Taemin's eyes were wide when his body hit the soft blanket, shivering in fear as Minho spoke. He finally nodded shakily, whimpering because he'd been stupid enough to think Minho was going to be nice.

"I'm teasing, Taemin, shh..." Minho said softly, sitting up quickly. "I'm sorry, that was a bad joke. I'm really sorry, hey don't..."

It was too late though, and Taemin's eyes had filled with tears. Minho reached forward and pulled him closer, hiding the boy's face in his chest to try to muffle a few sobs and sniffles. The man looked toward the door, worried that Kibum was going to burst through any second now.

His blood running cold as he heard a knock on the door, Minho's eyes widened considerably and his heart started racing. Taemin pulled away and sighed, glaring a little at Minho.

"I'm fine, Umma, go away," Taemin called quietly toward the door, then sighed again and pushed Minho even further away.

"I'm sorry, Taemin, really," Minho told the boy, dipping his head in deeper apology. "I don't want to do anything inappropriate with you. Well, that's not exactly right. I don't ever want to do something that makes you uncomfortable," he smiled to himself, blushing at his own quite inappropriate thoughts.

"What do you want with me, then?" Taemin asked curiously. "I mean, if not for..." he flushed, looking down and toying with the sheets as if that said it all, and it did mostly. "If not for that, then why would you want to stay as my Master?"

Minho leaned back on the bed, pulling Taemin with him. "I would really like it if you would tell me about yourself, and your family. I want to know about your world more," he explained, turning on his side so he could see the boy better.

Taemin's forehead furrowed in confusion. "Why would you want to know more about me? I'm nothing special, I'm not even a real vampire," he said quietly, looking down and fighting a pout.

"Those two marks on my wrist say you're a real vampire..." Minho whispered. "You said you were on your way home from school the other night when you cut through the park. Where do you go to school?"

The older male sat up with a bigger smile when he heard that Taemin's school was so close to his work, only a couple blocks. He asked more about the boy specifically, quickly finding out that Taemin's favorite thing about school was reading, and he hated physical education because he didn't like changing in front of the other boys. He loved milk and hated the taste of blood, so he drank them mixed when he had to drink blood with a meal. So what Minho had seen earlier that day wasn't strawberry milk, but milk mixed with blood.

Minho listened carefully as Taemin talked about himself, the boy rambling a bit but Minho didn't mind at all. "How about you stop by my house a few days a week after school? We can hang out and do different things, just getting to know each other better. And once you think it's been long enough to not be disgraceful, I'll release you from your obligation. How's that all sound?"

"So we just become friends and all my debts are paid?" Taemin blinked, sitting up slowly to look at the man. "Okay, but can we spend some time here too, please? I don't want Kibum hyung or Jinki hyung to worry that you're doing something bad to me..." the boy blushed a little, looking down to the bed as he remembered how he was just pinned down.

Minho nodded. "That sounds good, I'd like to get to know your family better too," he told the boy, rubbing his back a little. "I have another big question, if you don't mind." He waited until Taemin shook his head to give him permission to continue. "If you haven't ignited, how were you able to bite me?"

Taemin turned to Minho slowly, sighing as his head bobbed slowly in a nod. "I could bite you because I do have vampire blood in me. When we're hurt bad enough, our fangs come out and our eyes go red if there is fresh blood available. I was hurt really bad, and you... You were fresh blood," Taemin paused, biting his lip nervously. "It's called a spark, in our coven, and it's actually kind of rare. Vampires who haven't ignited yet but have a spark act a lot more like the stereotypical mo- monsters, like in movies." The boy's head lowered at the one word, still clearly ashamed as tears began welling up in his eyes.

"You, my dear Taemin, are anything but a monster," Minho said gently, pulling Taemin close so he couldn't escape this time. "You're too cute to be a monster, and I really don't mind that I was the person who happened by the park at that time. I'm glad that I was there to help you," he added quietly as he the boy's hair.

"I attacked you, Minho hyung," Taemin whispered, shaking his head in the man's chest. "I didn't have any control and I just bit you. I've never really liked the taste of blood, but I couldn't get enough at first. I can't wait until I ignite, we have a lot more control after we ignite. What if that happens again and I can't stop myself?" He held onto Minho's shirt, curling his fingers into it for support.

Minho kept quiet while the boy spoke, holding him closer. He made soft shushing sounds and kept his hand moving on Taemin's hair, trying to calm him down. After a few moments, he pulled the vampire's head back to wipe his tears. He wasn't sure what possessed him to perform his next action, but before he knew it, his lips were pressed gently against Taemin's soft ones.