Sanghyuk glared at the piece of paper in his hands. Honestly, who expected him to buy this……crap. Was this really the best excuse the school could give him about his roommate being missing? into another dimension? Turned into a lamp? Just what the hell kind of school was this? and that final suggestion of what had happened to his roommate? ‘He’s gone, stop asking questions and move on.’

What.

The.

Hell.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Sanghyuk’s friend, Hongbin, assured him, “he probably ran into some dude from the alchemy department and decided that this school is too crazy.”

“But he’d already run into them,” Sanghyuk sighed, dropping down onto his bed beside his friend, “what could they have possibly done between yesterday and now to send Sungjae running scared. I mean, his stuff was there when I went to sleep, and gone when I woke up.”

“Hmm,” Jaehwan, another of Sanghyuk’s friends and Hongbin’s roommate, grinned, “smells like a mystery that needs to be solved.”

“No,” Hongbin quickly shut him down, “you are not getting involved.”

“What pisses me off is this note,” Sanghyuk sighed, tossing the paper to Jaehwan, “I mean, who the heck wrote that crap? What’s with those reasons for leaving?”

“You do remember what school this is, right?” Hongbin laughed, “The whole place is messed up. I mean, what other college do you know that has poltergeists in the library? Or a whole wing that’s buried under the ground because of ‘reasons.’”

“And this isn’t your first year,” Jaehwan pointed out, “you’re a second year here, Hyukkie. That means you’ve had a whole year to experience all the weirdness Salem Academy has to offer.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk sighed, “but this is…..different.”

“You kind of have a point,” Hongbin admitted, taking the letter and looking it over himself, “this is pretty weird, even for Salem standards.”

“I know, right?” Sanghyuk nodded, rereading the letter, “like, I could accept the first couple of reasons, but that last one?”

“Bin,” Jaehwan sat up, looking both dead in the eye with a completely serious expression, “I think Hyukkie’s roommate has been kidnapped by the cafeteria staff. I think they’re planning to cook him and serve him to the student body as lunch.”

“Shut up,” Hongbin sighed, showing Jaehwan back with his foot, “we are trying to be serious here.”

“So was I,” Jaehwan whined, “I mean, you can’t tell me that what I said is impossible. Not at this school.”

“I’ll go ask Hakyeon hyung tomorrow,” Sanghyuk said, “I’m pretty sure Sungjae said something about joining his frat house. Or at least going to the party they held last night.”

“I think Taekwoon’s house held a party, too,” Hongbin replied, “so you might want to ask him if he saw your missing roommate.”

“Could you maybe do that?” Sanghyuk questioned, doing his best to hide his blush, “are you, like, actually friends? I’m more like, um, the friend of a friend that you don’t really know so you don’t really talk to them.”

“Yeah right,” Hongbin laughed, “you just can’t face your crush.”

“I do not have a crush!” Sanghyuk cried.

“Whatever you say,” Jaehwan laughed, “whatever you say.”

“,” Hongbin cursed, finally noticing the time, “we’re gonna be late for class.”

The three friends rushed from the room, completely forgetting to read the final part of the letter. Maybe if they had, Sanghyuk wouldn’t have been so shocked when he arrived back at his dorm.

…

Han Sanghyuk, lovingly referred to as Hyukkie by his friends, was a second year acting student at Salem Academy. He hadn’t picked Salem for its academics record or something like that. No, he’d picked the strange little school because it was as far from his parents as it got without leaving the country. Plus, it was cheap, so he didn’t need any help from his parents on that front. Even with all the…..weird things that happened at Salem, Sanghyuk was convinced that the freedom was worth it.

Two days into his first semester, he’d met his closest friends, Lee Jaehwan and Lee Hongbin. Jaehwan was in the vocal program and Hongbin the photography. By pure luck, the three happened to share a communications class and hit it off instantly. From there, Sanghyuk met Taekwoon, a second year student from Jaehwan’s program. With Taekwoon came Hakyeon, another second year who claimed to be childhood friends with Taekwoon even though the other often hit him or shoved him away.

All in all, Sanghyuk’s life was pretty normal, or as normal as it could be while at Salem. He had his friends, a loud but caring hyung, and a handsome hyung he’d developed a pretty major crush on. Pretty darn normal. Textbook in fact. And he rather liked it like that. Normal and conflict free was good, stable.

Which was why it was such a shocker for him when he returned to his dorm to find a blond guy ing another guy in what had been his roommate’s bed until…..whenever the heck Sungjae left.

“Holy ,” Sanghyuk hissed, slamming the door before pretty much sprinting down the hall to Jaehwan and Hongbin’s dorm room.

“What’s got you so shocked?” Hongbin questioned, looking up from his homework as Sanghyuk burst into the room, slammed the door behind him, and dropped down onto Jaehwan’s bed, hugging the other’s Chopper doll tightly.

“Two guys,” Sanghyuk tried to explain, “ing in my room.”

“Huh?” Hongbin raised an eyebrow as he attempted to figure out what the heck was going on, “like, Sungjae and another guy?”

“Nope,” Sanghyuk shook his head, “didn’t know either of them.”

“Then how did they get into your room?” Hongbin asked, now a little concerned.

“No idea,” Sanghyuk sighed, the shock wearing off, “is it weird that I noticed that one of the guys was hot?”

“Pretty sure someone would say it was,” Hongbin shrugged, “but probably just as many people would say its fine so…..can’t really say anything.”

“Can I hide out here for a while?” Sanghyuk asked, “Until they’re gone?”

“Hide out?” Hongbin scoffed, “oh no, you are not going to let this slip. If two strangers busted into your dorm to , you’re at least going to tell them off. Come on,”

Hongbin grabbed Sanghyuk by the arm and dragged him out into the hall just in time to hear a door closing. The pair looked up and saw some guy running down the hall away from Sanghyuk’s dorm, ducking into the stairwell when he reached the end of the hall.

“Looks like we missed them,” Sanghyuk said, “too bad I didn’t get an id on them, huh?”

“Crap,” Hongbin sighed before sending a sharp glare at the other, “don’t sound so happy about it. I get that you just want an easy life with no conflict, but those guys should be punished for ing in another person’s room. Pretty sure that’s a crime.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, “but it’s over with now, so whatever.”

“Whatever,” Hongbin scoffed, dragging Sanghyuk the rest of the way down the hall, “whatever isn’t going to fix your bed.”

“Wasn’t my bed they were in,” Sanghyuk replied, “It was Sungjae’s bed.”

“Small mercy,” Hongbin nodded.

Neither expected to find anyone still in the room when they opened the door. And yet, there was. Sanghyuk froze as he realized that the blond guy from before was standing in the middle of the room, just finished zipping up his jeans. Hongbin bumped into him, making Sanghyuk stumble into the room. That was when the blond looked over, a small smirk on his face as he took in the shocked expressions on Sanghyuk and Hongbin’s faces. The boy eyed Hongbin before looking over Sanghyuk. He apparently liked what he saw with Sanghyuk because he didn’t look away as quickly as he had with Hongbin. Or maybe it was because he realized who Sanghyuk was.

“Oh?” the blond smirked, “bringing a friend this time to spy? Too bad for you, the show just finished.”

“Wh-What?” Sanghyuk gasped, “I’m not- I-….this is my room.”

“Oh?” the blond blinked before his smirk returned, “so you’re my roommate, huh?”

“Roommate?” Hongbin questioned, “What are you talking about?”

“What do you think, pretty boy?” the blond scoffed, “this is as much my room as it is this kid’s room. Don’t know why a teenager is here, though. What are you, twelve?”

“I’m twenty,” Sanghyuk growled, taking back any thoughts at all that he’d had about the blond before him being attractive.

“Same age as me?” the blond smirked, “you don’t look it.”

“Just who the hell are you?” Hongbin growled, just as irritated as Sanghyuk after being called a pretty boy, “and why didn’t we know about Sanghyuk getting a new roommate?”

“Name’s Wonsik,” the blond introduced himself, “Kim Wonsik. And you were told in a letter from the dean. Either way, you knew I was coming, so the fact that you weren’t ready is your fault.”

“I’m Han Sanghyuk,” Sanghyuk spoke up, realizing that if Wonsik kept talking Hongbin was going to blow, “it’s nice to, um, meet you.”

“Who’s the pretty boy?” Wonsik nodded towards Hongbin who was about to tackle the blond before Sanghyuk pulled him back.

“This is Lee Hongbin,” Sanghyuk explained, “He’s one of my friends. His dorm is just down the hall.”

“Well whatever,” Wonsik shrugged before going to fetch a shirt, “hey, you know of any parities going on tonight?”

“No, sorry,” Hongbin said, not even sounding a little bit sorry.

“Right,” Wonsik smirked, “shouldn’t have expected a couple of nerds to know about something like that.”

This time, Sanghyuk really had to hold Hongbin back so he didn’t kill the blond. Being called a pretty boy and a nerd were always things that set Hongbin off. Sanghyuk didn’t know why ‘nerd’ was such a sore spot, but Jaehwan suspected it had something to do with bullies and high school. As for being called a pretty boy…….well, that was pretty easy to figure out. Everyone knew that Hongbin was attractive, and Hongbin was fine with that. What he didn’t like was when all people saw was that and nothing else.

“Go back to your room,” Sanghyuk told Hongbin, “Jaehwan should be back by now and he’ll wonder where you are.”

“You think you’ll be fine?” Hongbin questioned, still glaring at Wonsik who smirked back.

“I’m sure,” Sanghyuk nodded before sending his friend away.

“He’s not bad on the eyes,” Wonsik observed, “but seems too high strung.”

“Shut up,” Sanghyuk hissed, “you don’t know anything about him.”

“Easy, little prince,” Wonsik laughed, “sorry, didn’t know he was yours.”

“He’s my friend,” Sanghyuk tried not to snap since that would only make Wonsik more convinced that he was right, “not my boyfriend.”

“If you say so,” Wonsik shrugged.

Wonsik finished getting dressed before flopping onto his bed and pulling out a magazine to read. Without another glance at his new roommate, Sanghyuk started on his assignments, wanting to get a head start before his teachers started giving him hundreds of things to do.

“Oh,” Wonsik suddenly spoke up, “by the way, if you want to watch two people , get some .”

“I didn’t mean to,” Sanghyuk cried, turning around and glaring at his roommate as he tried to will back his blush, “I didn’t know anyone was here! And it’s not like you put a sock on the door or….or whatever you’re supposed to do to let other people know you’re ing someone.”

“You didn’t hear the moans?” Wonsik smirked.

“No,” Sanghyuk replied, “I didn’t hear anything until I opened the door. Why?”

Wonsik scowled, leaving the room as he muttered something Sanghyuk couldn’t hear. Sanghyuk figured that Wonsik must attribute how good the was to how loud the moans were. So if Sanghyuk couldn’t hear until he opened the door, that mean Wonsik wasn’t good enough to make his partner scream. That thought drew a small laugh out of Sanghyuk.

…

“I hate him,” Sanghyuk growled, laying his head on the table in the cafeteria.

“Hate who?” Hakyeon questioned, brushing Sanghyuk’s hair out of his face with the motherly care Sanghyuk had come to expect from the older college student.

“His roommate,” Hongbin replied, “and I think we all hate him.”

“He’s got that kind of personality,” Jaehwan nodded, “but what did he do this time?”

“I walked in on him again,” Sanghyuk sighed, “would it kill him to put a sock on the door or something? And then he’s all ‘didn’t you hear us. The guy was pretty loud.’ and then he starts teasing me about walking in because I get off on it.”

“The walls are pretty thick,” Hakyeon pointed out, “I could be screaming and tossing stuff and breaking stuff and you wouldn’t be able to hear any of it in the hall.”

“He asked if I wanted a go,” Sanghyuk sighed, “and then he and his latest started laughing when I told him no.”

“Who did you say no to?” Taekwoon asked, looking between the others as he tried to figure out what he had missed while getting his lunch, “what’s going on?”

“Sanghyuk’s complaining about his man roommate,” Hongbin explained, “the guy is rude, s a new guy every couple of days, and never give Sanghyuk any kind of heads up about it so the poor guy keeps walking in or them.”

“Plus,” Hakyeon scowled, “he asked Sanghyuk to sleep with him. I can only imagine how crudely he asked.”

“You said no, right?” Taekwoon questioned, frowning slightly.

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, “but that’s not the worst thing. He doesn’t clean up the room, so it’s always messy and he keeps using my things. And I found blood in the milk container labelled ‘Wonsik’.”

“What?” Hakyeon frowned, “are you sure it was blood?”

“It looked like blood,” Sanghyuk nodded, “and it smelled like blood. Pretty sure it would have tasted like blood, but I wasn’t about to run that test.”

“You’re roommate is a vampire,” Jaehwan said, ignoring the ‘really Jaehwan’ and ‘get serious’ comments the others flung his way, “think about it. There’s blood in his milk container, he sleeps late and stays out all night, and how many of his s have bite marks after leaving the room? He’s a vampire.”

“The blood might be food colouring,” Hongbin countered, “the sleeping in is because he parties all night. As for the biting, he has a , so what?”

“Does he have a reflection?” Jaehwan asked Sanghyuk.

“Don’t know,” the other shrugged, “only mirror we have is in the bathroom and I’m not going to make his teasing worse be looking while he’s in there.”

“Get another mirror then,” Jaehwan shrugged, “vampires don’t have reflections.”

“And what if you’re right?” Sanghyuk asked, “What do I do if he is a vampire? I hardly think that he’ll be expelled for that.”

 “But if you can prove it,” Jaehwan laughed, “you could get a roommate change. Under grounds that you don’t want to wake up with a bite to the throat.”

“You know what?” Hakyeon sighed, “I’ll bring you a mirror from the frat house. That way, Jaehwan can be proven wrong and he’ll shut up about any ‘your roommate is a vampire’ crap.”

“Fine,” Jaehwan smirked, “prove me wrong, hyung.”

“Gladly,” Hakyeon grabbed Sanghyuk’s arm and dragged him off, Taekwoon following close behind since he knew the pair might need help carrying the mirror from the frat house to Sanghyuk’s dorm.

…

“,” Hakyeon moved back, bumping into Taekwoon as he tried to close the door as fast as he could, “you weren’t kidding.”

“Told you,” Sanghyuk sighed, “I think he plans this.”

“You could stay at our house,” Taekwoon offered, “if you want, I mean.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Sanghyuk smiled, looking away before Taekwoon could notice the faint blush lighting up his cheeks.

“No,” Hakyeon cried, throwing his arms around Sanghyuk, “if Sanghyukkie is going to join a fraternity, it’s going to be mine.”

“Shouldn’t Sanghyuk decide that?” Taekwoon countered, glaring slightly at his friend for interfering.

“Nope,” Hakyeon teased, “because I know what’s best for my son.”

“Hakyeon hyung,” all three turned to find Wonsik’s most recent bed partner just exiting the room, “I am so sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s not your fault,” Hakyeon assured the boy, “now go back to the house. I’m sure the other pledges have some chores they need help with.”

“Yes,” the young boy rushed off.

“And he calls you young,” Hakyeon scoffed once the boy was gone, “that kid’s a first year. And he graduated from high school a year early, so he’s even younger.”

“Doesn’t look it,” Wonsik countered, opening the door in nothing but boxers, “and he sure doesn’t like a kid either.”

“Gross,” Hakyeon scowled before pushing past Wonsik, dragging Sanghyuk along with him, “how you get anyone to sleep with you is amazing with a personality like that.”

“They don’t sleep with me because of my personality,” Wonsik scoffed, “they do it because I’m good at it.”

“I bet,” Hakyeon rolled his eyes before turning to Sanghyuk, “where do you want Taekwoon to put the mirror.”

“What mirror?” Wonsik questioned, falling onto his bed. He eyed Hakyeon before turning away with a small scoff. He glanced at Taekwoon, not even bothering to look past his face, before his eyes fell on Sanghyuk. Not for the first time, he eyed Sanghyuk top to bottom and back, a small smirk appearing on his face, and Sanghyuk could pretty much hear him saying ‘not bad.’ It took Sanghyuk back to the first time Wonsik had looked him over like that and he tried not to react.

He wasn’t blind, Wonsik was very attractive. If the other wasn’t such a jerk and Sanghyuk wasn’t crushing so hard on Taekwoon, maybe he would have taken Wonsik up on that offer of . But the fact was that Wonsik was a massive jerk and that alone was grounds to ignore him. The whole ‘I like Taekwoon’ thing was just an extra reason to say ‘no.’

“This mirror,” Taekwoon held up the mirror he’d been holding before turning to Sanghyuk, “where do you want it?”

“Hold on,” Wonsik scowled, “this is my room too and I don’t want that ugly thing in here.”

“I have the right to hang up a mirror,” Sanghyuk replied, frowning, “and if it’s on my side of the room, you can’t say anything about it.”

“Like hell I can’t,” Wonsik lunged at Taekwoon, trying to take the mirror away from him.

As the pair struggled, Sanghyuk and Hakyeon froze. Wonsik didn’t have a reflection. The mirror was pointed right at him, yet it showed nothing. It was like Taekwoon was fighting with air. The pair only snapped out of it when they heard the mirror shatter.

“That takes care of that,” Wonsik scoffed, “and don’t try to bring another one. I’ll make sure it ends up the same way.” With that, he grabbed a shirt and pants from the ground and left.

“He’s a jack ,” Taekwoon said, turning to his friends, “what’s wrong?”

“He didn’t have a reflection,” Hakyeon sighed, moving to sit on Sanghyuk’s bed, “Jaehwan was right. He is a vampire.”

“What is a vampire doing here?” Sanghyuk questioned, moving to get a broom and dustpan, “I know that this school is weird thing central, but a vampire?”

“I wonder,” Hakyeon frowned, “if maybe this is connected to the missing students.”

“What missing students?” Sanghyuk asked, looking at his hyung in confusion, “I haven’t heard anything about any missing students. Well, aside from my roommate, but I figure he just left because this place is so weird.”

“A couple of girls and a boy went missing,” Hakyeon explained, “they were gone for a week, then they showed up. The school and the cops tried to ask them about it, but they don’t know anything but ever since they came back, they’ve become…..different.”

“Different?” Taekwoon questioned, “Different how?”

“Before, they were solid A students,” Hakyeon explained, “but now……they’re pretty much failing and they party every night. They’ll even leave the school grounds to find a club if no one is holding a party.”

“That is pretty weird,” Sanghyuk nodded, “but how would Wonsik fit into that?”

“Maybe he drank from them,” Hakyeon shrugged, “or maybe I’m way off base and the one has nothing to do with the other.”

“Maybe you should leave,” Taekwoon frowned, looking at Sanghyuk with concern, “I mean, what if he tries to hurt you.”

“No way!” Sanghyuk cried, “I’m not moving out of my room. It’s my room!”

“Sanghyukkie has a point,” Hakyeon nodded, “if anyone should leave the room, it’s the vampire bastard.”

“I’m just worried,” Taekwoon sighed, “what if he figures out we know that he’s a vampire? And what if he is involved in those students who’ve gone missing? I don’t want Sanghyuk to get hurt.”

“Aww,” Hakyeon gushed, “that’s so sweet of you, Taekwoon.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sanghyuk assured the older, trying his best not to blush, “don’t worry about me.”

“You’re my dongsaeng,” Taekwoon replied, “of course I’m going to worry.” Sanghyuk faked a smile, but the word ‘dongsaeng’ sent a metal spike right through his heart.

“Well,” Hakyeon sighed, “Taekwoon and I need to get going. We’ve got homework and I’ve also got a committee meeting to get to.”

“Your house is throwing another party?” Sanghyuk asked, happy to have a distraction from his feelings for a few moments.

“Yeah,” Hakyeon smiled brightly, “we still need to think up a theme, though. I’ll let you know when everything is decided. Hopefully you can come.”

“I’ll see,” Sanghyuk nodded before bidding the pair farewell.

Now alone, Sanghyuk dropped onto his bed face first with a depressed groan. Taekwoon would always see him as a little brother, wouldn’t he? He’d never look at Sanghyuk as a guy, as someone he’d like to date. It just……it was so not fair that Sanghyuk was slowly dying of heartbreak and Taekwoon felt nothing.

“They’re gone?” Wonsik asked, opening the door a crack and peeking inside, “oh thank good, those are are…….”

“Just shut up,” Sanghyuk sighed, voice muffled by his pillow, “I don’t care anymore.”

“What’s got you down?” Wonsik questioned, looking over at his roommate.

From what he’d seen thus far, Sanghyuk was always happy and smiling. Even when Wonsik was being rude or crude, he always had this happy, glowing aura around him. it was like he was the sun giving off rays of light. Maybe that was why Wonsik was always so mean around him, he hated the sun ergo he hated Sanghyuk.

Well, hate was a strong word. He didn’t really hate Sanghyuk, even if he kind of wished that he did. It would make life a lot easier if he hated the other. If Sanghyuk’s cheerful nature and smile didn’t draw him in like a moth to a flame. But Wonsik liking or disliking Sanghyuk didn’t matter. what did matter was that Sanghyuk didn’t look very happy at that moment and that bothered Wonsik a little.

“Nothing,” Sanghyuk replied, “I’m fine.”

“Lie,” Wonsik rolled his eyes, “look, I won’t judge you if it’s something stupid.”

“What do you care?” Sanghyuk sighed, moving around so that he wasn’t talking into his pillow anymore, “we aren’t friends. In fact, I get the feeling that you really don’t like me.”

“True,” Wonsik nodded, “but I’m not sure a jerk that I’d let my roommate be all depressed without asking what’s wrong.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk sighed, “but you’ll laugh.”

“I promised I won’t, little prince,” Wonsik replied, “and I don’t go back on my promises.”

“You said that you wouldn’t judge,” Sanghyuk countered, “that’s different from promising not to laugh.”

“Fine,” Wonsik sighed, starting to regret asking in the first place, “I promise that I will not laugh or judge you for whatever you’re upset about.”

“The guy I like thinks of me as a little brother,” Sanghyuk told his roommate, feeling like a fool the second the words were out of his mouth.

“Oh,” Wonsik replied, “that .”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, “I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”

“No,” Wonsik told him honestly, “it’s natural to be upset over something like that. The more you like someone, the more it hurts when they don’t like you back the same way. It’s normal.”

“I guess,” Sanghyuk nodded, curling back up and hugging his pillow.

“So which of your friends is it?” Wonsik couldn’t help but ask, “I don’t think it’s the nerds down the hall, meaning it has to be one of the two who were just here.”

“Please stop,” Sanghyuk groaned, wishing that he could disappear. Not even his friends knew about his crush on Taekwoon.

“So I’m right,” Wonsik laughed, “I don’t think it would be the tan guy, he seems too clingy. But then again, I don’t know you what you like.”

“Seriously,” Sanghyuk scowled into his pillow, “stop.”

“Must be Taekwoon,” Wonsik kept going, unsure why he hadn’t just dropped the subject since he kept telling himself he didn’t care.

“Leave it alone!” Sanghyuk snapped.

“So it is Taekwoon,” Wonsik said, frowning slightly.

“Just forget about it,” Sanghyuk sighed, not even my friends know I like him.”

“Why not?” Wonsik couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t that something you talk about with friends?”

“Do you talk to your friends about crushes?” Sanghyuk countered.

“Don’t have crushes,” Wonsik shrugged, “and I don’t have friends.”

“That’s….sad,” Sanghyuk frowned, rolling over and looking at Wonsik, “why don’t you have any friends? Sure you can be a jerk but…..”

“Making friends has never been my area of expertise,” Wonsik admitted, “but I’m cool with that. I do my best when I’m alone.”

“Still,” Sanghyuk said, “you need someone to talk to sometimes.”

“How about this,” Wonsik sighed, realizing that Sanghyuk would probably never let this go, “if I have a problem, I’ll talk to you about it. In return, I’ll stop bringing my….partners here. That works, right?”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk nodded. He’d listen to Wonsik’s problems even if Wonsik hadn’t promised to stop bringing people home, but…….he’d take advantage of Wonsik’s offer.

…

“,” Wonsik scowled, looking at the paper in his hands as he entered the dorm room.

“What?” Sanghyuk asked, looking up from his text books.

“This,” the vampire sighed, showing Sanghyuk the letter from his teacher, “my grades get any lower and my professor is going to call the dean.” And that as something he really wanted to avoid. Heck, no one wanted their teacher going to the dean and ending up on the dean’s radar. It never ended well.

“Are your other classes this bad?” Sanghyuk asked, taking the note to read for himself, “and just what class is this for?”

“Everything else is fine,” Wonsik sighed, dropping onto his bed, “and it’s communications.”

“That class ,” Sanghyuk nodded in understanding, “and this teacher, he’s a real jerk.”

“Even more than me?” Wonsik couldn’t help but joke.

“Even more then you,” Sanghyuk nodded, laughing a little, “I had him last year. It….wasn’t fun. He almost failed me for stupid .”

“I’m so screwed,” Wonsik sighed.

“I could help you,” Sanghyuk offered.

It was only after he’d spoken that he recalled what Hakyeon had told him about the students who vanished and reappeared with completely different personalities. If Wonsik was involved, wasn’t Sanghyuk putting himself at risk? Unless…..getting close to Wonsik could provide him with evidence to prove if Wonsik was involved or not. Maybe……maybe he could do that. Get closer to the vampire and use it to his advantage.

If Wonsik had kidnapped those students, he might admit it to a friend. If he thought of Sanghyuk as a friend, someone he could trust, he might tell him what he’d done. It was kind of a low thing to do and Sanghyuk didn’t really want to do it. But what if Sungjae had vanished because of Wonsik? What if doing this could help those three other students return to their normal selves.

“That would be awesome,” Wonsik nodded, agreeing to Sanghyuk’s offer of help.

“We can start now,” Sanghyuk smiled, deciding that he would get close to Wonsik and find out if the vampire was involved with the disappearances. For the sake of Sungjae and the three other students.

…

“What are you doing?” Hongbin questioned, pulling Sanghyuk away from the table where Wonsik was sitting.

“I was going to sit with Wonsik,” Sanghyuk replied, pulling away from Hongbin’s hold on his arm.

“Alright,” Hongbin nodded, recapturing Sanghyuk’s arm, “I’ll try again. Why are you going to sit with him?”

“I’m helping him with one of his classes,” Sanghyuk sighed, pulling away once more.

“Why?” Hongbin scowled, “why on earth are you helping that man ?”

“He’s not that bad a guy,” Sanghyuk tried to defend himself, “and…..helping him is the right thing to do.”

“God,” Hongbin sighed, “you’re way to kind for your own good, Hyuk. Fine, go. Help the jerk face. But we’ll be right here, watching. If he tries anything, I’ll kick his .” Sanghyuk nodded before heading off to join Wonsik.

“What was that about?” Wonsik questioned when Sanghyuk sat down across from him, “your friends think I’ll do something to you?”

“Hongbin’s just protective,” Sanghyuk shrugged, “they all are. I’m the youngest, thus I’m the little brother who needs protecting constantly.”

“I don’t think you need constant protection,” Wonsik said, pulling out his latest assignment, “sure you might need someone to chase of the forty year old men who want a pretty young thing to bang, but other than that? I think you’re good.”

“I have never had a forty year old guy hit on me,” Sanghyuk deadpanned, “the oldest guy who hit on me was this twenty five year old and that was when I was still a freshman.”

“Let me guess,” Wonsik laughed, “your friends caught wind and chased the guy out of school.”

“They chased him out of the party,” Sanghyuk laughed, “but they would have run him out of the country if he’d gotten father than ‘my roommates is out of town for the weekend, why don’t you stop by after the party?’ before Hakyeon heard.”

“,” Wonsik scoffed, “what kind of loser thought that was a good pickup line?”

“That guy,” Sanghyuk snickered, “and you’re attempt to get me into bed wasn’t exactly an improvement.”

“Please,” Wonsik pretended to be offended, “I’m much better with my pickup lines. I just wasn’t trying because I knew you’d never bite.”

“Oh really?” Sanghyuk replied, feeling a bit…….brave? No, it was something else making him respond to Wonsik. Something……something he didn’t want to dwell on because if he did it wouldn’t lead him to anything nice.

“Yes, really,” Wonsik nodded, the same kind of thoughts running through his own head, “if I really wanted to seduce you into my bed, you would already be there, and writhing in pleasure.”

Sanghyuk blushed brightly, his mind coming up with all kinds of images upon hearing and processing Wonsik’s words. He couldn’t help but picture himself lying on his bed, and panting, while Wonsik……well, Sanghyuk had many ideas for what Wonsik could be doing to make him moan. Sanghyuk looked down, trying to get his mind of focus on Wonsik’s assignment. He couldn’t be getting hard in the middle of the cafeteria, especially when his friends weren’t very far away watching.

Or taking a seat right beside him.

“So,” Hakyeon said, faking a bright smile, “I hear Sanghyukkie here is helping you with your classes.”

“Class,” Wonsik tried not to snap, very annoyed at Hakyeon’s interruption, “it’s just one class.”

“His grades are solid for everything else,” Sanghyuk nodded in agreement, “more than solid, really. He’s top of the class in everything else.”

“Really?” Hakyeon said, clearly surprised and Wonsik twitched in irritation.

“I’m a good student,” Wonsik finally said after noticing how mortified Sanghyuk looked over his hyung reaction, “but I’ve got the same teacher who gave Sanghyuk a hard time last year.”

“Seriously?” Hakyeon gave Wonsik a look of sympathy, recalling exactly what kind of that teacher had pulled on Sanghyuk, Jaehwan, and Hongbin the year before, “that .”

“Hyung,” Sanghyuk sighed, “not to be rude, but…..could you please leave so we can get to work?”

“Fine,” Hakyeon nodded, realizing that he needed to leave or else Sanghyuk would be made at him, “come join us when you’re done. We’re gonna be just over there at the normal table, alright?”

“Right,” Sanghyuk nodded, letting out a big sigh when the older was gone.

“I think he came over here to scare me off,” Wonsik said, watching as Taekwoon and Hongbin seemed to scold Hakyeon for not doing something. Probably upset for not getting Wonsik to leave Sanghyuk or for failing to get Sanghyuk back sitting with them.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Sanghyuk sighed, “They see me as a little brother who always needs to be protected.”

“Good thing I don’t intend to do anything to you then, huh?” Wonsik smiled slightly.

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, returning Wonsik’s smile with one of his own.

Wonsik was less sure of his hate of all things that reminded him of the sun. The sun weakened him, it even burned a little, so he naturally started to hate the sun and everything that reminded him of it. But Sanghyuk…..he couldn’t seem to hate the young man sitting before him. it didn’t matter how bright Sanghyuk was or now much that brightness reminded him of the sun, he couldn’t hate the other.

“Let’s get to work,” Sanghyuk said, turning around Wonsik’s papers so that he could read them.

“Right,” Wonsik nodded.

“I think you should try this,” Sanghyuk said, writing something down before turning the paper around for Wonsik to read.

Wonsik nodded along, trying to listen to pay attention to what he was being told.

…

“ me,” Wonsik sighed, watching Sanghyuk sleeping while taking another swing from his milk carton of blood.

The vampire looked out the window, glaring darkly at the moon. The moon wasn’t full right then, but soon it would be. It would be the last full moon before…..before that happened. Wonsik still didn’t know exactly what that was, but he could guess. Sighing, he tried to remember how many students had vanished, regardless of if they turned back up or not.

“Three s turned back up,” he frowned before looking away, “and one still missing.”

His eyes found Sanghyuk and his frown deepened. Sanghyuk wouldn’t be at risk, right? She wouldn’t come near him, right? After all, there were a lot of s at the school. There had to be. Sanghyuk would be alright. That night would pass by. Everything would return to normal and Wonsik could carry on with life as he had been. Maybe he’d even ask Sanghyuk out, date him for a while. Maybe get into a relationship with Sanghyuk, too.

“Everything will be fine,” Wonsik told himself, dropping onto his bed and taking one last glance at his roommate, “everything will work out for the best.”

…

“Sanghyuk,” Taekwoon called, moving to sit down beside the younger, “can I talk to you?”

“Sure,” Sanghyuk nodded, smiling kindly, “but can you talk quickly? Wonsik should be here in a few minutes.”

“This is about Wonsik,” Taekwoon said, trying not to hiss out the vampire’s name, “here.”

“What’s this?” Sanghyuk took the photo that the other offered him, “wait, is that Sungjae?”

“The night before you got that letter from the dean’s office,” Taekwoon explained, “there was a party. I thought maybe someone would have seen Wonsik since one of the students who went missing went missing at this party. I thought maybe I could use that to prove his involvement. That’s when I got talking to this guy who’d taken photos of pretty much everyone there.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk nodded, “but if Wonsik didn’t show up in the mirror, why would you be able to get a photo of him?”

“I didn’t,” Taekwoon admitted, “but I got photos of Sungjae and the other student talking to nothing. The guy who took the photo swears that they were talking to someone. When I described Wonsik to him, he said that’s who he saw.”

Sanghyuk feel silent, the implications of Taekwoon’s words ringing in his eyes.

“Oh,” Sanghyuk managed to say, not sure how to respond at all.

“You need to stop hanging out with him,” Taekwoon told him.

“I can’t,” Sanghyuk replied, “I mean, don’t you think if I suddenly start avoiding him, he’ll realize we’re onto him?”

Sanghyuk didn’t want to start avoiding Wonsik. He…..he kind of liked the vampire. When he wasn’t being a jerk or trying to get someone into his bed, he could be really charming. And he seemed to understand Sanghyuk, maybe even better than his friends did. it was….it was hard not to like Wonsik once you started to get to know him and Sanghyuk had completely forgotten his whole ‘gain his trust to find out the truth’ plan because of that.

Now Taekwoon had not only reminded him, but given evidence that might prove Wonsik was behind the vanishing and reappearing students and the sudden departure of his original roommate.

“Right,” Taekwoon nodded in understanding, completely unaware of Sanghyuk’s internal struggle, “finish helping him with his work, then start to distance yourself.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, not really wanting to agree with Taekwoon. But what else could he do? If he said that he wasn’t going to distance himself from Wonsik that would upset his friends.

He just…..Sanghyuk had no idea what to do anymore.

“What do we have here?” Wonsik scoffed, “the knight in shining armour come to save the little prince from the big bad dragon?”

“Taekwoon hyung was just leaving,” Sanghyuk said, faking a smile, “he was telling me that he and the other miss hanging out with me, that I’ve been spending all my time with you.”

“Yeah,” Taekwoon nodded, going along with Sanghyuk’s lie, “don’t forget about your other friends, Hyukkie.” With that he left and Sanghyuk almost wanted to breathe a sigh of relief.

“You seemed rather quick to get rid of him,” Wonsik commented, taking the now empty seat beside Sanghyuk, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that your crush on him isn’t as strong as it once was.”

“What are you talking about?” Sanghyuk said, momentarily confused before he realized that Wonsik might have been onto something. Normally, talking to Taekwoon made him feel all bubbly inside. This time……maybe it was because of what they were talking about, but Sanghyuk didn’t get that same giddy feeling.

“Doesn’t matter,” Wonsik said after noticing the look of realization in Sanghyuk’s eyes, “your feelings or lack of feelings for the white knight isn’t any of my business.”

“You’re right,” Sanghyuk nodded, “let’s get to work, alright?”

“Fine by me,” Wonsik nodded, but he didn’t fail to notice that Sanghyuk seemed a little less bright. Something was bothering the human and Wonsik didn’t like it when things bothered Sanghyuk.

About an half hour of work later, Sanghyuk suggested that once Wonsik’s assignment was finished he’d like to spend some time hanging out with his other friends. Wonsik nodded in agreement, but he got the feeling that there was something hidden behind Sanghyuk’s words. Wonsik got the feeling that Sanghyuk didn’t want to hang out with his friends because he missed them, there was something else. He just didn’t know what.

…

“Oh my god!” Hongbin rushed over to the table, “you won’t believe it.”

“What?” Sanghyuk asked, trying to process Hongbin’s appearance. The other looked……scared? His eyes were wide and his hands were shaking. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“They found Sungjae,” Hongbin explained, voice shaking, “he’s…..dead. Some jogger found his body just off a jogging path a few miles from here.”

Sanghyuk’s heart dropped. Not just because Sungjae was dead, but because……Sungjae was dead. After what Taekwoon had told him the couple days before………Sanghyuk wanted to look around for Wonsik, but knew that the other would be in their room, relaxing after getting the top mark on that assignment Sanghyuk had helped him with.

“What?” Hakyeon stood up, mirroring Hongbin’s expression just like everyone else at the table.

“The last person who saw him was Wonsik,” Taekwoon growled, recalling what his research had found.

“You don’t think……” Sanghyuk started to say, but Taekwoon was already gone.

…

“You!” Taekwoon growled, bursting into the room.

“Don’t you people ever knock,” Wonsik scoffed, glancing up from his magazine, “what do you want, kitty cat? Sorry to say, the little prince isn’t in right now, guess you’ll have to wait to play knight in shining armour.”

“They found Sungjae’s body,” Taekwoon hissed, “guess you didn’t hide it as well as you thought.”

“Huh?” Wonsik put down the magazine, clearly confused, “what are you talking about.”

“You were the last person to see him,” Taekwoon snapped, “we have a photo and witness statement to prove you were with him the night he vanished. Now he’s dead……what the hell do you think happened? I think you killed him. I think you also have something to do with those students who vanished and then showed back up a few days later. I’ve got a witness saying you were talking to one of them the night they vanished as well.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wonsik hissed, getting up and getting right in Taekwoon’s face, “you can’t prove any of that and you will never be able to. What to know why? Because I didn’t do anything!”

“I will prove it,” Taekwoon growled, “and until then, consider yourself the only occupant of this room. I’m not letting Sanghyuk come back here. Heck, I’m not going to let you anywhere near him again.”

Wonsik froze at that, at the idea of not getting to see Sanghyuk again. It shouldn’t have affected him, yet it did. He didn’t understand why either. Sanghyuk was just some stupid kid, there were hundreds of others just like him. Yet….there was something special about Sanghyuk that he couldn’t deny.  Sanghyuk’s brightness that drew people to him had drawn in Wonsik and refused to let him go. Not that Wonsik was fighting too hard to leave.

Wonsik was too caught up in his thoughts to realize that Taekwoon had left.

…

“What are you doing here?” Wonsik questioned as Sanghyuk entered, “I didn’t think your knight in shining armour would let you back in here now that he thinks I had something to do with that dead kid.”

“Tell me,” Sanghyuk said, not in the mood to beat around the bush, “what’s your side of the story? Do you have something to do with the vanishing students? Or with Sungjae’s death?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Wonsik laughed humorlessly.

“You’re a vampire,” Sanghyuk scowled, “I think I’d believe pretty much anything you told me.”

“Wait,” Wonsik frowned, clearly confused, “how do you know that?”

“The mirror,” Sanghyuk explained, “while you were fighting Taekwoon for it, I saw you didn’t have a reflection.”

“,” Wonsik cursed, “you’ve know this whole time? And the losers? Them too?”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, “that’s kind of why they think you have something to do with everything. Are they wrong?”

“This time, they’re wrong,” Wonsik sighed, “but three hundred years ago……they’d have been right.”

“Tell me,” Sanghyuk urged Wonsik, moving to sit beside the vampire, “what’s going on? Why was Sungjae killed? Why did those other students go missing, only to show back up with totally different personalities? How are you involved? Or how were you involved.”

“I was born ages ago,” Wonsik sighed, deciding that he might as well try to defend himself against the charges put against him, “to a very poor family. I had a lot of siblings, but there wasn’t much food or money to sustain a family of that size. So my father started marrying my sisters off, trying to get rid of them as soon as he could. With me and my brothers, he put us to work before we could walk. Several of my older brothers died because of how hard he worked us. I grew to hate him, so much so that I ran away. Turns out, there were much worse things hidden in the outside world.”

“What happened to you?” Sanghyuk questioned and Wonsik felt a bit of satisfaction that Sanghyuk was so interested in his story.

“Lots of horrible things,” he admitted, “but the one that stands out most is meeting my mother.”

“Huh?”

“The woman who turned me,” Wonsik explained, “she gave me a new name, Ravi, and a new life. She….requested I call her mother, so I did. Not right away, though. That was something I learned to do the hard way.”

“What did she do to you?” Sanghyuk knew it had to be bad and a part of him didn’t want to know, but a larger part wanted to know everything.

“Mother requested several things of me,” Wonsik sighed, “that I call her mother, that I did everything she told me…..and that I help her gather up five s every fifty years for….something. She never did tell me the reason why she and her buddies needed five s.”

“What?” Sanghyuk asked after a pause.

“I told her no,” Wonsik frowned, “to go to hell when she first asked me of do all of that. She just laughed and tossed me into a little, pine box. I spent fifty years in that thing, buried under the ground. When she let me out, I agreed to help her do anything she wanted, just so long as she never put me back in that box. So from then on I helped her. I seduced young men and women and handed them over to her. What became of them after that, I never asked. I didn’t want to know what I was a part of. If I found out, I’d feel guilty and if I let guilt control me I’d end up going against her. I….I really hated that box.”

“What changed?” Sanghyuk finally asked, pulling Wonsik from his memories, “I think it’s pretty clear that whatever your mother was doing has something to do with what’s going on right now. But you said you haven’t been a part of whatever this is for the past three hundred years.”

“Smart,” Wonsik praised, “looks of an innocent , mind of a scholar. My my little prince, it’s a wonder I haven’t pinned you down and taken you for myself yet. But then again, there is still time for that.”

“Just answer the question,” Sanghyuk demanded, trying to supress his blush over Wonsik’s words and focus on the matter at hand, “what changed?”

“I was given a target,” Wonsik sighed, “he was…..different. He was smart, y, and a free spirit. I guess you could say….I fell in love. Well, maybe not love. Deep like most defiantly. But I also had a job to do. I had to turn him over to my mother, but if I did that……I couldn’t do it. I made plans for us to run away together, but she found out. I don’t know how she found out, I suspect that one of her other children found out and told her. But it doesn’t matter how she found out, just that she did. She lied to him, told him horrible things about me that were even worse than the truth. She had him put me in a box, had him be the one to put that lid on and seal it up. I guess after that he ended up like all the rest. Dead.”

“I’m sorry,” Sanghyuk didn’t know what to do, so he just took Wonsik’s hand and held it.

“I stayed in that box for a long time,” Wonsik’s expression turned even darker as his mind took him back to that place, that horrible darkness, “longer than the first. I was only let out thanks to the First World War. Well, more so the bombs dropping. One of them unearthed me and I ran. I stopped using the name she gave me, went back to Wonsik as it was my original name. I never planned to cross paths with my mother again…..”

“Wait,” Sanghyuk froze, “your mother is here?”

“She’s the dean, little prince,” Wonsik laughed a humorless laugh, “isn’t that just lovely? When I realized it was her, I wanted to run. But…..she doesn’t seem to know I’m here. If I ran, she’d figure out who I am and then I’d be right back under her thumb. She…..she likes to keep her toys playing the games that she wants to play.”

“There has to be something we can do,” Sanghyuk said, “something we can stop her with.”

“Hell if I know how,” Wonsik sighed, “if I did, I’d have killed her ages ago.”

“We’ll find a way,” the pair started to find Hakyeon standing in the door way, the others right behind him.

“When did you get here?” Sanghyuk asked.

“How much did you hear?” Wonsik growled, not at all liking that the four had listened in on his story. He was fine telling Sanghyuk, but them? Not so much. After all, he liked and trusted Sanghyuk. He didn’t like or trust any of Sanghyuk’s friends.

“We heard everything after the first time she put him in a box,” Jaehwan explained.

“The door was slightly open,” Hongbin hung his head slightly, showing that he felt at least a little bad about overhearing the conversation that was never meant for his ears.

“Don’t matter how we know,” Hakyeon brushed Wonsik’s glare off, “what matters is that we do know. And now that we know we can come up with a plan.”

“How do we know he’s telling the truth?” Taekwoon questioned, glaring darkly at Wonsik, “he could have just said all of that to trick Sanghyuk into believing him. It could all be a trick to turn Sanghyuk into his latest victim.”

“I would never lie about this,” Wonsik snapped, turning his glare from Hakyeon to Taekwoon, “never about this.”

“I believe him,” Sanghyuk said, trying to ignore the look Taekwoon gave him and trying to pretend that he wasn’t still holding onto Wonsik’s hand, “and Hakyeon hyung is right, we need to come up with a plan of attack.”

“We can try looking in the library,” Hongbin suggested, “brave the poltergeists? There might be something there.”

“I’ll go,” Sanghyuk offered, only for both Wonsik and Taekwoon to tell him ‘no.’

“Not going to happen,” Taekwoon scowled, “remember what happened to that kid from your class last year? The blasted poltergeists broke his nose and his leg.”

“I’m with the knight in shining armour on this one,” Wonsik nodded in agreement, “you are not going down there to get your bones broken. Heck, I say we let the white knight earn his keep and make him go.”

“No,” Sanghyuk frowned, trying not to glare at Wonsik, “if it’s too dangerous for me, then it’s just as bad for Taekwoon.”

“Fine,” Wonsik shrugged, “I’ll go. I’m way more durable than knight boy over there. It would take more than a couple of books to bust up my pretty face.” Taekwoon glared darkly at Wonsik who smirked back.

“I have a question,” Hongbin turned to Wonsik, “this….whatever that your mom needs students for…..it always needs five s?”

“Yeah,” Wonsik nodded.

“Only three students went missing and reappeared,” Hongbin explained his thinking, “and Sungjae is dead. But then the three students reappeared. The way you were talking……that shouldn’t have happened.”

“I don’t know about this reappearing crap,” Wonsik replied, “when I gave them over to my mother, they never showed back up again. They just vanished without a trace. Maybe this vanish and reappear thing is new, something she added because that’s that the time calls for. I…..I really don’t know.”

“I wonder…..if they need to find two more,” Hongbin pondered, “or did they let the other three go because they need all five at once? And why have those three changed so much?”

“I don’t know,” Wonsik sighed, “I’ll take a couple of you to the library tomorrow, see what we can find. If we can’t find anything……just let this go. This…..whatever….it’s been happening for a very long time. Whatever this is all about, I don’t think we should get involved. Not unless we know what we’re dealing with, anyway.”

“He’s right,” Hakyeon nodded, “we need to know what’s going on before doing anything. Charging in blind would only get us into trouble. It could even kill us. I don’t like it, but if we know nothing……”

“Right,” Taekwoon nodded, “let’s all go back to your rooms. It’s late and we’re going to need our rest.” He herded everyone one, sending one last glance back at the pair on the bed before leaving himself.

“Wonsik?” Sanghyuk asked once he was curled up in bed under the blankets.

“Yeah?”

“What do you think they need five s for?” Sanghyuk had a theory, he just hoped he was wrong.

“Probably a sacrifice of some kind to summon something,” Wonsik replied, confirming Sanghyuk’s theory without realizing it, “I mean, what other reason could a vampire have for five of them?”

“Maybe blood tastes better?” Sanghyuk shrugged, saying the first thing that came to mind.

“It doesn’t taste any better than the blood of someone who’s slept around a lot,” Wonsik said, rolling over so he could look at Sanghyuk, “at least that’s what I’ve found.”

“Oh,” Sanghyuk nodded, realizing that if anyone would know it would be Wonsik.

“Go to sleep, alright?” Wonsik sighed, “You need to rest.”

“Don’t think I’ll be able to sleep,” Sanghyuk admitted, “not after everything I’ve learned in the past……hour or so?”

Silently, Wonsik got up and move to join Sanghyuk in the human’s bed. Sanghyuk didn’t say a word until Wonsik’s arms were wrapped around his hips.

“What are you doing exactly?”

“Trying to help you fall asleep,” Wonsik shrugged, “thought maybe being held would help.”

“It kind of does,” Sanghyuk nodded, cuddling into Wonsik’s chest.

“Just rest,” Wonsik whispered against Sanghyuk’s ear, “everything will be alright.”

Sanghyuk nodded, letting himself drift off to sleep. Wonsik relaxed once the younger was asleep, just listening to the sound of Sanghyuk’s heart beating in his chest. His promise that everything would be alright……he hoped that he wouldn’t end up breaking that promise. Everything had to turn out alright, or Sanghyuk…….god, Wonsik didn’t want to think about it. things had to turn out well, there was no other option.

…

“,” Hakyeon cursed, taking in Wonsik and Hongbin’s messy appearances, “what the heck happened?”

“Long story short?” Hongbin sighed, dropping down into Sanghyuk’s desk chair while the youngest went to retrieve the first aid kit from the bathroom, “the ghosts in the library didn’t take too kindly to us being there.”

“Did you find anything?” Jaehwan questioned, pulling over Wonsik’s desk chair and taking the first aid kit from Sanghyuk.

“We did,” Wonsik nodded, dropping onto his bed, tossing an old, leather bound book to Taekwoon who was sitting on Sanghyuk’s bed, “the records in the basement say that this should have something.”

“Wait,” Sanghyuk frowned, moving to sit beside Wonsik, “you went into the basement?”

“And you’re both still alive?” Hakyeon questioned, disbelief clear, “how in the heck did you manage that?”

“Wonsik is really scary,” Hongbin explained, “or at least the ghosts thought so. They kept whispering about running away from the blood er.”

“Bet they’ve met mother,” Wonsik said, giving a hollow laugh.

“This book is really old,” Taekwoon observed, flipping through the pages, “I can’t understand whatever language it’s written in.”

“Pass it here,” Wonsik sighed, sitting up and holding out his hand, “I should be able to read it.”

“Fine,” Taekwoon nodded, tossing over the book with a small scowl.

“Hmm,” Wonsik hummed as he read, “Yeah, I know this language. It’s old, like really old.”

“But then so are you,” Hakyeon laughed and Wonsik cracked a small smile.

“Yeah,” Wonsik turned his attention back to the book, “it’s going to take me a little while to find anything relating to our problem because this book is so massive.”

“Assuming there is anything there to find,” Hongbin sighed.

“He’s right,” Jaehwan nodded, “there might not be anything in there.”

“But I’ll still try,” Wonsik glanced at Sanghyuk, taking in his bright smile when Wonsik promised to try. It made him feel good to make the other so happy.

“Just don’t push yourself,” Hakyeon told him, “if you can’t find anything……well, we’ll just have to learn to let it go.”

“Worry about that if I don’t find anything,” Wonsik replied, turning his attention to the book, “and don’t you all have work to do?”

“Crap,” Jaehwan hissed, “he’s right. I have an assignment due soon.”

“Same,” Hongbin scowled. The pair quickly left, wishing the others luck.

“I should go, too,” Hakyeon sighed sadly, “I have work to do for the house.”

“Bye, hyung,” Sanghyuk smiled, “try to have some fun with it, alright.”

“I always have fun,” Hakyeon laughed before leaving.

“You got something on your find there, kitty cat?” Wonsik asked, looking up to find Taekwoon watching him and Sanghyuk, “because you’re watching the little prince pretty intently.”

“Is something wrong, hyung?” Sanghyuk frowned slightly.

“No,” Taekwoon assured him, “I was just thinking and zoned out.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk smiled buying what Wonsik thought was an obvious lie, “do you need to go and get some work done? Or do you want to stay and help us”

“I’ve got to check out some things at the house,” Taekwoon replied, “but I’ll stop by later to see how things are going.”

“Ok,” Sanghyuk waved as the older left, “be careful.”

“I don’t think he trusts me,” Wonsik commented once he and Sanghyuk were alone and the door was shut tight.

“No,” Sanghyuk replied, “he trusts you, kind of. Well, he doesn’t think you’re going to drain me dry in the middle of the night, anyway. And I’m sure he knows that you really are trying to help us. Taekwoon hyung just…..he takes a while to warm up to people.”

“Well,” Wonsik shrugged, “I honestly don’t care what he thinks. So long as your knight in shining armour doesn’t try to punch me, I’m good.”

“Taekwoon hyung wouldn’t do that,” Sanghyuk assured the vampire, “he’s not that violent.”

“Not that violent?” Wonsik looked up from the book, eyebrow raised.

“He might have hit Hakyeon hyung once or twice,” Sanghyuk looked away, a little embarrassed about what he was admitting after saying that Taekwoon wouldn’t go as far as to hit Wonsik, “and he might have made a move to choke him one time. But Hakyeon hyung was being really annoying and he…just kind of…….snapped.”

“I think he might hit me in the future,” Wonsik declared, finally returning to the book in his lap, “can’t wait for that.”

 “He isn’t going to hit you,” Sanghyuk pledged, shifting around to rest his head on Wonsik’s shoulder so he could see what was written in the book too, “I promise I won’t let him.”

“I just might take you up on that,” Wonsik said, relishing to the pleasant feeling of Sanghyuk so close to him.

“I think I’m over Taekwoon,” Sanghyuk said about an hours and a half later.

“What makes you say that?” Wonsik questioned, looking up. In a way, he was kind of grateful that Sanghyuk had spoken up because his brain was starting to bit from reading the ancient language for so long. but since he also didn’t know where Sanghyuk was going with this thought……he kind of wished Sanghyuk hadn’t said anything at all.

“I don’t feel anything beyond friendship when I talk to him or he looks at me,” Sanghyuk explained, “at first, I thought that maybe it was because he kept talking about how you were to blame for the disappearances. I didn’t want you to have anything to do with it, so naturally I’d get upset when someone said you did and that would over shadow whatever feeling o had for that someone. But now……there isn’t a reason why I wouldn’t react like I normally would around him.”

“Which could only mean that you’ve moved on,” Wonsik concluded, still unsure what Sanghyuk wanted to say and really wishing that they could just drop the conversation before it went someplace Wonsik wasn’t ready for it to go.

“Exactly,” Sanghyuk nodded, “and honestly? I’m kind of surprised how quickly my feelings faded. Is that……is that normal? To like someone for so long and then the feelings are just…..gone?”

“I don’t know,” Wonsik replied, “I’ve only ever had feelings for one person and…….i haven’t really sat down and thought about something like that since.”

“I’m sorry,” Sanghyuk looked away, “I shouldn’t have asked, should I? I upset you, didn’t I?”

“No,” Wonsik said, only lying a little bit, “you need to talk about this and since I’m the only one who knows about your ex-crush….of course you’d go to me to talk. Nd I thought I made it clear. I don’t pay enough attention to my feelings to recognize being upset about something.”

“You should listen to your feelings more,” Sanghyuk said, the words slipping out before he could stop them.

“Maybe,” Wonsik conceded, “maybe one day I’ll get the balls to listen to what I feel.”

Sanghyuk just took hold of his hand and the pair turned their attention back to the book.

…

“I found something,” Wonsik said, “call the others.”

“What did you find?” Sanghyuk asked, rushing over to look at the open book himself even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to read a word of it.

“Get the others,” Wonsik repeated.  With a sigh, Sanghyuk did as told.

Now alone, Wonsik scowled at the book. He kind of wished that he hadn’t found anything. But now he had something and…..god, thing were worse than he imagined.

“Hey,” Hakyeon said, entering the room with Taekwoon close behind, “Sanghyuk said you found something.”

“Where are the others?” Wonsik asked, “I only want to explain this once.”

“They should be here soon,” Hakyeon assured him, “is it…….is it that bad?”

“It’s not good,” Wonsik scowled, returning his eyes to the book as if to will it to change what had been written inside.

“We’re here!” Jaehwan yelled, rushing through the door with Hongbin and Sanghyuk close behind. Jaehwan and Hongbin hopped onto Sanghyuk’s bed, taking seats on either side of Hakyeon, while Sanghyuk moved to sit beside Wonsik. Taekwoon moved to sit in Sanghyuk’s desk chair, pulling it over to the end of Sanghyuk’s bed.

“How bad is it?” Hakyeon asked again now that everyone was there.

“According to what I found in the book,” Wonsik sighed, “there’s this…..ceremony held every fifty years by this vampire cult. They take five s of either gender and give them to a creature.”

“What kind of creature?” Jaehwan asked.

“All the book says is that it’s bright like the sun,” Wonsik replied, “a big burning ball of brightness that could outshine the sun. It feeds on the life force of those given to it, absorbing them into itself.”

“That…..,” the rest of the room feel silent, unsure of what to say to that.

“Terrifying,” Sanghyuk finally said, “that’s terrifying.”

“Does the book say how we handle this light monster?” Taekwoon questioned.

“No,” Wonsik sighed, “that’s all it says.”

“Let me see it,” Hongbin said, reaching out for the book, “there are illustrations, right? Maybe I can find something going by that.”

“Have at it,” Wonsik handed over the book, “but that’s all I could find.”

“When does it say that this ceremony takes place?” Hakyeon questioned.

“The new full moon,” Wonsik said, looking down, “that’s when they’ll sacrifice the s.”

“They only five three,” Taekwoon pointed out, “and we don’t know what they did to change their personalities.”

“We don’t know a lot, do we?” Sanghyuk said, voicing everyone’s thoughts. Wonsik nodded, grabbing Sanghyuk’s hand and entwining their fingers without realizing it.

“We…..might have to give up,” Wonsik said, not looking at the others since he knew that they really didn’t want to hear that.

“Maybe,” Hakyeon admitted.

Everyone was silent after that.

…

“Mr. Kim,” Wonsik paused, turning around to find his teacher making his way over, “might I have a word with you.”

“Sure,” Wonsik nodded, glancing over to Sanghyuk, “I’ll see you back at the dorm, alright?”

“Bye,” Sanghyuk waved before heading off, leaving Wonsik alone with his teacher.

“What’s wrong?” the vampire asked, “did I do something wrong?”

“No,” the teacher explained, “but the dean requested a meeting. It would seem that your poor communications grade managed to get back to her even after you started bringing it up.”

“When does she want to meet?” Wonsik asked, trying not to let on that his heart had sunk down to his stomach.

“Right now,” the teacher said, “go to room 306 in Building B, she’ll be waiting for you.”

Silently, Wonsik headed off. He wanted to run, to turn back and rush to his dorm and Sanghyuk. But if he did that, his mother would just follow him. That would put Sanghyuk in danger and he wouldn’t let anything happen to Sanghyuk. No, his little prince would be protected from all harm so long as Wonsik was alive.

“Hello, Ravi,” the woman sitting behind the desk smiled once he’d shut the office door behind him.

“Hello, mother,” Wonsik nodded in greeting, taking a seat on the other side of her desk.

“I’m afraid to say I was rather surprised to hear that you were attending this school,” the woman said, “why didn’t you tell me? We could have had a family reunion, inviting all of your siblings. It would have been fun.”

“I didn’t realize you were here either,” Wonsik replied, “and by the time I did, I thought it would be a nice surprise when you realized. A surprise that would be ruined should I just come in here at random.”

“Now, my dear,” the woman smirked darkly, “we both know that isn’t why you didn’t tell me. You want freedom from me. I can’t say I’m not hurt by that.”

“You locked me in a box,” Wonsik replied, done trying to be nice since faking it clearly wasn’t worth it, “you made someone I loved shut the lid on me. And then you left me there to rot.”

“Oh, Ravi dear,” she pouted, “You make me sound like such a bad mother. And I was even going to be nice and give you a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“I’m going to give you freedom,” she replied, “just as you wish. I will also let no harm come to your little pet and is friends.”

“What do you want out of it?” Wonsik frowned, “you never give something without getting something in return.”

“Stop searching for answers,” she explained, “give up on stopping the ceremony. You let us sacrifice the five s and never pop up in my business again. If you do that, I’ll back off. But if your pet and his friends keep searching for a way to stop the ceremony, I’ll turn this Sanghyuk boy into one of my sacrifices.”

“Fine,” Wonsik hung his head, knowing that she meant every word, “I won’t stop the ceremony and I’ll kept Sanghyuk and the others away.”

If Sanghyuk ever found out about this deal, Wonsik would lose him. He…..he couldn’t lose Sanghyuk. He cared for the human too deeply to lose him. Wonsik might not know exactly how he felt, might not have taken the time to examine his feelings long enough to determine if it was love he felt for Sanghyuk or not, but he did know that he cared about what happened to the other. The very idea of Sanghyuk getting hurt made him hurt, the image of Sanghyuk with another made him blind with rage. That had to mean that he….he loved the other, right?

But if Sanghyuk found out about his deal with the devil, it wouldn’t matter what he felt because Sanghyuk would want nothing to do with him.

“Good boy,” his mother smiled, “now go. I’m sure your pet is waiting for you with anticipation.”

Silently, Wonsik left.

“Hey,” Sanghyuk smiled when Wonsik entered the room, “what did your teacher want?”

“Nothing important,” Wonsik lied, “just wanted to talk about an extra credit assignment I might be interested in. I wasn’t, but it’s nice to know it’s there in case I change my mind.”

“Hongbin said he might have found something,” Sanghyuk explained, reaching out and pulling Wonsik onto his bed with one hand while pulling out the book with the other, “on this page, he thinks that it’s talking about a weapon of some kind. Can you translate?”

Wonsik read, not really thinking about what he was saying. All that his mind registered was that the book told of a special sword able to purify darkness. It didn’t take much thought to realize that the sword could be used to kill the light monster. Well, if they could find it anyway. But if they could find it……Wonsik would have to think up an excuse not to get it.

“Does it say where we can find it?” Sanghyuk asked, clearly hopeful.

“Yeah,” Wonsik nodded, unable to lie any more to Sanghyuk when the human looked so…….trusting, “it’s actually not far from here. Well, not far from here for a vampire. It’s hidden in a cave.”

“Would you be able to find it?” Sanghyuk asked, even more hopeful.

“I can’t,” Wonsik admitted, “but not for the reason you’re thinking.”

“Wonsik,” Sanghyuk frowned, “what’s going on? You’re teacher…..they didn’t want to talk about extra credit, did they?”

“Mother offered me a deal,” Wonsik hung his head, “if I don’t stop the ceremony, if I don’t let anyone stop it, then we all get to walk away alive. You, me, and the nerd squad.”

“You took the deal, didn’t you,” Sanghyuk growled, “didn’t you!”

“What did you expect me to do?” Wonsik hissed, “Let all of us die? We knew nothing and I didn’t know about the sword yet. So yeah, I took her deal.”

“But now we know about the sword!” Sanghyuk argued, “You can get it and we can stop her. Why aren’t you going to get it?”

“We don’t know if it will work,” Wonsik pointed out, “or if I’ll be able to get it. I’m not going to risk everything, risk our lives, for a sword that might not do anything.”

“You aren’t doing this for us,” Sanghyuk snapped, “You’re doing this because she’ll let you go, right? That’s her deal, she’ll let you go, let you keep your little human pets, just so long as she gets to kill more s.”

“No,” Wonsik tried to say, “well, yeah she did promise to let me go, but that isn’t why I agreed.”

“Get out!” Sanghyuk yelled, “you’re…..you’re horrible. Despicable! No wonder your ex put you in that box, you’re a monster. You really think I’d believe that lie that you aren’t doing this for personal reasons? Get out of here!”

Wonsik gave Sanghyuk a stricken look before leaving. Sanghyuk paused once the door slammed shut, realizing how horrible he’d been. He’d just……snapped and accused Wonsik of being a selfish, self-serving monster. He even brought up Wonsik’s old lover, something that should never be brought up regardless of the circumstances. That was a beyond horrible thing for Sanghyuk to do, especially when he loved Wonsik. But his mouth had gotten ahead of him and there was no making up for it. Wonsik was gone, probably for good since he probably viewed Sanghyuk as not worth it after that little fit.

Sanghyuk started to cry, dropping to the floor. That was about the time that Hakyeon showed up. It took a while, but eventually Sanghyuk managed to tell Hakyeon everything. The older just held him after that, unsure what to say to make Sanghyuk feel better.

…

“So,” Hongbin asked, “how do we stop the ceremony” I mean, without Wonsik, what chance do we have? Heck we don’t even know where they’re holding it.”

“We know how to find it,” Taekwoon pointed out, “on the full moon, we can follow one of the students who we know was marked to be a sacrifice.”

“But we can’t stop anything,” Jaehwan pointed out, “I mean, with just the five of us…..”

“We aren’t going to have five,” Hakyeon said, “I’m going to get my whole house.”

“Same,” Taekwoon nodded, “we’ll have an army.”

“Maybe that will be enough to stop everything,” Hakyeon said, trying to sound hopeful even though a part of him was sure that they were all going to die the following night.

“It’s almost time for lights out at the houses,” Taekwoon said getting up, “I think we should all turn in, get some rest for everything.”

“I’m going to stay here,” Hakyeon said, hugging Sanghyuk tighter.

“Right,” Taekwoon nodded before herding the others out.

“Everything will be fine,” Hakyeon said, trying to make Sanghyuk look less…..broken, “we just need to stop the ceremony tomorrow night and everything will be alright. Wonsik will come back once he’s cooled down. He knows you’d never say anything like that and mean it. he knows you were just angry and spoke without thinking.”

“Maybe,” Sanghyuk nodded, “we just……we need to save everyone.”

“Yeah.”

…

The light monster thing was evil. They all knew it, just like they all knew their chances of defeating such evil were beyond low. But they were still there, trying to save the girls that the vampire cult wanted to sacrifice to that monster. A small part of Sanghyuk wondered if he should have gone along with Wonsik’s plan, just let the sacrifice happen so that he and his friends could live the rest of their days. That was only a small voice in the back of his mind though, completely outshined by his need to do good and save people.

“Stupid little boy,” Wonsik’s ‘mother’ – aka the one who had turned him into a vampire – hissed, “you should have listened to my idiot son. Then you’d have lived to see the sunrise.”

“Shut up,” Sanghyuk growled, throwing one of his wooden stakes at the vampire cult leader, “just shut up.”

He didn’t want to be reminded of Wonsik, not now. Wonsik……it still hurt that he’d cut a deal with his ‘mother’ but what Sanghyuk had said to him upon finding out was much worse. And because of what he’d said Wonsik was gone. Because Sanghyuk had been a selfish brat the one he loved was long gone and probably would never come back. That…..that was so painful but Sanghyuk couldn’t let his heart break cloud his mind. Not yet anyway. Later, he could cry and scream and curse his stupidity all he wanted.

“I agree with the little prince.”

Both Sanghyuk and Wonsik’s ‘mother’ turned to find Wonsik standing in the doorway of the underground room where the sacrifice was taking place. All around them, the fighting didn’t even pause for a moment, Hakyeon and Taekwoon each fighting alongside their sorority brothers while Hongbin and Jaehwan did their best to sneak the sacrifices out. But Sanghyuk froze, unable to believe that Wonsik had come to help them, that he had the magic sword the book had said could kill the monster that slept in the pit in the center of the room.

“You should have stayed away,” Wonsik’s ‘mother’ laughed, “and kept your pet safe. Now, my dearest son, I’m going to have to kill the both of you.”

“Bring it,” Wonsik shrugged, making his way over to the pair.

“Wonsik,” Sanghyuk didn’t know what to say as the vampire came to a stop beside him.

“Sorry I’m late, babe,” Wonsik said, brushing some of Sanghyuk’s hair out of his face, “took a little longer to get the sword then I thought it would.”

“I’m,” Sanghyuk started to apologize, say sorry for yelling at Wonsik like he had when he chased him out of their dorm room.

“Hush,” Wonsik told him, covering Sanghyuk’s mouth with his hand before the human could get the words he wanted to say out, “tell me later. Once I win.” Wonsik smirked slightly, a erted grin taking over his face and replacing the sad smile from before, “once we’re back in our room, all alone. You can apologize all night long.”

“Sh-shut up,” Sanghyuk hissed, looking away to hide his blush.

“Go help the nerds from down the hall,” Wonsik told him, pushing Sanghyuk away, “get the s out of here.”

Sanghyuk nodded, rushing off. He looked back, pausing in his escape only once. Wonsik was still standing there, sword pointed at his ‘mother’ and a glare frozen on his face. The pair were just looking at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Assuring himself that Wonsik would be fine, Sanghyuk ran away to help his friends get the sacrifices someplace safe.

…

Wonsik wasn’t fine.

…

Evil lost, the vampire cult members thrown into the pit and eaten by the light monster. Taekwoon and Hakyeon told Sanghyuk that eating all of the corrupt vampires, the exact opposite of the pure s that it was supposed to eat, caused the monster to die. Well, die was putting it the Taekwoon way. Hakyeon was much more descriptive, explained in detail about how the monster exploded with a flash of light and a loud bang that seemed to shake the whole earth.

Sanghyuk hadn’t asked about Wonsik, couldn’t handle hearing about what had happened. Instead Hongbin asked, holding onto Sanghyuk tightly like that would keep him from shattering. Hakyeon kept his mouth shut, apparently realizing that the bad news was best coming from Taekwoon since he wouldn’t get too into detail by accident. Taekwoon didn’t look at Sanghyuk as he explained that Wonsik had been pulled in by his ‘mother’ as she fell.

Sanghyuk had just nodded, knowing that she only had the chance to do that because Wonsik had been throwing the stupid sword into the pit. It wasn’t all the vampires that had killed the monster, it was the sword’s magic. And the sword could only do that because of Wonsik, because of his sacrifice. Sanghyuk was so……torn. On one hand, he was happy that they had won, that the evil was gone and would never hurt them or anyone else again. But then he’d also lost Wonsik and…….he loved Wonsik. So much.

Wonsik was gone. And Sanghyuk hadn’t told him how he felt. Sanghyuk hadn’t even apologized to him. Wonsik had died not knowing how much he was loved, that his dark past didn’t matter because Sanghyuk loved him. He died thinking that Sanghyuk hated him, thought badly of him.

….

Love will be cruel to who it entices

Love will have its sacrifices

“Come on,” Taekwoon said, trying to give Sanghyuk a small smile, “get up. You need to eat something.”

“Not hungry,” Sanghyuk said, feeling a flash of guilt for acting like such a brat. Taekwoon was just trying to help, he didn’t deserve to be talked to like that. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Taekwoon moved closer so that he could pull Sanghyuk into a hug, “you’re hurting. I can’t expect you to recover so soon.”

“Still shouldn’t take it out on you,” Sanghyuk sighed. Taekwoon had always been a good friend, yet another reason why Sanghyuk shouldn’t get angry with him. Taekwoon didn’t have to be there after all.

“You can make it up to me by eating something,” Taekwoon said, gracing Sanghyuk with one of his rare smiles, “and turning off that song. It’s only going to depress you more.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk sighed, sitting up and taking a bite of the sandwich he was offered. Taekwoon moved over to the stereo, turning it off. Without the song playing, the room already felt a little less like the hole of depression it had been for the past week.

“Guy!” both turned to find Jaehwan, panting and eyes wide open as he stood in the door way after throwing open the door with as much force as he was capable, “you aren’t going to believe this!”

“What happened?” Taekwoon asked, looking concerned, “what’s going on?”

“We found,” Jaehwan started to say, only to be pushed out of the way by Hakyeon who was holding…..

“Wonsik!” Sanghyuk yelled, rushing to take the vampire from his friend.

“Some of the bros were checking out the pit,” Hakyeon explained, “and there he was. It took a while to get him, but here he is.”

“Is he alright?” Taekwoon asked, noticing how limp Wonsik was.

“Blood!” Sanghyuk cried, rushing to the kitchen and searching for the milk carton of blood Wonsik always kept lying around, “he needs blood.”

“It’s here!” Jaehwan said, rushing to pull the carton from the fridge.

Sanghyuk opened Wonsik’s mouth with one hand while using the other to pour some of the blood into Wonsik’s mouth. There was a pause before Wonsik started to swallow, coughing a little. Slowly, Wonsik opened his eyes and sat up.

“,” Wonsik finally said, “that was something.”

“You’re alive,” Sanghyuk gasped before rushing to hug the vampire as tightly as he could. Behind him, he could hear Taekwoon pulling Jaehwan and Hakyeon outside, whispering something about leaving Sanghyuk and Wonsik alone.

“So,” Wonsik said when Sanghyuk finally pulled back, “I did something pretty heroic, right?”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded, “stupidly heroic.”

“I think it still merits a reward,” Wonsik smirked before capturing Sanghyuk’s lips with his own.

Sanghyuk moaned, allowing Wonsik to push him back against the bed. After what felt like forever, Wonsik pulled back. Sanghyuk, panting, looked up at the blond vampire and smiled. Slowly, he reached up, running his fingers softly over Wonsik’s face, like he couldn’t believe the other was really there.

“You’re alive,” Sanghyuk said, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

“I’m alive,” Wonsik nodded, pressing another kiss, this one much softer then the first, to Sanghyuk’s lips.

“I thought you were dead,” Sanghyuk cried softly, “I really thought you were dead.”

“But I’m not,” Wonsik told him, wiping away Sanghyuk’s tears with his thumb, “something like a little, ancient light monster couldn’t kill me. Besides, you promised me a long night of apology. No way I’d miss out on taking my little prince’s ity.”

“I didn’t promise anything,” Sanghyuk pouted playfully, “you suggested it, but I didn’t agree.”

“Details,” Wonsik shrugged before reconnecting their lips for a passionate kiss.

Sanghyuk allowed Wonsik to strip him of his shirt, trying not to blush like the he was as the vampire looked him over. Wonsik seemed to enjoy that, laughing a little before running his lips down Sanghyuk’s neck and chest, ending at top Sanghyuk’s sweatpants. Wonsik pulled back then, pulling his own shirt over his head and tossing it across the room. Sanghyuk had seen Wonsik shirtless countless times, but this time was special. This time was just for his eyes alone.

“Enjoying what you see, y?” Wonsik asked, moving back up to kiss along Sanghyuk’s throat.

“y?” Sanghyuk questioned, “That’s a new one.”

“It’s true,” Wonsik shrugged, “you are…… extremely y.”

“For a ,” Sanghyuk added, not used to hearing compliments from Wonsik that didn’t have even the slightest insult or ual joke hidden within.

“No,” Wonsik replied, pulling back to Sanghyuk could see the pure, unhidden attraction in his eyes, “you’re extremely y. Period.”

“Oh,” Sanghyuk couldn’t stop the blush that time and Wonsik’s smile from his reaction made him rather unwilling to hide any of his reactions.

“Now,” Wonsik’s devilish smirk returned, “allow me to ravish you.”

“Please,” Sanghyuk nodded, pulling Wonsik in for a kiss that promised a long night of pleasure.

…

“I love you,” Sanghyuk whispered many hours later, cuddled tightly against Wonsik’s bare chest.

Sun light was just starting to peek in through the curtains, signaling that the night was over. The night being over made Sanghyuk very worried. Would Wonsik leave? He was no longer tied to the school, not with his ‘mother’ dead. He was free to do whatever he wished. He could see the world, free of the threat of his ‘mother’ finding him.

Sanghyuk might never see him again, so he had to tell Wonsik how he felt while he still had time. It might not change much, but it would make him feel a lot better than if Wonsik just left without Sanghyuk ever telling him how he felt.

“I….,” Wonsik started to say, only for Sanghyuk to cut him off.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Sanghyuk quickly told him, giving Wonsik a bright smile to assure him that it was fine, “I know you aren’t into relationships and love, not after everything you’ve been through. I just want you to know how I feel. You know, before you decide what to do now. I mean, with your mother dead, you can do whatever you wa-.”

“I love you,” Wonsik said, cutting off anything else Sanghyuk wanted to say.

Sanghyuk didn’t know how to respond, so he just allowed Wonsik to pull him into another kiss.

A/N: this was a lot of fun to write. Well, when I wasn’t trying to juggle writing this and all my other stories, anyway. But overall, a lot of fun. Oh! And second vampire Rahyuk AU where Ravi gets Hyukkie’s undying love. I’m two for two!!!