At first, people thought it was an illness. Citizens of the world cowered in fear of this epidemic, even though no one knew where it came from. All they did know was that it was killing their loved ones.

But, they didn’t stay dead…

“How was your day, Changkyunnie?”

Changkyun glances up in surprise at the question, having not expected to see any of the others so early into the evening. He spots Kihyun staring at him with that sort of sleepy smile that makes his heart nearly burst from his chest. He can’t help but give a wide grin as he returns to fixing himself some much-needed dinner.

“It was okay,” he answers, unable to think of anything particularly exciting to tell. There’s a hum of acknowledgment from behind, and the next second Kihyun is standing beside his dongsaeng, staring at him with those hypnotizing blue eyes.

“Let me,” he instructs, reaching over Changkyun’s hand to take the knife he’s currently using to cut some gimbap with. Changkyun his lips a little, his skin prickling at the ice-cold touch, and steps back to comply with his hyung’s words. Kihyun chuckles at the younger’s reaction, and quickly begins cutting up the snack.

“We’d hate for you to get cut, after all,” Kihyun says teasingly. “The others might go into a frenzy if you were…” Changkyun chuckles at this, thought doesn’t argue. They both know it’s true, after all, so why should he?

Kihyun makes quick work of the task, and soon enough Changkyun is sitting at the dining table stuffing his face with the food. The older man watches him with an amused smile, his eyes absolutely shining in the dim lighting of the kitchen. The whole house is like this, heavy curtains on the windows and the barest minimum of lights in each room. All the others’ eyes are terribly sensitive to light, after all.

Changkyun doesn’t mind much, though. If it’s living in a world of darkness for those he loves, he’d gladly give up the light.

“Is that supposed to be your dinner, Kkungie?” Kihyun asks, his tone making it clear just how much he disapproves of that. Changkyun chuckles under his breath, and merely pops in another piece whilst smiling cheekily at his hyung. Kihyun purses his lips in dismay. “You need something more substantial, Changkyunnie…” He then gets up from his seat, going to the fridge to most likely try and find something else for the younger to eat.

Changkyun avoids watching him, his stomach flipping at just the thought of all that’s in that fridge right now.

Despite having been a human feed-bag for two years now, the sight of so much blood still makes him squeamish.

There’s a coo from across the room, and Changkyun knows from the tone it belongs to Hyungwon. He glances up to meet the older’s almost imperious gaze, and can’t help but quickly drop his eyes from the sight. He hears Hyungwon chuckle, followed by the sound of the fewest amount of footsteps it takes the older to reach the table.

“You’re so cute, Kyunnie~” Hyungwon compliments, reaching over to set a consoling hand over Changkyun’s. “Even after all this time, you still can’t even look in the fridge.”

“It’s different when you’re drinking me, hyung,” Changkyun defends with an indignant pout. “It isn’t just sitting there in a bag, looking like some kind of punch…” Changkyun gags at his own wording, the sight of all those bags of blood flashing before his eyes. “I don’t get why you have those, anyway. I’m here for you whenever you need a pick-me-up.”

“We can’t very well have six ppalpan feed off you exclusively, Kkungie,” Kihyun nags from the stove, not even bothering to turn his back. “Before, it was doable with just you and Hyunwoo-hyung… But then Hoseok-hyung came along, and then the rest of us… I’m sorry, Changkyun-ah, but we’ve been over this.” He pauses, turning to flash Changkyun such a bright smile the human is almost blinded. “If all of us were to feed off you and you only, you’d be dead within the first two hours.”

Changkyun groans in aggravated defeat, though he still doesn’t agree.

“Then maybe, if you Turned me…”

“Yah!” Kihyun calls, slamming the fridge door shut in protest. Changkyun flinches at the sound, having to bite back a sigh. He should’ve known better than to bring this up so soon after Kihyun’s awoken. “We’ve discussed this. We didn’t choose to be like this. We were infected. We won’t force you into this life.” Hyungwon glances between the two men, a hesitant light to his eyes.

“But,” he says slowly, earning a defiant glare from the older, “we can’t really say we’re forcing him into anything, anymore. It’s been two years, Kihyun-ah. He’s stayed with us throughout all this… I think he’s earned it.”

Changkyun beams over to the taller, his heart beating madly in joy. Despite practically begging to be Turned ever since the beginning, he'd never gotten any of them to actually agree with him... It's a relief short-lived, however, when Kihyun in a disapproving breath through his teeth.

"Wonnie, I cannot believe wh—"

"Ugh, god, stop arguing," Jooheon says as he stumbles into the room, squinting around with his small eyes. He pouts at the vibe of the room, going over to hug Kihyun from behind. He nestles his chin atop Kihyun's shoulder, hugging him close to try and calm him. "Hyung, it's too early to fight... Please don't fight..."

Kihyun coos, leaning back against Jooheon's chest. Hyungwon and Changkyun share a thankful glance. Jooheon can always calm Kihyun down when there's an argument.

"Kkungie," Jooheon mutters after a moment, glancing at the maknae, "Hoseok-hyung needs to wake up. You should probably go see him." Changkyun nods, shoveling the rest of his gimbap into his mouth and standing quickly from his chair. Hyungwon grabs onto his wrist before he can rush from the room, pulling him close to kiss his stuffed cheeks.

Changkyun smiles at his boyfriends as best he can around the food, and then turns to go to Hoseok's room, chewing as best he can as he goes.