When Jaejoong disappeared from Yunho’s sight, he couldn’t help but feel lost. For months he had thought and dreamed about his mystery man and just as quickly as he had appeared in his life, he disappeared once more. The walk home was slow, lonesome. Yunho thought about the man that had drawn him in with only a few gently spoken words, so long ago, and however, since he couldn’t seem to forget him.

Flipping on the foyer’s soft light, Yunho kicked off his shoes and didn’t even bother to put his slippers on before he slinked into the living room and plopped down on the couch and stretched out. With his arm tucked under his head and his other draped over his eyes, he sighed heavily as the flash of Jaejoong’s fearful face flickered across his mind again.

“It’s not safe.” came Jaejoong’s voice again.

“Not safe?” questioned Yunho to himself “What did he mean by that? Why is he being so mysterious?”

“What’s he hiding…” sighed Yunho deeply with a worried frown.

Closing his eyes and sighing heavily, Yunho felt his heart drop when dark thoughts started crossing his imaginative mind.

“Could he be in trouble?” he thought as his mind continued to ramble “Could someone be after him?”

Suddenly, Yunho was pulled from his frantically worrying thoughts as he felt his cell phone go off in his pocket. Digging it out, he looked at the screen and frowned even more.

“Chunnie…” sighed Yunho as he answered the call and put the phone to his ear.

“YAH!” came Yoochun’s irritated voice “Are you crazy? How can you just run off, like a lunatic, in the middle of the night?”

“And why didn’t you answer your phone!?” berated Yoochun, not giving Yunho a second to answer “I’ve been calling you for an hour and it keeps going straight to voicemail. What the hell were you doing!?”

“Is something wrong?” continued Yoochun, his worry and frustration clearly evident “Are you ok? Did something happen? You’re not hurt, are you? Is everything ok???”

“Chill out, Chunnie.” breathed out Yunho “I’m ok.”

“Ok!?” questioned Yoochun sarcastically “Bull! You are not ok. You totally ditched me, without an explanation, and then totally ignored my calls. You’ve been acting totally weird for months and then all of a sudden you just run off? How the hell is that ok? How can you say that you’re ok?”

“I forgot I had somewhere to be tonight.” lied Yunho. He knew that Yoochun wouldn’t buy his excuse but he had to try and give some explanation, for his actions, or his best friend would just continue to scold the hell out of him for the next few hours. “I suddenly remembered and left. You know how singularly minded I can be.”

“What a load of baloney.” scoffed Yoochun “You know better than to try and lie to me.”

“Well, then, can you just leave it alone?” questioned Yunho derisively “I answered your call, and you know I am ok, so can we just drop it for now?”

“Fine…” grumbled Yoochun acceptingly. He knew that Yunho wouldn’t confide in him about what was going on until Yunho wanted to, so there was no point in questioning him any further. He wouldn’t get any answers tonight anyway.

“I do deserve an explanation though.” prompted Yoochun with a sigh.

“I know…” admitted Yunho “And, you will get one eventually. Just, not tonight. Ok?”

“Ok…” sighed Yoochun in defeat “But, you’re sure you’re really ok?”

“Yeah…” answered Yunho with a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips “I am fine.”

“Ok…” replied Yoochun “Where are you? Did you still want to go grab something to eat?”

“Not tonight.” answered Yunho with a sigh “I am already home.”

“Home? Already?” sighed Yoochun disappointedly.

“Alright then, how about I bring something over instead?” offered Yoochun “You still owe me a night of fun and a long talk.”

“Let’s do it tomorrow.” countered Yunho understandingly “I’ve got a lot on my mind right now and I just need to be by myself.”

“Fine.” grumbled Yoochun “But, you can’t skip out on our night out tomorrow ok?”

“I won’t. I promise,” reassured Yunho with a nod.

“I will hold you to that.” scolded Yoochun lightly “Alright. Fine. I will let you go then and I will see you tomorrow.”

“Ok…night Chunnie,” replied Yunho.

Ending the call, Yunho tossed his phone on the small glass-topped coffee table beside him and closed his eyes. With a deep sigh, his heart panged in his chest and he covered his watering eyes.

“Where did you go…” he whispered as the thought of Jaejoong flashed across his mind one more.

~~~~~~

“And just where have you been?” questioned Lady Hyorin as she leaned back in her ornately carved mahogany chair and flipped a page in her magazine with her long, elegantly manicured index finger.

“You’re late,” she added as she glanced up from underneath her luscious dark eyelashes at her nephew.

“Playing…” answered Junsu wickedly.

“I see…” as she caught the scent of blood in the air and noticed the few finite drops of the lovely liquid on his collar “and just whose blood pool have you been swimming in this time?”

“Jaejoong’s…” chuckled Junsu ominously.

“Still such a fool.” scoffed Hyorin with a shake of the head “Those waters are far too dangerous for treading in lightly.”

“I know what I am doing,” replied Junsu knowingly.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” she replied lightly, her voice very reminiscent of a scolding older sister, as she flipped another page “Stealing from any pureblood can get you killed, but stealing from a pureblood prince could end our very line in an instant –should the King every find out.”

“He won’t…” smiled Junsu wickedly as he ed his soiled shirt “Changmin will never tell the King what I have done.”

“How can you be so sure?” questioned Hyorin with a mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her beautiful red lips “He is the perfect pet, after all.”

“Jaejoong would never give his father the satisfaction of knowing he lost to me.” scoffed Junsu as he examined his nails nonchalantly.

“He will silence Changmin.” smiled Junsu knowingly “and, being a perfect pet and all, he will follow his prince’s orders to the letter.”

“If he survived…you mean,” she added with an irreverent sigh.

~~~~~

In a flurry of hurried movement, the moment his feet landed on the large, marble-floored balcony of Jaejoong’s family estate, Changmin rushed his unconscious prince inside. Putting him down on the bed, he breathed heavily as his heart raced and his mind screamed with worry. Reaching out and grabbing the tethered bell pull hanging from the wall covered in dark-red wallpaper, he tugged on it twice –sending a sharp ring to the servant’s quarters in the lower levels of the four-story mansion. Moments later, a homely dressed woman with blond streaked brown hair and green eyes, entered the room silently out of breath and bowed.

“You called Master Changmin?” she prompted in a soft and subservient voice as she looked up and noticed that Jaejoong looked ill.

“Collette.” ordered Changmin sharply “Send for Jin.”

“Jin?” she questioned, slightly perplexed that Changmin would call for the one servant in charge of maintaining the household’s blood supply so late at night “If you need blood…”

“Just do what I said!” barked Changmin almost viciously as he never took his eyes off Jaejoong “Right NOW!”

“Yes…yes, Sir,” she responded with a frightened tone as she walked out of the room, shut the door, and darted down the hallway in a full sprint.

“Jae.” whispered Changmin worriedly as he shook his best friend and prince gently “Jae…say something to me.”

“Please…” he begged as he felt his heart drop and he reached up and patted Jaejoong on his pale and clammy cheek “Love…”

As a gentle, nearly inaudible, moan escaped the prince’s lips, Changmin sighed heavily.

“Love…” begged Changmin “Please open your eyes…look at me….”

Through heavily drooping lids, Jaejoong sleepily opened his eyes slightly and sighed.

“There you are.” breathed out Changmin, slightly relieved but still extremely worried.

“Where are we?” whispered Jaejoong ever-so softly.

“Home,” answered Changmin as the sound of knocking from the bedroom door cut through the silence around them.

A moment later an older man, hair grayed by many years and dressed in a brown tattered waistcoat and corduroy slacks, stepped into the room.

“Good Evening, Sirs.” said the man as he tightened his grip on the handle of the black bag in his hand and bowed his head in respect.

“Jin…” breathed out Changmin, slightly relieved that Collette had done what he had ordered so swiftly.

“Lord Changmin…” acknowledged Jin as he raised his eyes up from the floor and took in the sight of the prince lying in bed “You summoned me?”

Turning his eyes from the elderly man, Changmin looked at Jaejoong with a saddened sigh. Understanding immediately that he was called to attend to the prince, Jin scurried across the room to Jaejoong’s bedside. Placing his bag on the bed, he sat down beside the prince and looked him over.

“He needs a transfusion,” informed Changmin, a slight tinge of anger lacing his voice.

“No I don’t,” mumbled Jaejoong derisively.

“Shut up.” spat Changmin disrespectfully “Yes, you do.”

“What happened?” questioned Jin as he took in more and more of the weakened prince “Is he injured?”

Without any hesitation, Changmin reached up and clutch the collar of Jaejoong’s shirt. The prince reacted immediately, grabbing his best friend’s wrist before he could pull back the fabric and reveal his injury.

“I said don’t,” growled Jaejoong weakly.

“And, I said shut up,” replied Changmin, a mix of anger and worry lacing his very spiteful words, as he reached up with his other hand and pulled Jaejoong’s arm away.

Without a word, Changmin pulled back the fabric of Jaejoong’s shirt and showed the man the two deep puncture wounds, still oozing the prince’s blood, on his neck.

“By the god’s…” gasped Jin in surprise “Who would do such a thing?”

“Someone who will pay for this, I assure you,” growled Changmin angrily.

“Help him, Jin. Please,” begged Changmin as he looked up at the older man with pleading eyes.

Jin immediately opened up his bag, the medical bag he had had the foresight to bring with him when his summons was delivered to him. It wasn’t unusual for him to be called to Jaejoong’s room on occasion. As the mansion’s doctor and foremost human authority on vampire medicine, he had been treating Jaejoong’s condition, humorously referred to as his eating disorder, for many years. He had thought that tonight would be no different, give the young prince a transfusion and all would be fine, but the situation was far direr than he had originally thought.

“When was the last time he feeds?” questioned Jin as he pulled out a long length of dual-channeled intravenous line and two blood bags from his bag.

“Jae?” prompted Changmin as he looked back at his prince.

“A…a month...” mumbled Jaejoong weakly.

“Damn it…” muttered Changmin disappointingly.

“A month?” grumbled Jin as he tossed the dual-channeled intravenous line on the floor and pulled out a tri-channeled line and the third bag of blood from his bag.

Hanging the bags on a small curving sliver of the scrollwork, cast iron headboard of Jaejoong’s bed, the expert physician went to work connecting the intravenous lines to the bags and attaching the fluid flow regulator. Turning to his patient of nearly fifty years, Jin grabbed a syringe and ran a PICC line into the crook of Jaejoong’s arm. When the syringe flushed red, he quickly bled out the IV line and connected them. As Changmin and Jin watched Jaejoong’s body slowly pull in the life-saving fluid, and his eyes close slowly, they both sighed softly in reserved relief. 

“You do know…” spoke up Jin as he gently placed a gauze pad over the inserted needle and taped it up “that this is just a temporary fix. Human blood will take care of the weakness but he will need the blood of a pureblood to reconstitute his own.”

“I know…” sighed Changmin.

“I’ll inform his majesty immediately.” nodded Jin as he went to stand up.

“No!” ordered Changmin instantaneously as he reached out and grabbed the doctor by the arm, pulling him back down on the bed “You can’t tell the king.”

“He needs to know.” informed Jin “You can’t keep this from him. He will inspect the blood stores in two days, as he always does, and he will know something has happened the moment he notices that three bags of O-negative are missing.”

“Be oblivious,” ordered Changmin with a sigh.

“You mean lie.” scoffed Jin “Fine. But that still doesn’t help Jaejoong. He will still need to feed on another pureblood when he wakes.”

“That’s my burden to bear.” acknowledged Changmin “He’s my responsibility, so I will take care of it.”

“And bait the wrath of the King?” scoffed Jin with a shake of the head “You can’t be serious.”

“I have no choice.” sighed Changmin as he looked up at Jaejoong’s sleeping face knowingly “It’s a monster, his monster, which I alone must face. I have to be the one.”

“If the King finds out…” sighed Jin disappointingly “He will kill you.”

“That’s why he can’t.” answered Changmin as he looked up at the elderly man with pleading eyes “Not for only my sake but also for Jae’s.”

“Alright…” sighed Jin in acquiescence “I will be oblivious but you better be careful. The last time this happened the prince really did a number on you. You can’t take this personal, like last time. Ok?”

“I won’t.” nodded Changmin, knowing full well what the elderly doctor was referring to.

“The Quickening is definitely not something to take lightly,” added Jin with a deeply knowing sigh as he collected his things and stood up.

“I know.” answered Changmin as he watched the man bow quickly and then exit the room “God…do I know…”

Hours later, a few hours before dawn, Changmin lied quietly beside Jaejoong’s sleeping form as his mind continued to race with a flurry of images. He knew what had to happen next and even though a small part of him wanted it more than anything, the rest of him feared it. They had been in this situation once before, some fifty or so years ago. Jaejoong had snuck out of the mansion, one night, to explore and hunt when he was cornered by a rival clan’s leader in an abandoned alleyway –flanked by two of the monster’s henchmen. They had caught the scent of a pureblood earlier that night and finally tracked him down a few hours before sunrise. Alone, and weakened by his lack of feeding, Jaejoong was trapped by the clan leader and nearly completely drained of all of his precious blood. Changmin had been lucky enough to find his master and friend in time but his resulting condition left Changmin with the only choice he had at the moment –to let Jaejoong feed from him right then and there. He had never done it before, let another pureblood drink from him, and he had no idea what would happen but he had to save the man he had come to love.

The Quickening; they called it. He had heard stories of its uncontrollable magnetic draw, its ability to bring even the strongest of them to their very knees, but he had never believed them. To him, the Quickening sounded like an over-exaggeration that was used to dissuade others from the very act of drinking the blood of the blessed ones. He had dismissed its power without a thought, never experiencing it his long life. But after that night, Changmin came to know its powerful draw the instant fangs met flesh.

The most euphoric feeling any of their kind could ever experience, only found within the bite of pureblood, its powerful effect could muddle the mind of even the most resolute soul and Changmin instantly fell prey to its call. What happened afterward, what happened to them and between them, was something that he would have never believed had he hadn’t experienced firsthand. And even after all these years, his mind still reminded him of that fateful night whenever he looked upon his prince’s face. It was always there, hiding in the recesses of his mind, taunting him like a mischievous child dangling something precious just out of his reach before him.  He wanted it. God did he want it. But he also feared it –what it would do to him again, the pain that it would cause, and the heartache it would leave in its wake.

Suddenly, Changmin was yanked out of his reminiscent thoughts by the sound of Jaejoong screaming out and shooting up in bed. Mimicking his movements, Changmin sat up and looked worriedly at Jaejoong’s pale face contorted in screaming pain. His glowing violet eyes, signaling his body’s needful state, flickered with intangible fear while he breathed heavily. His mouth slightly open, his fangs protruding resolutely, Jaejoong immediately turned to Changmin with a nearly desperate look as he reached up and clutch his pounding and screaming chest.

“Min…” growled out Jaejoong. His tone, almost vicious, predatory, and sounding completely unlike the kind-hearted immortal he had known for so long “I…”

“I know…” answered Changmin as he reached out and grabbed Jaejoong by the shoulders and turned the pain-stricken immortal to face him “it’s ok…”

“I am here,” he added as he peered into those beautiful eyes lovingly.

“No…” growled Jaejoong, knowing Changmin’s thought’s instantly through his hazed over mind, and he pulled back “I won’t…”

“You have to…” answered Changmin, knowingly “It’s the only way…”

“I can’t…” struggled Jaejoong as a desire to feed grew stronger and stronger “Not you…not again.”

“I won’t do that to you again,” growled Jaejoong, clenching his teeth together.

“The Quickening…” moaned Jaejoong as he closed his eyes and tried to force back the monster within him “I can’t control it.”

“Then don’t,” advised Changmin as he pulled the struggling prince to his chest and hugged him tightly.

“No…” he growled stubbornly, the thoughts of their past torturing him as he put his hands on Changmin’s chest and tried to push out of his embrace “I  can’t hurt you again.”

“You won’t hurt me,” reassured Changmin as he reached up and pushed Jaejoong’s face into the crook of his neck.

“Father…” breathed out Jaejoong as the scent of Changmin’s warm skin enveloped his senses and his mind tried to run away from his conscience “He will…”

“I don’t care.” scoffed Changmin lovingly “You are more important.”

“Just do it…” prompted Changmin desperately.

“I…can’t…” stammered Jaejoong as he felt the familiar ache of hunger twinge throughout his body and he clutched the fabric of Changmin’s shirt.

“Drink Jaejoong.” he begged “Please.”

“Min…you can’t ask me to do this…” cried out Jaejoong heartbrokenly “I would rather die…please…Don’t make me…”

“Jae…” called out Changmin softly, his voice and tone ever-so loving and reassuring “I trust you, love. So please don’t hold back anymore.”

“Please…” he begged again “just, do it…”

“For me…” he whimpered.

A silent pause filled the room as Changmin begged deep in his mind, and deep within his heart, for Jaejoong to do what he knew he must.

“You offer it freely…?” questioned Jaejoong, his tone coming out almost seductively, as the glow of his eyes intensified and his mind became singularly focused on the beautiful flesh before his eyes a few quiet moments later.

“God…yes…” breathed out Changmin as he lifted his head towards the ceiling and closed eyes.

“Yes…” he added desperately.

As sharpened fangs pierced willing flesh, Changmin tightened his arms around his beloved prince and groaned wantonly as that every familiar wave of euphoria instantly washed over him and the sound of Jaejoong taking from him clouded his mind.

“Oh…God…” gasped Changmin, as he huffed audibly in pleasure and a flicker of his inner self flashed across his awakening eyes. As Jaejoong bit down harder and harder –taking more and more from him with every passing second, the euphoric feeling of pleasure immediately intensified tenfold “Jae…”

The feeling, the Quickening, was surely the most beautiful feeling he had ever felt in his life. It was as if heaven descended all around them and in his mind, he never wanted to leave. It was so beautiful, so warm, and so intimate. It was like having the world’s greatest love, feeling the world’s most pleasurable touch, smelling the world’s most heavenly scent, and being compelled by the world’s most passionate desire all at once. His mind, lost in its throes, could no longer tell the difference between the sky from the ground, the air from the water, the stars from the moon, the night from the day, the warmth from the cold, love from hate, life from death. It was exquisite…peaceful…blissful; all that their immortal life wasn’t.  

“Jae…” he whimpered, tightening his hold even more, as he tried not to let his mind and body be completely swept away and he slowly began to feel his heart slow “God…”

A few blissful moments later, a sense of panic flashed across Changmin’s mind as he felt his heart faintly flutter and then flutter again with a sense of urgency.

“Love…” he begged as he felt his heart fluttered, dangerously, for the third time –an instant signal that he would soon fall into cardiac arrest if Jaejoong didn’t stop.

“Jae….Please…” cried out Changmin, in a conflicting huff of pleasure and panic, as he reached up and ran his fingers through Jaejoong’s hair, pulling gently “Stop…”

Locked in the throes of his hunger, Jaejoong heard nothing. His desire screaming through every vein and vessel of his body, all he could feel was desire; the desire to take all he wanted.

Seconds later, Changmin’s distressed heart skipped two beats setting off a wave of fear in the young immortal. He had to make Jaejoong stop. He had to stop or he would surely die in the arms of the man he loved. Searching his panic mind for the words that would reach the entranced prince in his arms, Changmin heart cried out for relief with three more skipped beats. Taking a deep breath, trying to control himself, Changmin leaned his head up against Jaejoong’s temple and spoke softly.

“You’re hurting me, love,” he whispered.

Instantly, Jaejoong’s closed eyes snapped open and back into reality as his mind registered his beloved friend’s desperate please for relief. Pulling away from the decadent and tempting flesh slightly, he took a deep breath seconds before he was hit by the karmic punishment for what he had done; the consequence of the act that any pureblood victim of the Quickening feared, the one thing that had it not been for Changmin’s quick arrival earlier Jaejoong himself would have suffered at the hands of Junsu.

Uncontrollable lust…

In a flash, completely controlled by unfathomable desire and unable to think of nothing else, Jaejoong grabbed Changmin and forced him down on the bed –pining his hand above his head with one hand. Smiling wickedly, he looked at his victim predatorily as a wave of wanton attraction washed over him and his mind singularly focused on one simple thought.

MINE…

Crashing their lips together harshly, Jaejoong kissed his enthralled victim passionately. His Delicate hand, tracing every line of the body underneath him, caressed every inch of his prey possessively. Deepening the kiss wantonly, Jaejoong moaned almost sinisterly as the feel of Changmin’s body press against his own and the smell of his succulent skin invaded his senses entirely.

Changmin closed his eyes, acceptingly, as he felt Jaejoong’s free hand slowly drift south.

He had known this would be their punishment for violating the laws of the Coven, the repercussions of such an intimate and taboo act, and with one final sigh he gave in.

Jaejoong would take him until the demon of desire was sated.

The line drawn in the sand crossed once more…

The forbidden done without remorse…

The bliss…

The pain…

The joy…

The heartache…

He would relish it all…

While he could…

While it lasted...