“Huh?….”

Minwoo tilted his head, taking another look inside the twins’ fridge, wondering if his eyes had gone bad.

There were still 2 packs of blood in there even though he had expected it to be empty. He always took note each time how many was left and reminded himself when to ask Youngmin for refill. However, the number did not decrease at all since the last time he checked.

How could it be?… I clearly saw Kwangmin taking one for yesterday supper, and then another pack just now.

“What’s wrong?”, Youngmin asked, pulling out the needle in his right arm as the packs are all filled up.

Kwangmin was having training so they took the chance to stock up some blood for the younger.

“Nothing.. I probably miscounted the number. There are still enough packs for another day”

“More is better than less. We have to stock up soon anyway”, the blonde twin smiled, paying it no mind. He grabbed his jacket and about to leave the room when Minwoo spoke again.

“Uhm.. today is Donghyun’s day off, so I will not be around for an hour or two while you have your training. I will make sure to settle my work so that-”

The butler was about to explain more, but Youngmin gestured him to stop there.

“Minnie”, the latter sighed, “Next time if you want to go somewhere, there is no need to inform me”

Honestly, he had always felt a little sympathetic towards his butler, whom was more than a friend to him than anyone else in this castle. Sometimes, he wondered if Minwoo thought of him as nothing but a duty he had to fulfill.

“I don’t exactly like the idea of you running out there every week to see him, especially him”, the blonde emphasized.  “But! You have every right to do what you want to do, so … no need to ask me about it”

Minwoo looked at his master for a second, not entirely sure if he was being kind, or bitter. Soon, the corners of his lips perked up. It was rare for him to smile so genuinely inside the castle.

“But! You also need to be careful. Be very cautious because you know what he can do”, Youngmin said quickly, thinking twice about giving the boy that much freedom. What if Minwoo started seeing Donghyun every freaking day?

Minwoo just chuckled in amusement, tackling his friend in a tight hug and pressing a kiss against the blonde's lips.

“Thank you, Youngmin~”

….

 “Oh no…”

Jeongmin hands flew up to cover his eyes, as if the two vampires in the mirror could see him by any mean, “…I shouldn’t have…”

“What’s wrong hyung?”, asked Kwangmin, not sure why the elder was acting weird all of a sudden.

“I shouldn’t invade their space” Jeongmin coughed awkwardly, waving his wand to stop the images, “…I didn’t know they are lovers”

“Lovers..?”

“Yeah. Lovers!”, the wizard emphasized the word like Kwangmin’s obliviousness was offending him, “That’s why they do stuff like kissing and… things others should not see”

The brunette tilted his head slightly, confused, “Why can’t you kiss? Youngmin kissed me almost every day. I kissed Minwoo too. What’s wrong about it?”

“It’s-” The wizard’s mouth hang open, about to refute, but no word was getting out of his throat.

“Well!” He closed it finally, dropping the argument, “Nevermind. You guys probably have a different perspective. I forgot that vampires are very affectionate among themselves”

“I can kiss you too, you know”

“What??!”, the wizard shrieked, taken aback by the remark, “No! Don’t do that!”

Kwangmin pouted, “It’s no big deal. It’s just a way to express your feelings. If you are very happy, and you want to share that moment with a person who you truly trust and care for, you do things like that. If someone does that to you, you should be happy”

Jeongmin’s face was turning red from embarrassment, “I don’t care. Just don’t kiss me, get it?”

“Kay..”, the brunette vampire nodded, not wanting to see the elder getting upset though he still saw nothing wrong with the world.

“I think we don’t need to observe them from now on”, Jeongmin suggested, “Anyway, I have the other half of your hair. It will burn the moment the doll is destroyed and we will know immediately that your family has found out then”

“That’s fine”, Kwangmin agreed.

Of course he would be sad not knowing what was happening with Youngmin in the castle. However, at the same time, it was a good thing, since seeing the blonde’s face really made Kwangmin wanted to go back to his side.

He missed his twin a lot. His heart was aching even when the elder’s constant calls had stopped.

“I will be following Onew hyung to town later, so get your sleep and rest well”, Jeongmin told him .

“Why? Don’t you usually stay home?”, confused Kwangmin.

“There is another old wizard working in another clinic. I want to meet him” Jeongmin explained, “Maybe he will know another spells to cure vampires’ sun burns”

“Sun burns?… What!!”

There he goes again.

Kwangmin sighed. As if occupying Jeongmin’s bed wasn’t enough, he had to trouble the boy with all sort of problems. The vampire did not understand why the wizard kept worrying about things that did not seem like a big deal to him.

“Don’t worry about me, hyung. I told you. My scars always heal. I won’t die over this”

“And I told you. You look unwell, seriously”, Jeongmin insisted, “This is not normal. Your bond with Youngmin could have some condition. Maybe you can’t stay too far from him.”

“There is no such thing, hyung”, sighed Kwangmin, “He went out all the time while I stayed in the castle. Sometimes he even spent two three days in the capital. He just gave his blood to saved me from death and unintentionally we formed a bond. That’s all. If I stay away from him, his order can’t reach me so I’m not influenced in any way”

“But you were not conscious when they enforced that bond on you. You don't know everything”, Jeongmin was still doubtful, “Or… we may be feeding blood to you the wrong way. I'm not sure, but we better be careful.”

“I can’t die, hyung. How many time to I have to tell you”, frown the brunette.

He wizard simply let the words in one ear and out the other. The way Kwangmin’s burn marks turned into a deep grey shade, skin cracking dry, was nowhere near healthy.

He must find out what went wrong.

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

The day after Donghyun’s talk with his grandfather went by peacefully. Donghyun did not see the alpha around, but he assumed he was too busy with his meeting and negotiation with the village council. The werewolves continued their normal cheerful routine life as if there was no mass slaughtering of vampires being done just the night before.

Taemin still looked a bit grumpy, but the boy, just like Donghyun, could not help but return the warm smile of every other clan members. If his feeling is among the minority, there was not much choice but to hide it and try to blend in.

He saw Minwoo for an hour and they did almost nothing but smitten in each other’s touches and bodies and enjoyed the silence. Donghyun decided not to tell the younger about the Carnivore festival, saving the boy the trouble to come up with an appropriate response to that. After all, he was sure that there were things Minwoo did not tell him about too. And it was fine, as long as they could still see each other and maintain their ambiguous relationship.

When he came back to Bloodmoon, he spend the rest of the night in the training arena and only returned to his hut when the first ray of the sun showed up. By then, he was totally exhausted, but it was great because the more tired he was, the easier sleep came to him.

Donghyun was hoping the next day would be as slow and peaceful.

He could not be more wrong.

…

“Donghyun hyung! DONGHYUN HYUNG!”

The said boy was forcefully pulled out of his slumber at the frantic knocks on the door. The night had fallen again but wasn’t it still too early for work?

Opening the door hastily, he came to face with a flustered Taemin. The yougner’s face looked even paler than its usual complexion and he was short of breath.

“Tae. What’s wrong? Are you okay?”, the leader asked immediately, his hands grabbing the younger’s shoulders to keep him steady. Any trace of sleep was wiped out of his system.

“H-hyung...”, a giant tear slipped out of Taemin’s eyelid, his lips quivering as he delivered the grave news to the elder, “T-the alpha is…”

....

Hyun Suk,

The wolves are angry.

When this letter gets to you, I’m probably no longer around.

It was not your fault, or anyone.

We both know this peace is only temporary..

I’m sorry this is all I could do for you and Kyung Min.

The twins certainly resembled her.

They were still too young and innocent, and I regret putting them in this mess.

With my death, all our shared secrets will be exposed.

Please keep them safe.

I shall entrust my grandson to you as well.

Hopefully one day they could build the Sanctuary the three of us used to dream of.

Take care, my friend.

Good bye.

Kyu

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

“Okay. Enough”

Key announced, putting back his blade into its cover and looked at his pathetic student on the floor after he had unarmed him for the fifteen times.

“This is going nowhere”, the tutor nagged, “I don’t see any surprise attack from you. All your movements are too predictable. Yesterday and today, all the same!”

Key could not hide his frustration. While Kwangmin’s technique was on point, his attack was exactly like what Key anticipated, everytime. It was almost like Kwangmin could read what the knight expected him to do, and followed exactly that, just to piss him off.

Some people in the arena observed the pair, throwing sympathy glances towards the younger vampire. All of them knew very well how strict Key was as a turtor. .

Kwangmin looked up at the elder, frowning.

“But it’s tough…”

Key just snorted at the typical answer.

“Enough of word, I said. Now, time to train on your power”, he said and pulled the boy up on his feet, “It’s been a while. Show me how much you have progressed”

The brunette twin did as told. He raised his arms above his head and a small flame started dancing around his open palm. It quickly grew stronger and bigger, until the bundle of fire was almost 6 feet in diameter.

Key took a step back to avoid the blazing heat, his lips formed a proud smile.

“As I thought, your flame is pretty stable now. From now, just try to….”

“KEY!”

The knight body jumped at the loud call, his body immediately turning 360 towards th