Just another Ordinary Day

The first thing Yesung became aware of was the sound of a door opening. He didn’t register it consciously at first, his mind not interpreting it as something real through the haze of sleep, but then the door closed and his brain started functioning. Morning. Too early.

Turning to his other side, he was greeted by the sight of his boyfriend undressing. The man in question noticed the movement and, upon seeing Yesung was awake, grimaced a little.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Stupid question. Of course he had. His mind wasn’t working properly, exhausted from hours of dealing with rigid idiots.

“What time is it?”

The sleepy voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Kyuhyun looked at the clock in the corner of the room.

“Five fifty-four. Go back to sleep.”

There was a moment of silence and then Yesung sighed loudly and rolled onto his back, arms spread wide. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the ceiling, trying to fight the sleep that still hadn’t relinquished its hold on him completely.

Kyuhyun allowed himself a small tired smile as he got into more comfortable clothing and into the bed.

“Really, go back to sleep.”

Yesung turned to look at him again, surprise evident on his face.

“But-!”

A hand settled on his cheek. Kyuhyun smiled at him, apologetic.

“I’m sorry Yesung-ah. I’m very tired. Is it okay if we skip breakfast just this time?”

Dark eyes staring into his softened.

“Of course.”

Typical Yesung-induced warmth filled him and he moved to place a kiss on his forehead.

“Thank you.”

A hand sneaked to take hold of the one that Kyuhyun slid from Yesung’s face.

“It’s okay.” Yesung could survive without one breakfast. “Long night?”

He pushed the blanked he’d been under away and over Kyuhyun who promptly snuggled into it. And then snorted.

“Yeah. You could say that. Sometimes I think they made me immortal just so they could torture me to death indefinitely.”

Yesung gave him a sympathetic smile. He’d never liked politics much. Dealing with them on a daily, or more accurately nightly basis sounded like an activity reserved for those squirming in the lowest pits of hell.

He gave Kyuhyun’s hand a comforting squeeze before he got out of the bed and walked to the window in order to make sure that the blinds were properly shut.

“You won’t stay with me?”

Yesung rolled his eyes, but an amused smile betrayed his affection. The clan meeting must have been really draining if Kyuhyun was this whiny.

“No,” he tucked Kyuhyun in and placed a kiss of his own on his forehead, “got a rehearsal at eight so there’s no point in sleeping anymore.”

The bundle of blankets moved and Yesung took that as Kyuhyun expressing his dissatisfaction with the information given, but accepting it nonetheless.

“You are still doing that play?”

Yesung guessed he could indulge him a little. By the way Kyuhyun’s eyelids were dropping it wouldn’t be long before sleep claimed him. He sat back on the bed and ran his fingers through the other’s hair.

“Yes. Tonight’s production is this week’s last. Then two more on Tuesday and Wednesday and we’re done with this one.”

Kyuhyun hummed, content.

“I like it better when you do musicals.”

Yesung smiled.

“I do too. But plays aren’t that bad either.”

“When will you be back?”

The hand in his hair halted for a moment before resuming its movement.

“Not sure. I promised Ryeowook I would visit him sometime this week so I’ll probably drop by his restaurant after the rehearsal and you know how time consuming he can be.”

Silence.

“You really have to introduce us. Preferably while we’re eating at his place.”

Yesung rolled his eyes.

“I swear you’re the only vampire in this world that actually prefers human food over blood.”

“The Ancients are much too concerned with tradition to know what’s good.”

Smiling, Yesung extracted his hand from Kyuhyun’s hair and moved off the bed. His boyfriend was having way too much trouble keeping his eyes open for them to keep talking.

“Sleep. I’ll see you tonight and we can have breakfast then.”

Kyuhyun smiled back.

 “I love you.”

The theatre actor barely resisted the urge to return back to the bed.

“I love you too.”

He took care to quietly shut the door behind himself and made his way to the kitchen. He settled on just making himself some coffee. No sense in making breakfast when he wouldn’t have anyone to share it with, and coffee would keep him going until he met up with Ryeowook who would no doubt bury him in food.

That, and breakfast had somewhat become his and Kyuhyun’s time. He didn’t want to tarnish it by eating alone. When your boyfriend operated on a completely opposite schedule than you, times when you could see each other, namely breakfast, became special. Kyuhyun always bemoaned the fact that out of all the people he could have fallen in love with it had to be a human that had work in the evenings – the only time they were both awake and could spend longer periods of time together. Yesung was happy his weekend would be mostly schedule free so they could arrange to spend a whole day or night together, whichever turned out to be more convenient.

Pouring himself a cup of warm caffeine liquid he tiptoed around the apartment as he went to fetch his script. His roommate, Sungmin, was probably still asleep, and Yesung had no intention of waking him up. They’d shared this tiny place since the time when they were both in university, and while Yesung had graduated about a year and a half ago, Sungmin still had a year left. The actor remembered how precious sleep was to him during that period so he did his best not to disturb the student.

He settled on the couch in their living room and got about halfway through the script when it was time for him to go if he didn’t want to be late. Their director was scary even when he wasn’t yelling.

 

He made it just in time to change into his practice costume and still have some minutes to spare for chatting.

“I’m so glad there are only three more productions left.”

He turned to Saeun, who was tying her shoes. She looked like she was imagining strangling someone with the laces.

“I know I shouldn’t complain since I got cast as the female lead, but this character is so annoying.”

Yesung could sympathize. He’d had his own share of characters that just didn’t agree with him. Those were particularly draining to portray.  

“I’m fine with mine, but I’ll be happy to get a breather from all this flower language.”

“God yes! What do the writers even think about when they write those things?”

Yesung chuckled.

“Definitely not the actors.”

Saeun snorted.

It reminded Yesung of Sungmin once saying it would be great to meet a girl who freely expressed herself. His roommate was one of those people that were born good-looking, with a face made for aegyo. This meant that the girls that liked him went to great lengths to get his attention, more often than not by acting cute and agreeing with whatever he said. According to Sungmin, it got really annoying because after a while they all looked and sounded the same. A kind girl that spoke her mind was who Sungmin had told him he wished to meet, and Saeun fit that bill perfectly.  He made a mental note to introduce them to each other somehow.

“Well, then I’m sure you’ll be happy that the auditions for the next play officially start next week.”

Both turned to look at Junsu who joined them as they waited for the director and the rest of the crew members to be done with preparations.

“Really?”

“Do you know which one it is?”

“Has the date been set?”

“Please tell me it’s a musical.”

He laughed at their barrage of questions.

“The exact date hasn’t been announced yet, but notice says it will be sometime next week. Yes, it’s a musical.”

“Thank God!”

“Finally!”

They had him laughing at their reactions again even though his had been exactly the same.

“And guess what?” he grabbed a nearby dark cloth and wrapped it around himself, rising his arm in front of his face until only his eyes were visible. “It’s Dracula.”

“Oi, Junsu! Put the damn prop down and get to the damn stage! We don’t have all day!”

All three of them scrambled towards the stage when the shrill voice of their director pierced the air. Another thing Kyuhyun moaned about was the fact that of all the people Yesung could have worked for it had to be that one human that even vampires couldn’t handle. It didn’t really surprise Yesung that they couldn’t handle him; (how they even knew him was much more baffling, but Kyuhyun had never offered a clear explanation) Heechul-hyung was a pretty difficult and demanding person in general. Still, he was a great director and Yesung enjoyed working under him. At least when he wasn’t yelling.

 

Yesung arrived at Ryeowook’s restaurant around noon feeling like death. Heechul had really worked them over and the fact that he had skipped breakfast probably didn’t help either. He knew it was because today was Friday and people tended to come to theatre at the end of the week, so they expected a bigger crowd than usual. Not that they weren’t filled to the brim usually. He dreaded even thinking what the rehearsal for the last production would look like. He would probably be brought home in a casket. Kyuhyun would appreciate the aesthetics of that.

Looking around himself he realized he hadn’t planned this very well. Middle of the midday rush. How was he even going to find himself a seat, much less talk to Ryeowook? An obviously overworked waiter spotted him and led him to a single table. Good to know that Ryeowook anticipated his tendency not to think things through very well. He sat there playing games on his phone for some twenty minutes when the sound of a chair being dragged made him look up. Ryeowook looked pretty unhappy.

“You really know how to choose when to visit, hyung.”

“Sorry, Ryeowook-ah. I didn’t mean to make this inconvenient for you. You know my schedule is all over the place.”

The cook sighed.

“Yes, and that bloodsucker probably doesn’t help much with that.”

Yesung frowned. Ryeowook was the only person he’d told who Kyuhyun was so it kind of hurt when he acted like this.

“Kyuhyun has nothing to do with my schedules. Heechul-hyung is the one without any understanding whatsoever.”

“Sorry,” another sight, “I’m a bit on the edge lately. We fired some idiots recently and haven’t managed to find adequate replacements yet so everything is more chaotic that usual.”

“Oh.”

“But enough about that. I’m not the one with a vampire for a boyfriend. Whatever happens to you has to be way more interesting that me putting a wrong ingredient in a dish and it turning better than the original.”

Yesung shrugged.

“The usual. We’ll probably go out this weekend, but there are no definite plans yet. Oh, and Kyuhyun mentioned again that he would like to come here and meet you, so maybe we’ll come for dinner one of these days.”

“Should I put bottled blood on the menu?”

“No, I don’t think so. For all the time we’ve been together I’ve never seen him drink blood.”

“Seriously? Never?”

The actor nodded.

“I know he does it, he told me as much, but he’s never done it in my presence.” At Ryeowook’s frown he added, “I think he is a bit self-conscious about the more savage aspects of his culture.”

“I guess that makes sense. I just can’t decide if that makes him a secretive or an understanding boyfriend.”

“He’s not secretive. Not really. There are things I can tell he doesn’t want to talk about, but he always answers my questions if I have any.”

“And you’ve never asked him why he doesn’t drink blood in front of you.”

“It never really bothered me.”

“But you’re going to ask him now.”

Yesung fixed him a stare.

“You can ask him yourself when we come for dinner.”

“Or I can just offer him a bottle of our finest blood.”

“Goddamnit Ryeowook! I understand it is not your everyday situation, but would it kill you to be a bit less suspicious. I’ve been with Kyuhyun for two years now and the worst thing he’s done was be merciless in a tickle fight. He is not a bad person and he is not going to me dry if I turn my back to him. He could have done that a long time ago.”

The cook watched as his longtime friend struggled to contain his anger.

“I’m sorry. I just worry about you.”

“I know. But you have no reason to. I’ll definitely bring him around for dinner now so you can see for yourself.”

“I can deal with that.”

“And no bottled blood.”

“Okay, okay, no bottled blood.” He laughed lightly, glad that the mood had cooled down a bit. “While we’re on the topic of meals, what are you going to have?”

“Anything sounds good.”

“Hyung! You are not helping.”

“Just get me whatever is easy to prepare so I don’t add to your chaos.”

“Heechul-ssi isn’t holding you on a calorie regiment?”

“No, I think he trusts me to manage my own weight, which is a relief. I’ve seen how he hounds those that don’t.”

“He sounds like a real charmer.”

“He is. People cower in fear before him.”

“The greatest villain of them all.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know about that. Kim-seonsaengnim that taught us chemistry was way worse than him.”

Ryeowook fake shuddered.

“Point.”

Scanning the place the cook got up.

“I think I’ve been MIA for long enough. There is no visible catastrophe in sight, but I better go check.”

“Go,” Yesung shooed him with his hand, “I’ll be able to fend off hunger without your lovely company somehow.”

“Oh, I’ll get you your food. A man would think you haven’t eaten anything in days.”

“Nope, just since last night.”

Ryeowook stopped.

“You skipped breakfast?”

“It happens.”

The cook sighed and walked away muttering about irresponsible hyungs and proper nourishment.

 

He’d been right; Ryeowook did bury him in food. His comment about not eating breakfast probably had something to do with that, but he couldn’t complain. The food was glorious. He even got some waffles to take home. It would be the perfect food to make up for the missed breakfast when Kyuhyun woke up.

Once he made it back to the apartment he left his things by the couch and moved the food to the kitchen. After that he checked if Sungmin was home (his schedule was almost as unpredictable as Yesung’s) and upon finding he wasn’t, thought about what to do. There was no way he was going to wake Kyuhyun up and he didn’t feel like going through his script again for the moment. For the lack of better ideas he decided to take a shower first. The practice was grilling and the subways were packed, he would decide what to do with himself once he was clean. Only any bright ideas avoided him even then and he ended up falling asleep of the couch.

He was, again, woken up by the sound of a door opening. He expected it would be Sungmin returning from his classes, so he was really surprised to see Kyuhyun dragging himself towards the kitchen.

“You’re up early.”

His boyfriend looked at him and Yesung was once again struck by how utterly beautiful he was. He was wearing some Yesung’s old sweatpants and a t-shirt, his hair a mess from sleep, but he still managed to look awe-inspiring. Why this gorgeous person had taken interest in him those two years ago he still couldn’t fully comprehend.

“This is the second time I woke up so I concluded that I might as well get up.”

“You’re okay in the sunlight?”

He got an amused stare in answer to his question.

“There’s this little thing called sunlight protection spell?”

“Sorry, I just don’t want a crispy boyfriend.”

The grin on Kyuhyun’s face made his mouth muscles twitch.

“Yesung-ah, in the five hundred and twenty-four years since I’ve been turned I haven’t forgotten to cast the spell once.”

“Oh.”

Only that wasn’t true exactly. He didn’t forget because he couldn’t. Still, the fool worried, and no one really worried about Kyuhyun anymore so he concluded such sentiments were worthy of a kiss.

Taking the step that separated them he put his hand on Yesung’s neck and tilted his head up with his thumb. He smiled a little before connecting their lips. His plan had been for it to be a simple kiss, but then Yesung pulled him closer and caught his upper lip between his own, tugging at it playfully, and there was no way he wouldn’t respond in kind. He softly nipped on Yesung’s lower lip before parting his lips and on his tongue. The actor let out a sound that Kyuhyun felt to the pits of his stomach and moved his tongue in search of Kyuhyun’s own. The vampire angled his face better, moving even closer as the kiss grew more heated. Yesung’s hand found its way to his hair, and he’d been about to protest, but since his mouth was already open what came out was a low moan instead. He felt the lips he was kissing stretch into a smile before they separated.

“It’s not fair,” Yesung breathed out, “vampires should not be exempt from the horrors of morning breath.”

“But it’s not morning.” He felt the need to point out and his remark cost him another kiss that he’d been leaning in for, Yesung turning his head so his lips only met his cheek.

“Does that mean we are skipping another breakfast?”

Sighing, Kyuhyun shook his head.

“No. Did Sungmin make us some food before leaving for classes?”

The question had Yesung grinning.

“No, but Ryeowook sent some food back with me. We’re having waffles!”

Kyuhyun couldn’t help but grin back at his enthusiasm.

“I’ll grab the chocolate and jam.”

By the time he got back with the sugary goods Yesung had grabbed them some plates and unpacked the waffles from the boxes they were in. Kyuhyun felt his salivary glands coming to life at the smell. It was divine. It tasted even better.

“Whatever you did to make him give you this, keep doing it.”

Yesung laughed from behind his own waffle.

“I’d rather not. I had to go dragon mode on his after he insinuated you would hurt me.”

Kyuhyun stopped mid-bite.

“I guess your wish of meeting him will come true sooner than you thought. I’m hell bent on proving him wrong.”

The vampire had half a mind to point out that he really could hurt him, but he knew Yesung would counter by saying that he never would intentionally and since that was true Kyuhyun decided against saying anything at all.

“Does that mean I should behave and not make inappropriate comments about you during the meal?”

The blush that covered Yesung’s cheeks was delightful.

“It would be much appreciated. Though, if he really does serve you bottled blood, feel free to go wild.”

“Bottled blood?” Humans could be so amusing.

“I think he is even more baffled by the fact that you like human food than I am.”

Kyuhyun shook his head.

“That is going to be one very interesting dinner.”

“Yes it is.”

Leaning back in his chair, Kyuhyun waited for Yesung to finish the last bites of his waffles. When he did, they both moved to dispose of the mess that they made.

“When does your production start tonight?”

“Seven thirty, why?”

“Just wondering how much time we’ve got for ourselves.”

“Hmm, it’s close to four so that leaves us with around two hours. We are operating outside your schedule so, what do you want to do?”

Keep you as close as possible for as long as possible. But that could prompt some sensitive topics, such as whether Yesung ever thought about becoming a vampire, and Kyuhyun wasn’t ready to deal with that just yet so he opted for a safer route.

“I taped the historical drama we are currently watching.”

“Oh, right, that came out yesterday during my production. Let’s move to the couch then.”

So they did.

“Is it turning out to be total factual rubbish like they usually do, or is it actually partially true?”

Yesung leaned against him and Kyuhyun thought about it as the opening credits rolled. This was their usual thing, watching historical dramas. Kyuhyun was always happy to provide the true facts behind the stories, either because he witnessed them himself or had heard the first-hand experiences from some of the senior vampires.

“It’s fine so far. If you ignore the fact that the emperor didn’t have a legitimate daughter.”

Yesung rolled his eyes.

“But that’s the whole premise – what would have happened if he did?”

“I know. That’s why I said it’s okay so far as long as you ignore that tidbit.”

“Yeah, yeah. Oh, I just remembered. They announced that the auditions for the next musical will begin next week.”

“Really? That’s great. I get to hear you sing again.” He stole a kiss. “Which one is it?”

Yesung grinned at him.

“Dracula.”

“A lunatic vampire that even the community isn’t sure ever existed? That’s nice.”

“What do you mean they ‘aren’t sure he ever existed’?”

Kyuhyun shrugged.

“Vlad Tepes, on whose cruelty the stories are based most definitely lived at that time, but he was not a vampire. That was a bit before my time so I don’t know the full story. There are stories about a vampire that apparently matched Vlad Tepes in cruelty, but he’d either died or disappeared since no one’s heard anything about him in centuries. No one is actually sure if he actually existed or is just a myth. It doesn’t help that the Ancients don’t like speaking the names of those that could be stronger than them since that would mean they acknowledge them. In other words, even if I wanted to research him I wouldn’t know what to look for.”

“I guess even vampires have their own unsolved mysteries.”

“Mhmm, now pay attention to the drama. This is where it gets interesting.”

 

That was how Sungmin found them when he finally returned, snuggled together and bickering over something on the TV.

To be completely honest, he found them extremely strange. He and Yesung have been roommates for a long time, but they’d never really crossed that line and became full out friends. They tolerated each other’s quirks and went on with their lives, making small talk along the way. And then this guy started popping up in the evenings and Yesung, being the nice person he was, introduced him as his boyfriend. He had expected that things would get even more strained between them, since he wasn’t completely comfortable with same relationships. He didn’t mind them per se, as he respected they were other people’s choices, but being in the proximity of a couple made him uneasy (at least in the beginning, now he didn’t even bat an eye at seeing them). To his surprise, he and the guy ended up hitting it off and now had a better relationship than he had with Yesung, which is why when Yesung rushed out of the apartment for his production and Kyuhyun offered him a game controller, he accepted without hesitation.

“You’re not going to his production tonight?”

“Nope,” Kyuhyun replied as he tried to bash his character off the road, “I’ve seen it twice already and I’ll be there for his last production. I decided I could relax by beating you into the floor before work tonight.”

Sungmin had also learned what a sap Kyuhyun was. He went to watch his boyfriend perform without ever telling him that he did.

“Dream on!”

Oh what Sungmin wouldn’t give to wipe that -eating grin off his face. He might actually be able to as Luigi had just passed Kyuhyun’s cart in the game.

“Oh, no you don’t!”

Kyuhyun did some wicked maneuver and Luigi was left biting the dust. Sometimes Sungmin thought that instead of sleeping during the day, Kyuhyun stayed awake like a hardcore gamer and polished his skills. It would explain why Sungmin almost always lost to him in Mario Kart. But really, the man worked as a card dealer in a casino, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he was proficient in all kinds of games.

“Lee Hee-ssi ed at you again?”

Or ridiculously perceptive.

“How’d you know?”

“You always grip your controller like you’re going to break it when she does.” And I can feel irritation coming off from you in waves went unsaid.

Sungmin stared at the controller he was still holding in his lap.

“I’m sick of her holier-than-thou attitude. I understand that Chinese is a hard language to translate, I am majoring in it, but does she have to refer every mistake I make back to the fact that I’m also majoring in Japanese. Ugrh!”

Kyuhyun chuckled.

“I really don’t understand you. You do martial arts on the side and have gaming sessions with me regularly, so how come you’re still under so much stress?”

“You’d be stressed too if you heard ‘I understand that you are also majoring in Japanese and that this may be translated into it this way, but you cannot apply the same concepts to Chinese’ applied to every mistake you make. She even used that when I misspelled a character.”

“I’d offer to help you, but we both know what my Chinese is like.”

Sungmin laughed.

“I still don’t get where you learned that. Your linguistic understanding of it is perfect, but you talk like you just stepped out of the seventeenth century.”

“I had a really peculiar teacher.”

He gave Kyuhyun a look.

“I bet you did.”

Kyuhyun stared at the screen, debating what to do next.

“If games don’t work as stress relief, do you think drinking would?”

Sungmin arched an eyebrow at him

“Are you offering to crack open one of the bottles in your wine collection?”

Another peculiarity of his. Since Kyuhyun had sort off moved in with them (sort of, because his name wasn’t on any paper and he mostly only slept there, but Sungmin was had come to terms with it. It was convenient that they had someone in during the day to deal with postmen and such. Kyuhyun could forge Yesung’s signature perfectly) he had made one of the closets in Yesung’s room a wine cellar. Why he chose to stash them in such a place Sungmin had no idea.

“Now, I don’t think your situation is that dire yet.”

“Will it be dire enough if I die?”

The vampire snorted and picked up his game controller. Sungmin got ready for a rematch.

“You should have taken up acting.”

“And miss the pleasure that is Lee Hee-ssi? Never.”

Shaking his head, Kyuhyun made a sharp left turn.

“We are going drinking next night that I have free.”

“We’re getting wasted next night you have free.”

Kyuhyun grinned, but didn’t take his eyes off the screen.

“Deal.”

 

Kyuhyun left the apartment at around ten and made his way towards the casino. He didn’t really work there; it was just a cover story he and Yesung had decided to tell to Sungmin so he wouldn’t be suspicious about him being up at night and sleeping during the day. However, Kyuhyun saw no reason to blow his cover and started his nightly business by meeting his friends there. The casino had turned to be a quite good meeting place for the night folk.

Entering the establishment he immediately headed for the bar. While most vampires didn’t follow his example and indulged in eating human food, they still liked the taste of wine and liquor. His friends were no exception. He spotted a person he recognized on the far left end of the bar. Strange, there should be at least one more. Punctuality was of essence in their world, even if the Ancients did like making everyone else wait.

“Yo, Minho! Where’s Changmin?”

The man at the bar raised his glass in greeting.

“Not here.”

“I can see that.”

Minho chuckled.

“Let me at least finish my drink before I tell you.”

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow at that.

“I take it he won’t be joining us tonight.”

“No,” Minho downed the contents of his glass, “but we might be joining him.”

“Did he get in trouble?”

The other vampire laughed at him.

“When don’t you two get in trouble?”

“You mean us three.”

“Same thing.” He pulled a bottle filled with purplish liquid out of his jacket pocket. “Here.”

Kyuhyun took the bottle and swallowed its contents in one gulp.

“One would think that after centuries of drinking this one would get used to the taste.”

“You’re the one who keeps insisting on eating human food.”

Kyuhyun snorted.

“I bet the Ancients made the neutralizer taste like bile on purpose to discourage others from breaking the ‘tradition’. As if we don’t have to drink blood anyway.”

Minho smiled in response, but said nothing.

He probably would have, if he was in any position to do so. Unlike Kyuhyun, who was a member of the Elite - a rank lower only than the Ancients, Minho belonged to the general vampire population, one without a name and often without a voice. It was dangerous for someone like him to voice his opinions as Ancients did not take well to criticism from those they considered to be below them.

“So, where’s Changmin?”

“In talks.”

Kyuhyun’s eyes got wide.

“He got called into counsel? So soon after the discussion yesterday?”

“No,” Minho got up from his seat, “he called the counsel.”

Kyuhyun frowned and started walking with him towards the exit.

“He can’t call the counsel, he’s got four hundred years to go until he is ‘old and wise’ enough to do that.”

“Okay, he didn’t exactly call it, he caught the elders early and forced them to listen, more or less.”

“And they agreed?”

Minho smirked.

“He claimed he had a solution to the Heechul-Choi situation. They had to.”

Kyuhyun stared at him in bewilderment.

“And I suppose you don’t know what this solution is?”

“No, he was in too much of a hurry to share.”

“Hell.”

Kyuhyun ran a hand through his hair.

“He can be a bit of an .”

Kyuhyun had known Minho almost as long as Changmin, and was glad that the other felt comfortable enough in their presence to diss them even though they outranked him. Still, they’d been introduced very early in Kyuhyun’s vampire life, and considering how at ease Minho had seemed at that time Kyuhyun knew he had to be much older than him. How much, he couldn’t tell. Maybe he’d have even qualified for an Ancient if he’d been part of the Elite.

“What do we do now? If he’s still in session it’ll be impossible to find him, wards on the dome prevent any proper tracking.”

“I guess we’ll just have to ask Qian.”

Kyuhyun grinned wickedly at him.

“I guess we will.”

Qian was a Chinese vampire that often visited their clan with the purpose of strengthening international relations. She was the kind of vampire that countless pages of popular fiction were wasted on describing. Incredibly beautiful, seductive, a bit of a man-eater. Somehow she’d gotten mixed up with their little group and was now more or less an honorary member. That friendship would be of great use to them now. She longed for danger almost as much as blood and, luckily for them, had access to the inner parts of the dome.

They found her in her usual place, a little desk she was given to conduct her studies at. Any information that was held inside the dome was heavily warded too and couldn’t be taken out. They didn’t know what exactly the Chinese clan hoped to learn from them, but they were very convinced it was here because Qian had become very familiar with the inside structure of the place from how often she visited.

She greeted them with a grin.

“What brings you to this boring place?”

Kyuhyun grinned back.

“Something not boring at all.”

“Oh?”

Minho rolled his eyes in the background. Whenever those two teamed up it meant chaos would follow. And they enjoyed it immensely.

“Have you seen Changmin?”

“Chwang? Sure, he went into counsel some hours ago, but left soon after.”

“He left?”

Qian was already putting her books aside.

“For the Heechul-Choi place if I’m not wrong.”

Her eyes twinkld. Minho allowed himself a grin too.

“Let go then.”

 

The place where they ended up was an apartment complex. It wasn’t in the best part of the town, but it wasn’t too shabby either. The night was calm and there were no drunks loitering around so they could move around freely. It didn’t take them long to find the right apartment door.

Kyuhyun knocked. He could have just entered unnoticed, but they were trying to show they came in peace so he announced them clearly. Heechul opened the door.

“What do you want?”

The man had been hostile towards them since the first time they met some three years ago.

“Get inside for the beginning. And then talk to Changmin if you don’t mind.”

“And if I do?”

“Then we’ll lurk outside.”

Heechul raised an eyebrow at this.

“I thought the stories about you not being able to enter without being invited were a myth.”

Kyuhyun shrugged.

“They are. But if you are a bit proficient in magic, which I’m sure you are, you can put such spells in place.”

Heechul looked at all three of them for a long moment, before moving aside.

“Get in.”

He led them to the living room where Changmin and Heechul’s little cousin Choi Sulli were situated. She was the one this whole mess revolved around. One of the ancients had turned her that fateful night three years ago and it seemed that she had the qualities that designated those that were the members of the Elite. What those were, Kyuhyun wasn’t sure. Knowledge was the priciest of goods in their world and payment for even a bit of relevant information was tremendous. Kyuhyun had asked once to be told something when he was young and never since. Everything that he knew came either from those he considered friends or books.

Nevertheless, the kid was qualified, and the clan wanted her integrated. She was the first to become a part of the Elite in a long time. Heechul refused. He didn’t see any reason why his kid cousin couldn’t keep on going as normal, except for a different diet and transferring to a night school for the time of being. The clan refused to hand over the sunlight protection spell unless she joined. Getting blood wasn’t easy either. Kyuhyun suspected Heechul gave her his, but that wouldn’t work out in the long run. He’d grow too weak.

Changmin looked up at them surprised. Sulli shifted in her seat on the couch.

“What are you doing here?”

“Witnessing a historical moment. There is a rumor going around that you have found a solution for this mess.”

Heechul snorted at Qian’s comment.

“A solution? For this? And what might that be?”

Changmin shot him and annoyed look and then sighed.

“There might be one.”

Another snort.

“Might. Yeah, sure.”

Changmin pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I didn’t mean to mention this until I researched it a bit more, but I’ll tell you what I know. I admit it is a bit far-fetched, but it’s the best we’ve got if we want to keep Sulli away from the influence of the Ancients.”

“Is that even possible?” Kyuhyun was genuinely interested.

Changmin nodded.

“According to this it is. You all know the legend about the Dracula don’t you?”

“The best known psycho of your kind? Who doesn’t?” Heechul still hadn’t lost much of that hostility, but he was letting them talk and that was an improvement.

When everyone else nodded Changmin continued.

“He is actually thought to be a myth in our community too.”

“And how is this non-existent guy going to help us?”

“By not being non-existent at all.”

That got the attention of everyone in the room.

“How much do you know about the Awakening ritual?”

“You mean that thing when you someone dry and they wake up like one of your kind?”

“It doesn’t exactly function like that.” He looked around the room nervously. The knowledge of the Awakening ritual was extremely well protected. Members of the Elite could get access to it. At a price. “It involves biting, yes, but it has to be done by someone from the Elite or of a higher rank, and here is an exchange of blood, popular fiction got that right. What isn’t known is that a spell follows the ritual.”

He made a small pause to find the right words to say what he knew.

“It was created a long time ago. I won’t go into details, but basically it binds the newly-awakened to their sire.”

Kyuhyun felt chills crawl up his spine. He was bound to someone? Changmin raised a hand to halt the possible questions.

“It wasn’t done with the intent to subdue a new vampire, but to help them adapt. Usually a newly awakened vampire would have to learn to control their bloodlust alone, but with the binding the sire takes care of that. With the bond they take that bloodlust upon themselves, at least up to the point where it is manageable for the newly awakened. However, it also makes them highly susceptible to any suggestions of their sire.”

“Like mind control?”

Heechul was doing his best to keep calm. Minho was staring at the floor. Out of everyone in the room he was probably the only one who’d known this already, but Kyuhyun refused to dwell on that. Everyone had their secrets.

“Pretty much. Only some manage to resist it. Those are the ones who make the Elite.”

That was good to know.

Heechul snorted.

“So you’re telling me your solution is explaining that there was no problem to deal with in the first place? That those lunatics won’t tear Sulli to pieces, make them their model princess?!”

“Heechul-oppa.” the young vampire moved to place a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

He crossed his arms and glared at all of them.

“No. I’m telling you the background of the problem.”

Changmin had almost forgotten what dealing with Heechul was like.

“Yes, because all of that has something to do with another lunatic from the 15^th century? Give me a break.”

“It does. Because the vampire we know as Dracula was your prototypical vampire. Not a member of the Elite, and definitively not an Ancient, but he still managed to break the binding.”

There was a sharp intake of breath.

“Are you sure?” Qian dared to ask.

“Yes. Though he went mad after that, because he wasn’t used to controlling his bloodlust on his own. No worries though,” he smiled at Sulli, “The Elite shouldn’t experience the same problems.”

Heechul’s stance relaxed a little, but they could all tell he was still skeptic. Sulli was staring at Changmin in wonder.

“I remember that.”

Everyone turned their attention to Minho.

“I didn’t know the whole story behind it, but there was a big hunt on a berserk vampire at that time.”

“Ah, that’s true,” Qian added, “our clan was called upon for help too.”

They let that information sink in.

Heechul sighed.

“Now what?”

“Now we research further. I’m sorry, but that is the extent of my knowledge.”

“I will admit that it doesn’t sound like complete bull, but what do we do in the meantime? Can’t you at least give us the sunlight protection spell?”

Kyuhyun grimaced.

“Trust me, you don’t want it.”

Heechul glared.

“And why wouldn’t we.”

Kyuhyun glared back at him.

“Because of this.” He lifted his shirt, revealing his stomach.

“Those tattoos aren’t that horrendous. Though I think Sulli should choose her own design.”

“These are not tattoos.” He gritted through his teeth. “These are spell marks.”

The blank look he got in response made him angrier.

“I got these as my becoming-Elite present about two years after I was turned. It took them ten days to carve the spells into my flesh. I almost bled out thrice.”

Sulli looked horror stricken and was gripping Heechul’s arm tightly while he lost some color in the face.

“I can make you some amulets in the meantime.” Qian offered to Sulli to break the tension. “They aren’t as effective as the spell, but the sunlight won’t hurt you as long as you’re wearing it. Just take care not to take it off.”

After a moment she added:

“And you should think about investing into a car with tinted windows.”

“Thank you.” The girl smiled.

“And I’ll get you some neutralizer. You’re not going to survive just on his blood.” Kyuhyun saw Heechul wince in the corner of his eye. “It won’t help much with the bloodlust, but at least you’ll be able to eat human food without it poisoning you so it’ll give you some extra strength.”

“Here. Take these.” Qian offered two bottles to the girl. She’d always been kinder to the younger ones.

Heechul accepted them instead.

“Why didn’t you do this in the first place?”

“Because until now joining the clan was her best option.”

They could all understand. They’d all been in that situation where they realized how much control the clan had over them (even without knowing about the binding) and wanted out, they’d just had nowhere else to go. Sulli did. So they would fight for that.

“We’ll see you when we gather some more information.”

Heechul nodded and closed the door behind them. For the first time in a while he almost dared to hope.

 

“That went better than expected.” Changmin grinned and earned a smack from Qian.

“That’s what you get for attempting something alone, you idiot.”

Minho laughed.

“At least they’ll hold out for a while this way.”

“Hm. Between the amulets, neutralizer and that cannot-enter-unless-invited spell hint Kyuhyun gave them I guess they will. But not for long, we have to hurry.”

They all groaned. Research.

“Lead the way to your favorite place, my lady.” Minho bowed theatrically.

Qian got that twinkle in her eyes again.

“Follow me boys, and I’ll show you all the secrets of the library.”

Kyuhyun had been about to follow when a hand gripping his forearm stopped him. Changmin looked uncharacteristically serious.

“If your human lover ever decides he wants to become a vampire come to me for info, not the Ancients, you understand?”

His voice was also shaking a little.

“Of course.”

The older vampire seemed to relax at this, but his grip didn’t.

“Good. If you ask them about turning, they will find out who you plan to turn and do it themselves.” Changmin was talking from experience. Was he the one who had wanted to turn Sulli? “Don’t let that happen.”

“I won’t.”

 He wouldn’t. Those leeches were not touching one hair on Yesung.

Changmin let him go.

“Now, let’s bury our noses in books.”

 

The smell of coffee that assaulted him in the morning when he made it back to the apartment was divine. He’d spent so many hours poring over those tomes he’d felt he’d never smell anything other than old paper and ink. Throwing his jacket and shoes off, he wandered into the kitchen.

Yesung smiled when he felt a familiar body snuggle into him as he was pouring himself a mug.

“Hey.”

He turned and pressed a short kiss into Kyuhyun’s lips.

“Hey.”

The vampire nuzzled his neck.

“Another long night?”

Yesung felt him nod and had to bite back a laugh. That tickled.

“The longest ever.”

“Let’s move to the table and you can tell me all about it.”

Kyuhyun walked with him as he moved, but didn’t release him from his arms.

“It’s very political and shows that vampires are scum, you sure you want to hear?”

Yesung placed his mug on the table and turned, placing his hands on Kyuhyun’s face.

“It doesn’t matter. You want to share so I’ll listen.”

“I love you.”

Yesung grinned.

“And I love you too. Now sit and I’ll grab you some cereal or something.”

“Do we have any of the chocolate ones left?”

Yesung shook the box. It should be enough. Grabbing the milk he moved back to the table.

This was going to be the most draining breakfast they had in a while, he could tell, but it didn’t matter. It would be spent with the person he loved. He got to have two breakfasts a day with Kyuhyun, so who was he to complain if one of them was spent in a bit more somber mood? When they got through it, better times were sure to follow.

 

word count: 7590