"Are you sure you can walk? Do you have a headache? Are your legs tired? You look pale, I'm gonna carry you."

"Kyuhyun, don't you dare."

"Hang on, it'll only be a sec-!"

"Cho Kyuhyun, you put me down right now!"

Kyuhyun cried out when Ryeowook began tugging at his hair, the elder swearing profusely at him. “OW! Dracula’s wings, Ryeowook, let go of me!”

"I'm not some damsel in distress, I am a grown man, let me be!" Ryeowook shrieked, hitting Kyuhyun's back with balled fists.

The vampire staggered over to the car and opened the passenger door with his foot. "I know you're not, but you've just been released from the hospital, let me do this!" With a grunt, Kyuhyun heaved Ryeowook into the car, ignoring Ryeowook's grumbles when Kyuhyun reached over and buckled him in.

"I was released from the hospital, I'm not completely helpless." Ryeowook sniffed. Kyuhyun made a face at him and slammed the door, muttering to himself as he stormed around to the driver's side. The younger fished the keys out of his pocket and shoved them into the ignition, the car rumbling with life when he turned the keys.

They pulled out of the hospital parking lot in silence. It wasn't until a good half hour into their car ride when Ryeowook turned to look at Kyuhyun with a frown on his face. "Why are you wearing this bandage? I thought vampires had some accelerated healing or something?" Ryeowook leaned over to poke it, but when Kyuhyun hissed in pain, he quickly drew his hand back.

"Kyuhyun!" Ryeowook had a frantic look on his face. "What is this? What happened?" Kyuhyun groaned and started to mutter furiously under his breath, eyes refusing to meet Ryeowook's. Ryeowook pursed his lips but brought his hands back to his lap.

When they got the apartment complex, they had not said another word to each other. Kyuhyun took the keys out of the ignition and shoved them in his pocket. Ryeowook moved to get out of the car, but Kyuhyun shot him a glare that froze him in his seat. The human scoffed and slumped back to wait as the younger got out of the car and walked over to his side.

Kyuhyun opened the door and Ryeowook glared defiantly at him. The vampire didn't meet his eyes, instead, he bent down and placed an arm under Ryeowook's legs and the other supporting his back. "Cho Kyuhyun, don't you dare!"

He dared.

Kyuhyun brought Ryeowook closer to his body and stood up, holding the human bridal style, and strolled right into their apartment building, completely ignoring the stares from their neighbors and Ryeowook's cursing in his ears. “Ah, carrying the wife over the threshold, Mr. Cho?” Mrs. Im, the gargoyle landlady, asked.

“Ryeowook is a man!” Kyuhyun called over his shoulder.

“And we’re not dating!” Ryeowook finished.

“Yet!” shouted the gargoyle with a laugh.

Kyuhyun snorted and just pressed the button for the elevator, ignoring Mrs. Im’s cackles behind them. When the elevator doors opened, Kyuhyun rushed in and quickly slammed the button for their floor, sighing in relief no one else got in with them. Ryeowook glared up at him and yanked on his hair. “Let me down now.” he snapped.

“Not until I’m sure that you’re safe.” Kyuhyun retorted.

Ryeowook sniffed and turned his head away. “You never think I’m safe, so does that mean you’re never going to put me down?”

“If I have to.”

Ryeowook froze in stunned silence. “K-kyuhyun...?” Kyuhyun stared straight ahead and didn’t speak another word until the doors opened and he began walking down the hall to their apartment. Kyuhyun silently unlocked the door and pushed it open with a soft grunt. He closed it behind them, making sure to lock it, and then walked over to the couch, gently putting Ryeowook down, surprising the human with his uncharacteristic solemnity.

Kyuhyun sat down heavily beside him, but Ryeowook could sense his restlessness and he saw his eyes darting every which way for danger. He sighed and took Kyuhyun’s hand in his own, gently rubbing the pad of his thumb over the younger’s knuckles. Ryeowook could feel Kyuhyun’s eyes now fixed on him, but they stayed quiet for a few minutes.

“Kyuhyun...” Ryeowook finally said. “You can relax now, we’re safe. I’m safe. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

The vampire shook his head vigorously and frowned. “If anything, this made me only worry more about you.”

Ryeowook felt tears well up in his eyes and he buried his head in his hands. Kyuhyun was quick to wrap his arms around the human and pull him close. "What happened the first time?" Kyuhyun finally asked.

The human's body went rigid and he sat up, gently shrugging off Kyuhyun's arms. Ryeowook stared at the wall in front of them, eyes teary and red. "...I loved him." he whispered. "And I thought he loved me back. That's why I didn't think anything was wrong! He would just say that was how ghouls showed their love.”

Ryeowook's voice gradually grew louder with each word. “But I was betrayed over and over again by the one person I thought I could trust!” Ryeowook leaped to his feet and began angrily pacing in front of the couch. “If I didn’t agree with every little thing he said, he would shout at me! If I talked to another man, he would shout at me!”

He was screaming now. “I didn’t realize it, but he was abusing me, but I thought that I had done something wrong and that I deserved it. And when I began to realize it, he apologized and stopped. He even got me a little puppy as a present.” Ryeowook laughed hysterically, half sobbing. “My little bundle of joy, my cute Ddabong.”

Kyuhyun was sitting up straight, watching agitatedly as his human unraveled before his eyes, hands itching to just grab Ryeowook and pull him close, desperately wishing to take away all of the pain he had suffered.

“I came home one day after work only a few weeks after I got Ddabong. I wish I hadn’t.” Ryeowook cried. “My precious Ddabonggie - he was holding him and right in front of my eyes, he-!” Kyuhyun darted forward and grabbed Ryeowook just as his knees buckled and