The ache in his shoulders was what woke Minghao up.

Argh, Minghao groaned mentally in his mind. Sleepily, he pried his eyes open to find a plain, white ceiling above him. The curtains must have been drawn for sunlight shone through the window, giving the bedroom a soft, morning glow.

Minghao closed his eyes again, the softness of the bed drawing him back to sleep. Muttering under his breath, Minghao tried to turn over to lie on his shoulder but was halted by the same soreness that woke him up.

What the —

Minghao frowned in mild confusion before returning to lying on his back. Again, Minghao saw the same white ceiling except something wasn’t quite right...

Wait a minute. Minghao jolted up in bed with a start, hissing at the soreness that had spiked up in his sudden movement. Yet, one thought was clear in his mind — my ceiling is blue. This is not my bedroom.

Face taut with pain, Minghao collapsed back in the soft bed — which he realized with growing dread — wasn’t his own bed.

Where am I? What the hell happened last night? Minghao demanded to himself, racking his brains relentlessly. Minghao shut his eyes, trying to recall last night’s events.

Last night, it was the wedding dinner of his longtime crush and after an evening of wearing a false smile, Minghao had went drinking alone to drown his sorrows and numb the ache of his shattered heart. Though he was genuinely happy for the newly married couple, the pain of his heartbreak was still overwhelming. Vaguely, Minghao could remembered himself downing beer after beer, each time numbing his pain by a little, until he was so drunk that he couldn’t even walk in a straight line.

Forcing himself to recall the previous night’s happenings, Minghao remembered paying for his bill and then leaving the bar on unstable legs. He had left his car at the bar, sober enough to know that he shouldn’t be driving, and proceeded home on foot. He could faintly recalled walking home, pausing to throw up a few times, but then...

Damn it.

Minghao couldn’t remember anything after that. He could clearly recall people giving him a wide berth, probably repulsed by the stench of beer or feared that he would vomit on them, but his memories were hazy and after turning around that corner...

Argh. All of the sudden, there was a pounding headache and Minghao didn’t bothered straining his brain any further. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut as if doing so would ease the ache in his head.

Calm down, calm down. Minghao chanted like a mantra, trying to relax despite the glaring fact that he had no idea where he was. There was no denying it — he had been drunk out of his mind and someone probably thought it would be nice to bring him home and —

Disgust rose in the form of bile as Minghao instinctively glanced down and noticed that he wasn’t even wearing the same clothes from last night.

Who knew what happened last night? Minghao felt sick as a number of possibilities popped into his mind, each more disgusting than the former. The Chinese boy was no means vain but he was practical and he knew that he was good looking and how horrible humans can be.

I need to get out of here. Minghao thought with sudden resolution, forcing his eyes open. The ache in his shoulders had dulled considerably and the shock of the situation had made him wide awake with adrenaline pumping through his veins.

Minghao swung his legs off the bed, the cool wooden floor waking him up further. Bare footed, Minghao hurried to the bedroom door and closed around the metal door knob, a small part of him fearing that it was unlocked. Thankfully, he twisted the doorknob and the door swung opened.

Thank God. Minghao thought with gratefulness, hastily rushing out of the suddenly confining bedroom.

As expected, Minghao found the house unfamiliar and filled with personal artifacts that didn’t belong to him. There were two other closed doors, identical to the one Minghao had just left, and he desperately prayed that whoever that was in there was sound asleep.

His bare feet padded the floor as Minghao crossed the living room to get to the main door. He twisted the doorknob again but to his horror, found it locked.

Please, no. Starting to panic then, Minghao kept jiggling the doorknob in hopes of it magically unlocking but it remained stubbornly locked.

No, no, no. Minghao found himself walking backwards as if the locked door was contagious. His eyes darted around and caught sight of slightly tanned skin. Heart pounding loudly in his chest, Minghao spun around in shock, expecting to see the person who brought him home.

Except, it was only Minghao’s own reflection staring back from a floor length mirror. His eyes were wide with fear and panic, his blond hair messy from sleep but what caught his attention the most was the two, small bite marks on his neck.

A shiver ran down his spine as Minghao stared fixedly at his reflection. The two bite marks seemed to leer at him the longer he stared at them.

Oh my... Strangely enthralled, Minghao tentatively reached for the protruding bite marks that interrupted the otherwise smooth skin, his reflection mirroring his actions. His fingertips brushed the bite marks hesitantly, curiously and almost immediately, Minghao hissed in pain at the rush of pain.

They’re... They’re real. Minghao gasped in a mix of interest and disbelief. He ghosted over the bite marks, the novelty of them disappearing and getting replaced with horror. Shocked, Minghao withdrew his hand from the marks, reality hitting him like a brick wall.

Minghao’s terrified eyes met his reflection’s identical pair as his mind tried to process everything at once but coming up as a jumbled mess of thoughts. But — But that means — But, it can’t be — I can’t been — They’re not —

Someone cleared his throat behind Minghao.

From his position at his bedroom doorway, Junhui watched the male in front of him in mild amusement, his eyes raking the boy’s figure almost leeringly. He was probably of the same height as Junhui or an centimeter shorter, but his body was leaner and thinner with a slim figure. His blond hair was tousled and his clothes rumpled from shifting about when asleep but the boy still looked gorgeous.

He’s cute. Junhui thought to himself, allowing himself a smile. But young. How young is he?

Silently, Junhui closed the bedroom door behind him, the lock clicking into place, and approached the oblivious boy in front of him. He made no noise to indicate his advancement and the boy didn’t appear to notice him nearing.

With interest in his eyes, Junhui watched as the boy hesitantly touched the two bite marks on his neck, strikingly obvious against the tanned span of skin. He stifled a chuckle when the boy hissed in pain, his hand jerking back unconsciously, but returning again moments later brushing the marks again, full of curiosity that mortals were infamous for.

Adorable, Junhui briefly mused before clearing his throat loudly. Nearly instantly, the boy spun on his heel, an expression of pure shock tinged with fear on his young face. Junhui bit back a smirk when the boy’s jaw dropped upon laying eyes on the vampire as he widened his eyes almost comically.

“Hello,“ Junhui drawled, letting some amusement slip into his voice. He rather enjoyed the look on the boy’s face and the fear he had over him.

“Please don’t kill me.“ The boy immediately pleaded, his face collapsing into a frightened expression. “I promise I won’t tell anyone that you’re — you’re —” The words seemed to die in his throat as he gestured frantically to Junhui.

“A vampire?” Junhui helpfully supplied, letting his fangs appear ever so slightly.

The boy’s face paled, losing whatever colour he had originally. Then, he struggled to recover his composure.

“Yes!” The boy hastily corrected himself, tripping over his words as he rushed, “I mean, no, you’re not a vampire. Everyone knows you’re not a vampire and I’m not going to tell them otherwise so please, please don’t kill me.”

“I’m Junhui,” Junhui went on, ignoring the boy’s pleads. “What’s your name?”

“Please let me go, I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” The boy begged, having not heard the vampire’s words over his own pleads.

“What’s your name?” Junhui repeated, amused by the boy yet there was a flick of irritation at having to reiterate himself. Junhui was never fond of the virtue patience.

“I swear I won’t tell a soul. I swear on my life so please —” The boy’s voice died as he stared at the finger on his lips that effectively silenced him. He raised his eyes uncertainly, meeting Junhui’s, but remained silent.  

“Let’s try again. I’m Wen Junhui,” Junhui smiled slowly, a hint of fangs showing, “what’s your name?”

The boy swallowed nervously, eyes flicking to Junhui’s finger still on his lips and then back to Junhui’s eyes, before managing a soft whisper, “Minghao. Xu Minghao.”

“Xu Minghao,” Junhui echoed, liking the way the name rolled off his tongue fluidly. A fellow Chinese. He removed his finger from the boy’s lips and asked, “how old are you, Minghao?”

“I’m twenty this year.” The boy, Minghao, quickly answered, as if afraid that Junhui would hurt him if he replied too slowly.

You look younger than you really are. Junhui pondered in mild surprise before he dismissed that thought as satisfaction replaced it. You’re legal then. Good.

“I’m older than you then.” Junhui remarked instead before he stared at Minghao intently, inquiring. “Do you know why you’re here?”

“No,” Minghao disclosed but Junhui could tell what he was thinking — he was, after all, a vampire — and he didn’t blame the former for coming to that conclusion.

“Last night, I was returning home and I saw you,” Junhui slowly stated, his eyes focused on Minghao’s, “drunk and pressed up against the wall by an impure. He had his fangs out and I —”

“What’s an impure?” Minghao couldn’t help but blurt out, the foreign term eliciting his curiosity.

Junhui only stared at him in confusion and disbelief but Minghao only returned his gaze innocently and in anticipation. Then, he remembered. Oh, right. Human. He's a human.

“An impure blood, or impure for short, is the lowest kind of vampire there is. They have eternal bloodlust and nearly always kill their victim when feeding.” Junhui elaborated, continuing even when Minghao winced at his diction. “Impures don’t care if you’re alive or dead afterwards, they just want to you dry of blood.”

“Then why am I still alive?” Minghao whispered in terror, his voice nearly inaudible. His face was deadly pale at the thought that he could have died last night.

At his question, Junhui allowed himself to smile with pride as he simply answered. “Because I saved you. The impure was easy to deal with but the vital thing was, he had already bitten you.”

Out of reflexes, Minghao’s hand flew to the twin bite marks impaled on his neck. “I’m not a vampire, am I?” His thoughts went wild again. No, no, no…

A small chuckle left Junhui’s lips. “No, you aren’t. Only pure bloods have the ability to change humans to vampires but a bite from an impure can kill you.” He leaned closer to Minghao and murmured softly, “what do you think I did next?”

Minghao gulped nervously, suddenly feeling self-conscious of his disheveled appearance in front of the handsome vampire.

“I — I don’t know.” Minghao tried to back away but Junhui’s hands were suddenly on his shoulders, restraining him. Starlted, the younger boy tried to look anywhere but Junhui’s eyes yet he felt irresistibly drawn to the pair of knowing orbs.

“In order to save you,” Junhui begun, his breath hitting Minghao’s skin with each word, “I put my lips over the marks,” he leaned closer until he could kiss the marks if he wanted to, “and the venom out.”

Minghao couldn’t stop the small gasp from escaping, the visual of the scene and Junhui’s low, husky voice too much for him to handle. Despite himself, Minghao could feel himself being attracted to him and unspeakable thoughts popped up in his head. The vampire was handsome, ridiculously so, and he knew it.

Don't think of him in that way! Minghao warned himself even as Junhui leaned in even closer until he was clearly within the former’s personal space. Minghao’s heart started to pound loudly and he was glad for Junhui’s hands holding him up for his legs were suddenly weak. He told himself it was because of the drastic revelation. His heart laughed at him.

Boldly, Junhui lazily stared at Minghao, his eyes first staring at the two marks on his neck before wandering up to his lips. Unwittingly, Minghao’s tongue darted out to wet his lips and the vampire’s eyes darkened for the barest of second.

Is he — Is he going to — Minghao held his breath in unexplainable anticipation.

All of the sudden, Junhui moved back, giving Minghao his personal space back yet there was a cocky air to him as if he knew exactly what Minghao was thinking. He smirked knowingly at the younger who released his breath, half relieved and half disappointed.

It's normal, it's normal. Minghao hastily reassured himself, despite his reddening cheeks. He appealed to his logical side. It has been a long time since I laid with anyone. It’s natural to feel attracted to him.

The arrogance pulsing from Junhui cleared Minghao’s mind and he hastily straightened up, struggling out of the vampire’s grip. Careful not to meet the vampire’s eyes, Minghao smoothed down his shirt and coughed into his hand.

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