Minseok woke up with a weight over his midsection and a warmth curled into his right side. A pair of arms wrapped firmly around him, the feeling unfamiliar but not entirely unwanted. Minseok blinked in confusion, the remnants of sleep still clinging to him as he tried to pick out the blurry surroundings about him. He could barely make out the features of a face that looked at him with longing and a set of pretty pink lips mouthed out words Minseok could not understand. Why did this stranger have soft, red eyes…?

A groan escaped Minseok’s body as the weight beside him shifted, a leg hooking over his own and he blinked back into reality, the face of the man disappearing and his dorm room finally coming into focus. Luhan’s face was pressed against his neck, breathing softly as he slept protectively around Minseok’s body. With a small smile, Minseok slipped from his roommate’s embrace quickly and quietly, hoping to let him sleep just a little longer.

It was about nine in the morning, Minseok realized, as he checked his phone. He had a few text messages, several e-mails and a missed call. He sighed as he began to get dressed, checking the number of the missed call and realizing that it was indeed who he thought it was.

“Why are you awake?” Luhan’s voice sounded deeper than normal and scratchy from sleep.

Minseok looked over his shoulder as he buttoned up his shirt, a shy look in his eye, “Go back to bed.”

“It’s Saturday,” Luhan whined, as he turned back into the warmth of the bed, “Come back to sleep with me.”

“I can’t,” Minseok said sadly as he slipped into a pair of shoes, “I’m late for a meeting.”

Luhan didn’t ask who Minseok would be meeting even though he wanted to, jealousy was a bad trait for him, so instead he settled on, “Don’t be out too late, we have plans too, remember?”

“Of course,” Minseok smiled to himself as he pulled on his jacket and then headed out the door, calling out to wish Luhan a good night as the latter fell back into a deep sleep at twenty after nine in the morning.

Inside his tiny cafe, Jongin sat with an oversized coat, a pair of sunglasses and a wide-brim hat. Sehun sat in the shade behind the counter, teasing Jongin for looking like he tried to hard to make it onto the runway at New York Fashion Week. Jongin merely rolled his eyes and texted Sehun a middle finger emoji.

“This is crude,” Sehun commented as he checked his phone and Jongin chuckled to himself.

“In my defense,” Jongin hummed, “I never did actually give you the finger.”

Sehun grumbled and tossed his phone onto the countertop, “I hate technology.”

Jongin snorted and nodded in agreement just as the door to the cafe opened, a bell jangling above. The sunlight just outside spilled through the open doorway, barely reaching Jongin’s feet where he stood. Both Sehun and Jongin looked to the door and watched as Minseok stepped inside, quickly shutting the door behind himself.

“You made it,” Jongin grinned and Minseok nodded, “Shall we get going then?”

“What?” Minseok asked surprised, “It’s daytime, won’t you, you know...” he gestured vaguely towards Jongin with his hand who only laughed.

“Burn up?” Jongin asked with a teasing tone, “I mean if I’m exposed directly then yes, most certainly I’ll burn up. But I’m wearing sunblock and layers,” he smiled as he gestured to the oversize coat hanging from his body.

“Oh,” Minseok looked to Sehun who had begun to laugh, “It’s an interesting fashion choice.” he said simply.

Sehun snorted and Jongin pouted, bottom lip jutting out cutely, “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“Nothing,” Minseok reassured quickly even as Sehun began to laugh louder in the background, “Whatever keeps you safe.”

“He understands me,” Jongin said then with a smile, looking over his shoulder at Sehun, “Unlike you.”

The latter merely shrugged and yawned before waving the two off. He disappeared into the back of the cafe where he would presumably take a nap, because he always did when Jongin left him alone.

“So, where are we going?” Minseok asked curiously as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

Jongin pulled the wide brim of the hat over his eyes, “You wanted to retrieve your memories, right? We’re going to get them back.”

***

In a dimly-lit office, a man sat polishing his gun with a white cloth, his clunky combat boots resting on his desk as he stretched back. He had hoped today would be a slow, unwinding sort of day, until the artificial light from the hallway poured into his room and left his eyes straining from the sudden brightness. The man looked up and squinted into the light with annoyance, only to see his cousin standing in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” he asked half accusatory as he placed the gun down on his desk.

“Ah,” the man in the doorway entered and fixed his tie quickly, “I was upstairs with Jongdae-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Kyungsoo sighed as he raised his hand to stop Junmyeon from explaining any further, “Did you stay last night to play out some office fantasy or something?”

Junmyeon’s cheeks flushed red, but he regained his composure quickly, clearing his throat, “Did you hear about Baekhyun coming in last night?” he asked, an attempt to change the subject.

Kyungsoo quirked an eyebrow and picked up a sleek remote, clicking the play button which brought an overhead projector to life. It displayed on a far wall of the office security footage of the previous night. It showed Junmyeon standing at the entrance of his office, Baekhyun in the doorway and a man in Baekhyun’s arms looking suspiciously like-

“Is this Minseok? Kim Minseok?” Kyungsoo asked curiously, “Did you take his memories of Baekhyun? Because we saw how awful that all worked out last time…”

“No, well, sort of.” Junmyeon wrung his hands trying to think of a defense, “Jongin is dropping by later with Minseok, he said Minseok is having memory loss issues and wants to know if I can recover them…”

Kyungsoo groaned, “What memories did you take from him?”

“The memories of Baekhyun killing his family,” Junmyeon said slowly, quietly as if this would give Kyungsoo to process what was being explained to him.

“Pardon?” Kyungsoo’s eyes flickered with an intense red - anger, “Baekhyun did what?”

“Nothing,” Junmyeon shook his head, “Honestly, he did nothing, he’s being framed.”

Kyungsoo hummed and sat back in his chair, “They’re here.” he said simply and looked away from Junmyeon turning his attention instead to the file he had pulled from a drawer in his desk.

Junmyeon shuddered slightly, “Sometimes I find it strange how you ended up with part of your Sire’s abilities.”

Kyungsoo shot Junmyeon a look that screamed at him to leave, “His name is Chanyeol. Do not call him my Sire again.”

***

“What’s this?” Minseok asked curiously as he entered the front door of a tall business building, “Isn’t this Kim Publishing?”

Jongin grinned and nodded as he entered through the glass doors and removed his larger than life sunglasses, “You’ve heard of this company?”

Minseok shrugged, “I dreamed of working here a long time ago…”

Jongin snickered, “Was that before or after you realized the CEO was a vampire?”

Minseok blushed a little and forced on a frown, “That has nothing to do with why I changed my mind-” Jongin gave him a look, raising his eyebrow slightly, “...It may have factored into it…” he admitted in embarrassment.

“This is the firm of one of my very close friends,” Jongin said as he shed his jacket, hanging it across the large reception desk, placing his huge hat neatly on top, “He gained some interesting powers when he became a vampire.”

“What kind of powers?” Minseok asked curiously.

“The power to alter memories,” another voice came from behind them and Minseok turned around to be met with Mr. Kim Junmyeon, CEO.

Junmyeon took in a sharp breath as he was met with Minseok’s eyes and, looking away from the familiarity of his former employee, he turned his attention to Jongin instead.

“I’m glad you agreed to meet with Minseok,” Jongin smiled, sensing the same awkwardness he had felt during his first meetings with Minseok in Junmyeon, “He said he was having difficulty recalling the other night… It’s rather worrisome for him and I think he’d like to see if they can be recovered."

Junmyeon ducked his head shyly, “Ah, yes, well I’ll see what I can do. Why don’t you two join me in my office?”

As Minseok slipped into the elevator with the two strikingly taller vampires, his mind began to wander. He felt overwhelmed, not by the thought that he was essentially trapped in a small box with two blood- creatures, but by the thought that he had been here before. Which was impossible seeing as this was his first time in this building… At least he had assumed as much.

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