Yongguk swore, making Himchan look up in surprise from the pile of hay he slouched in with a book in his lap.

“What?”

Tossing his phone down in the straw in frustration, Yongguk raked his fingers through his hair. “My contact at the hospital.”

"You have a contact?" Himchan asked, sitting up and closing the book.

"He provided me with blood and didn't ask questions," Yongguk said distractedly.

"What's wrong with him now? Is he getting curious? I can take care of him," Himchan said with a toothy grin. "I need to feed soon. I don't usually go after men but I'd do you a favor."

Yongguk shot his friend a look and shook his head. "No. I haven't heard from him in weeks. I need to feed. Have for a while now, but I haven't been able to get in touch with him. It's not like him at all."

Himchan stood, putting his hands in his coat pockets. "What are you going to do about it?"

Yongguk rubbed his forehead in agitation. "He usually works a night shift. Will you come to the hospital with me tonight?"

"Why do you need me?" Himchan asked.

Yongguk turned away. His voice was quiet. "I need you to make sure I don't kill anyone."

Himchan's eyes widened. "Yongguk, how long has it been since you fed? You have more self control than anyone I know."

Yongguk mumbled something unintelligible, and his friend grabbed his shoulder and spun him to face him. He looked intently at his face, then released him to stare at him in in awe. "You haven't fed since that girl, have you?"

Yongguk shook his head.

"Yongguk, it's been almost a month! Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have brought you blood."

The tired-looking man chuckled. "That's why. You would have brought me blood from someone you killed."

Himchan hissed in irritation. "So now I have to take you to a hospital full of people when you haven't fed for a month and make sure you don't kill anyone? When I need to feed too?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm an ."

Himchan sighed. "Yeah, you are. We better get going as soon as we can tonight. I need to feed after this. And don't you get after me about it. I could wait longer if you weren't bringing me around people."

"Thank you," Yongguk said with relief evident in his voice as he sat down in the hay. In this stage of hunger, his senses were even sharper than usual, and he tried to ignore the smell of three hikers several miles to the east, four other vampires in various directions, and you, only a mile away. You were close enough that he could smell that you were baking. His fangs ached as he imagined them sinking into the delicate skin of your throat again. He could do it. You wouldn't suspect it at all if he showed up tonight and-- he shook his head. No. Never. He fished his phone out of the pile of hay he had thrown it into and checked the time. 1:37. He suppressed a groan. It was going to be a long, difficult, hungry six hours.

~*~

The newborn stirred from his feeding induced stupor, then sat up quickly, smelling the air. The scents of Yongguk and the other vampire he was with were receding, headed toward the town. He smiled grimly. His plan was working.

Yongguk. That idiot had thought that leaving him wounded would be the end of him? He had forgotten the strength of a newborn. As soon as Yongguk had limped away, he had dragged himself to the treeline before the sun came up, and that night, had flagged down a car under the pretense of asking for help. The family inside had been more than enough to bring him back to full strength, and after putting sun shades over the windows and driving it into the woods, the old car had made the perfect place to hide from daylight.

He kicked open the door and bounded out of the confined space to stretch. He peered up at the moon and grinned. He had never liked being out at night when he was human, but now the night filled him with a rush he could barely contain. He was the ultimate predator, and now was the height of his power. He set off at a jog, enjoying the ease of his movements. Running was effortless; he never ran out of breath, and he never got tired. The only thing stronger than him now was the sun, as he had quickly learned. He stopped outside the house he had scented Yongguk hesitating outside of so many times.

A young woman walked by the window, chewing thoughtfully on a pen. Her hair was messy from pushing it out of her face as she walked, and with his highly sensitive hearing he could make out that she was muttering to herself as she walked back and forth between the window and a desk, stopping now and then to lean down and scribble something on the page of a notebook. She stared out the window now, and he made sure he was deep in the shadows so she wouldn’t see him. Suddenly a grin lit up her face and she practically ran back to her desk and slid into her seat, her pen flying across the paper.

This girl would be the linchpin of his plan. Yongguk’s life would come crashing down around him, piece by piece. He grinned broadly. He couldn’t wait.

~*~

Himchan warily followed Yongguk as they walked through the small town, both worried about his friend, and the surprising amount of people around them for how late it was. Having not eaten in two weeks, he, himself, was starting to feel the hunger gnaw at him, and was having a hard time not staring predatorily at everyone that passed. He could hardly imagine what it was like for Yongguk, who hadn’t eaten in twice as long. He knew the younger vampire had to be struggling to keep it together. He reached out to touch Yongguk’s shoulder and felt the tension in his shoulders that was about to snap. Yongguk jumped, baring his fangs in a snarl, before realizing that it was only Himchan and quickly pulling his features back under control.

“Don’t breathe. It’ll help.” Himchan said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I don’t need to breathe. I’m dead, remember?” Yongguk snapped.

Himchan gripped his arm, glancing at a passing couple and hoping they hadn’t heard Yongguk. “You know what I mean, smartass,” he hissed. “I forgot how nasty you get when you’re hungry. We’re at the hospital. Are you good to go in?”

Yongguk stood still for a moment, gathering his wits about him. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Himchan let his friend go ahead of him again as they entered the building and walked up to the reception desk.

Yongguk gave the woman at the desk a small, forced smile as she glanced at him over the top of her glasses. “Is Nurse Park in this evening? I’m a friend of his and was passing through town. I haven’t seen him in a while and was hoping I might catch him at work?” Yongguk lied.

The woman gave Yongguk an appreciative up and down with her eyes, and Himchan thought, not for the first time, what a shame it was that Yongguk didn’t hunt. The two of them would have been a great team. “I hate to tell you this, honey, but he’s been missing for almost two weeks.”

“Missing?” The strain in Yongguk’s voice was audible. “What do you mean, ‘missing’?”

“Well, just that. He disappeared on his way home about two weeks ago. No one knows where he went, there was no note, no one saw him go anywhere, and there hasn’t been a sighting of him since.”

“I…” Yongguk began. “Thank you. I… I need to go.” He turned and stumbled out of the hospital, stone-faced.

“Is your friend going to be okay?” The woman asked Himchan.

He glanced at her as he walked quickly after Yongguk. “He should be. I just have to get him out of town…Now.”

Yongguk was standing stock still in the middle of the sidewalk when Himchan roughly grabbed his arm. “We’re leaving. Come on.”

Yongguk didn’t move, so Himchan dug his fingers into his friend’s arm until he hissed. “Now, Yongguk.”

Himchan walked quickly, half dragging Yongguk behind him. As soon as they were out of the town, Yongguk relaxed marginally, and he tugged his coat sleeve from Himchan’s hand. “Thank you,” he said distractedly.

“Are you going to be alright?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Himchan pursed his lips. “Okay, now that you’ve lied, let’s try that again. Are you going to be alright?”

Yongguk’s eyes were hollow. “I’ll make it a couple more days. I’m going back to the barn. You go do what you need to. I’ll figure something out in the morning.”

Himchan hesitated. Yongguk shooed him. “Seriously. I’ll go back to the barn.”

“Do you want me to bring you something?” Himchan carefully asked.

Yongguk’s features contorted. It look all of his self control to say no, but he did. Himchan melted back into the trees to go back into town, throwing worried glances over his shoulder as he went, but he had to feed, or he wouldn’t be in any better condition than Yongguk.

Standing in the field with hunger threatening to consume him, Yongguk slowly turned to trudge back to the barn, and let himself go into autopilot. He wasn’t sure how much time passed but at some point he realized that he was no longer walking and he snapped into a brief moment of clarity as he looked around. He was in the clearing outside your house. The wind changed and the scent of you nearly bowled him over. Hel felt all his resolve melting away.

He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Or that’s what he told himself, but almost as if of their own will, he found his feet walking toward your door, and his fangs began to secrete their venom as his hand lifted to knock on the door.