The next thing Jackson knew he was looking up at the ceiling. He groaned from the ache in his back. He supposed that’s what he got for sleeping on the floor. But Jackson didn’t remember falling asleep. The last thing he remembered was . . . the prince! Jackson quickly scrambled up. It seemed like he had only been asleep for an hour or two since the sun was still in the sky. He looked to the bed and, to both his delight and horror, the stranger was still sleeping peacefully on top of it. Jackson had to take deep swallows to make sure he didn’t cough up more petals. “Pull yourself together! You used to be able to spend time with the prince every day with minimal issues.” He thought to himself as he beat his chest a few times. He took a few deep breaths before approaching the bed once again. He placed his hand on the stranger’s forehead. The other man felt quite cool, and that was saying something since Jackson’s own skin was like ice. Jackson quickly pulled the covers out from under the stranger and placed them over him, making sure to tuck him in tight. He returned to what he was doing before. He was sure to not put too much pressure on the other man’s face as he ran a finger from the tip of his nose all the way to his hairline. Jackson took another deep breath, removing his hand from the other man’s face. “This is real.”, he thought to himself, “After all these years the heavens decide to torture me more by doing this.” Jackson wasn’t exactly sure what to do, but he knew he needed to do something or else he would go stir crazy waiting for the stranger to wake up. He decided to go make something to eat since he was sure the stranger would be famished once he woke up. Jackson walked to the kitchen to see if he had any human food that wasn’t slowly rotting away in his fridge. He was in luck, there were just enough ingredients to make some beef stew. He quickly got to work, but was sure to keep an eye out for when the stranger woke up.

When Jinyoung woke up it was to the wonderful smell of food. It smelled heavenly, especially since it had been a long time since he had a full meal to eat. He opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light of the bedroom. He sat up, taking in the room around him. “Where am I?” He wondered to himself, slowly pushing the blanket off. He remembers walking in the woods, and he remembers he was attacked by a pack of wolves. Everything that happened after that was a bit of a blur. Jinyoung was careful to be quiet as he got out of the bed. He walked over to the door and saw that there was someone in the kitchen. He could only see the back of the stranger, as it seemed all their focus was on the food being made. Jinyoung slowly walked out of the room, careful not to alert the stranger. Before he could quietly close the door the stranger spoke. “If you need to go to the bathroom it’s the first door on the right.” Jinyoung nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice. He looked back to the stranger and noticed the other man hadn’t turned around. “I don’t need to use the bathroom. I’m just wondering what this place is.” He said, straightening his back out. Finally, the stranger turned to look at him after turning off the stove.

Jackson slowly turned around to get a good look at the strange man in his house. He looked a lot better than he did an hour ago, which was a relief. Jackson took a few deep swallows to prevent himself from coughing up flowers. “Well, this is my home.” He said to the stranger, serving a helping of the warm stew he had cooked. The other man looked slightly confused. “And where exactly is your home? I don’t mean to sound rude but I have some important business to attend to.” The stranger said, pushing himself off the wall he had been leaning against. “I live at the top of the mountain. Your business might involve me if you’re looking for the medicine man.” The stranger’s eyes widened. “You’re the medicine man who lives here?” He asked, his head tilting to the side in confusion. “That would be me. My name is Jackson by the way.” He said, extending a hand for the stranger to shake. The other man flushed before walking towards him. “My name is Jinyoung.” Jackson smiled at Jinyoung. “Nice to meet you. Why don’t you take a seat? You must be starving.” Jinyoung’s body betrayed him when his stomach let out a loud gurgle. If it was possible Jinyoung turned a deeper shade of red. “Don’t mind if I do.” Jinyoung took a seat at the worn table in the middle of the kitchen and began to eat the stew. Jackson watched him while he ate. He couldn’t help but think about the prince when he watched Jinyoung eat. However, they ate so differently it was kind of funny. His prince was raised to be a proper gentleman, so he never slouched when he ate. He never put his elbows on the table either. Jinyoung did both of those things and he kept making little sounds while he ate. It was amusing to Jackson, to see the face of someone he knew to be so prim and proper slurping down some stew.

Jinyoung paused when he saw Jackson staring at him intensely. He wasn’t really sure what to do so he settled on starting some conversation. “So is medicine something that runs in the family?” Jackson tilted his head. “What do you mean by that?” Jinyoung took a few more bites of the stew. “I mean I was told that I should expect an elderly man to open the door. Rumor has it that the person who lives here has been making medicine for at least a century.” Jackson hummed. “Well, my family was in the farming business, all except my grandfather of course. He taught me everything I know.” It wasn’t a lie, Jackson’s grandfather was a medicine man back when he was alive. Jinyoung nodded his head and continued to eat. Once he was done he moved to put his dish in the sink when he tripped on a loose board. Jinyoung braced for impact but it never came. He opened his eyes to see that Jackson had caught him. Jinyoung looked deeply into Jackson’s eyes. He felt like something was pulling at the back of his mind but he didn’t know what. “Jackson?” He asked, unsure of himself. “Yeah?” Jackson answered, pulling Jinyoung so he was standing on his own two feet. “Have we met before?” Jackson panicked but he must have looked confused since Jinyoung backtracked a little. “I mean I might have seen you in the market place or something. You just look really familiar but I don’t know where I remember you from.” Jinyoung said, his face turning red. Jackson chuckled a bit. “A lot of people tell me I look like someone they’ve met. I guess I just have one of those faces.” Jackson decided to change the subject. “So what did you come to my home for? Did you need some of my tea?” Jinyoung took a moment to answer. “Yes, my sister is really sick. But we don’t have the money to pay for a doctor.” Jackson smiled. “Well, I’ll get you a fresh batch then.” Jinyoung nodded, a smile on his face. Jackson went to collect a few batches from the closet he kept them in. Jackson put them in a bag and placed it over his shoulder. “I’ll go with you. I’d like to see how sick she is myself before I give her any tea. Some people react badly to it.” Jackson wished he was lying, but sometimes people had horrible reactions to vampire blood. He guessed that those people had some sort of ancient magic running through their veins. Jinyoung nodded and got ready to leave.

Jackson grabbed a few empty bags before following Jinyoung home.