishing his toothbrush at Changjo accusingly.

"Why is your toothbrush pink?"

"Oh forget it! I'll leave," Niel huffed, throwing his toothbrush in the medicine cabinet and stomping out of the room, "And for your information, it was red, but it faded!"

"Sure," Changjo said with a laugh as he the shower. After throwing his clothes haphazardly on the floor, he stepped in and let the boiling hot water sizzle against his skin. The pain brought his mind away from blood for a moment, and he focused only on washing his hair and body for the next five minutes. The steam rose hot and thick around him, puffing up and out above the curtain. He stood there for some time, just watching it swirl and float in the air, until a loud pounding at the door brought him out of his daze. 

"If you use up all the hot water, I'm going to...I'm going to...be really mad!" yelled Ricky unthreateningly from the other side of the door. Changjo quickly turned the taps off, dried himself with a towel, and wrapped it around his waist before opening the door. Huge clouds of steam rolled out into Ricky's face, who waved it away, annoyed.

"Thanks for that," he said, shooting a glare at Changjo, who shrugged, "Go get dressed, weirdo."

"Why am I a weirdo?" Changjo asked, blocking the doorway.

"I'm surprised you're not cooked after taking a shower in that hot of water. It's like a sauna in here!" Ricky cried, pushing past Changjo into the bathroom. Changjo chuckled and turned around. "You'd better have left me some."

"Or what?"

"Or...something," Ricky replied, clumsily pulling his shirt up over his head. Changjo, without realizing it, was staring at Ricky's now fully exposed neck. He absently his lips and studied it, taking a small step closer to the other boy.

"What is it?" Ricky asked, his cheeks turning red. Changjo woke from his daze and shook his head.

"Nothing. Go take a shower, weirdo," he said, trying to keep his voice light, before leaving the room and closing the door quickly behind him. He leaned against it and sighed heavily, closing his eyes for a moment. What did System blood taste like? He wondered, his mind replaying the image of Ricky shirtless. Changjo shook his head to clear it and went to get dressed. A few minutes later, he was softly knocking on Minsoo's bedroom door. 

"Dude, you can just come in. This isn't my secret clubhouse or anything," Minsoo shouted from the other side of the door.

"I knew that," Changjo said, coming in and shutting the door quietly behind him. Minsoo was stretched out on his bed, his hands clasped behind his head, "So...what did you want to talk about?"

"Sit down," Minsoo said, lifting himself up and patting the spot on the bed next to him, "how are you feeling today?"

"Better," Changjo replied, a nervousness beginning to gnaw at the back of his mind.

"Good. That's good. Now, if everything goes normally, you shouldn't be hungry for about another two weeks."

"You've already told me that..." Changjo said quietly, nodding. Minsoo laughed half-heartedly.

"I forget what I say a lot. So, do you have any questions? About...anything?" Changjo thought for a moment before answering.

"Minsoo...at the club, I saw you with two girls...did you drink their blood? Both of them?" he asked timidly, searching Minsoo's face for a reaction.

"Yes. And others. There's always others," Minsoo replied softly, his face motionless. 

"Ricky...he's said things about the way you feed...that you attack almost any girl you see...is that true?"

"Almost," Minsoo murmured, "but for a reason."

"What reason?" Changjo asked, his head cocked to the side in curiosity. Minsoo was quiet for what seemed like an entire minute.

"Reasons that I've never told anyone before. Not even Byunghun or the others..." he fell silent again.

"You can tell me," Changjo said, his voice so soft it was almost a whisper. Minsoo looked at him, his face still blank but his eyes showing a clear and deep pain.

"I'm afraid that if I tell anyone, then I'll know that the thing I fear most will be true."

"And what is that?"

"That I'm a monster." Minsoo shook his head slowly, his jaw clenched.

"You can't be any more of a monster than I am," Changjo said without realizing it. Minsoo looked up at him, puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"Just trust me," Changjo muttered, thinking about his obsession with blood, about the little girl laying dead beneath him at Headquarters.

"Alright. I'll tell you, but you have to promise that you won't speak a word of it to anyone until the day you die," Minsoo said, grabbing Changjo's wrist tightly with one hand. Changjo nodded gravely.

"I promise."

"When I first read your file, it said that you had woken up from the blackout period right after feeding, before they had a chance to clear away the body." Changjo flinched, but Minsoo continued, "I had a similar experience. However, for me, they were in the middle of taking away the corpse. I only got one look before they were out the door, but I recognized her immediately. The person I had just killed, the person who's blood I had just drank like a sick demon...that person was my sister." Minsoo's voice broke for a moment before he continued, "At least, I think it was her. There's no way I can know for sure. I mean, I just got one glance, and there was a lot of blood, and I was confused...but I could never check. Like I told you, if you go back to your family and they're alive, the Project will just kill them anyway. I checked the newspapers as soon as I could, but that was weeks after I had woken up. I looked everywhere for a sign that she was really gone, but I couldn't find any. I could always taste her blood though, no matter what I did. It nearly drove me mad...so I began attacking as many girls as I could to try get the taste of her blood out of my mouth. It hasn't worked. I can still taste it now. Whether it's really her blood or just guilt anymore...who knows." Silence resonated between them.

"Is that all?" Changjo asked, his voice gentle. Minsoo cleared his throat and shifted his eyes down to the floor.

"Yes," he replied. Changjo could tell he was lying, but he didn't pry any further. When it was time, he knew Minsoo would tell him the rest.

"Minsoo, you're not a monster."