In the living room, Baekhyun lay sprawled on the sofa with his HLV jacket covering his head. He knew that Chanyeol was glaring at him from the other side of the room, but he didn’t feel like talking anymore. He’d already been subjected to a multitude of questions since he came back.

   Jeongri’s scent lingered faintly on the inside of his jacket; she didn’t see him earlier when he opened the living room door, nor when he retreated quietly as she walked away.

   “Baekhyun?” said Chanyeol.

   Baekhyun murmured in reply.

   “Stop moping.”

   Baekhyun murmured once again.

   “You can’t let this get to you.”

   This time, he didn’t reply.

   “The Baekhyun I know wouldn’t give up,” remarked Chanyeol, “He would keep trying.”

   “I shouldn’t have said anything...” muttered Baekhyun, burying himself deeper into the cushions, “You should have seen the look on her face when I told her. You didn’t see what she was like when she saw Kyungsoo. She doesn’t have time or space for me in her life, it was over before it started.”

   Baekhyun closed his eyes, trying to hide himself from the world. As far as he was concerned, the future looked dark.

   “Come on, stop this pity party,” complained Chanyeol.

   The sound of his footsteps drawing closer made Baekhyun turn. He felt the cushions and his jackets being pulled away in one fell swoop, Chanyeol towered over him with a tired expression.

   “I hate to say this, but when did you turn into the mopey, whiny one in our friendship?” questioned Chanyeol, “You’ve been like this ever since we saw Jeongri in the capital. I didn’t want to say anything because I’m at being the mature one, but I hate seeing you like this.”

   Baekhyun wanted to protest that remark, but Chanyeol interrupted him, drowning out his pitiful voice.

   “Who cares if she didn’t give you the answer that you wanted to hear?” said Chanyeol, “Baekhyun, it’s been like a day since you were reunited with her. This isn’t a fairy tale.”

   “No, you don’t get it,” dismissed Baekhyun, shaking his head, “She’s got something with Kyungsoo. How I feel doesn’t matter anymore.”

   “Well, I spoke to Kyungsoo last night, and he was fairly adamant that they weren’t in a relationship. Baekhyun, what did you think was going to happen? Relationships don’t happen overnight. You can’t just spring this on her and expect her to say yes. You have to build it up. Keep trying, man. She’s still here, isn’t she?”

   Baekhyun murmured again, trying to stave off the negative feeling that was plaguing him. Of course, he wasn’t expecting a fairy tale ending. All he wanted was a sign that maybe she felt the same as he did.

   “You still have time, but it’s limited. Do you want to waste it moping away when the future is right there, waiting for you to take it?”

   Like a child being told off, Baekhyun sat quietly and listened. Chanyeol had a much more extensive love life, and a lot more experience than he ever did. Baekhyun had in a couple of relationships in the past, but they were short, and never went that far. Maybe he did overstep his boundaries today.

   “The Baekhyun I know doesn’t give up so soon. At the very least, you should keep trying. Stop regretting your actions, it’s not like you.”

   Baekhyun fiddled with the hem of his top, avoiding Chanyeol’s stern glare. It was hard to not give up. He’d built up his expectations so high, letting his feelings run amok, picturing a happy ending to his confession. But reality had brought it all to a crashing halt, and he couldn’t help but reel from the sting of failure. The Jeongri that he’d built up in his mind was not the Jeongri that was with him in person. He had to accept that, and try to start over.

   Chanyeol was right. He hadn’t been himself for the past month. He needed to snap out of it, focus on the more critical problem at hand. They had absconded from the HLV, just when the demon king was planning to open the portal again. The future looked bleak and uncertain.

   “I’m fine, by the way. Thanks for asking,” interjected Chanyeol with sarcasm as he pulled at his shoulder, “Not like my body isn’t ten thousand times more busted after the roamers.”

   Baekhyun looked up and realised that he hadn’t even asked Chanyeol how he was since he came back. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he’d selfishly forgot.

   “I’m so sorry, Chanyeol,” apologised Baekhyun, “I wanted to see how you were doing, but I guess I got distracted.”

   Chanyeol sighed, pursing his lips at his partner.

   “I was joking, it’s not that bad,” he said, “Stop looking so worried.”

   “How is your shoulder?”

   “Hurts like a ing , but what can I do,” shrugged Chanyeol, “Sehun checked on me earlier. He left to get us some food, but he’s been gone for a while now. I’ve lost all hope in him returning.”

   Baekhyun laughed, feeling a small smile spread on his face. That sounded like something Sehun would do. He was always like that as a kid, distracted easily.

   “Did you really expect anything different?” Baekhyun asked.

   “Well, it’s been ten years,” laughed Chanyeol, “I figured Luhan must have drilled some kind of responsibility into him by now, but I guess not.”

   “Come on, let’s go find them,” said Baekhyun, “I don’t want to sit here anymore.”

   With a satisfied nod, Chanyeol replied, “Good.”

   Baekhyun walked over to Chanyeol and helped him put on some clothes. Every now and again, Chanyeol would wince visibly, only to compose his expression quickly so that Baekhyun wouldn’t notice. But Baekhyun saw everything, he just didn’t say anything. If Chanyeol’s shoulder was really a problem, then he would say something.

   Dressed and stretched, Chanyeol led the way towards the kitchen. There seemed to be a lot of commotion; multiple voices were deep in conversation, and it was interspersed with the sound of the television blaring away, and someone cooking in the background

   Chanyeol took a deep, satisfying sniff before quickening his pace, “Oh god, please let that be Sehun cooking for me.”

   Baekhyun suppressed a laugh as he watched Chanyeol skip past the infirmary, hurtling into the kitchen. He followed quickly from behind but stopped in his tracks when the infirmary door opened. To his surprise, Kyungsoo stepped out, startled by Baekhyun’s sudden appearance.

   “Oh, hey,” said Baekhyun, feeling a little shocked. He didn’t know that Kyungsoo had woken up, “Wow, you’re awake.”

   Kyungsoo was hunched over a little, his shirt hanging loosely off his frame. Small scabs were scattered across his arms and neck from the night before but other than his tired eyes, he looked fine. He looked at Baekhyun, but didn’t reply.

   “How do you feel?” asked Baekhyun, glancing behind Kyungsoo into the empty infirmary.

   “I’m good,” replied Kyungsoo.

   He stared at Baekhyun for a second too long, with a cold expression. There was a strange tension in the air that Baekhyun couldn’t quite put his finger on.

   “What?” Baekhyun asked, letting out a nervous chuckle, “Is there something on my face?”

   “No,” said Kyungsoo. He turned away and started walking towards the kitchen, “We should eat. Your friend, Luhan, told me that you’ve been watching over Jeongri and myself all day. You must be hungry.”

   There was a distinct unfamiliar curtness to his tone. Baekhyun frowned as he watched Kyungsoo walk away. Shaking his head, Baekhyun brushed it off as him overthinking things again, and followed suit.

   The kitchen was bustling with people. Luhan stood at the stove, making dinner for everyone in his plaid kitchen apron. At the dining table, Sehun and Jeongri were laughing about something or other as they laid out plates of food. Baekhyun watched as Kyungsoo took the empty seat beside her, beaming brightly as she turned to him. Chanyeol sat down next to Sehun and started watching the television, which had just switched to the evening news report; a young woman in her early twenties had been killed in another suspected vampire attack in Greyfleur.

   “Take a seat Baekhyun, your omelette will be ready in a moment,” announced Luhan.

   Baekhyun sat himself down beside Chanyeol and looked around. Chanyeol seemed so absorbed in the news, something about how the victim was the fourth in a series of similar attacks. Briefly, Baekhyun remembered Luhan and Sehun talking about it earlier at the Mag Stone, but he couldn’t really remember what they were saying.

   Chanyeol nudged Sehun in the arm.

   “How long has this been going on for?” he asked, “I don’t think I remember seeing this on Merehua’s news.”

   “It’s been a couple of weeks now I guess,” said Sehun quietly, his expression growing colder he watched the report.

   “Are there a lot of vampires living in Greyfleur?”

   Sehun shook his head, “No. Only a handful including Luhan hyung and myself.”

   Chanyeol looked around, “Well then it should be easy to find out who is behind this, right?”

   “Well… We know who is behind it,” said Luhan grimly.

   He came over briskly with two hot plates and placed them in front of Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Taking off his apron, he sat down by Kyungsoo, and didn’t elaborate further.

   “Why don’t you tell the police then?” asked Kyungsoo, joining in with the conversation.

   Luhan shook his head, “It’s too dangerous to get more humans involved. It’s something we have to sort out by ourselves.”

   “No offence but whatever you’re doing isn’t working,” said Chanyeol, gesturing at the news report.

   “We haven’t done anything yet,” said Sehun, “Luhan hyung won’t let me talk to him.”

   “Junmyeon isn’t someone to be taken lightly,” scolded Luhan.

   Sehun slinked away, rolling his eyes at being told off again.

   “Junmyeon?” asked Baekhyun, perking up all of a sudden. The name was familiar, “Kim Junmyeon?”

   “Yeah,” said Sehun. He leant against the table and looked to Baekhyun with interest, “You know him?”

   “He was on the radar at the HLV. Something about starting a vampire revolution up north,” said Baekhyun, “He’s a pureblood maniac, isn’t he?”

   “