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Reasonably, Hoseok knew, reasonably, he should not have been so perturbed.
He’d not met this one before. But there were plenty of vampires, some more desperate than others, who had come into his blood bank in need of sustenance, and this one deserved as much professionalism and politeness as the rest of them.
Except. He had toed at, looked at, a very dangerous line that Hoseok did not even like to glance at himself.
There was something endearingly heartbreaking about how unaware you were of the situation; your smile was tired and nourishing as ever as you flitted in with the extra bags and passed them off. He could feel the customer’s eyes on you the entire time, and it took much effort not to instinctively move between you and him to provide some manner of shelter, protection.
Oh who was he kidding. Possession. It was a possessive streak born of his simmering thoughts.
Nevertheless, when you moved to the back, he unconsciously shifted anyway.
“Have a good day, okay?” you smiled gently on your way back out. He smiled back weakly in return, eyes constantly flickering towards the other vampire in the room, watching him carefully. “Make sure you get lunch!”
Christ.
“You too,” Hoseok piped up. He didn’t want the think about the implications of that.
It was a short eternity until you had left and the door shut, leaving him alone with the stranger once more. With every ounce of his concentration he gazed at the door that led to the stairwell, listening tenuously for the sound of your footsteps to keep going and going until you were away, safe from harm.
And then a sound of muted disgust stole his attention.
It was very hard to make Hoseok angry. And he wasn’t angry, not yet – not really. He was on edge. The look on the other vampire’s face said it all – mild revulsion, unpleasant amusement, all pointing towards looking down on him for so obviously being defensive of this human woman that was not his and never would be.
His fair share of patience and goodwill had run unnaturally thin.
“Can I help you with anything else?”
It didn’t appear that the stranger was going to answer him. That was fine.
What was not fine was how his eyes and feet trailed to the stairs where you had disappeared to, and before he could help it his voice cut like ice:
“Don’t you dare follow her.”
The vampire froze mid-step. Several things could happen from that point: he could turn on him, for one. A full-blown fight could happen down here, and it would not be pretty, but Hoseok would win. He simply had to. Maybe it would be nothing but a verbal argument. Maybe bad things would happen. Maybe he would dismiss Hoseok’s words and take it as a challenge, and maybe he would just lay off if he knew what was good for him–
“As if I’m the one interested in chasing her skirt,” he spat back instead, and something cold and sickening went through Hoseok’s chest at the words.
He didn’t reply. He couldn’t. He just listened, waited, to the vampire vanishing through the door as well, and closed his eyes and breathed long and deep and carefully tracked where his footsteps were going and tried to place the sound of your voice somewhere in the endless halls.
If anyone had walked in during those minutes, they would have seen a very convincing statue looking pensive and clammy and tightly-wound. But nothing came of his worries; the nomadic vampire left the building, and Hoseok felt a weight tumble from his shoulders as he vaguely crumpled to the counter, trying to regain his sense of self.
It’s a pleasant surprise for you, later on, but for one reason or another Hobi decides to seek you out before his shift ends. Just to say bye.
He’s not fair at all, is he? you think as he leaves, cheeks warm and heart fluttery. Not a soul should be that kind.
You were probably stupid to like him as much as you did.