“Who are you?”

Those words hung in the air with so much weight that Ryeowook thought they would crush him and he instantly tensed. A mere heartbeat later, Kyuhyun’s arm was in front of him, shielding him from any potential danger, but Ryeowook knew that it was pointless. His heart sank at the thought that his identity was questioned so soon, but he couldn’t say that he was surprised.

Taking a deep breath, he straightened his back and gently pushed Kyuhyun’s arm down, smiling at the other when Kyuhyun glanced at him warily, reluctantly giving in. Ryeowook looked at Hangeng, then at Heechul and a polite smile had found its way back to his lips as he inclined his head. “Allow me to introduce myself properly: My name is Kim Ryeowook. I am the sixth born son of the King of Joseon, making me the youngest prince of Joseon.”

“So that’s why something about you seemed familiar!” Heechul blurted out seemingly unintentionally because he looked embarrassed a moment later.

“What do you mean?” Kyuhyun asked, his tone sharp once again. Ryeowook was tempted to reach out and take Kyuhyun’s hand to calm him down, but at the same time, he didn’t dare restrict Kyuhyun’s movements in case anything happened.

“I met His Highness at the spring festival in the capital.”

This time, Ryeowook tensed up as well. Not only was his identity out in the open, at least Heechul had even met him shortly before he had been turned! How could this be? “Please, there’s no need to speak to me that formally. I am now a runaway, no different from any other man around. But how did we meet at the spring festival?” He tried to remember meeting someone like Heechul, but even though his memory wasn’t bad, his mind blanked.

“Oh, we didn’t meet like this, not quite. We met at my work.”

“Your work?”

Heechul gave an affirmative hum, looking away like he was embarrassed. On the other side of the room, the water started boiling, so Hangeng moved to finish preparing the tea. “I had hoped for this conversation to come up at a much later point, but I guess there’s no hiding it now… You see, I found a way to work with my power: I’m a fortune teller.”

Ryeowook frowned, but the only fortune teller visit he recalled was with a woman when his two brothers had dragged him into her tent, so that couldn’t be the meeting Heechul was referring to. Unless…

“Yes, that was me,” Heechul replied quietly, drawing patterns onto the table surface with one finger. “Since male fortune tellers are pretty much unheard of but female shamans are rather frequent, I got the idea to cross-dress and work as a fortune teller.”

“But you said you can read minds, not tell the future,” Kyuhyun observed, still sounding mistrusting, yet Heechul nodded. Hangeng came to sit next to him, but he merely set the tea aside for the time being to give it time to draw.

“That’s correct. The crystal ball that I’m using is entirely fake. What happens is that my clients usually come to my tent wanting to hear certain words. With the crystal ball, I’ll buy time to read their minds and find out what they really want to hear, then I’ll give them some empty phrases and something that is designed especially for them to give them a push in the right, or at least morally right, direction.”

“But what about all that incense?” Ryeowook blurted out, remembering all the incense that had surrounded him in that small tent and the way Kyuhyun had been anything but amused about the scent of course still lingering on him hours later. He himself had found it intense, so how did Heechul cope being surrounded by it for hours and days without end?

Heechul grimaced. “That’s what people expect when they see a fortune teller, so of course I’ll go along with it. And I keep my work attire at another place in town to avoid smelling like incense all year round,” he added with a glance at Kyuhyun who inclined his head as if a question had been answered.

“Since that was you back then… when you said that a reunion and possibly a journey were awaiting me… did you say that because of Kyuhyun?” Ryeowook asked hesitantly, suddenly feeling shy to have been exposed long before he himself had known what Kyuhyun meant to him, yet he had to know the answer.

“May I be completely honest?” When Ryeowook nodded quickly, Heechul continued, “Yes, I said that because of Kyuhyun. Something about your thoughts had caught my interest even before you came in and while you and your two brothers were there, I could tell that your thoughts were occupied with something—or rather someone—entirely different, though you tried to keep them in check. From just the images you gave me, I knew that Kyuhyun couldn’t be a mortal. You’re actually the reason why I finished work early on the last day of the festival so that I could change into my normal style to watch the show! I earned tremendous respect for you on that day, Kyuhyun-sshi.” Heechul’s eyes were filled with such honest wonder that Ryeowook couldn’t help but believe him. Everything Heechul had said so far sounded logical and didn’t contradict his own memory, so it didn’t seem like Heechul was lying to them.

Kyuhyun inclined his head lightly, taking the compliment. “How long did you stay in the capital back then?”

“We left right after the spring festival because Hangeng couldn’t stay away from his work here for too long. Though, of course, it was still a long time, making it to the capital and back just for the spring festival.”

“You really only went for the spring festival?” Kyuhyun sounded suspicious again, but Heechul nodded, a fond smile playing on his lips.

“You could say that this year was a special date, so we had to return, even though we couldn’t stay long.”

“So you don’t know what happened afterwards?”

Heechul and Hangeng exchanged a glance before turning back to the two visitors. “What did happen afterwards?”

“A flu-like disease broke out in the capital towards the end of the spring festival.”

“Oh really?”

Ryeowook nodded and looked down, trying desperately to push back all thoughts related to that time, even though memories ranging from his work at the hospital, the little boy who died, and Kyuhyun’s nightly visits flooded his mind with no way to block them. If it hadn’t been for this disease, would Kyuhyun have turned him? Or would he have ignored all his feelings and left eventually?

“May I ask something that I have been wondering about, even if it’s a very different topic?” Kyuhyun asked when it became apparent that neither he nor Ryeowook would go further into detail about the disease.

“Yes, of course.”

“I’m sorry if this is too private, but… what about feeding? I mostly feed in town, but Ryeowook doesn’t yet, and since you did mention that your relationship is similar to ours…”

Even though it hadn’t been him speaking, Ryeowook felt a blush rise to his cheeks, so he kept his head lowered, too embarrassed to face the other two. Was there any use in mentioning that he hadn’t yet fed from Kyuhyun’s neck? That there was technically nothing to be embarrassed about?

“Well, actually…” Heechul, too, sounded embarrassed and like he didn’t quite know how to answer that question without making things even more awkward. “For us, it depends: sometimes we’ll feed in town, sometimes… not. But I think that this is something we could work out along the way depending on our needs and wishes.”

And what was that supposed to mean? Did that mean there’d be time slots or maybe days when they would stay in separate places to give each other privacy? But there was no other place to stay, so that didn’t seem right. Then just the time slots and one pairing at a time would go to town, maybe to get groceries from the market or something? But wouldn’t that still leave a certain sense of time pressure? At the same time, it didn’t sound like Heechul expected all four of them to stay together all the time, instead giving each other chances to feed comfortably, so wasn’t that already something good?

“I do have to come back to the first topic,” Hangeng spoke up, his words sounding so carefully chosen that Ryeowook tensed again. “In case you two decide to stay, would you pose any danger to us?”

“We shouldn’t—unless someone reveals our whereabouts,” Kyuhyun replied, his voice cold.

This time, Ryeowook did place one hand over Kyuhyun’s clenched one, the manners from court winning over his worries. “It is safe to assume that the ones who tried to find me know that we’re in China, but they certainly lost us when we turned away from the coast not long after we arrived. Even as we followed along the coast, they were always at least one day behind us, so I don’t think they would have been able to follow us when we started travelling through the woods. Also…” He glanced at Kyuhyun, unsure if it was okay for him to continue speaking, but when the other didn’t move, he finished his sentence anyway, “so far, our idea is not to stay for too long anyway. If we stay, if that’s okay for you, if we decide to do this… But even then, we would probably move on in fall or so. I’d hate to trouble and inconvenience you too much, and just in case, it might indeed be good for us not to stay anywhere for too long just yet.”

“I understand. This is something that we will have to discuss as well,” Heechul replied and Ryeowook nodded quickly, not having expected anything else. “But one thing is clear: if this happens, everyone must be in favor.” His eyes returned to Kyuhyun and Ryeowook felt the other stiffen a little more, so he squeezed his hand.

“Please rest assured that whatever decision we should make, it will be one that both of us will want to follow unanimously.”

Heechul hesitated, then he nodded, responding to Ryeowook’s smile. “That’s good to hear. I wouldn’t want anyone to be forced.” Hangeng checked on the tea and began filling it into the four cups while Heechul seemed to get into a conversational mood and he leaned forward a little. “So, are we the first vampires that you meet? Aside from Kyuhyun-sshi, of course.”

“Yes. Or, well, the first ones that I know of. Who knows how many I’ve already met unknowingly.”

Heechul waved his hand in dismissal. “If you didn’t know about them, they don’t count.”

They continued to chat for a while and this time, Kyuhyun drank the tea as well, finally prompting Ryeowook to also drink his. It was only when Hangeng mentioned that he should leave to get to work that Kyuhyun and Ryeowook also bid their goodbyes, slowly making their way back to the hunter’s hut.

“What do you think about today?” Ryeowook asked carefully after they had walked for a while. It had mostly been him and Heechul making conversation, but he had noticed that Kyuhyun had relaxed a little as the sun rose and the conversation continued, not once returning to any sensitive topics.

“I think they’re sincere,” Kyuhyun replied slowly, though Ryeowook wasn’t sure whether that was a compliment or not. “They might indeed not betray us even if we stay with them and even though they know who you are. I really wish it would have taken longer for them to figure out who you are, though.”

“Me too, but from the moment when I heard that Heechul-sshi can read minds, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hide my origins from him for long. So I guess it’s also good that it’s out in the open now, it’s one less thing to be anxious about.”

Kyuhyun hummed in agreement. “It’s just weird to me, knowing that they’ll know everything about us but could hide anything from us, though it seems like Hangeng-sshi won’t make a big deal of his power. Just with Heechul-sshi, it’s…” He trailed off, but even so, Ryeowook understood.

“But when we started to chat, I got the impression that he either had his focus on something else or he made an effort not read or at least respond to our thoughts. So maybe it’s like… his power affects him more severely in certain situations than in others?”

“Like when he’s on high alert?”

“Yes, for example. I don’t know, of course, it’s just an idea. But if that’s the case, then their powers might be a lot less obvious when we actually live with them. If, I mean.”

Kyuhyun shook his head lightly. “You still think I have any chance of refusing you anything?”

Ryeowook huffed. “And you’re sure that’s not a power? My brothers have already never been able to refuse me and now you can’t do it either.” But deep down, he knew that wasn’t it. Kyuhyun had already mentioned once that his lack of refusal had nothing to do with the actual ability to refuse but a lot more with simply not wanting to refuse him. With a sigh, he shook his head. “Forget it, I know that’s not it.”

“You know, if they’re okay with us staying and we get to know them a little better, I’m sure you can also ask them about how they found out about their powers, maybe that can help you a little? However, that’s not exactly a topic to ask during meetings like today or yesterday. Not that feeding is usually a topic that should be mentioned so early…”

Ryeowook glanced at Kyuhyun with a frown and was about to ask about that, but then he dismissed the question, figuring out the answer on his own. Of course ways could be easily found to get some privacy with others around, or to at least not care so much with others around—unless their powers were mind- and feeling-reading.

“But Kyuhyun, if we really do this, you have to promise that you’ll let me know if it gets too much for you. I know we already made a promise for total transparency and all that, but still. I just…” Was he foolish for fearing that Kyuhyun really only did this for him, that he inwardly absolutely hated the idea of staying, that he would hate every moment of their stay?

“I promise.”

Ryeowook looked up and their eyes met for a moment, making the younger vampire smile because he could see the sincerity in Kyuhyun’s eyes.