Even though he didn't know Mingyu very well, Wonwoo didn't think he was going to have much trouble finding him. Whenever he was upset or needed a break from everyone and everything, he went to the rose gardens in the centre of the campus, and he had a feeling Mingyu would do the same, if he'd discovered them. Wonwoo had no idea how much Mingyu knew of the university, let alone the city, but it was usually the first thing newcomers were told. He still took his time getting there, trying to gather his own thoughts and feelings into some sort of semblance of order.

"Go away."

Startled by Mingyu's soft voice, Wonwoo stared at him. He was sitting on the ground with his back to a tree, a rose in his hands, which were bloody from the thorns. "What are you doing?" he asked, confused by the scene. "You're hurting yourself."

"Why do you care?" Mingyu replied, his tone bitter. "You've made it clear how you feel about me, so go away." He hadn't even bothered to look up.

"I thought I was supposed to be the emo one," Wonwoo muttered, ignoring Mingyu's request. He wasn't going anywhere until they talked this out. Going to sit next to Mingyu, he was startled when the other man twisted out of the way, giving him a dirty look. "I don't have anything you need to be worried about, vampire," he muttered, glaring at Mingyu.

"No, not much," Mingyu shot back, still giving him dirty looks. "Just blood that could kill me."

"Hey, your blood does the same, or so Lu Han said, remember?" Wonwoo sighed, shaking his head. "And you're the one bleeding all over the roses."

Shrugging, Mingyu was too worn out to argue with him. "Why did you come here?" he asked instead, still playing with the rose. "If you're just going to upset me more, I don't want to hear it."

"Look, you don't know the first thing about me, so save it," Wonwoo retorted, stung by Mingyu's words. "I want to try and explain things, but if you're not interested..." He started to get up, tired of the whole mess, but was pulled back down by a bloody hand. At least Mingyu had touched his sleeve rather than his skin, but...

"Then explain to me why you don't want me to save you?" Mingyu demanded, finally looking straight at Wonwoo. The other man was surprised to see his eyes were red. Had he been crying? "There has to be something I can do to help you, to make you want to live."

Looking away so he wouldn't have to see Mingyu's emotions plainly showing in his eyes and on his face, Wonwoo sighed and looked down at his hands. "Sehun caught me about four years ago," he began, his heart pounding at having to tell his story to Mingyu. He'd never told anyone before. "I had just moved here, and ended up lost while looking for the house I was staying at, and..."

He still had no idea why Sehun had chosen him, let alone why at that particular time. He'd always thought wolves only hunted during the full moon. "He was still a pup then, or so Lu Han said, but he should have known..." Wonwoo sighed again. "Lu Han is always making excuses for Sehun, which is pretty stupid. He's never going to learn that way."

"Go on," Mingyu murmured, watching Wonwoo carefully. He didn't want to put Wonwoo off telling his story, but he was getting sidetracked. "What did he do to you that made you like this?"

Giving Mingyu an odd look, Wonwoo shrugged. "He bit me, but not when it was a full moon," he replied, going back to staring at his hands. "From what the others have said to me at various times, I think that was where it went so disastrously wrong..." He gave a bitter laugh. "Not that I can do anything about it now. I can't very well get another wolf to bite me..." He glanced sidelong at Mingyu. "Nor can I get you to do it..."

"No," Mingyu agreed soberly, looking away. "He said you left him?" Wonwoo had so many questions still to answer, as far as he was concerned. "And how did you find out you couldn't transform? How did they find out?"

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to stick around to be bitten again, now, was I?" Wonwoo snorted, shaking his head. "I could have done without it the first time, but since he didn't give me any choice..." He sighed. "The first full moon... when I should have been able to transform... I couldn't. It hurt so much, I couldn't think. And I think someone called... someone. I don't really remember much of that time."

All he could remember was waking up days later in an unfamiliar house, with Lu Han, Sehun, and a few others he had never seen before (or since), staring at him like some kind of new chew toy. It still gave him shivers.

"And every month since then, it's the same thing. A day or so before, I start to feel really ill, and the day of the full moon..." Wonwoo wrapped his arms around himself, his eyes glazing over in remembered pain. "I feel like my skin is peeling off from the inside, my bones twisting..."

"Hey..." Mingyu could see Wonwoo was starting to have some kind of panic attack, and it scared him. Dropping the rose and wiping his hands on his trousers, he carefully put his arms around the other man in an attempt to comfort him. "You're not... it's not the full moon," he murmured, hoping that would be enough to bring him out of it. "You're ok now. I've got you."

Letting himself lean into Mingyu as the vampire held him, Wonwoo began to cry, finally able to let go of a lot of the emotions centred around his change from human to wolf. For some reason, he found Mingyu easier to trust than he'd expected, and was grateful for the support. Though he knew Seungkwan had wanted to be there for him too, this wasn't the kind of thing he could trust with a human. Only someone who'd been through hell too could understand.

Mingyu continued to murmur what he hoped were comforting words as Wonwoo began to cry in his arms. The vampire was close to tears again himself, but held off; he had to be strong, for Wonwoo's sake. Closer now to understanding why he wanted to die, Mingyu still didn't want him to go through with it. Selfish of him, maybe, but he wanted Wonwoo alive, not dead.

When it looked like the tears were finally going to stop, Mingyu relaxed his hold so Wonwoo could free himself if he chose. Surprisingly, he didn't move, and Mingyu glanced at him, startled to see him looking back.

"Are you ok?" he asked sofly, his eyes reflecting his concern, giving an uncertain smile when Wonwoo nodded and sniffled quietly. "Do you want me to let go?"

Wonwoo shook his head. It actually felt... nice. He'd never had anything like this while growing up (one of the many reasons he'd left home and come to the capital city), and certainly never after he'd been bitten. He hadn't trusted anyone after that, until now. He hadn't even been sure he could trust Mingyu until a few minutes ago. It was strange.

"What about you?" Wonwoo asked, glancing at Mingyu to see him still looking at him. It made him blush and look away. "What's your story? How did you..." He looked back up at Mingyu, his eyes narrowed. "Just how old are you?"

Looking away with a pained expression, Mingyu was calm as he spoke. "I was an officer during the war," he murmured, not surprised to see the shock on Wonwoo's face. Obviously he hadn't expected Mingyu to be that old. Or maybe that young. It was hard to tell. "I was young at the time, but there weren't many men left by then to be officers..." He shrugged and sighed. "But I was captured and near death when a strigoi got hold of me somehow, and here I am..."

"What exactly is a strigoi?" Wonwoo wanted to know, biting his lip nervously. It didn't sound nice. "Did it hurt when you...?"

"A Russian vampire," Mingyu replied quietly, his throat going dry. "And yes, it did hurt. A lot." He put his hand around his neck, leaving a bloody print behind. "I thought I was going to die... and then I did. Imagine that." His tone was bitter, but also sad. "But because I am obviously not Russian... I didn't become a strigoi myself, not a proper one, at any rate. I'm a hybrid, as you know, with the abilities and needs of both..."

His eyes hardened. "I didn't realise hybrids were quite so hated here, since I am the only one in my city," he added, looking away. "They want me dead. Properly dead..."

"I'm sorry," Wonwoo murmured, unsure of what to say to that. While it was certainly something he could relate to, given that most of the other wolves wanted him dead too, at least he wanted to die. Mingyu clearly didn't.

Mingyu sighed and looked at Wonwoo. "So, are we going to talk about your death wish yet?" he murmured, feeling the other man stiffen in his arms. "You already know where I stand on the matter. I won't help you, so please don't ask again."

"I don't recall asking the first time," Wonwoo retorted, looking mutinous. "It was more like a suggestion. I don't have anyone else who can do it who I trust not to botch it or cause me more pain..."

"But no, I don't really want to talk about it. I just..." He sighed. "I don't want to be in pain anymore. It's too much, and I don't want to go crazy either, because then they will kill me."

"Then I'll just have to make sure you don't go crazy," Mingyu replied, his voice soft. "I don't know if I can do anything for the pain, but..."

"No, I've tried," Wonwoo shook his head sadly. "No painkiller helps. If anything, it just makes it worse." Regretfully letting go of Mingyu and feeling cold when the vampire moved away and picked up the rose again, Wonwoo stared unseeing at their surroundings. Why it hurt him to see Mingyu hurting himself like that, he didn't know, but it did.

"Please stop doing that," he murmured, elbowing Mingyu so he'd drop the rose. "I don't like it."

"I don't like your death wish, so sue me," Mingyu muttered back, ignoring Wonwoo and continuing to play with the rose until his hands were virtually shredded. "And it's not like they won't heal quickly. It's only temporary..." He looked pointedly at Wonwoo.

"If you're trying to imply that this pain is temporary, try going through it every month yourself," Wonwoo growled, starting to get angry. He hated this, arguing over how he felt with someone he thought should understand. "After a while, it just wears you down until you just can't take it anymore. Don't you understand?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't," Mingyu replied, his expression painfully honest. "But I am trying to. I don't know why it's so hard..."

"Maybe if you saw what it's like for me, you'd change your mind," Wonwoo murmured quietly, not even sure he should suggest that Mingyu should watch while he endured the pain yet again. "I have," he counted down the days in his head, "eighteen days before I have to go through it again. Or rather..." He shrugged sadly. "It will start a few days beforehand, so about sixteen days..."

Mingyu blinked at him, a sudden dread filling him at Wonwoo's words. "You just went through this a few days ago?" No wonder he had a death wish, when it was so fresh in his mind.

"About a week ago, yes," Wonwoo confirmed, his expression closed off. "Today was my first day back after..." And he'd never expected to meet Mingyu. If he'd known...

"After you recovered...?" Mingyu wasn't surprised to hear it had taken him that long to recover from the pain. If it was as bad as he and the others had said it was... "I'm sorry. I didn't realise..."

"No, there was no way for you to have known," Wonwoo said, shaking his head, "so there's no need for you to apologise." He appreciated it, but it wasn't necessary. Mingyu just hadn't known, had no way to know. Not even vampires were mind-readers, no matter what the stories said.

Nodding, Mingyu opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted, both men looking up in surprise and dismay.

"I thought I said to stay away from him..."

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A/N: *offers tissues to anyone who needs them* Made myself cry writing this, tho of course I had a migraine at the time. (still have it, dammit...) Sorry if things sound a bit awkward in places. Sometimes I can't think of the right way to say it in English... And yes, of course it's a cliffhanger ending. :D