So Kihyun’s twenty four now, and old enough that he can’t drink caffeine after four or pull all nighters anymore, but he’s too young for his taste buds to die just because his other half’s bat crazy.

___

The first time it had happened, only three weeks had passed since Changkyun’s transition, and Kihyun was still so happy to see him in one piece he hadn’t even made fun of the younger.

(Present Kihyun regrets that concern down to the very last fibre of his vapid chest cavity, because not only had then been a prime blackmail opportunity, maybe beating some sense into Changkyun would have prevented this ongoing pattern. Negative reinforcement, something something conditioning. Except Kihyun’s been letting Changkyun come first every time they whenever he does the dishes on his own accord, as a part of Kihyun’s efforts to eradicate the fruit flies nesting in their apartment, and the younger still forgets 6/7 days of the week. Maybe he should just give up, because Lassie’s clearly an intellectual calibre above his other half.

Back to the worse half though.)

The first time it had happened Kihyun had gasped, patting Changkyun a few times on the head and making sure he was still breathing, before running to grab the blood bag kit from their coat closet and muscle memory working to fill a pint bag for Changkyun to le in order to soothe the inflammation as he loaded them both into his ty sedan and sped to the hospital, flicking off two police officers he ran into on the way.

A kind receptionist had greeted them at the entrance of Noir ER, and an antidote had been administered within seconds by an nurse. They kept Changkyun for a few hours, to check his vitals since he was still young, but they had been on their way shortly later, Kihyun even agreeing to stop at a Starbucks on the way home since Changkyun was sulking and hot chocolate always cheered him up.

Four years later, Kihyun strolls through the same ER doors, Changkyun’s face buried in his neck to lap at the trickling blood in the wound he made ten minutes prior, because blood bags are like 100 won a piece. Kihyun could get like, one and a half packs of gum with that cash. Maybe a fountain drink too, if they’re both on offer. Hyorin doesn’t bother greeting them, but raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “Do I even want to know?”

“Guess.” Kihyun shrugs, grabbing a form to fill out while Changkyun whines and chokes.

“Did he put the fake Parmesan on his pasta again?”

“Nope.”

“Did he order chicken with the sauce?”

“Nope.”

“I don’t have time for this.” Hyorin sighs, snatching the form from Kihyun and grabbing a syringe and antidote from her desk drawer. Changkyun extends his arm immediately. Technically it’s supposed to be administered by someone… anyone with any sort of license, but Changkyun’s a regular. “What did he do this time?”

“Alfredo.” Kihyun rolls his eyes, remembering Changkyun collapsed at the kitchen table, remnants of the white cream pasta sauce on his lips. “The garlic was so strong I could smell it as soon as I walked in.”

“I don’t know what surprises me more.” Hyorin chides, pulling the needle back out and tossing it in the trash bin under her desk. That’s probably not procedure. “That he’s still alive, or that you’re still together.”

“Definitely the latter.” Kihyun sighs, waiting for Changkyun to start breathing normally again. “He’s like undead now or some . Hard to kill.”

“It was worth it.” Are Changkyun’s first words, eyes glassy and he reminisces the meal from twenty minutes ago. “God, it was worth it.”

“Okay.” Kihyun acquiesces. “Maybe the former.”

Hyorin snorts.

It’s silent on the way home, because part of the stability in their relationship directly depends on Kihyun pretending to steep in an angry silence while Changkyun pretends to mope in an apologetic one, but both of them are having the same conversation in their head.

“This is technically your fault.” Changkyun would have said.

“Everything is your fault.” Kihyun would retort dismissively. “This, that, climate change, slave labour, Apple getting rid of earphone jacks.”

“Before I met you I ate like 1.7 meals a day and 1.4 of those meals were chips I stole from work.” Changkyun would continue. “But then you had to be all fancy cooking fancy food-”

“Changkyun I made you fried rice with a microwave and hair straightener.”

“And now I have a palate!” Changkyun would continue. Kihyun’s still not sure Changkyun actually knows what a palate is. “And I can’t just stop eating garlic because all of a sudden it’s going to kill me!”

“Do you even hear yourself?!”

“I have tastes now.” Changkyun would groan, sprawling his limbs to the point where they’re a driving hazard.

Kihyun had a lot of concerns when Changkyun was first turned, most of them related to the younger’s newfound blood lust and how their relationship was going to proceed, but Changkyun had been able to control the hunger near immediately. He got used to wearing sunscreen and purchasing UV clothing within a few days, and habituated himself to the increase in strength within a few weeks. They’ve moved past every major obstacle Kihyun fretted about after the accident, and are still as together as ever, but four years down the line Changkyun still can’t stop ing eating garlic.

“This is absurd.” Kihyun sighs, bringing the car to a stop as they hit traffic getting back onto campus. He turns to his right in hopes he can make fun of Changkyun’s shirt to feel better, but finds the bloodsucker burrowed into his hoodie, eyes closed, breathing steadily.

ing-

“What do I get out of this relationship.” Kihyun sighs, slapping the steering wheel.

“.” Changkyun whispers, trying to cover it up as a snore. “Really good .”

Kihyun rips down the collar of Changkyun’s sweater long enough for him to hiss at the heat, before turning his attention back to the wheel.

“What do I get out of this relationship.” Kihyun sighs.

Changkyun has the sense to continue sleeping.

___

Kihyun, truthfully, thinks that this is his fault, not that he’d admit it to anyone less than death.

He doesn’t blame himself because of Changkyun’s hellishly low food standards, but because joining the Wellington Society—a more casual dining club for male vampires—had been his idea, and that’s where Changkyun had met Jooheon, Minhyuk, Hoseok, and the rest of those ers.

In his defense, Changkyun had been concerningly quiet right after the attack.

Sure, he was more or less the same around Kihyun after a few days, and his parents after a few weeks, but out in public he hid behind anyone familiar, rarely spoke unless questioned directly, and generally had the mannerisms of a skittish doe. He’d want to order in instead of eat out, revise at his desk instead of at the library, and started spending more and more of his time alone.

Doctor Park had emphasized the importance of a support system in the first few weeks after a turning, and since Changkyun wasn’t going to find one himself Kihyun figured he’d do the ground work for him. Wellington had been relatively easy to find, and it wasn’t as if there were a lot of vampire societies on campus to choose from, so even if Minhyuk’s character was a little… suspect, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

He didn’t have to ask to know that Changkyun wouldn’t want to take part, so he dragged the boy out out of his room one night under hot chocolate premises and arranged for Minhyuk and Hoseok to ambush them inside the cafe. Changkyun can pretend to be stubborn all he wants, but he likes attention too much to not like Hoseok and gets inducted by the end of the week.

It’s not like he’s jealous when Changkyun starts spending all his time with the other members, and it was Kihyun’s idea in the first place, but his pride is tender and overworked and with the species gap it’s not hard for him to feel lonely. Kihyun starts to expand his social circle and starts to see his boyfriend less and less, defensively or offensively he doesn’t know, until they barely exchange small smiles, lips pulled taught against gritted teeth, the once or twice they might run into each other a week, despite being next door neighbours.

On a Friday night, there’s a knock on his door, and Kihyun’s taught himself better than to have expectations but he’s still disappointed when he opens it to find some guy who’s probably his RA.

“I’m Hyunwoo.” He greets, holding out a hand.

“Nice to meet you.” Kihyun nods, voice barely civil. “But I’m kind of busy right now-”

“Minhyuk sent me.” Hyunwoo continues.

“Changkyun’s room is next door.” Kihyun sighs, amidst shutting the door, but Hyunwoo’s half through the frame before Kihyun can return to Sam Smith and his second box of Chocopies.

“To see you.” Hyunwoo goes on, grip on the door firm, and Kihyun briefly wonders if Hyunwoo’s a vampire too, but the bulging green veins on his arm suggest otherwise. “I’m Minhyuk’s boyfriend.”

“Oh.” Kihyun loosens his grip and lets Hyunwoo in.

It’s silent for a few seconds.

Kihyun’s expecting a lecture of some sort, or some long winding tale of Hyunwoo and Minhyuk’s tragedy abounding love where the moral lies in Kihyun being a petty . Or just a fist to the face, because Hyunwoo could definitely manage at least that without any fear of retribution.

“Are you okay?” Hyunwoo asks.

“Huh?” Kihyun replies absentmindedly, eyes trained to see if Hyunwoo’s hands move. The right one does, but only to rest on Kihyun’s left shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Hyunwoo repeats.

“Huh.” Kihyun responds; something about Hyunwoo’s unfocused, blank gaze makes him complete the meaning of life.

“It’s not easy on our end either.” Hyunwoo explains, before a second wave of silence.

“Oh.” Kihyun replies, brain a little overwhelmed, and when he parts his lips to form the syllables he tastes salinity. “Oh. Can we pretend I’m not crying?”

Minhyuk and the other bats are in line at the local blood bank so Kihyun follows Hyunwoo back to Minhyuk’s apartment so they can ‘talk.’ Kihyun was expecting some profound life advice, or at least some experience on Hyunwoo’s end, but instead he gets sat down on a wrinkled leather couch that’s seen better days and Hyunwoo starts to read him a sixty slide power point presentation about the emotional stress of a newborn Dracula clearly made by Minhyuk, but his voice wavers so monotonously that Kihyun’s toppled over in peals of laughter by slide seven and falls asleep before Hyunwoo can finish.

He wakes up hours later to Hyunwoo trying to load him onto Changkyun’s back without touching his , and after a