warning i guess? for blood? i dunno its a vampire thing so keep that in mind

            Sanghyuk got very bored, very easily. Since he wasn’t as free to move about during the day, he had to occupy his time. The sunlight wouldn’t kill him, but it was really uncomfortable and painful, and felt like a bad sunburn, so he preferred to avoid it. That being said, he wasn’t a complete shut in. He functioned well enough outside of the dark. A lot of the vampires in the area liked to keep up the “mysterious vampire” trope, but Sanghyuk didn’t really feel the need or want to portray himself like that, so he didn’t. He was grateful that Hakyeon was very open about letting him do what he wanted to (usually), even though he wouldn’t ever tell the elf that, it’d inflate his ego too much. Watching from the outside, one might think that Sanghyuk really didn’t get along with Hakyeon, and that the vampire thought Hakyeon was just a bother, which Sanghyuk would probably say was right. But it wasn’t quite true.

            Aside from Taekwoon, Sanghyuk was the second addition to Hakyeon’s circle, before it was even really created. He’d been around for about ten years now, so the two of them were a lot closer than they appeared. Hakyeon had never told Sanghyuk that he had to stay, just offered him the extra room, and asked him if he wanted to. And really, Sanghyuk didn’t have anywhere else to go, and Hakyeon seemed nice enough at the time, so he accepted.

            He didn’t explain the day that Hakyeon found him to the elf for a long time, preferring instead to just pretend like it hadn’t happened, but that didn’t work out so well so he finally told Hakyeon the whole story, expecting him to be disappointed or disgusted. He was wrong, of course, and he was very relieved when Hakyeon just listened and never really made any judgment about Sanghyuk’s past. Even when Sanghyuk met the others, Hakyeon always introduced him with the same dumb story, even if it wasn’t a lie, it was considerate and easier for Sanghyuk to handle. So as much as he bickered and argued with him, Sanghyuk had a deep respect for Hakyeon.

            He often pondered telling the others about where he came from and what had happened, but hadn’t really felt up to it yet. Every once in a while Wonshik would make a passing remark about him being a crybaby, or Jaehwan would laugh at him when Sanghyuk felt awkward, and times like those were ones where he reconsidered.

            The worst part about being a vampire was still the whole sustenance issue, but it was a lot better in the city, where there were other vampires. Some people would seek out a vampire to help, others would just make themselves available, and there was a little place in the back alleys of the neighborhood that gave out blood that was donated. When possible Sanghyuk tried that, but sometimes it just didn’t work out right, and so he had to go find another way. He had discovered that yes, many vampires did tend to “play” with their “food,” but Sanghyuk still felt sick about the idea. So instead he had to rely on the people who were willing to help.

            He’d finally gotten it down, the whole idea of not killing someone and just getting what you needed, and he was proud of himself for it, even if it had been a path of many failures. When he did, on chance, fail, he would go home to Hakyeon and take comfort in the idea of belonging somewhere, and Hakyeon never pushed him for details.

            The neighborhood that he mostly stayed within was relatively high in population of vampires, but Sanghyuk didn’t really fit in with any of them. He guessed it might be because he didn’t really try to look like a vampire, he didn’t dress very dramatically, nor did he ever feel compelled to be a bat, nor did he feel the need to talk like he had a stick shoved up his . Because of this, he didn’t really get along with any of them, and that was fine with Sanghyuk, he didn’t particularly like any of them either.

            When Sanghyuk first ran into Hongbin, running away from those kids, they had been talking about how vampires weren’t really that scary, so Sanghyuk decided that they could use a little bit of a wake-up call, and he would promise that was it, that he wasn’t really just doing it to startle some brats. He did expect them to try to chase him down, and he wasn’t too interested in putting that much work into avoiding it, so when he saw Hongbin walking right in front of his path, he decided to play it off.

            Humans all had different smells, kind of. Not like a smell like lavender, or pine or anything, but more just a general individual tangible sensation that Sanghyuk could distinguish from others. Hongbin seemed particularly nice, and if he wanted to sound creepy Sanghyuk would say that he smelled good, but that was weird so he never said that. But when he was walking alongside him, arm around his shoulders, Sanghyuk was debating asking him if he had ever considered donating to the cause of vampires, when he remembered he was supposed to meet Hakyeon for dinner. By the excellent coincidence that was Hongbin also knowing Hakyeon, Sanghyuk was able to convince him to come along.

            Everything didn’t quite turn out how he thought it was going to, what with Hakyeon and Hongbin getting all close so fast, but he didn’t really mind, because Hakyeon seemed happy and Hongbin got to hang around more, and Sanghyuk decided that he was a good person to get along with, for a human.

            It was one night when Sanghyuk was about to go out, he hadn’t eaten in a while and he knew it was time, and he encountered Hongbin standing in the kitchen with a glass of water. Hakyeon was sprawled out on the couch, and Sanghyuk couldn’t tell if the elf was sleeping or not.

            “Hey, Sanghyuk, are you leaving?” Sanghyuk nodded.

            “Yeah, I uh, need to, you know.”

            “Ah, okay.” Hongbin turned back to the sink, setting the glass down, and Sanghyuk stood for a second, thinking.

            “Have you ever thought about donating blood?” Wow, Sanghyuk, way to sound awkward and weird. Hongbin would never agree to that, much less would Hakyeon be okay with it. But Hongbin just looked at him a little bit sideways.

            “Not really, no. Why?” Sanghyuk rolled the words around in his mouth before he decided to say them.

            “Well sometimes there are people who, like, volunteer. To help. Vampires, I mean.” Hongbin’s eyes widened, and Sanghyuk cursed at himself. He was probably just digging himself a deeper hole.

            “Are you asking me? If I will?”

            “Um,” Sanghyuk didn’t expect him to catch on and question him like that, so he didn’t really have a planned response.

            “I don’t know, maybe? I mean, you don’t- it’s not, I mean I don’t know if Hakyeon would be okay with it, or…” Sanghyuk trailed off. Hongbin looked across the room at where Hakyeon was still laying, but Hongbin could see that one of his eyes was just barely open, and that the elf wasn’t asleep. When he made brief eye contact, there was a little nod and a small smile-crease in the one eye that was visible. Hongbin turned back to Sanghyuk.

            “Sure, I guess.” This time Sanghyuk was the one whose eyes widened.

            “Really?” Hongbin nodded.

            “Does it hurt that bad?” Sanghyuk was still trying to get his thoughts together again.

            “I’ve never really asked anyone, I don’t know. I don’t think it does. I’ve never heard too many complaints, so.”

            “What do you need me to do?” The question caught Sanghyuk off guard.

            “You should probably sit down? I’ve been told you can get kind of dizzy.” Hongbin brushed past him to pull out one of the chairs at the table, and turned to face him.

            “Okay, and now what?”

            “Now, I guess, I just… do, it.” Hongbin stifled a grin, both out of a bit of nervousness as well as just finding the vampire in front of him to be fumbling, something he hadn’t really seen Sanghyuk do. Hongbin wasn’t entirely sure of what he was doing, but he knew that Hakyeon was just across the room so he wasn’t necessarily scared, but he was a little on edge. Sanghyuk approached him where he was sitting, and hesitated again. Hongbin looked up at him.

            “Go on, it’s okay.” Sanghyuk’s head rang with the words, and everything felt a little bit like déjà vu, but he steeled his nerves and placed his hands on Hongbin’s shoulders. He could feel the human’s breathing rise and fall, and he could hear the catch in the pattern when he leaned in. He knew he had to be careful, but he also knew that it would be hard, and part of him started rethinking things. Instead of dwelling too much on it though, he first just brushed the tips of his fangs on Hongbin’s shoulder, feeling him tense up, before finally biting down and breaking the skin. Hongbin inhaled sharply at the same time.

            Sanghyuk was well aware of what would happen next, with the initial taste, and that the beginning is the part that he had the hardest time with. He braced himself, but it still wasn’t quite enough when he finally felt the blood hit his tongue.

            As much as people had different feelings and smells, the flavor of their blood was just as different from one person to the next. So of course, Hongbin wasn’t like anything else.  It wasn’t really describable, not in words, but it was addictive and Sanghyuk was fighting against himself. He knew that he was done, that he should stop, but the act of stopping itself was a lot harder than it sounded. His grip tightened on Hongbin’s shoulders, and he forced himself to let go, and to gently release his bite on Hongbin’s neck. Sanghyuk had to take another step backwards to reassess his balance and control, and exhaled carefully.

            Hongbin’s eyes were closed, and his breathing was a little erratic, but seemed to calm down. When he did open his eyes, just staring up at the ceiling, he took some heavy breaths. He definitely felt dizzy and light-headed, and would probably not be able to get out of the chair that he was in. It had been a weird feeling, first feeling the prickle of pain and then the rush that followed after. He refocused his vision in front of him, on Sanghyuk, who was watching him with a hint of anxiousness.

            “You okay?” Hongbin took a second to respond, but nodded.

            “Yeah.” Sanghyuk released the slight breath that he had been holding and lightly smiled.

            “Thanks, for that, I guess.” Hongbin let out an airy laugh.

            “Sure thing.”

            Sanghyuk thanked him again, awkwardly, and then left back down the hall to his room.

            “You didn’t have to, you know.” Hongbin felt an arm reach behind his shoulders and gently pull him up, guiding him over to the couch, but Hongbin protested.

            “Can we go back to the bed? It’s much more comfortable.” Hakyeon supported Hongbin down the hall and then rested him back against the multitude of pillows.

            “I know I didn’t have to.”

            “Then why did you?” Hongbin thought it over for a second.

            “Well, it had to be someone, right? And it was more convenient for it to be me. Plus he asked, so I would guess it’s not the first time he’s thought about it.” Hakyeon hummed in response.

            “That’s true. I think it was good for him though, he’s struggled a lot with control. I was almost worried, for a minute there, and was wondering if I would have to go over and stop him myself.” Hongbin turned his head to look at him, and Hakyeon continued.

            “He’s done it before, losing control, and it devastates him. It’s not easy for anyone, and he’s still young. Now you should go to sleep, it really takes a toll on you.” Hongbin nodded, and closed his eyes. He could still feel when Hakyeon pressed a kiss to where Sanghyuk had bitten him, and could hear him quietly whisper.

            “I wouldn’t let him have you.”

"vampire bites are always y blah blah blah" no you i want platonic vampire biting

also this is twice as long as some of the other stories?? i dont know why dont ask me

yes well here is some sanghyuk like i was thinking about last chapter

it doesn't really have a ship? how do i classify it

YEAH but here you go

there are so many different vampire legends to play off of and i dont know where i'm getting mine from but oh well

thanks for reading and commenting!

also one of you found me on tumblr and left me a really nice message thank you v much as well!!!

~Win