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Throughout the remaining days till the festival, Sungmin decided to live in the mansion as if he owned the place. He started to wake up earlier to do some jogging in the morning. He had complained to Youngwoon that a mansion so big should have a private gym, but Youngwoon countered that he would do too much exercise while hunting and thus he didn’t need it. Because Sungmin would be up before the sun, Youngwoon started to end his hunting routine earlier to guard the human and also help him do his exercises, like holding his feet when Sungmin would do his sit-up routine.

Sungmin loved the first day of exercise the most. Youngwoon had sat down right in front of Sungmin and when the human did his first sit-up their faces were barely inches away from each other. Sungmin grinned as he saw Youngwoon blush and then chuckled as the werewolf turned around and sat on his feet instead, his back to resting against Sungmin’s legs. He had thought it was safer, but Sungmin breathing on his neck every time he did a move was equally disturbing. Didn’t help that when Sungmin did his last sit up he landed a small peck at the back of Youngwoon’s head.

"Thank you for changing your routine for me." Sungmin mumbled as Youngwoon scrambled away.

"Sure… no problem…" Youngwoon mumbled back quite embarrassed, but afterwards their day would get back into almost their past routine. Mostly because Sungmin decided that if he would help tend the garden they could finish the job twice as fast and would have more time to fool around, meaning either watch movies or series, or make full use to the next room where Youngwoon kept a video game console and some other outdated board games.

The two of them grew closer like that and when the day of the festival was nearing Sungmin was already trying to come up with an excuse to stay there even though he wanted to become a hunter. His best argument was that even though Youngwoon had managed quite well to protect the town alone for four hundred years, a full time help would be good too.

"Kyuhyun just sent me an e-mail. He said he will not be able to arrive for the festival, but that he will be a day or two late." Youngwoon mumbled two days before the festival while they were eating dinner. Sungmin looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Seriously? Doesn’t he know there’s someone else eagerly awaiting his arrival?" Sungmin joked. Youngwoon chuckled before he replied.

"He said something about some trouble on his way. Apparently he stumbled upon a group of vampires and he is hunting them because the group protecting the city was short handed." Sungmin hummed affirmatively at the explanation, but then changed the subject to what they would do later.

When the festival finally arrived, Sungmin had a light heart because he somehow could see a slight change in Youngwoon. Before the werewolf was much more adamant in not letting him out of the house at night, but for a few times they had sat together at the back yard to stargaze. His eyes were also less sad. Sometimes when Youngwoon would smile at him, his eyes would also smile along, not like before when his smile was overly polite. Also, Youngwoon was touching him more, not exactly hugging or caressing, but calling his attention with a tap, sometimes messing up his hair or even tickling him when Sungmin pissed him off when they were gaming or watching movies. Those were small changes that meant a lot so when Youngwoon closed the gate behind them that night, Sungmin was with an overly light heart. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking of that night as a first date of sorts.

Sungmin had never seen the town center at night and he was greatly impressed with how the small town was so incredibly able to mix technology with nature. The illumination of the streets and the flower beds was spot on. The main square was illuminated with beautiful paper lanterns though inside, there were light bulbs instead of candles. There were food stands, flower stands, game stands. Sungmin was like an overly hyperactive kid in a fair, going from one stand to the other, tasting food and going through every game they had. His hands were already full of prizes when Youngwoon pulled him aside so they could sit down and eat something properly.

"What is exactly the reason for this festival?" Sungmin asked as he was eating a piece of rose bread.

"About two hundred years ago, the town had the biggest harvest so far, and it was around this time of the year that Mrs. Lee died and the brown wolf killed off the group of assassins. They put all that together and chose the date of her death anniversary to celebrate the festival, she was the one that inspired the flower cultivation so they claimed it was a form of gratitude." Youngwoon explained with a neutral tone but Sungmin knew how much anything regarding that family was a sensitive topic for the werewolf.

Sungmin was silent for a minute or so after the answer, but then he was pushing his chair closer to Youngwoon’s and whispering at the werewolf’s ear.

"But you don’t kill humans so what is the true story?" he questioned.

Youngwoon smiled slightly and simply turned to Sungmin. They looked each other in the eyes  for a moment, Sungmin's eyes curiously staring. In Youngwoon’s eyes Sungmin was shining, his aura so light, so beautiful. Youngwoon suddenly felt a strange feeling of wholeness.

"They were possessed by spirits. Sometimes a spirit, after consuming a human’s soul, can take control of the empty body and use it as its own. We call this kind of spirit a ridden. The humans were already dead so I actually just got rid of spirits." he whispered back in his ear. It felt good, to be that close to someone, to be so open, to be able to talk about the supernatural with someone that would not doubt him. To see Sungmin make fun of what he said but not make fun of him with it. It felt great. Sungsmin's sincerity was shining.

Sungmin nodded, opening his mouth in a mocking ‘o’.

"Spirits are a royal pain in the…" Sungmin was saying when he saw Youngwoon suddenly go stiff.

The werewolf looked around with an angry frown.

"What’s wrong?" Sungmin questioned worriedly also looking around but only being able to see clueless people having fun. Youngwoon firmly took hold of Sungmin’s arm as he got closer to once again speak by his ear.

"Vampires. At least four. I have to go get rid of them so continue trying to enjoy the festival, but if I take too long and people start to go back home then you go to the train station, I’ll pick you up later." Youngwoon said with a grave tone. Sungmin nodded, slightly scared.

They looked each other in the eyes once again, 'I'll be right back,' Youngwoon mouthed, one hand caressing Sungmin's hair by his nape. Moments later, Youngwoon walked away through the crowd as Sungmin made his way to the stands, but one thing was certain; he couldn’t concentrate on ‘having fun’. He was worried. Slowly Sungmin made his way as close to the train station as possible, noticing that it was already closed down because there were no night trains arriving.

Being careful not to be seen by anyone, Sungmin jumped over a gate and decided to just sit some place where he could easily hear Youngwoon’s howls while fighting, but even inside the station the festival music and noise was still so loud that Sungmin was unable to hear any howls.

Hours passed before the festival noise was over. Sungmin started to pace inside the station worried beyond belief to why Youngwoon was taking so long getting back.

At one point he felt like something was calling him and mindlessly he walked to the platform, from a distance he saw the wolf statue was illuminated by a lamp. Once he got up the platform and stood beside it, he looked ahead and felt startled. He saw what could only be a spirit. He had absolutely no clue how the hell he was able to see a spirit but the thing looked like a fox, a slender animal with luminous white fur, who's paws and tail tip was a light pink color. Sungmin looked at those beautiful red eyes.

How exactly did that spirit get there? Sungmin had once questioned Youngwoon how he felt having statues of himself all around town. The werewolf had grinned and said that he was very thankful towards the citizens, especially because he had used those statues as pillars for a powerful barrier to keep strong evil spirits out of town. So a spirit couldn’t be standing that close to the statue. Then he wondered, was it that that was calling to him?

"Youngwoon needs your help," Sungmin heard a voice inside his head, a sweet female voice, like twinkles of a bell. "You must go back to the house."

Sungmin frowned. The house was placed outside the barrier because Youngwoon thought there was no point in casting barriers if he lived there. He considered himself defense enough. That’s why Youngwoon had always told Sungmin not to wander at night, because the spirits had easy access to the place and would hurt anyone that could possibly make Youngwoon happy. It was only after Sungmin had started to live there that Youngwoon had turned the house itself into a barrier.

"Why should I believe you?" Sungmin seethed, really believing that the spirit was trying to trick him to step out of the barrier to eat him.

"I am the spirit of this town, Sungmin." The spirit replied. "The only spirit this barrier cannot harm because I helped cast it. I have a pact with Youngwoon, part of his powers are gifts I gave him. If you truly love him then you’ll listen to me," The spirit urged, walking closer to prove the barrier could not harm it. "I am Ayasya. He certainly told you that you can trust me." The spirit added as Sungmin was not showing any signs of believing it. But at the name Sungmin stiffened and in the next second he was leaving all of his bags of prizes behind as he once again jumped over the station gate and desperately ran back to the mansion.

Indeed Youngwoon had told him once that in an emergency, if he was in need, he could call out the name Ayasya, because it would call out a spirit that would protect him if Youngwoon was not back home.

While Sungmin was running through the deserted streets, he saw that the spirit was running alongside him. Sometimes he would see a few pink lights as if something had collided into an invisible wall and ricocheted.

When Sungmin saw the mansion gate, he growled lowly because Youngwoon had kept the key, but in his desperate need to find Youngwoon he couldn’t care less about how he would get in. The moment he was close enough he jumped onto the gate and like a cat climbed it, careful not to hurt himself as he jumped down, but then he halted. Where exactly did he have to go? The mansion suddenly seemed bigger than it was.

Ayasya however, knew where to go so it rushed down the pathway between the house and the high wall. The spirit guided Sungmin all the way to a side gate from where one could access the inner yard. Once Sungmin got inside he saw Youngwoon on the ground, reaching out to the fountain, stark , his body filled with open wounds.

"No…" Sungmin cried out lowly. "No… please… no…" he chanted as he made his way to Youngwoon. Once close enough, Sungmin saw there was a pool of blood under the werewolf and thus Sungmin panicked even more. "Youngwoon! No no no… just no… you can’t do this to me… you can’t!" Sungmin shouted in anguish.

He tried to flip the werewolf over, trying to be careful with the wounds. Some part of him slightly calmed down as he felt an accelerated pulse, Youngwoon was breathing with some difficulty and he was sweaty too, Sungmin had never really seen Youngwoon sweaty before.

"Min?" Youngwoon mumbled the pet name weakly and something inside Sungmin dropped. Youngwoon had never called him by anything but ‘Sungmin-ssi’. Sungmin gulped down his resentment over the thought that in his dying moment the other Sungmin was still the one Youngwoon was calling.

"Don’t… Don’t leave me… don’t…" Youngwoon mumbled and Sungmin thought that somehow he was in the middle of some kind of delusion.

At that moment Sungmin had managed to make Youngwoon lay on his back instead and that was when Sungmin saw the deep stab on the werewolf’s side. In his panic Sungmin noticed that the other cuts and wounds were slowly but surely healing at an abnormal speed… all of them but that stab. Hurriedly Sungmin took off his shirt to use it to stop the blood flow. "I’m here." Sungmin replied trying to firm his voice. "I am here, Youngwoon, I am not going anywhere." He assured.

Moments later Youngwoon passed out.

"Youngwoon! No, please, don’t fall asleep, please!" Sungmin cried out, but then he heard rushed footsteps, seconds later someone else was in the garden.

Adrenaline rose and Sungmin crouched protectively beside Youngwoon, a hand still holding the shirt in place.

"Who are you?" Sungmin seethed at the same moment the intruder asked the very same question.

"I’m Kyuhyun," The stranger said walking closer. Sungmin felt relief for a moment but then he went stiff because when the hunter got close enough to see his face his eyes widened. "Sungmin?" he mumbled somehow unconsciously.

It was so clear the hunter was thinking he was the other Sungmin that his tone came out more bitter than he had intended it to be.

"You got the name right, but I am not him," after saying that Sungmin looked back at Youngwoon. "There is a deep wound not healing. I don’t know what to do."

At those words the hunter seemed to remember the moment was not exactly pleasant, so he reached for the damp shirt and took it off to see the wound.

"He was stabbed with a silver dagger. This is bad, his blood is poisoned so his healing ability is not working right. Damp your shirt in the fountain water and clean the wound. Don't go any farther..." Kyuhyun explained before he rushed to the house, moments later he came back with a first aid kit and a towels. Meanwhile Sungmin cleaned the wounds with the  fountain water, then they bandaged the wound as best as could to safely carry Youngwoon back into the house.

"Was it vampires or riddens?" Kyuhyun questioned after they laid Youngwoon on Sungmin’s bed because the service bedroom was the closest and the easiest to access.

"Vampire." Sungmin replied shortly. Kyuhyun tsked.

"Not good, if he was left in this state at least one must have escaped. I’ll hunt it down, stay with him." The hunter added and even before getting a reply he was already moving away.

Sungmin looked at Youngwoon with a heavy heart.

"I’m not going anywhere." He mumbled as he caressed Youngwoon’s face.

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Sometime nearing morning Youngwoon started to breath with some difficulty again, he started to sweat and a painful frown appeared on his face. Sungmin quickly held his hand tighter, sitting on the bed to be able to get closer and look at Youngwoon’s face more directly. The dip on the bed and the secure hold made Youngwoon open his eyes and stare back at Sungmin. The werewolf reached a hand to caress Sungmin’s cheek with his thumb, the palm of his hand holding right under Sungmin’s ear as Youngwoon’s fingers touched Sungmin’s scalp lightly. That has been the most intimate Youngwoon had ever held him.

"…Min." Youngwoon mumbled with some difficulty.

Sungmin felt like crying but instead he smiled weakly. "I’m here, Youngwoon." He replied.

Youngwoon closed his eyes and took in a deep pained breath before he spoke again, his tone slightly firmer. "Don’t go… Don’t leave me… please… stay." The tip of his fingers applied a little bit more pressure onto Sungmin’s scalp and the touch made Sungmin’s heart drop.

"I will never leave you," Sungmin replied, if in that moment the other Sungmin was the only one that could make Youngwoon hang on for his life then so be it. Sungmin would play the part, anything was valid if it could somehow save the werewolf. "I told you before… I will love you for eternity." He added unable to control himself, unable to stop his body from leaning in.

Youngwoon opened his eyes at his words.

"Sungmin?" he called weakly.

"I’m here," Sungmin replied with their lips mere inches apart. "I won’t leave you." He added before taking Youngwoon’s lips on his.

The reply was weak but immediate. Youngwoon kissed back, strength seeping back into him with every second their lips continued attached like that.

"I love you." Sungmin said in between the kiss, repeating it a few more times as he knew he wouldn’t have courage to say those words ever again once Youngwoon was back into his right state of mind.

"I love you too." The werewolf returned pulling Sungmin closer, adding his tongue to the kiss.

Sungmin didn’t know when he started to cry after that, he only knew that at one point Youngwoon growled in pain, breaking their heated kiss. Sungmin looked at the stab area and saw the bandage was heavily stained so he quickly distanced himself and rushed to open it and clean the blood.

Kyuhyun had told him that it was part of the healing process, Youngwoon’s body would try to get rid of the poisoning by occasionally bleeding out, so the best he could do was clean off the poisoned blood with the fountain water whenever it would happen. The hunter had come back and gone out again, saying that the vampire had been eliminated but with Youngwoon hurt the territory was much more vulnerable so he went to the neighboring town to request help from the werewolf pack living there. While the hunter was once again out Youngwoon had bled three times, with that four altogether.

As Sungmin picked up the warm towel to clean off the blood, he felt slightly worried. Youngwoon was still squirming in pain, and blood didn’t seem to stop coming out. The bucket of water he had was completely red, so Sungmin had to run to the kitchen to bring clear water. When he was back there was just too much blood staining the bed, but Youngwoon had calmed down. Running to check on Youngwoon’s vitals, Sungmin heaved a sigh of relief at feeling the strong accelerated pulse that was Youngwoon's normal beat. With a new towel and the new water, Sungmin got back to cleaning the blood off, when he was done Sungmin frowned because the silver lines that had been marking Youngwoon’s skin had disappeared and Sungmin could swear that the wound was finally closing, at a much slower speed but still a noticeable one.

Realizing that it could only mean Youngwoon had finally expelled all of the poisoned blood, Sungmin acted out of impulse, he reached for his face and without ceremony, claimed Youngwoon’s lips one more time. Youngwoon had his eyes closed but he kissed back, his hand blindly trying to hold Sungmin closer, but the human took hold of it forcing him to stop and not touch him like before.

"Min?" Youngwoon called slightly confused.

"It’s okay," Sungmin coed. "You will be okay. Just sleep now. When you wake up I will still be here." He assured.

Youngwoon hummed in reply letting his hand drop back on the bed. Sungmin got back to the cleaning and then he bandaged Youngwoon’s abdomen. Glad that soon enough he wouldn’t need those things anymore.

When the job was done, Youngwoon was deeply asleep. Sungmin inched closer, resting his forehead against Youngwoon’s for a moment before he pecked his lips. Right after he distanced himself completely, he sat on the floor beside the bed and let his head fall on his knees as he hid his face.

"Are you stupid, Lee Sungmin?" he mumbled to himself. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he questioned himself as he punched the floor once.

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