Heechul made his way up the steps to his apartment, anxious to get inside as quickly as possible. The encounter with the Watcher, Choi Siwon, that morning had thrown him more than he cared to admit. It wasn't that he hadn't expected the council to track him down and try to bring him back into the fold; Korea was a small country and there could only be one Slayer.  He had just hoped that Seoul was large enough for him to hide awhile so he could have a little more time to be free. Even his parents back in Hoengseong didn’t know exactly where he was. Four months though, Heechul thought wryly, was apparently all he was going to get.

As soon as he reached the door, Heechul quickly unlocked the door and slid in, pratically slamming the door behind him. Donghae, his roommate, was sitting on the couch eating ramen, his eyes wide as he took in Heechul's state.

"Bad day, hyung?" he asked, shoveling more noodles in his mouth. Heechul inwardly winced; Donghae was always so perceptive, of course he'd notice if Heechul was unnerved.

"I was late to my humanities course," Heechul said, carelessly dropping his bag on the ground and moving to sit next to Donghae on the couch. "Not a big deal, I'm fine. Don't you have practice today?" He asked, deftly trying to change the subject. Donghae swallowed his food and nodded.

"Yeah, but not until later. I have a study session with Kibum for our economics test soon, so Hyuk and I are gonna have to meet up after that. I'll probably be out late." He frowned. "Are you sure you're okay, hyung? You seem...I don't know, off." Heechul cursed inwardly.

"I'm fine. I just have a lot of things I have to deal with," he replied. "For school." Donghae narrowed his eyes and examined him, and Heechul fought the urge to squirm. Donghae's insight was usually tempered by his flighty nature, but apparently today he was the picture of focus. Heechul idly wondered if Donghae might have some latent psychic ability; if there were any witches in his family line then-

His train of thought was cut off by Donghae bouncing off the couch. "Ah, I gotta get going," Donghae called apologetically, tossing his sink in the bowl. "I didn't realize it was already four - I need to get going if I don't want to keep Kibum waiting. We'll be in the library until around seven, and then we'll probably grab something to eat before I have to dance." Heechul closed his eyes and listened to Donghae's happily rambling chatter as he ran around the living room, shoving his texts into his duffel bag. "Have you seen my water bottle?" Heechul lazily pointed to the table, his eyes never opening. "Great! Anyway, like I was saying, we'll probably get food around seven and you should come - Kibum says I don't eat enough before practice and one of these days I'm gonna pass out in the middle of a routine and he's probably right but it's not like I do it on purpose, I just forget and - ah, I really gotta go, see you later!" And with that, Donghae disappeared out of the apartment in a whirlwind of energy.

Heechul sighed. For a second there, he'd been so tempted to tell Donghae everything. "And then he would have you committed to a mental institution," Heechul grumbled to himself. "Why yes Donghae," he said in a sarcastically upbeat tone, "there is something bothering me! You see, I'm actually the vampire slayer - yes, the, there can only be one - and I quit a few months ago but now the secret society that trains slayers tracked me down today. How are you?" He snorted. Sometimes when they drank, Donghae would theorize about the possibilities of alien life forms existing in the universe, but that was a far cry from believing that things like vampires and demons populated the world.

“Whatever,” Heechul said to himself. He didn’t feel like dealing with this right now, and so he wouldn’t. Grabbing the remote, he flipped on the TV and settled into the couch to watch an episode of his latest favorite drama. He figured he could fit two in before it would be time to get ready and head out to meet up with Kibum and Donghae for dinner. Siwon and his sacred duty could wait for tomorrow.

Hankyung lazily watched the Watcher sort through books that needed to be returned to the stacks. Siwon was pretty young to be put in charge of a Slayer, he mused. Being put in charge of a Slayer was a prestigious position, and there were usually no shortage of Watchers lining up for the job. Which meant that either Siwon was some sort of prodigy or, if what Hankyung had been able to gather from vague rumors about the current Slayer were true, then this Slayer was such a problem that no one wanted to deal with him.

That had thrown Hankyung for a loop. No one had ever heard of a male Slayer before – the line had been exclusively girls for as long as Slayers had existed. The Watchers Council had probably been thrown into a fit when the boy was Chosen, although seeing as Hankyung wouldn’t exactly be welcome inside Council grounds, that was only speculation on his part. But considering how fussy and traditional Watchers tended to be, he was fairly confident in his assessment of the situation.

He returned his focus to the Watcher at the counter, carefully balancing a book in front of him to make it appear as though he was just another college student, diligently studying. The Watcher’s appearance here meant that Hankyung was on the right track. He hadn’t seen the new Slayer yet, not for a lack of trying of course – Hankyung had spent the last two months in the alleys of Seoul, waiting for the Slayer to appear and do what the Slayer did best: kill vampires. But he’d turned up nothing, and he’d almost began to think he was in the wrong place. If his source that had sent him to this city hadn’t been so reliable in the first place, Hankyung would have cut his losses and left earlier.

But Siwon had arrived today, and Hankyung had received all the confirmation he needed. If a Watcher was here, he had to have been assigned to the Slayer. His patience was paying off. He just needed to find out who the Slayer was, and then –

“What the hell are you doing here?” a voice cut into his thoughts and he glanced over to find his eyes locked on someone new. A thin boy, probably a freshman, was standing at the entryway, his arms crossed and eyes trained on Siwon. Hankyung felt as though the world shifted and he couldn’t rip his eyes away. He hadn’t felt such a strong attraction to anyone in – well, a very long time. He his lips and let his gaze wander over the newcomer. With tight red plaid pants, black converse, and long hair pulled into a ponytail, the only thought Hankyung could form was “Yes please.” The boy, however, took no note of him; his stance was stiff and tense, and if looks could kill, Hankyung had no doubt that Siwon would be stone-cold that second. Hankyung adjusted himself in his seat so he could have a clearer view of what was happening.

Siwon spun around and seemed shocked to see the boy standing there. “Heechul!” He seemed to be at a loss for words for a few seconds and he gaped at him. Hankyung couldn’t bring himself to mock him too much for that – he was probably gaping just as much, he thought wryly to himself. That didn’t mean he could bring himself to stop. “I work here,” Siwon said. “We really should talk.”

“About what?” Heechul snapped. “I know exactly what you want to talk to me about, and I don’t think this is really the time or the place, do you?” A sinking feeling began to settle into Hankyung’s gut.

“No, you’re right,” Siwon replied, looking around the library morosely. “But you can’t avoid this forever. You are the Slay-”

“Heechul-hyung!” a voice called. Siwon, Heechul, and Hankyung simultaneously turned their heads to see two other boys coming up; one was bouncing with barely contained energy and practically threw himself into Heechul, linking their arms together. The other, a slightly taller boy with glasses and a bag filled with books followed at a more sedate pace, a look of calm amusement plastered on his face. “I’m glad you made it, I am starving and Kibum said that I get to pick because he picked last time so let’s go get some pizza-” Seemingly unaware of the tense moment he had just interrupted, the energetic boy dragged Heechul to the exit, continuing to blather on. As soon as they left the library, Hankyung slumped down into his chair.

Heechul was the Slayer. 

A very attractive Slayer, his mind – and libido – reminded him.

“,” he hissed to himself. Shoving his attraction aside, he quickly stood up and adjusted his jacket. Not even sparing a glance at Siwon, he made his way out of the library and set after the Slayer and his friends. He’d only been stalking the Watcher to find the Slayer and now that he knew who he was… Hankyung had spent a lot of time looking for Heechul, and he couldn’t deviate from his plan now. The temptation the new Slayer posed to Hankyung was definitely a complication, but that wasn't going to stop him. Not now.