Kris dropped Luhan at his house to pick up his necessities real quick before he drove the boy to the expensive hotel he was staying. He demanded the boy to stay with him for a few days until things get sorted out, he said. Luhan didn’t argue and followed Kris to the hotel room where he had been the night before without any words. It was when they were on the wide navy leather couch with Kris tending the boy’s injuries, Luhan spoke.

“Why?” his voice was hoarse and small because he had been crying since they left school.

Kris gave the boy a quick glance before his eyes were back on the boy’s injured hand again. The boy didn’t look at the older vampire, he kept his puffy eyes locked on his own lap even though Kris doubt it was what the boy was really staring at. The tears had dried but boy’s cheeks were still flushed and his nose red from the earlier crying.  Kris sighed quietly before he answered the boy.  

“Because he’s a ing vampire hunter and it’s his duty to kill us – vampire”

“but… Kai is my friend.”

“was” Kris corrected the boy as he put away blood stained cotton wools on the glass table and reached for a packet of butterfly closure strips.   

Luhan didn’t expect that what Kris said could hurt him so much. He bit his lips and his eyes watered again. This time, Kris looked at him. He touched the boy’s thigh gently. The touch was successfully getting the boy’s attention. He stared into the puffy pair of brown eyes. 

 “Do you remember when I said this place is dangerous?” He started and the boy nodded silently in reply.

 “It’s because this place, South Korea… more specifically Seoul is where the oldest Vampire Hunter Associations Head Quarters is located. There’s a bunch of annoying hunters everywhere in the country. Almost 40% of hunter population all around the world gathers here… and not to mention many of them are top listed hunters. You can find vampire hunters easier than alpaca stuff toys here“

On normal occasion, Luhan might have rolled his eyes to the older vampire at the mention of the stuff toys. But unfortunately, he was too depressed and too confused right now to even notice it.

“Those hunters are dangerous and aggressive. I bet your house will be surrounded by those hunters by now.” Kris vampire reached out for a roll of bandage.

 “This cut…” he referred to the boy’s hand “it was done by AV weapon, a.k.a Anti-Vampire weapon. It will take time to heal compared to normal wound. Those people have several tricks to kill us easier than we thought.”

“and since you have awaken your vampire instinct, you will carve for blood sooner or later –  it’s just in the matter of time. When that time comes, you will have hard time to hide yourself from hunters while looking for blood.” He added before focusing again on treating the wound.

Luhan clenched his healthy hand. He had never thought in this life that he would be afraid someone will be targeting to kill him. The boy watched the older vampire wrapped his injured hand. He looked a bit confused and redid the wrapping a few times before he finally decided to just finish it quickly. Luhan’s hand ended up wrapped in a bulky with some loose ends bandage. But it didn’t bother the boy at all because he was more worried about the other matter. He has a lot to ask and to say but everything seemed to be stuck in his throat.   

“What should I do?” was the only question that came out from the boy’s mouth. Kris eyes landed on the boy’s face and he didn’t look away, so their eyes met. Luhan knew it was selfish of him to expect for the other vampire to do solve everything for him but he had no one else at that moment that he can rely on. What came from Kris’s mouth next wasn’t anything Luhan expected.

“Come with me to China.”

Luhan eyes widen.

“China is our territory. The most influential vampire clans reside there. We have more power than the hunters there and… you will be save there.” Kris put his hands on each of Luhan’s shoulders.

The boy froze. He really did. He was too surprised that he didn’t move at all, not even blinking, trying to assemble his thoughts together in his brain about the proposition and Kris gave him that time.  When he finally able to process it he blinked.

“Going to China?” the boy tried to confirm again.

“Yes. It looks like it’s the only choice we have now.”

“… how long will I be staying there?”

Kris inhaled and took his hands from the small shoulders.“Most probably forever.”

Luhan squeezed his own shirt hem and he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Kris watched the boy’s expression turned pale.

“You might be able to come back one day, but most probably only as a visit. You can’t come back to stay here.” The older vampire tried to comfort the boy but it only gave reverse effect. Tears spilled from the boy’s eyes and guiltily, Kris swapped the crying boy into his arms. Luhan sobbed against the broad chest.    

“Even though I can’t take you in… in China, there are plenty of vampires who are more than willing to take in our own kind. And I promise they would treat you well. Moreover, aren’t you from China as well? Beijing, if I remember it correctly? I don’t know what happened or how you ended up here, but if you’re lucky, you might able to find your real family as well.” Kris tried again and this time he rubbed Luhan’s back soothingly. Luhan wanted to ask how Kris knew about his birthplace, why Kris can’t take him in, who will take him in… He has a lot more that to ask but right now, tears and sobs buried all of his words and Kris’s warm hand on his back just making him felt sadder.

“Sleep, it’s still early.” Kris tucked the boy under the blanket. It was still noon – still sleeping hour for vampire and he was sure the boy was very exhausted from everything that happened that day. When Kris was about to leave the bed, a small hand gripped on his sleeve.

“Don’t leave.” The boy whispered, looking scared. Kris let out a light sigh. He took the hand from his sleeve and placed it under the blanket with the rest of the boy’s body.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back. I still have things to do.” He rubbed the boy’s flushed cheek gently with his long finger. There was gloom in the pretty eyes, but the boy didn’t say anything in reply. He took a pen and a piece of paper and wrote his own phone number on in. “Call me if anything happens.” He left it on the night stand at the bed side before he went out.

Luhan blinked his eyes a few times in the bed, wondering how his life would turn to be after this. He wasn’t able to wonder long because soon after, sleepiness took over him and he fell into the dreamland. Hopefully, the dream was a happy one.  

***

When Luhan woke up, the sun has gone down but Kris was still not back yet. He checked his cellphone and saw 11 messages and 16 misscalls. Most of them are from Sehun and the rest from Sulli. Right, they must be worried. He needed to give them explanation… or excuse about today. He decided to ignore Sehun’s because lying to his boyfriend was something that he still yet to learn. So, he decided to call his sister. He wished his family hadn’t report his lost to the police yet. But before he could dial the number, his cellphone rang. It was unregistered number but Luhan thought it was Kris, so he picked it up.

“Choi Luhan?” the voice at the other end asked. It was definitely not Kris’s voice and he didn’t recognize it at all. A far voice in his head told him to hang up but the other voice told him it might be something important. Luhan listened to the later voice.

“Who is this?”

“I’m Kim Joon Myeon, Jongin’s cousin.” Luhan inhaled sharply and he clasped his hand onto his mouth. Wrong move, Luhan.

“I know everything that happened… and yes, I’m same like Jongin. But you don’t have to be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you.” The voice tried to reassure him.

“Wh – what do you want?” Luhan stammered because his lips were quivering and his hand on the phone was starting to lose its heat. 

“I would like to meet you.”

Luhan wanted to press the cancel button on his cellphone right away but the person on the line seemed to expect that.

“No – please don’t hang up!” Luhan stopped and slowly put the phone on his ear again. “Listen, I want to help you. I believe there are a lot of thing that you aren’t clear about the matter of… your kind against us. I only want to explain that to you and I promise I won’t hurt you. I will come alone and we can meet in a place with a lot of people – if that can make you feel safer.”

Luhan knew going to meet a vampire hunter is like walking to his own death; he couldn’t even fight against Kai and this man who proposed to meet a vampire on his own most probably was very confident of killing a vampire by himself. Despite that, Luhan couldn’t help but feeling sincerity in the other’s voice and he really was curious by what the other offered him. It’s not like he didn’t trust Kris… okay, he didn’t trust Kris 100%. Well, since he had gotten himself into this, he had only been listening to Kris. He wondered if there was more to it, if there was another solution for him other than leaving.   

That was how the young vampire currently standing in front of a McDonald restaurant – the promised meeting place. The night was still early, so there were a lot of people on the road. The hunter wouldn’t kill him in public, right? With that thought, he stepped inside.

To his relief, there was fairly number of customers inside the establishment. He didn’t even know what the other looked like, so he tried to scan the tables quickly. At first, no one seemed to be waiting for someone, so he walked further into the restaurant.

“Choi Luhan?”

Luhan turned towards the voice and saw a man was waving his hand towards him on the furthest table beside the glass window. Luhan approached him warily. The man looked like he was in his early twenties, with fair complexion and warm smile. He didn't look threathening at all but Luhan didn't let the look decieved him. 

The boy took the seat across the table. There were two sets of burger on the table and the man shoved one towards Luhan. Luhan didn’t reject because hell, he was freaking hungry. His last meal was breakfast and right now it was already passed dinner time.   

“I’m Kim Joon Myeon but you can call me Suho.”

Luhan bit his fries. He wanted to stuff everything into his mouth right away but he was also worried the other would do anything dangerous to him. So, he settled with the fries at the moment.

“Are you… a hunter as well?” he asked carefully. The other answered him with a short “yes”. The vampire’s eyes automatically scanned the other’s figure, trying to find any weapon that the hunter might hide.

The hunter chuckled before he told him “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.” Luhan didn’t believe him but there was nothing he could do at the moment. Luhan’s injured hand caught Suho’s attention.

“Is that done by Jongin?” he pointed. Luhan didn’t answer, instead he hid his hand under the table, feeling miserable to talk about what happened. The hunter smiled at his reaction and he told the boy to wait for him before he got off his seat and went outside. A moment later, he came back with a small box of first aid kit.

“Show me your hand.” He opened the box and took out a roll of bandage. The boy hesitated but later he compiled. Suho undid the poorly done bandage wrap on the young vampire’s hand and replaced it with a new one. Since the hunter was giving attention to his hand, Luhan took the opportunity to peek at the hunter’s face, trying to guess what kind of person he was and if he could believe him.    

 “So, tell me about yourself” the older asked without taking his eyes off what he was doing. Luhan was startled by the sudden question for a bit but he perfectly understood the question was about his status as a vampire, but he didn’t know where to start. He took some moment to begin.

“I didn’t know that I am a vampire until two days ago… because I was adopted” Luhan knew his explanation wasn’t clear but he heard Suho hummed indicating that he was following. Luhan took a breath before the continued.  “Two days ago, I met another vampire…”

“Kris?” Luhan was surprised that the other knew this but he nodded nether less. He saw Suho smiled before he told him to go on.

“Kris told me that I’m a vampire and then, he… fed me blood.” The last few words were almost a whisper, but Suho replied in affirmative.  There was a short silence between them before Suho asked again.

“Do you feel… thirsty?”

Luhan shook his head quickly but Suho looked at him with raised eyebrows.

He knew.

“…but Kris said I will, eventually” there was no use of lying to this man.

 The hunter finished off the bandaging with clipping the end of it. It was much better now, neat and secured. Suho stared at the young vampire in front of him with concern look and his lips curved into a gentle smile but somehow it made Luhan looked away with uneasiness. The hunter put both of his elbows on the table and leaned forward slightly.   

“You know, even though we are called hunters, we prefer to consider ourselves as guardians” It made Luhan brought his eyes up again. “Our job is NOT to hunt down vampire. Our job is to protect human from dangerous vampires.” He made sure his words are clear for the young vampire to understand. “We only hunt vampires who cause harm to human”, Suho explained.

“but Kai…” just yesterday, Kai tried to kill him.

“Jongin made a mistake.” He answered. “Jongin is still non-official hunter. He’s still in his training to become a real hunter. And as you may already know, there aren’t many vampires in South Korea – I believe you might be his first real vampire encounter.” Suho chuckled as he shook his head slightly.

A vampire that he hang out with and study together for 4 years, Luhan thought silently.

“We are not supposed to attack just any vampire. We are supposed to ki – I mean, hunt vampires that are on our list only. Our association somehow connected to the police force. Vampires that are on the police’s hunt list will go into ours as well. Plus the one that bite people around. But other than that, we let you vampires live normally.”

Luhan almost smiled hearing that – almost. Vampire bite human for a reason.  “But… we need blood” the boy stated.

“Yeah, about that… actually every vampire can has his own supplier. The supplier is any human who is willing to let the vampire to feed on them and promise to keep it as a secret. A vampire can have up to 3 suppliers at once but a supplier can’t be shared by more than 1 vampires. You can find someone who’s willing to give you his blood and we will register him in our system as a record. But in return, you need to protect you supplier’s safety, especially from other vampires.”

Luhan fell silent. So, he is safe, here? He can stay? He doesn’t have to go? It was almost too good to be true. He wondered why Kris didn’t tell him anything about this. On second thought, it wasn’t that nice because he was still stuck at one problem, finding a supplier and he has no idea how or who would be willing to be one.

***

“Where the hell have you been?” Luhan was greeted as soon as he stepped into the room.

The boy didn’t reply, instead he stared at the tall handsome man. Kris quickly could sense something was wrong by his stare. The eyes were different from before, the insecure and scared eyes were now judging and doubtful.

“They say I will be alright as long as I behave.” Luhan waited for reaction. Kris groaned upon hearing this and he flopped himself on the leather couch. His long fingers run into his blonde hair and massaged a spot above his temple.    

“So, you met the hunter?” anyone could easily tell he was annoyed.

“… he said you’re in their hunt list”

“That short bastard Joon Myeon.” Kris grumbled to himself.

“You know Suho?”

 “Goddamnit, Luhan!” The boy jumped a little with the sudden raised voice. “I left you for awhile and you ran down the street to meet a hunter alone and then you believe everything that he said? Have you forgotten what just happened this morning?” Kris was almost shooting fire from his glare. Luhan recoiled in his spot but he was too scared to look away or even moved at all. The older vampire always appeared as the playful and cool type to Luhan, the boy wouldn’t imagine he would be like this.

When he saw the boy’s kicked puppy expression, Kris realized that he was getting too far with his emotion. He shifted in his seat and inhale deeply, running his fingers through his hair again to calm himself. He motioned for the boy to sit on the couch next to his. Luhan hesitated but he didn’t want to upset the older more than he already did. The boy settled standing in front of Kris with his eyes glued to the floor. The older vampire didn’t complain at that.    

“What he told you were the rules. The official rules signed by both of Hunter Association’s founder and our ancestors to attain peace between both parties. But just like any other ordinary community, how many were actually follow the rules diligently? Why do you think despite the rules, vampires almost extinct in this place?” his tone was stern but it was less harsh than before. Luhan knew the questions weren’t really questions.

“Most hunters choose to become hunter because they hate us, vampire. They want to kill us and happy to do so. Moreover, since our body will turn into dust when we died, it just makes it easier for them to eliminate the evidence of their crime. There is too little of us here, no one will protect you here.”

Luhan chewed his bottom lips and scratched his own fingers. Now he felt horrible. When he was just thought things were going to be better, it was crashing down again. He didn’t know who or what to believe. He didn’t know Kris nor Suho, both of them were strangers to him but both seemed to buy his trust easily, both promised him safety. Only, Kris saved his life once and the hunter didn’t.

The taller vampire pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and shoved it to the standing boy. “I’ve got you ticket”.

Luhan was slow to receive the piece of paper, so Kris lifted the boy’s palm and put the ticket on it.

“We’ll leave in three days”

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So,

Sorry for the late update! DX

... and sorry this chapter is short

Next chapter will be the last one, I promise!

About Luhan's birthplace, Kris is not some kind of pyshic. Luhan was adopted legally, so his birth certificate clearly states his birthplace (Beijing). It was how Luhan knew that he was adopted too. Kris just simply get his hands on the document, that's why he knew.