“Are you done?” Hyukjae heard a raspy voice. “We need to leave before someone sees us.”

 

“Almost,” came the reply as Hyukjae poked out his tongue to a drop of blood from his lips. There wasn’t even a single trace of light in the room, no windows and only a door that was locked. The smell of blood that would make a normal human being retch in disgust was quite appetizing for these creatures of the night.

 

The door opened and faint light illuminated the darkroom. The two men downed the masks and pulled the hood over their heads. Both of them made sure to check the filled bags on their backs. It was their food for the whole month. Giving each other one last look as a sign of goodbye, they readied themselves to leave.

 

Hyukjae leaned his body forward and got in position to dart out of there. His feet carried him with the speed of light. The other man followed close behind. Having memorized the way completely well, they moved without stopping. They couldn’t stop for even a fraction of second. A pause would mean getting caught by cameras, something they could not afford.

 

They were pretty famous. Both being the members of popular Korean boy bands, Super Junior and EXO. Popularity is something that was attached to their names. But they, and several others like them, shared a dark secret.

 

One would deny the existence of creatures like them. They have been mentioned in popular stories. People call them vampires. They never called themselves ‘vampires’ until humans coined that term. They still don’t. They were just superhumans feeding on human blood. They were creatures superior to human beings and their true existence was a secret.

 

Once Hyukjae reached their hidden spot, he changed into more comfortable clothes. A bag already hidden there contained a long coat that made him look more like a celebrity. He also changed his shoes. Having done that, he carried the bag that contained his food and walked towards his car parked nearby. Some people took notice of him. It was late at night but he should never let his guard down. After checking that his fellow vampire had left, he drove off.

 

No one could suspect that Lee Hyukjae, popularly known as Eunhyuk of Super Junior, was a vampire. He was among the smart ones who knew how to exist without letting humans know anything about him. Having spent 100 years among humans without being exposed even once has taught him ways of living with their changing lifestyle.

 

 

 

** **

 

 

 

“Hyukjae-ah,” Hyukjae heard a voice as soon as he entered the door to their dorms. Quickly hiding the bag from the eyesight of the owner of that voice, he tried to act nonchalant. “Why are you so late? I wanted to watch a movie with you.”

 

The voice undoubtedly belonged to Lee Donghae, his annoying best friend. The handsome man was sitting on the couch, looking at him with a pout on his face. Hyukjae had to admit. The boy looked extremely cute. Every time Donghae made that face, he had to give in, no matter what.

 

“You know, it’s 3 a.m.” Hyukjae said after checking his watch. “What are you doing up so late?”

 

“I was waiting for you. I feel so lonely. Come here. Let’s watch a movie and eat something delicious. I’ll order something.” The younger man took out his phone and already started punching numbers. Taking advantage of Donghae’s distraction, he immediately grabbed the bag again and dashed to his room at lightning speed.

 

When he returned a couple of minutes later, having changed in pajamas and having safely placed the bag in a secret place, Donghae was already fiddling with the DVD player. Fast and Furious, Mission Impossible, Tower, The Lion King, A Walk to Remember, Titanic, Star Wars and all other DVDs were sprawled out. Hyukjae already knew what Donghae was going to chose.

 

“These are so many. Do you want to watch all these?”

 

“Of course not. I’ll choose only one.” Donghae said as a matter of fact. He was on his knees and looking at all the covers. Everything appealed to him, one more than others. “So which one should I choose?”

 

“Isn’t that me choosing it instead of you?” Hyukjae scoffed. He already knew which one Donghae would like to watch but still, he went with his personal choice of Star Wars.

 

“But I want to watch A Walk to Remember. It’s been a long time since I last enjoyed it.” Donghae said, already reaching out for the DVD.

 

“Why did you ask me then?” There was no point in arguing with Donghae. But he still said that to annoy the excited man.

 

“To see if we like the same thing.”

 

“Looks like we don’t.” Hyukjae rolled his eyes. “So what did you order? I hope our choice matches for this one. I won’t be eating something I don’t like.”

 

“Don’t worry. I bet you’ll like it.” Donghae strolled towards him and sat on the couch cross-legged. The movie had already started.

 

Hyukjae gave Donghae a long look. He wondered how it would feel like to Donghae’s blood. The idea sounded so tempting. But he won’t do that. He would never do that.

 

“Don’t ever drink human blood, especially the blood of a human you’re close to.” He remembered the words of his late grandfather. The words he had engraved in his mind for those were the last words the old man had said to him. Those words were the very same reason why he lost the old vampire.

 

 

 

** **

 

 

 

“What are you two doing here again?” It was the magnae’s voice that woke him up from his peaceful sleep. He was on his bed, being hugged by Donghae from behind. It was no surprise to wake up in the morning with Donghae at his side. The younger man hated to be alone. Often, Donghae would end up in other member’s room, most likely his.

 

“Sleeping. Can’t you see?” Hyukjae muttered closing his eyes again. Vampires need sleep just like human beings. Though their sleeping hours are less as compared to humans, he still enjoys the most relaxing time.

 

“Together? Again?”

 

“We slept late at night. Now go away. We don’t have a schedule today.”

 

“No, you have. Have you forgotten you have to appear on Running Man with Heechul hyung?” Kyuhyun reminded him, making him groan. He was so sure he was free. That’s why he went to collect his food last night. It looks like he was wrong. All because the schedule was changed at the last minute because of Heechul.

 

“Fine, fine. I’m getting up. Let Donghae sleep though. He must be tired.”

 

“Yeah, he was really busy yesterday and didn’t sleep until you came. Don’t worry about him. I’ll hug him in your place.” Kyuhyun said and jumped on the bed, replacing Hyukjae who barely managed to get out. Donghae let out a whine on losing warmth but immediately snuggled up to Kyuhyun. Hyukjae shook his head and left to take a bath.

 

** **

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing their activities, Donghae and Hyukjae were planning to release their next album as a subunit. Having worked on it for months, both of them put their everything to bring out the best music for their fans.

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m exhausted,” Hyukjae muttered as he sagged on the couch. They were sharing the same hotel room. It was convenient since they worked for late hours at night. Being around each other helped them a lot.

 

But after several days of staying overseas, Hyukjae had already started to feel it - the thirst. He wanted a separate room. Although he failed to say it, in fear of hurting Donghae’s feelings and raising suspicion, he was finding it hard to control himself. He had told himself that he could hold the urges but the truth was that he couldn’t.

 

Every time he went overseas, he made sure to drink enough blood to last him the time of stay. But the stay had passed the time a week ago. To say that Hyukjae was hungry could be an understatement. The bad weather had already delayed the flights. More than that, there was a very delicious smelling human being moving around in the room.

 

“Then you should take a nap. I’m tired too. C’mon, let’s sleep together.” Donghae cocked his head signaling the vampire to enter their bedroom.

 

It wasn’t unusual for them to sleep in the same room. Hyukjae thought about denying. But it wasn’t easy to win an argument with Donghae. The illogical man would never understand his condition. Not that he’d ever tell Donghae about his secret.

 

Feeling more exhausted than hungry, Hyukjae decided to follow the other. He told himself that he was going to sleep the moment he touched the bed and forget about any enticing smell.

 

Easier said than done

 

Hearing soft snores coming from his bedmate, Hyukjae found himself staring at the ceiling in unrest. The biggest problem was his canines that demanded blood. A growl from his stomach told him that human food really was no substitute for what he needed. Sure that stuff tasted delicious but could never satisfy his hunger.

 

Turning on his side to face Donghae, he cursed every single blood cell of the sleeping being. ‘Look at him, sleeping so soundly after taking away my sleep. Why is he sleeping? He can’t sleep when I’m like this.’

 

Hyukjae was irritated. He was tired and hungry. He reached towards Donghae’s hair to disturb his sleep. Donghae, who was sleeping facing away from Hyukjae, whined and his hand flew to the site of pain. The action caused the sheet to pull down and reveal his neck.

 

The vampire was quick to take notice of it. Hyukjae’s eyes widened immediately at the inviting sight, the view making his canines tingle in anticipation. Goosebumps rose on his skin as his eyes fixated on the soft flesh. If only he could get a taste, just a little taste. Only a little bit, just enough to satisfy his hunger a little bit.

 

Hyukjae jumped away from Donghae, eyes wide in horror as he watched two drops of dark red blood traveling down the nape of Donghae’s neck and soaking into the white pillow. His canines, his body, felt more satisfied than before. It was only then that he realized he had actually dug his fangs into his best friend’s skin and tasted his blood.

 

Horrified at his own actions, Hyukjae left the room.

 

“No, no, no, no!” he chanted over and over inside his head. He couldn’t believe it. He had actually tasted Donghae’s blood. After thinking about it, he even liked the taste of it. Never before had he tasted something to delicious, so exhilarating. It was something sweet, something pleasantly satiating.

 

“How much did I drink?” He asked himself. The sound of Donghae’s breath told him that he hadn’t drunk too much to kill his friend but the uneven breathing pattern told him that he had taken more than he should have. Damn it. He shouldn’t have drunk anything at all.

 

He made his way back to the bedroom, to check on his friend. After drinking blood, he didn’t feel as hungry as before. That didn’t mean he wasn’t lured by the sweet smell again. He wanted more. But he might have caused harm to his best friend by his selfish action. He was scared of doing that again.

Concern for Donghae won over fear and he checked Donghae’s pulse to see if everything was alright. The wound on his neck didn’t heal and the blood was still oozing down, forming a wet patch of red on the pillow.

 

Remembering a trick he had learned several years ago, he brought his face closer to Donghae’s neck and started the two cracks on that soft skin. He resisted the urge to drink again.

 

‘His body temperature has dropped. I’ll try waking him up after fixing these bite marks.’ He thought and hurriedly. After doing that, he carefully swiped away red lines of blood and gently changed the pillow feeling relieved that Donghae was a heavy sleeper.

 

“Donghai,” he called Donghae’s Chinese name as he tried to wake up the sleeping man. His best friend was really, really cute when he was sleeping.

 

Donghae groaned and shifted, turning away and burying his head in the sheets.

 

It was never easy to wake up a sleeping Donghae. But Hyukjae was already having second thoughts wondering what kind of explanation he should give once the man woke up. Deciding it was rather tedious to go with his plan of waking him up, he decided to lie beside Donghae and enveloped him in a warm hug. The real reason for his lack of motivation was rather the dread of facing Donghae. ‘What will I say to him? I can’t tell him anything, that’s for sure. I just have to make sure that I don’t drink his blood again. Never.’

 

Again, it was easier said than done.

 

When Donghae woke up the next day, the vampire wanted his blood again. It was strange. He had always felt an urge to drink human blood before. But he had always surpassed the feeling. He had to admit, Donghae’s blood always smelt more tempting than any other but after the first taste, the temptation had grown tenfold.

 

“Even though I slept like a baby, I still feel tired.” Donghae complained in a raspy voice. They had already completed their schedules and were waiting for the weather to clear up so they could return to their dorms.

 

Eunhyuk checked the weather outside. The clear sky blue sky looked more promising than the previous day.

 

“Sleep again when we reach Seoul. We are free for a month, at least you are.”

 

“You should take a break too. Don’t exert yourself too much while working on all the variety shows.”

 

“Says the one who is about to sleep again even though he snored all night.”

 

“Hey! I don’t snore.” Came Donghae’s weak response which worried Hyukjae. On any other day, Donghae would have jumped on him while arguing. The lack of active response was a matter of worry.

 

‘I hope I didn’t drink too much.’

 

But it was just a hope. The manager arrived to give them the good news about their flight later that day. When the older man looked at Donghae, he was instantly worried.

 

“Are you alright Donghae-ssi?” The manager asked. “You look so pale.”

 

“I’m fine,” Donghae replied weakly.

 

“I think he needs to go to hospital. He’s saying that he’s tired. Arrange an appointment with the doctor.” Hyukjae suggested.

 

“Should we call a private doctor to come and see him?” The managed pondered.

 

“No, you should take him to hospital. I need to return to Korea today. My schedule is packed.”

 

“No, I want to go back too.” The pale man protested.

 

“You can’t.” Hyukjae gave him a flat look. “Get him checked as soon as possible. I’ll pack my stuff.”

 

“Hey! Are you leaving me?” It was no secret that Donghae hated to be left alone. He particularly enjoyed Hyukjae’s company. So when the other man decided to just leave, he felt betrayed.

 

“It’s not like you’re gonna stay here forever. It’s a beautiful place, enjoy a bit more. And focus on getting better. We can’t have you lagging behind before our next comeback.” Hyukjae smiled. “And I’ll call you when I reach there.”

 

“Are you saying goodbye?” Donghae was sad.

 

Instead of replying, Hyukjae turned to the manager and told him to take Donghae to the doctor, soon.

 

‘I need to leave. I can’t tolerate another moment alone with him.’ Hyukjae told himself as he prepared for his flight.

 

 

 

** **

 

 

 

“I got a call from Donghae’s manager.” Leeteuk told Shindong who was curious about the health of his dongsaeng. After Hyukjae had told them that Donghae was sick, they were worried. How sick he could have been that he couldn’t ride a plane?

 

“What’d he say?”

 

“He has anemia.”

 

“Anemia? Donghae?” Shindong was shocked. Donghae was one of the fittest members of their team. For him to have anemia was something unexpected. He exercised regularly and ate healthy food. 

 

“I don’t know what he has been doing there. But from the sound of it, he needs to stay there for a longer time and recover. Right now, he is admitted to the hospital.”

 

“When is Hyukjae arriving?” Shindong asked.

 

“In a few minutes. He needs rest too. They’ve been working too much these days without any breaks. No wonder Donghae is sick.”

 

“Yeah, and Hyukjae’s schedule is even more packed. I hope he is doing okay.”

 

“He sounded fine to me. I need to talk to Donghae though. But he is sleeping right now.”

 

“Don’t be so worried. He’ll be alright.”

 

“I hope so.”

 

“Before fans start to suspect something, we need to release an official statement regarding Donghae’s condition.” Leeteuk's manager told him. “We’ll handle everything.”

 

Leeteuk could only nod.

 

 

 

** **

 

 

 

It was expected to happen.

 

Hyukjae read the statement issued by SJ Label. The only thing that scared him was the possibility of someone finding out who he really was. Only a couple of vampires knew about his existence. What if they figured out it was because of him that Donghae was admitted to hospital? The very thought of it was scary enough. He didn’t want to lose trust of his fellow vampires.

 

When he arrived at his home, he sank on the sofa, feeling ashamed of his actions. Again, he swore to himself to never do it again. He took out his stock of food and drank five bags of blood. The more his stomach filled, the more he wondered if he would ever forget that sweet taste.

 

It was only two weeks later that Donghae was able to return, though not fully recovered, was much more enthusiastic about meeting his group members. He hugged everyone on entering the dorm's door. Even the ones who no longer lived in dorms were present, except for one person he wanted to see the most – Hyukjae.

 

That disappointed him. He swore the moment that monkey returned, he would make him grovel for his forgiveness. Even his fans came to see him. Meeting them was pleasant. The time when Hyukjae finally decided to grace him presence was twelve at midnight.

 

Hyukjae was shocked when he saw Donghae in their dorm, staring at the muted television. He knew the younger man wasn’t really watching anything playing on the screen, instead, his attention was completed on the intruder, that is, him. Even though Donghae showed no sign, he knew his presence was noticed by the other.

 

Suddenly, he regretted his decision of trying to avoid Donghae at all. He should have arrived earlier, with everyone. He could have much better self-restraint then. But at the present moment, alone in the darkroom with only light coming from television, Hyukjae could only breathe in Donghae’s scent. Even though he was no longer hungry, he still craved Donghae’s blood. The bloodlust was strong.

 

He didn’t want to stand in the same room as Donghae any longer so he quickly made his way to his room. That shocked the man who had been waiting. He was sure Hyukjae had taken note of his presence but he was completely and utterly ignored by the other. Forget an apology, he didn’t even get a small ‘hi’.

 

“What’s wrong with him?” He muttered and walked to Hyukjae’s room. The door was locked. Why was the door locked? It was never locked before. Often he came to Hyukjae’s room to sleep and the door was always open for him. But not today.

 

He knocked. “Hyukjae!”

 

But there was no response. It made him wonder if the man had slept. Not wanting to bother the other occupants of the dorm, Donghae made his way to Kyuhyun and Sungmin’s room. Sungmin was staying over at his girlfriend's so Donghae decided to take his empty bed not wanting to return to his dorm. But the night was so cold and he felt so alone. Rising from the bed, he walked to Kyuhyun’s bed and slept there, slowly feeling sleep coming to him as the mangnae’s warmth seeped into him.

 

** **

 

When he woke up the next day, Donghae was more pissed than ever. At Hyukjae for not thinking about his feelings and at himself for even getting bothered by Hyukjae’s actions. But to have his best friend treat him like that really angered him and he decided to return the favor by doing the same.

 

It was not hidden from any member of Super Junior that something was wrong with Donghae and Eunhyuk but they didn’t pay much heed to it. They had several fights in the past. And each time, they had been able to mend their friendship emerging stronger than others thought was even possible.

 

 

 

“I’m never talking to him ever again,” Donghae muttered as Leeteuk decided to intervene. The awkwardness between the two friends was visible when they had visited SM that day.

 

Leeteuk wondered what was wrong. He hadn’t been able to get hold of Hyukjae and Donghae seemed as confused as him. The only difference in their feelings was that Donghae was also pissed, beyond words. He was furious as hell.

 

“Did something happen in Japan?” Leeteuk inquired.

 

“No, everything was fine. He just decided to return on his own and left me there. He hardly even called me and didn’t come to see me yesterday. He only thinks about himself. I don’t want to talk to him or about him.” Donghae grumbled, his voice shaking in the end. Tears had already started to pool in his eyes.

 

Leeteuk hugged him to provide comfort. His mind was jumbled. There was a need to talk to Hyukjae. He couldn’t have a meaningful conversation with Donghae regarding the matter. The younger man wasn’t only hurt by Hyukjae’s actions he was still weak physically.

 

“It’s alright. It’s alright. Don’t worry. I’ll talk to him.”

 

 

 

** **

 

 

 

“Hyukjae, what the hell is wrong with you?”

 

When Leeteuk barged into the practice room, where he was alone, Hyukjae wasn’t surprised. He was sure sooner or later their observant leader would come and try solving the conflict between him and Donghae.

 

He didn’t reply, just spared a small glance at the leader.

 

“You know how upset Donghae is at your actions. He almost cried today.”

 

He almost cried. Nothing’s new. That man cries whenever we fight.

 

“Are you listening to me?”

 

“I am.” He replied. “But I don’t want to talk to Donghae.”

 

“Why? What happened?”

 

“Nothing. I just don’t want to.” Hyukjae tried to avoid but his mind had already started working on finding excuses.