A joke was told. Seunghoon missed the punchline, but he still laughed along. They were all heading back to drop him off at his dorm room. “Really, Hoon?” One of his friends patted his shoulder, “are you sure you don’t want to go to that house party? You could score some hot chicks there. Trust me,” he winked.

 

Seunghoon laughed and shook his head, “I’m fine. Unlike you guys, I actually care about my test tomorrow.” No, he did not.

 

Another friend shook his head in disappointment, “shame. You can be so lame sometimes, Seunghoon.”

 

Seunghoon shrugged, uncaring, “next time, next time. I promise.”

 

“Yeah, sure, alright,” the first friends scoffed. “I believe you so much,” he said sarcastically.

 

Seunghoon did not respond. He would not believe himself either. He knew he would never follow his friends along in getting into girls’ pants. That was not his thing. It would never be. It never was. He was not even sure why he was friends with this people. He would never tell them why though.

 

“Thank you for leading me back to my dorm, like the good gentlemen you claim to be,” Seunghoon bowed cartoonishly.

 

“Yes,” a friend nodded, “because our dorms are not down the hall.” He pointed at the general direction of ‘down the hall.’ “See you later, buddy,” he waved Seunghoon goodbye and the others followed.

 

Soon, Seunghoon was alone, and he felt like he could actually breathe normally now. He sighed and entered his dorm. It was a dorm for only one person. Seunghoon had to take loans to be able to afford it. His mother had been against it, thinking he was going through a down time and wanted to be antisocial for the time being. She did not understand though. She never would.

 

Seunghoon a lamp and laid down on the bed. He covered his eyes with his sleeve and waited. It had been a long day. Seunghoon was tired, but he fought through the sleepiness.

 

The building Seunghoon’s dorm was in was an open building. The door opened to an opened hallway that gave view to the trees that separated one building from the other. Jinwoo was visiting tonight. Seunghoon had not seen him in a couple of weeks, and he missed him so much. The opened hallway made it easier for Jinwoo to climb onto his floor without the guard and RA noticing. These doors were also locked with a key, and Seunghoon was able to make a copy of his for Jinwoo to use.

 

Slipping in and out of sleep, Seunghoon lost track of time. However, he heard the door to his dorm unlock and squeak open. He smiled, knowing exactly who it was. Jinwoo always tried to be subtle and quiet when he moved around. He said he had perfected it in the last four years, but unlocking that door and opening it still caused a ruckus no matter how quiet the person opening the door tried to be.

 

“You’re not sleeping, right? I know you’re not.”

 

Seunghoon smiled, so happy to hear that voice. He opened his arms wide and heard the ruffles of Jinwoo’s clothes. In a few seconds, Jinwoo was wrapped in his arms. Seunghoon hugged him tightly, rolling around bed. Their giggles filled the air.

 

“How are you? I missed you so much,” Seunghoon asked Jinwoo. He loosened his grip on Jinwoo, so that Jinwoo could move to upwards so that they could be face to face, but still held him close.

 

“I’m good. I’m good,” Jinwoo pecked Seunghoon’s lips multiple times, nodding, and he still sounded so cute. Seunghoon smiled again. “I missed you, too.”

 

“You better have,” Seunghoon poked his chest, “you left me alone for weeks.”

 

“Well, that’s because you needed to study,” Jinwoo pouted, poking him back.

 

“So?” Seunghoon raised an eyebrow. Yes, Seunghoon’s grades had been falling the past few weeks, but still...

 

“So…” Jinwoo digged his finger into Seunghoon’s chest, “you must have studied.”

 

“Sure,” Seunghoon got on top of Jinwoo. He leaned down and kissed him. Jinwoo wrapped his arms around Seunghoon’s neck, pulling him closer than he already was. Seunghoon had forgotten how cold Jinwoo was. They had been separated for far too long.

 

Jinwoo pushed him away a few second later. He raised a brow, “you did, though. Right?”

 

Seunghoon nodded, “yes, I even got an almost perfect score in one course.” His easiest course. He was not going to say his grades on the other courses. He barely paid attention in any of those.

 

“Good,” Jinwoo nodded before pulling Seunghoon down for another round of kisses.

 

They stayed like that for a while. Sweet kisses followed by hush whispers of love. They had both missed this so much. Jinwoo even admitted that he made a mistake leaving Seunghoon for a few weeks. Seunghoon said that it did not matter. They were together now.

 

“How’s everyone by the way? I haven’t seen them in a while,” Seunghoon asked. Their foreheads were connected and their noses touched. Their hands were intertwined, and Seunghoon fought against the cold.

 

“Taehyun and Mino are in Japan doing what no one wants to know,” Jinwoo rolled his eyes, and Seunghoon chuckled. “Seungyoon has spent his time studying alongside mages in this type of apprenticeship school thingy - I don’t know.” He shook his head, and Seunghoon smiled warmly.

 

“And what were you doing?” Seunghoon poked Jinwoo’s nose before intertwining their hands again.

 

“I was following Seungyoon around,” Jinwoo shrugged. “I don’t know why Yoonie is even in that schoot whatever. He possesses no magic. He’s just watching all the actual students do their spells and then listen to the lectures about magic and supernatural creatures.” Jinwoo rolled his eyes, “yes, the magic spells were very interesting, but the lectures were so boring.” Jinwoo groaned, “I was dying, and that’s kind of impossible.” He laughed and covered his mouth with the back of his hand which was still intertwined with Seunghoon. Seunghoon, wanting to see Jinwoo’s smile, pulled their hands down. “I’m so glad I’m back,” Jinwoo looked at Seunghoon’s eyes, and Seunghoon felt his heart explode.

 

“I’m so glad you’re back, too,” Seunghoon pecked Jinwoo again. They stared at each other for a few more seconds. After years of being in a relationship, there was no need to always be talking. They could understand each other with just glances, and Seunghoon was glad they have been able to reach this stage of their relationship.

 

“Have you eaten by the way?” Seunghoon asked after some time.

 

“Oh,” Jinwoo’s already big eyes widened. He smiled widely, a carnivorous grin, and he flipped them over until he was on top. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said as he took off Seunghoon’s hoodie and shirt. He hugged Seunghoon’s torso and rested his head in between Seunghoon’s neck and shoulder. Seunghoon placed his hand behind Jinwoo’s head to keep in place and felt him unnecessarily breathe on his neck. He shivered. Jinwoo was so cold. “May I?” Jinwoo asked, his hot breath contrasting with the rest of his cold body.

 

Seunghoon nodded, “of course.” He gulped and ran his fingers through Jinwoo’s hair. It had been weeks since they had last done this. Seunghoon felt nervous all over again.

 

Jinwoo bit down on Seunghoon’s neck. Seunghoon hissed. The pain was acute and deep, but even this Seunghoon missed. Seunghoon took deep breaths as Jinwoo and swallowed his blood. He did not mind this small little ritual. It had gotten better over years. Jinwoo had also perfected feeding over the years. He could now bite Seunghoon without paralyzing him, which was a relief. He was not a victim of this. He did not need to be paralysed or to get amnesia that would make him forget such an intimate moment. Seunghoon knew what he was getting into from the day he first allowed Jinwoo to feed off him.

 

Seunghoon was dating a vampire after all.

 

Feeding was kind of part of the package.

 

Some people might have considered it ual. The vampire partner keeping the other at bay, controlling, holding down, straddling, ; the human one in a vulnerable position, shirt loose or gone.

 

Seunghoon had been through this for far too long. It was not. Not anymore, at least. There was nothing ual about it. It was actually quite mundane. Plus, there was nothing ual about Jinwoo with blood smudged around the lower half of his face. It was actually quite disgusting if Seunghoon was being honest. He was not a fan of blood at all, but he had grown to love this side of Jinwoo, too, though.

 

Jinwoo stopped. He broke away from Seunghoon’s neck and the wound. It was supposed to help the wound heal. It did in a way. The wound stopped bleeding; however, years of neglect on that specific spot had caused that specific spot of start scarring, no matter how much Jinwoo cleaned the wound.

 

Seunghoon did not mind. He kind of liked being “branded” by Jinwoo.

 

“Ah, my Seunghoonie,” Jinwoo rested his head cozily on Seunghoon’s bare chest. “He tastes so good, and he’s so warm. He’s so good to me.” He rubbed his head against Seunghoon’s chest like a cat, sighing happily.

 

Seunghoon chuckled, running his hand through Jinwoo’s hair, “I do try.”

 

“I’m so lucky,” Jinwoo ran his hand up and down Seunghoon’s torse. Seunghoon wrapped an arm around Jinwoo’s waist and smiled. He was lucky, too. “Your birthday is a little bit more than a month away, no? What do you want?”

 

Seunghoon had been thinking about it for some time now, too long of a time. He was confident about it now, and with Jinwoo blood high, it could be easier to say without too many repercussions.

 

“Change me.”

 

Jinwoo froze, and Seunghoon gulped. Jinwoo lifted himself up and looked at Seunghoon in the eye, “what?”

 

Seunghoon took a deep breath. “Change me,” he said, just as confident.

 

“Are you serious?” Jinwoo’s eyes were wide. Seunghoon nodded. “You can’t be,” Jinwoo moved forward and placed his cold hand on Seunghoon’s cheek, “you are?”

 

Seunghoon nodded, not breaking his serious face for a second, but then he laughed as he glanced at Jinwoo’s mouth. He placed his hands on Jinwoo’s cheeks. “You have blood all over you, Jinu,” he said as he cleaned his own blood using his thumbs. He placed his thumbs on Jinwoo’s lips for Jinwoo to clean them. He did, never breaking eye contact with Seunghoon.

 

“Why do you want to become a vampire?” Jinwoo asked once he was done.

 

Seunghoon sighed. He did not know where to start. He moved his hand gently around Jinwoo’s cheek. Jinwoo looked young, not that Seunghoon did not, but Jinwoo looked younger, so much younger. Jinwoo was turned into a vampire at the brink of eighteen, years ago. Since then, he had not aged. Seunghoon had though. He was in his twenties already, and the older he got, the more he noticed how he aged compared to Jinwoo. Jinwoo was supposed to be older than him for goodness’s sake.

 

Seunghoon would hate to keep aging. Especially when these last four years with Jinwoo had been so amazing. Seunghoon wanted to spend the next four years with Jinwoo and the four after that and so on. At this point, Seunghoon would gladly spend eternity with Jinwoo, however long that was.

 

“I love you,” Seunghoon answered instead.

 

Jinwoo gulped, blinking slowly, “I know. I love you, too, but-”

 

“I’d love to spend the rest of my life with you,” Seunghoon might be young and a bit stupid, but he had never felt more confident. This was the closest thing Seunghoon might ever get to a marriage proposal with their situation.

 

“Seunghoon…” Jinwoo said softly. His eyes were filled with so much love. “Me too, but still… this is such a hard decision. It’s something to think about.”

 

Jinwoo did not know, but Seunghoon had already been thinking about it. He had started thinking about four years ago, even before Jinwoo and him had gotten together, right after Minho had come to his senses after his own transformation. It was fleeting thoughts at first, simple ‘what if’s, but as his relationship with Jinwoo progressed, they had not left him alone. He had thought about it so much. “I have,” he nodded.

 

“You have?” Jinwoo raised a brow with skepticism. “Hoonie,” he sighed, looking around. Seunghoon was not sure for what. “You’re months away from graduating college. You only have one semester left. You should finish it,” he looked at Seunghoon with a frown. “What about your mother? Your family?” Seunghoon looked away. He had tried to not think about the implications this had for his family, but he knew they were there. He was still determined. “They have already lost a son. They could not lose you, too.”

 

“Jinwoo,” Seunghoon looked at his boyfriend. His eyes were sterned, and he was frowning, “do you not want me to turn?”

 

“No!” Jinwoo yelled, panicking, shaking his head, “that’s not it! I just want you to weigh all your options, Seunghoon. This is not something you can jump into just like that. There’s so much at risk.”

 

Seunghoon grabbed Jinwoo’s face again to make him look him, “Jinwoo, I have thought of everything. Nothing will stop me from wanting to be with you.” He paused, “always.”

 

Jinwoo let out a breath he must have been holding. “It’s scary,” he whispered. “The whole process, everything. I don’t want you to think it’s too much. It was too much for me.” Seunghoon’s eyes softened. He was understanding. “Minho’s coming back during the winter break. Can you at least talk to him about it first? He’s your cousin. Maybe he can give you some word of advice.”

 

“He can’t change my mind,” Seunghoon shook his head.

 

“I know he won’t,” Jinwoo looked down. He accommodated himself again on Seunghoon’s chest, “but still, for my sake… and if you really do plan to do it, fine, let’s do it after you graduate and get your degree and stuff. I think that would be better.” Seunghoon laughed. He thought about how a degree would help him if he was a vampire. “You should check what Taehyun and Seungyoon have to say about this, too,” Jinwoo said.

 

Seunghoon lifted Jinwoo off of him, and Jinwoo let him. “This is between you and me, Jinwoo. This is my life altering decision. Their opinions won’t make me question my decision,” he said, looking straight at Jinwoo’s eyes.

 

Jinwoo nodded and smiled, “I know, but you should still let them know beforehand. We should let them know.”

 

Seunghoon nodded, “I will.” He yawned, “we will.”

 

“Oh, are you getting tired already?” Jinwoo snickered. He freed himself from Seunghoon’s grasp on him and lowered himself to be closer to Seunghoon.

 

“No,” Seunghoon shook his head, trying to hide another yawn. He had been tired since the beginning, but this was the first time in some time that he had seen Jinwoo, and he wanted to stay awake.

 

“You are,” Jinwoo sat up. “You have class tomorrow. That’s fine,” he said as he ped his jacket.

 

“No,” Seunghoon turned to looked at Jinwoo sitting next to him, “I don’t want to fall asleep just yet.” He gingerly grabbed the fabric of Jinwoo’s cotton joggers in protest.

 

“I won’t leave you tonight. Don’t worry,” Jinwoo grinned. “Take off your jeans. Prepare for bed,” he commanded as he slapped Seunghoon’s thighs. Seunghoon complained and whined but still did as told. Jinwoo giggled and glee and covered them with the black thick blanket Seunghoon had specifically bought for when Jinwoo stayed over.

 

“Come here,” Jinwoo pulled Seunghoon closer and placed Seunghoon’s head on his chest. Seunghoon could hear the faint sound of a heartbeat. It was what happened after Jinwoo fed. Sometimes, it got his heart to beat. Seunghoon smiled, remembering all the times Jinwoo had placed his head on his chest and said, “see, now my heart only beats for you, Seunghoonie.”

 

“I don’t want you to think that I don’t want you to change, Seunghoonie, because I don’t love you,” Jinwoo said softly as he ran his fingers through Seunghoon’s hair. “I love you so much,” he said, tightening his embrace of Seunghoon, “so I just want to make sure that this is really what you want.”

 

“I know, Jinu,” Seunghoon nodded, making himself comfortable while still listening to Jinwoo’s temporary heartbeat.

 

“Sweet dreams,” Jinwoo whispered, kissing the top of Seunghoon’s head, and Seunghoon soon fell asleep.

 

Winter break came weeks after Jinwoo’s first visit. After his final exam, Seunghoon packed up his things and headed back home a few cities over. He hugged his mother tightly when she greeted him outside of their home. This could be some of the last weeks he would spend with her, and it did hurt to think that soon he would not be able to see her.

 

His mother helped him settle in to his old room and asked him to go downstairs for dinner and talk. Dinner was quick and spent talking about how his exams went. Since his mother had just had a simple salad, she had finished first. “Seunghoon,” she called for his attention gently, “we need to talk.”

 

Seunghoon stopped stuffing his face with rice. “What is it?” he asked.

 

His parents made eye contact, having a silent conversation Seunghoon could not decipher anymore. “We’re worried about you, your father and I,” his mother said as she turned towards him. Seunghoon raised an eyebrow, inviting her to explain why. “You’re graduating soon - congratulations! We’re so proud of you - but…” she looked down and sighed, “you have not really been working on getting a job, have you? And we’ve noticed that you have not had an internship since your second year. That can limit your options.”

 

“You haven’t even applied to graduate school. What’s going on?” his father added.

 

“Ah,” Seunghoon nodded. This was about his life after the university. Now that Seunghoon thought about it, he saw reason as to why his parents were worried. He was doing nothing towards his future, according to them.

 

Seunghoon also noticed how subconsciously he had been preparing for his change. For his entire college career, he had thought of only doing the bare minimum to meet the requirement of his major. It was only because he wanted to get it done. He was not even remotely interested in his major, so he had no reason to do anything related. For the longest time, he had been looking towards his bestest friends: Minho, Seungyoon, Taehyun, and his beloved Jinwoo. Seunghoon had wanted to be like them for the longest time. He had never had any plans to ever continue into a normal adulthood.

 

“Don’t worry,” Seunghoon shook his head. He smiled. “I have it all planned out.”

 

His father looked unamused, “what? What do you have planned out?”

 

“What I want to do,” Seunghoon grinned, “you’re gonna have to find out. It’s gonna be great.” Not for them, sure, shame, but it was what Seunghoon wanted. He had to be selfish at some point.

 

His mother frowned, “Seunghoon… we worry about you. We only want what’s best for you, and from what we see… we’re worried.”

 

You’re always worried, mother, Seunghoon wanted to say. He sighed. His mother had not been the same for years. Minho’s disappearance had caused her to be overprotective of Seunghoon. She was incredibly apprehensive of letting Seunghoon leave for college. Even now, she wished to know where Seunghoon always was. Whenever she was in her down moments, she talked about how she let Minho go without questioning where he was going. She considered it her biggest mistake. Seunghoon sometimes wished to hold her and tell that Minho was just fine, just far too different to ever be around us.

 

“It’s going to be fine, mother,” Seunghoon said as he reached for her hand in comfort.

 

Seunghoon found the world to be the quietest at three in the morning. Though there were always going to to be people around, the sound was not overwhelming and loud. It was quiet. Only small whispers filled the air if nothing at all. Sound was easier to block, and it was easier to breathe.

 

The only sound at the park during this time was the sound Seunghoon’s boots made against the snow and buried branches. It was far too cold. It had snowed three times this week.

 

Tonight was when he was to see Minho again though. He could not miss this opportunity. Seunghoon missed talking with just his cousin and no one else.

 

Seunghoon sat on a bench. It was freezing. He thought he had put on enough layers tonight. Dang it. Being alone in an empty part so late at night was pretty scary, especially when one truly knew what lurked in the woods that bordered the park. Seunghoon looked up and saw the full moon. Werewolves were rare, but they were still out there. He feared one of them running out here to get him. It was a little irrational, but still…

 

Seunghoon heard footsteps behind him. He turned his upper body around and saw Minho standing a few meters away. “Minho!” he called out as he stood up to greet his cousin.

 

“Hey,” Minho smiled and hugged Seunghoon when Seunghoon was near enough.

 

“How are you? How have you been doing? How’s Taehyun? How was Japan?” Seunghoon asked him after the hug.

 

“Good, good, and good. Japan was amazing actually,” Minho laughed.

 

“That’s good. Is Taehyun around here?” Seunghoon looked around.

 

“No,” Minho shook his head.

 

Seunghoon nodded. “Jinwoo?” He looked around again suspiciously. He would not be surprised if Jinwoo eavesdropped on their conversation.

 

Minho shook his head, chuckling, “no, they’re with Seungyoon at the academy thingy.”

 

“Oh,” Seunghoon looked at Minho, “Jinwoo hates it there.”

 

“So does Taehyun,” Minho chuckled, “but they did not have an excuse like I did.” He smirked, and Seunghoon laughed, rolling his eyes.

 

Eventually, they both settled into the bench and told a few jokes to lighten the atmosphere, but after the original wave of jokes passed, Minho’s smile fell as he stared at Seunghoon, “Jinwoo told me about you wanting to turn.”

 

Seunghoon looked away, “I was expecting him to.”

 

Minho laughed humorlessly, “I can’t say I’m surprised to be honest.”

 

“That’s good. I do think we should have all seen it coming,” Seunghoon looked at Minho.

 

“Probably,” Minho looked at his hands, “but Hoon, you do know everything that comes with being a vampire? All the bad and all the supposed good.”

 

“Of course,” Seunghoon nodded, “I have been thinking of this for years. I couldn’t be more sure, Minho.”

 

“I would expect you,” Minho nodded. “So you’re fine with everything? The blood, the inability to see your family, the inability to really, truly enjoy the sun and sunlight, and all that?”

 

“I have to be,” Seunghoon said.

 

“Your mother,” Minho looked at Seunghoon, “do you think she could handle losing you?”

 

Seunghoon smiled sadly. He shook his head, “no, she won’t. Not for a long time.”

 

The only thing that really hurt about changing was his mother. Seunghoon remembered when Minho disappeared. She could barely handle that. It would not be hard to imagine how she would react to her own son disappearing.

 

“And you still want to do it?” Minho raised an eyebrow. Seunghoon nodded. “Alright,” Minho looked at the dark sky, “I’ll tell Jinwoo I tried my best to change your mind, and it just didn’t work.” Seunghoon chuckled at that. “You know he doesn’t want you to regret it, right?” Minho looked at Seunghoon.

 

Seunghoon nodded, “I don’t think I will regret this.”

 

“You will be the first of us that will actually chose to become a vampire,” Minho said. “It’s kinda ed up considering who the wants to become a vampire, but… I think you know we would take good care of your first days and so on.” Seunghoon nodded. “Doesn’t the concept of centuries scare you?” Minho raised a brow. “You know no one really knows how long a vampire actually lives? That’s why it’s normally said we’re immortal.”

 

“It terrifies me,” Seunghoon let out a forced laugh, “so much will happen in the coming centuries, and that’s scary, but I’ll deal. We’ll have each other’s backs, us two, won’t we?” He raised a fist.

 

“That’s true,” Minho nodded and bumped fists with Seunghoon. “We’ve always had each other’s backs. I don’t see why that won’t work out in the future. Sure. If nothing else works out, we’ll have each other. We’re family after all.”  

 

Seunghoon smiled, “yeah,” and suddenly, he felt more confident about changing.

 

“How’s my mother?” Minho changed the subject, and suddenly, the conversation became more serious.

 

“I don’t know,” Seunghoon admitted.

 

“Is she still not talking to your mom?” Minho frowned.

 

“Yeah,” Seunghoon nodded, “she still blames us.”

 

Minho sighed, “I wish I could talk to her just once, but I think that would be more traumatic.” He laughed bitterly.

 

Seunghoon nodded. He thought back on the first days of Minho’s disappearance, back to his penultimate year of high school. Back when Seunghoon lied about not knowing where Minho was to his mother even though he knew quite well that Minho was hidden away in a warehouse under the protection of Seungyoon, Taehyun, and Jinwoo, unconscious, only because some vampire decided to attack Minho in the middle of the day (Vampires are able to able to spend time in the sunlight, just not much, and they have to be completely protected from the elements) and leave him in the verge of death, only to turn him to a vampire for some unknown reason and then promptly abandon him. Seunghoon thanked the sky everyday that Taehyun had found him before Minho had awoken of in his new state.

 

A day after Seunghoon first said that he was unaware of where Minho was, Seunghoon’s mother filed a missing person’s report and took it upon herself to tell her sister about her son’s disappearance. She obviously reacted negatively to hearing the disappearance of her only son. She blamed her sister for being irresponsible. Minho’s mother had trusted her sister to take care of her son when her son insisted that he wanted to spend a year with his cousin in a different city.

 

All the while the investigation into Minho’s disappearance was happening, Minho was waking up into his new body and trying to make sense of what was happening. He had been so angry. Vampirism was not what he had wanted, what he ever wanted, even if he had had a crush on Taehyun during that time (and now, obviously). He had tried to make sense of everything, but no one really remembered how they were changed. The one who changed them usually explained the last moments of the new vampire’s humanity, but Minho had been found already in the process. Everything about his change was just assumed. Minho even blamed Taehyun for a second. Though it would not have made sense for there was no reason for Taehyun to change Minho. Back then, they were not a couple. Plus, vampires always knew who changed them. There was a connection between them. There was no connection of that kind with Taehyun (or Seungyoon or Jinwoo. All three of them did not know who changed them either. Their change was a mystery that had happened months before Minho’s. All that was known was that it had been the same vampire).

 

It was in Seunghoon’s first year of college that Minho’s mother declared him dead and doubted that he would ever be found alive. A funeral was even held. Seunghoon forever will have the image of his aunt crying over her missing son’s empty casket imprinted in his mind. He had to leave the funeral home early. Not only overwhelmed with emotion like everyone assumed, but also afraid he would spill his guts and say exactly what happened to Minho.

 

Minho visited his own grave and cried over his own tombstone. He cried over his relationship with his mother and his family. He cried over everything he could not do anymore, over all his stolen dreams. He left flowers every once in awhile hoping his mother would see them.

 

Nowadays, Seunghoon had visions of his own mother crying over his empty casket. He had visions of visiting his own grave and leaving flowers.

 

Seunghoon sighed. “There’s going to be a difference between you and me,” he suddenly said.

 

“What?” Minho looked at him, surprised at Seunghoon’s statement.

 

Seunghoon looked at him, “Everything was taken away from you when you were turned. I am willingly giving everything up. I am accepting the horrible consequences, and I can regret it, but I will chose not to.”

 

Minho scoffed, “alright, I guess.” Seunghoon hit him for taking his words lightly. Minho joked about not being able to feel it. “I do hope I’ll be able to see my mom again without giving her a heart attack. Maybe at some point in the near future, vampires will become widespread enough that they will not be a part of myths anymore. I doubt it though. If we become more known, I’m sure we’ll be hunted to no end, and we already are a bit. I don’t want that future,” he sighed.

 

“We’ll see. We’ll see,” Seunghoon did not think he would mind to present himself as a vampire to his family in the future, if it were able to be acceptable. Vampires were monsters to most of humanity, but Seunghoon knew better now.

 

His final semester started surreally. It would be his last semester of college: the last semester of his humanity. His birthday was a month ago, and Jinwoo had fully promised to change him in the summer, and Seunghoon could not wait. This phase of his life was going to be over in more ways that one, and it was terrifying but exciting at the same time. He only had to survive his last classes, which were becoming physically painful to sit through.

 

Taehyun and Seungyoon knew by now. Seunghoon and Jinwoo told them on his birthday (they joked about it almost being a marriage announcement. Seunghoon wished it could have also been that but one thing at a time). Both were surprised, but Taehyun said that he should have expected it and supported his decision fully. Seungyoon disapproved, which was not surprising. He was the one that hated his vampirism the most, but in the end, he also understood and accepted it, though he could not really support it.

 

Seunghoon kept his grades average. He was not really trying anymore. He did not want to try anymore, but he needed to graduate. It was Jinwoo’s only requirement. That was the only reason his grades were average. It was how Jinwoo wanted it. Jinwoo had wanted to go to college, but being cursed with vampirism crushed that dream. Seunghoon knew Jinwoo was living his dream through him, and he would not mind it. He would do this for Jinwoo and so much more.

 

The end of the semester was rewarding. He had met all the requirements for his major. He would graduate, and he still had not changed his mind about wanting to become a vampire.

 

Graduation was surreal. Receiving his degree was surreal. Standing on that stage with everyone clapping was surreal. He knew his mother was crying. He knew his father had never felt more proud. He wished Jinwoo and his friends could have been there, but there were far too many people, and being in such large crowds was a danger to them and to everyone.

 

Photo after photo were taken after graduation. His whole family sans Minho’s mother had shown up. Seunghoon had to take photos with all of them. It was all a blur. Seunghoon could not remember half of it.

 

His family had thrown a party to celebrate his accomplishments that night, and halfway through the party, Seunghoon excused himself to see the people he had actually wanted to see.

 

When Seungyoon entered the warehouse all his friends resided in, Jinwoo greeted him with a bouquet of flowers. “I’m so proud of you,” he said as he kissed the side of Seunghoon’s mouth.

 

Seunghoon smiled, “thank you.” He held the bouquet with one hand and rested his other hand on Jinwoo’s cheek.“But you missed,” he said as he dived for a real kiss, which Jinwoo gladly granted him.

 

“Please, I hope you won’t be like that all night,” Seungyoon interrupted them, crossing his arms. Taehyun and Minho snickered.

 

Luckily, Seunghoon and Jinwoo were used to ignoring him when making out openly.

 

Seunghoon stayed with them all night. They did not talk about Seunghoon changing. It was still too early. He still had some loose ends to tie, and he planned to have them all in pretty bows before the end of the month.

 

In the upcoming days before his change, Seunghoon cleaned his room. He made his bed, organised his closet, threw away old clothes, and made sure to help his mother as much as he could. He hanged his diploma on the wall, so his parents could see it every time they entered his room in the future and at least be proud of what he accomplished. He tried to write a letter to his mom that she could receive after he went missing, but he could never find the right words. How in the world was he supposed to apologize for leaving to turn into a vampire so he could live with his vampire boyfriend and friends that his parents had not idea about? Every letter he wrote he kept throwing to the trash. These were things that should not be told. He should not need to justify his decision. In the end, all his letter became was a post-it note that only read “I’m fine, and I’m sorry.”

 

A few nights before the actual turning, Seunghoon left with his biggest suitcase filled with his favorite clothes. For some time, he had been telling his parents that this night was the night he was going to leave with some college friends to Japan for vacation for around three weeks.

 

Seungyoon was the one who was in charge in the warehouse, simply because he nagged too much, and everyone else did what he wanted just to make him stop. The rules were simple: clean after yourself in every situation (the most important), make sure the few windows in this place are closed before the sun came out, no vampire speed inside the warehouse, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Seunghoon stopped listening after a while. “And most importantly,” Seungyoon raised his voice, “we hear everything, so keep that in mind during late nights.”

 

It did not take much for Seunghoon to understand what he was talking about. Jinwoo hid behind Seunghoon, laughing. If Jinwoo was a normal human, Seunghoon was sure he would have been red. Seunghoon himself knew he was red.

 

Taehyun chuckled. He had been sitting next to Minho on the couch. “You’d think he’d be used to it by now,” he placed his hand on Minho’s tigh. Minho smiled and kissed his cheek.

 

Seungyoon shook his head, “you never get used to it.”

 

“You don’t. That’s true,” Jinwoo leaned against against Seunghoon’s arm. “Oh well, that’s what headphones are for.”

 

“That’s what silence charms are for. We need some,” Seungyoon looked at Jinwoo.

 

“That could work, too,” Jinwoo nodded, wrapping his arms around Seunghoon’s arm, and wow, he was so cute. Seunghoon was too in love.

 

“You’re with the academy. I’m sur they could make you some,” Taehyun said.

 

“I’ll need far more than what they are willing to supply for free with you people,” Seungyoon sighed.

 

“I think someone’s just jealous,” Minho smiled.

 

“I could care less about being in a relationship or not. Just have mercy on me,” Seungyoon said, almost begged.

 

“You know you can always fall asleep,” Taehyun said, raising a brow.

 

“You try when your ears always hone on the nearest loudest sound,” Seungyoon frowned.

 

Taehyun laughed, “okay, that’s true.”

 

“Oh, boy,” Seunghoon shook his head. This was going to be his life from now on.

 

“What?”Jinwoo looked up at him with his big doe eyes and asked, feigning innocence.

 

“I’m so happy,” Seunghoon leaned down to kiss Jinwoo. He loved his new life.

 

Seunghoon settled in to Jinwoo’s room. He left his suitcase next to the dresser and promised to empty it soon enough. He had more important things to focus on now.

 

“I can’t believe this day has actually come,” Jinwoo wrapped his arms around Seunghoon’s neck.

 

“I feel the same way,” Seunghoon pulled Jinwoo closer, holding him in place with his hand’s on his hips.

 

“I’m so happy,” Jinwoo leaned closer. Seunghoon was taller than Jinwoo, so he leaned down and met Jinwoo halfway.

 

Seunghoon kissed Jinwoo softly and pulled him closer. With every second that passed, the kiss turned to kisses, and gentle kisses became deeper and deeper. Seunghoon pulled back a few seconds later with the need to breathe. Jinwoo’s lips followed Seunghoon’s when Seunghoon broke away, whining when Seunghoon moved his head away from him.

 

Seunghoon chuckled. “I just needed a second,” he said as he pulled Jinwoo into a second round of kisses.

 

At some point in that round, Jinwoo pushed and pulled them towards the bed in the room. He let himself fall on the bed, and Seunghoon gladly crawled on top of him. Seunghoon let his hands roam under Jinwoo’s shirt and by the hem of his pants, knowing exactly where this was heading. He suddenly remembered Seungyoon’s words and broke the kiss again.

 

Jinwoo looked at him and pouted. “Wait, what about the others?” Seunghoon asked him.

 

Jinwoo shrugged, grabbing Seunghoon by the collar. “They’ll understand. They don’t actually care as much as they want to make it seem,” he smiled, rubbed his fingers over Seunghoon’s neck.

 

“You sure?” Seunghoon leaned closer to Jinwoo, their lips almost touching.

 

“I’ve lived with them for years,” Jinwoo gave him a quick kiss, “positive.”

 

“Alright,” Seunghoon nodded and resumed to kissing Jinwoo without wasting another millisecond.

 

By the end of it, Seunghoon’s sweaty, hot body was cooled down by Jinwoo’s cold body and his faint heartbeat.

 

(After sundown the next day when all of them were awake again, Seungyoon would not stop glaring holes at Jinwoo and Seunghoon, and Taehyun and Minho could not stop laughing at him.)

 

Living his final human days with vampires was weird. He would wake up later noon way before everyone else and stay alone and waiting until the sunset. Once a vampire fell asleep at sunrise, there was no way that Seunghoon knew of that could wake them up. Though a vampire could fight against the curse that the sun carried out on them, it was exhausting and unnecessary, so most vampires really did prefer sleeping during the day. Long ago, Jinwoo, Seungyoon, and Taehyun had tried to be day vampires, but after months of burns and fire burning under the skin, they had given up (Seungyoon stayed up from time to time to attend the day classes at the magic academy thingy. No one had explained to Seunghoon what it truly was). Seunghoon was not about to wake them up when they were at their weakest now.

 

Seunghoon’s transformation date was set for the next full moon. The moon was a powerful magical ally. For reasons unknown to Seunghoon, the moon heightened the ability of magic, making any spell casted, potions created, and transformations performed all the more successful. Jinwoo was taking every precaution to make sure Seunghoon came back as vampire after his transformation is performed.

 

All loose ends were tied neatly. Seunghoon still talked to him parents and exclaimed how amazing it was to be in Japan. He was planning on cutting conversations after his change happened. Seunghoon was ready. This was what he wanted.

 

The full moon came a bit more than a week after Seunghoon moved in with the vampires. His heart beat loudly in his chest, and Seunghoon tried not to think about how this was going to be the last time he would ever feel it to its full potential.

 

Seunghoon was standing in front of Jinwoo. They were at their modest warehouse. Nothing special needed to be done for a transformation to happen. Everyone else was standing or crouching far away, watching and making sure nothing goes wrong.

 

“No second thoughts?” Jinwoo asked him.

 

“None at all,” Seunghoon answered, confidently.

 

“I love you,” Jinwoo held his hand.

 

Seunghoon squeezed it, “I love you, too.”

 

Changing into a vampire was simple. All it consisted of was ingesting vampire blood or having an open wound come in contact with vampire blood. For years, Jinwoo had to be careful not to hurt himself every time they became intimate in fear of accidentally changing Seunghoon, but now it did not matter. Vampire blood, no matter how small a dose, poisoned a human’s bloodstream the second it entered the body.

 

The thought of ingesting Jinwoo’s blood made Seunghoon’s skin crawl. It was disgusting in all honesty. There had been no reason yet to do it, but he had to now. He had been preparing himself to do it for weeks.

 

Jinwoo grabbed his shirt and gently pulled him down. Their lips connected a second later. They stayed like that, close mouth kissing, for a few seconds. Jinwoo then opened his mouth and inviting Seunghoon in. It only took a few moments for Seunghoon’s tongue to taste a metallic liquid.

 

Jinwoo had bitten his own tongue. The way they planned on changing Seunghoon was the most mundane way they could think of. The way where Seunghoon did not have to purposely put blood in his mouth. Seunghoon and Jinwoo thought that if they mixed changing with something Seunghoon enjoyed doing, it would make it easier. It did.

 

Seunghoon broke away from Jinwoo and looked at his boyfriend as he swallowed his life-changing “potion.” He shivered, because the taste of blood was horrible, especially vampire blood. It was metallic with a side of old and rotten.

 

Seunghoon sighed and hugged Jinwoo. He felt that swallow heavily travelling down his esophagus. Jinwoo hugged him back. “You know, I am going to miss my human Seunghoon,” Jinwoo confessed, “but I know vampire Seunghoon is going to be amazing.”

 

Seunghoon chuckled and rested his hand under Jinwoo’s chin, “I hope.” Jinwoo nodded.

 

Seunghoon grinned, ready to say something else, but his body froze and his eyes widened. His throat closed, and the tips of his extremities numbed. He felt small waves of shivers run all over his body, and his vision started to blur.

 

Seunghoon tried to look at Jinwoo, “Ji-Jin-” His voice was raw.

 

“Hoonie?” Jinwoo sounded so far away. Seunghoon felt himself being grabbed back Jinwoo’s hands. “Hoon?” It was farther away.

 

Before Seunghoon could respond, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell unconscious.

 

Seunghoon had forgotten what he had done when he woke up. It seemed like another night, waking up from a nap in his and Jinwoo’s bed that went on for long and had completely reenergized him.

 

Jinwoo was next to him, holding his hand, and Seunghoon felt every callous in his skin, every line. Now that Seunghoon thought about it, he felt a lot. His body was sensitive. The clothes on his shoulders were rough and noisy, so noisy. Were they always this noisy? Seunghoon heard so much. There were people walking all around the warehouse. There were cars outside, honking and speeding up. Seunghoon wondered if something was happening near. Cars normally were not allowed to be this close to the warehouses that housed supernatural creatures.

 

“Jinu?” Seunghoon squeezed Jinwoo’s hand. There was a strong buzzing in his head. Seunghoon could barely think past it.

 

“Hoon!” Jinwoo smiled when he looked at him. “You’re awake! Thank goodness! You’ve been gone for two nights!”

 

Seunghoon blinked. His eyes narrowed trying to understand what his boyfriend was implying. Then, the puzzle pieces clicked in his brain and he sat up, quickly, vampire speed. His eyes could not keep up, and he dizzied himself. “It worked?” Seunghoon asked Jinwoo, and Jinwoo nodded. Seunghoon touched his canine teeth to make sure. They were sharp, like fangs. It had worked.

 

“Oh, my,” Seunghoon hugged Jinwoo tightly, so strongly. He felt all of his muscles at work. Jinwoo laughed and called the others in. Seunghoon heard their steps running towards their direction. Seunghoon kissed Jinwoo quickly and then connected their foreheads. Their smiles had not seized. Seunghoon grabbed Jinwoo’s hands again, and he noticed something he had not when he had first woken up.

 

They were so warm.

 

---

 

A/N: I'm back with Winner! Yay! and with vampires, too. You know, I had been planning this story or at least the concept for more than a year, and it was supposed to be NamSong's side of the story, but in the end, I decided to focus on JinHoon. I tried to explain a little bit of what that story was going to be like when I explained Minho's change into a vampire. I feel like I did not explain well enough, but it does not matter really. I hope I did explain the basics of the AU well enough though! This is my kickoff fic for a little supernatial/magical AU, and I am not sure what other group the next fic is going to be, but all in its own time. 

Thank you very much for reading! Comments are very welcomed, and I hope to be inspired to write another Winner story soon! Bye-bye! See you soon!