Absentmindedly, Donghae followed others through the hallways and corridors with Ryeowook, the vampire prince and his two servants who received them at the gate. The place was strangely dark and silent. He didn’t see anyone else on his long way to his… room. Ryeowook was behind him, the reason why he hadn’t already made a run for it. Everything about this place was suspicious.  Elegant but creepy.

Ever since leaving the safety of his house, he was unable to feel at ease for even a second, couldn’t speak a word. Often, he could feel tears at the back of his eyes but Ryeowook’s presence was both warning and comfort to keep them at bay.

“This will be your room,” The vampire prince opened the door for Ryeowook. It was a huge spacious room with one large window that offered view of the garden and forests behind the castle. A cupboard was pushed against the wall. A desk was placed next to it. A painting – scenery - was hanging on the wall above the headboard of bed.  

If this was a guest room then Donghae didn’t know what to expect from his room. He was impressed but still unwilling to let his guard down. This world of the vampire prince was different from his own. It was huge and beautiful but empty and cold.

As Eunhyuk tried to lead Donghae to his room, the werewolf panicked. “Ryeowook!” He called out without thinking. “Would you like to see my room?” He pleaded the younger with his eyes to accept which he, thankfully, did.

“If your husband doesn’t mind.” Ryeowok offered and Donghae froze.

“Of course I don’t.” Eunhyuk replied, his smile warm.

Hence they continued until they reached a black door that lead to a room even bigger than Ryeowook’s. One wall was of glass with a door at the centre that opened to a balcony decorated with several plants, none of them bore flowers. Beyond it stretched the town that they passed through during their journey. It was the territory of vampires.

Inside the room was a large circular bed. On both sides were two lamps with ancient design that took shape of a plant. Both sides had night stands. The wall on right had a huge mirror that covered half of it. Near the glass window was a desk and on the other side was a piano. One wall was bare while the last one, behind the bed, had a huge abstract painting, one that Donghae couldn’t understand. It didn’t have many colors, only red, blue, black and white. He wondered what was it depicted. Ryeowook commented at the size of the room.

 Eunhyuk lead him to the changing room where the shelves were lined with vast collection of clothes, he’d guess branded from the impression from the place itself.

“I guess this is where Donghae’s clothes will go.” Ryeowook noticed the empty shelves.

“Yes,” Eunhyuk replied.  “Let me help you-,”

“No!” Donghae protested before Eunhyuk could complete. On receiving bewildered expressions in response to his outburst, he explained that he’ll take care of it himself.

“I’ll come to visit you tomorrow.” Ryeowook excused himself.

“Where’re you going?” Donghae panicked.

“To my room,” the shorter boy answered. “I don’t want to spend my night here with newlyweds, you know?”

“I-it’s okay. You can stay here.”

Ryeowook cocked an eyebrow and glanced at the vampire prince.

“Since it’s his first night here, Donghae must be nervous. It’s alright with me if you stay here for the night.” Eunhyuk smiled. “I’ll sleep in another room.”

“Really?”

“Yes, please, give Donghae company. I want him to be comfortable as he can be.”

** **

“He’s a nuisance.” Eunhyuk muttered.

His study was dimly lit, the way he preferred when he wasn’t reading. He was seated on his swivel chair, elbows on the armrests and fingers intertwined in front of his face. He stared at them intensely while swiveling his chair left and right.

“Who? The peep-squeak that came with your husband? He’s a baby bug. Can’t be a big problem.” Kyuhyun took a bite off apple. He had snuggly settled himself on a leather couch.

“I don’t trust him.”

“I know. You don’t even trust vampires enough. Werewolves are a lost cause.” The tall vampire talked while chewing on the juicy flesh of fruit.

“He was not a part of my plan. I want him to stay away from Donghae until we find a use for him.”

“Do you want me to put him in dungeons until then?”

“And risk that alpha barging here with his dog army? No way!” The vampire prince shook his head, untangled his fingers and leaned back, staring at the patterns on ceiling. “That little thing didn’t come here only as Donghae’s friend. He also serves purpose of being Donghwa’s spy. I bet he’s reporting everything to his pack.”

“What’s the plan then? How do you plan on keeping him away from your husband?”

“First, I need to convince that Donghae’s safe here. After that, we will indulge him in something else.”

Kyuhyun waited for a further explanation. When he didn’t receive any, he asked, “What that ‘something else’ would be?”

The vampire prince smirked and drummed his long fingers on the table. “As already decided, in case of emergency - Yesung.”

Kyuhyun let out a roar of laughter. “Are you testing how much Yesung hyung can hate you?”

“I don’t need his love.” Eunhyuk looked up.

** **

Ryeowook helped Donghae to settle his belongings. For the first time in his life, Donghae was to share a room with someone. That too with a vampire. He hated vampires but everything happened quickly, he didn’t have enough time to ponder on his hatred. The rusty smell of vampires he previously hated was stale at the back of his mind.

“You look nervous,” Ryeowook commented. They sat on the humongous bed.

“This place is…,” Donghae was at loss of words as he scanned his surroundings again.

“Silent. We’re not used to this.” Ryeowook supplied. “Back in the pack, everything was lively. A bustle all the time.”

“Yeah,” Donghae said. “Do you miss the pack?” He felt guilty for bringing him along. Just like him, Ryeowook must be feeling lonely.

“Somewhat. But I’m glad. I kind of like it here. Pack was too noisy.” Ryeowook answered. “We won’t talk about the pack now.” He added when he noticed Donghae’s eyes shaking. “Let’s talk about your husband.” He teased.

“His hair turned dark,” that was the first thing Donghae said. “When we were in the pack, they were bright red. Now they are maroon.” He started off with a random talk about hair color. But in reality, Donghae wanted to talk about his present predicament. He wanted to tell Ryeowook everything. He was to live in the mansion anyway. Better open up to the only ally he had.

“Yes, I was surprised too! I thought it was someone else. I even asked Donghwa hyung about it.”

“You called hyung?”

“Yeah,” Ryeowook shrugged. “He told me to tell him everything that happens here.”

Donghae gaped. Ryeowook was reporting Donghwa. That means high chances of Donghwa knowing the truth through Ryeowook if he sensed something amiss with Donghae’s behavior towards Eunhyuk. If his brother discovered of this marriage… he can’t even begin to imagine how Donghwa would feel. His brother would haul him back to the pack and the vampire pri