“Wait... you've been sleeping in the same bed?!” Taemin's mouth hung open in disbelief.

Jongin nodded shyly. He really didn't think it was that weird, was it? It was nice to share a bed with someone.

“...and he didn't do anything?” Taemin peered his eyes.

“Just slept... what was he supposed to do?” he shrugged.

“Hmm, he's definitely not gay then.” Taemin concluded with certainty.

“We don't know that for sure.. maybe I'm not his type.” he pointed out, not ready to accept Taemin's logic at face value. Although, it would be like hitting the jackpot for him, if Kyungsoo was straight, then he would have nothing to worry about. Yet a part of him refused to believe it.

“Dude! You're everyone's type, look at you!” Taemin objected profusely.

Jongin could feel his cheeks redden. “So... you'd do me, then?” he giggled, looking away.

“Ehm...” Taemin let out a small cough. “Well... if you weren't you, then yeah, totally!”. Jongin could feel his eyes checking him out from top to bottom. He started feeling uncomfortable, but also really flattered.

“But you wouldn't be able to, because you have a boyfriend!” he , sticking his tongue out at him.

“I DON'T have a boyfriend!! It's just casual... how many times do I have to tell you... you know how I roll...” Taemin insisted.

“Soooo... have you slept with someone else yet, since Minho and you started dating?” he chuckled, knowingly pushing his buttons.

“I toldya!! I don't have time!! It's just convenient to have him there, when I need him.. I mean, need someone.. “ Taemin retorted, a little bit too forcefully. “...and he's really good in bed, like, probably the best I've ever had, so.. ” he added, blushing.

“What I do have time for..” he quickly changed the subject. “..is for you to invite me to your house tonight! I want to see this guy you're sharing a bed with every night! It's ridiculous that you're already married and I haven't even met your husband yet! How can that be?! I mean it's the least you could do, to invite me over for a gourmet meal cooked by your genius cook hubby, when you didn't even invite me to your wedding!!” Taemin acted like he was outraged and hurt, but his eyes were smiling.

“There was no wedding...and I'm not married, not really...” he feebly objected, but still felt guilty for some reason, for purposefully keeping Taemin away from that part of his life. A part that was taking up more and more space as time went on.

“Hehh... sleeping together every night, your hubby doing all the housework, cooking for you, taking care of you... sounds real enough to me.” Taemin giggled.

“We only sleep in the same bed, we don't ever like.. sleep together...” he clarified even though he knew Taemin was just pulling his leg. He hadn't told him that Kyungsoo also read him to sleep every night. He usually told Taemin everything, Taemin was like a part of him, they were two sides of the same coin, but somehow he felt like this was only between him and Kyungsoo, their private little secret.

“That's what most married couples do too! You just skipped the hot n' sweet honeymoon period and went straight to being a middle aged married couple.” Taemin gave him a teasing wink, laughing at the absurd situation that was his life.

“Oh! You're home!” Kyungsoo's face transformed into a huge smile. It was ridiculously cute, like a puppy that was happy to see you. For the past few days, he felt like Kyungsoo was warming up to him, getting more comfortable with him. He was slowly letting him see more and more sides of him.

“So I had an idea I wanted to try out...” Kyungsoo started telling him rather excitedly, but stopped in his tracks, his smile disappearing like the sun behind a huge dark cloud. “Who's this?” he pointed at Taemin, his eyebrows transforming into an angry V-formation, looking at him like an intruder.

“Hey, I'm Taemin. You've probably heard about me, I've heard loads about you.” Taemin chuckled cheerfully, holding his hand out as a friendly gesture.

Kyungsoo ignored it and turned to Jongin. “You have to notify me before you bring strangers into the house.” he growled under his breath.

Jongin's jaw fell to the floor.

“Uh... this is my house too, I can bring whomever I want... and he's not a stranger, he's my best friend.” he said defensively. He couldn't help but feel hurt by Kyungsoo's reaction. Just when he thought things were getting better.

“Give him a chance, he's really amazing and fun, and loving, and loyal, and talented...” he sang Taemin's praises.

“Oh stop...” Taemin giggled and waved his hand to seem humble. “It's all true, though.” he snorted, laughing heartily.

Kyungsoo stared at Taemin like he wanted to murder him in his sleep. Okay, so maybe he had married a serial killer.

“He's staying and that's that.” Jongin pouted. “So, what's for dinner? It smells really good.” the pout turned into a sweet smile, as he lead Taemin to the dining table.

“I only made enough for two.” Kyungsoo said dryly, looking like he was silently cursing them.

Taemin sent Jongin a concerned look, probably wondering how he could sleep at night, with such a scary little monster lying beside him. But Jongin wasn't really scared of him, not anymore. He was surprised at himself. He used to be terrified of that creepy stare, and those dark eyes that seemed to go on forever. He looked like a demon who could send you right down to hell simply by looking directly at you. But he was a really cute, little demon.

“That's fine, Taemin and I can share.” Jongin said stubbornly, he was not giving in.

Kyungsoo slammed a plate down on the table in front of Taemin. He gave both of them a start. Jongin almost didn't believe the plate was still intact, it had made such a loud bang when it hit the table.

Kyungsoo sat down opposite them, a dark cloud hovering over his head. He served Jongin and himself a bear shaped bun. It looked really cute, with eyes and ears and everything. Jongin wondered if it had anything to do with their little morning chat the other day, when he had been having extra trouble getting up, his eyes refusing to open even though Kyungsoo had poked him multiple times, hard. He had told him that sometimes he wished he was a bear, so he could just stay in bed and sleep during the winter, hybernate under the covers and never have to get up. Kyungsoo had laughed and said that he did kind of look like a bear. It was probably just a coincidence.

He noticed Taemin's empty plate. There were only two buns.

“Oh, you can have half of mine.” he smiled and prepared to tear the bear-bun in half, when Kyungsoo snatched it angrily out of his hands and put it back on his plate.

“I made it for you.” Kyungsoo hissed.

“But it isn't good manners to ignore the guest.” Jongin pointed out, trying not to let him get to him. He stretched his hand out and grabbed the bear-bun off Kyungsoo's plate and gave it to Taemin. Kyungsoo looked like he might burst into flames at any second, glaring at him. He decided to just ignore it, to not let him ruin a perfectly good evening. It wasn't that often anymore that he had a chance to eat dinner with Taemin, he was going to make the most of it.

And so they did. They talked and talked, and laughed and laughed. There was more food than the three of them could possibly finish, although Kyungsoo didn't seem to have much appetite. He did try and include him in the conversation, he really wanted him and Taemin to get along and get to know each other, but Kyungsoo didn't say a word the entire time.

“Are you going to be okay?” Taemin looked worried leaving him alone with Kyungsoo.

“I'm fine. Don't worry.” he Taemin's arm reassuringly. “He's not always like that.” he assured him, trying to convince himself at the same time.

“Thank him for dinner from me. At least he's a good cook, even though he's a terrible human being.” Taemin chuckled as he disappeared out the door.

Jongin joined Kyungsoo, who was cleaning up in the kitchen.

“Okaaay, okay, I'll let you know with plenty of notice next time I invite someone over, so you can stop being so mad at me.” Jongin said cutely, blowing out his cheeks in an attempt to look like the cute bear-bun.

“Do you always let him flirt with you like that?” Kyungsoo said dryly.

“What?” his cheeks deflated.

“And do you have to flirt back?! You're married!” Kyungsoo said like he was accusing him of cheating.

“Uhhhmm.... it's not like it's a real marriage...” he shrugged. “And we weren't flirting, we were just talking.”

Kyungsoo threw the dish towel he was holding on the floor with full force. Okay, maybe he was still kind of scary. “This is a real marriage!” he grumbled. “We both signed the papers. Official papers. That state that we are legally married. It doesn't get more real than that.” he said with smoke coming out of his little nostrils, like a tiny dragon. It might be super cute, but it was a dragon all the same, capable of spewing real fire. “So you cannot go around flirting with any guy or girl you meet, and you can definitely not spend the night with someone else, if you know what I mean.” he crossed his arms, avoiding eye contact, his lips curling into a little pout as the anger lost its power.

“But... it's not like I'm getting any at home...” Jongin pointed out, finding these rules way too confining. What if he met the perfect girl tomorrow? Just because they were forced to get married, didn't have to mean that they had to give up their entire lives and their happiness along with it.

“And whose fault is that?!” Kyungsoo spat at him, a little too pointedly.

“Wait...” Jongin stared at him, stunned. Did that mean what he thought it meant? Was Kyungsoo implying that... was Kyungsoo into him? Was he admitting he was gay and that he wanted more? Jongin tried to swallow the huge lump that had just appeared in his throat. What if he wanted more? A needle shot through his gut, spreading frozen panic to everything it touched. They were just getting to know each other, and he was kind of starting to like living with him, he was nowhere near ready to deal with Kyungsoo being in love with him. Then they would have to give up all they had gained and start from scratch. He couldn't share a bed with him if he had a crush on him, no way. But he really liked not having to sleep alone. It was nice.

He had to lighten up the atmosphere somehow. He needed to find a way out of this corner he had painted himself into.

“Are you... are you jealous?” he smirked teasingly.

Kyungsoo acted so swiftly, he was like a ninja. He picked up the dish cloth, wound it up at the speed of light and flicked him.

“OUCH!! ...hey, you are jealous!” he giggled, nursing the spot where the towel hit. He could feel Kyungsoo had held back, he hadn't used full force. It still hurt like hell, though.

Kyungsoo started winding the towel up again. Oh , he had poked the monster and now it was angry. He giggled and got the hell out of there, running into the living room. Kyungsoo ran after him, following him closely, getting in a few near misses.

“My legs!! Do you not learn from experience?” he laughed, out of breath as he continued running.

“It's okay as long as I avoid your million dollar legs.” Kyungsoo chuckled, his whole face smiling. He was clearly having fun.

Two could play at that game. The next time Jongin ran through the kitchen, he grabbed a dish towel. It was time to turn defense into attack. Kyungsoo hadn't seen it coming, so before he realized what was happening, Jongin had flicked him on the thigh. There was a loud snap and Kyungsoo's eyes turned into fire.

Oh no. He was so dead.

He ran away, laughing giddily, but Kyungsoo was so determined, he tripped him so he fell onto the sofa, and flicked him multiple times on the arm before Jongin managed to grab Kyungsoo's dish towel and pull on it sharply, so Kyungsoo lost balance and fell on top of him. For a moment they were both in shock.

“Okay, okay, I give up.” Jongin said to break the deafening silence. Kyungsoo looked up at him, his big, beautiful eyes unreadable. He had no idea what he was thinking, so he just looked at him back, holding his breath, waiting for Kyungsoo to make the next move, hoping that move would be to get off of him and not... his stomach twisted at the thought of Kyungsoo trying to kiss him. No, he wouldn't, would he?

He didn't. Kyungsoo chuckled awkwardly, bit his lower lip and tried to get off him without touching him too much. The perfect gentleman.

They sat side by side on the sofa, neither one of them knowing what to say, both nursing the red spots on their skin, their battle wounds. Jongin felt really weird. His insides were all jumbled up and he didn't know how to untangle them.

“You're still going to read for me, right?” Jongin put up the biggest pair of puppy eyes and a sweet smile. He didn't want anything to change between them. He liked things how they were.

Kyungsoo turned shy, nodding slightly before he went to get the first aid kit.

Jongin rolled up his sleeve and let Kyungsoo carefully rub ointment on every little spot that was remotely reddish, even though most of them had nearly disappeared already. It smarted. Kyungsoo softly blew on his arm to ease the initial discomfort while the cream worked its magic. It gave him goose bumps.

“You want me to do you?” Jongin waved the cream. It was only fair that he would repay the favor.

“Ehh...” Kyungsoo's eyes tripled in size. He looked at him, then at his hurt thigh, and then back at him.

“Oh..o-okay.” Kyungsoo undid his pants hesitantly. Jongin didn't know why, but it felt really awkward and weird. The locker room was his second home, he went there every day, guys undressing all around him. This was no different. Why was it so disconcerting then?

“Oh!” Jongin exclaimed without meaning to when there appeared a huge, inflamed, deep red mark on Kyungsoo's otherwise milky white thigh. It was as if his body had never seen the sun. Ever.

Gingerly, he applied the cream with one finger, using as little pressure as he could. Kyungsoo hissed. Jongin hadn't meant to flick him so hard. He felt bad, so he leaned forward and blew on it to make it smart less. Kyungsoo winced. There was something about the sound he had made that made Jongin uncomfortable, it didn't really sound like a reaction to pain. He blew in circles on the affected area, but suddenly stopped as his eyes tripped over Kyungsoo's black boxers, realizing his nose was only inches away from imminent disaster. Oops. He froze, slowly backing up.

“I think it should be okay now. He he...” Jongin squeezed out a frozen smile, pearls of cold sweat sprouting on his forehead.

“Thanks. Oh, hey, I didn't tell you my idea yet.” Kyungsoo's face lit up like a lightbulb.

“So I was thinking about what you said, about joining the bloodlines and that the marriage wasn't necessarily enough to fulfill the prophecy since we can't have kids. Maybe we're not looking at it literally enough. Think about it. 'Join the bloodlines'.” he explained with dramatic effect in his deep, hoarse voice. Jongin was hooked immediately, mesmerized, but he had no idea what he was trying to say.

“Blood brothers!!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, his eyes livid with excitement. “Then we would be joining our blood, and therefore joining our bloodlines, just like the prophecy said! Clever, huh?” he beamed, proudly, as if he had solved the question of life.

He proceeded to take a needle out of the first aid kit. No way, he was really thinking about going through with it. It wasn't a bad idea, he was just afraid of needles. But he didn't want to loose face in front of Kyungsoo, so he straightened out his shoulders, making himself look big and strong.

“Are you sure this will work.” Jongin's voice betrayed him, shaking like a leaf. Kyungsoo held the needle right above the tip of his finger. “No, but... just in case it will...”.

Jongin clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. Kyungsoo chuckled and dove right in, sticking him without any hesitation at all. A huge bubble of blood formed, and Kyungsoo stuck himself and put his finger firmly on his, pressing the two blood drops together.

“Now we're blood brothers.” Kyungsoo grinned widely, wiping the blood off both of their fingers and putting a black band aid on them both. It kind of looked like a couple thing, a dark, vampiric couple thing.

That night Kyungsoo fell asleep after only half a page. Jongin lay awake, listening to him breathe next to him. He had a lot on his mind. To come up with the idea of becoming blood brothers must have meant Kyungsoo had put a lot of thought into it, which meant he was really bothered by the prophecy. Did he believe in it? Or was he just scared to dismiss it, covering all his bases? One thing was certain, if he cared that much about it, it meant he had agreed to the marriage because of it, and not because he was interested in him and was just using the prophecy to mask his ulterior motives.

Maybe Taemin had been right. Maybe Kyungsoo wasn't gay at all. He watched how peacefully he was sleeping next to him. Demon by day, angel by night. He looked so peaceful and innocent. If he had a crush on him, he wouldn't be able to sleep so relaxed next to him, right? Maybe Jongin had just been flattering himself, thinking Kyungsoo might be in love with him. It was probably just fear, making him over interpret the whole situation, imagining all the little moments between them. Kyungsoo was just being nice to him because they were stuck in this prophecy thing together. So Jongin could finally rest assured, his fears were unfounded. But why didn't that make him feel more at ease? It only made him feel even more unnerved and restless.