RM and Jimin look at each other and Keon Hee watches in shock as they basically dive into the alley. He barely has time to react before he hears shouting in the alley. “You should be calling your mates.” Another voice reminds him as he cringes at the sounds. It’s barely been 5 minutes since Hwan Woong was snatched from him.

“Oh, thanks.” Keon Hee nods at Suga, who’d come up behind him. Keon Hee blinks and realizes he’s been crying as the liquid drips down on to his phone. He dials Young Jo.

“Yo, what’s up?” Young Jo answers the phone.

“Hyung.” Keon Hee starts to cry in earnest now, the situation catching up to him.

“What’s wrong?” Young Jo’s voice goes deadly serious.

“We got to the grocery store, and Woong sensed something wrong…and..” Keon Hee’s voice hiccups as he tries to take a deep breath to calm down while the tears come in earnest. “and he got snatched right in front of me by an alleyway, and I called the special emergency line and they are getting him now….and….”

“Take a breath.” Young Jo orders, and Keon Hee can hear the worry in his voice. “You did well. He’ll be fine if special forces are there.  Your job is to make sure he gets back home safely. We’ll get the nest ready for him and I’ll call Seo Ho and Dong Ju back from college and call the blood bank and see if they can deliver our order and add more to it. Just concentrate on Hwan Woong.”

Keon Hee takes a deep breath, feeling Young Jo’s calming voice taking control over him. He rarely panics like this. “Thank you hyung.” His voice is shaky still, but he feels a bit calmer. “I...thank you.”

“Call us if you need anything.” Young Jo says before they hang up.

Keon Hee waits anxiously at the entrance to the alley, the area silent as he slips his phone back into his pocket, resisting the urge to pace back and forth. His vampire side is calm, tense even, waiting for something to happen. Keon Hee was never meant to be more than just a pretty face as a vampire, born to be vampire royalty into a group where he was treated like a prince and never taught to hone his vampiric instinct more than to feed and demand things from the people around him. When he was 13 the Vampire Council had launched an attack on his parental group and destroyed it, claiming the adults were conspiring a coup on the Vampire council and scattered the children around to different groups. Keon Hee had ended up going to a group where he’d met Hwan Woong, and had been in awe of the younger, going so far as trying to mimic him in certain activities until it became apparent that Keon Hee was very much behind in many aspects of being a “normal” vampire. It had let to a lot of teasing amongst the other kids in the group and Hwan Woong had ignored all of them to take Keon Hee under his wing and started teaching him the basics of being a vampire.

That training forged a bond between the two that grew stronger as they grew older. College was a time for growth and change for Hwan Woong, and even though they chose different majors, Hwan Woong wanting Criminal Justice and Keon Hee choosing Language and Arts, they still found time to hang out together and stay friends. When Hwan Woong came to him one day with an offer to join a group together, Keon Hee had jumped on the opportunity, seeing as he wasn’t friendly with others other than his classmates and no one else in their respective groups were looking for new members that he would have had romantic interests in.

Keon Hee’s brought out of his thoughts as he hears voices from the alley and he jumps out of the way as Jimin comes out of the alley, holding up a bloody Hwan Woong, who is limping slowly alongside the renowned vampire, though he isn’t looking too damaged as he spots Keon Hee and practically leaps from Jimin’s hold towards him. “Oh, thank god you are ok!”

“Me? How about you Woongie?” Keon Hee grunts as his tiny vampire mate practically jumps into his arms. “You have blood on you! What happened? Are you ok? Do we need to go to the hospital?”

Hwan Woong laughs, then groans. “I’ll be ok with some time in the nest and cuddles from my favorite mates.” He says as he snuggles into Keon Hee’s embrace.

“We found him halfway down the alley, knocked down and looking dazed.” Jimin says, wiping the blood off his hands with a wipe that was handed to him by Suga. “RM is trying to trace where the assailant went. No cameras down the alley.”

“I didn’t get a good look at his face sunbaenim. And he was wearing scent blockers so no trace of a scent either.” Hwan Woong tells him as Keon Hee lets him down gently but holding onto him so he doesn’t collapse.

“We figured as much. Matches the same description of the alley robber over in the werewolf district.” Jimin replies. “No scent, uses a dark alleyway to snatch his victims. Dazes them and takes their wallets and other valuables. Sometimes we find people alive, but lately they’ve all be dead, so I wonder if we’re dealing with a serial robber and a copycat killer.”

Hwan Woong checks his pockets and shakes his head when he pulls out his phone and his wallet. “Well, he was a pretty poor robber because I have all my valuables.” He laughs shakily.

“You wouldn’t have slighted anyone recently to have caused someone to assault you?” Suga asks, a pen and paper in his hands, jotting notes down as Jimin continues to wipe blood off his clothes and skin.

Hwan Woong frowns, his face full of concentration as he looks up at Keon Hee. “Not that I can think of. I just started in the intern program with the special forces, and we’re not allowed on cases by ourselves. I’m generally liked at school from what I can tell, and our parent group is in good standing with the Vampire Council.” He says slowly.

Keon Hee frowns. “And our own group is also in good standing with the Council that we are aware of.” He adds.

Suga frowns as well, and Jimin shakes his head as they silently communicate through their group bonds. It’s a trait werewolves have with their bonded mates, and it extends to their vampire mates as well. Suddenly a figure comes out of the alley and Keon Hee and Hwan Woong jump as RM appears behind Jimin, a deep frown on his face, but the older supernaturals don’t flinch, signaling they had been communicating with him through their bonds as well. “I was unable to locate which way the assailant went.” RM regretfully informs them. “So, they are considered at large. I wouldn’t go out and about on your own for now Hwan Woong. I hate to think this was a random attack, but for now, let’s treat it as such.” He sighs.

“Yes sir.” Hwan Woong tries to bow and groans at the pain.

“You are hurt!” Keon Hee and Jimin both exclaim at him. “No unnecessary movements!” Keon Hee adds.

“We do have medics on standby to check you out and see if you need to go to the hospital.” Suga adds.

“It wouldn’t hurt. You know Dong Ju and Seo Ho would scold you for not getting checked out before we go home to the nest and Young Jo will want a full report.” Keon Hee tells him.

Hwan Woong sighs, shoulders drooping. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt, though I don’t think I was hurt that bad, just a bump on the head and bruising from falling.”

“Follow me.” Jimin leads them over to where an ambulance is on standby, a pair of medics waiting for them. They take Hwan Woong into the back, and Keon Hee waits outside the vehicle with Jimin while his mate gets checked out.

“I’ll leave our group cell phone number in case something comes up that you can think of that will help this case.” Jimin hands him a card. “We’re going to process this report back at HQ and see what our uppers say. I would be extra careful and vigilant until after Blood moon passes, just to be on the safe side. Emotions tend to run high during this time and we’re seeing a lot more criminal activity lately.”

“That’s what Woongie was saying yesterday.” Keon Hee says. “He said after Blood moon week ends, he’s got a lot of work to do as an intern at the station. He’s supposed to get some leave approved though because we’re inducting 2 new members into our group on Blood moon night. You know how clingy fledgling vampires can be the first month after turning.” He shrugs.

Jimin laughs. “Yes, baby fledglings are definitely clingy, but you said you are getting 2 new members? Could someone be upset about that? Someone whom your group rejected?”

Keon Hee shakes his head. “No, we weren’t formally accepting new members or advertising it. One of them formally asked us after becoming friends with our whole group over a year ago and the other is a college friend of one of our mates and formally asked us not to long ago. No one else has approached our group that I’m aware of.”

Jimin frowns. “I wonder if the two pledges have someone they know who may have been upset about it. Please ask them when you get home. Any leads will help us. Text the number and let us know either way.”

Keon Hee nods. “I will for sure.”

The door to the ambulance opens just as Keon Hee’s cell phone starts to ring. “Hello?”

“Seo Ho hyung and Dong Ju had some guy following them home from college.” Geon Hak’s deep voice cuts through the quiet. “Seo Ho hyung had a panic attack and Young Jo hyung had to go get them. What’s the status on Hwan Woong?”

Keon Hee exchanges glances with Jimin as Hwan Woong steps out of the ambulance. “He just got checked out by the medics. They didn’t catch the guy who grabbed him. Here let me put you on speaker.” He takes the phone from his ear and presses the button. “OK, you are on speaker.”

“Woongie, how are you feeling?” Geon Hak’s voice comes through low and worried, sending a shiver down Keon Hee’s spine.

“Hak hyung? I’m ok. A few bruises, a slight concussion and a twisted ankle and a couple of shallow cuts on my arm and head where I got hit. Nothing a blood packet and that stew you were making and cuddles by my favorite humans and mates can’t fix in the nest.” Hwan Woong says as the medics behind him in the ambulance nod to confirm his words. One holds up a small packet of something towards Keon Hee and he reaches out to take it from the man wordlessly. There are hastily written instructions on it and he glances at them to see it’s a packet with some medication for Hwan Woong to take for pain, an ice pack for his ankle if needed and some stabilizers if he feels his vampiric half needing blood before they get back to the nest.

Keon Hee smiles gratefully and bows at the medic, pocketing the packet. ‘Thank you.’ He mouths to them as Geon Hak talks to Hwan Woong and Jimin through the phone. He returns his attention to them. “We’ll be back at the nest soon.” Hwan Woong promises.

“I’ll make sure we have plenty of stew ready for you and lots of cuddles in the nest.” Geon Hak says. “Oh, sounds like Young Jo hyung and the others are home. We’ll see you soon. Love you!”

“Love you too!” Keon Hee and Hwan Woong chorus together and the phone clicks as Geon Hak hangs up.

Jimin takes them back to RM and Suga, explains how Seo Ho and Dong Ju were being followed on their way home from college. “This is not good. We’ll add it to the file, but this means your group is being targeted then.” Suga sighs. “We’ll keep in touch. For now, Keon Hee, get your mate home, get him in the nest ASAP and do not go out unless you absolutely need to. Go in a larger group than 2, keep our number handy and the emergency number on speed dial and call as soon as something happens.”

“Yes sir.” Keon Hee nods.

“We’re going to send you home in a squad car so you don’t get ambushed again on public transport, nor get asked questions or denied service because of how you look with blood on you.” RM adds, gesturing to Hwan Woong’s clothes which have splotches of blood on them.

It’s not the first time Hwan Woong’s gone home in a squad car, so it won’t look suspicious to their neighbors. They both nod, and Keon Hee can tell Hwan Woong is getting tired. “Thank you.” Keon Hee says politely.

Hwan Woong bows to them already his fast healing at work, the medics must have given him a stabilizer in the ambulance. “Thank you sunbaenims for your hard work. I’m sorry I had to be the victim this time.” Hwan Woong says as the squad car pulls up as the scene begins to clear.

Jimin pats him on the shoulder. “It’s bound to happen to any one of us sooner or later. I’m glad this was not a negative outcome for you. Please go home and get some rest. We’ll be in touch.”

Keon Hee and Hwan Woong bow to them and Keon Hee ushers his tiny mate to the car. They get in the back, and Keon Hee tells the officer up front the address of their apartment building. “Woongie, you can curl up against me to get comfortable. You look like you are going to fall asleep.” He tells his mate as Hwan Woong yawns suddenly.

“I don’t want to fall asleep until we….” Yawn “Get..” yawn “back…..”…..and suddenly Hwan Woong’s asleep against Keon Hee’s shoulder.

“They gave him a tranquilizing stabilizer in the ambulance.” The officer up front tells Keon Hee as he stares down at his mate in shock.

“Oh, that explains it. I’ve never seen him knock out so quickly.” Keon Hee says, brushing Hwan Woong’s soft honey blonde hair out of his face. The rest of the ride is uneventful, though Keon Hee can feel a soft exhaustion building from the adrenaline rush earlier. He’s sure he’ll knock out after he gets Hwan Woong into the nest and checks over Dong Ju and Seo Ho to make sure his other mates are safe. Even though Dong Ju isn’t turned yet, in Keon Hee’s mind their youngest is already a vampire fledgling along with Geon Hak and treats them both as such, though he does take care to remember not to bite them when it comes to their communal time in the nest for blood sharing, even though both humans have agreed to having that done.

He’s explained to them in the beginning when it caused a fight between the 3, that he’s never had human blood not in packets, and it was beaten into him that he would never ever drink from a human unless he was absolutely starving and on the brink of going mad. It didn’t mean he didn’t love them any less, he just couldn’t force himself to break a deep-seated training. Dong Ju had made Keon Hee promise the first night he was a fledgling vampire that Keon Hee would drink from him in the nest and Geon Hak had followed after with a grunt, asking the same thing.

He’s taken to watching the subtle rise and fall of Hwan Woong’s chest as he breathes shallowly instead of watching the scenery go by as the car takes them back to their building, and it shocks him how fast they arrive when the officer clears his throat. “We’ve arrived at your destination, sir. Do you require assistance with…?” He trails off.

“Uh, no, thank you. I should be able to get him up by myself.” Keon Hee blushes and smiles. “I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.”

Keon Hee manages to get Hwan Woong out of the car and up over his shoulder before the car takes off. He sighs and looks up at the building. They just had to living a building without an elevator and live on the 3^rd floor.

---

Authors Note: Surprise!  I was just too eager about this chapter that I had to post early! The posting schedule is still tentative, also depends on how much I have time to write (also depends on my job, I'm looking for a new one at the moment. Some things happened the end of Feb and while I admit some of it was my fault, ultimately it was miscommunication on everyone's part and getting yelled at for asking for clarification on bereavement policy should NOT be something you do to an employee who does not do well with people yelling. I no longer feel safe at work b/c of that manager and every time I see her face all I remember is her yelling at me.) Please do let me know what you think!!