Title: Public

Pairing: none

Related chapters: 

Word Count: 963

Han Hongbin might be the public face of the family, the one member that everyone knew, but he was by no means the one in charge. No, the one calling the shots was the eldest brother in the family, Han Sanghyuk. Almost nothing was done without consulting him. While everyone credited the family’s success – both in survival and fortune – to Hongbin, those within the family and their small circle of friends knew the truth.

Lee Jaehwan had once asked why Sanghyuk chose to hide his brilliance, why he let everyone think that Hongbin was the golden goose while he was just an eccentric recluse living in a mansion somewhere in the mountains. Sanghyuk had just shrugged and smiled, replying with something about preferring to live in the shadows. Jaehwan hadn’t understood it then, but after a couple of centuries he learned what the older vampire meant. After many years in the spotlight of vampire society, he’d come to wish that his beautiful voice had never become public knowledge.

Kim Wonsik had never understood it and he probably never would. He liked the attention that he got, liked knowing that others enjoyed his musical talent. He never minded the dog and pony show he was forced into so long as his music made others happy. Made them smile. Made their day better. Hongbin and Jaehwan often theorized that this was part of why Sanghyuk and Wonsik’s marriage fell apart.

Sanghyuk’s determination to stay out of the stoplight was commendable. It was something that Jaehwan – and Hongbin as well – envied a great deal. Which made it rather tragic when Sanghyuk was forced into the public eye he had so long avoided. Which made the reason for his decision feel even worse about the trouble he had caused his older brother.

Hakyeon was the younger half-brother to Hongbin and Sanghyuk. Their father, a vampire, had slept with Hakyeon’s mother, a human, and by pure chance Hakyeon was born almost nine months later. His mother died giving birth and their father brought him home, putting the responsibility of raising the child on Sanghyuk and Hongbin’s shoulders. Well, more Sanghyuk’s shoulder because Hongbin had responsibilities that kept him extremely busy.

Everything was fine for several years. Hakyeon adored his older brothers and they adored him just as much. He loved Jaehwan and Wonsik too, viewing them as his brothers more than his actual brothers –they were more like parents then siblings. But then came the day where Hakyeon wanted to experience the world outside of his childhood home, he wanted friends that were his and not his family’s. As much as his brothers didn’t like it, they agreed. He really did need more socialization then just then, Jaehwan, Wonsik, and the mansion’s staff after all.

He couldn’t take part in vampire social circles. Not just because he was human either. A child born of both human and vampire……… He wasn’t the first, there had been a few others over the years. Each had been met with death for a variety of reasons. Some killed because their existence was viewed as unnatural, a crime against existence. Some were killed because of experiments run on them. Other were killed as part of sick, twisted games. Even with the power behind the Han family name, Hongbin and Sanghyuk had feared for their baby brother and so they kept his existence secret from all save a trusted few.

If Hakyeon wanted to socialize with others, he would have to do it with humans.

So his brothers found a city where they felt he would be safe, where he would be away from vampire society. Hongbin found himself a place not too far away, taking a job within vampire politics in order to explain his move. The lie was easily accepted as many had been telling him for years to join politics like his father had. Wonsik decided to go with him, taking up the position as Hongbin’s right hand man. Jaehwan decided to stay with Sanghyuk, worried that his friend would become lonely without his friends and family. Sanghyuk had insisted that everything would be fine, that he had the staff to keep him company, but everyone knew that Jaehwan was right.

For several years, everything was fine. Hakyeon made friends and was happy. Hongbin rose through the political ranks, Wonsik at his side helping wherever he was needed. Sanghyuk and Jaehwan were content with spending their days in the Han family mansion, out of the public eye and getting letters and e-mails from their family and friends.

And then someone discovered Hakyeon.

No one knew who leaked the information, just that it was the talk of the vampire world within a few short hours.

Hongbin was at a loss for what to do. Something this horrible…….he had never had to deal with something so bad. Wonsik had to step in, quickly gathering up Hakyeon and bringing him home to the Han mansion. He also grabbed Hakyeon’s closest friend Taekwoon because Hakyeon had told him about vampires. The knowledge would make him a target and Wonsik knew that Hakyeon would never forgive himself should something happen to his friend.

With everyone gathered in the mansion, safe and sound for the moment, the discussion turned to the topic of what to do. Hongbin was still at a loss, Hakyeon was almost inconsolable, Wonsik and Jaehwan were just as lost as the middle Han, and Taekwoon didn’t know enough about the vampire world to be of any help.

Sanghyuk, however, had an idea of how to handle the situation.

A few days later, he became the new public face of the Han family.

And it did not take very long before the vampire world found out exactly how strong of a leader he was.

A/N: I was originally going to do a different criminal au, but then I remembered this old VIXX vampire au I’ve been working on for……a while. So long that I’m not sure if I’ll ever actually finish it haha. Anyway, it kind of inspired me to do this. The two stories don’t really have much in common other then: Ken, Hyuk, Ravi, and Hongbin being vampires, N and Leo being human, Hyuk, Hongbin and N being related, Ravi and Hyuk being exs. I’m thinking I’m going to turn this into a recurring theme since I really like how this turned out. Plus, I’ve got more I want to add that didn’t really fit into this chapter.