“Donghyun hyung?”

The said boy opened his eyes at the soft call. He had left the celebration earlier and returned to his hut. After an hour lying on the bed, the young werewolf still could not catch a wink after everything that happened earlier.

He planned to ignore the sound, wondering if it was just his imagination, but the person outside called again. This time, he recognized the voice. Donghyun set up right away and walked to the door.

“Taemin. What’s wrong?”

The vice leader smiled and stepped in as Donghyun opened the door for him. On the boy’s hands were two plates of fried chicken.

 “I figure you would be hungry”, explained Taemin as he set the food down on the tea table, “I noticed you left early”

Donghyun explained right away, “I was too exhausted to sit with such excited crowd. Long day you know”.

He chuckled, gesturing the younger to sit down, the half-lie slipping through his lips easily like all other times. I’m tired; Sorry I was sleeping when you came over- Those excuses had been used so many times that he doubted Taemin really believed him anymore, even though the boy had never questioned anything.

“Tea or water?”, Donghyun asked, grabbing two cup from the cupboard and pouring some water for himself.

“Water is fine”, the younger smiled, taking the cup from his hyung, “I did not like the stuff too so I figured we could eat together”,

Donghyun sat down and the two started devouring the chicken in silent.

The elder wanted to ask why Taemin did not like the meal that seemed to please almost everyone else, though he still struggled how to phrase his words. He did not want to come out too obvious that he disliked the meat, which indirectly implied his non-existence dislike towards vampires. Furthermore, Donghyun thought he could be reading too much. Maybe Taemin did enjoy the “celebration” but the boy was just being a nice friend, bringing him food and keep him accompany.

Yeah, that could be the case.

“You know.. I was a vegetarian”, muttered Taemin after a minute or so.

Donghyun almost bit his tongue but acted as if the revelation did not surprise him.

“... I see”

“I’m still not used to eating meat”, giggled the younger, though it was obvious that there was no humor in his voice, “the enjoyment of hunting, the enjoyment is seeing an animal suffered and crying in pain. I don’t understand it”

Donghyun opened his mouth, “I guess that’s why we are not in the hunting group”

His words of comfort  were really lame, but taemin smiled, “Yeah, I can still eat now, because at least I don’t have to see the things I hate to see”  

Once they finished the food, the leader awkwardly refilled the empty cups of drink. A loud cheer broke the silent night. It came from the direction of the main hall, which was a dozen houses away from where his hut was. The werewolves were not the most graceful eater, but Donghyun had never seen them with such wicked aggression. People seemed to become overly “excited” with the “celebration”, it was as if the particular meat gave an effect almost like drugs when consumed in large quantity.

Taemin seemed to notice where Donghyun’s attention was and his smile withered.

“There are about 200 over”

“Huh?”, the elder turned to him, confused.

“That’s the number of tables in the hall. I counted them”, Taemin told him, “Can you imagine how many vampires were hunted for this one single meal?”

Donghyun put down the kettle, not knowing what to say. He himself was speechless at the realization of what the clan had been doing. It was not a meal. It was a massacre and the sheer joy in most people’s faces, young or old, made Donghyun feel sick to the bones.

“Tae…”, Donghyun chose his words carefully, “You know, vampires are…”

“They are our natural enemies, I know”, Taemin cut him off, sighing, “That’s the idea everyone has drilled into my head since the day I came here. We went after them whenever they set a foot near a human village, but what makes us better than them? We can survive with just vegetables, but we choose to find more fancy food.”

Donghyun did not know what to say to the younger who seemed to be on the verge of breaking down. The boy had one of the earliest awakenings for werewolves so his mental strength was rather weak. Taemin used to tell Donghyun how much he missed his old human life, living with the peaceful old couples who adopted him. They lived in a small shrine and passed the day by praying and helping people. Compared to that, the elder could imagine how difficult it was for the younger to adapt to the werewolves’ lifestyle. He himself did not have it easy.

“I was wondering why that vampire lord had to make a fuss and came all the way here for his son. Now I know”, Taemin let out a humorless snort, “If we really did capture that kid, he would be on the dining table today”

“Tae, be careful of what you say…”

Donghyun told him softly, simply too disturbed by the idea. He could just imagine how heartbroken Minwoo would be if that brunette kid disappeared. On the other side, the elder felt somewhat relieved that there was another person having adjustment issues like him. It seemed easy to blend in at first, but as time passed, he started feeling anxious. After all, a community which always insisted on hatred towards a certain race shouldn’t be as friendly and harmless as they perceived themselves to be.

The thought of opening up to Taemin and telling him everything about Minwoo was half-way crossing Donghyun’s mind when another voice interrupted them.

“Having late meals, my young soldiers?”

...

Taemin choked on his water while Donghyun’s eyes double that the familiar voice.

“Grandpa..  What brings you here?””

He quickly stood up from his chair, offering it to the alpha who casually entered the hut like it was his own

“G-good evening sir” Taemin stuttered, obviously thrilled to face the head of the clan.

The alpha smiled at the two young ones and sat  down next to Taemin. The boy shot up from his seat a second later.

“P-please have your time. I s-shall excuse myself”

Kyu Hyun’s eye brows rose dramatically as the youngest excused himself, lips curling into an amused smile.

“Alright Taemin. Next time, try not to sneak food out of the kitchen again”

Donghyun felt sorry for the boy as he almost tripped over the chair trying to make his way out.

“Sit, Donghyun. I have something to tell you”, The grandfather said, gesturing to the now empty seat.

The grandson followed the order obediently.

“Should I listen as a grandson or just as a clan member, gramp?”, Donghyun asked, smiling as he poured some tea for the one and only relative he had left.

“We are not in my office, so I guess you can feel comfortable”, the elder chuckled.

------------------------------------------------------

“Kwangmin… Wake up!”

The said boy eyes’ open at the sound of his name. Did he accidentally fall asleep together with the elder twin?

“Come on, nap time is over. We still having training and then prayer too”, said Youngmin, already wide awake and changed into his training outfit. Key, being the bossy tutor he was, did not allow them to have a full day rest (“Even if they only have 2 hours free, they should be practicing”). So Minwoo came in a little earlier to wake both of them up.

“Hyung…”

Youngmin turned to his brother at the call, knowing that the younger twin only used such honorific when he wanted something,

“What’s wrong Kwang?”, asked the blonde, walking to the bed and sitting down next to his twin.

Kwangmin let out a soft whine and buried his brunette head into the elder’s abdomen, both arms hugging him tight like a koala. Youngmin chuckled, ruffling the messy head, “Come on lazy. You don’t want to upset Key, right?”

“…Can I not go please? I’m really tired”

Youngmin looked down, worry laced his voice as he carefully checked the younger’s burn marks, “What? Why? Do you feel ill anywhere?”

“I’m just… very sleepy”, the brunette pouted, both eyes still close, “… Please? Can I?”

“Alright” The elder twin felt for the trick as always, “I will let Key hyung know. Have a meal before you rest. I can’t stay with you, but I will be back as soon as I can, okay?”

“Hmmm”, the younger hummed, already going back to his dreamland.

Youngmin walked out and closed the door. He turned to Minwoo and asked, “Do you still have enough of my blood supply?”

The butler nodded, “But you shouldn’t worry. You just fed him your blood 2 days ago. He should only start showing fatigue after 3-4 days”

‘The sun exposure could have made his body weaker…”, the blonde bit his lips. After so many peaceful months, Kwangmin had been in so many troubles recently that the elder felt restless every day.

“You are just spoiling him too much” Minwoo wanted to comment, but decided not to risk upsetting the elder twin any more than he was.

“I will make sure he takes supper”, the butler assured his distressed master, “If anything unusual happened, I will let you now right away”

Youngmin nodded, though there was still this voice nagging at the back of his head, telling him that something was wrong.

I shouldn’t be worried.

He thought to himself.

Kwangmin was back so the worst was over, right?

-------------------------------------------------------------

“You see. All is well!”

Jeongmin announced proudly while Kwangmin’s eyes still glued onto the moving images in the mirror, seeing the exact clone of himself sleeping peacefully in his room a few miles away.

“He acts just like how you would. Noone will suspect anything”

The brunette twin let out a relief sigh at his friend’s reassurance and Jeongmin waved his wand to dispel the magic. The image faded away just as Onew entered the room, holding a cup of red liquid in his hands.

“Hey Kwang. I got you the… stuff that you need”

“Thank you so much, hyung”, the brunette smiled weakly, taking the cup from the older wizard.

He wasn’t exactly fond of the smell but there was nothing more he could ask for. After all, the two friends had gone through too many troubles for his sake already. It seemed like Kwangmin would have to reside in this wizards’ house for a while.

Onew came up with the idea of sending a magic paper doll back to fool his family that he had come back to the castle as per normal. The doll could create illusions that altered people’s conscious mind, making them believe in seeing Kwangmin, talking to him or touching him as if he was there (and not a hovering piece of paper). The doll had his strand of hair, so it knew every bit of his character and knowledge. At first, Kwangmin was reluctant but went with the suggestion in the end after he saw the doll in front of him. It didn’t just have his appearance, it has his exact scent, his characters, his way of thinking, almost like a clone. No one would be able to deny that it was an amazing piece of magic.

“Don’t worry too much, okay? Jeongmin have nothing to do, he will keep you accompanied”, Onew said, ruffling the vampire’s hair as if he was his younger brother too, “I have work tomorrow so I will try to catch some sleep now. Wake me up if you two need anything”

“Thank you. Sorry for keeping you up”, the brunette said guiltily, but Onew just waved the apology off as if it was a real fly.

The elder left the room, closing the door after him. Kwangmin didn’t talk until the sound of footsteps down the squeaky wooden stairs finally stopped. He gulped down the drink quickly, trying to ignore the nasty taste. The brunette could have gone out and hunted for himself, but Jeongmin insisted on him staying indoor. They were afraid he might run into a pack of werewolves again.

“It’s good that you stayed back this evening”, Jeongmin said, recalling what happened, “You know… We took the doll inside the forest, and almost right away, a pack of wolves cornered us”

“What?!!”, Kwangmin almost spat out the chicken blood in his mouth, “What do they want? Did they suspect anything?”

“No, of course not. Onew hyung and I even put on quite a show back there. They wouldn’t know”, Jeongmin said proudly, “They said they came to take you back to your family. We didn’t really believe them but well… but since it’s just a fake you anyway, we let them take the doll”

“You guys shouldn’t pick fight with them, even if it’s me”, Kwangmin looked at the elder like he was crazy, “Hard to believe that they suddenly switch their purpose from chasing me to helping me get home?”

“Who knows” Jeongmin just shrugged, “But anyway, they did hand the doll back to your family peacefully”

Maybe they went after the wolves, worrying that I might reveal something…