"So you saved our Tae baby's life, did you?" Jonghyun said softly, squeezing the boy's hand because he could tell that he was still shaken by the incident. "On behalf of everyone, thank you."

Minho just looked between the others, finally feeling relaxed enough to ask some of the questions. "Aren't vampires supposed to be super strong or something? It wasn't that strong of a rope," he started quietly, hoping not to offend anyone with his questions.

"I'm not a full vampire, I'm not even a half blood..." Taemin finally spoke up after a moment of no voices. "My dad was only half vampire, and my mom was a human, so my um... My abilities will take a little longer to develop, unless I get blood from another vampire. I haven't... We call it ignited in our coven, but others call it awakening or maturing or a few other things," he explained, giving Minho both answers and questions.

Kibum jumped in to add a little more detail, seeing the look of confusion on Minho's face. "Forget most of what you know about vampires, okay?" he started with a soft smile, waiting on the human's nod. "Vampires can be born or made. The lowest your blood can be to ignite is one fourth vampire. That's Taemin. If a human is turned, their blood changes to the same ratio, but they ignite at turning. Taemin is still young, still in his mid teens. The rest of us are full blooded vampires and ignited as young children, around five to seven years old, and-"

Jinki reached out ot put his hand on Kibum's leg to cut him off for a moment. "He's speaking in vampire years," he interjected, smiling at Minho's blinking. "Vampires age about a third as fast as humans. So, like one human year is roughly seven dog years, one vampire year is three human years."

"Oh, and anyone born with less than one fourth vampire blood is classified as a human," Jonghyun jumped in to add his input. "They have a tiny bit of vampire blood, but it's not enough to spark them to ignite. So if Taemin here when crazy and slept with a human girl and they made a baby, it wouldn't develop any vampire traits except being extra attractive. Not that the little vir-"

"Hyung!" Taemin shouted, glaring a little at the older male with a face that was heating up more and more every second. He glanced over to Minho and put his hand over his cheeks, not relaxing one bit until Kibum cleared his throat and took the focus off him.

"Right, vampire years versus human years," Kibum nodded softly. "So really, full blooded vampires ignite as early as age fifteen, those of us with only half vampire blood ignite at anywhere from thirty to forty, and vampires like Taemin ignite a lot later, not until about sixty," he finished his input. Taemin looked down, clearly embarrassed about not igniting yet.

"Can a vampire that hasn't ignited yet make someone a vampire?" Minho cut in to ask, looking down to his wrist. "I mean, I'm not going to be one, am I?" he asked, getting a little worried about that thought.

Taemin shook his head quickly and looked down in even more embarrassment. "You have to be bitten by someone who has ignited. Or if vampire blood gets into your bloodstream somehow, but it still has to be an ignited vampire," he told Minho, a little more comfortable with being less formal because there were less people around.

After a few more question and answer sessions, Minho was ready for something a little more serious, something that mattered more to him personally.

"So what's all this about me being Taemin's master?"

The room grew silent, Taemin looking down while the other three exchanged looks that left Minho even further confused. Finally, Jonghyun broke the silence that had fallen them once more and began explaining.

"As I believe Taemin probably mentioned, there are some laws that we live by. There are twenty in total, but only three matter right now. Law six states that any human who aids a vampire of our coven is to be repaid until that debt is matched or excelled. Law ten states that any human who provides one of us with their blood due to injury is owed the same as law six. And finally, since Taemin attacked you so suddenly, the last applicable law..." Jonghyun paused to make sure that Minho was following well enough. "Law eleven states that any vampire from our coven who takes blood from a human by force is immediately placed into servitude to that human should they live. This arrangement is in effect until the human master absolves the debt, the debt is repaid, or one party dies."

Taemin seemed to shrink smaller and smaller with every little addition of information. It looked like he was really embarrassed about the whole ordeal, and Minho still had no idea how he'd gotten himself tied up like that. Who would do such a thing to someone who seemed so sweet? Minho wasn't sure why, but he reached out slowly to take one of Taemin's smaller hands in his own and give a small squeeze of encouragement.

"So, if I just declare all his debts to me covered or whatever," Minho said softly, looking up to the others to check their reactions. "If I say it's not necessary for him to pay me back anything and I don't need to be his master... If I do all that, what happens then?" he asked curiously. He didn't want to take advantage of Taemin, but he didn't want the boy to be in trouble or shamed or something, since having this big of a debt seemed like a pretty big deal.

Taemin's head picked up in surprise, and Minho could see from everyone's expression that nobody had expected that from him. "With this much owed, it would almost be a bit of an insult to Taemin," Jinki told him, eyeing the way Minho had taken the boy's hand. "Vampires with covens are overall very proud creatures, seeped in tradition and values. Each coven has its own rules and laws, some older and traditional, others growing more modern. But across the borders is a deep sense of honor mixed in wi-"

"I need to pay you back somehow," Taemin cut in, dipping his head briefly in apology for stopping Jinki. "Even if it's just a little, or even if it's just for a short time, I need to at least feel like I helped you in some way," he explained, smiling softly and squeezing Minho's hand back, causing the dark haired man's throat to dry momentarily. "I trust that you won't be mean or bad to me. Please, allow me to repay you at least in part for what you did for me, Minho hyung," he said softly, his eyes almost pleading.

Minho pulled his lower lip between his teeth, chewing on it gently for a few moments. "Alright. I'll stay as your master then for a little while and we'll see how things go, okay? But I have one condition, and there is no negotiation with this one thing..." he took a deep breath and cleared his throat before presenting the condition.

"I need to know how you got into that situation to begin with. How and why were you beaten up and tied to a pole in the middle of the city?"