Chapter Text
Seungmin sighs impatiently as his servant readjusts his tie for the fifth time. He has never liked standing still for a long time and getting dressed by his servant, but he guesses that it won’t look as good if he does it himself, and he guesses that he needs to look nice when meeting his future husband.
Seungmin is a prince of a country where both humans and vampires live, but the relationship between the two isn’t optimal. Seungmin doesn’t know the details, but he knows that vampires want more resources and to be considered more when decisions are made, and that most humans, including Seungmin, are kind of scared of vampires. He doesn’t know everything about vampires either (he would like to be more involved and learn more, but the resources on vampires are scarce, and Seungmin, as the prince, can’t just go out and ask around), but he knows that they have superhuman strength, speed, smell, and, of course, they need blood to survive. Most humans aren’t willing to give off their blood voluntarily, so vampires either drink from animals, or they attack humans to suck them dry, which sometimes even kills them, and that doesn’t help humans in liking vampires.
Either way, the kingdom finally wants to try and mend the relationship between humans and vampires, and thus Seungmin’s parents have arranged a marriage between Seungmin and a vampire noble named Hyunjin, who Seungmin is set to meet today. He is nervous, because his few encounters with vampires haven’t been all too pleasant, but a vampire noble can’t be too bad, right?
Seungmin wipes his clammy hands on his pants before he straightens his back and walks to the main hall of the palace where he will be meeting Hyunjin. His parents are already there and inform him that the vampire is on his way from the front gates of the palace already. Seungmin nods and anxiously watches the big wooden doors leading to the main hall, waiting for them to open and reveal the vampire that he is supposed to marry. Thinking about how his friends encouraged him and promised to support and help him if he needs it helps calm Seungmin down, but still his heart leaps when the wooden doors crack open, revealing one of the servants guiding a pale man with long black hair tied up into a bun inside the hall. As they get closer, Seungmin notices that the vampire has a pretty face, thick lips, a mole under his left eye—
“ Sam?! ” Seungmin blurts out and slaps a hand in front of his mouth as memories of not too long ago come rushing back to him.
The vampire— Hyunjin , as Seungmin’s parents introduced him, stops in his tracks and gapes at Seungmin with wide eyes as well.
“ Sky? ”
They stare at each other in disbelief as Seungmin tries to make sense of the situation. Sam, or rather, Hyunjin , is a vampire? And a noble nonetheless? Well, that probably explains his strength when — Seungmin immediately stops his thoughts before they remind him too much of that night, but he can’t help but flush a deep red. He is incredibly confused and embarrassed right now.
“Anyone care to explain what is going on here?” His father cuts through the tense silence. “Do you two already know each other?”
“No—” “Yes—”
Seungmin looks at Sam— Hyunjin — with wide eyes, trying to communicate that he does not want his parents to know why they happened to recognize each other. What would they say anyway? ‘We met at a bar because my friends told me to go wild before I would marry, introduced ourselves with fake names, and had a one night stand’ ? No way. Seungmin would rather twist the truth a little and say that they don’t know each other, because they barely do.
“We’ve seen each other once , at a bar when I was out with my friends,” Seungmin quickly explains before Hyunjin can give away too much. “We don’t really know each other.”
Seungmin’s parents seem satisfied with that answer and send them off to get to know each other and maybe start talking about the details of their arrangement, but that isn’t urgent yet. The atmosphere is heavy as they walk towards one of the meeting rooms in the palace, and Seungmin tries to fight off his persisting blush. Hyunjin looks really different from the night they met, way more polished and fancy, but still Seungmin can’t help but think of their night together whenever he looks at Hyunjin. He hopes that he can get over that soon, and he hopes that he can distract himself with all the questions that he has for the vampire.
“So, you’re a vampire?” Seungmin decides to start off with as they sit on one of the fancy couches in the meeting room. Hyunjin, or Sam or whatever, was really nice that night. He was really considerate and thoughtful of Seungmin, who was tipsy and inexperienced, but now that Seungmin knows that he’s a vampire, he can’t help but be wary.
Hyunjin nods. “And you’re the prince?” he shoots back. “I didn’t know princes went out to have one night stands.”
Seungmin almost chokes on air and feels his ears burn in embarrassment. “I didn’t know vampires went out to bars to drink and mingle either, vampire nobles nonetheless.”
“You can barely call me a noble, especially with how vampires are treated in general,” Hyunjin scoffs softly and crosses his arms. “But it’s not like bars or mingling are for humans only.”
“Yet you didn’t care to mention that you’re a vampire.” Seungmin mirrors Hyunjin and crosses his arms. It might be a childish comment, but Seungmin wants to see if he can trust Hyunjin. They’re going to have to marry after all, and they don’t have to be the best of friends, but Seungmin at least wants to know that he can trust Hyunjin not to go rogue suddenly and do something unexpected.
“I think we both wanted to stay anonymous that night,” Hyunjin scowls, he doesn’t look particularly happy, but Seungmin isn’t either. “And besides, if I had told you that I’m a vampire, you wouldn’t have invited me to that inn, would you?”
“I wouldn’t, but that’s exactly the point,” Seungmin points out. “Shouldn’t I have gotten that choice?”
Hyunjin’s jaw tenses and Seungmin sees his fist clenching around his robe.
“ You invited me. It’s not like I tricked you,” he states coldly, his voice calmer than his demeanor but still obviously strained. “What would it have mattered that I’m a vampire? Any human could have taken advantage of you and you wouldn’t see it coming— and don’t say that you could have protected yourself against a human and not a vampire. I know what humans can do.”
Seungmin frowns and opens his mouth to protest, but Hyunjin already continues.
“I came to that bar to get my mind off the nearing arranged marriage, just like you did. We both wanted to have some fun.” Hyunjin’s voice becomes softer and Seungmin notices a slight tremble in his eyes. “I— I genuinely thought that you seemed nice, so I didn’t want to risk you running away because of all the prejudices against vampires— which you obviously have.” Resentment shines in Hyunjin’s eyes now, and Seungmin cowers a little under his gaze. “But did I take advantage of you? No. I easily could have , but I didn’t, because I am not a monster. Vampires are not monsters.” He speaks the words slowly and emphasizes every word, his energy so intense that Seungmin has to look away.
Hyunjin is right, though. He didn’t take advantage of Seungmin. In fact, he only made sure that Seungmin was okay and comfortable with everything that they did. He could have used his strength to his advantage, he could have secretly bitten Seungmin while he was asleep, he could have done a lot of bad things, but he didn’t, not while Seungmin was awake and not while he was asleep, Seungmin would have definitely noticed a bite the morning after.
“But then why did you vanish that morning?” Seungmin asks softly, still unsure of what to think of Hyunjin. “I mean— I know we didn’t plan on meeting after, it was just a one night stand, but…” but I thought we liked each other , his brain provides, but that is a thought that Seungmin can’t handle right now, he is way too confused.
Hyunjin presses his lips together and looks away, staring out the window for a moment before he answers, “I… I wanted to stay, but I hadn’t brought anything to protect myself from the sun, so either I would have to stay in the whole day while you paid for the room, or I had to explain to you why I couldn’t go outside. I thought it would be best to just leave.” His expression turns a tad somber before he sighs. “Because look how you reacted. It wouldn’t have mattered if you liked me or not, you don’t like vampires.”
Seungmin feels a bit of guilt swirl in his stomach next to his confusion. He did like Sam, but to him, Sam wasn’t a vampire, and Hyunjin is, and that makes things more complicated, even though he seems to be nice and trustworthy.
“I— I’m not that bad,” Seungmin defends himself weakly. “I just haven’t had the best encounters with vampires.”
“And I haven’t had the best encounters with humans,” Hyunjin counters, looking at Seungmin with a glare before he softens. “But I am still willing to give them a chance.”
“And I will give you and the vampires a chance too,” Seungmin says, and he means it. He knows that not all vampires are bad just because he had bad experiences with them, but he does have to remind himself of that sometimes. “That’s what this marriage is for, isn’t it?”
Hyunjin raises an eyebrow and watches him with a slightly suspicious look. “So you’ll only do it because you have to?”
Seungmin shakes his head and tries to look as serious as he can. “No. I really want things to be better in this country, but I don’t know the situation of the vampires that well, so I need your help to see what will be best for both parties.”
Hyunjin’s cold expression melts and a small tentatively satisfied smile appears on the lips that Seungmin can still vividly remember kissing— but he shouldn’t think about that. This engagement and marriage is business first and foremost, and they’ll have to see whatever else they can get out of it later.
They discuss a few ideas already, and Seungmin notices that Hyunjin is very passionate about helping vampires get resources and especially getting them a way to get enough blood without having to attack animals or humans. They already give leftover blood from blood donation centers for hospitals to vampires (or vampires steal them), but that doesn’t happen often, and Hyunjin insists that that is nowhere near enough.
Seungmin agrees that it would be good to have a separate and better system for that, but he has to stress that they can’t just make a solution appear out of thin air. They need to set up a blood donation system somehow, they have to get people who are willing to work there, people who are willing to donate, a way to distribute the blood, a system to determine who gets the blood if there isn’t enough for everyone, and things like that.
“Well, then that’s a good opportunity to do some campaigns to get rid of all the prejudices against vampires, right?” Hyunjin says as if it’s all simple. “If people get rid of their irrational fear of vampires, then they won’t be afraid to donate some blood. There are way more humans than vampires, so if every human would donate a bit of blood or even only plasma a few times per year, everything would be fine.”
“But you won’t know for sure that people will actually do that,” Seungmin retorts. “And besides, there are still other blood donations that go to the hospitals and alike.”
“Then require people to donate blood via the law,” Hyunjin stubbornly continues and Seungmin sighs.
"That is not how things work. It's not that simple. If it was, we would have done it already—"
"No, because you don't care enough about vampires to even put in that effort." Hyunjin cuts him off with a dark expression, startling Seungmin a little. “You just said yourself that you don’t know the situation of the vampires that well.”
Seungmin presses his lips together, embarrassed that Hyunjin manages to throw him off this much. Usually, Seungmin can keep his composure through everything, when dealing with obnoxious nobles or citizens with no knowledge of how to rule a country, but every time that he thinks that Hyunjin is being naive, Hyunjin catches him off guard with a clever and true remark. It’s on one hand frustrating and embarrassing, but deep down Seungmin is also glad that Hyunjin doesn’t let anyone walk all over him and steadfastly defends the vampires, because that is what they need if they want to mend the relationship between humans and vampires since it is true that Seungmin needs help with that. He just hopes that Hyunjin is also open to listening to him like Seungmin is trying with Hyunjin, because otherwise they won’t get anywhere.
“That is true,” Seungmin reluctantly admits. “But the fact that things are not this simple still stands. And we mustn’t forget about what the vampires can do for humans in return.”
Hyunjin scoffs with an unamused smirk. There's a big contrast between the soft and kind Sam that Seungmin got to know at the bar and the serious, determined, and prickly Hyunjin sitting with him right now. The only thing they share is their passion.
“I can guarantee you that the number of vampires attacking humans will drop significantly once humans are willing to donate blood.”
“That sounds kind of like a threat, doesn’t it?” Seungmin doesn’t really like playing the devil’s advocate, but he needs to represent a human’s point of view here, and they need to explore every side of every argument if they want to handle the situation as best as they can. “ ‘If you don’t donate your blood, we’ll keep attacking you.’ ”
That seems to hit a nerve with Hyunjin, because his eyebrows furrow, and a deep scowl appears on his face. “We just don’t want to die. ”
Seungmin’s eyes widen and he flushes in guilt and embarrassment. Jeez, am I really that ignorant about how vampires live? He opens his mouth to apologize, but Hyunjin continues with an ice-cold tone.
“Do you really think that we just do it for fun?” he asks, disappointment lacing his voice, which makes Seungmin feel even more guilty. “That we think ‘oh, I’m hungry but I don’t feel like finding an animal right now, let’s go harass a human’ ? No. We sometimes don’t have a choice but to attack a human. To survive.” Hyunjin sighs. “No wonder that our situation is like this, if every human thinks like this.”
Seungmin feels guilt and shame, but also anger, and he feels offended that Hyunjin seems to blame 'people like him' for how vampires are disadvantaged, while it's not like Seungmin isn't trying to learn and make things better for them right now.
"Well, I'm sorry that no one bothered to educate me about vampires and that there are no books about it available,” Seungmin snaps. “I try. Okay? I am willing to listen to you and change my ignorance, but that willingness is not going to last if you act all condescendingly and don’t give me the opportunity to learn.”
Hyunjin presses his lips together stubbornly but he doesn’t protest, so Seungmin resumes talking.
“That, and I have to represent the general or even worst-case scenario point of view of humans,” he says in a less hostile tone now. “So sometimes I have to play the devil’s advocate, because that’s how it has to go when making decisions for the country, and I hope that you know that not everything I say is actually my viewpoint.”
The vampire slowly nods and sits back, crossing his arms again. “Okay, fine. But you can’t expect me to know whenever you state your own viewpoint and when you’re playing the devil’s advocate.”
Seungmin sighs. It’s true what Hyunjin says, but it’s just exhausting to argue without getting anywhere and having to consider everything that the other says and what you say yourself, so, even though Seungmin is used to thinking about political decisions and discussing or even arguing about it, he’s tired. The newness of the topic combined with the shock of realizing that Sam is actually Hyunjin, a vampire, has Seungmin’s brain all scrambled, fighting between reacting emotionally or using logic to deal with it all.
Fortunately for Seungmin, his parents come to check on them and ask how things are going, if they’re getting along well already. Seungmin doesn’t see the use in lying about this, and he thinks that they can already see the answer on their faces, so Seungmin tells them that it’s not going too smoothly yet, at least in discussing how they can help the relationship between humans and vampires.
“Well, that’s alright, there is plenty of time to implement new laws and rules and all that,” his mother waves off. “Hopefully the marriage will already help, but either way, it would be nice if you two would get along at least a little, so we arranged that you can go on a trip to a nice cabin in the mountains! No responsibilities, no worries! A premarital honeymoon, if you will.”
Seungmin and Hyunjin share a look, and Seungmin isn’t sure what Hyunjin’s expression exactly means, but he recognizes some surprise and confusion in it. Seungmin’s parents don’t wait for a reaction before they announce that they’ll leave in two weeks, after all the initial official announcements and necessary formalities have been taken care of. With that, the king and queen leave, and a brief silence falls over them before Seungmin speaks up.
“I’m sorry about my parents, they seem to think that we can fix everything by marrying me off and making it look like everyone can get along.” Seungmin chuckles a little, hoping to lighten the mood, and to his delight, Hyunjin shows a small smile as well. “But maybe they are right that it will help humans warm up to vampires and vice versa if they see that we can get along well.”
Hyunjin gives a small nod. “And maybe a trip to the mountains can help us understand each other more, which will hopefully be beneficial for when we have to make decisions together.”
Seungmin nods as well, letting out a little breath of relief as they’re finally agreeing on something. “Yeah, let’s try to make it work.”
He might still be a bit wary and confused about Hyunjin, but Seungmin does want to put in the effort to make it work. He wants to prove to Hyunjin that he is not like all the humans that don’t even give vampires a chance, because he will give Hyunjin a chance, but that doesn’t mean that Seungmin will not state his boundaries, or that he won’t challenge every idea and solution that Hyunjin might come up with. He hopes that Hyunjin will give him a chance too, but he’ll try not to worry too much about it yet, he’ll see it then. First, they have to get through some official business.
Hyunjin is very relieved when they’re finally done with all the formalities and announcements and all that, because it’s not really his thing. He was surprised that Seungmin could just power through it with carefully fabricated smiles and meaningless answers to all the questions that they don’t have answers to yet, so Hyunjin let Seungmin do all the talking for now, but he thought that he could also spot that Seungmin was mentally exhausted after. It’s weird to see Seungmin like this, when Sky in the bar seemed way more… vulnerable, open, and playful. Hyunjin really liked Sky when he met him, but now he doesn’t know what to think, and it frustrates him because Hyunjin likes to trust his gut, but his two separate first impressions of Seungmin give him different gut feelings. Sky’s first impression was great, and Hyunjin would have probably tried to keep in touch if circumstances would have been different, but Seungmin… he just hit every nerve wrong that first day where they talked about possible ways to mend the relationship between humans and vampires. Hyunjin realizes that he wasn’t the kindest either, but he just expected the prince to be more educated and compassionate— because he would expect Sky to be like that. That, and he is just really tired of humans acting like vampires are monsters and all inherently have some evil inside them or something, while really they just have a lack of resources and support from the country.
During these two weeks of formalities Seungmin was definitely bearable, though, but they didn’t really communicate a lot, so it didn’t help their relationship that much, but it also didn’t make it worse. Hyunjin hopes that he can see a little bit more of the person he met at the bar when they will go to the mountains because then Seungmin won’t have to be a prince and he can just be himself, but Hyunjin is also afraid that he permanently ruined things just because he is a vampire, and both him and Seungmin haven’t had the best experiences with each other’s kind. He hopes that he can convince Seungmin that vampires can be kind too, if they are treated right.
"Hyunjin?" Seungmin pulls him out of his thoughts and back to where they are right now. In a carriage, being transported over a bumpy road to the mountains.
"Hmm?" Hyunjin hums, showing that he's paying attention.
"I was thinking… since we'll be spending a week in a cabin together, I thought it might be a good idea to establish some boundaries?" Seungmin begins, an almost unnoticeable hint of uncertainty lacing his voice, but Hyunjin can't place why the prince would feel uncertain. "Maybe also for our marriage in general."
Hyunjin nods and shrugs casually. It’s always good to be aware of each other’s boundaries, and Hyunjin is glad that Seungmin suggests it, it already feels more like their first meeting in the bar.
"Sure, what did you have in mind?"
Seungmin is silent for a moment, but Hyunjin can't imagine that he doesn’t already have an answer in mind.
"Uhm, I don't know what is usual for human-vampire friendships, but I just want to make clear that I don't want you to, uhm, drink from me, nor come near my neck— for personal reasons," he eventually says, his eyes flicking between Hyunjin and elsewhere, and his posture slightly uncomfortable as his hands fidget with the hem of his winter coat.
Hyunjin is glad that Seungmin doesn't seem to assume that Hyunjin would just drink from him and that his request rather comes from the fact that he really isn't comfortable with the thought of getting bitten and drunk from, and it makes Hyunjin a little bit curious, but he knows that it's not his place to ask. It already seemed like asking this took a lot of courage from the prince, and it's yet another side of Seungmin that Hyunjin hadn't seen yet, but it’s closer to the man he met at the bar than the prince, which is nice to see.
"Of course. I wasn't planning to do anything without asking you first, but now I'll make sure to be extra mindful of it," Hyunjin assures, and Seungmin visibly relaxes. “Anything else that you want me to be mindful of? For example, if I need to feed myself, you might see some blood, and I get it if you don’t want that.”
Seungmin slightly raises his eyebrows, either not expecting Hyunjin to be this thoughtful or having forgotten that Hyunjin feeds himself with blood.
“No, it’s fine. I can handle a little blood,” Seungmin answers with a small grateful smile. Ah, so a fear of blood is not why he doesn't want me near his neck. “Is there anything that you wish for me to be mindful of?”
Hyunjin thinks about it for a moment, but there’s really only one thing that he wishes from Seungmin.
“Just… that you keep in mind that I’m a vampire and I have different needs and a different way of life than you,” he begins, chewing on his lower lip a little. “ But that I am not that different from humans either, and that you can just treat me as a… a friend, if you want.”
Seungmin’s eyes widen for a split second, but it lasts for such a short time that Hyunjin wonders whether he imagined it, because after, Seungmin just nods, his face schooled and blank.
“I’ll try my best,” he says. “If there’s anything else that you think of later, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”
“Same to you,” Hyunjin returns, glad that they both agree to communicate in this relationship, even though it might only be business.
The rest of the ride to the cabin they spend in comfortable silence, and Hyunjin looks out to see some snow lying on the ground. Hyunjin smiles at the pretty sight, but he sees Seungmin shiver in the corner of his eyes. Right, humans are more sensitive to temperature, he remembers, but it’s not really like he can do anything like share the scarce body heat that he has with Seungmin. Maybe if he has just fed himself he can make a little difference, but it’s probably not worth it to invade Seungmin’s personal space for that unless Seungmin is actually freezing.
When they arrive, Hyunjin opens his umbrella to protect himself from the sun, and he sees that there is a servant waiting for them to guide them to the cabin. Apparently, they’ll have a cook stopping by to cook for them every evening, and a cleaner to clean, and they can always ask for other servants to stop by if they want that. Hyunjin doesn’t need all that, but he guesses that these are the luxuries that a prince gets to enjoy.
They explore the spacious cabin, and the servant tells them that even though there will be a cook coming every evening, there is still plenty of food in the fridge to last the whole week for both of them, and Seungmin looks at the stuffed fridge in slight awe. Seungmin’s wonder makes Hyunjin chuckle but then he realizes that the fridge seems to be stuffed with food for humans , and even when he takes a better look and scours through the fridge and pantry, he can’t find any vampire food.
He turns to the servant and asks, “You didn’t prepare any food for me?”
The servant pales a little and opens and closes her mouth a few times. “Uhm, what do you mean, sir? Do you have a specific allergy? I— I don’t think that was communicated with us…”
Hyunjin frowns and shares a quick look with Seungmin. “They didn’t tell you that a vampire was coming?”
The servant jolts a little and steps back, bowing in apology. “I— I’m sorry, sir. I— I don’t know. I was told that the prince and his fiancé would be coming, nothing more, and— and I am not in charge of the food, uhm, you’d have to ask somewhere else.”
Hyunjin presses his lips together to hide his disappointment and stop himself from snapping at a poor servant that has nothing to do with this. Yes, he is used to having to scour and hunt for his food, but if he’d have to do that here , in the mountains in winter, he imagines that he would take a day to find a meal good for half a day, and he thought that they were sent here to get to know Seungmin better, and Hyunjin doesn’t think he’ll be good company if he’s out all day looking for food.
“Can you bring me to the people that do handle this?” he asks gently, because the servant seems a little scared of him.
The servant nods and leads Hyunjin outside again. Seungmin follows silently, and Hyunjin wonders what he thinks of this. At least now he gets to see how vampires are treated usually, Hyunjin thinks, instead of me having to tell him about it, he can see it with his own two eyes .
They arrive at what seems like the main desk, and the servant explains that Hyunjin has some questions about the food provided in the cabin. The person at the desk nods and asks in which cabin number he is residing. Hyunjin answers and watches the human look through some logs before he speaks up.
“Ah, I see a reservation for two people for a week, with the most luxe food package, is that right?” he asks, and Hyunjin confirms even though he didn’t make the reservation. “And what is your question or concern, sir?”
“Well, one of the people that reserved is a vampire, and while I can eat human food, it doesn’t help me survive,” Hyunjin explains, trying to hide the scowl in his voice. He knows that being snappy doesn’t work in his favor, but he can’t help but feel annoyed at the situation.
Surprise and slight fear flash across the man’s face before he schools his expression again and clears his throat. “Uhm— your reservation didn’t mention that you are a vampire, sir.”
“Well, it seems that whoever arranged the reservation forgot to mention that, yes, apologies.” Hyunjin smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Can something be arranged so that I do get food?”
The man pales and stutters, “Uhm— well, I do apologize, sir— uhm, you see, we don’t see vampires here often, so we don’t have a lot for you in storage, I believe. And since you didn’t mention it in your reservation, we couldn’t prepare.”
Hyunjin bites back a grimace. He’s disappointed, but not surprised. “And how long would it take for you to arrange something?”
The man presses his lips together reluctantly, but now Hyunjin doesn't feel bad anymore, he's only annoyed that, apparently, they aren't vampire-friendly here at all.
"Well, that depends… it will probably take a while…" he trails off, looking unsure of what to say or do. "You really can't eat normal food?"
Hyunjin cringes at the fact that he said 'normal food' before he sighs and shakes his head. Obviously they never get vampires to guest here.
"Human food does nothing to help me survive. I can eat small portions of it, but it does nothing."
"Well, that is tricky…" The man hums and stares at the papers on his desk meaninglessly, probably waiting either for Hyunjin to accept that he isn't getting help or for Hyunjin to come up with a solution himself.
Hyunjin balls his fists in frustration, his nails digging into his skin because he can't do anything about the situation, he can't make them do something for him without probably scaring the shit out of them, which he doesn't want to do. He's about to just give up and tell Seungmin that this isn't going to be a fun and friendly trip anymore because he'll spend half of it looking for food when Seungmin steps forward and clears his throat, holding his head up high and exuding princely energy.
"You really can't do anything for my fiancé ?" he asks slowly, emphasizing the fact that Hyunjin is his fiancé, and if Hyunjin had enough blood in his body to blush, he would have felt his cheeks heat up right now.
A look of horror and regret appears on the man's face as he recognizes Seungmin and he quickly bows.
"Prince!— Your majesty— uhm, no, we can do something for your fiancé!” the man hastily assures. Oh, so now you can do something? “We’ll stop by the local hospital to see if they have some blood packets. I’m sure they have something for the crown prince.”
Seungmin smiles satisfiedly and offers to write a note so that they know the prince is requesting this, which the man seems to appreciate a lot, and Hyunjin too. The man tells them that they can relax in their cabin and that they’ll handle the rest and deliver the blood as soon as possible. Hyunjin breathes out in relief and sends Seungmin a grateful look as they walk out and Hyunjin opens his umbrella again.
“Thank you.”
Seungmin shrugs and waves him off. “It’s nothing. I’m not going to let you starve on a trip organized by the palace.” He pauses for a second before he continues more softly, “And besides, no one should be treated like you were treated just now.”
Hyunjin looks at Seungmin in surprise, but the prince’s gaze is focused in front of him as they walk back to the cabin. Nevertheless, Hyunjin appreciates that he acknowledges the fact that they obviously weren’t willing to help Hyunjin because he’s a vampire, and that it shouldn’t be like that.
When they get back to their cabin, they take a shower and freshen up, and the blood packets for Hyunjin arrive at about the same time as the cook arrives. It’s barely enough for Hyunjin to last a week, but he believes them when they say that this is all they could get. Maybe they can get some more later this week, but at least Hyunjin can survive their stay without having to hunt for food. He probably can’t use his powers like speed or strength too much because that uses up too much energy, but he probably won’t need that anyway.
They tell the cook that he only has to cook for one person, and he looks at them funnily, asking if they’re sure, so Hyunjin just flat out tells him that he’s a vampire, he’s not ashamed of that. It seems to startle the cook, who looks a tad frightened as he asks if Hyunjin really doesn’t want anything because they have enough food.
“No, if I eat too much human food I get sick,” Hyunjin tells him. “It also doesn’t do anything for me, energy-wise.”
He gets a little tired of telling everyone that, but he can’t really do anything about it. He decides to ask Seungmin about food and the foods he likes as they wait for the cook to prepare the prince’s food, and it’s pretty nice. They laugh when Seungmin asks if Hyunjin has a favorite type of blood to drink, and Hyunjin is glad that Seungmin seems to be letting loose the tight and serious princely behavior and making a little effort to get to know Hyunjin better. It’s nice to see the side of Seungmin that he knows from Sky a little more, but Hyunjin has to stop himself from reliving those memories too much, otherwise he’ll maybe start thinking of Seungmin in a more… romantic or inappropriate context, and that wouldn’t be ideal. He already catches himself thinking back to their heated kisses and touches sometimes, especially now Seungmin is acting more similar to Sky, but maybe he can replace those memories with new, more appropriate ones on this trip.
After they both had dinner—Seungmin didn’t mind Hyunjin drinking the blood packet in front of him, he even said that it’s better to eat together, but Hyunjin still made sure not to be too obvious with the blood— Seungmin asks if Hyunjin wants to go for a walk with him, saying that the nature in the area is pretty and that he likes taking evening walks. Hyunjin looks outside to see if the sun has already gone down, and it has, so it’s safe for him to go out without having to bring an umbrella and he can take Seungmin up on the offer. He asks Seungmin if he isn’t afraid to go outside alone with Hyunjin, but Seungmin shrugs and says that if Hyunjin wants to hurt him, he can’t really do anything about it anyway, and that Hyunjin already had the chance to do that when they met at the bar, but if he wanted to do it now because Seungmin is the prince, that he should know that the whole kingdom will hunt him down if he dares to do anything.
Hyunjin snorts, it seems like Seungmin has thought about the possibility of Hyunjin attacking him, but it’s also nice that he seems to know that it’s unlikely for Hyunjin to do that, Hyunjin just hopes that the main reason that Seungmin knows that that is because Hyunjin just doesn’t want to hurt anyone, be it humans, animals or other vampires.
“They said that it might snow some more this week,” Seungmin says as they’re walking through the thin layer of snow that already lay on the ground when they arrived. “Do you like snow?”
Hyunjin shrugs. “Yeah, it’s pretty. And in winter it’s dark out longer, so that’s nice, but the food is also more scarce.”
Seungmin hums, nodding. “Oh right, those are things you think about. It’s interesting to hear that you look at things in such a different light compared to me and most humans— interesting in a good way.”
Hyunjin raises an eyebrow and curiously watches Seungmin almost skip through the snow. “Yeah?”
Seungmin nods and looks back. “Yeah. I like seeing other perspectives on things than my own.”
Hyunjin can’t hold back a smile, feeling that Seungmin is sincere. So his ignorance is really only due to the lack of information available? he wonders, because for a moment he can’t fathom anymore that he disliked Seungmin so much when they talked about politics. Well, maybe that was because Seungmin tried to represent the general human perspective on things.
"That's good. I think that's a good quality for a prince," Hyunjin muses. "Do you like snow?"
Seungmin nods fervently, an almost childish smile forming on his face, it's cute.
"I do! While it can be cold, it reminds me of my childhood where I made snowmen and played in the snow with my friends whenever I could," Seungmin explains with a grin. "And it's pretty! Walking out in the snow helps me clear my mind too, so I like it."
Hyunjin smiles too, Seungmin’s happiness radiating onto him as he imagines little Seungmin and his friends playing in the snow. It’s another point for playful and kind Seungmin and a point against serious stuck-up business Seungmin.
When they get back to their cabin, Hyunjin sees that Seungmin is shivering a little, rubbing his hands together to warm them up, so Hyunjin suggests lighting the fireplace. Seungmin immediately agrees, but they both don’t really know how to light a fireplace. Hyunjin just never had a fireplace in his home because he doesn’t really get cold, and Seungmin probably always has servants do it for him. Nevertheless, Seungmin seems determined to figure it out, not even thinking about the fact that they can still call a servant to do it for them. The prince tells Hyunjin that he has watched the servants light up the fireplace a few times, so he roughly knows how to place the logs and twigs, but he struggles with lighting the matches.
“Do you maybe have, like, hidden fire powers?” Seungmin asks Hyunjin as he puts down the matchbox in defeat.
Hyunjin laughs and shakes his head, this kind of ignorance about vampires he doesn’t mind, Seungmin probably isn’t really serious anyway. “I don’t, but maybe I can light the matches without any powers.”
Seungmin hands him the box and Hyunjin succeeds in a few tries to light the match and light the fire. Seungmin claps for him and Hyunjin bows with a chuckle. The prince sighs happily as he warms up near the fireplace and gets cozy on the couch while Hyunjin takes a seat on another couch. They relax like that for a while before they decide that it’s probably time to head to sleep.
“Uhm, I saw that there’s only one bed in the cabin, what do you think about that?” Seungmin asks. “How do you usually sleep? Is it true that vampires sleep in coffins?”
Hyunjin huffs out a laugh and shrugs. “I think that myth just arose from the fact that vampires are kind of half-dead and the fact that we usually sleep during the day and it’s nice to sleep in the dark.”
Seungmin’s eyes widen in interest as he nods. “Right! So your engagement with me messed up your whole sleeping schedule?”
“Nah, not really. Vampires don’t need a lot of sleep unless we want to recharge or conserve energy,” Hyunjin explains. “I can survive fine during the day if I put on sunscreen and take my umbrella everywhere, but it would be nice to sleep at night to recharge and make sure I don’t get too hungry during this week if they can’t arrange more food.”
Seungmin hums as he lets the information sink in, after which he looks in the direction of the bedroom and Hyunjin remembers the one-bed situation.
“I don’t mind sharing the bed, but you might not enjoy it if I accidentally grab you with my cold body,” Hyunjin chuckles, and Seungmin shrugs, but Hyunjin thinks he sees his cheeks get a little red, although that could also just be because of the lighting from the fireplace.
“If we both wear pajamas it should be fine, right?” Seungmin says. “And… I mean, we already shared a bed once.”
Hyunjin almost chokes on air, memories resurfacing and embarrassment creeping up on him. They didn’t really sleep together for long in the same bed that night because Hyunjin left early, but Hyunjin does remember Seungmin not minding his slightly cold body. Hyunjin shakes the thoughts away and heads to one of the two bathrooms to get ready for bed.
He is pretty tired, surprisingly, but he guesses that the new rhythm and the stress of having to constantly explain himself and make sure he survives is tiring. So, when he reaches the bedroom, he flops himself on the bed with a sigh, joining Seungmin but keeping an appropriate distance. This first day went well, fortunately, especially since Seungmin seems to have loosened up a little, so some of Hyunjin’s initial reluctance has dissipated a little. He hopes that they can keep this up, that would be nice, and with that thought, he falls asleep.