Chapter Text
“I need to go.”
Mark didn’t want to move from Lucas’ embrace – his body warmth reminding Mark of another time, his heartbeat lulling him in and out of the past and the present. He knew he had to go, though – his phone had been buzzing for the last ten minutes, and Taeyong would know he’s disappeared by now.
He can’t keep disappointing him like this.
“Really?” Mark felt his heart – what was left of it – clench when he saw Lucas’ hurt expression, hands still clutching his waist. “I … you have to go now?”
“I’m sorry, love.” His voice was a whisper and Mark’s forehead was freezing when he pressed it to Lucas’ burning skin, but his love thrummed furiously under his skin. “I’m so sorry, Lucas, but I have to go. Taeyong, he …”
It hurt to see Lucas nodding, to see him understanding why Mark couldn’t stay. Ever since the human had caught Mark’s attention, had wriggled his way into Mark’s life ever since he’d seen him when out with Taeyong, the Prince knew he couldn’t tell Taeyong.
Taeyong liked to believe he knew everything, that he was always omniscient and in control, but Mark had kept Lucas from him all this time, and he would continue to do so.
“I love you –” Lucas was cut off by Mark leaning in to feverishly kiss him, desperately cradling his jaw. A whimper was caught between lips, unsure of who it came from, and the two pulled back to see matching kiss-swollen lips and blown-out pupils.
“What – What was that?” Lucas gasped breathlessly, eyes glazed slightly and hand trailing Mark’s slim figure. The young vampire shrugged, but he looked like desperation was just burning beneath his skin, threatening to burst out.
“I need you to know, Lucas, that I love you. No matter – no matter what, okay?” Mark pressed another kiss to Lucas’ forehead, smiling bittersweetly and whispering a small prayer. Latin, ancient; one that Doyoung taught him, that Taeyong whispered into his skin whenever he was lying useless from his attacks.
A prayer of protection and safety, borne from love.
“I’ll be back, my love. Wait for me, Lucas.”
“Always, my Prince.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m halfway across the country, Doyoung, but I will be there soon.”
“Taeyong doesn’t know anything yet. He’s holed up in the throne room, stressing. Mark disappeared yesterday, and he’s only just gotten back.”
“I thought you said he was dying?”
“He is. We found him at the door, gasping and sobbing in pain.
…
You … you need to hurry, please. I don’t know how long he has.”
“Oscar Wilde?”
Taeyong’s head snapped up to see Taeil perched on one of the tables, idly tracing along the engravings. An eyebrow raised, and the other male laughed humourlessly and got off the furniture.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t magic myself in again. Doyoung-ie let me in. I haven’t seen him in ages, did he go on holiday?”
“He’s been busy,” Taeyong responded, tone flat and dry. He didn’t flinch when Taeil bounded up the stairs, moving to sit on the arm of the throne. “Aren’t you busy? Trying to keep Johnny from death’s grip?”
“Why do you think I’m here?” Taeil’s voice had a hint of sharpness to it, but Taeyong had had centuries to get used to his wit. “I’m curious, though – why read Oscar Wilde? Want to relive the glory days?”
A short laugh escaped Taeyong at the mere thought, memories of soft flirting and heated kisses flitting through his mind. He leant back in his seat, looking up at Taeil next to him. The man looked so young despite his age – hundreds of years old, wise beyond his years. He turned back to his copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray – well worn, the publisher’s date indicating it being one of the first copies.
The first copy, in fact.
“Did you know that Dorian Gray was based off me?” Taeil’s head turned to the King as he mused, fingers tracing over the cover. “Beautiful and tempting, but dangerous. He noticed it too late, when I started to destroy him. Myself.”
Another laugh, dry and harsh, left the vampire and he found himself setting it aside.
“He hated me in the last years of his life, but that didn’t matter.”
“Didn’t you love him?” Taeyong scoffed at the notion, at how Taeil’s voice had softened in increments. He didn’t feel love, not like that.
(But he did, oh, he felt so much love. He’d loved so many throughout his years, but he hated the pain that followed when they left)
“Have you never known me to love in that capacity? I only love one person, and that’s Mark,” Taeyong’s voice was steady, secure. ”I only tolerate you and Doyoung.”
“You loved him.” Taeyong’s gaze, focused on the door at the end of the room, hardened and he inhaled deeply.
“You come in here, already asking for the impossible, and you insult me further?” Taeil slowly slid off the throne, hearing the edge in Taeyong’s voice. He knew the vampire wouldn’t kill him – that would incite a war he did not want to fight – but fear still coursed through him.
“Taeyong –” Taeil was cut off when the King whipped around to face him, dark eyes flaring angrily. Anger, cold and biting, rolled off him in waves, and Taeil knew immediately that he’d overstayed his welcome.
“You have known me for so long, Taeil Moon, and you know not to talk about him. I have done so much for you – I helped you with the fae uprising, I kept you and your family on that damned throne. You have two jobs – to keep your kingdom running, and to stay alive.” A shudder passed through Taeil – the fae King – at his words.
“Do not test me, or you will fail both of them.”
“He’s upset.”
“Hello to you too.”
“Taeil came by today – he’s on some … mission, I don’t know what.”
“Oh, the faerie? Tell him I said hello.”
“He brought you up today, in front of Taeyong.”
… …
“Taeyong still refuses to –”
“Yes. When you come … just stay out of sight. Don’t let him find you.”
“Johnny?”
Taeyong held the phone to his ear, thumbing through an old tome of Latin incantations as he lounged in his library. Mark was somewhere, sleeping, and Doyoung was reading up on something he refused to show Taeyong.
“Taeyong? How did you get my number-”
“Hi – Johnny, are you listening?” When there was a crackly confirmation over the phone lines, Taeyong nodded and shifted his tome to sit on the table. “Can we meet up sometime soon? I want to run something by you for this assignment – is that okay?”
There was silence before – “Of course, Taeyong. I – you apparently have my number, so just text me. I’m free all week.”
Taeyong hung up with a soft “bye,” and opened the texting.
Me: This Friday, 5.30pm, at that small café down from the university?
Johnny Seo: Sounds good.
See you then?
Me: Indeed.
Also, uh.
Don’t worry – I got your phone number from a mutual friend.
:D
He was in hell. Mark was actually in hell.
His chest constantly burned, and he felt sick to his stomach at every waking moment. It had gotten worse after he’d seen Lucas – darling, painfully human Lucas – and he could barely breathe at its worst.
Doyoung and Taeyong were so, desperately devoted to helping him, and Mark cried silently at their obliviousness.
“How do they not see it?” He’d sobbed once into his pillow, fingers tearing holes in his sheets, and tears soaking the fabric. “How – how?”
The constant nausea, the wracking pain, the heat that spread through his body and thrummed like erratic heartbeats, like arrythmia.
Mark could feel his own body tearing itself inside out, his nature rejecting the reality of his situation. Fear blossomed in him at his revelation, even though he’d known about it for ages.
Ever since he’d met Lucas Wong.
Vampires, they are … a weird creature.
They have no living organs, but they walk and breathe like the rest of the world. They are older than most, rivalling only the Fae, and inspire fear in the nation. This fear has manifested in humans, driving them to delegating vampires as myth and fiction, but they are as real as the air they breathe.
Vampires cannot die from many things – the stakes and garlic are fake, made up to give humans a sense of control. They cannot die from holy water, or anything else.
They do have one weakness, one that isn’t common but utterly shameful.
Love.
If a vampire falls in love with a human, irrevocably in love, so far they cannot imagine life without them, they have two futures; regain their mortality, or lose everything altogether. There is no choice, there is only love or death.
Vampires are powerful creatures. They are also cowards.