"Was that boy your friend?" one of Jongin's older sister's asked him in a soft voice.

"No," Jongin answered her and that was that.

The windshield wipers sounded especially loud in the quiet car. It was unusual for his sister to ride, but no one was explaining anything to him, so he knew it wasn't important for him to know. He wasn't excited to get home, so whatever detour they might make would be fine. The rain was so bad, he wouldn't be able to walk the dogs. He watched the rain streaking across the window and wondered how long Sehun would have to be in it before he got home.

When the car came to a stop, Jongin knew they were somewhere he didn't want to be immediately, because his sister moved over and gently hugged him, that way she always did when things were bad for them.

All his window saw was tall grass and a fence.

His mother climbed out of the passenger seat and opened the door on his side, holding an umbrella over it. It was useless, since he was already wet, but Jongin quietly climbed out and looked to their rising trunk.

"Come on," his mother shut the car door and guided Jongin around to the open trunk, where she pulled out a bag. His father was helping his sister out of the car with an umbrella in hand, but his sister seemed wet too. They had probably picked her up from her yoga class and she probably had got just as drenched.

Jongin had a chance to look at the house they were about to enter. They were parked in the back and the windows were blocked up. His heart sank. It was going to be that kind of a night.

His mother and him were the first inside the house. She took him straight to a bathroom, gave him the bag, and told him to dry off some before he changed. "Don't touch anything," she added, although she didn't need to, because he knew the rules.

After he took off his wet clothes, he put a towel from the bag around his waist and sat on the floor, plucking at his dampened strands of hair and hoping his mom would check on him soon. "Are you dressed yet?" She'd ask. "Not yet," he'd say. She would have a miniature freak out and he would successfully have rebelled.

However, several minutes of quiet went by, and he was feeling very .

His clothes were too nice for someone to feel comfortable in. The fabric had a fresh scent and it was well pressed, but felt soft. Expensive. As usual, they had the best of the best.

Jongin preferred his school uniform.

When he was dressed in his button up, soft blue shirt and his hard structured designer jeans, he looked at himself in the mirror, frowning.

His dad was the one who knocked on the door. He had a mop and a faded smile when Jongin opened the door for him.

"Hang your uniform over the shower bar. I'll get the floor."

Jongin had to be careful about how his uniform dripped on him, but he got it hanging, then swiftly moved into the hall so his dad had mopping space.

This was their privileged life. Coming in through the back and mopping floors.

"Your hair isn't completely dry," his mom fussed as she moved towards him. He was getting too tall for her to do this while he stood, but she managed to comb his hair straight, seemingly exasperated.

He looked behind her and saw his sister, standing in a could be formal or casual dress in white. She was 18 years old, but making faces like a child at him. He grinned.

Until his mom angrily realized what was going on and turned seriously on his sister. "Subin, take this seriously." Her whisper was angry. "Do you want your sister to be embarrassed?"

When she said sister, she meant their oldest sister, Sumin.

Jongin hadn't seen her in a few months. He asked with interest, "Is Sumin here?"

His mom looked so sharply at him that he thought he was in trouble, but she just said, "Her master will be here, and she may or may not come along. You will be quiet, you will be respectful, and you will do everything you are asked."

Again - Jongin already knew the rules. He nodded.

This house, Jongin found, belonged to a relative of theirs that he had already been well informed about. Her name was Taeyeon and she had only been living in Korea for a few months, after having lived for quite some time in the west.

A relative in this case didn't mean cousin, or grandma, or anything like that. In fact, she probably was blood related to them at some point, but Taeyeon hadn't been human for quite some time - and they weren't going to be attaching "great great great" to her title. No, she was just an honored 'relative'.

"Jongin, hmm?" Taeyeon had glimmering eyes and long fangs in her smile as she looked him over.

"Yes, miss." He bowed. "It's an honor to meet you."

He hoped she choked on a neck, but no one would ever know that.

Jongin was here for the same reasons he was usually in the home of strange relatives - to attend a small gathering, where they would pretend he was important - where they would advertise him and his sister to vampires that would be interested in making them consorts, which they would serve as until they were paired with another consort to make a baby and continue their everso prestigious bloodline.

Privileged. Vampires would never hurt members of the Kim family. Not except for the weekly, monthly, or even daily times that they would be bitten by their future masters.

Jongin didn't get to see his oldest sister that night. She never appeared, although her master did, and Jongin tried not to look at him.

Jongin stood mostly out of the way, there being far more attention on his 'of age' older sister. He didn't mind being practically ignored, but he certainly wished they would leave her alone. Nearly any of these vampires could take his sister away to be rarely seen by him - that very night, if they chose, since she was 18 now.

He watched a man with pale fingers them across her shoulder and he had to have this nonchalant expression and pretend he didn't care.

When he tried to think happy thoughts, he couldn't. He thought of the dogs he couldn't walk, and he thought of Oh Sehun running with him through the rain. Although, for some reason, that latter thought wasn't so bad.

A man named Siwon came next to him, putting a cold hand on his shoulder and standing very straight. He spoke in a quiet, calm voice and said, "You look like you're lost in another world."

Jongin bowed his head. "I apologize."

For being a vampire, the man had a kind smile. "You're too young for this. I don't think Miss Taeyeon would mind if you had a nap."

"I'm enjoying myself," Jongin said, but his heart thumped nervously, because he was worried it sounded rude.

"Of course," Siwon finished dismissively, as if sensing these nerves, and he smoothly moved away.

It took a long time for Jongin to relax after that possible mistake. He expected to be scolded any moment, but he never was.

Jongin was very relieved to get home, but it was late and there was school in the morning. He prepared his lunchbox and tucked it into it's spot in the refrigerator. He washed his uniform, although he had a second prepared. He did his homework, and fortunately there wasn't much of that. Although, if there had been, he would have probably got a written excuse from his parents to delay it. He didn't want that, anyway.

"Our son couldn't do his homework. He was partying with vampires."

Finally, it was pushing on 3AM. He pulled his small dog, the only one that was technically his (since the other two belonged to each of his sisters), into bed with him when no one was looking and he fell asleep.