7llin' in the Dream

Episode Three:  Dive into Youth [P1]

Chapter Five

-

  Jisung had realized the guys weren't going to swim yet, so he'd gone back to the pool.
  He had a hoody, jeans, and his shoes on, relaxing in a lounge chair.  The sun chased away the chill.  "Ah, I feel so sleepy.  This really is therapeutic," he said.  He put his arms behind his head and sighed.
  He opened his eyes and a camera had been pointed at his face.  He blushed and look away.
  Jaemin waved from across the pool.  His own less invasive camera hung from a strap around his neck.
  He waved him over while singing, "Hey y, it's your birthday.  Hey, shawty.  Hey, y."
  "Smile," he said, kneeling.  He did and he took the shot.  He adjusted his hoody to cover some of his face and he took another shot.  This time he stood where the big camera had been and took a closer shot.  "Do you like it," he asked.
  "I love it here," Jisung said.  He closed his eyes and sighed.

-

  Jaemin knelt by the pool and held a peace sign over the watermelon float.  He took a picture and stood up.  "I like it," he said.  "Next person.  Hello, next person?"  He went in search of them.

-

  Mark had gone to the balcony upstairs.  He brought a chair out and paused.  Chenle had stopped shooting basketball so Jaemin could take a picture.  He shook his head.
  Thank God the feeding situation had been taken care of.
  Being the only human could be stressful.  Mostly, because it could be dangerous.
  Donors produced extra blood meant just for vampires to drink.  They had a higher pain tolerance and healed fast.  And a vampire's saliva made them heal even faster.  If a vampire didn't feed and there were no donors around, then that left just him.  He had a limited amount of blood and normal pain tolerance.
  And he didn't heal fast enough to not risk the puncture marks being discovered.  He'd never asked whether a vampire's saliva could heal him too.  He'd cross that road when he got to it.
  He trusted Haechan, Jaemin, Jeno, and Jisung, but it didn't mean that they could never lose control.
  "Milk," Haechan said.  He could've been a good distance away and would've only had to raise his voice a little to be heard.
  Mark smiled and searched for him.  He and Jeno were playing ping pong.  He couldn't see his face, but Haechan could see his.  He waved and he returned it.
  "Milk," he said again.
  Mark snorted and shook his head.  The nickname had started randomly and had become a thing.  One of the few:  Milk, Milt, Melt.  He waved him off and turned around.  "Oh, Haechan..." he mumbled.
  It'd been a while since he'd been able to play guitar by himself and even though a camera had followed him, it didn't dull the experience.
  He strummed a few chords and sang, "On the road, we meet.  I hope we don't miss each other.  You don't know babe.  Can you hold me?  Kiss me softly."
  "The sweetest thing.  You're the coffee in the morning.  You're the sunshine in the rain.  I just wanna see how beautiful you are.  If life is a movie, oh, you're the best part.  Oh, you're the best part..."

-

  When Renjun hadn't felt as floaty, he'd gone to the lounge couch at the front of the house.  Chenle shooting hoops hadn't disturbed the little nap he'd taken - sitting up, enjoying the perfect amount of sun that the shade provided.  He hummed and opened his eyes.
  The bite marks on his shoulder only ached a little and would be healed in about thirty minutes or so.
  He lay on his side and watched a movie on his phone.
  He watched Jaemin take a picture of Chenle.  He faced him and he smiled.  "Your skin is clear again," he said, instead of what he wanted to say, "You look so much better."  His complexion had become its flawless fair color, his eyes looked bright and clear, and even his hair looked healthy.
  Jaemin understood and said, "You too?"  Which meant, "How are you feeling?"
  He hummed and sat up, always excited to have his picture taken.
  "So much backlight," Jaemin said.  He knelt and took the first shot.
  "Ah, there was no flash," Renjun said.
  "That's right...?"  He stood up and adjusted the setting.  Renjun held a peace sign to his cheek.  He knelt and this time the flash did work.  "Now, I'm off to find my next victim," Jaemin said.
  He chuckled and watched him go.

-

    Jisung caught movement and looked away from his laptop.  "Who's that," he asked.  Haechan had on sunglasses.  He'd gone into the pool up to his sides.  He put water on both arms and walked toward the other side.
  "Haechan looks so cool right now."  He went back to his laptop, watching their old music videos.
  "Jisung-uh, why aren't you coming in," Haechan asked.  Oh, no.  He had come to his side of the pool and had propped on the edge.
  "No no, I really can't take that," he said.
  Haechan prepared to splash.  "Are you coming in or are you getting dragged in," he said.
  He wiggled his hand.  "No, I don't want to get wet."
  "Is it cold," Jeno asked.  He stood at the top of the stairs with his hands in his pockets.  It got Haechan's attention.
  Jisung exhaled when he went that way.  That'd been too close.  He closed the laptop and went inside.

-

  "Jaemin, come swim," Chenle said.  He'd already changed and stood at the top of the staircase.  That little brat never used honorifics.
  Jaemin had laid on the couch on the top floor and had been watching a video on his phone.  "Nope," he said.  He listened to him leave and put his phone on his chest.  He'd slept increasingly horrible for two weeks and now he felt amazing.  He welcomed any form of relaxation to make up for lost time.
  And it'd be heightened because of the comparison of how he'd felt before.  Expectation made things better:  He'd also wake up still feeling amazing.
  And fall asleep he did.

-

  Jisung watched from the balcony.
  Chenle had been dragged into the pool, kicking and screaming.  He could hear him begging, "No, agh agh agh.  I came in already.  I came in.  Agh."
  He'd been taught that donors were stronger than the average human.  He wondered how strong he'd get once he transitioned.  Renjun said that when he first transitioned that he'd kept breaking glasses and other things.  It had taken him at least a year to learn his own strength.  He'd been eight, which would've made it weird if he'd lived around vampires back then.  He'd only transitioned because a neighbor's vampire friend had visited for a weekend.
  Being a donor is no joke if he'd transitioned for something so small.  He must have been terrified.  Thankfully, when the vampire left, his body had gone back to normal.
  So, why had Chenle started transitioning now?  He'd been around them for years.  
  Jaemin had been born a vampire and Jeno had magic in his blood and he'd unintentionally magically bonded with Jaemin.  Jeno couldn't use magic, but it still activated and turned him into a vampire too.  Jaemin and Jeno, together forever.  Nature had made sure of it.
  Jisung had descended from vampires, but it had been a lot of generations back.  The vampire gene in him had been dormant until a year ago.  The suspicion is that Jeno's magic had woken it up.  What if his magic had awakened a dormant gene in Chenle too?  That'd make more sense.
  He should come with a warning label:  Lee Jeno, Specialty (Unintentionally Activating Supernatural Dormant Genes), Beware...  And run in the other direction right now.  Before it's too late.
  What if Mark had a dormant supernatural gene?

>>>Read Chapter 6:  Dive into Youth [P2/2]

The guys have fun and Renjun suffers - but so does everyone else ;)

Renjun finds another reason to appreciate Jaemin.

Jaemin, Renjun, and Haechan go grocery shopping.

The surprise relationship is revealed. [CH6]

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