The Little One

Let Me Keep You

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The Little One

Agitation was thick in the air, suffocating those who breathed it. It was heavy and discomforting, like falling prey to quick sand—the more you squirmed, the more you were you dragged under.

In this case, no one dared to squirm—they didn’t want to sink any lower. A match lit a candle. They didn’t want to bring any more fuel to the flame. Chains were shackled on tight. They didn’t want the metal to dig into their skin.

The enormous main room—once revered as a throne room, but now bereft of a throne—was dimly lit by the electrical bulbs of light installed into the walls many decades ago. It would’ve been more suitable to have set ablaze torches, but the room’s occupants didn’t have time to fuss over small details.

No, they were fussing over the big details.

Dominating the far back of the main room was a raised dais, a lengthy, wine red carpet connecting it to the large double doors in the way front. Looming tapestries hung from the baroque high walls. Rectangular windows were half-hidden in the upper alcoves of the room, allowing stray moonbeams to lurk in. The marble tiled floor was spotless and bare, as if barely tread upon.

A distressed individual was madly pacing back and forth across the expanse of the dais. His legs moved so fast, it was almost impossible to catch the finicky movement. He gripped his clenched jaw with one hand as he—with great difficulty—forced himself to calm down in order to free his mind of chaotic thoughts so he could focus and knit the facts together.

His son had run off.

He hated that fact.

“So let me recapitulate this story one more time,” stressed the pacing figure, pronouncing each word slowly and carefully, wearing down the opulent rug with his anxious strides. His commanding voice was naturally soft and sure, but sculpted with a hard edge. “You’re saying, that my son—the sweet, obedient, nature-loving, owl-eyed Kyungsoo—pranced off just like that? Without any type of warning or knowledge of consequence?” he demanded, voice rising.

“Yes, Master,” responded the person standing by the bottommost steps of the dais. His posture was subservient but sadden, shoulders slumped, arms limp, and carriage heavy with guilt. It appeared that he was disappointed in himself and took the blame dutifully. Fanned out behind him were about five other people—a quiet audience—but the attention was solely pinpointed on him (much to his despair). “I’m sorry.”

No,” growled his enraged master, frustration finally let loose when struck with the last blow. The atmosphere was suffocating, poisoned with outrage and disbelief. The superior one whirled around and bared his glistening white incisors at the guilty one. Everyone else flinched at the slightest in startlement but didn’t dare interfere. “Don’t say that. Don’t you EVER say that! I don’t ever want to hear any apologies from you! That means you failed, Minseok! Do you understand ME?” That came out as a roar. More flinching. “This is unacceptable! Your role in this clan is to guard and watch over my family! Every single one of them! How could you let Kyungsoo out of your sight! My child?”

“Watch your tone, Joonmyun,” someone crisply inserted, a fierce growl underlining his voice. His tone was greatly displeased—a feeling that he wasn’t allowed to portray to his clan’s master, but that was provoked when his mate was being unjustly yelled at. It took him every fiber of his being (and he did mean every fiber) to rein in his protective instincts that screamed at him to defend his mate.

“I will say what concerns me, Jongdae,” Joonmyun quipped, leveling a glare at the other guard. “Especially when it involves my family. My child nonetheless.”

The head vampire redirected his ferocious glare at Minseok who cringed. Joonmyun may look like a timeless masterpiece that represented elegance and regality, but that only masked how dangerous and lethal the superior one was. That immortal man was unmistakably a demon from the pits of hell.

Jongdae bristled, accosted once again by the resentful vampire head, exhuming a defensive aura that clearly said back off, but Joonmyun didn’t. Instead, the other huffed and shook his head.

“Daddy,” whined the piping voice of the youngest vampire in the household. A little figure darted over to Minseok’s side and hugged the guard’s leg. “Thop being mean to Minnie. It wathn’t hith fault!” Joonmyun could tell that his son was shaken by the yelling and snarling—mainly because the boy’s lisp was prominent when he was upset.

That made the head vampire falter in his fit of rage and to hold his tongue. He couldn’t bear to be the reason why his son cried. It was bad enough that his mate was heartbroken by the mere news of Kyungsoo’s escapade. His mate was balled up on the dais behind him, his long, thin fingers threaded through his lush hair as if to tear it out. “No, no! It’s my fault! I knew I should’ve gone with them! But it was a routine training exercise. Who would have thought...?” His mate sniffled, full of grief and agony. “Why would Kyungsoo run off? It makes no sense... My poor baby is out there all alone...” His incoherent stream of words disintegrated into tearless sobs. Joonmyun said nothing, not sure how to console his beloved.

“Oh, Yixing.” A tall, cream-haired vampire rushed up onto the dais to cradle the crying vampire into a comforting embrace. “Please don’t cry, my child. We’ll find Kyungsoo. So, don’t you worry about a thing.”

“Unless he was kidnapped by Hunters,” someone mumbled dryly, his low voice heard by everyone in the commodious room. They shivered at the mere thought.

The sympathetic vampire hugging Yixing shot a sour glare at the unoptimistic one—who also happened to be his mate (why did he love him again?). “Yifan! Don’t say such horrid things! And stop frightening your son!”

“Sorry,” Yifan mumbled, but in a dishearten manner that made his mate scowl.

Minseok cleared his throat gently, seizing the attention of the others. His lighthearted voice was careful, as if he was treading on thin ice. “I’m not sure if you heard me clearly the first time I explained this, but...I did say that I didn’t pick up on any foreign scents—especially one that would belong to a Hunter. I only detected Young Master Kyungsoo’s and Young Master Sehun’s in a twenty mile radius. Kyungsoo’s scent trail traveled outside of the forest. That was as far as I could go without jeopardizing Sehun’s safety since I left him behind during the pursuit.” He spread his hands out innocently. “Anyways, you shouldn’t pin all the blame on me,” he said to his defense. “I was trying to find Sehun when Kyungsoo supposedly wandered off. And I am certain that he simply wandered off. He’s a curious little thing.”

“Perhaps if I had gone to the clearing today, then maybe Kyungie wouldn’t have left us.” This was softly said by a vampire old enough to be considered a pre-teen. His husky voice conveyed how tormented he was with regret.

Yifan solemnly shook his head and placed a heavy hand on the younger one’s shoulder. “No, don’t say such things, Baekhyun,” he sternly chided. “It’s already too late. Now it’s our duty to find Kyungsoo before disaster strikes. We have to act quickly.”

“Yes, Father,” Baekhyun responded dejectedly. A tall, lanky vampire that hovered anxiously by the boy’s side shifted with unease, but with a flick of a finger from his young master, he rigidly reformed himself, as still as a statue.

“Joonmyun”—the mentioned vampire glanced sideways when Yifan called his name—“we must deploy a set of tracking teams right away. We have to search while the moon is still overhead.”

“We’ll deploy two pairs,” agreed Joonmyun.

Yifan nodded, catching onto his friend’s train of thought. “Jongdae and I will sweep through the neighboring forests. You and Minseok should sneak into the nearest human city and search there.”

Yifan’s mate blinked, startled by the arrangement. “Yifan, why go to a human city? It makes no sense.”

Yifan casted his unamused gaze over to Minseok who chuckled sheepishly, the youngest vampire still attached to the guard’s leg. “It’s just a hunch, but I have a feeling that Kyungsoo was inspired to visit a human city because of Minseok’s endless tales about them.”

Joonmyun groaned. More problems were piling on top of each other, threatening to spill over and bury him under the falling mess. “There’s a high possibility, yes. But, Yifan, by the time Minseok and I reach the city, it will already be dawn.” If Joonmyun was being reasonable again, it meant that his initial fury had dissipated like a passing storm. “There’s only a few hours of night left. We can’t prowl through a human city in broad daylight—that’s suicide. The Hunters will surely notice us.”

His friend pursed his lips at the bothersome drawback. “Then how about you linger in the city until the sun has fallen? Find shelter in the shadows.” He raised a thick brow. “Surely you don’t mind waiting that long to stretch out your legs, old man?”

Joonmyun scoffed, a tad offended by the rare teases of his long-time friend and companion. “I’m a patient one, Yifan,” he reminded the slightly younger vampire—so he shouldn’t be ragging about his age! “More than you. And I’m not that old, too! So, of course I don’t mind,” he said dramatically. His gaze touched the remainder of the party. “The rest of you will stay here in the castle—and please no shenanigans while I’m gone.” Orders confirmed with compliant nods, he continued, “So, that’s settled. Any questions?”

Jongdae raised a lazy hand and directed his blunt question to the tallest vampire without being called on. “Why do you and I have the forests?”

He was answered with a peeved look. “Because we can search faster if I’m flying—which can only be done with no humans around.”

“I gotcha, I gotcha. No need for the face, Master.” Jongdae smirked.

 

...

 

Jongin’s subconsciousness finally came along, allowing him to drift back to the surface of reality. He grunted when stringent rays of sunlight shone in his disgruntled face. It made him blink repeatedly through his state of grogginess. Too...bright, he thought drowsily, draping his arm over his squinted eyes. Didn’t he sleep in a room without a window? But then how could there be sunlight?

Wait a second. Was he even in his room?

Mind snapping with awareness, Jongin bolted upright and found himself half-sprawled on his living room couch, a spare blanket tangled around his long legs and a couch pillow squished behind his shoulder blades. His befuddled gaze roamed around the empty living quarters, searching aimlessly—but for what? The drapes of the veranda’s slidable doors were swept aside, explaining the intrusion of light. Had Jongin done that? Strange—he usually he kept it closed.

The tan-skinned boy expelled a loud yawn and stretched out his knotted limbs. He carded his fingers through his upswept hair, disheveling it more. “Why am I on the couch again?” he groaned. “The last thing I remember was...”

It hit him.

“KYUNGSOO!”

Vaulting off the couch, Jongin sprinted down the hall and bursted into his room. He was breathing hard, clutching at the doorframe with unnecessary strength.

No one. There was no one in his room. The bed was empty, but the pile of blankets were scrunched up as if someone had tossed them aside. Jongin noticed that Kyungsoo’s jacket and socks were missing. The kid must’ve put them back on.

The distressed young male pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead and rushed out into the hall again. “Kyungsoo...” he growled, on the verge of panic. “Where did you go?”

Why was he like this? He shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the mere presence of a kid. A kid who he saved from being mercilessly robbed. A kid who looked at him with unfathomable fascination. A kid who was too damn adorable for his own good. A kid who...who...

...who was sitting on a high counter stool as if he’d been there all along, gleefully spinning around in dizzy circles while kicking out his short legs and bubbling with giddy laughter. The stool squeaked in protest with each turn. Squeak! Squeak!

Jongin felt winded, as if someone had punched him hard in the gut. He was robbed of oxygen as he slumped against the corridor, clutching at his pounding chest. He was relieved—too relieved. Kyungsoo’s still here, he thought, mind-boggled. He’s still here. Thank, God.

Why was he happy about that? He’d almost forgotten about the owl-eyed boy after he went to sleep for irony’s sake!

As if he sensed him, Kyungsoo stopped playing around and beamed at him cutely. “Morning, Jongin!” he chirped like a little song-bird.

Kyungsoo fell silent when Jongin closed the distance between them in quick, long strides—from the hall to the kitchen counter. There was a fierce glare in the human’s dark mocha eyes.

“Kyungsoo! Where were you? I thought you ran off again! I checked my room when I woke up, but you weren’t there! But I was sure you weren’t out here when I was! Were you hiding from me? I don’t like playing games.”

The human was angry, Kyungsoo surmised, proven by the livid rant. It intimidated the little boy, and he shrunk back into his wee shoulders as if to protect himself. The scared look on the boy’s pale-white face reminded Jongin of the one he wore when being threatened by that mugger. It knocked him back to his senses. Guilt consumed him.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” whispered the older boy, raising a hand to provide comfort but then reluctantly dropped it when Kyungsoo recoiled. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. It’s just that...that you...argh!” He messed up his hair in frustration. He was horrible at apologizing. “Just don’t...don’t do that again. Don’t hide from me. I was scared that something bad had happened to you.”

“I’m okay,” peeped the petite vampire, finding his meek voice. He blinked those cute, round eyes at the human (unintentionally making Jongin’s willpower crumble). “I won’t do that again—I promise.”

“Thanks,” was the awkward reply. His human savior shifted uneasily on the balls of his feet. The proximity between them was too intimate for acquainted strangers. Jongin spoke up stiffly, “I...I’m going to get ready for the day. Do you want me to get you anything to eat before I do?”

“No, I’m full,” Kyungsoo assured with a shy smile. “I fed early this morning.”

There was no way in the pits of hell that Kyungsoo was telling a human that he'd woken up before the sun had risen to scour for a—okay, he’ll admit it—another human to quench his undying thirst. His acquired meal had been a worthless homeless dude straggling the nearby streets—marking him easy prey. The poor man barely knew what had hit him when a random crack on the sidewalk had sent him flying face-first onto the hard concrete. Everything had gone black when something needle-like pierced into his neck. Kyungsoo’s shabby choice of a thirst-quencher had tasted vile and unhealthy, but it withheld his hunger—especially to subdue his throbbing fangs from wanting to take a bite of Jongin’s neck. So...no complaints.

...Yeah, totally not telling Jongin.

He must’ve snacked whatever was in the refrigerator, Jongin presumed, not knowing the half of it. That’ll have to do. I have work in about... He absently glanced up at the clock and almost swore out loud. , I have thirty minutes to grab my things and catch the next bus. Dammit, I’ll probably be late for my shift. Unfortunately for him, Jongin worked at the library. His boss was a meticulous witch with a steely temper. Sometimes he wondered why he tolerated with his choice of income. Wait...what do I do about Kyungsoo?

A bell rang in Jongin’s muddled brain. He blanked out, one thought dominating the rest.

Didn’t Kyungsoo say he loved books...?

 

...

 

Jongin had decided it was the best strategy to bring Kyungsoo to work with him—so substantially he was still looking after the little boy. Telling the pale boy to stay ninja-quiet, he tried to sneak behind the front desk and infiltrate to the back work room to clock in. He almost made it.

Keyword: almost.

“Kim Jongin!” snapped the head librarian, her heels clacking on the polished tiled floor as she strode over to him. Jongin inwardly cursed his luck—that old lady had the ears of a bat! Her sharp brown eyes were narrowed with seething disapproval from behind her fancy frames. She wasted no time to lecture him. “You, young man, are fifteen minutes late for your shift! This is the third infraction you've caused this month! And without a plausible excuse!” The tan-skinned boy loathed how his boss sounded like an uptight principal who practically ate dictionary words for breakfast. “Jongin, you’ve been working here for six months now! You know my expectations! I do not allow tardiness...under...my...watch...”

His employer faltered in her reprimand upon seeing innocent doe eyes peeking from behind Jongin’s pant legs. When the loudmouthed human had caught sight of him, Kyungsoo made an “eep” sound and skittishly ducked away, burying his face in his human’s waist. The woman’s vociferous yelling hurt his sensitive ears, evoking him to cringe. It displeased him greatly.

Jongin’s boss, Mrs. Han, pushed her leopard-print frames back onto the narrow ridge of her upturned nose. She pointed a bony finger at Kyungsoo questionably. “Jongin...who is that?”

Shoot, what do I say? he thought, mind racing for a reasonable explanation. He cleared his throat to buy time. “He’s—he’s my, errr, little cousin!” he proclaimed. “My—my auntie needed me to take care of him while...she and her husband went on an anniversary trip!” Not a bad lie—he applauded himself.  “I couldn’t leave him alone back at the apartment, so I brought him here with me.” He his lips nervously. “So, yeah, that’s it.”

“Your little cousin, you say?” Mrs. Han stepped closer and tried to catch a glimpse of Kyungsoo’s flawless face. “I didn’t know that you had extended family.”

Sensing the women’s curiosity, the little vampire poked his head out from his human’s waist, permitted a small, shy smile, and then promptly hid his face in Jongin’s shirt.

That won the lady over.

Mrs. Han placed a palm on her cheek. “My, my,” she uttered in astonishment. “What an adorable child. He reminds me of my own son when he was young.” She glanced over to Jongin who avoided her stern, prying gaze. “Hm...” she mused, tapping her chin. “Perhaps I won’t mark you for your tardiness today under the rare circumstance. You need to organize your schedule better, young man. I hope you've learned from this.” Then she smiled, and Jongin’s eyes nearly bugged out—but his boss's smile was directed at Kyungsoo. “What’s your cousin’s name?”

“Do Kyungsoo,” Jongin said a little too fast, but Mrs. Han thought nothing of it.

The old lady smoothed out her pencil skirt and bent down to her knees—at eye level with Kyungsoo. The pale boy gawked at her curiously. “Welcome to the finest public library there is, Do Kyungsoo,” she greeted warmly. “Do you like books?”

At what was probably one of Kyungsoo’s favorite words of all-time, he nodded vigorously. “Yes!” he piped up. “I love books! I read big books, small books, old books—all kinds of books!”

Mrs. Han clapped her hands in profuse satisfaction. “Wonderful! How about while your cousin goes to check in and grab his nametag, I can introduce you to the children’s section of the library?”

Kyungsoo craned up his tiny neck to stare at Jongin for permission. “Can I?”

The older boy sighed and relented. “Yeah, yeah. Go on ahead.”

“Yay!” cheered the owl-eyed boy, and Mrs. Han straightened up, smiling at him affectionately. Jongin reluctantly passed Kyungsoo’s hand over to his boss—who slightly flinched at Kyungsoo’s cold skin—and she led the chipper boy away.

Left to his own devices, Jongin dutifully clocked in, stowed away his duffel bag (because he had dance practice after this), tacked on his nametag, and dove headlong into work. Since Mrs. Han already accounted the numerous infractions that he'd made over the past six months he’d been employed here—like taking naps when it wasn’t his break, disregarding the dress code for employees, or misplacing a bunch of things—he had to keep up a better image of himself because he didn’t want to waste time searching for another job that would probably pay less than what he earned now.

Jongin’s first task was to reshelf four ginormous stacks of books—which meant that he had to scour the entire two-story library building for the correct shelves. Doing so, he was sought out by a dozen of people to hunt down a particular book for them. Everywhere he went in the library, he was given appreciative looks from girls around his age, but he promptly ignored them. Luckily he didn’t have to endure the cumbersome torment any longer when he ducked into the work room. There, he replaced a boxful of books with new check-out cards in the inner cover.

Co-workers of his came and go, sometimes inquiring of his day or simply saying, “Hey.” Like the standoffish soul he was, he either ignored them if he didn’t like them or nodded tersely to people he at least tolerated. As the morning progressed, it became weird to him when colleagues of his rushed up to him, gushing, “Aw, Jongin. I didn’t know that you had a cute cousin!” or “Jongin, if you need an extra hand in babysitting—call me.”

Three hours later, it was his break.

During the three hours mentioned beforehand, Jongin was prevented from sneaking over to spy on Kyungsoo’s welfare when a mountainous amount of work was like a hundred-pound weight chained to his leg. He was overly antsy being separated from the boy, but Mrs. Han dropped by once and a while (to make sure that he wasn’t lollygagging) to update him about Kyungsoo, saying nonsensical things like, “Oh, Kyungsoo, can read big boy books!” or “He’s so adorable, he attracts other patrons into the building!”

Needless to say, Jongin was confounded by everyone’s ridiculous comments about Kyungsoo. So he took the chance to go to the children’s section where he assumed his little charge was.

“What in the world?” He stopped short, those words uttered from his lips when he stumbled upon a sea of people—from rowdy toddlers to talkative adults—surrounding one thing and one thing only.

Kyungsoo.

The lovable eight-year-old had a big, goofy smile plastered on his pale-white face, sitting on an oversized bean bag chair with dinosaurs printed all over it. A chunky fiction book for kids nearly swallowed up his lap as he gripped it with his small, dainty hands. Although Kyungsoo garnered a huge audience of all ages, no one lingered within three feet of him—probably because he wasn’t accustomed to big crowds. Kyungsoo’s sweet, lyrical voice carried so much enthusiasm and interest that it reflected off his cute, flawless face. It lured everyone in to join the fun.

There was no doubt that Kyungsoo was different from everybody else. In whatever it was, he scored high above the average for a kid his age. He was unmistakably smarter, extremely vigilant, had great poise, and was benignantly mannered.

Then there was his physical attributes. An unblemished, milky complexion of priceless porcelain. The clear, ringing melody of his sweet voice. His round doe eyes that absorbed what the world gave. How keen and perceptive his senses were. The way he glided instead of walked so effortlessly but clumsily. His innocent yet mysterious aura that compelled people to come closer. And the most startling abnormality of them all: the cold frigidness of his touch.

Kyungsoo was exuberantly animated as he read, doing theatrical imitations and wearing vibrant facial expressions. One part of the book was about a dragon and he released a playful, “ROOOOOAR!” to amuse everyone. Children fell over to their sides laughing while adults fawned over his cute impersonation.

A small, fond smile adorned Jongin’s plush lips. He’s too cute, he thought dreamily, leaning against a sturdy bookshelf as he admired his little one from afar. Even from where he stood twenty feet away and blocked by a chatty crowd, Jongin could still hear Kyungsoo’s clear, lyrical voice.

It was a miracle—how the library was in a mirthful mood. Everyone seemed to disregard the fact to zip their noisy lips or face the wrath of the demon librarian. But no one cared. Everyone in a mile radius was drawn in like a magnet to hear Kyungsoo read with a sharp attentiveness that would’ve made a high school teacher steam with jealously.

Finally the owl-eyed boy finished the adventurous fiction book on a good note. Bowing his head modestly, his audience erupted into a fervent round of applause, flattering him with excessive praise that he never knew existed. Were humans that easy to win over? The boisterous noise of sharp clapping made the small vampire cringe at the incessant wave of ruptured sound, but he consciously maintained his humble countenance, closing the children’s book and hiding behind it shyly.

Then Kyungsoo perked up, abruptly aware of a rich, familiar scent filtering the immediate area. The scent’s owner was idling nearby, exuding an aura that implied his content. This overpowering scent could only belong to him, the person who Kyungsoo wished was by his side when he experienced his first wonderful day at a human library. Blurring out the human strangers in his vision, the small vampire heightened his senses and found him. There, the tall, lean figure with sun-kissed skin casually leaning against a grand bookshelf.

A bright gleam shone in Kyungsoo’s doe eyes and he quickly put aside the book. “Jongin!” he sang, and scrambled up from his sunken bean bag chair to his feet. The audience split apart, allowing the short, petite child to charge through their midst. Jongin squatted down and captured Kyungsoo’s reaching hands with his own. If the two of them hadn’t been distracted by the mere presence of the other, then they would’ve noticed how sparks ignited when they touched. Their contrasting body temperatures reacted to one another interchangeably. Kyungsoo’s cold skin cooled down Jongin’s hotter one, while Jongin’s hot skin warmed up Kyungsoo’s colder one. To them, it was blissfully comforting.

Kyungsoo was giggling, literally bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Jonginnie! I read a book—out loud to people! Did you see me? Was I good?”

Jongin was slapped silly. Did...did he just call me Jonginnie?! Creeping warmth and sudsy affection filled the empty husk that was his body, replacing the dead emotions that long since vanished since Chanyeol’s disappearance. A rare, handsome smile broke across his dazed face—the same exact smile that Chanyeol had tried countless times to bring out, and yet Kyungsoo was able to unintentionally draw out in a heartbeat. “Yeah, I did. And you were great.” Jongin meant it, too. Those compliments rang true, dug up from the depths of his locked heart. “Do you like it here, Kyungsoo?”

The pale-skinned boy nodded vigorously, beaming. “Hehe! Yes!”

As people approached the pair, their conversation drew to an abrupt halt. Jongin faintly recognized the people as library regulars. They had questions pertaining to Kyungsoo, hoping that the tan-skinned boy they knew who was an employee could answer them.

Kyungsoo jolted, nerves prickling when he sensed a parade of humans amassing from behind him. Oh, no. This was not good. The shuffling of their finicky movements stirred up the air which carried the odor of their warm bodies, the luscious smell infiltrating Kyungsoo’s nose, making his throat itch terribly. He had been fine when everyone stood their distance away from him! But now

In a wild effort to smother his blood-detecting nose, Kyungsoo tackled Jongin’s narrow waist—surprising his human savior—in a huge hug and buried his distressfully pinched face into the older boy’s toned stomach. The young vampire didn’t know which was more torturous: the mingled aroma of a thousand vulnerable humans or the single, intimate scent of his human.

I hate my nose, Kyungsoo groaned helplessly. He wished that he had a pair of nose plugs to clog up the airways of his nostrils. Anything to subdue his thirst that didn’t require him to stop breathing! It always makes me hungry.

Sensing Kyungsoo’s discomfort for what he mistook as nervousness from being around strangers, Jongin scooped up the raven-haired boy in his strong, unstaggering arms. Although Kyungsoo was much too old for this type of spoiled treatment, it was no problem—he was short and petite and weighed next to nothing. At the unexpected action, Kyungsoo had let out a startled gasp and instinctively winded his skinny arms around Jongin’s neck. It was strange—to be carried by someone who wasn’t his family or personal guard. But it was a good kind of strange—he could get used to it.

The little vampire buried his twitching nose in Jongin’s tousled hair and inhaled his human’s strong, manly pheromone. Similar to Jongin’s touch, it dulled his thrashing vampiric senses, making his head woozy and muscles limp. His raging thirst roared, demanding to be fed, but he withheld such violent impulse. Kyungsoo focused on the enjoyment of being cradled to Jongin’s broad, muscular chest, an arm hitching him up from under his knees and another arm supporting his back.

Jongin had a strong, steady heartbeat, the pulse detectable from where Kyungsoo’s laid his ear against his human’s jugular. When he spoke, vibrations reverberated from his throat, his voice deep and warm. The sounds were like a lullaby to Kyungsoo’s ears, blocking out everything else. The small boy released a tired yawn. He was getting sleepy... He was supposed to be asleep during sunlight hours...

“Huh?” Jongin had just finished answering the last bit of the questions when he heard an audible coo echo in his ears. Kyungsoo had fallen asleep—in his arms no less.

“You’re too innocent to be true, Kyungie,” he sighed, but it was an affectionate kind of sigh. He carried the dozing boy to the back work room. Hopefully Mrs. Han wouldn’t mind if Kyungsoo napped on the couch located there.

Letting Kyungsoo unconsciously curl up in the corner of the couch, Jongin draped his jacket over the snoozing owl-eyed boy. A tender smile formed on his lips, and Jongin brushed aside stray locks of jet-black hair from his little one’s cherubic face.

Hm...little one. It suits him.

 

 


And that’s a wrap! The second chapter is done. Phew, it was hard to write a subtle ending without losing my touch. That’s why I read other fanfics to pass time and get my mind in gear. Sorry, I haven’t updated any earlier. I had to invest some attention in revising my other fics and getting some new reading material. Here's some clingy Kaisoo-ness to fawn over!

Cr: to real owners

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SapphireSeptember
LMKY: CHAPTER 17 IS UP! IT EXISTS!
Please also pay attention to my AN at the end.

Comments

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aerinaa12 #1
Chapter 17: Hi I'm your story reader who is from Indonesia, I really like your story😭 oh when you say, now you like BTS more than EXO, to be honest it makes my heart hurt :(, but it's okay, it's your right to like another group :(. But I beg you, please continue this story to the end😭
Lemonny_chan
#2
Chapter 17: I'd be sad if you discontinued this story but I understand. Reality slaps hard, but this story was a good one! God job author-nim
Babygirlempress #3
Chapter 17: I don’t know if you dropped this story but not to be rude I’m still hoping for an update
xocberry
#4
this looks so cute :D
mistymountains 193 streak #5
Nice story!
namjaLove
#6
Chapter 17: I CAN SMEEEL HUNHAN??? YAAAAS
bananamilkeu
#7
Chapter 17: Omgeeeeeee ❤ you're back
Cornerstone
#8
Chapter 17: I thought I was alucinanting when I saw this on my feed.