And sh*t goes down.

“See you tomorrow!” Siwon calls to a few of his classmates. They wave him off with similar responses and Siwon takes out his mp3 Player. Kyuhyun got it for him for his birthday. He also took Siwon to the beach. It took fourteen years for Siwon to get the birthday celebration he’d wanted, and he has to say it is worth the wait. It’s two months after that celebration, but Siwon feels as happy as though it had been a few days and he can’t seem to stop smiling.

A few blocks away from school, Siwon ducks into a little shop to pick up a drink. When he comes out, he does a double take when he spots a man in a black hat. That man had been standing a few feet from his school when Siwon got out.

Siwon had been raised to be a suspicious person, and his instincts are telling him that this is no coincidence. He starts off again, forcing himself to walk at his usual pace. Right away he abandons his plan to go straight home, instead he takes a sharp left and starts walking towards the shopping district, figuring that if he is being followed, he can lose the man in the crowds.

As he walks, Siwon takes his phone out every now and then and pretends to check the time or his reflection, when the truth is he’s looking for the man in the hat. Each time, Siwon sees him in the reflection on his phone. He’s following at a distance, but when Siwon circles a few stores and he can still spot the same man—and now he can recognize his mouth and nose as well as his height—he feels he has reason to believe that he’s being followed.

Siwon’s heart races and his palms begin to sweat. He grabs his cell phone and quickly dials the police, almost cutting the operator off once she picks up.

“Somebody is following me,” he mutters. His voice is strained with panic, he can barely keep from bolting.

“Are you sure?” The woman asks. “How long? A man or a woman?”

“Since I left my school,” Siwon says. His mouth is totally dry and his tongue feels like sandpaper. “It’s a man. I know he’s following me, I’ve been walking for half an hour and he’s still behind me. He’s wearing a black hat and a white shirt.”

“I believe you,” The operator promises. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the mall,” Siwon whispers.

“Good,” She says quickly. “Stay there, stay in a crowded place. I have your location, a car is on the way to get you.”

Siwon grips his phone so tightly he feels like it’s about to break. “I’m scared,” he gasps, keeping his voce low and his eyes down so nobody can see how panicked he is.

“It’s okay,” The woman soothes. “As long as you stay where you can be seen I promise you will be okay.”

Siwon chokes back a sob. “I-I…”

“Do you want me to stay on the line with you until the police get there?” She asks.

“Yes...”

“Okay, let’s talk. What’s your name?”

He forces himself to breathe, to get a hold of himself. “Siwon.”

“And how old are you?”

“Fourteen.”

What is he wearing, where does he go to school, what does he like to do on the weekends, the woman makes small talk with him and Siwon knows she’s collecting information to send to the officers as well as trying to keep him calm.

“The officers are almost there,” She tells him, cutting herself off in the middle of another question. “Please go outside.”

Siwon almost runs out, and this time he doesn’t even chance a look to see if he’s being followed. He knocks into somebody at the door and doesn’t apologize, just gets out as quickly as he can, and he stands on the sidewalk looking around wildly.

“Where are they?” He almost yells.

“Coming around the corner,” the woman assures him, and right after that Siwon sees the police car and he runs for it. There are two officers inside, one of them gets out and holds the backdoor open and Siwon launches himself into the car. There’s a second car behind the one he's in, but as soon as the officer gets back inside they peel away, and Siwon doesn’t get to see what the other car was doing there.

“Are you alright?” The officer in the passenger seat asks.

No would be the honest answer. Siwon is shaking so hard his teeth chatter and his vision is darkening around the edges, but he sits up and nods.

“I’m okay,” he manages.

He pulls out his phone and highlights Kyuhyun’s number.

“Can you call him and let him know where I am?” He asks faintly. The officer takes the phone.

“Sure thing kid.”

Siwon grins. “Thank you,” he breathes, and then he faints.

When he opens his eyes, Siwon is lying in a hospital bed with an IV sticking out of his arm. Kyuhyun is sitting in a chair next to him holding his hand. When Kyuhyun sees that Siwon is awake he leans over and gently touches his forehead.

“Are you okay?”

Siwon sits up and Kyuhyun’s hands immediately go to his shoulders to steady him. Siwon takes a deep breath and starts to cry.

Kyuhyun moves to sit on Siwon’s bed and Siwon falls into his arms.

“I was so scared,” he sobs. “I’ve never been…that scared before. I didn’t know what to do!”

Kyuhyun gently pulls Siwon onto his lap and hugs him tightly. “You did exactly what you should have done,” he whispers. “You were very brave.”

Siwon leans his cheek against Kyuhyun’s shoulder. “I didn’t feel brave,” he whispers.

But Kyuhyun shakes his head. “Siwon, I am so proud of you right now. Even though you were scared, and I know you must have been, you were also brave. It’s not easy to stay level-headed in that situation, but you kept enough of your wits to not only call for help but to give a description of the person who was following you.”

Siwon sniffles and pulls back slightly. “How long have I been here?”

Kyuhyun brushes the tears off his face—or tries to, but Siwon is still crying a bit. “Not long, maybe thirty minutes. You were in shock,” he explains, “The IV is supposed to help with that.”

Kyuhyun hesitates and Siwon catches it. “What’s wrong?”

“The police are outside, they want to talk to you.”

Siwon unconsciously grips Kyuhyun’s waist. “Do you have to leave?”

Kyuhyun shrugs and Siwon can feel himself getting hysterical. “Ask them if you can stay,” he begs. “I can’t…I don’t think I can be alone right now,” he blurts, the words bleeding together in his haste.

Kyuhyun cups Siwon’s face in his hands and tilts his head up. “Okay,” he says slowly. “I’ll stay here.”

Siwon shuts his eyes and bites his lips.

“Siwon look at me,” Kyuhyun commands and he opens his eyes again. “I’m right here, I’m not going to leave. I promise.”

Siwon eventually calms down and Kyuhyun eases him back on the bed, but Siwon refuses to release Kyuhyun’s hand, even after the two officers—a man and a woman—come in.

They say they just have a few questions, and they’re really quite nice, not at all what Siwon was expecting. After a few minutes they look over at Kyuhyun.

“Are you his acting Guardian for the time being?” The woman asks.

Kyuhyun sputters a bit and Siwon answers. “Yes, yes for now he is.”

“Well then, I guess you’ll need to settle that,” the man says, and he hands Siwon a card.

“If you think of anything you want to say, or if you just want to talk, call either of us,” he tells Siwon, and they both turn to leave.

“That’s it?!” Siwon blurts.

They nod. “Well, yes,” the woman says. “Since the guy confessed to everything.”

“Everything?” Siwon repeats. “Wait, you caught him?!”

“Oh yeah,” the man nods. “Singing like a canary.”

“Well why was he following me?!” Siwon cries.

The officers look over at Kyuhyun again. “Would you—” the man begins.

“Yes,” Kyuhyun interrupts. The officers say goodbye again and leave.

Siwon rounds on Kyuhyun. “What is going on?” He yelps. “Why was that guy following me?”

Kyuhyun looks down and pulls the blanket over Siwon’s legs. Siwon pokes his arm.

“If you know then you should tell me. I deserve to know.”

“You’re right,” Kyuhyun agrees quietly. “You do deserve to know.”

He looks up again and Siwon has never seen him look so sad. “The man said he was hired by your father to follow you. I think your parents suspect that you’ve been hanging around with Vampires.”

Siwon blinks a few times. He inhales and exhales slowly. He lays down again and he shuts his eyes. He lied earlier, this is the most scared he’s ever been in his life.

“What am I going to do?” He whispers.

Kyuhyun squeezes his hand. “That’s up to you. You can tell them the truth, you can hope that they’ll understand—”

“They won’t,” Siwon cuts in. “They’ll never understand. They’re working to abolish the Council once the King and Queen retire, they think Vampires shouldn’t be allowed to rule themselves. I disagree, I disagree with everything they think and I can’t lie to them anymore.”

Kyuhyun is quiet for a few minutes. “So what do you want to do?” He finally asks.

Siwon covers his eyes with his free hand so Kyuhyun won’t see that he’s crying again. “I’ll talk to them, and I’ll tell them that as long as they continue to hate Vampires I can’t live with them. I don’t want to live with them.”

Kyuhyun pulls him back up and tugs Siwon’s hand away from his face. “Are you sure about that?”

Siwon looks at Kyuhyun—really looks at him. He looks for some sign of resignation, hope, anger, happiness, but all he sees is genuine concern. Kyuhyun has always wanted what was best for him.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Kyuhyun continues. “You don’t have to leave home.”

The tears fall but Siwon ignores them. “But if I did, could I live with you?”

Kyuhyun smiles and hugs him. “Of course. You will always be welcome in my home.”

Siwon takes a shaky breath and hugs Kyuhyun back.

Good, he thinks, Because I’m about to be unwelcome in mine.

Siwon makes Kyuhyun stay when his parents come into his room an hour later. They don’t speak to Kyuhyun, but they eye him like he is a cockroach in their kitchen.

Siwon explains that Kyuhyun is his friend, that Jessica, Heechul, Jungsu, and Victoria are his friends and they are Vampires. He likes them, he thinks that his parents have it wrong and if they can’t accept his choices then he’s sorry, but they need to accept that he won’t be kept away.

“You are my son,” his mother hisses. “You will do as I say—as we say.”

“No,” Siwon counters. “I am your son but I am also a person and I have rights.”

His mother turns to his father. “Say something!” She shouts.

His father at least looks sad. “If this is your choice then fine. But we aren’t changing our position because of this.”

Siwon forces himself not to cry. “Then I won’t be going home with you.”

The leave soon after that. Kyuhyun calls that he’ll have someone come pack up Siwon’s things.

Afterward Siwon curls up in Kyuhyun’s lap and cries himself to sleep.

*             *             *

Siwon isn’t released from the Hospital for another 24 hours, mostly because he couldn’t stop crying long enough for the doctors to see that he was actually unharmed. Kyuhyun finally takes him back to his apartment—their apartment now, Siwon thinks—and Siwon sees that in fact all of his stuff has been moved.

“Who did that though?” He asks, his voice cracked from all the crying.

“Kangin, Hankyung, Nana and Kahi. Sungmin stood watch mostly, made sure nothing was taken,” Kyuhyun explains. Siwon feels like he could cry again.

“They didn’t have to,” he mumbles shakily.

Kyuhyun hugs him and ruffles his hair. “They wanted to.”

Siwon parks himself down on Kyuhyun’s sofa and doesn’t move for an entire day. He doesn’t think he can go through the boxes right now, he doesn’t want to look at all the things that used to be in his room and think about how now he needs to find a whole new place for them, for himself. Where does he fit into Kyuhyun’s life now? Is he Kyuhyun’s Conduit? Do they need a contract? He can’t bring himself to ask the question and Kyuhyun hasn’t brought it up either. Siwon wonders how long it will last.

When he finally does drag himself over to the boxes, Kyuhyun stops him. “Don’t unpack, we’re moving anyway.”

Siwon looks up at him wide-eyed. “We are?”

“Well of course,” Kyuhyun says. “This place is a bit small for the two of us. You need your own room, a proper one, and we need a bigger kitchen.”

Siwon bites his lip and struggles to hold back the tears again. “I’ve turned your whole life upside down,” he whimpers. “Some part of you must be sick of me.”

“Never,” Kyuhyun cries, running over and kneeling down next to Siwon. “I will never get sick of you. Ever since I met you on that bridge I have been nothing but grateful to know you. If we hadn’t met, you would still hate Vampires right now, and I would be very, very lonely.”

Siwon blinks. “You would be?”

Kyuhyun nods. “I don’t know if you know just how much you have imbedded yourself into my life, and trust me it is a very welcome presence. You made me want to go out, to have fun, to stop thinking about what I thought I needed to do and think about what I wanted to do.”

Siwon gapes at him. “How did I do that?”

“By changing your stance on Vampires,” Kyuhyun tells him. “Any one would think that you would grow up to believe I was nothing more than a leech, a criminal and a monster.”

“But you’re not!” Siwon cries immediately.

“Exactly, and now you know that,” Kyuhyun points out. “Although…” and he pauses, looking at Siwon sadly. “I would understand if you resent me. It is my fault that you chose this.”

Siwon closes his eyes. “It’s not your fault,” he whispers.

“If it weren’t for me—” Kyuhyun begins.

“Stop right there,” Siwon interrupts. “Yeah, if I hadn’t met you on that bridge maybe I’d still be at home. But more likely I’d be lying in a ditch somewhere, dead. If you hadn’t picked me up maybe I would have been mugged or kidnapped or shot, and I’d rather be alive and kicked out than dead. The truth is I was never happy at home. I didn’t have a family, I had two people who sometimes came home. I have never felt as at home as I do with you, and that means more to me than anything my family ever did.”

Siwon is crying again, but this time he’s angry. “Who does that? Who abandons their son to fight vampire legislation? What are we, living in the Dark Ages? And who basically drills their kid into believing that something is evil? That’s so stupid!”

Kyuhyun hugs him and Siwon cries into his shirt. “I’m not sorry I left,” he manages through his tears. “I’m just sorry I didn’t do it sooner.”

Told you so.