chapter 16

Sunggyu takes his hand back and slaps it onto the back of his neck, red with embarrassment. He looks at Woohyun hoping Woohyun will save him and take him away. He gives Woohyun a puppy-dog look because it always works on him when Woohyun does it (Woohyun is an expert) and it ends up being the cutest thing Woohyun’s ever seen. Woohyun has to bite his tongue to stop him from letting out a very manly squeal.

“If you’ll excuse us, I will go introduce Sunggyu to the rest of the family,” Woohyun says, pulling Sunggyu to his side and threading their arms together. Woohyun’s father gives them permission to leave and then they’re walking down the staircase quickly.

“Sorry about my family. And about my cousin,” Woohyun whispers, his breath tickling Sunggyu’s ear.

“I was kind of surprised, actually. I thought your family would be scary.”

“They are.”

Sunggyu laughs – music to Woohyun’s ears. “I’ve met some scary parents before. Yours aren’t, trust me. They’re kind of fun.”

Woohyun shakes his head, smiling. “I don’t know what your definition of fun is but I think it might be a little twisted.”

“Are you really going to introduce me to the rest of your family?”

Woohyun laughs and takes a glass of deep red liquid from a servant carrying a platter of wine glasses. Sunggyu wraps his hand around the wine glass on top of Woohyun’s, looking concerned. “Is this wine?” he asks quietly.

Woohyun smiles reassuringly. “Yes, it’s just wine. Oh, and don’t pick up any drinks. Some are filled with wine, some filled with blood. Vampires are actually lovers of wine, you know. And expensive food.”

“Fancy food,” Sunggyu nods, peeling his hand away from Woohyun’s and letting it hang at his side. Woohyun, thankfully, doesn’t actually introduce him to any other people. They stay glued to a wall, hands interlaced, as Woohyun points out people, giving Sunggyu some basic info on them.

A classical piece starts to play and Woohyun drags Sunggyu out to the middle of the dance floor despite his protests. “I can’t dance,” Sunggyu says.

“Just follow my lead,” Woohyun positions their arms and he starts to dance effortlessly. Sunggyu follows, taking cautious steps. “See? You’re pretty good. A natural if I do say so myself,” Woohyun smiles, his eyes a lovely shade of purple. Sunggyu likes to watch them change, thinks it’s one of the most beautiful things he’s seen.

Their romantic moment is cut short when someone taps Sunggyu’s shoulder and he whips his head around to see a beautiful girl with pale skin and long black hair. “Can I cut in?” she asks.

Woohyun gives him a look that’s telling him to say no but Sunggyu says yes anyways because she’s glaring at him and he’s kind of scared so he steps out and makes his way to the outskirts of the dance floor.

He leans up against the wall and tugs a little at his bowtie. It’s tight around his neck and it’s constricting. He’ll admit that the party is going better than he expected it would (he expected goth stuff but that may have been a little farfetched in the first place). A servant comes by, holding a plate of glasses filled with red. “I’ve been instructed to present to you our finest wine,” the servant says. He proceeds to tell him a very French and confusing name as he hands a glass to Sunggyu.

Sunggyu smells it, making sure it definitely is wine, not blood. He’s never been much of an alcohol fan (which may or may not be because he’s a lightweight) and he’s only ever had wine a few times. He thanks the servant and takes a sip. It tastes pretty good actually so he takes another classy sip.

“My uncle really likes you. Especially since he’s letting you have his best wine,” Sunggyu hears. He turns his head and sees Hoya drinking his own glass. Sunggyu doesn’t know if it’s blood or not but something tells him that it’s the former.

Sunggyu hums in response, tapping his fingers absentmindedly against the wine glass. “You seem like more of a wallflower. Completely different from Woohyun, but I suppose that was drilled into him,” Hoya is looking at Sunggyu and Sunggyu’s eyes dart around to find Woohyun. But Woohyun is lost amongst the dancers.

“Would you like to dance? People often tell me I’m quite the dancer and I’d like to hear your opinion as well,” Hoya continues, downing his glass and placing it on a nearby table. Sunggyu’s almost done his glass, too, and he peers up at Hoya from underneath his eyelashes. Hoya is holding out his hand, raising his eyebrow at Sunggyu. Sunggyu takes the last sip and places his empty glass next to Hoya’s. The wine is much stronger than he thought and he already knows he’s at least tipsy. Screw his low alcohol tolerance.

He takes Hoya’s hand, finding no reason to not dance. He’ll just follow like he followed Woohyun and if Hoya is half the dancer Woohyun is then he doesn’t need to worry at all. And Sunggyu knows Woohyun’s off dancing with some vampire so he doesn’t see why he can’t either. Hoya flashes a charming smile, leading him out to the edge of the dance floor. He grips Sunggyu’s waist and holds his hand gently, dancing around to the music.

Sunggyu realizes that Hoya did not lie when he said he was a good dancer and good is an understatement. He’s from another world, feet gliding across the floor so smoothly Sunggyu wonders how he even learned that. Sunggyu finds it a little hard to keep up but he tries, and people clear the dance floor when they see that the Lee Howon is dancing and when Lee Howon is dancing, you move out of the way.

The dance floor becomes scarce and only a few other couples are still dancing. Hoya is twirling Sunggyu around expertly, effortlessly, and Sunggyu finds that he’s smiling because this is kind of fun. He barely has time to register the fact that the only other couple dancing is Woohyun and some girl and he can feel Woohyun’s burning glare in Hoya’s skull which makes him uneasy and when he peaks up at Hoya he’s surprised to see that Hoya doesn’t seem to notice at all. Or he hides it very well. He’s still got that charming expression which is alluring but Sunggyu can’t help but think Woohyun can pull off an endearing expression, too, especially when he shows Sunggyu the smile he only shows Sunggyu.

The song comes to an end and there is clapping but Sunggyu’s not really paying attention because Hoya has Sunggyu in a dip, their faces inches apart. Sunggyu has a bit of a heart attack because no one gets this close except Woohyun (and Sungjae that one time but he doesn’t like to remember that). And then Sunggyu is being pulled away from Hoya and dragged off the dance floor and to somewhere else.

Sunggyu looks at Woohyun’s stiff back, senses that he’s angry. He doesn’t really understand why because Woohyun was dancing with someone else, too, which should give Sunggyu the same right to be angry but he’s not. He’s being dragged through a hallway on one of the upper floors and he’s pushed into a room. It’s massive and filled with expensive, Victorian style furniture. There’s a four-post bed sitting in the middle of the room and Sunggyu is pretty confused. Woohyun shuts the door and pushes him up against it and with the strength he’s using there’s no way the door could be opened from the other side.

“Why are you so angry?” Sunggyu asks and has the audacity to his head to the side and give Woohyun this confused puppy-dog look.

“Why did you dance with my cousin?” Woohyun growls.

“Because he asked me and I didn’t have a reason to say no?” Sunggyu’s answer is a question because he’s not really sure if that’s a good enough answer to satisfy Woohyun. It’s not.

“You’re only allowed to dance with me,” Woohyun’s voice is low and unbearably y but also pretty terrifying at the same time. Sunggyu’s conflicted.

“Then you should only be allowed to dance with me, but I’m not childish,” Sunggyu tries to turn it back around on Woohyun and he thinks he gets him but it lasts for only a second.

“I am expected to dance with whoever asks. You have to decline.”

“I don’t see why.”

“Because you’ll be eaten alive.”

Sunggyu doesn’t know if he means that metaphorically or literally but something tells him he shouldn’t ask. “Hoya is a nice guy,” he mutters instead. “He just wanted to get my opinion on his dancing.”

“Trust me, Gyu. That’s not what he wanted.”

“No, Woohyun. You need to trust me. I’m offended that you’d think I’d fall into someone’s trap so easily. And Hoya is a nice guy; I don’t care what you say about him. He’s a gentleman and you’re being a child.”

Sunggyu pushes Woohyun off of him, which surprises him because Woohyun’s so strong that he could never do that but he realizes it’s because Woohyun’s pretty startled by Sunggyu’s words. Sunggyu spins around and pulls the door open, storming out (like a child but he won’t admit that, especially after he just called Woohyun one).

He finds his way back downstairs and to the party. He picks up a glass from a servant, sniffs it to make sure it’s wine, and gulps it down. He finds another one, swallows that one too, and wades through the crowd until he’s found Hoya again. He refuses to believe Hoya’s got ulterior motives and when he downs his fourth glass and starts to wobble, he’s reassured that Hoya is a gentleman because he steadies him and tells him he needs some air and he’ll take him out.

Hoya grabs his coat, wraps it around Sunggyu’s body, and leads him out to the courtyard. The February air is chilly but it isn’t unbearable and it’s kind of refreshing and Hoya’s jacket is really warm. “Woohyun is so childish,” Sunggyu starts, drunken words slurred slightly.

Hoya snorts a little, amused at how the quiet Claimed switched to a ranting drunk. So he listens with great interest as Sunggyu rants on and on about Woohyun and how much of a jealous kid he is and it isn’t fair because Woohyun’s so stupid and perfect at the same time and how can that be possible?

“So you fought because I danced with you?” Hoya asks, his shoulder brushing Sunggyu’s.

“What a stupid reason,” Sunggyu frowns, his jaw set in a sharp line. “I might be drunk,” Sunggyu hiccups, “but I know what’s stupid and what isn’t and Woohyun is.”

Hoya chuckles. “You’ve got that right.”

“Possessive, selfish jerk,” Sunggyu hisses under his breath. “I want to dance with him,” he adds quietly, pouting. It’s true – he wants to dance with Woohyun forever. But it’s really hard when Woohyun is being such an overprotective jerk. And maybe he wouldn’t be so angry if he didn’t have any alcohol but if he cares. He deserves to get angry every once in a while, even if it’s for a stupid reason.

Sunggyu blows and watches his own breath form in a cloud in front of him. Giggling, he does it again and Hoya chuckles, raising an eyebrow. “Humans find the strangest things funny, don’t they?”

Sunggyu sighs, untying his bowtie and undoing the first few buttons of his shirt. “Sunggyu, what are you doing?” Hoya asks, eyeing Sunggyu’s lazy movements.

“It’s hot,” Sunggyu whines.

“Sunggyu, it’s the beginning of February. It’s anything but hot.”

Sunggyu turns to Hoya, pouting. His cheeks are coloured a deep shade of red, his hooded eyes twinkling in the night. Hoya swallows, wondering how this guy could change his aura so fast. He was endearing before and now it’s just ridiculous.

In the span of about two seconds, Sunggyu has ed his shirt enough to reveal his alabaster chest, his shirt hanging together only by two buttons. Hoya blinks, stares, because Sunggyu smells really good and wow he just wants to run his hands over that skin, sink his teeth—

Hoya stops himself because that would be unethical and he can control himself. Hoya slaps Sunggyu’s hands away and buttons his shirt up with lightning speed. “Alright, I think it’s time you went to bed.”

Sunggyu falls into a giggle fit and Hoya pulls him close because people are starting to look. Who wouldn’t when Sunggyu looks so enticing?

Hoya leads Sunggyu up through a staircase in the west wing of the mansion and they weave through a winding hallway until they stop at a door and Hoya pushes Sunggyu inside. “You can use this room to have a nap until Woohyun is allowed to leave. It’s mine.”

Sunggyu spins around, grasping Hoya’s suit and pulling him close. Hoya holds his breath, biting his lip. Is this really the same Sunggyu he’d met earlier that night? “Woohyun’s a jerk. I don’t want him taking me home.”

Hoya raises his eyebrow, lifting Sunggyu up and throwing him on the bed. Sunggyu lets out a little noise when his head hits the pillow. His eyes widen when Hoya climbs on top of him, leaning ever so close, his breath on Sunggyu’s ear. Sunggyu isn’t really sure what’s going on which may be because he’s seeing two Hoyas and is this really happening?

“Go to sleep,” Hoya whispers, his voice sending a shiver down Sunggyu’s spine. Sunggyu blinks as Hoya climbs off of him, straightening his suit and adjusting his tie.

“As much as I want to, my cousin will rip off my head if I take advantage of you. Literally,” and then Hoya is leaving, shutting the door behind him and Sunggyu is alone in the big bedroom lit only by a dim lamp. Sunggyu puffs out his cheeks, thoroughly confused. He doesn’t think he heard Hoya right so he ignores it and tries not to think about how dangerously close he got. Instead he complains to himself about how hot it is and takes off his jacket, undoes his shirt, and s his pants, laying in the dark and drifting off to sleep.

not proofread but you already knew that

maybe for the next chapter? maybe i'll make an attempt? would you guys like that?