We can't hide anymore
Moonless Nights
"Are you sure about this?" Jinki asked as he pulled onto the road that lead to his girlfriend's house. He reached out to place his hand over the two that Minji had over her stomach. "We could wait a while and not tell anyone," he suggested, sighing a smile and nodded as she shook her head.
Minji smiled at her boyfriend and pulled his hand up to kiss it lightly. "Chaerin Unnie already knows. She can see my future and she's a lot better with her powers," she sighed, resting her head against the headrest. "Actually, I'm certain that she knows we're coming," she murmured, not wanting to tell her boyfriend about the vision she'd had about when she brought Jinki home. She hadn't even told him that she stayed with a friend in town since the night they made their baby.
Blinking at the sudden change in the elder's mood, Jinki decided to leave it alone and just squeeze the hand holding his. "I love you, Gong Minji," he said quietly but firmly. "It's going to be okay, I know it. It has to be, or I'll run away to Thailand with you and we'll be together and happy and it will be great," he smiled over at her.
"It's a good thing you have enough confidence for both of us," the witch chuckled, glancing down at her stomach. "Well, for all three of us, I guess," she said softly, looking up quickly when she saw an old, tall lamp post at the edge of the driveway. "That's it," Minji mumbled, chewing on her full bottom lip until he stopped the car. She smiled as Jinki opened her door for her, shaking her head a little and kissing his mouth gently. "I love you, too, Lee Jinki."
Jinki smiled reassuringly and squeezed the woman's hand before letting her lead him to the door. She took a deep breath as she unlocked the front door, slipping off her shoes by the entrance before turning to him. "Please come in," Minji smiled at him, the frowned when her boyfriend stepped up, but couldn't quite move inside the house.
"You forget who owns this house, Minji?" a crisp voice sounded, the owner smirking as she walked toward her sister. She put up her hand to silence the protest on the tip of the younger's tongue and sighed deeply as she lowered her arm. Chaerin's other hand rose in a blur from the speed, however, a loud clap ringing out before the pain in her palm and Minji's cheek arrived. "I can't believe it. How could you let this happen?" Minji blinked back her tears and closed her eyes as she felt her cheek tenderly.
Forced to watch the entire scene unfold before him, Jinki cursed his inability to protect his girlfriend, feeling more helpless than he had in his entire life. He bit his lip almost hard enough to break the skin again, his hands balling into fists as Minji took a step back and bowed lowly. The vampire took a sharp breath in and stepped down as well, bending at the waist and standing after the woman he loved stood straight once more.
It was Chaerin who lifted Minji's chin and pulled her up to hug her tightly. "It's all going to be okay," the older woman whispered, holding her baby sister closer. "You may enter my home now, vampire," she added as her eyes closed, keeping her arms securely around Minji while the man she couldn't read took off his shoes and closed the door. "Let's sit to discuss this," Chaerin finally murmured and turned to walk through her house, taking a seat in the living room and crossing her legs as she wiped under her eyes, just in case she'd actually been moved enough to tears.
A man Jinki didn't realize was there came in with a tray of tea, handing one to Minji and Jinki on a small love seat before taking his own seat next to Chaerin and not even having to look as he held out her cup. Ah, Minji mentioned her sister was married. Seunghyun, was it?
Jinki cleared his throat nervously and glanced at his girlfriend for permission, then stood slowly. He bowed once more at the waist and held his position for several seconds before righting himself. "My name is Lee Jinki, and as you know, I'm a vampire. The Lee family of the Kim vampire coven isn't as well known as the great Gong witch coven, but I hope anything you have heard is favorable," he said respectfully, taking a deep breath and smiling down to his girlfriend. "And as I'm sure you are aware, Minji and I love each other very much, and we've... We've created a child. Please accept our apologies for the situation, as well as our feelings for one another," he finished, bowing for hopefully the last time. He couldn't help but thank Minho mentally for showing him all this unintentionally a few short weeks before.
"Well, you've certainly found yourself a well spoken vampire, Minji," Seunghyun chuckled, taking a small sip of his tea. "I'm sure you understand that it won't be as simple as us just saying it's okay," he commented and sighed, about to open his mouth again when Chaerin placed her hand on his knee to shush him.
"They know what they did, Riri," she smiled at him, turning serious once she gazed at the couple across the room, shaking her head in disbelief. "Of all the days of the month, you just had to play with the spell I taught you about your... Your crotch, on the full moon, you know, the day we're most likely to conceive..." she sighed at her sister, who blushed and looked down slowly. "Hurts, doesn't it? Hurts like love," she murmured, briefly wondering when the last time was that she had had without mumbling a spell to numb her intimate areas to pain. It wasn't even the birth control side of it, either. Seunghyun had his own spell to prevent pregnancy from his end, she just wasn't a fan of the pain that came with being stabbed internally.
"I didn't mean it, Unnie," Minji announced, although she knew it wasn't necessary to explain. "And I know it was four hundred years ago, but I'm still damn sure you never told me that it also prevented pregnancy," she huffed and drank half her tea, slamming the cup down on the small saucer. The youngest witch blinked at her own behavior and bowed her head in a quick apology. "But what do we do now? They have rules against us even seeing each other, let alone close enough to have a baby. What about us? I know that there are rules in our coven as well, but I can't remember what all they say about this. And, I've been too nervous to come home..." she trailed off in a mumble as she looked down slowly.
Chaerin sighed once more and handed her husband her tea, not really interested in it right now. "Well, our laws don't contain anything about children of anything other than one of us and a human. We all know that other surprises pop up, but that is the most common," she mused, sending Seunghyun off and smiling softly at him when he returned with a thick book.
Snapping her wrist, the elder woman flipped through the pages immediately. "It says that for a witch of our coven to consort with another supernatural being, he or she must obtain the ability to see into that person's future," she read from the page, raising her eyebrows when Jinki and Minji both looked down sheepishly. "Which, I see, you've already done..." she shook her head, sighing as Seunghyun put his hand up and rubbed her neck with his fingertips slowly to relax her. "If you suddenly lost all your powers, I'd keep you around just for that," she told him softly, closing her eyes as he leaned in to kiss her forehead.
"Our rules also state that at least one other person of the witch's family is to do the same," the man read from his wife's lap. "And in the interest of fairness, I think you could give him a few tears, Chaerin, yeah?" he suggested, keeping his gaze steady when his wife turned to blink and then glare at him.
"I'll think about it," Chaerin finally offered, turning back to the book in her lap and scooting away from Seunghyun.
Jinki squeezed Minji's hand lightly for support and gave her a soft smile. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes for your side to accept us," he said quietly. "If you need my tears, I will gladly work some up for you," he offered, feeling a little better at the approving nods that came from his girlfriend's sister and brother-in-law.
"Isn't there something specific about vampires, though?" Minji asked worriedly. "I know we're not supposed to give up our blood to vampires or our tears to anyone, but we've already crossed over that bridge and come out just fine," she told them, ignoring the small look of surprise from Seunghyun when she said she let Jinki taste her tears.
"Yes, my tears, his tongue," she told him directly, grinning as a small thought came to her. "And that's not the only place his tongue explored that night..."
"Minji!"
The woman grinned just as shamelessly at her boyfriend and kissed him deeply, pulling back with a softer smile and placed his hand on her still extra red cheek. "We're okay, baby. It's going to be okay," she whispered to him.
Chaerin cursed under her breath, almost ripping a page out of the ancient tome in her lap. She looked up slowly and frowned back and forth between Minji and Jinki, showing the passage she was angry about to her husband. The man read what she was pointing at twice, Seunghyun's mouth falling open slightly to mouth the words as he read them.
"Unnie?" Minji called shakily, biting her lower lip and squeezing Jinki's hand tighter. "What's wrong?" she asked hesitantly, knowing by the look on her sister's face that the news was not good.
Seunghyun took the book from his wife's lap and cleared his throat. "It says that in order for the relationship between one of our witches and anything other than a human to be fully accepted, the witch must also be accept by his or her mate's family or group."
Her expression having darkened as the elder finished reading the rule, Chaerin sighed deeply. "What that means is that you can't come back until you figure things out with the Lee vampire coven. We could probably come see you occasionally, but after you leave tonight, you will be temporarily banned from any and all coven matters," she told Minji flatly, refusing to let her emotions get the best of her.
Jinki's eyes grew wider, though, at the news of what they had done meant for Minji. He reached over to place his other hand on hers, biting his lip nervously. "Are you okay, baby?" he whispered, blinking in surprise when she smiled and nodded up to him.
"I know it's going to be tricky, but I think that it's going to work out," she smiled at her boyfriend, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "You and I are going to be happy, Jinki. Things will be hard, and crazy, and there will be rough patches, but I believe that you and I will be happy. And part of that happiness is going to be that we'll make peace with both our families."
The vampire bit his lip nervously, nodding at Minji's confidence. "I love you, Noona," he murmured, squeezing her hands tighter. "I'll do anything to make sure things work out for us," he said firmly, bringing his girlfriend's hand up to kiss it softly.
"Anything, you say?" Chaerin spoke from across the room, her scowl at the situation slowly spreading into a rather impish smile as her eyes twinkled with amusement. She pat Seunghyun's thigh as she stood slowly, squaring her shoulders to make herself taller while she crossed the room. "If you're really willing to back up that bold statement, I'll need a few things from you," she told him and took his hands from Minji's to pull him from his seat.
"If you'd really like to prove to me how serious you are about my sister, you'll need to give me a bit of yourself as well," she informed the vampire. "Well, a few bits to be exactly," she chuckled, dragging her finely filed nails down his cheek. "I need a lock or two of your hair, one nice vial of your blood, probably a few tears wouldn't hurt," Chaerin mused as she started pulling the man away from the safety of Minji's arms. "Oh, and something most important, I'll need you to cut off just a tiny sliver of your..." she leaned in and pushed him further out of the room. "Your , Jinki. Just a little," she told him softly, grinning when she heard Minji stand up.
"Lee Chaerin!"
"Oh hush, Minji," the older woman chuckled, narrowing her eyes playfully before dragging Jinki off quickly.
"Cha- Chaerin?" Jinki asked hesitantly as he was practically thrown into a room and the door locked behind them. "Did you mean it? I mean, everything else is fine, but... You want me to cut a piece off of my..." he trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought, let alone the sentence.
Chaerin smiled and leaned back against the door, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, I suppose that part is not completely necessary, but I would really appreciate it if you would. Spells and potions can be made from all sorts of things, but if I should ever need to aim something at you directly, this would save me the trouble of hunting you down," she explained, tilting her head at him in thought. "Everything I ask of you is something that could be used in a spell or a potion, both good or bad. You're asking me to trust you with my baby sister, Jinki. I know she's no longer a child, but she has never come even close to loving someone like this. And so, I'm asking you to trust me with the means to destroy you," she told him flatly.
As the elder spoke, Jinki found himself nodding slowly. "I do love her," he said quietly, chewing on his lips roughly. "How much do you need from me, Sorceress?" he asked just as softly, bowing his head slowly to show he agreed. It had been a long time since he'd even heard of someone as powerful as the woman before him, and he thought it best not to anger his future sister-in-law.
Nodding in approval, Chaerin pulled several bottles and vials out, arranging them all according to her tastes. "Hair first, I suppose," she murmured, retrieving a pair of scissors from a drawer. She turned the vampire around and leaned his head forward, snipping two large patches from the base of his neck and brushing the rest down to cover it. She turned her back after instructing him carefully and handing him a thin, very sharp, scalpel to collect his most awkward specimen.
"Just the tip of a thumbnail's worth?" Jinki asked for confirmation, biting his lip as he stared at his bared organ. He shook his head in disbelief before deciding he needed to lean against a shelf to do it. He took a deep breath, holding himself steady as he sliced a small piece of himself away. "..." he cursed under his breath, slipping the skin into a small glass vial Chaerin had handed him.
"If you think you can handle it, two would be even better," the witch murmured, still facing away from her sister's boyfriend, the father of her growing niece of nephew. She closed her eyes when she heard a second hiss, muttering under her breath and spitting into a small bowl off the proper ingredients for a solution to his current problem. "Here, cover it quickly and you should be fine," she told him and reached behind her with the bowl.
The younger man blinked in surprise, nodding a thanks to her back as he took the bowl. He spread the pale yellow contents over himself, gasping when the pain vanished immediately. He glanced down and just stared as he watched himself begin healing rapidly, almost as fast as if he was drinking fresh blood. "Thank you," he mumbled while he tucked himself back into his pants.
The zipper being pulled up turned Chaerin around and she nodded. "Good job," she smiled briefly, gathering a bit of a lavender colored powder in her palm. "Now hold your eyes open wide," she ordered, holding her hand up to his eyes once he complied. "Almost done..." She blew the powder into his face, most of the particles landing in his eyes. "Let go."
As soon as the first speck hit his eyes, Jinki knew this was for his tears. He blinked rapidly, his nose twitching as it started running a little as well. Trying to keep himself collected, he stood completely still when Chaerin placed a tiny glass container under his eye. Jinki blinked even more, letting the magic she hit him with take over as his tears spilled forth.
"Good boy," the woman cooed, smiling a little more as one, then two, of the vials filled with his tears. "My turn," she hummed and pulled him closer. She took her time savoring the vampire's tears, up his cheeks and brushing a few lingering tears out of the corners of his eyes with her fingers. As she the last few tears into , she fluttered her eyes closed only to have them flash open white.
After seeing that same look come over Minji's face, Jinki decided it was best not to disturb the powerful witch in the locked room with him while she had her vision. She gasped softly, her gaze coming back into focus as she looked at him carefully. "Wow, you... Just, wow... Your future is very interesting, Jinki," she murmured, shaking her head some to clear it. "And you're going to hide her with a human? You trust him, right?" she asked hesitantly, then shook her head again because Chaerin knew that the man wouldn't drop Minji off with just anyone.
The vampire ran through the list she had told him earlier to remember what else she needed from him. "It's just my blood now, right? And I need to be able to read you as well," he said softly, rolling up his sleeve slowly.
"Since I don't want your blood diluted or mixed with mine for anything I might need to do with it, I'll need you to cut your wrist or bite it or wherever you want to bleed from before you taste my blood," she told him softly, holding out another small knife for him. "And these are what you need to fill," Chaerin smiled as she handed him two small glass bottles, each holding close to 250 ml of fluid. (1 cup or 8 oz US standard for those of you who like me who are bad at conversions)
"Oh, is that all..." Jinki murmured, sighing as he looked at the first bottle. He uncapped the container and brought his wrist to his lips, unsheathing his fangs and using one to cut through to his artery. The vampire gasped as the blood rushed forth, quickly placing the small hole in the middle of the opening of the bottle so none spilled. The sight of the red liquid, his blood, to be precise, shooting out in a steady pattern to match his heartbeat made his eyes turn red slowly. It wasn't long, then, until he had filled both bottles and pulled his arm up once more to drag his tongue over his skin and heal the wound he had made.
Chaerin nodded approvingly as the younger finished, gathering all the pieces of Jinki she had been given into a medium wooden box. She locked the front and whispered a few words as she tossed the key up, the small piece of metal vanishing before their eyes. Turning around slowly, she pulled the soft, flowing sleeve of her tunic up and held her wrist out to offer the vampire the source of her life.
"It only takes a little bit," Jinki assured the woman, taking her arm tenderly and his lips unconsciously. His fangs grew long once more as he inhaled deeply, the scent of the witch's powerful blood sending a small shiver down his spine. "Are you certain you have no reservations about me doing this?" he asked quietly, nodding at the gentle look Chaerin gave to tell him to continue. The sudden rush of flavor as his fangs pierced her skin and the blood flowed immediately made Jinki's eyes flash open, his expectations well exceeded by the power flowing in her veins.
"Oh... Oh my..." Chaerin gasped, feeling her blood leave her body and pass into his mouth. She blinked curiously down to watch for a moment, breathing slowly and steadily until he pulled away. "Well? Can you hear what I think about you now, Lee Jinki?" she murmured while he used his tongue now to clean and heal the rather insignificant wounds on her wrist.
Jinki chuckled as he stood up straight, glancing down and shaking his head in amusement. "Yes, Chaerin, I can," he nodded and ran his hand through his hair. "And while I am indeed flattered, I have no plans to show you whether or not the rumors you've heard about the skill of vampires in bed is true," he shook his head again and made sure he was presentable to leave the room.
"Can't fault an old woman for trying," the witch winked at him before unlocking the door. She led him back to the living room and smiled when her sister stood up immediately to hug Jinki tightly.
"I can't believe you actually did that," Minji frowned, placing her hand over her boyfriend's groin gently, but only for a moment before she realized that Chaerin had made a special paste for healing for him. "You're okay, though, right?" she murmured, smiling when Jinki held her back just as tightly and kissed her cheek.
Jinki smiled softly and kissed the top of his girlfriend's head as well before pulling back and nodding. "I'm fine, Noona, really," he told her gently. He took a deep breath as he turned to Chaerin and Seunghyun, bowing slowly at the waist. "Thank you for everything," he said quietly as he stood up, Minji turning around in his arms as he looped them loosely around her waist.
Minji smiled through wet eyes at her sister, bowing just her head. "I have confidence that Jinki's family and coven will figure something out, but just in case, I love you, Chaerin, Seunghyun," she told her present family quietly, the feeling of Jinki's arms tightening around her more letting her smile slightly.
The pregnant witch took her boyfriend to her room, pulling out a few bags. "I might as well grab things that I'm going to need until I can come back," she sighed, going through her clothes and tossing things haphazardly on her large bed. Once those two bags were packed, she took a third bag to the same room Chaerin had locked herself inside with Jinki, sighing as she gathered the ingredients that she used most. Minji turned to leave, then smiled to herself and checked her recipe book and took a few more things from the shelves, pulling her spell book from a drawer as well before she returned to Jinki. "Okay, I think I''m ready now," she smiled at her boyfriend, trying to show the brave face he needed to see.
"I'll walk you out," Seunghyun said softly, Chaerin following close behind to bring up the rear. He took his wife's hand and laced their fingers together, whispering a short spell as they took Jinki and Minji's hands as well.
"Thank you," Minji murmured for the spell of protection, for them and the baby, hugging her sister tightly. She refused to let herself cry again, hugging her brother in law as well before walking quickly to Jinki's car and wiping the corners of her eyes.
Chaerin placed her hand on Jinki's shoulder as he turned to go, looking at him intently. "The reason I had you cut yourself there? If you ever hurt her, it's going to burn like the fire of hell until I decide it's been enough, and then one day, you'll wake up and it won't be there anymore," she informed him, smirking a little as he paled. "It's a safety precaution that all of our serious boyfriends must endure. Our sister Dara has Seunghyun's, just in case," the sorceress added to explain. "Take care of my sister, Lee Jinki," she ordered firmly, ruffling his hair and turning to walk away.
"She has no plans to use that sample, don't prove her wrong," Seunghyun added, reaching his hand out to shake Jinki's firmly.
Jinki nodded to everything they said, one final thank you as he stepped down out of the house.
"Oh..." the man smiled when the younger turned around once more. "I just wanted to let you know that you will always be welcome here. Well, once you have things settled with your coven, that is. You can't come back until Minji can, but at that point, you are part of this family, Jinki," he smiled and left to be with his brave masked wife, knowing she was anything but alright with the situation.
Jinki nodded once more, tears b his own eyes as he gathered Minji's bags and walked to the car. Once her things were in the backseat, he reached over to pull her as close to him as they could manage in the car. He held the woman he loved closer as she sobbed violently, clinging to his shirt tightly.
"I need to sleep..." Minji mumbled as she pulled back and wiped her face. She pulled a small vial from her pocket, less than a mouthful of light blue inside. "Give me this when we get there and I'll wake up again," she sighed and placed an identical sized clear potion in the cup holder. "I love you, Jinki," she smiled, her eyes filling with tears again and making her drink the stuff quickly. "So much..." she mumbled as her eyes fluttered closed and she fell asleep immediately.
Wiping his own eyes, Jinki nodded silently. He leaned over to buckle her seatbelt, starting the car to keep her warm. The drive to Minho's apartment was one of the most intense battles with nervousness and fear that the vampire had ever encountered in all his over sixty years. Never before had he been more worried, but he knew that this was nothing compared to what he would feel when he approached his parents and grandmother, let alone the coven's high council. He shook his head at the thought, turning on the radio to distract himself until he reached his human friend's building.
"Here goes..." he mumbled as he opened the extra potion and tilted his girlfriend's head back, opening a little to let the stuff pour in. He jumped when she sat up quickly, blinking and looking around.
"Woah... I always hate that," Minji shook her head to clear it, rubbing her eyes a little. "We're here?" she asked softly, looking up at the building and taking a deep breath. couldn't say it, but her eyes couldn't hide the worry that she felt about whether or not Minho was going to really let her stay.
Jinki smiled lightly and took her hand again to kiss the back of it. "He's a really good guy, Minji. You know I wouldn't take you anywhere unless I really thought it would work. He's going to be confused, but I know he'll take good care of you when I can't be here," he said quietly, getting out to take her two large clothes bags. Minji held her bag of ingredients and books close to her chest while they rode the elevator up, biting her lip nervously as Jinki knocked on this Minho's door.
"Jinki?" Minho asked as he opened the door, tilting his head curiously. "Taemin isn't here yet, he made an actual friend and they went to eat after school..." he told the vampire, then blinked at the woman standing behind his friend. "You're not here for Taemin, are you?" he asked quietly.
"No, Minho, actually I... We... need a favor," Jinki said quietly, watching Minho look down to the bags they had.
"A favor?" the human repeated, nodding slowly and stepping back to let the two of them inside. His mouth opened to invite the woman in, opening wider when she only bowed her head a little and stepped inside.
"You're not a vampire?" he blinked, looking up to see Jinki's worried expression. "What kind of trouble are you in, Jinki?" he asked, thinking quickly about what it could be. If it was simply a forbidden romance, there were other ways to meet. If she'd been kicked out, Jinki could have brought her home and explained. Oh, unless... "Unless she's not..." he mused, gasping up to the woman. "Supernatural Romeo and Juliet?" he tried.
"Vampire Romeo and pregnant witch Juliet," Minji finally spoke up quietly. "Well, my name is Minji, but I am a witch and I am... Pregnant..." she mumbled, holding onto Jinki's arm tighter.
Minho blinked in shock, his mouth falling open even wider as he heard the real reason they needed him. They needed a place to hide, and they needed someone to trust. "O-okay. However long you need to stay, whatever you need."
Jinki's eyes flew to the door just before it opened, Taemin using the key he had to let himself in. "Minho?" the younger vampire called, smelling Jinki as he moved inside more. "Hyung?" he smiled, the expression fading when he walked in and saw a woman he didn't know. Taemin bowed his head slightly, then gasped when he caught all the information from Minho about the woman, even though the human had been trying hard to think of other things. "Lee Jinki!"
A/N: Happy New Moon, everyone!
I know I know. Drama drama drama. But it's just so yummy I can't help myself.
For those of you who caught it... Yes, I married CL to Seungri! Which means 2NE1 and Bigbang are both magic. Witch, wizard, sorceress, sorcerer, enchantress, mage, whatever. Collectively witch, but different people focus on different things, so... Eh. I don't know how much I'll play with that part of this.
Anyway~ The next chapter is Minho paying his debt to Kibum in the form of his body. ;) Because manual labor uses your body, you naughty naughty s. You should be ashamed. JK. I'm not. I have no shame. Nope, none.
Are these A/N's annoying? Because sometimes when I read stories they have A/N's that are just not important and I mean I care that the authors have exams and stuff but I don't need a whole rundown of their lives. Like this right here, why am I ranting in the A/N??? Ahem. Anyway, I can stop the A/Ns if enough people tell me they're bothersome or annoying or whatever adjective they would like to use.
Stay tuned for more fun on the Full Moon! And please please please comment and stuffs <3
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