The shadow of a figure in the dark alley way was inconspicuous to those passing by. Most of the time, it did a person no good to get involved in back-alley dealings, usually resulting in them getting killed or severely injured so no one bothered to look into those dark alleys or try to intervene. The night started out the same as any other night, but by dawn, the story was completely different.

“The victim is a 25-year-old man who authorities believe was on his way home from work and was robbed.” The voice of the news announcer drones on in the background. “This is the 5^th homicide in this area, and authorities are asking the public to avoid this area after sunset, and to report any suspicious activities…”

The smell of beef permeates the kitchen as Kim Seokjin cuts up some vegetables next to the stove, as the TV drones on in the living room, loud enough for him to hear the news but not overbearingly so.

“Oh, beef stew tonight hyung?” Kim Taehyung asks as he comes into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes, his pale skin contrasting with his dark hair.

“Blood moon is in 2 days.” Seokjin replies as he throws a handful of the veggies into the stew, stirring them and watching as they sink into the broth. “We need to keep our strength up.”

“Oh, I forgot about that.” Taehyung yawns as he grabs an apple out of the fridge, taking a bite out of the fruit.

“Don’t forget to remind Jungkook and Yoongi.” Seokjin says as he throws the rest of the veggies into the stew, satisfied with how the rest of the broth is simmering. “I’m sure Kookie is holed up in the gym again, that muscle brat that he is….”

“And Yoongi is probably up in the office working on that fae case again.” Tae finishes.

“We’re supposed to be on break this week.” Seokjin sighs as he washes the board and knife used for the veggies. “I don’t want Yoongi overworking himself during break.”

Taehyung giggles. “Don’t worry hyung, I think we can convince Yoongi hyung to put the work down this Blood moon. We don’t need a repeat of what happened last year.”

Seokjin smiles at his dongsaeng. “Thanks Tae. Now shoo. I’ve still got some work to do on this stew to make it edible for our vampire mates.”

Taehyung scrunches his nose up. “Ugh. I’m glad I’m not the one in charge of cooking for everyone this Blood moon.”

Seokjin laughs. “Tae, you’ll never have to worry about that. I enjoy cooking and we all know you loathe cooking duty even when it’s your turn. Go find Jungkook and remind him he doesn’t need to go into work today, ok?”

Taehyung salutes as he walks out of the kitchen, taking another bite of his apple. “Will do hyung. Thanks for cooking again!”

Taehyung wanders into the living room, where Jung Hoseok is intently watching the news, a notepad in his hand. “Hyung, we’re not working today.” Taehyung whines as he sees the elder’s handwriting notes.

“I’ve a theory that these random robberies gone wrong are all connected, and we’ll be assigned the case after the Blood moon.” Hoseok murmurs.

Taehyung sighs as Hoseok shoos him away as he continues to write down notes. Taking a bite of his apple, he turns from the living room and goes up towards the entry way, taking a left instead of towards the stairs and down the hallway towards their gym where he can hear Jungkook’s grunts as their maknae is working out again.

“Not too hard on the lift.” He can hear their personal trainer coaching Jeon Jungkook from inside the gym. Taehyung peeks in, and sees Jungkook at the bar, weights in his hands as he works out his arms. Their trainer is on the in-house camera system that they have set up for when he can’t be there in person, which is good as Taehyung is pretty sure Jungkook may have trouble containing his blood lust during the Blood moon this year.

Last year’s Blood moon was hard on the group. They had just gotten promoted at work to a full investigational group after Jungkook had formally accepted his spot into their group as their 7^th and final member. He’d come to them as a newly turned vampire after a rogue vampire had been caught turning random people into vampires that summer by a citizen named Lee Keonhee, who’d caught the rogue right as he was feasting on Jungkook. No one had bothered to inform Jungkook of the Blood moon, and what it meant for vampires specifically and it ended up with the maknae having to be held down by Yoongi and Seokjin as he went into blood lust at the peak of the Blood moon. They’d all agreed this year that they would not let that be repeated and all the vampire mates in their group would be blood sated before the peak hit.

Taehyung knew food wasn’t allowed into the gym, so he finished off his apple before he went in as Jungkook finished his latest workout. Their tall maknae was in the process of wiping the sweat off his forehead as Taehyung came up to him. “Hey Hyung.” He greeted Taehyung. “Jin hyung making stew?”

Taehyung laughed. “Yes.” Jungkook always had a sharp sense of smell, even when he was a human. “He said not to forget that the Blood moon is in 2 days.”

Jungkook sighs. “I have it marked on the calendar, and I also made sure to stock up on blood and I fed yesterday.”

Taehyung nods. “Gonna tell hyung he’s silly for worrying this year?”

Jungkook shakes his head, his dark brown hair falling into his face. “No.” He sighs.” I understand where he is coming from. Last year was scary and I know he doesn’t want a repeat of it, but I’ve grown as a vampire, and I can tell when I’ve hit my limit on blood lust and when I need to refuel now. Plus, with that serial killer out there, we may not get our Blood moon vacation.”

“Hobi hyung was saying something similar earlier. He was taking notes while the news was on.” Taehyung mused as he watches Jungkook tidy up the gym. He would help, but his hands are still sticky from the apple.

“Glad I’m not the only one who thinks the same thing.” Jungkook grunts as he puts the weights back on the rack. “Come on, I’m sweaty and feeling like a shower before dinner. Want to join me?” He wiggles his eyebrows at Taehyung.

Taehyung laughs. He’s always up for some shower cuddles, especially with Jungkook, but he needs to find Yoongi still. “I need to check on Yoongi hyung as well and make sure he’s not overworking himself, so I’ll have to pass on the shower cuddles this time.”

Jungkook pouts. “Fine. But see if I cuddle you later in the nest.” He teases.

Taehyung smirks. “I’ll just cuddle Jimin and you get Hobi hyung.”

Jungkook groans. “Oh hell no! He cuddles like a limp noodle!” He visibly shudders. “Namjoon hyung can have him this time!”

They both have a hearty laugh, thinking about their leader, Kim Namjoon, trying to snuggle Hoseok in their big group nest after the peak of the Blood moon. Hoseok passes out after the peak, his wolf has always struggled the most with the effects of the Blood Moon, though it’s not tied to his Beta status, hence the limp noodle reference. Namjoon gets very blood drunk after the peak, regardless of how often he’s fed before the Blood moon and gets very snuggly. Usually Namjoon and Seokjin snuggle each other as Seokjin’s wolf also gets very cuddly after the Blood moon, but he’s explained it’s because his wolf gets very upset that he hasn’t mated (they don’t talk about that per Namjoon’s request, and Taehyung has a feeling it’s because of Namjoon that Seokjin hasn’t mated)

Taehyung leans over and plants a kiss on Jungkook’s sweaty cheek. “Go shower and come find me later for some cuddles. I’m going to drag Yoongi hyung from whatever task he’s doing into the nest for some cuddles too.”

Jungkook’s eyes light up. “Oh, cuddles with Yoongi hyung, I’m down for that!” He squeezes Taehyung’s shoulder in appreciation and leaves the gym towards his room. Taehyung shakes his head in mild amusement at his vampire group mate and heads out of the gym towards the stairs, going up towards the offices where he knows Min Yoongi has been working since mid-morning.

**

Yeo Hwan Woong plops down on the living room couch as Lee Keon Hee stares at the TV, frowning in concentrating. “What’s going on?” He asks.

“There seems to be a serial robber going around and their victims are ending up dead.” Keon Hee replies as the station goes to commercial.

Hwan Woong sighs. “I hope this isn’t like last year when you accidentally stumbled on that dude turning people into vampires.”

Keon Hee shakes his head. “Blood moon is in 2 days, and I’m sure Young Jo hyung is already stressed enough with preparations for Gun Hak hyung and Dong Ju’s ceremonies, I don’t plan on going out unless I’m with someone else in the group. I don’t want a repeat of what happened last time.” Last year Keon Hee had been out by himself getting some extra blood stock for the Blood moon when he’d stumbled upon a rogue vampire working on finishing off his last victim in the alleyway next to the apartment complex that housed a mix of vampires and humans. He’d called for law enforcement before managing to stop the rogue and subdue him and saving the victims’ life, though they’d later found out that the victim had ended up having to turn into a vampire due to the extreme blood loss caused by the rogue.

Hwan Woong hums in agreement. “That reminds me, we need to go get some blood stock for the ceremonies, Seo Ho hyung said we were getting low on a couple types last time he checked, and since we are gaining 2 new members, we should probably have a larger stock on hand.”

Keon Hee nods. “Probably a good idea. The turning process does tend to make one thirsty and Geon Hak hyung is a big boy so I’m sure he’ll need more blood to sate his appetite than Dong Ju.” He reaches over to turn the TV off and stands. “Are you heading out now? I can come with you. We should also pick up some groceries for the week while we are out. I have a list made up.”

Hwan Woong nods. “Yeah we should head out now. Better now than later when it’s getting dark, especially if there is a serial killer out there.” He shudders.

Keon Hee shakes his head. “Sounds like most of his victims are of the supernatural community, so we need to be careful, but it also sounds like he’s targeting people in one of the werewolf neighborhoods. Vampires may not even be his target.” He points out. “Let me grab my list and wallet and we can go.”

“I’ll go inform Young Jo hyung.” Hwan Woong nods as they leave the living room. They part ways at the kitchen where Hwan Woong finds Kim Young Jo watching Kim Geon Hak working on a stew. “Smells good in here.” He says as he leans into Young Jo, giving him a squeeze.

Geon Hak grunts as he adds chopped veggies to the stew. “This one is for me and Dong Ju. “I’m making another one later for the rest of you hungry lot.” He says. “It’ll have lots of good stuff in it for you.”

Vampires can eat regular food, but it needs an additive to make it digestible for their needs, otherwise it goes through them like water. Of course, they also need blood to survive, there are nutrients in blood that they can’t get from regular food. Hwan Woong inhales again and his stomach grumbles. “Guess I’ll grab a mini blood packet.” He smiles sheepishly as Geon Hak glances up at him. “Keon Hee and I are going to go out and get more supplies for the Blood Moon. Seoho hyung said we’re low on some blood stock and Keon Hee said we need some groceries.”

Young Jo nods. “Seo Ho told me this morning that we were running low on supplies, I already called ahead to our blood bank to place an order, so all you have to do is pick it up.” He told Hwan Woong. While their group didn’t have an official leader, Young Jo oversaw finances for them, especially their blood supply. Keon Hee was in charge of groceries, but when Geon Hak expressed interest in joining their group 2 months ago, he also became a part of helping out with groceries since he was still human, which helped out Keon Hee as he has been a vampire long enough, he’d forgotten that humans couldn’t take the additive they used for their food. Hwan Woong helped with coordinating their work schedules so that everyone had days off to recharge, and days where they needed to spend time with each other.

The other human joining their group was Son Dong Ju. He and Seo Ho were in college together, which is how Dong Ju found them and while they’d been hesitant to accept Dong Ju at first, he’d grown on them. He’d only promised to work harder after turning as it was generally frowned up in the supernatural community to let college students turn while in the middle of their studies, but Young Jo had gone to the Vampire Council and asked permission. It had been granted, but only on the condition that Dong Ju graduated within the accepted parameters of his program without failing any of his classes, and they would have to do some work for the Council after he and Geon Hak were turned.

Keon Hee walks back into the kitchen. “Ready?”

Hwan Woong nods. “Yeah.” He finishes off the last of the mini blood pack he’d grabbed from their blood fridge for snacks and throws the bag into the recycle bin.

“Have fun.” Geon Hak says as he adds a bit of spices to the stew.

Keon Hee smiles. “Any special requests for our caveman?”

Geon Hak blushes. “Yah, I don’t need special treatment.” He grumbles as he stirs the stew. “I would like some lemon sorbet if you stopped by the ice cream store.”

Hwan Woong and Keon Hee share a look and smile. “We’ll be back hyungs.”

“Ok, bye!” Young Jo and Geon Hak call out as Keon Hee and Hwan Woong slip on their shoes and grab their protective sunglasses while heading out.

Vampires had evolved over the years to be able to go out into the sun, but the sunlight still bothered their eyes if it was too bright outside, so they wore protective sunglasses when out. Hwan Woong remembers hearing about the first vampires that had emerged after the great evolving of magick and was thankful that he wasn’t born then, otherwise he’s not sure he would have survived living where he couldn’t have gone outside in the daytime.

“Do you think the werewolves are gonna figure out how to deal with the serial killer?” Keon Hee asks as they head down to the closest bus stop that will take them to the grocery store. They always hit the blood bank last to keep the blood the coldest, even if it’s in a protective case.

Hwan Woong shrugs. “I’m sure that they’ll try to work on it, but with the Blood moon coming up, it’ll be hard.” He says. “I wouldn’t worry about it. If the guy is hitting up victims in the werewolf district, I think we’re pretty safe here.”

The city of Seoul is a mix of both supernatural and normal humans. At one time the supernatural world tried to hide from the human world, but it took one bad fight between a werewolf and a vampire to end that secret. For years the humans and many of the leaders of the supernatural population were at political war with each other over how to cohabitate, but in the end the people decided to live in harmony together. Every now and then there is someone who tries to start something between humans and supernatural people, but it’s quickly taken care of by a special law enforcement group made up of both humans and supernaturals.

“You know, I wonder how that kid I found last year is doing.” Keon Hee murmurs suddenly as they make their way onto the bus that will take them to their first stop of the day.

“Hmm?” Hwan Woong is stirred from his thoughts at Keon Hee.

“Oh, that kid that I save from that rogue vampire killer last year.” Keon Hee replies. “I wonder if he ever found a vampire group to go into, if he made it ok.”

“I’m sure he made it just fine.” Hwan Woong replies. “We should be focusing on the food we need to get at the store though.”

“You never once thought about him?” Keon Hee asks, his voice turning sad as his eyes flash grey.

Hwan Woong internally panics. Keon Hee is well known within their group for keeping his emotions in check, but he’s also a big-hearted vampire and if its an issue near and dear to his heart, he can easily turn into a big pile of emotions. For his eyes to flash grey means he’d been thinking about if for a while. “I actually did. Young Jo hyung and I actually put a request in last year after you told us about saving him that if he didn’t find a group to join before the end of the Blood moon, we would see if he was compatible with us, but as it turns out the detective that you reported to said he went to the BTS group.” He explains.

Keon Hee’s eye turn back to their soft brown. “Oh. I didn’t know.” He sighs. “That’s good. I’m glad he found a good home and…wait, WHAT?!” Keon Hee’s eyes widen as he registers the significance of what Hwan Woong just said. “He went to the BTS group?! I didn’t know they’d been looking for a new member?!”

Hwan Woong laughs, grabbing Keon Hee’s hands and patting them. “Keon Hee, calm down.” He smiles. “I talked to Suga sunbaenim about things not too long ago. He said Jungkook sunbaenim is doing well. He doesn’t remember much of that night so he wouldn’t remember you saving him anyway.”

Keon Hee seems to deflate at that statement. “Oh.”

Hwan Woong takes Keon Hee’s hand in his. “It’s ok. I know we were born vampires, so we didn’t have the pain of turning like others do. Just because Jungkook sunbaenim doesn’t remember you saving him doesn’t mean he may not have a natural pull towards you that he won’t understand. Plus, I think the others in his group told him about you saving him.”

Keon Hee nods, but in his heart, he does feel a bit of a pang of sadness. “I should shake this off, I know it’s bad for my conscious.”

Hwan Woong nods. “Think about what we have coming up. Think about how cute Dong Ju is going to look once he’s turned, or maybe Geon Hak hyung will lose some of his muscle and become less swol than he currently is.”

Keon Hee bursts out laughing, startling the older ladies in front of them and they turn around to glare at them. “Sorry, sorry.” He apologizes, trying to stifle his giggles as Hwan Woong covers his face as he uncontrollably laughs at him.

Thankfully their stop is approaching so he hits the button, and they rush off the bus as soon as it stops, the older ladies glaring at them as Hwan Woong leads Keon Hee, still giggling off the bus onto the sidewalk. It’s oddly crowded for a Tuesday afternoon, and Hwan Woong’s senses become alert to something being off about the area. Keon Hee’s still giggling as they walk down the sidewalk towards the grocery store when Hwan Woong shoves Keon Hee behind him. “Hyung.” He hisses. He rarely calls Keon Hee hyung unless it’s important since they are only a few months apart in age.

Keon Hee immediately sobers, going silent. “What is it?” He asks quietly. “You sense danger?”

Hwan Woong may be younger than Keon Hee by a couple of months, but his vampiric senses are much stronger, which is why he is training to go into the special law enforcement agency for vampires. He nods once. The area they are in is chock full of supernaturals and some humans who live in the mixed apartment complex next to the grocery store. “We should get out of here, come back another time or go to a different store.” He turns to Keon Hee and regrets it immediately as he is yanked from Keon Hee’s grasp into the alley they’d been standing next to.

“Woong!” Keon Hee shouts, reaching out to grab him, but their hands miss a fraction of a second too late and Hwan Woong’s fingers slip from Keon Hee’s grasp. He sees a dark shadow behind Hwan Woong and gasps as the memory of the news comes to the front of his mind and he shouts again as Hwan Woong disappears from his sight into the dark alley. Thankfully his vampiric mind has a quick sense of preservation because he pulls out his cell phone and has the special law enforcement agency emergency hotline number dialed.

“Seoul Supernatural Special Forces Agency Emergency Hotline, what’s your emergency?” The female dispatcher in his ear sounds calming but all Keon Hee can think of is Hwan Woong’s panicked eyes as he’s being pulled back into the alley.

“My vampire mate got pulled into a dark alley by the Sunpil Market by someone. I didn’t see their face!.” Keon Hee breathes into the phone, voice calm though internally he’s panicking.

“We have a task force nearby and enroute. Please do not go after them or engage. What is your vampire mate’s name?” The dispatcher asks.

“Yeo Hwan Woong.” Keon Hee responds, feeling like his knees are about to give out. Not go after Hwan Woong? His instincts are fighting against the order.

“He’s a trainee in the special forces task program, correct?” The dispatcher asks.

“Yes. 3^rd year.” Keon Hee says. He’s not sure why they need to know that.

“I’m sending in additional help. Please stay on the line with me until they get there. I’ve been informed it will be within 30 seconds.” The dispatcher tells him in a soft voice. “Don’t worry. Hwan Woong is strong, and we are sending our strongest team to help extract him. You said you didn’t get a visual on the assailant?”

“No, their face was covered by the shadows.” Keon Hee staggers and leans against the wall. He can’t smell anything and realizes that the street has cleared of people.

“Lee Keon Hee?” A somewhat familiar male voice askes him off to his right.

“Yes?” Keon Hee turns and lets out a sigh of relief. Standing before him is RM and Park Jimin of the special forces team.

“Did the team make contact, Keon Hee?”  The dispatcher asks in his ear.

“Yes, they are here.” Keon Hee replies. “Thank you.”

“I’m going to hang up now. Please cooperate with anything they want you to do.” The phone beeps as the dispatcher hangs up.

“Keon Hee we’re going to go in, please stay back. Call your other mates, he may need blood when we extract him and time in the nest with you all to recover if he doesn’t need to go to the hospital.” RM tells him as Jimin stretches.