Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chan walked aimlessly down the road of a place he had known for decades but that was ever changing. 

During the weekends when all the kids went back to their clans and Changbin mostly stayed home, he would walk around without a destination. Yet somehow he always ended up at that house. He had no clan but he had a family that kept on living and dying through generations, though Chan didn’t really consider them family. He barely knew the people that lived in that house that carried his long dead sister’s name. There is no real reason to feel sad, he had accepted what happened already almost a century ago and today he felt no real connection to the people that lived on that house. Besides he had another family, the ones that occupied the space he and Changbin bought were his family now and forever.

His phone rang, Minho’s name flashing through the screen. This was their little routine, Chan would mindlessly walk to that street and Minho would always call him to pull him out of there, out of old memories. Minho cared, even though he pretended he didn’t. It was one of the little things that made Minho, Minho, one of the million things that endeared Chan.

Chan thinks Minho knows him better than himself and maybe that should scare him but it doesn’t. They went through thick and thin together, Chan literally died in Minho’s arms and scared the living shit out of him when he was reborn all within the same day.

“Hey, what’s up?” A smile creeped up to Chan’s face as he picked up the phone.

“There was a guy with the ugliest shirt I have ever seen. Who even wears frills in this day and age?” Minho complained, not there to see how the smile in Chan’s face widened.

“Me on halloween remember? You even complimented me, I can’t believe it was all a lie!”

“Oh shut it, that’s different, anything goes on halloween.” If Chan closed his eyes he would be able to see Minho’s face scrunched in annoyance and maybe with a flush to his ears. Despite always speaking big, Minho always got red when he knew he had been caught in a lie. Chan had known Minho for so long, had looked at that face sculpted by the gods themselves so many times that he knew every shape, every line, every curve, every mole.

“If you say so.” He let Minho take the win.

“Want to come over? I’m bored.” I’m bored, want to come over? was the other of the two options he frequently used. It’s the same, just in a different order. Very rarely, when something was wrong, Minho would invite him but with a totally different sentence. Make me company? and I miss you can you come over? were two of those examples. The last one though always made Chan’s heart do a little flip.

He walked over to the nearby bus station after confirming he would go. He didn’t need to confirm, they both knew he was going over anyway. Minho’s place was on the exact opposite side of town from where he currently was so he kept himself busy by playing games on his phone. Not that long after Changbin had messaged him asking for help on how to break a witch’s curse. Strange but still, he gave him the answer. It was probably to help someone he knew, he really doubts Changbin would somehow land himself with a curse. 

When he arrived at the main door of the apartment complex, he unlocked the door with the keys Minho had given him. He hurried up the steps, not bothering with waiting for the elevator and not long after Minho’s front door opened. Chan knew the passcode but he always rang the doorbell and waited. It was another of their little things they did for no reason, maybe because it was something that brought them some strange comfort. Chan still remembers like it was yesterday, the day he rang Minho’s doorbell to thank him for saving his life nine decades ago.

“You sure took your time today.” Minho said with an annoyed tone as he tried to shoo Dori away from the door, the always curious one. Chan quickly slipped in, grabbing Dori in his arms, following Minho inside. Dori had been a recent addition to the family and the reason Minho moved last year, so that his three cats could have more room to play. It doesn’t matter who or how powerful one is, one always ends up becoming a cat buttler. Minho and Chan were no different.

“Lost the bus, you called later today.”

“What do you mean I called later today, it’s not like I call you every day.” No, but Minho called every time a little past midnight on saturday and today he had called closer to one a.m.. Chan said nothing about that. “There’s this rose pasta recipe that seems nice but I’ll have to take out the garlic. Seriously the sacrifices I do for you.” 

Another of their little things was that after Chan arrived they would cook whatever mysterious new recipe Minho had hunted down and decided on. So really, their entire ritual that got them here, Minho calling, inviting Chan to come over, all of that was a game of pretending, it was kind of unnecessary but again, it was them.

“I greatly appreciate your sacrifice.” Chan said absentmindedly as he greeted each of Minho’s cats that wrapped around his legs, leaving their fur everywhere. He played with them a little until Minho started to complain that he was the one who had to do everything alone around this household, which is true because he is the one who lives here by himself and his three cats. Chan told him so but in the end he got up to help him out, aware that Minho was ready to chew him out in about thirty seconds.

“Come on, I already said sorry.” Chan bumped his shoulder softly against Minho’s as they squeezed around the sink trying to wash their hands. Minho huffed, but a little smile lighted up his features.

There surely must be some kind of law that says that two bodies always gravitate towards one another no matter how big the space is. Chan thinks about that as he finds himself having to put a hand on Minho’s waist often so he can walk through the space without the two of them crashing. 

They wait patiently by the stove, watching as the sauce that Minho made simmers in the frying pan. Though soon Chan finds himself having to discard his shirt as a bubble bursts and sends a very hot blob of said sauce that lands on his shirt. Minho immediately looks away and as Chan searches through the clean laundry basket waiting to be ironed he hears Minho drop something and curse under his breath. Minho always did his best to avoid looking at Chan on the rare occasions he was half naked, the scars in his chest and across his legs too much to bear.

Chan did his best to hurry out of the room Minho had his laundry on. One of the main walls of the apartment was made out of exposed brick and that brought Chan memories he would rather not revive. But Minho didn’t need to know that because Chan was sure the moment the witch got that piece of information he would immediately move out and lose a lot of money for breaking the lease of the contract. 

So many years ago Chan was just a mere human walking down the streets at night when he was caught in the middle of hellfire. Figuratively and literally. Chan had noticed some strange guys following him as soon as he left the bus and walked through the dark empty streets after he had finished his work at the car factory. He lived in a shabby area, so he had thought they were just thieves looking for the money in his pockets. His first mistake was to try to lose them on the maze that were brick buildings left unfinished and abandoned.

At the time he had no idea how they had found him hidden behind a wall of insulation but now that he is one of them he understands they could feel his presence, hear his heart pouncing on his chest. They dragged him out and pinned him there against the piping, the chains around his wrists and legs making him unable to fight back. That and the poison from the bites each of the five of them left.

There was blood everywhere, on the floor, on their foreheads and hands, on his skin. He was barely conscious at that point, he felt like he was burning from the inside. One of them pulled a big wooden stake with some piece attached to the top, a nail stuck on it. Chan had no idea what that was at the time and he wishes he had never found out. They planted the stake on his chest and rotated it inside him. It was a compass, the nail creating an almost perfect circle. 

Almost. 

At the time he was too dazed to understand what was going on but later he learned that he was supposed to be a sacrifice, that the vampires were trying to get their recently passed leader to possess his body and take over his soul. The sacrifice went wrong and the people from the clan that had joined them all ran off. He was left there scared, terrified, alone and dying. Burning.

Minho had heard the screams for help as fire engulfed the building where he had found Chan in the midst of smoke and flames. Minho was merely seventeen years old then, still a bit new to his magic, yet he managed to teleport the two of them out of there and into his room at the orphanage he lived in at the time.

It was a tiny room that got covered in blood that spilled from Chan’s chest and Minho’s nose, the stench from the burnt flesh filling the cramped space making it hard to breathe. Chan died not long after but at least he was in someone’s arms. Someone’s arms that frantically tried to stop the bleeding, hearing someone’s voice that tried to think of spells out loud that could help him. The last memory Chan has before he died is of extending his hand with the last remnants of strength he had, and wiping a tear that ran down the handsome stranger’s face. Chan felt sorry for what at the time was a stranger, since he would have to go through the trouble of disposing of his dead body.

Thankfully for the stranger he came back to life. Chan still remembers the scream the both of them let out seeing as he was awake and breathing. When he woke up he was still laying down on the floor, his head in the stranger’s lap. He had fallen asleep against a wall, with a bloody cheek and half dried lines of tears on his skin.

To this day, Chan still can’t believe he survived that. 

Now that the stranger didn’t have the problem of disposing of a dead body, he had a bigger problem in the form of a piece of wood. It took them three days, three long excruciating days. Minho would pull the stake out little by little and use his magic to fix the internal tissues while Chan tried to stop his hands, begging him to stop, the pain too much for him to bear. 

Chan put a hand over his chest. The scar remains there to this day and so do the burn marks that wrap around his legs and lower back. 

Minho never told him why he had decided to save him, why he fought so hard and went to such extreme lengths just for him, a stranger. For Chan that is the biggest mystery in life. He feels like he will never know the truth, that one of them is going to die one day and he will never find out what was the real reason Minho ran inside that building on fire.

“Hurry up, this is getting cold already.” 

Minho peaked his head inside the room when he didn’t hear an answer, only to retreat back immediately when he saw Chan was still struggling to get the shirt on. Freaking fabric got all rolled up on his back. When Chan sat at the table Minho was impatiently rolling the pasta on his fork, his ears red for some reason. 

Their little Saturday routine reached an end when the credit scenes of a movie rolled, after the dishes had been cleaned and dried, with the cats piled up with them on the couch. Usually Minho was already fast asleep by that time and Chan would grab him and put him in bed, knowing the couch was bad for Minho’s back.

Chan said goodbye to the cats and went back into the streets, to roam around aimlessly again, but this time with a lighter heart.

His mind always walked back into memory lane on long nights like this. He thought about those he called kids. He had met each and every one of them on a saturday night over the course of years, helped their troubled minds and offered them his number if they ever needed help or a place to stay when he was still living in his old flat. 

Changbin had been the first one he met five years ago. He was a mess, covered in blood that wasn’t his, eyes shining a threatening red, two dead bodies by his feet, ripped to shreds. Chan remembers seeing someone run by the corner of his eye and the moment he turned his head to look at the fleeting figure Changbin jumped on top of him, forcing him to the ground. 

Chan struggled to calm down the other vampire who thought he was a part of the group of two that were lying dead on the floor. He flashed his eyes to show who he was, one grey, one purple and Changbin immediately recognised him. The Grey Devil. 

Changbin released him and leaned against a wall, afraid of Chan. Very few knew who he was but almost everyone had heard that nickname before and feared it. Chan was not proud of it, in fact, he was ashamed for what he was known for.

After promising he was no threat he learned that Changbin was just walking around when he spotted the three guys that frequently went out of their way to harass one of his friends of the Lee clan. He heard them planning to harass said friend and lost in the rage, he had sunk his fangs and finished two of them, the last one escaping. 

Chan offered his help to clean the scene and at the end of the night he had Changbin’s contact on his list. 

“What happened to you?” As soon as Chan entered the kitchen in the afternoon of the next day and saw the giant patch on Changbin’s neck he grimaced. That looked painful.

“A freaking snake that’s what happened. Remember me asking about the curse? Well you’re smart enough to connect the dots.” Chan snorted and shook his head. Changbin might seem aloof and rough around the edges but he was actually someone gentle and caring, willing to help others who needed.

“I can ask Minho for a pain reliever if you want?”

“No thank you, knowing him he would make it burn more just for the fun of it.”

“He is not that bad, come on. Go take a rest, you look exhausted.” Chan put his hands on Changbin’s shoulders and dragged him upstairs. For some reason the kids weren’t fans of witches in general so Minho wasn’t much welcomed. Minho also wasn’t much of a fan of vampires so things balanced each other he guessed.

“That’s because he likes you.” Changbin mumbled something that Chan wasn’t quite sure he caught right. 

___

The next week rolled around quite fast. Chan usually liked that because it meant he could hang out with Minho quicker, but even the time they spent together went by too fast. 

The lemon tree on the back rattled, unsatisfied with how Chan drove on the curve. He had gotten it for Felix’s birthday that would come soon. Birthdays for him had always been bittersweet so he wanted to make sure the younger ones only had fond memories.

The night he had met Felix had been bittersweet too. Changbin had called him, mildly in panic, asking for his help. By the time Changbin explained what happened Chan flew out the door, and drove as fast and safe as he could to them. 

Again he met Changbin covered in blood that wasn’t his, a body lying on the ground but this time there was someone else crouched in a corner, begging him not to hurt him. Changbin quickly explained that the person was his friend, Lee Felix, the Lee that the guys wanted to hurt. Felix reaked of fear but it wasn’t fear from the one that laid dead on the floor, but from Changbin. 

After cleaning the scene, Chan drove Changbin to his parents home. He could see that the vampire was also a little shook from what had transpired and how he held his tears. Changbin was scared that Felix saw him as a monster. Chan knew that feeling well, too well.

Throughout the trip to Chan’s place, Felix kept staring at his hands, lost in his own head, not answering to any of the small talk Chan was trying to make. Still, Chan kept talking, he could tell that it worked calming down Felix, he could smell less of the fear now.

Felix cried a lot that night as he told his story, how the guys that kept making fun of him were envious of his high status on the clan and how Changbin had vouched to protect him. However, the reason Felix was crying was because Changbin had gone to the length of killing for his sake. The fear was not actually because he saw Changbin as a monster but because in his head, he forced Changbin to become what he hated the most, a murderer.

Chan hugged the small vampire tight, they were still so young at the end of the day, toddlers in vampire years. He made Felix promise he would explain everything to Changbin as soon as he felt ready and that night Felix stayed in Chan’s company. He left with Chan’s number in his pocket and with a new friend.

Chan was thinking of inviting Minho to Felix’s birthday since the two of them were good friends (not even Minho was able to resist Felix’s charms), when he spotted a tall figure by the front door standing still like a statue. Or like a sim waiting for orders.

“Oh, hey there! Hyunjin isn’t it?” He asked after exiting the car. He had heard he was Seungmin and Jisung’s friend and a Hwang, an enemy of the Seo’s. Now that was a quarrel he didn't want to get himself involved in, though from the hushed whispers he had heard the other day, he might as well walk through the front door of their homes and drop a garlic garland there.

“Yes. Bang Chan right? I’ve come to bring Jisung his book but since you’re here-”

“Oh, no, please come on in. Actually I could use a hand bringing some stuff in if you don’t mind?” For someone who said he didn’t want to involve himself in the mess that were the Hwang’s and the Seo’s, he for sure was doing a bad job of staying away. But Hyunjin was the kids’ friend and the clans in general can go screw themselves.

“You’re the one that takes care of all these plants?” Hyunjin asked as he followed him up the porch stairs. Chan felt some nervous energy coming from Hyunjin but he seemed like a nice kid. 

“Felix does. He always wanted a lemon tree so I got him one for his birthday.” 

Chan put down the groceries in the kitchen as Felix baked and as he stored them he heard quite the rumble in the living room and sighed. Seungmin and Jisung were up to no good again.

The two of them could not be more different than when he met them. The duo were hand in hand, nervous out of their minds as they tried to feed. Seungmin had developed a small anxiety after a bad encounter with a witch and Jisung himself was someone shy, who needed reassurance but who right now needed to be the strong one. They were barely sixteen at the time.

Chan approached them carefully and guided them when no one, not even anyone from their clans, were willing to help and once again he left but this time with two new numbers. Chan has a lot of numbers on his phone but only four contacted him frequently, asking for advice or just for company. Funnily enough they all knew each other since they frequented the same school.

“That’s freaking disgusting.”

“Says the one who was desperately lapping at my neck.” 

Chan had to grab Hyunjin mid air before anything bloody happened. He had experience cleaning murder scenes but he didn’t particulary feel like doing that right now. Or ever, just to be clear. If he could avoid it.

The kids started arguing and Chan sighed. He was not about to get himself involved because he has an idea of what is going on and because this has nothing to do with him. Besides, he trusts and has faith in the kids and he knows if any of them fucks up, they would apologize. They all have really good hearts so he didn’t worry... much.

He took some time to store some things in the shed and when he came back he spotted everyone already in the kitchen around Felix’s heavenly brownies. It seemed that today he wouldn’t have to clean anyone’s blood thankfully.

“Is your family okay with you coming to hang out with us?” Chan asked Hyunjin as he crossed the back door in the kitchen and stealing one of the last of the brownies. Felix pointed to a box in the corner, where he had saved a few for him. 

“Probably not, they let me hang around with Jisung and Seungmin because we grew up together and because our families get along but…” Hyunjin stopped there, looking at Changbin and Chan. Chan didn’t really understand why the clans in general hated him so much but so far at least they haven’t gotten him into any serious problem.

“I understand. We should find out what happened between your families, maybe then we can put an end to all of this.” Chan suggested.

“Assuming they won’t hate each other’s guts even more.” Hyunjin shuffled his feet. Chan could easily see that Hyunjin was a bit sad at the state of it all, he also didn't want to have to hide. All of the boys had been like that at some point too.

___

Chan was at his desk in the office when he saw his phone light up from the corner of his eye. He would usually ignore it at this hour unless it was a call or a message from one of the kids or from the name that currently flashed on the screen. Minho was calling. The strange thing was that Minho never called during the day. And the more bizarre thing was that Minho never cried. Chan could count with a single hand the amount of time he saw Minho crying, and unfortunately he had been the reason for them all. 

He is ready to start the call with an apology after he hears the first sob but shuts up immediately as soon as a babbling mess starts through the static of the phone. Chan asked Minho to stay put, that he would meet him at his place.

He dropped all of his work and ran, screaming back to his boss it was an emergency. Whatever, even if he got fired it was not like he worked for the paycheck, it was all more of a thing to keep a human appearance.

This time he didn’t do any of their rituals, he punched in the passcode to Minho’s place and almost ripped the door of its hinges with the urgency. Chan thinks this is the first time he ever saw Minho this wrecked and that is saying a lot. 

Minho was on the living room floor, curled up in himself, hair messy as if he had been running his hands over it. There were used tissues all over the coffee table and floor, his cats by his side, their little paws trying to get his owner’s attention.

“He’s not going t-to make it C-Chan.”

Chan carefully pushed one of the cats to the side and hugged Minho tight in his arms, the man sobbing harder now as he pressed himself against his chest.

He figured what this was about now. Despite Minho having watched most people die on top of being a nurse, something about this one kid dying killed him inside. Minho grew up alone, even during his years at the orphanage and for the entirety of his adult life. He had a few other friends that were witches like him but they never really hung out. Minho was alone and he was fine with that, in fact Chan knew Minho prefered it that way. 

But this one kid, Jeongin, changed it all for Minho the same way each and every one of the kids changed Chan, kept him grounded on this plane, kept the devil inside him locked tight. Minho would sometimes talk to him about Jeongin and Chan knew that he had grown attached, that the kid that was dying was someone akin to a younger brother that Minho never had but wished for.

So maybe the proposition that Chan made was more to save Minho rather than for saving the kid. The proposition of turning Jeongin into a vampire, to give him an eternal life next to Minho.

“Are you sure?” Minho asked, his eyes shining, tears mixed in with hope.

No . Chan was shitting his pants just thinking of it. The problem wasn’t just turning Jeongin but it was what came after. He was terrified.

“Yes. But only if Jeongin agrees.” 

Minho grins with tears in his eyes and slips himself back under Chan’s chin, wrapped in his arms. Chan inwardly curses at how weak he is whenever it comes to Minho. Minho was magic, Minho was home. Minho was everything to Chan.

“You should meet him as soon as possible, he’s getting worse by the second. Think we can go now?”

No, I need time to think .

“Sure.” Despite Minho saying that and Chan confirming he was okay to go now when he truefully wasn’t, Minho didn’t move. In fact he shimmied himself closer and stayed in his arms for a little longer. Chan closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the brick wall for a second longer. This was heaven and this was hell.

Eventually Minho moved, and Chan opened his eyes. Though the way Minho looked at the wall before he looked at Chan with eyebrows furrowed made him nervous for some reason.

They reached the hospital in no time. It was actually best that they went now during the afternoon to pretend Chan was just someone from the family coming to visit or something.

“Hi Jeongin, this is Chan.” 

Chan hesitated a bit by the door. The smell in this room was more intense. He hated hospitals, the intense smells too much for his sensitive nose, all of the cleaning products, the diseases, the blood created a cacophony that made his head spin. And the smell he hated the most was the one that filled this one room to the brim. Death.

“Nice to finally meet you Chan!” 

Jeongin was lying in bed, surrounded by whites. It felt too much like the old funerals he went to with everybody dressed in white. Despite the sickness he was bright, his smile so cheery, reminding him of Felix’s or Seungmin’s or Jisung’s or even Changbin’s. He wasn’t able to register the ‘finally’ or the soft punch Minho gave Jeongin when he was so focused on trying to hold his tears.

Minho did all the talking, quietly so no one outside would catch anything despite the glass door being closed and all the noise the medical equipment connected to Jeongin did. The hope in the kid’s eyes made his stomach churn. He was dying but so alive. And he clearly wanted to live. Chan couldn’t do this.

He couldn’t do this again.

The car ride back to Minho’s place was silent. Chan couldn’t hear anything past his slow breathing and he couldn’t feel anything besides dread and the bead of sweat running down his temple. 

The walk back up was painfully slow since Minho took the elevator. In the small cubicle Chan could smell that Minho knew something was wrong. He had known the moment he had moved away from Chan’s arms. He knew everything already. Finally inside, Chan started to pace back and forth.

“Minho, I don’t think I can do this.” Chan doesn’t know how but he did it, he said it, he dropped a bomb that he knew Minho would not take well.

“What? But you’ve said it already! Are you just going to let him die after giving him hope then?” Minho’s arms flew around as he spoke. He was quite mad which Chan found understandable given it all.

“I’m scared he is going to lose control and hurt you. You still have the scars I gave you.” That was half the truth. Chan wasn’t ready to tell the other part of it, the part of him that not even Minho knew about.

The half truth, the scars he gave Minho on his shoulder happened long ago, when Chan was still a new vampire with no one around that could guide him, that could teach him. Every single day he blames himself for hurting Minho like that not only once, not twice, but four times. Four times the fragment of the clan leader’s soul took over his body momentarily, when he wasn’t well fed, and four times he tried to kill Minho with Chan’s body, with Chan’s arms that threw Minho to the ground or to the wall to the point the witch got blood dripping into his clothes, with Chan’s hands that pinned him down and stopped him from moving, from fighting, with Chan’s teeth that ripped the skin in Minho’s shoulder apart. 

Minho was lucky Chan got control back before irreversible damage had been done, but the other hundreds of people were not. That’s how he got his nickname, from the killing sprees of everyone and everything that appeared in front of him during his rampages. Minho was the only one that could stop him, that could make Chan push the devil inside him back. It only took Minho showing his scars for Chan to drop to the floor crying at what he had done.

“Jeongin isn’t like you Chan!” 

Wow, that- that, fuck. It hurt so goddamn much. And Minho realized how bad what he said sounded by the shock and regret in his features. 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I meant to say the situations are different, y-you had no one but Jeongin has you!” Chan could feel the panic rise in Minho’s voice, in the way his hands grabbed Chan’s face.

Chan pulled Minho’s hands away slowly. And he turned back as Minho called for his name brokenly. Chan just needed some time away, some time to breathe, some time to try to patch his shattered heart. 

He doesn’t know why but he called Changbin, just to hear his voice. Truth was that Changbin was probably the one who understood Chan the best regarding losing control, regarding killing and being filled with regret to the bones. And Changbin was also the one he spent the most time with, he was Chan’s safe port when he got lost in the sea while Minho was deep in the underwater. Minho was the unreachable Chan wished for the most in this world.

“Hey, what’s up?” It didn’t take Changbin long to answer his phone. He was probably messaging Hyunjin from the light tone he talked with, instead of grumbling because it was already late.

“Hey.” Chan answered weakly.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah…” He didn’t sound that convincing even to his own ears and the silence that stretched told Changbin everything.

“Did you two fight?” Changbin sighed, he could always read him like a book.

“It was my fault.”

“Was it really? Hyung, you always make excuses for him.” Chan pouted, thankfully Changbin wasn’t there to see it.

“I really messed up this time.”

“If you did, you would be apologizing to him, not calling me. He hurt you hyung I can tell. I might not have known you for nearly as long as him but I can tell.” Changbin was right, of course he was. After a moment of silence Chan continued.

“What about you, were you talking with Hyunjin?”

“Great job dodging the topic at hand hyung.” Judging by the whine, Chan had hit the spot right on.

“Don’t worry I’ll fix everything. I just needed some time, just needed to hear you. But great job at dodging the topic you too. How are things going?” Chan smiled to himself. From the noise he heard from the phone he could imagine Changbin had softly banged his head against the wall feeling embarrassed, his cheeks probably a bit rosy.

“He’s nice.” The answer was short but it told Chan everything.

“Little Changbinnie has a crush!” Chan said in a singsong. 

“I’m hanging off, bye.”

Chan’s laugh dissipated slowly in the empty stairwell as the reality came back to him. He should probably tell Minho the truth regardless of how disappointed at him the other will feel. He walked back up and leaned against Minho’s door, staying there for a moment, taking deep breaths. He was starting to put the code in when it opened softly, Minho on the other side inviting him back in and pulling him towards the couch by the sleeve. As soon as they settled face-to-face, Chan’s back to the brick wall, Minho spoke.

“I’m sorry.” Chan tried to open his mouth but had no chance to speak. “Don’t say anything, please. I’m sorry, I worded that so poorly, and I’m sorry for pressuring you to turn Jeongin. And I’m sorry for not asking anything before when I felt that something was wrong. The wall bothers you doesn’t it?”

“It brings back memories.” Chan said as he stared at the grey fabric of the couch. Minho did something and the smell of his magic lingered in the air. Rosemary with a mix of cinnamon that always got Chan’s nose itchy.

“I didn’t like it that much either.”

When Chan turned back the wall had a white cover over it, the bricks gone. Minho was smiling at him gently but sad.

“I’m scared. Not just because there is a chance he loses control, I know the situations are different and he has us both and I know the kids will love having a new friend, it’s just… there is something I never told you before.” Chan stole a few glances at Minho but mostly avoided his gaze. “I’ve turned someone in the past. They were dying so I just bit them and everything went fine for a while. But then they always got in trouble with other clans and-and…” Chan was a mess by now, barely able to hold himself straight. He wanted to hide from the shame and the guilt he felt for not properly being able to care for someone he was responsible for. He had failed once, he was terrified of failing twice. 

This time it was Minho who hugged him tight. And Chan held him like a lifeguard, desperate to keep himself afloat.

“It’s not your fault Chan. Other people’s actions aren’t your responsibility.”

“Not when we’re bound by blood. It’s a different thing.” Minho started to run his fingers through his curls, catching some tangled parts here and there. And again they stayed there in silence for a while. They should consider hugging more frequently and with less tears, because it felt really nice and comforting. And Minho smelled good, like cotton detergent, and the sweet pancakes he probably cooked today. And to Chan, Minho smelled like home. 

“So what are you going to do? Have you decided?” It was Minho who broke the silence first, never stopping running his hands over Chan’s back.

“Jeongin wants to live.” He whispered into Minho’s chest.

“He wants to live.” 

___

“Minho I’ve told you you can’t just go around cursing everyone.” Chan rubbed at his temples. It wasn’t the first time they were having this conversation and apparently this time Minho’s victim had been Hyunjin. 

“Yes I can.”

“Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should.”

Minho and Hyunjin kept on arguing, even dragging Changbin into the mix. Chan would also have been chewed had Changbin not saved him at the last second by saying just ‘a friend’ instead of his name when it came to the person who gave advice regarding the curse.

“Please all of you behave, especially you Lee Minho.” Chan said. Minho turned his head away and huffed like he was unbothered but the nervous bob of his adam apple gave him away.

Whenever Minho showed a hint of fear of him, Chan died a little inside. He is Minho’s trauma who walks around by his side so often. Chan doesn’t understand how Minho endures him, how he hasn’t left him alone already.

“Anyway we have some more important matters at hand. Get everyone around.” Hyunjin tried to sneak a peak past him and Chan could feel Jeongin shift closer to him, still a bit wary of everything and everyone. 

The entire process had not been easy, not for Chan, not for Minho and definitely not for Jeongin, especially the part where he had to say goodbye to his family without really saying the words. Chan had been with Minho on the lobby desk, not that far away from Jeongin’s room. They could still hear them all talking and when Jeongin’s mom hugged her son and said that everything would be fine and she would come back soon, Minho leaned against Chan, trying to hold back tears. Something about those words made Minho falter.

Not long after, Jeongin’s mom received a call from the hospital telling her her son had passed away peacefully.

It wasn’t that difficult to pretend the whole thing, there were vampires who worked at the hospital and there was an entire organization of vampires who worked to mask the death of a person and to plan funerals with an empty casket. Well the casket wasn’t truly empty. As Minho explained to him, the witches that also worked on that organization would cast a spell that made the person on the casket look like the one who ‘“died” when that was actually just a random vampire pretending to be dead. And right before the casket met its final destiny, the vampire got out. 

And so that’s what happened, while Jeongin’s parents cried at their son’s funeral, said son was getting a blood transfusion at Minho’s place that would grant him eternal life. 

It took them three long, slow days. Chan was terrified all the time because Jeongin looked so pale, so immobile, he could barely talk, couldn’t move and he looked so close to death. And he also cried a lot because he knew he would never be able to come into contact with his family. He was dead to them but that was to be his fate anyway. At least like this he could still watch his siblings grow, he could follow his dreams.

Minho had to reassure Chan that the reaction Jeongin was going through was normal, that Jeongin’s body was already so weak by itself and that on top of everything Chan’s blood was eliminating the disease and that took quite a toll.

Minho also had to constantly monitor Chan and the little murderous devil inside him that tried to emerge and get the opportunity to create mayhem. Whenever Chan felt it come closer to the surface Minho would prick his finger and Chan would drink from the small wound. They had tried this once when Chan was on the verge of losing control and it worked but at the time Minho had offered his neck and well, Minho’s magical blood was the best thing Chan ever tasted in his life so it was quite a struggle to get himself detached from it. Things also got a bit steamy so now sucking on the finger it was. That could have been worded better... Anyway, they never talked or made mention of that again.

“This is Jeongin, he was recently turned and this is also going to be his home from now on. Of course I know that since it was me that turned him I am responsible for him, but I might need help on the days that I can’t be around. At least for the first month I think it’s best if he is always with someone since he still needs to learn how to use his powers and to feed and all of that.” Jeongin was sitting between him and Minho when he waved at all of them with a kind smile, his left eye shining purple, the same colour as one of Chan’s.

“What is the wizard’s involvement with this?” Chan knew the kids kept calling Minho wizard instead of witch to rile him up but thankfully Minho never cared much about it and Chan gave up trying to correct them.

“He was the one who asked me to turn Jeongin and he also helped to augment the chances from the transfusion.”

“Twilight or Vampire Diaries?” Changbin asked out of nowhere. Chan knew the answer to that, he had been a victim of having to watch both with Minho, more than once. At least the cuddles made it worth it.

“Vampire Diaries.”

___

“Seriously, why don’t you just ask him out?” The three of them were out at a (vampire) bar since Jeongin was still trying to get used to the taste of blood. Chan had entrusted him with Hyunjin and Changbin but things didn’t go so well so now they were back to square one and then they would go for another round with a real meal.

“Jeongin, please, I don’t stand a chance. Have you seen the guy he’s talking to.” They were sitting at the tables, while Minho had gone to talk to the bartender that was an old friend of his. Said friend was being a bit too flirty to Chan’s taste but he had absolutely no right to meddle.

“He’s doing that to get your attention! You’re telling me you’ve been at this for almost a century?” Jeongin almost spat out his drink, his purple eyes bugging out. 

“What are you even talking about?” Chan said defensively sipping on his own drink. He doesn’t even like Minho that way! At all...

“And here I thought Hyunjin-hyung and Changbin-hyung were bad.” Jeongin said to his drink.

“Is there any new development with those two?” Chan asked, his curiosity now peaked. The bartender’s hand stayed on Minho's shoulder for a long time and Minho tried to mask his frown but Chan could tell he was annoyed. Chan scoffed while Jeongin just rolled his eyes.

“Hyunjin-hyung is still in the denial phase, I would give it a month give and take.” Chan looked at him with suspicion. “One month and a half for you two. Or maybe two weeks, Minho-hyung can be a bit unpredictable.”

“What are you saying about me kid?” Minho appeared from behind, his hands squeezing Jeongin’s shoulder’s who froze in his spot. 

“Nothing.” Well if Chan couldn’t control Jeongin’s sharp tongue, at least Minho could.

“Hey.” Chan said to Minho with a grin unconsciously forming on his lips.

“Hey.” Minho answered back with a smile. They heard Jeongin mumble into the glass.

“Get me out of here.” 

___

Jeongin’s training was going great overall despite a few mishaps here and there, but nothing too serious. He also seemed to be coping a bit better with the fact he couldn’t see or be with his family, the kids doing a good job of keeping him busy.

Minho also seemed to be doing better, he was happier, more open and he even started to hang out with all of the vampires more often which was really surprising. Though something happened between Hyunjin and Changbin and now one of them barely set his feet at the house, while the other kept moping around, no matter how much he denied it.

Regardless, Chan was feeling really freaking happy. It seemed that things between the two lovesick fools were evolving and knowing them, things would end up solved, he knew the rest of the kids wouldn’t rest until the two went back together. Even Jeongin seemed involved in the drama and so was Minho who would sometimes stick his nose trying to get the latest gossip on their love life. 

Chan was happy because his two families were fusing, becoming one and growing bigger, stronger.

But then that time of the year came, the time of the year where Minho disappeared for a few days and went radio silent. Still, he always called on saturdays. Always. And this time it was no different. 

“Hey, will you come over? Please?” Minho pleaded faintly to the point Chan had to glue his phone speakers to his ear. This was one of those unusual versions, one that told him that Minho wasn’t doing that well.

They still did their ritual and immediately Chan’s heart deflated like crushed paper mache the moment he saw Minho who would barely look at him, who would barely speak to him. It was like they were one entity, if Minho was sad, Chan was sad, if Minho was happy, then Chan was happy. 

Minho was clad in gloomy grey clothes, large sweatpants and a jacket which was rare. Minho liked colour so this was not really like him. Though under the jacket peaked a bright blue shirt so that reassured Chan’s heart a little more. 

They ate in silence and Minho went to sit on the sofa, changing channels in an endless loop. Chan grabbed the remote from his hands and put something he watched time and time again. He saw the corners of Minho’s mouth lift up.

“Vampire Diaries, really?”

“You like it and maybe I do too.” Minho sent him an unimpressed face that screamed ‘liar’ but he didn’t protest further. 

Chan adjusted himself on one corner of the sofa and waited for Minho to settle under his arm, against his chest. Minho’s hair smelled like shampoo, the little caramel strands tickling Chan’s face.

This time around Minho didn’t fall asleep, he stared with troubled eyes at the tv, like too much was on his mind and he couldn’t tune out of it. 

“Can you stay for tonight?”

What? Minho never asked him that, like never at all in the ninety-two years they have met. Chan had slept at Minho’s place several times, yes, always unintentionally because he fell asleep. Contrary to the big chunk of vampires Chan could fall asleep, he never lost that ability which he was incredibly thankful for. But Minho never asked him to stay for the night. And that screamed code red. This was uncharted territory for them and that little break of their routine almost made him panic. 

Almost.

This was Minho. Minho was magic. 

Minho was home.

“Hug me to sleep?” 

The witch had brought Chan to his bedroom, lended him some clothes for him to change to. Something that was also new was that Minho didn’t look away from him as he undressed. Chan felt naked, vulnerable under that gaze, so he turned around. He could still feel the eyes on his back burning hotter than the red skin of his scars. 

Chan did what he was asked, he enveloped his arms around Minho’s sturdy body, becoming the big spoon. He felt the way Minho exhaled and how his body relaxed in his arms and that made him feel a tad more reassured that whatever this was, it would pass.

When Chan woke up there light was pouring past the window, reflecting on the white and the single blue wall on Minho’s bedroom that they had painted together against the landlord’s orders.

He groaned and pushed the comforter away, being too warm against his cold skin. He slowly opened his eyes and noticed the shirt lying on the floor. He didn’t think much of it since he always slept half naked, that was until he finally registered Minho’s fingers tracing the burn scar on his back. 

“My parents died in a fire.”

What? Chan tried to turn around but Minho stopped him.

“My parents died on a fire, I heard them scream but I could not find them. When I heard you I had to go, I had to find you. I had to save you, I couldn’t let you die like them.” Minho’s voice was gentle, mournful and Chan wished nothing more than to turn around and to hug him.

“Min-”

“It’s been exactly ninety-seven years today. Their last words were ‘everything is going to be fine’, right as they died.”

Chan might not be able to turn around and to hug Minho, but he could grab his hand and drag him over the mattress for a short distance so that he could hold his hand, have his arm thrown across his waist, have him pressed against his back.

“You were twelve.”

“I couldn’t save them.”

“You were twelve Minho, of course you couldn’t save them.” Chan squeezed his hand and Minho responded with a squeeze of his own, shuffling closer, his nose brushing against Chan’s nape.

“I know.” Minho said. He had accepted it but it still hurt, it was a wound that was too stubborn to heal and it opened a little more every year at this time.

“You saved me.” Chan whispered to the air.

“And you saved me.” Chan could not imagine in which way he could have saved Minho but he did not need every single answer today or any other day. As long as he had Minho with him, it was enough.

“Why did you never tell me before? I’m not judging, just wondering.”

“Because it meant I would have to tell you another thing.” Minho pulled back and usually Chan would absolutely refuse added warmth, yet now he couldn’t help but to crave for more. Minho sat up, crossed leg on the bed, his hands hiding in the nest his legs created. He was making himself small, wouldn’t even look in Chan’s direction which made him feel a bit worried.

“What is it?” Chan nudged Minho’s leg carefully.

“I- I understand if you don’t want to see me anymore or something like that but… I’ve been in love with you for a couple decades.” Oh. Oh. Wait.

“Aren’t you scared of me?” Chan was very much confused. Wasn’t Minho kind of terrified of him for the times he had attacked him?

“Why would I?” Finally Minho looked in his eyes, and now Chan could see his cheeks were a little rosy. He could feel himself blush too.

“Because. And that time you met Hyunjin you looked scared.” This time it was Chan’s turn to avoid Minho’s eyes. He was never really good at dealing with his own feelings and talking openly about them but again. This was Minho.

“When you told me to behave?” Minho had an incredulous expression on his face, like he couldn’t believe what was going on. “I wasn’t scared, I was horny!” 

…

Well, now that is a revelation that Chan had not seen coming. 

Minho seemed to realize what came out of his mouth a few seconds later and Chan had never seen his ears so red. His were probably not doing too well either.

At least they were bad at feelings together, Chan concluded when Minho teleported himself out of there. Chan laughed, boisterous, open and free. He had gotten everything wrong and he couldn’t be happier about it. 

“Stop hugging my pillow. And get some clothes back on!” Minho’s voice sounded close but Chan couldn’t see him anywhere.

“You can turn invisible?” 

“Yes.” Chan’s question was answered when he felt something soft against his cheek.

He opened his eyes, one purple, one grey, and focused on the presence he could feel close by, until something shifted in the light and Chan could see strange transparent waves blurring the background. He pretended not to see and waited until Minho got closer to arrest him in his arms, dropping them both to the bed. Minho’s invisibility went away.

“I hate you.”

“I love you too.” Chan had never said those words before, at least out loud. He had dreamt about saying them to Minho a few times and discarded it as him just being lonely, instead of what it actually was.

“Get off me blood sucker.”

“What I thought you wanted this?” Chan playfully said, squeezing Minho’s sides. For some reason it didn’t feel like anything had changed, except that now Minho wasn’t afraid of looking at his body, they weren’t afraid of holding hands and they kissed, a lot.

__

“There you go!” Jeongin exclaimed as Minho passed him a thick roll of bills. “Pay up losers.” All of the boys stood in a line, wallets in hand as Jeongin smiled triumphantly. 

“What is going on?” Chan was still taking off his shoes, Minho that had gone ahead of him was slumping on the couch now. 

“I made a bet, two weeks until you get together!” Jisung grumbled in the background, counting the few bills that he had. Chan would probably slip him a few later so he could get something if he wanted.

“Wait so you accepted his offer? Did you lose on purpose?” Chan could not understand the logic in Minho’s plan. If he wanted to win the bet he could have just waited a few more days or something like that. 

“We bet on a different thing, he said you wouldn’t like him back, I said you are whipped” It was Jeongin who answered for Minho.

“I still can’t believe I’m seeing the day you two get together.” Changbin said, an arm thrown over Hyunjin. They had fixed things already and were now inseparable, causing damage to everyone’s eyes when they had a room upstairs.

“Like you’re one to talk.” Jisung complained under his breath.

Chan went to sit next to Minho, throwing an arm over him. This was them, this was family, this was home.

It took them long, it took them about one hundred years. But hey, what’s a century when they’ve got all eternity together?