chapter 5

Woohyun stumbles forward and he reaches out to stabilize himself against the wall. His limbs are heavy and he's thirsty, so goddamn thirsty. Myungsoo stops and helps him stand but Woohyun can't get his legs to do as he wants and he ends up leaning heavily on Myungsoo. Myungsoo does not complain. 

"God, what the  is wrong with me?" Woohyun grunts, eyebrows knitting together as his face twists in pain. 

Myungsoo observes him carefully. "Where is Sunggyu?" he asks.

"He should be in town with Sojin by now," Woohyun answers and Myungsoo thinks about it for a moment. 

"Town is not terribly far, but any farther may be too much right now. Sunggyu must come back now."

"Is this the bond?"

"You just bonded so you two cannot be far away from each other. I did not think it would be this severe so soon, but both of you will be suffering."

"Is this what it's like with Sungyeol and you?" 

Myungsoo shakes his head as he pulls out his phone. "I have never had it this bad. Perhaps your bond with Sunggyu is much stronger than mine with Sungyeol."

He dials Sojin's number and she picks up on the first ring. Woohyun is too weak to focus on hearing the conversation, but Myungsoo's face says it all. "Come back. We will go find him."

When Myungsoo hangs up the call, he shoves his phone into his back pocket and hoists Woohyun up a little. "It seems Sunggyu is no longer with Sojin. I suspect that is why you are suddenly like this. We must find him now."

--

The porridge that Jungwook makes for Sunggyu is too hot and he has to blow on it before eating it. "You're such a baby," Jungwook says. "It's not even that hot."

Sunggyu pauses to offer Jungwook an indignant pout before he returns to his task of blowing on the spoonful of porridge. He doesn't feel any better -- if anything he feels much worse. His heart is starting to burn, the pain building up slowly. He winces with every beat his poor heart struggles to make and his head aches mercilessly. He's hot, too, and Jungwook wipes away the sweat every so often. 

He watches as Jungwook sits at his computer and writes his art history paper. Jungwook continuously checks on him, though, and Sunggyu feels bad for not allowing him to focus on the paper that's due on Monday. Sunggyu had finished it the week prior and he vaguely wonders how he's going to hand it in. If this continues any longer, he doesn't think he could possibly go to class. He has a hard enough time getting up to go to the bathroom. 

At some point Sunggyu falls asleep. He wakes up to an insistent knocking at the door and he blinks his bleary eyes open. Half-asleep, he watches Jungwook stand and walk over to the door, coffee in one hand. He opens it and looks curiously at the trio standing at his door. 

Sunggyu can't see past Jungwook, who has only opened the door enough that he can poke his head out. Instead, he listens intently. 

"We are here for Sunggyu," someone says and Sunggyu sits up quickly. The motion sends his head reeling and he sways as he attempts to stand. 

"Excuse me? I don't know who you are but I think you have the wrong person. There is no Sunggyu here," Jungwook says and he moves to close the door but a hand stops it. 

There is a pause and no movement for several moments. Sunggyu finally gets to his feet and he gasps when he sees who is outside the door. It's Myungsoo and Woohyun and an unknown person. Woohyun, however, does not look like the Woohyun that Sunggyu knows. He's paler than usual, eyes a bright red, and he's leaning on the unknown person, seemingly unable to stand by himself. Jungwook is frozen at the door and Myungsoo is holding his gaze. 

"Please let us through," Myungsoo says and Jungwook steps back obediently, seemingly in a trance. 

Sunggyu collapses in a heap then, no longer able to stand. His eyes meet Woohyun's and he can no longer feel anything except the desire to be near him, to touch him--

Woohyun is there beside him in a fraction of a second, moving with vampiric speed. He takes Sunggyu into his arms and Sunggyu gasps, electricity zapping every single nerve in his body. Their bond comes alive and Sunggyu grasps Woohyun tightly, as if holding on for dear life. Then they're moving and Sunggyu can vaguely feel them going outside. When they stop, Sunggyu is able to look around and he sees that they're on a roof. Originally, he'd have been terrified of being so high up. But all he can feel now is Woohyun's fiery skin and the overwhelming need to touch. 

It's akin to the feeling he got when they kissed and Sunggyu can barely handle it. "W-Woohyun," he whimpers, and Woohyun nuzzles his nose in the junction between Sunggyu's neck and shoulder. The only warning he gets is the swift kiss to the pulsating vein in his neck before he feels Woohyun's fangs sink in. It doesn't hurt like Sunggyu expects. Instead he starts to feel complete and he craves for it. 

They stay like this for several moments, and when Woohyun pulls away, Sunggyu sees his own blood on Woohyun's teeth. He makes an odd gurgling sound at the sight but it is not all unpleasant. Woohyun kisses him then and he can't even find it in himself to consider how shades of ed up this is. 

The intensity fades and leaves a warmth that envelopes Sunggyu. "Do you understand now?" Woohyun whispers against his lips and without explaining any further, Sunggyu nods. And he does understand now. This is where home is. 

--

When they return to Woohyun's mansion, Myungsoo steals Woohyun away again to finish their earlier conversation. Sunggyu is thus left with Myungsoo's partner, whose name he learns is Sungyeol. Sungyeol is tall and pretty and somehow very fitting for Myungsoo. 

"It's probably best not to go too far for now. Or that's what Myungsoo says."

Sunggyu looks up at Sungyeol when he says this. "I mean, it looked pretty bad. I've never seen Woohyun so--" he waves his hands vaguely around as he searches for the right word-- "messed up." 

"I-- what was it, though? Why were we like that?" Sunggyu asks. 

"You're bonded with Woohyun, right?" 

"I think so. I mean, I feel like I am."

"Okay, well, when you're bonded, there's like an invisible string that connects you. It'll bend and twist and whatever, but it can't break. At least, I don't think it can. Anyway, the string that connects you can stretch but only so far. If it goes too far, then you basically start dying. It's magic or whatever, I think, but it kind of ."

Sunggyu listens carefully. 

"Myungsoo said that when the bond is first created, it's kinda weird. Like, you really can't be very far. He said that he'd never seen it so strong between a vampire and human before so your case is kinda rare, I guess. Which is why you guys were, like, dying even though you weren't that far away from each other."

"But it'll get better as time goes?"

"That's what Myungsoo says. Now, I could probably be on the other side of the country and it wouldn't be that bad. But you can't even go across town."

"How long have you and Myungsoo been bonded?"

Sungyeol pauses to think about it. "I guess closer to a year now. Not that long for Myungsoo, but it's long for me."

"Wow," Sunggyu says and he genuinely means it. "How did you meet? Or was it like Woohyun and I?"

"No, it was actually purely on accident. I wasn't looking where I was going and I bumped into him. And then we both just knew. Like we'd known each other forever."

"It was like that for you, too?"

"Yeah. And even when he told me what he was, I wasn't scared. I trusted him, you know? And we'd never even talked."

Sunggyu feels a little relieved. He's glad he isn't the only one taken over by some irrational feeling that makes him do things he'd never had done before. Like kiss a vampire, for instance. 

"You'll have to stay here, though. That's the only way Woohyun can protect you," Sungyeol says.

"Protect me?" 

"Woohyun's kind of an important guy in the vampire world. There's this family of royal purebloods that have been around for a looooong time. It's almost like a monarchy, to be honest. And Woohyun is one of the princes." 

"How do you know all of this?"

"Myungsoo doesn't look it, but he's talkative," Sungyeol winks before slinging his arm over Sunggyu's shoulder and leading him to the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I am so hungry I could eat a whale. The entire thing. All in one go."

_____