As days passed, Kibum came to realize how restricted his life had become. Taemin, Jinki, and Jonghyun usually made him hang out at home and he barely went out other than school. They were so protective that it was irritating and it wasn't as if Minho wasn't bossy enough. 

And things were already bad enough. Jonghyun was drifting apart and him and Kibum were spending less time together. He'd always hurry home, saying he was busy. Kibum also noticed that he avoided him at school as well. 
"I don't understand,"he said, "we were fine and I don't recall a fight or argument".
The boy was met with silence.
"Yah! Lee Taemin! Are you done drinking?!" he scowled, shoving his arm from younger boy away. Taemin quickly retracted his fangs, "I'm sorry hyung. Maybe you should just go talk to Jonghyun hyung."
"Am I boring?" Kibum asked. 
"No hyung! Don't think like that! I'm sure hyung is just busy with family and stuff", Taemin said quickly. 
"I mean we haven't really done anything. Bye Taeminnie, I'm gonna go see Jonghyun!" Kibum said heading out the door. 
"Don't do anything you regret", Taemin called lazily from the couch. Kibum didn't hear him as he hurriedly went home to call his boyfriend. Surprisingly, Jonghyun's black car was already parked in his driveway. As he approached, Kibum saw that Jonghyun was just getting out of his car. 
"Oh hey Kibum!" he said before he was interrupted by the younger's lips. He returned the kiss and held Kibum close. He really missed Kibum although he saw him every day at school. They went inside where Kibum was quick to remove his shirt, surprising Jonghyun. Kibum wasn't one to initiate this type of stuff. Something was off as Jonghyun was quick to notice his boyfriend's robot-like movement. He pulled away, frowing and held Kibum's shoulder, looking at him. 
"Key, what's wrong? What's going on?" he asked concerned. 
"I don't know why we stopped. Everything is fine", Kibum said, not meeting his eyes. 
Jonghyun handed Kibum his shirt back, "Kibum, don't lie. I'm serious. What's bothering you?" 
Kibum put his shirt back on and sat, embarassed. There was a pregnant silence between them. 
Kibum finally sighed in defeat; he should've listened to Taemin's advice since the beginning; it would've saved his from the embarassment and awkwardness he was currently facing. 
"You seemed more busy nowadays and I thought that...maybe....you may have gotten...bored.....of me", he said hesitantly. 
Jonghyun felt extremely guilty. In fact, he felt terrible. He didn't mean for Kibum to feel unwanted or unworthy of anything. His heart weighed heavy all of a sudden and he hugged his boyfriend, "I'm sorry Kibum. I didn't mean for you to feel this. It was just family issues". 
"I know; that's what you've been saying but you never told me anything", Kibum said. 
"I guess I haven't been honest with you", Jonghyun sighed. 
"What do you mean?"
"I haven't told my family about you being my mate so I've been busy with blind dates that my mom has been setting up", Jonghyun said regretfully as he saw the hurt on Kibum's face. 
"Well I guess if they're the conservative type--" Kibum began. 
"That's not it Kibum. If I were to introduce you to my pack, they'll rip you apart", Jonghyun said, earning a confused look. 
"You see, a decade ago, there was a recent law made: the extinction of any hybrid offspring between weres and vampires. All offspring are to be killed at birth. This was expanded through the vampire community as they were bribed with fair live bait on any living creature on their territory", Jonghyun explained. Kibum was slowly processing the information. 
"My existence...it's forbidden?...it's a crime", Kibum said slowly. 
Jonghyun's eyes widened, "NO! No! Don't you dare think like that!"
"It's true isn't it?!" Kibum demanded with tears in his eyes.
"What's true?" came a voice. Jonghyun swore as Minho entered the living room. 
"I'm illegal!" Kibum exclaimed. 
Minho gave them a strange look, "What're you going on about?" 
"There's a law where any were-vampire hybrid offsprings are to be eliminated", Kibum said. 
"WHAT? Are you joking?" Minho exclaimed. 
"Unfortunetly not. You guys were already shocked enough so we didn't want to uh...shock you even more", Jonghyun said nervously. 
"So what the hell are we going to do? We can't keep Kibum locked up in here forever you know", Minho demanded. 
"You can't", said a familiar female voice. Everybody turned to see a woman in a black dress. 
"Mother", Minho said dryly, "What are you doing here?"
"Pleasure to see you too", the woman said, "I decided to drop by since the cat's outta the bag."
"You-you can teleport", Jonghyun said after overcoming his shock. A vampire with certain powers wasn't unheard of but it isn't common either. 
"Aren't you smart?" the woman sneered sarcastically. Jonghyun had a hard time beleiving that this woman gave birth to his mate. Her tall dark figure came with a dangerous aura. 
"I guess you  now understand why I detested you so much Kibum", she sneered, "If anyone knew I'd given birth to a hybrid, it would be so shameful that your bastard of a father ditched me for some . But that's not the issue now because I'm no longer responsible for you".
"But it isn't my fault you gave birth to me!" Kibum exclaimed. 
"Your future wasn't bright and it's not going to get any brighter. Give up Kibum. Don't waste your energy fighting. Face reality", was her cold reply. And just like she'd arrived, she was gone. 
Kibum fell helplessly onto the couch, "She's right. I'm as good as dead". Jonghyun was about to hurry to Kibum's side and comfort him but Minho's movements were quicker. 
SLAP
Jonghyun's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when Minho struck Kibum. 
"How dare you speak so selfishly Kim Kibum! I'm not losing you too. How can you give up so easily! What happened to you?!" Minho demanded angrily. Kibum stared up at Minho in shock, his cheek sporting a red handprint.
"I don't need you worrying too alright?" Minho said, running a hand through his short dark hair. He released a deep sigh before sitting beside his brother and embracing him tightly, "Leave the worrying to me."   

"Okay if you guys are done with your brotherly bonding, I think it's time to face reality and call Jinki hyung," Jonghyun interrupted. 
After the initial explanation of the issue, Taemin shrugged.
"To be honest, vamps don't really care about that stupid law and they aren't uptight about that stuff."
"How can you be sure?" Minho asked. 
"There was an incident when I lived with Changmin and Yunho hyung. There was a hybrid who was trying to get away from the territory since the weres were on her trail. Yunho hyung disregarded the incident and Changmin hyung took up the offer of blood to keep his mouth shut", Taemin explained. 
"That's possible since vampires have always been exposed to hybrids and didn't think much of them. On the other hand, werewolves shunned them. But because of this, a werewolf wouldn't be able to easily pick up on Kibum's scent", Jinki said in realization, "A werewolf wouldn't think of Kibum as anything but a human since they don't know the scent of a hybrid like vampires do!" 
"That's right! I didn't realize it until the day the signs began to show and Taemin called me!" Jonghyun added, "Kibum isn't in any immediate danger for the meantime". 
"Hyung how are you going to make this work?" Taemin asked warily, "You're the alpha's son and you need to find a mate. If your pack were to---"
"I'll find a way. I can deal with them later", Jonghyun said quickly. 
"No you can't Jonghyun! Don't procrasinate now!" Jinki exclaimed, "When Kibum becomes 18, it's going to be impossible to hide this with you guys reeking of each other! It'll be total chaos."
"I'm not procrasinating! Look! Everyone's already exhausted, we'll think about it later hyung; one day isn't making a difference", Jonghyun said. 
"Well since that's out of the way, let's have lunch. I'll whip up some ramen", Kibum said retreating into the kitchen. 

"Wow! Smells good!" Jonghyun said as his mouth watered. 
"Dig in guys!" Kibum said. While they were eating, Kibum noticed that Taemin was unusually quiet, spinning his fork slowly through the noodles. 
"Taemin, your noodles are getting cold. Cheese ramen is your favorite", Kibum said concerned. 
"Uh, sorry hyung. I'm not exactly in the mood for ramen.", Taemin said, setting his fork down.
"Then what are you in the mood for?" 
Taemin looked up with red eyes and Kibum quickly mirrored the expression. 
Minho snorted, "Get a room."
"Fine Taeminnie. Let's go", Kibum said, getting up. 
"Don't you wanna eat first hyung?" Taemin asked.
"Nah, I lost my appettite. I need to get my mind off of things", Kibum said suggestively.
"No problem". 
...
"Thanks hyung", Taemin said as he removed his sharp fangs from the elder's throat.
"No problem; I had to calm down as well", Kibum smiled as he returned to the living room to finish his ramen in satisfaction while Taemin joined the others in front of the TV.
Later, Kibum took his bowl to wash in the sink when two large arms around his waist surprised him.
"Yah Kim Jonghyun, do you wanna die? I have dishes in my hand!" Kibum screeched angrily. 
"Didn't mean to scare you", he said softly, "I missed you."
"I saw you ten minutes ago", Kibum said, rolling his eyes. 
"Not that", Jonghyun said, "I missed you these past weeks and we barely got to spend time together".
Kibum was quiet. 
"I mean it Kibum. I'm sorry for that. I promise you there's no way I'll ever get bored of you!" Jonghyun hurried to explain. 
"Okay, move your arms, I'm busy", Kibum muttered. 
Instead Jonghyun's arms squeezed tighter, "You're mad at me". 
"No I'm not. It's alright. I didn't know the situation and I acted irrationally", Kibum said placing the bowl in the rack. Jonghyun removed his arms and studied Kibum's face. 
 "Alright, wanna go shopping?" Jonghyun suggested. Kibum perked up. It had been so long since he went because Minho hated coming with him. 
"Okay!" Kibum said quickly jumping up, making Jonghyun chuckle, "I'll go get ready!" 
"What was that about?" Taemin asked, not turning from the TV.
"We're going shopping", Jonghyun said, "Anyone wanna come?"
"It's a date hyung. Why would we come?" Taemin asked Jonghyun, making him feel like an idiot. 
"Besides, you're gonna suffer", Minho said giving the elder a sinister smile as he turned from his game. 
"I'm ready!" Kibum said, coming out with a pair of skinny jeans and a sweater. 
"Bye guys!" 
About 90 minutes into the mall, Jonghyun was being dragged along to many different stores but he didn't dare complain. 
"How does this look?" Kibum asked for the tenth time, trying on a different pair of clothes. Jonghyun didn't even bother looking, "Good, let's buy it".
"Yah! You didn't even look!" Kibum whined. Jonghyun sighed and looked when something caught his eye: Kibum's jeans.
"Kibum, those jeans seem quite tight", he said. 
"They're called skinny jeans for a reason Jjong", Kibum rolled his eyes, "Come on, let's go home after this".
Jonghyun was elated; he thought this would never end, "Okay!"
At home, Kibum handed his boyfriend a bag, "Here, this is yours". 
"What? I didn't buy anything", Jonghyun said. 
"Yeah but I did. I thought you needed something for the cold weather", Kibum replied.
"Oh that's so thoughtful of you Bummie!" Jonghyun squealed happily. 
"Mhmm".
The next few weeks were smoother than before and everything seemed to be fine. However, Jonghyun was stressed, not knowing how to break the news to his parents. Sitting on the dining table, his older sister and parents were quick to notice the behavious. 
"Jonghyun, are you feeling allright?" his dad was the first to speak. 
"Y-yeah. I was just wondering about what you told me a few months ago. About just knowing your mate right away". 
"Do you feel like you've found your mate?" his mother said excitedly. His older brother looked up, surprised and interested. 
"Uh yes-- but he isn't exactly from our clan", Jonghyun said warily. 
"It's a dude?" his brother scoffed, smirking. 
"Siwon! Stop that!" his mother scolded, "That's totally fine! Where is he from?"
"Uh.... he isn't... a ... werewolf", Jonghyun said nervously.