Chapter Text
Bang bang! Hyunjin jolts in bed from the sound. He was already awake, but he didn’t feel like letting go of Seungmin yet. Bang bang! it sounds again, and Hyunjin hears muffled voices. Is someone at the door? — Hyunjin quickly shakes Seungmin awake, telling him that someone is at the door before he jumps out of bed and runs over to open the front door.
“Prince!— Uhm— sir! Are you okay?” A servant that Hyunjin recognizes is at the door, and it seems like a lot of snow has melted, and the rest is shoveled to the side to clear the way to the cabin. “We’ve managed to clear the snow as soon as possible and your carriage is already on their way to get you and the prince, but apologies for the delay. If there is anything that you still need, please tell us.”
Hyunjin nods as Seungmin joins him, rubbing his eyes sleepily, and the servant repeats his explanation. Seungmin looks at Hyunjin inquiringly and whispers to ask if he doesn’t need more blood when Hyunjin just blinks at him.
“Ah— no, I’m fine,” he whispers back. “We’re going back soon, so I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah?” Seungmin looks up at him with worried eyes.
“Yeah,” Hyunjin chuckles, ruffling Seungmin’s hair to show his appreciation for Seungmin’s concern.
They dismiss the servant, saying that they don’t need anything, before they fall into each other’s arms for a hug, relieved that they can finally leave. Although, somehow leaving kind of scares Hyunjin too. He hopes that they won’t go back to all business once they return to the castle. He doesn’t expect them to be as close and intimate as they were on the trip, they probably won’t have as much time to do that or even as much reason as they had here, but Hyunjin hopes that he didn’t see and feel their mutual connection wrong. Seungmin was so worked up yesterday, he can’t ignore that once we come back, right? No, Seungmin definitely cares, Hyunjin knows that, there is no other explanation for yesterday, but the question is whether Seungmin will continue to show that if somehow his princely duties or their arrangement is in the way. Hyunjin doesn’t know prince Seungmin well enough to be able to predict what he’ll do, but Seungmin is too kind to just start ignoring him or acting colder without explanation, right?
“You look deep in thought,” Seungmin pulls him out of his thoughts and smiles as Hyunjin jumps a little in surprise. “What has you thinking so deeply as you pack your bags?”
“Just… that despite our hardships here, I did have a lot of fun,” Hyunjin says. It wasn’t really what he was thinking about, but it’s not a lie either. “I think we were successful in getting closer.”
Seungmin chuckles sweetly and nods. “I agree, and I had a lot of fun as well.”
Hyunjin swoons at Seungmin’s sparkling eyes and soothing voice, but before he can say more, a servant comes to pick up their bags because their carriage has arrived.
It feels kind of weird bidding goodbye to the cabin even though it has only been a little more than a week. So much has changed, though, and Hyunjin really hopes that it shows when they come back too.
They sit in the carriage in silence, but Hyunjin’s thoughts don’t seem to settle down. He doesn’t know what to expect and he can’t help but overthink.
“Seungmin?” He eventually decides to speak up, and Seungmin hums in question. “Uhm… what will happen now?”
Seungmin seems a little surprised by the question, so it takes a second before he answers.
“Well, the plan is to do what we’ve been brought together to do,” Seungmin answers simply. “So, just start working on mending the bond between humans and vampires, and, yeah, actually get married. They’ll probably bug us about that a lot, get our preferences and opinions and the like.”
Hyunjin nods slowly, chewing on his lip a little. “So… I would need to visit the castle a lot?”
“Well, I’m sure you could stay in the castle— if you want, of course,” Seungmin offers, something in his demeanor changing a little as he shifts in his seat. “I mean, you would be moving in in a few weeks anyway, and we have enough room.”
“That would be nice, yeah, if I could stay with you— in the castle.” Hyunjin hopes that that means that he can stay in Seungmin’s room as well, but maybe that’ll be too much to ask. “And… what about… us? I mean, are there any restrictions or requirements because of our marriage?”
They hadn’t told Hyunjin any particular rules or restrictions personally concerning Seungmin when they sort of recruited Hyunjin to marry the prince, but maybe Seungmin himself thinks differently.
"Uhm… I think as long as whatever we do is not in the way of why we are getting married, it should be fine," the prince gives a vague answer, open for different interpretations, and Hyunjin wonders if his political side is resurfacing again.
"And what about you personally?" Hyunjin clarifies. "I know that I should probably still stay away from your neck, but maybe you have other boundaries for our marriage, or something changed after our trip."
"Ah— well, you don't have to be that careful around me and my neck anymore," Seungmin waves off, rubbing his neck a little as he looks more like Seungmin than prince Seungmin again. "I'm not that scared anymore, especially not of you. And for the rest… uhm, no specific boundaries, I think."
Hyunjin nods, his mind wandering as he wonders whether that means that Seungmin would be okay with a romantic relationship. He can’t really tell from what he said, but Hyunjin doesn’t want to overwhelm Seungmin and himself with a romantic relationship before they’re sure what their marriage will be like exactly, and they’ll only know that when they’re more settled back in the castle.
“And what about you?” Seungmin asks then.
“Uhm— yeah, same as you,” Hyunjin answers with a shrug, trying to seem casual. “I— I’d even like it if we stay as friendly as we have been this past week.”
Seungmin’s eyes widen a little before he softens and a sweet smile grows on his face. “Me too.”
Hyunjin lets out a small breath of relief and mirrors Seungmin’s smile. That was all he wanted to hear and see, that this trip wouldn’t be for nothing.
As soon as they arrive at the castle and the servants take their luggage, dozens of worried people, including the king and queen, come running to Seungmin, asking if he was okay while being snowed in, if he wasn’t hurt, and other concerned questions. Hyunjin feels a little out of place, but Seungmin assures everyone that he is fine also thanks to Hyunjin. That earns Hyunjin some glances, but nothing more— until Seungmin’s mother suddenly gasps.
“Seungmin! What is that on your neck!” she exclaims as Seungmin jolts and tries to hide the bite wound. "Is that a vampire bite?! "
Everyone including some of the guards threateningly turn to Hyunjin, and Hyunjin immediately puts up his hands in surrender, hoping to show that he doesn't mean harm.
"Stop! Everyone relax! Please," Seungmin intervenes. "Hyunjin didn't do anything wrong. I gave him permission to bite me."
"What?— But you— you are scared of vampires, right? Ever since, you know," his mother hisses.
"I know, but Hyunjin is a good person who helped me overcome my fear a little," Seungmin explains calmly, eyeing Hyunjin for a second. "And while I survived being snowed in for the most part, Hyunjin ran out of food, and he didn't want to bite me, but I insisted."
Seungmin's parents gape at him as if he just told them that he willingly put his hand into fire or something.
"Well— that is… very noble of you," the king states after a beat of silence and leans closer to Seungmin as he lowers his voice. "But are you sure that we shouldn't keep him away from you for a while? He might think that it's okay to just drink from you whenever he likes now."
Hyunjin can still hear what he says, and he feels a little humiliated that they talk about him like this while he's right here . Welcome back to the real world, he thinks bitterly, this isn't the safe bubble with Seungmin in the cabin anymore. We’re back to people distrusting me left and right.
"That's not needed. I fully trust that Hyunjin won’t attack me or anyone else," Seungmin retorts with full confidence, easing Hyunjin's discomfort a little. "In fact, I offered him to move in today already so that he doesn't have to travel back and forth constantly to discuss the wedding."
Seungmin's parents pale, probably completely baffled by Seungmin's change of behavior towards Hyunjin after their trip.
"Even if he moves in, I think it's best to… give you two your space," the queen tries, probably forgetting that Hyunjin is there too. "We have enough rooms to give him his own—"
"No, he can sleep in my room," Seungmin cuts in stubbornly, catching everyone including Hyunjin by surprise. Hyunjin wants to say that that isn't necessary, he doesn’t want them to fight, but Seungmin already continues. "I trust him that much. And besides, on the trip we slept in the same bed too."
Hyunjin and Seungmin's parents almost choke at Seungmin's boldness, and the king even seems to get a little red.
"You— vampires have to sleep? In beds?"
Ah, of course they don't know that. Otherwise we would have had two bedrooms, probably.
"Yeah, they have to sleep. Less than humans, but a bed is still nice," Seungmin explains. "But as I said, I trust him to sleep in my room."
"You don't have to go against us just because we tell you what we think is best." The king seems to be getting a little angry, but Hyunjin doesn't dare to speak up. "You're not a teenager anymore."
"Which means that I can decide for myself just fine," Seungmin crosses his arms defensively. "I appreciate the concern, but you literally sent us on a trip to get closer and now that we are closer, you're unhappy and want to drive us apart again. And I think I can better say whether Hyunjin is a threat or not, and I say he’s not a threat and he can sleep in my room."
“Fine, have your way if you want it so badly,” Seungmin’s father relents. “But don’t say no one warned you if anything happens.”
“I’m telling you, he won’t harm me or anyone else,” Seungmin grumbles before he grabs Hyunjin’s wrist and pulls him along. “Let’s go, Hyunjin. We can help the servants unpack.”
The servants follow them to what Hyunjin assumes is Seungmin’s room, and Seungmin tells them that they can divide the closet into two for Hyunjin’s and his own things before he pulls Hyunjin to sit on the bed.
“I’m sorry for my parents,” he sighs. “They… I don’t know what goes on in their heads sometimes. And I didn’t mean to force you to sleep in my room without discussing it with you, but I just wanted to prove a point to my parents.” Seungmin chuckles at himself. “Yeah, I’m that stubborn. I used to do the exact opposite of what my parents told me to do when I was younger, and I guess that stuck, but anyway— you don’t actually have to sleep in my room if you don’t want to, but if you don’t mind it… it’s a nice gotcha to my parents.”
Hyunjin snickers at Seungmin’s behavior, he likes this side of Seungmin too— he really has everything, huh? — so he nods and all too happily indulges Seungmin in his mission to prove his parents wrong.
“No, I definitely don’t mind.” Hyunjin grins at Seungmin’s happy reaction. “I think I would even feel lonely if I had such a big room to myself— and such a big bed, I could get lost in that bed!”
“Well, the guest rooms are a little smaller, but yeah, I get it.” Seungmin laughs and leans back on his hands. “It’s a deal then! Let’s help the servants unpack.”
And it isn’t that different from how it was on the trip, much to Hyunjin’s relief. They provide food for him, fortunately, and Hyunjin does have to eat separately from the rest because the king and queen don’t want to see him drink blood, and they are very busy every day with helping plan the wedding and brainstorming about policies, laws, rules, events, and whatever more they can do to make the life of vampires easier and ease the tension between humans and vampires, but because they sleep in the same room, they often have late-night conversations, which compensates for the rest. Sometimes they just talk about what they did that day, further discussing options for the wedding or something they couldn’t figure out about a policy they are thinking about implementing, but other times they talk about everything and nothing, telling stories and sharing philosophies until Seungmin falls asleep and Hyunjin is relaxed enough to be able to fall asleep soon as well.
During those late-night conversations, Hyunjin gets to see Seungmin be his sweet, cute, and funny self mixed with his serious side, which is nice because he usually only shows his serious side when he’s being a prince. It kind of fascinates Hyunjin how Seungmin adapts his behavior so well to every situation, and one night Seungmin tells him that he tries to treat everyone differently, because every person has different wants and needs, so he should try to take those into account, and that makes Hyunjin admire the prince even more.
He doesn’t mention his still growing romantic feelings because he thinks that might make things awkward if Seungmin doesn’t return them, and they’re too busy to do anything anyway, but he also doesn’t mind just platonically getting to know him better. Seungmin as a friend is already really nice as well.
He does want to tell Seungmin one day, because every night he sees the prince nod off and blink rapidly to try to stay awake to listen to Hyunjin talk, every time he notices that Seungmin did eventually fall asleep while Hyunjin was rambling, a peaceful expression on his face, Hyunjin can’t help but want to hug him close and kiss him. Every time Seungmin passionately offers a policy or an event to better the reputation of vampires to his political advisors, every time he tells a personal story, and every time he tells the most hilarious joke that Hyunjin ever heard whenever they take a break from all the serious stuff, Hyunjin falls for him more. Sometimes he still thinks about their first meeting in the bar and he wonders if Seungmin does so too, and if he does, if he feels the same fluttering in his chest as Hyunjin does, or even better: if Seungmin feels that same fluttering whenever he looks at Hyunjin now , because Hyunjin sure does for Seungmin.
“Ugh, why is nothing working,” Seungmin sighs deeply. They just got told that both the humans and vampires aren’t liking the recent policies and events. “We’re not even implementing any laws yet, why do the people say that they feel forced to learn about vampires? Why do the vampires say that it feels ingenuine?”
Hyunjin shrugs and pats Seungmin’s head. “It’s hard. I kind of get it though. For everyone to get along more, you kind of need to encourage humans and vampires to actually mingle amongst each other and hear personal stories from both sides. That worked for us, at least.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Seungmin breathes and pouts. “But how can we do that? The vampires don’t want to open up to humans, and the humans don’t want to listen to them.”
Hyunjin doesn’t know either, they have to get them to be open to improve their bond, but how?
“Well, at least more people are donating blood because the castle asks for it,” Hyunjin tries to point out the one positive result. “Not as many people as we had hoped because apparently some are still hesitant to donate for the royal family if they know it’s for vampires, but luckily not everyone is that stubborn.”
“Yeah,” Seungmin nods before he lays his head down on the table they’re sitting at in defeat. “But it’s frustrating.”
“It is.”
At that moment, a servant walks in with a list— right, the wedding is in a week— and asks if they have a moment. They nod and the servant begins about that some guests that they invited cannot make it, unfortunately, so they have the option to invite some new people. The first part of the wedding is open to the general public, given that they keep their distance and only watch, but apparently there are also private invitations for privileged guests that Hyunjin didn’t know of.
“Oh, uhm, I don’t usually have a say in any invitations. My friends get invited and the rest my parents decide,” Seungmin says, and the servant explains that the king and queen didn’t have a particular preference for guests and that it might be good to give Seungmin more say in it. Seungmin hums in thought before he freezes and turns to Hyunjin. “Wait— I imagine that they didn’t ask you if you had anyone you wanted to invite, did they?”
Hyunjin shakes his head. “This is the first time I hear about invitations.”
Seungmin groans and mutters something about not being surprised, and Hyunjin isn’t either. He is surprised, though, when Seungmin tells him that he can invite whoever he wants, then.
“Oh, well, my friends and family are all vampires…” Hyunjin trails off, looking at Seungmin hesitantly.
“That’s no problem. This is our wedding, a wedding between a human and a vampire, it’s only fair that you get to invite your friends too,” Seungmin retorts as if it’s simple. “The people who are invited should expect at least one vampire to be there.”
Hyunjin smiles, agreeing with Seungmin and feeling a bit more at ease to invite vampires there. He asks how many spots are free for him to invite people, and the servant tells him that there were three spots cleared.
“Okay, that’s just enough to invite my friends,” Hyunjin mutters to himself. “I don’t think my family would want to come anyway, since they moved to another country.”
The servant then asks him for his friends’ addresses, which is tricky, since most vampires don’t even have a registered house or even a house, and he doesn’t think that his friends will appreciate some random human stopping by to give them a letter, so Hyunjin just offers to give them the invitations himself, for which the servant seems relieved. When the servant leaves the room, Hyunjin turns to Seungmin with a grateful smile.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” Seungmin waves off with a small smile. “We should’ve let you invite people in the first place, I’m sorry that I didn’t think of that.”
Hyunjin shrugs. “It’s okay, I understand, you had your mind somewhere else.”
“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t even realize that the wedding is in a week already,” Seungmin breathes and chuckles. “Maybe I should start writing my speech.”
Hyunjin’s eyes widen in realization. “Right!— speeches. What… uhm, what should we do for those? Since it’s not really a conventional wedding…”
“I’m probably expected to give some royal speech about our wedding being a unification between vampires and humans,” Seungmin explains, and he doesn’t seem to be looking forward to that necessarily. “But I’ll try to make it a little personal too, maybe that’ll help our human invitees warm up to vampires a little?”
Hyunjin smiles hearing that Seungmin thinks humans will warm up to vampires if he shares his personal experiences, it makes him feel kind of giddy for the wedding if they’re sharing personal stories.
“You can be freer, I think,” Seungmin continues. “You can do personal or some meaningless rambling, whatever you want.”
Hyunjin chuckles and shrugs. “I’m not as good at stating meaningless things as you are— no offense!— so I think I’ll just maybe talk about how we warmed up to each other despite our initial reluctance? Maybe that’ll help our cause too.”
Seungmin snickers and tells Hyunjin that he isn’t offended and that he learned to say meaningless things in his political training. He also says that he thinks Hyunjin’s idea for his speech is a good one. Hyunjin hopes that it’ll indeed be a good one and that he won’t embarrass himself by being emotional while Seungmin gives some political speech. Maybe they’ll compare later, but maybe it’s more fun to let it be a surprise. That’ll at least be more like a real wedding, but that thought makes Hyunjin’s mind race to dangerous territory, romantic territory, and if he strays there for too long, he might risk being disappointed eventually or blurting something out that he shouldn’t.
The last few days before the wedding are packed with preparations, so they barely even have time to write their speech or focus on thinking about what else they can do to fix the bond between humans and vampires. Right now Seungmin is bent over his paper where he’s supposed to write his speech. He has already finished the formal part, but he's stuck on the personal part, and his mind is fried after a long day of preparations, visiting the wedding venue and trying to tell everyone that it doesn’t all have to be that perfect, but still having to give his opinion on the exact placement of the flowers, the lighting, where the buffet will be, etc. Hyunjin wasn’t there with him because he went to a school to try out giving a lesson about vampires to see if that would be beneficial to do. Hyunjin and two of his friends were the only vampires to volunteer for that, so they all had to stay for almost the whole day, but he should be returning soon. Seungmin is very curious about how it went, and he really hopes that it went well, because Seungmin is getting a little desperate and he’s running out of ideas for what to try to help the bond between humans and vampires.
He perks up when he hears the door to his room open and sees Hyunjin walk in. Seungmin jumps up from his chair to greet him, but freezes when he notices Hyunjin’s bad mood. His heart drops when he sees his sour expression and he gasps when he sees burns on Hyunjin’s face.
“Hyunjin! You’re hurt— what happened?” Seungmin exclaims, running over to him and examining his face, apologizing when Hyunjin hisses. “Wait— I’ll go get a medic to treat your burns—”
“Don’t bother,” Hyunjin scoffs and turns away from Seungmin before he sits on the bed with his head in his hands. “I don’t want any humans near me right now.”
Seungmin frowns and feels a pang of hurt in his chest, but he mostly feels worried. “Oh, uhm— sorry, I— I’ll give you some space—”
Hyunjin shakes his head in his hands, groaning at the pain of his burns probably. “You’re fine— you’re the exception.”
Seungmin’s ears heat up at that and he goes to sit next to Hyunjin, keeping some distance between them in case Hyunjin still doesn’t want him to touch him.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Seungmin gently asks after a beat of silence.
Hyunjin sighs deeply and removes his hands from his face. “It’s just— I knew people weren’t going to be nice, but— but my two friends who came with me are literally the sweetest vampires you’ll ever meet and still everyone gave us disgusting looks. They put guards or police near the classrooms where we spoke and kept all the kids at a distance, even though some kids actually were open and curious, willing to learn.”
Seungmin hums in compassion, his grip on his bedsheets tightening as he feels the same frustration as Hyunjin does.
Hyunjin stares at the floor with a frown as he continues, “I know that I should be happy that at least the younger kids seemed to be open to learn, but I just feel like the teachers will all undo that progress again— and… like— they tripped Felix, they stole Chan’s jacket, they ruined my umbrella, they told me— I don’t know, it was just exhausting.”
“I can imagine,” Seungmin breathes and carefully slides his hand over to Hyunjin’s until their fingers touch, making sure that he doesn’t touch the burns on Hyunjin’s skin. “I’m sorry that this happened to you, and it’s okay to still be frustrated, it’s all going slower than we hoped.”
Hyunjin sighs and nods, still staring at the carpet flooring of Seungmin’s bedroom— their bedroom, but not moving his hand away from under Seungmin’s. It looks like the vampire still has something on his mind, but Seungmin isn’t sure if he should ask about it, because if Hyunjin wanted to tell him, he would have mentioned it already, right? Seungmin stares at Hyunjin’s burnt face with worry for a moment more before he decides to take matters into his own hands and help with the burns himself.
“I’ll be right back,” he says before he runs off to the castle’s infirmary and asks the nurse if she has something to soothe burns. She hands Seungmin an ointment, but before she can ask what he wants to do with it or if he needs any help, Seungmin is already running back to his room.
Hyunjin looks surprised when Seungmin returns, saying that he got something to treat his burns, and that expression doesn’t fade when Seungmin takes his hand in his own and starts gently rubbing the ointment on the skin. He suddenly notices how pretty Hyunjin’s hands are, and how nice it feels to hold them, but he quickly shakes those thoughts away.
“You got these burns because they ruined your umbrella, right?” Seungmin asks to distract himself.
“Yeah,” Hyunjin confirms softly, averting his gaze as he chews on his lip a little. “Well… my umbrella isn’t even that badly ruined. It-it’s also kind of my own fault that I’m this badly burned.”
Seungmin stops his movements as he looks at Hyunjin in concern. “Why?” Why would you hurt yourself?
Hyunjin sighs and shakes his head a little, hanging it down as Seungmin continues rubbing the ointment on the other hand now. Just as he opens his mouth to tell Hyunjin that he doesn’t have to tell him, Hyunjin already begins.
“I— I didn’t want to go back to the castle…” Hyunjin admits in a whisper, and Seungmin’s heart drops.
“Because you didn’t want to see any humans?”
Hyunjin gives a slow nod, his head still hanging low as Seungmin lowers Hyunjin’s hand but keeps holding it.
“Yeah, that… too.”
Seungmin hums and massages Hyunjin’s hand lightly as he whispers back, “May I ask what the other reasons are?”
Hyunjin agrees softly but takes a second to answer, so Seungmin just plays with his hands to try to encourage him. He’s afraid of what he’ll hear, because he doesn’t think his heart can handle it if they hurt Hyunjin. His breathing has already quickened just from seeing Hyunjin distressed too. Hyunjin sighs and shakes his head before he starts explaining.
“I just… what they said… I— and the wedding is coming closer…” he murmurs, his hand tensing a little in Seungmin’s as his other hand curls into a fist on his lap. “I guess I got a bit overwhelmed and began doubting everything.”
Hyunjin’s words shatter something inside Seungmin’s chest. He hates seeing Hyunjin like this, it feels so unlike him, and Seungmin gets this urge to protect the vampire, cheer him up, assure him that they were wrong, and Hyunjin is right. Anything to see him happy again.
He raises one of his hands to cup Hyunjin’s jaw and make him look up at Seungmin. Hyunjin seems a little surprised by the action, and Seungmin realizes that he might have been a little too forward, so he gets the ointment and starts gently rubbing it on the skin of Hyunjin’s face as an excuse for what he’s doing.
“What did they tell you?” he asks softly, his fingers brushing over Hyunjin’s burnt yet soft skin to spread the ointment.
Hyunjin averts his gaze again, but keeps his head steady so that Seungmin can help him with the ointment. “They just said some rude stuff about that I don’t deserve marrying you, and that they know that it’s all a political scam… and— that they feel sorry for you for having to marry me.”
Seungmin sucks in a breath, anger rising up in his chest as he hears Hyunjin’s words.
“I know that I shouldn’t listen to what they say,” Hyunjin continues, frustration and sadness lacing his voice. “But— I don’t know, I just began thinking that maybe I’m not good enough to help you with this, that I’m not good enough to marry you— because I’m taking away an opportunity for you to marry whoever you want— whoever you love —”
“Stop that,” Seungmin cuts in without thinking, his heart pounding in his throat. “I don’t want to hear you talking about yourself like that.”
Hyunjin’s eyes flick back to Seungmin, surprise and hope shining in them, making a rush of emotions flow through Seungmin’s veins. Feelings override Seungmin’s reluctance to talk about his feelings and he just starts rambling without thought. Hyunjin needs to hear how much he does deserve this.
“You are more than good enough for this job! You already taught me so much about vampires, and most importantly, you taught me to appreciate them, to not be afraid of them,” he continues, his voice a little shaky in urgency, his fingers almost trembling on Hyunjin’s cheeks. “You made my whole view on vampires shift in just a few days, so I’m sure that you can help me spread that to the rest of humanity.”
Hyunjin’s eyes widen and he shakes his head a little, Seungmin’s hands moving along with it. “I just got lucky that you happen to be so open-minded—”
“Nonsense,” Seungmin retorts sternly, tightening his grip on Hyunjin’s head for a second before loosening it again. “Because you believe in the goodness of vampires so strongly, and because you’re so open about your emotions, it shines through and affects others as well, in the best way possible.”
Hyunjin swallows thickly, his eyes beginning to shine even more as they become a little damp and Seungmin leans a little closer.
“And I don’t even get me started on you deserving to marry me,” Seungmin continues, threatening to spill his heart out. It’s already trying to bounce out of his chest anyway. “I already knew since I was a kid that I probably wouldn’t be able to marry someone of my own choice, so you definitely didn’t ruin that— I rather ruined that for you— but really, you’re so kind, so sweet, so nice to hang out with, we work so well together… I anticipated having to marry some scary and aggressive vampire, but instead I got you…” He looks Hyunjin in the eyes, getting lost in them for a moment and mindlessly brushing his thumb over the soft skin of Hyunjin’s cheek before he admits in a soft voice, “I— I am happy that I’m able to marry someone like you.”
Hyunjin closes his eyes with a shaky whimper, leaning into Seungmin’s touch a little, managing to spread warmth throughout Seungmin’s veins even with his cold skin. “Thank you, Seungmin.”
The vampire leans forward and Seungmin would almost think that Hyunjin is going to kiss him if it wasn’t for his already closed eyes. Instead, Hyunjin just leans his forehead against Seungmin’s, and Seungmin’s heart feels like it’ll jump out of his chest. He really wants to close the small remaining gap between them, but he knows that he shouldn’t give in to his selfish desires and burden Hyunjin with even more worries if he doesn't return Seungmin’s feelings. So, to stop himself, Seungmin closes his eyes as well and breathes in Hyunjin’s scent, and he enjoys the feeling of having Hyunjin so close to him, cupping his face and feeling Hyunjin’s skin against his own. I am definitely in love with him, he thinks as he breathes out and slowly opens his eyes again, looking directly into Hyunjin’s, which are slightly lidded and shining with an emotion that makes Seungmin’s stomach contract and burst with butterflies.
"Seungmin…" Hyunjin whispers, breath hitting Seungmin's lips, driving Seungmin nearly insane.
Seungmin unconsciously moves closer, not being able to resist Hyunjin any longer. His hands slide back, tangling in Hyunjin's hair as he lets his gut feeling guide him closer and closer, all the way until their lips softly touch. Just as Seungmin wants to press even closer, desiring more, a knock sounds on the door and Seungmin shoots back.
He looks at Hyunjin, who looks back at him with wide eyes for a moment before he shyly gestures for Seungmin to get the door. Seungmin clears his throat, feeling like his head is on fire as he calls for the person to come in. A servant opens the door slowly and asks if everything is okay. Seungmin just dumbly stares at her, trying to figure out what she means until she clarifies.
“The nurse told me that you lent an ointment for burns from her, and she was worried, so I offered to check on you and ask if you need anything,” she explains, and Seungmin’s mind finally clears up from its love-induced haze.
“Ah— of course. Hyunjin had some burns, but I treated them already. Uhm…” he turns to Hyunjin with an inquiring look, his cheeks still feeling hot. “Do you need anything more? How are your burns?”
“Uhm— I’m all fine, thanks,” Hyunjin mutters with a half-smile.
“Okay, then I’ll take the ointment and bring it back for you.” The servant takes the ointment from Seungmin. "Do you need anything else before bed?"
Seungmin shakes his head and wants to ask Hyunjin if he needs anything, but the servant beats him to it, much to their surprise.
"And Mr. Hwang?" she inquires, and it takes a second for Hyunjin to respond that he doesn’t need anything, and he thanks her. "Okay, good night, your majesties."
Hyunjin and Seungmin share a bewildered look before Seungmin smiles.
"I told you that your energy impacts others!" Seungmin beams, and Hyunjin’s shy smile and shrug in return are almost too cute for Seungmin to handle. Gosh, he is gone for Hyunjin, and he should tell him, but not right before the wedding, not right now.
He wants to stand up and slowly get ready for bed, there's another long day tomorrow, the last day before the wedding, but Hyunjin grabs his hand to stop him. Seungmin turns and is suddenly met with a big hug from Hyunjin, Hyunjin's forehead finding its way to Seungmin's shoulder.
"Thank you for cheering me up and saying those kind words," he whispers, sending a shiver down Seungmin’s spine. "I needed that today."
"I— it's no problem," Seungmin answers softly, rubbing a hand over Hyunjin's back. "Anytime."
Hyunjin squeezes him tight before he lets go and sends Seungmin off to get ready for bed, saying that he'll go for a walk in the castle gardens to clear his mind some more. Seungmin wants to offer to go with him, but he can tell that Hyunjin wants to be alone for a moment, and if Seungmin is honest, he's tired from the long day, so he just wishes Hyunjin to have fun and opens a window for himself to breathe in some fresh air.
Once in bed, Seungmin can't get his mind off of Hyunjin. They basically kissed, but Seungmin mostly initiated it, according to his own memory, and it was only a brush of lips, so he doesn't know if Hyunjin even noticed it. He just repeats the moment in his mind, wondering what it would be like if they didn't get interrupted, wondering if Hyunjin wanted to kiss him too, and if he did, what his reasons were, and if they have shifted from just surface attraction like they had at their first meeting to romantic feelings as well, like they have for Seungmin.
When Hyunjin comes back from his walk and climbs into the bed a bit later, Seungmin is already almost asleep, but the last thing he consciously registers is Hyunjin's arm around him, pulling him closer, safely in his arms, and whispering something that Seungmin won't remember the specific words of the next morning, but he will remember the warm feeling that it gave him.
Today is the day. The day of the wedding. Hyunjin is positively exhausted and nervous. Exhausted from a whole day of preparations and last-minute speech writing yesterday, and nervous because of a whole lot of things. First of all, he’s getting married , yes, to someone he’s in love with, but Seungmin doesn’t know that (yet). Second of all, lots of humans still hate vampires and the prince is getting married to him, a vampire, so Hyunjin fears that he’ll have to deal with rude people again, or worse, Seungmin will have to deal with people being rude because of him. Third of all, Hyunjin can’t stop thinking about two days ago, when they basically kissed and how he’s head over heels for Seungmin because Seungmin is the sweetest human ever, and Hyunjin doesn’t know if his speech is the right balance between his personal feelings and not too obvious and embarrassing. Hyunjin can name a few more reasons, but he is already getting dragged to get his hair and outfit fixed.
They aren’t even doing the wedding in the evening and not inside because everyone is allowed to come to watch, so Hyunjin has to have his umbrella with him for the first hour or so until the sun goes down— which is luckily soon because it’s winter. But still, it’s not ideal that he and his vampire friends have to walk around with their umbrella for the first part of the wedding, also because it basically screams ‘I’m a vampire’. He hopes that his friends don’t get harassed too much before or during the ceremony.
Hyunjin is almost shaking on his legs as he heads out to the ceremony place. They’ll start with the speeches because they want everyone to be able to hear that, and after that, the ceremony actually starts, but it doesn’t give Hyunjin much time to prepare other than during the opening words from the king and queen. As he enters the podium reserved for him, Seungmin, the king and queen, and the officiant, he hears the guests already murmuring to each other, the word ‘vampire’ dropping in almost every other sentence. He scowls but stops in his tracks when he sees Seungmin. The prince looks stunning— not that different from his usual neat look, but it still manages to blow Hyunjin away. Maybe it’s the knowledge that he is marrying Seungmin today that increases his feelings tenfold. Seungmin smiles at him and waves subtly, which helps calm Hyunjin’s nerves a little, it being replaced with a giddy feeling. He returns the smile before he takes a deep breath and stands at his designated spot, on the other side of the speech platform than Seungmin.
During the opening words from the king and queen, Hyunjin takes the time to look at the guests, the invitees all sitting on neatly placed chairs— all except for three, Hyunjin’s friends, who are standing next to the chairs with their umbrellas. Hyunjin gives them a small wave, and his friends give him encouraging gestures back, making Hyunjin smile.
As the formal and boring opening words come to an end, Hyunjin gets more and more nervous since he is the one that has to give his speech next. He guesses they wanted to have the best speech (Seungmin’s speech) for last, or start the ceremony with the prince’s speech in mind rather than the vampire’s. Either way, Hyunjin’s hands are shaking as he approaches the middle of the podium, the trembling paper with his speech on it showing how nervous he is. It’s deafeningly silent after the applause for the king and queen’s speech has dies out, so Hyunjin clearing his throat sounds way too loud for his liking.
“Uhm— hi everyone, thank you for coming on this special day. I am honored to be representing the vampires in this union between humans and vampires...” he starts off formally, trying to ignore the scowls on the guests’ faces. He bites his lip, nervous to continue, not sure how his speech will be received since the rest isn’t really formal, rather more personal, but when he sees his friends silently encouraging him, and he hears Seungmin softly whisper words of encouragement, he finds the courage to continue.
“To be honest, I’m not used to being formal, so my speech isn’t formal either, but I hope that you will forgive me and accept my honest feelings instead.” Hyunjin hears Minho whoop through the crowd’s murmurs, but Hyunjin just mostly shuts them off and continues, “I wasn’t sure about this marriage at first. I didn’t know whether this would work, whether the prince would actually listen to me or if it all would be only formal and impersonal, but that wasn’t the case at all. We’re actually trying to better the bond between vampires and humans, and we’re actually trying to listen to everyone’s opinion, see both sides of the problem, and I think that if everyone would be as open and kind as Seungmin, that we can really improve the situation.”
The audience seems to have divided opinions, the murmuring increasing, but Hyunjin isn’t finished yet, so he raises his voice a little bit to be heard over the crowd.
“I know that most of you present here don’t trust me because I’m a vampire, but please, if you don’t trust me, trust the prince. Seungmin knows what he’s doing, he’s really experienced and well-versed in politics, but he is also really open to listening and he really cares about what everyone wants and what is good for the country,” Hyunjin rambles. “All that Seungmin needed is a vampire’s perspective, and I can give that. The rest is all him, all his expertise and his leadership skills. So, again, please trust your prince if you can't trust me. I truly believe that Seungmin is a good person and a great leader, he— he is so kind and smart, so versatile. I trust him both to be able to lead this country well, and I trust him as a… as a dear friend, who I am lucky to marry." His voice turns softer towards the end, and he hears his friends cheer and clap loudly, but they're one of the only ones, the rest only talk amongst each other.
Hyunjin hears people mention 'bootlicker', 'meaningless', 'trickster', and synonyms of those words, so Hyunjin presses his lips together in disappointment and just bows as he slowly steps backward, trying to hide his frustration. He jolts a little when he feels Seungmin's hand on his.
"You did well. I was moved by it," Seungmin whispers as he moves past Hyunjin to give his own speech, and right now that is all that Hyunjin cares about, that Seungmin was moved by it. All the other humans be damned, today is his and Seungmin's day.
Seungmin clears his throat and stands up straight, watching the audience become quiet as he exudes his powerful princely energy. It always awes Hyunjin that Seungmin can change his behavior like this, it shows that he can adapt to almost any situation, making him, as Hyunjin said, a great leader for this country.
Seungmin starts off his speech formally, just like Hyunjin did, and he keeps it pretty formal although he does definitely address how he warmed up to vampires and learned a lot from Hyunjin, and that he thinks that education and understanding are important in order for everyone to become closer.
"Do we really have to listen to this political nonsense again?" someone standing in the back calls, cutting Seungmin off. Some guests gasp and mutter that the man is rude to the prince, but the man doesn't seem to care. "We know that this is a political marriage, and it's all to make it look like we can all get along, blah blah, can we move on? Or do you have something new to say?"
Hyunjin is surprised that Seungmin is interrupted and not him, but he also understands that everything is becoming a bit repetitive. It’s frustrating that the people can’t seem to see that this isn’t all for show, though, and that they’re actually trying to make a change for the better.
Seungmin just stands still for a moment, waiting for everyone to become quiet, but Hyunjin notices Seungmin's hands slowly crumpling the paper with his speech on it.
"Fine," Seungmin breathes, curling his fist around the paper. "You want to hear something new? You don't want to hear any political nonsense anymore? Fine." He throws the paper on the ground and steps on it, eliciting gasps from the guests. It seems like Seungmin feels as frustrated with the stubbornness of the people as Hyunjin is.
"I'll tell you what I really think, without political nonsense. I wasn't looking forward to this marriage at all the first time that I heard about it, because as you may know, I was attacked by vampires when I was a teenager and I was terrified of them." Seungmin's voice is serious yet Hyunjin can feel that he's speaking from his heart. "I was wary of Hyunjin, trust me, but… gosh, he proved to be trustworthy so many times— where to start?” Seungmin shakes his head with a chuckle.
“Hyunjin is passionate about making the situation better for vampires, and at first I was confused as to why he was so passionate about it— sure the situation isn’t that bad, right? Well, it turns out that I just didn’t know anything about vampires, and I can imagine that most of you here don’t either. And as most of you may know, we went on a trip to the mountains together too, and living with Hyunjin and being with him for almost 24/7 that week really opened my eyes,” Seungmin admits, his hands clenching into fists. “I could go into all the things that I learned about vampires but I would probably bore you all out of your minds, so instead I’ll say something about Hyunjin, the vampire that I’m marrying today, and hope that you will see that at least one vampire isn’t bad, that at least one vampire is kind, considerate, good .”
Hyunjin holds his breath and the crowd murmurs for a moment, but they soon quiet down again when Seungmin continues.
“Hyunjin… Hyunjin is one of the sweetest people I know. We may have had a rocky start, but that is only more evidence that Hyunjin is genuinely kind, that despite our initial reluctance, and despite his own bad experiences with humans, he wanted to give me a chance.” Seungmin’s voice has become softer, and Hyunjin can’t see his face well, but it sounds like the prince is smiling. “He has never ever taken advantage of me, even though he did have the opportunity on multiple occasions. You might think that maybe it is because he knows that I’m the prince, but I actually met Hyunjin one time before we knew we were marrying each other. I didn’t tell him that I’m the prince— and he didn’t know— and he didn’t tell me that he was a vampire, yet we got along really well.”
Hyunjin sees the tips of Seungmin’s ears become red, and Hyunjin himself feels a tad embarrassed as well, but he mostly feels flattered , touched, moved. He can’t believe that Seungmin is telling everyone about them like this, without fear, only conviction, full belief in what he’s saying.
“We— we even spent the night together, and Hyunjin didn’t take advantage of me, even though he had the perfect opportunity. If that doesn’t say enough, he saved me when I almost froze to death in the snowstorm in the mountains, he absolutely refused to bite me or drink from me even though he was starving when we were snowed in, and only when I insisted that he did so he did it, but he immediately stopped when I told him to, when he easily could have taken a sip or two more,” Seungmin sounds almost out of breath as he names all the things that Hyunjin has done for him, and Hyunjin feels tears welling up, especially when Seungmin looks back at him and smiles sweetly, his eyes a little damp as he extends his hand for Hyunjin to take.
Hyunjin is a little confused, but he steps forward and takes his hand anyway. Seungmin intertwines their fingers and squeezes before he turns back to the audience.
“I— All that Hyunjin has been is considerate, patient, kind, selfless, and it’s all genuine. It’s all him.” Seungmin looks at Hyunjin for a second again, a hesitant yet incredibly loving expression decorating his face, making Hyunjin choke up even more. “I… I have been preparing my whole life to marry someone for politics, someone that I don’t love, maybe even someone that I will never even be friends with. But you know what? Luck is on my side, because Hyunjin is my friend, as he said too, my dear friend. And…” Seungmin pauses and swallows, and Hyunjin holds his breath again.
“And I love him too. I love Hyunjin.”
Hyunjin gasps along with the crowd, an embarrassing sob escaping his throat as he throws aside his umbrella and pulls Seungmin into a tight hug, hiding his face in the crook of Seungmin’s neck. He barely processes the commotion in the crowd, but he does hear Felix call out for him to kiss Seungmin, so that is exactly what he’ll do. He pulls back, looking at Seungmin’s hesitant yet anticipating expression, cups his jaw, and kisses him, pressing his lips against Seungmin’s soft ones.
The kiss is salty with Hyunjin's tears, but the way Seungmin kisses back passionately, dragging his lips over Hyunjin's lovingly, fingers coming to curl around Hyunjin’s suit jacket, makes up for it by far.
"I love you too, Seungmin," Hyunjin breathes against Seungmin’s lips, only for Seungmin to hear, as he caresses a hand over Seungmin's cheek.
It's ironic, Hyunjin is more someone to tell everyone about how he loves someone and Seungmin likes to keep it private between him and the person in question, but right now they did it the other way around. Maybe that's what makes it even more special.
They are pulled out of their moment when they hear the reaction of everyone to Seungmin’s speech and their kiss. Hyunjin’s friends are clapping and cheering, a few humans who Hyunjin recognizes to be Seungmin’s friends are applauding and whooping as well. Other reactions are divided, some are discussing amongst each other, others are shaking their heads, slowly clapping, or even smiling and cheering too. It seems like seeing Seungmin confess like this has not only moved Hyunjin, but also convinced at least a few people to give vampires a chance.
“Seungmin— what do you think you are doing?” Seungmin’s mother pulls Seungmin by the arm and hisses at him. “This could’ve gone very wrong.”
“I just did what people asked from me,” Seungmin dodges and pulls his arm free. “I know that it could’ve gone wrong, but— but I knew that Hyunjin wouldn’t be so cruel to reject me in front of everyone.”
Hyunjin gasps to himself, realizing how much of a risk Seungmin took by telling all those people that he loves Hyunjin without even knowing whether Hyunjin feels the same. It makes him choke up a little again, and he tries to keep his tears back as Seungmin suggests to proceed with the wedding ceremony but not before taking Hyunjin’s hand and asking him if he’s ready too.
“Yeah, I’m fine— I’m just really touched,” Hyunjin chuckles and fans at his eyes with his free hand. “You’re really too much, Minnie. Gosh .”
Seungmin grins bashfully, his cheeks rosy as he shakes their linked hands. “I’m just happy that you feel the same.”
“I sure do,” Hyunjin whispers and kisses Seungmin’s warm cheek, smiling at Seungmin hiding his face with his free hand. He sighs, feeling like a burden has fallen off his shoulders, feeling like he can marry Seungmin at ease. “You’re so cute. I’m so happy to marry you.”
Seungmin huffs and lightly pushes at Hyunjin’s shoulder, muttering that they should continue the ceremony. Hyunjin snickers and agrees, resisting the urge to kiss Seungmin again before they go back to their respective places and let the officiant do their thing. It's kind of boring and traditional, but it doesn’t matter when Hyunjin can just space out and watch Seungmin lovingly. The best part of the ceremony is, of course, the kiss, and gosh , it feels nice to kiss Seungmin again while knowing that the prince returns his feelings. They kiss for longer than they’re supposed to, but Hyunjin doesn’t care, it’s their day today.
The party is fun too, Hyunjin finally has the opportunity to meet Seungmin’s friends and introduce his friends to Seungmin, and, true to the stories, Seungmin’s friends are really funny and kind. Even some of the other noble invitees are open to talking to Hyunjin without giving him disgusting looks, and even if some do it because he’s now married to the prince, it’s somewhat of an improvement compared to before, but Hyunjin thinks that their progress in bringing vampires and humans has only just started picking up, and that Seungmin’s statement that he loves Hyunjin will really help as well.
Those thoughts are reserved for a later date, though, because right now Hyunjin is dancing with Seungmin, all eyes on them, yet it feels like they’re the only ones in the room. Seungmin’s hand in his, his other hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder, Hyunjin’s on Seungmin’s hip, and them dancing along to the music in perfect harmony, chest to chest, is all that’s on Hyunjin’s mind right now. Hyunjin thinks that he can do this for hours on end, gaze at Seungmin’s handsome face, and have Seungmin look back at him with sparkling eyes, crinkling up as he smiles at Hyunjin and Hyunjin smiles back, the warm feelings in his chest contrasting his cold body.
Eventually, Hyunjin can’t hold himself back anymore, overwhelmed by happy and giddy feelings, and hooks his arm around Seungmin’s waist, lifting him up with only one arm and swinging him around in a swift motion, making Seungmin yelp and giggle in surprise. Hyunjin keeps him lifted as he chuckles and moves them closer so that he can nuzzle his nose against Seungmin’s.
“Sorry, I just wanted to do that,” he breathes, smiling at Seungmin’s flushed cheeks. “You just look so good tonight, your majesty.”
Seungmin snorts, his blush deepening, and he lets go of Hyunjin’s hand to thread his fingers through Hyunjin’s hair that is tied half up half down. Hyunjin hums in contentment as Seungmin moves closer, his breath hitting Hyunjin’s lips.
“And you look even better, your majesty ,” Seungmin murmurs, his fingertips tickling the back of Hyunjin’s neck and he lets their lips brush once, twice, before fully capturing Hyunjin’s lips with his own.
A vampire and a human, moving together in unison, chest to chest, sharing their love, is the perfect start for their journey to better the bond between all of them. Because surely everyone that is present can see how well a vampire and a human can work together, can be in harmony, and can love one another, and Hyunjin is sure that that message will slowly but surely spread.
But their love isn’t only for everyone to see and to show off to prove what a bond between vampires and humans can be like, it’s also for them to privately share, to be expressed in thoughtful gestures, little words and praises whispered, just being with each other, or whichever other way they choose to express it in. And if they spend that night after their wedding together, just the two of them in their bedroom, the door locked for any servants, kissing each other deeply and sharing hot breaths, similar to how they first met and yet so different, with so much more emotion, then that is for only the two of them to know and enjoy.
The end.