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The first thing that Seungcheol expected as he walked into his shared apartment was to see it clean and tidy (seeing that his boyfriend is quite the neat freak), to see his mate in the living room, eating some instant rice and drinking diet coke (which was a nasty food combination, in his opinion), binging on Marvel movies.
Not that his house would be a bloody mess of a place.
Shocked, he dropped all of his items on the floor to search around the place. It was a bloody mess of a home—there were blood stains tinting the fluffy carpet, scarlet liquid dripping from the ceiling, the same blood splattering the curtains and furniture everywhere. There was the smell of lavender, the faintest breath of moonlight and its silver rays, the taste of cheesecake and strawberries, mixed in with a little too much coke, airing all over.
The smell was coming from the blood. And, considering how much of the same type of blood there was all over, calling him paranoid would be an obvious understatement.
No, no, he couldn’t give up now. He knew that Jihoon was strong—he was a hunter, after all. Humans that were trained specifically to kill creatures that could easily overpower them, with their specific weaknesses and specially-crafted guns and weapons to severely weaken them. Even if that he rarely takes out his guns in the apartment room (unless there was a sudden raid of a couple of vampires, which happens a lot more likely than Seungcheol hoped it would have), he still has them on standby, in his studio where he mostly spends his time working for his other job, as a producer for some idols.
But, there was this annoying little part in him that nagged him constantly with the fear of Jihoon not being able to rival against the mysterious opponent. The fear of him being whisked away towards a different place, unarmed and prone to disaster.
He was experiencing a mix of worry and rage. Worry for Jihoon’s safety and wellbeing (and health, judging by the concerning amounts of his blood around the place), and rage for the creature bold enough to challenge Jihoon—and if they weren’t bold enough already, to challenge Seungcheol.
It was a funny encounter, really—an encounter between an elite hunter favored by the government with the future heir of the vampire kingdom was truly a sight to see. The first time they met, it ended up with a scratch across Jihoon’s face by Seungcheol’s blade, and a gun wound on his arm thanks to Jihoon’s specially-made silver bullets. The second, third time they met, it was basically them standing, giving each other the death glares. But, with a little persuasion from Jeonghan, his advisor, and Jisoo, Jeonghan’s fiance (both of which are Seungcheol’s childhood friends), he managed to speak up his feelings a month after they hung out.
Which was nice, really—he got to see a side of Jihoon that barely anyone has got to see. When Jihoon was home, instead of the skin-tight uniform and armor he would be wearing, Jihoon would usually have Seungcheol’s oversized hoodie slipped onto him, along with fuzzy socks and his hair messed up after whatever he has done (most likely after he dried his hair). He definitely liked the soft side of Jihoon rather than the cold, unwelcoming side of him, but he didn’t mind either.
After all, both are still sides of Jihoon.
Before Seungcheol was about to panic on where Jihoon was, he saw a trail of blood going out of the window that he certainly didn’t leave behind. Trudging across the living room while trying not to step on the bloody puddles on the carpet and floor, he saw that the trail started again on the asphalt road, on the other side of the apartment’s entrance, and into the forest.
Shit.
After looking around the street for any passerbys (for the first time, he was grateful that his hunting session went longer than expected—it was around 1 am by the time he went home), he leaped down and landed on his two feet and started sprinting, not caring about his rather bloody clothes he had chosen for hunting.
He grabbed the phone from his pocket and started to dial the first number that was on his contact’s list.
“Hello, your local hot sexy vampire speaking—”
“Gyu, this isn’t time for your corny introduction.” Normally, Seungcheol would laugh at the odd greeting message the younger would say when he accepted a call, but he wasn’t feeling like laughing today.
“...You good hyung? You don’t sound too cheerful.” Seungcheol was glad that Mingyu caught on—he was quite the empath, after all. Whether it was a trait passed down by his descendants or it was something he developed in order to read the cold face of his mate, the older was grateful that the younger caught on quick.
“Yeah, I’m not feeling too cheerful, sorry Gyu.” Seungcheol apologized for his rude first message.
“No problem hyung,” forgave Mingyu. “If I’m not too nosy, why did you call me? Everything okay?”
“Well, you see, Jihoon isn’t in the apartment.”
“Wh—what?” Mingyu sounded bewildered. “What do you mean? Isn’t he a homebody? He usually informs you when he’s out of the apartment right?”
“Exactly.” Seungcheol said. “Someone must’ve taken him. When I got in the apartment, it was all bloody. Worse, the blood was Jihoon’s—I could smell the familiar scent of lavender and moonlight.
He heard Mingyu hiss at the other end and groaned. “Yeesh, that’s rough. You know where the culprit went?”
“Yeah, I do.” Seungcheol hummed as he swiveled out of the way to dodge bushes and jagged stones. “I’m following a trail of blood. Convenient, really. I’m just glad that the person who kidnapped Jihoon wasn’t some stealing mastermind that’s smart enough to cover up his trails.”
“That’s a relief.” Mingyu agreed. “Anyways, what do you need me for?”
“Can you send backup, Gyu?”
Mingyu squeaked out of shock. “Huh—what—but—”
“No buts.” Seungcheol demanded. “Sorry if I’m a bit harsh on you Gyu, but seeing this person manage to whisk away an elite hunter, he’s probably quite strong.”
“Ah—true, true.” The younger hummed. “Alright, I’ll send backup. Who do you want, hyung?”
“Maybe you and Soonyoung? I need strong fighters.”
“Alright, just tell me your location and me and Soonie-hyung will be there as soon as possible.”
“Uh, you know that the apartment has a second entrance leading to the forest?” He was met with Mingyu giving a sign of nodding, a little “Hm” from the younger. “Yeah, just go straight, I’m quite deep into the forest, but I’m reserving my energy for the possible fight. Since you have more stamina, you can just speed-walk your way. Or, I dunno, shapeshift or something.”
“Alright then. See you hyung.” Mingyu waved goodbye as Seungcheol ended the call. As he neared the heart of the forest, he heard cries. Agonizing cries, raw-sounding and filled with pure, unbridled pain that struck an arrow to Seungcheol’s dead and unbeaten heart.
What’s even worse, is that those cries, those agonizingly raw screams for help were Jihoon’s—who was the last person he wanted to be the origin of the cries for help.
“Hyung!” He heard a familiar voice as he turned to his left, to see Mingyu riding on a shapeshifted Soonyoung—who took the form of a white tiger. “Jihoon-hyung is in there?”
“Yeah, he is.” He nodded. He could smell his blood and hear his cries, and they were getting louder and the smell was getting stronger.
“Alright—you want us to barge in or—”
“Just barge in.” Soonyoung argued while running as fast as his snow-white paws could take him and Mingyu. “The creature who took Jihoonie in the first place is uncivilized, clearly—since he has already been marked by Cheol-hyung—so we’re going to be uncivilized as well.”
“Good point.” Mingyu acknowledged.
“Alright, go recharge your stamina. I’ll go in first.” Seungcheol instructed. Even if he was hellbent on getting Jihoon out of there, he couldn’t risk his own or his dongsaeng’s safety for Jihoon’s wellbeing. Even if the motto of the vampires is that a debt with blood must be paid with blood, it pains him to know that one of his dongsaengs sacrificed themselves for the human’s safety.
“You sure, Cheol-hyung?” Soonyoung interjected, now already in his tiger hybrid form. Ah, there it was—the stubbornly self-sacrificial side of Soonyoung. “I could go in first, y’know—”
“Soon, it’s my duty to protect you, as you’re under my care.” Seungcheol argued. “Now, let me go save Jihoon. Just rest for a little while—I’ll give the signal when I need help.”
The tiger hybrid merely pouted. “Fine.”
“Be safe out there, hyung.” Mingyu smiled sweetly as Seungcheol nodded before going inside the dark cave.
“Yah!” He called out into the dark void. “Whoever you are, show yourself!”
No response. Impatient, he used his powers to summon moonlight into his palm and effectively lit up the room, to come face-to-face with a much more burly, muscular vampire. His eyes were clearly a hazel brown, he had already fed, but he smelled like Jihoon—an odd but familiar mixture of his cologne and his blood of lavender and moonlight. He merely had a smug face when he looked Seungcheol in the eye.
“Oh? And who are you?” He chuckled, a gruff, haughty laughter from his throat. “Puny human.”
Ah, right—Seungcheol was in his human form—he’d forgotten to transform back because of the paranoia he experienced when he saw the bloody apartment empty. Barely anyone could recognize him when he was shapeshifted into his human self.
“I’m not puny.” Seungcheol rolled his eyes. “And give me back my b— friend back.” He almost said the fact that Jihoon was his boyfriend, curse his mouth and it's no-filter function, but he thanked his ancestors for not letting the word pass his lips.
“Aw, you want your friend?” The cocky vampire laughed again, before roughly pushing Seungcheol deeper into the cave. “Then come get him.”
The prince was about to start a fistfight with the vampire, when he followed the alluring, tempting smell of sweet blood deeper into the cave, to come across Jihoon, in the worst state possible.
Seungcheol had to use all his willpower in him to not sob openly, right there and now.
Jihoon was a bloodied, bleeding mess—his body was painfully chained in a way that his arms and legs were wide apart from each other and shackled tightly with short chains connected to the stone walls of the cave. There was also an extra chain slightly to the right and on the floor, forcibly and painfully making Jihoon expose the right side of his neck, which had a multitude of bites. Apart from the bites, he could also see his pale skin littered with cuts and bruises, he could even see first-degree burns—it wasn’t the worst, he was grateful for that—as well as scratch marks on the lower half of his body.
Despite all the burns and the wounds however, Seungcheol could make out a heaving motion, the up-and-down motion of his chest. Oh, thank the deities—he’s still alive.
“You have some nerve to steal a human’s best friend, fellow vampire.” He gruffly said.
“Hah!” The vampire heaved over for a haughty laughter, and in the moonlit cave, he could see that a few, deep scars and some bullet wounds were present in his muscular body. Despite the obvious power difference, Jihoon still managed to hold on his own, albeit not for a long time. “You’re one brave human, I must say.”
“Ah—I forgot to change out of my human form, my bad.” Seungcheol huffed, before unraveling his human disguise and letting the vampire know his true identity.
He was met with the muscular man’s gruff and haughty laughter as he doubled down. “My my! A challenge right over here! I knew you were a vampire, dear prince—after all, I intended to mark that human of yours, but he had already been bitten by another one, and seeing the insignia of the royals definitely sold me the fact that you bit him. Quite the anomaly, actually. Seeing an elite hunter and the prince being together just…fascinates me.”
Before Seungcheol could counter, the vampire suddenly charged forward, baring his sharp claws. He managed to dodge in the nick of time however, but the sharp fangs of the vampire grazed his cheek, letting a little blood seep through the relatively microscopic wound.
“You are very fast and agile, dear prince.” The vampire said in a mocking accent. Seungcheol lunged forward, drawing out his hunting sword he previously brought in a hunt with Jeonghan and Hansol earlier and slashing a few scars onto his sickly pale skin.
“You don’t deserve the privilege to call me your prince, vampire.” Seungcheol harshly remarked as they lunged forward and clashed blades—Seungcheol with his sword, and the vampire with his claws. “You really dare to rival me?”
“Oh please, you haven’t really heard about the Reaper of Blood, haven’t you?”
“Wh— that old legend?” Seungcheol questioned as he dodged a swipe of the vampire’s claws with a swift motion of his head.
“Legend? Since when was that a legend?” The vampire had a smug smile on his face, still fresh with Jihoon’s blood, which was starting to dry up.
It didn’t take a genius to realize that the man in front of him was indeed the Reaper of Blood, and all Seungcheol could see was red. He was the man responsible for the death of all the monarch’s human mates and spouses. He was the man responsible for the downfall of the kingdom and the rapid decline of the vampires as one by one, those who aren’t strong-willed enough started to kill themselves with a silver bullet through their heads. He was the man responsible for making Seungcheol bear with all the burden he had to carry as one of the last descendants of the once glorious Choi Clan that ruled over the vampire kingdom.
“Why you—” Seungcheol was about to spill a multitude of curse words, but he was then pinned down by the vampire, his hands behind his back as he was pinned face-first onto the rough ground of the cave.
“Hah! Puny vampire, dear prince—you have barely drunk enough blood for you to sustain your true power!” The vampire mocked.
He found himself struggling beneath the vampire’s oddly strong grip and muscle. “Gyu! Soonie! Now!”
“On it, hyung!” The first thing he saw at the mouth of the cave was Soonyoung pouncing into the cave in his tiger form, along with Mingyu and a few other people, the tiger hybrid able to knock the vampire from pinning Seungcheol.
“Gyu—you brought more backup?” The prince asked as he dusted his clothes.
“Duh.” He heard the familiar, deep voice behind the taller, to reveal a similarly tall, cat-eyed vampire.
“Wha—Wonwoo?!” Seungcheol cried out, baffled. He was supposed to be in his relative’s place, not in the cave! “What are you doing here?”
“I came to help, obviously.”
“But—what about your relatives?”
“Well, it just so happens that I arrived back in the house with the house empty and a note left by Mingyu, saying that he was out to help you. Conveniently, he also gave the location on the sticky note, so I followed him.”
“Then, we gathered a few others for backup.” Mingyu continued, pointing to the other two people at the back—Wen Junhui, his personal bodyguard, and Minghao, the general of the siren army.
“Hi, hyung!” Junhui waved cheerfully.
“Hello, hyung.” Minghao also greeted with elegance—as expected from the siren species.
“Guys!” Their heads turned around to see Soonyoung wrestling the vampire. “A little help here?!”
“We’ll go take down the vampire for you, hyung.” Minghao reassured. “You and Mingyu go help Jihoon-hyung.”
“Alright—thanks so much, you guys.”
“No problem!” Junhui smiled before pouncing on the vampire’s face and headlocking him. While the vampire was busy being countered by the rest of his friends, he and Mingyu ran towards a bloodied, bruised Jihoon—who was still breathing, to his relief.
“Yeesh—what happened?” Mingyu hissed. He was also a medic to Seungcheol’s army—paired with the fact that he’s an extremely gifted fighter and you got yourself one of Seungcheol’s trusted people and reliable ally.
“I observed bite marks—one’s deep enough to mark someone, mind you—and first-degree burn wounds, bruises and scars, that’s it though.” Seungcheol told everything to Mingyu. “He’s still breathing, though.”
“He is.” Mingyu confirmed while pressing two of his fingers to Jihoon’s neck for his pulse, seeing that his wrist was cuffed by the chains. “Okay, I think I’ll need to break the chains. It’ll take a while, though. Hyung, can you help me reassure Jihoon-hyung? I think, with all the vampire venom inside of him, he can’t hear us through his hazy mind, and I think his morale is starting to decrease.”
Seungcheol nodded while Mingyu tried to pry away Jihoon’s chains from his wrists, the prince kneeling down in front of the human to look at his bowing head. “Hoonie? Jihoonie?”
No response—which was expected, honestly. The vampire venom looked like it had gone into his head in large amounts, but at the same time, it didn’t feel like there was any vampire venom at all. Considering, raw cries weren’t supposed to happen when one gets bitten and the vampire uses a considerate amount of vampire venom to reduce the pain.
He was unconscious, and losing his balance in the tightrope of life and death.
“Hey, hey, Hoonie,” whispered Seungcheol as he brought up a gentle hand to his cold cheek. “I’m here, Jihoonie, can you hear me?”
To his utter relief, Jihoon opened his eyes, facing Seungcheol with the beautiful shade of blue that he had learned to fall in love with. “Cheol—is that you?”
“Yes, yes, it’s me baby.” Seungcheol gently caressed his newly dyed two-toned hair. “I’m here. We’re going to get you out.”
“Cheol—everything hurts—”
“I know, I know love.” The prince responded. “Everything will be okay, I promise.”
“I’m sorry Seungcheol-ah.” Jihoon suddenly started apologizing. “I’m sorry, I’m not strong enough to defeat him—he’s too strong, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”
“Shh.” He silenced Jihoon. “None of this is your fault, Hoonie. You don’t need to apologize.”
“But—I’m an elite hunter, Cheol.” His glazed eyes were welled up with tears, making his pupils shine, but in the wrong way. “I should’ve been ready for an attack. I have been trained to kill creatures. And here I am, chained up and bruised just because I couldn’t hold my own against the vampire.”
Seungcheol’s dead heart felt like it had been pierced with a thousand arrows hearing Jihoon’s sobs and cries. Jihoon was a vigilant and strong man—it was usually Seungcheol who was the crybaby of the two, some of their nights ending up with Jihoon gently embracing the vampire after he had a terrifying nightmare. But, seeing that his strong-willed and cold-hearted facade was slowly crumbling away in front of him in the most displeasing way possible, with every sob that tore the winds and every tear that dripped onto the soil, it was making Seungcheol’s eyes well up with tears as well.
“Oh, Hoonie—it’s not your fault, I already told you.” He patted the human’s mop of bloodstained hair. “I’m so fucking proud of you for managing to stay alive after you have been brutally hurt and scarred by the vampire. You even have your blood taken by him, in copious amounts—and yet, you’re here, alive and breathing and talking to me. So, please, my dear Jihoonie. It’s not your fault. You have done more than enough to rival him. It was only a matter of time for me to step in to protect you.”
Jihoon started silently crying, Seungcheol cooing and wiping away the stray tears with his fingers. “Love…don’t cry, I hate to see you cry.”
“Alright! Got all the chains off.” Mingyu confirmed as he released a binding spell that prevented Jihoon from falling down a painful demise on the rough ground, and instead fell into Seungcheol’s arms. “Hey, hyung, are you alright?”
“Gyu? Is that you?” Jihoon asked, face still planted on Seungcheol’s shoulders.
“Yeah, it’s me hyung.” Mingyu hummed. “Does anything in particular hurt like a bitch?”
“Well…I think my neck does, but that’s really it.” Jihoon said. “I’ve been through worse than this in training—I think one time, I broke a rib or two. I’m okay, though.”
“Hon, you aren’t okay.” The prince carded through his locks.
“Seungcheol-hyung is right.” Mingyu agreed. “Is it okay if I bring you to an actual medic? Or do you want to be taken care of in Cheol-hyung’s room instead?”
“Cheol’s room.” Jihoon responded after a little while.
“Alright, we’ll bring you to the palace.” Mingyu nodded. “Your wounds aren’t very severe, so I should be able to take care of them without the use of any technology or modern machines.”
“Jihoonie!” Soonyoung pouted as he rushed into Seungcheol’s arms and hugged Jihoon from behind.
“Ack—Soonyoung! Glad to see— hack —you too!” Jihoon coughed into the hybrid’s tight embrace.
“You okay, Hoonie?” Seungcheol fondly smiled as Soonyoung checked on Jihoon’s safety. He and Jihoon were actually friends first, and it was Soonyoung who played a part on Jihoon’s side to build up their blossoming relationship. He has heard of Jihoon telling how they met, something about adopting a white tiger from an adoption center for copious amounts of money, then knowing that he’s a hybrid, then nurturing him, then sending him into the wild before he trained to become an elite hunter.
“Mm. I’m fine.” Jihoon nodded, but winced when he tried to turn his head. The chain must’ve done some neck pain to the human.
“By the way, Cheol-hyung,” the hybrid turned to face Seungcheol. “We got the crook, he’s knocked out for the meantime. What do you want us to do with him?”
The prince pondered for a while. “Send him to the supreme council in the siren kingdom. Minghao will be my witness and be the one to deliver my letter to them.”
“Yes, sir.” Minghao nodded, bowing, before dragging the unconscious vampire with Junhui’s help.
Finally, Seungcheol allowed him to rest. With Jihoon safely (and badly bruised) in his arms, and with the threat gone, he let his guard down, finally.
A week has passed with surprising speed.
Jihoon has gotten better ever since that night. He has been following Mingyu’s orders and advice for being bedridden for half the week, before he was given the green light to start walking around. Because he was a hunter (who, according to Jihoon a while back, were usually shot with a regeneration potion so they could heal faster from severe injuries), his wounds healed up in a day or two, the bite marks taking longer, five days at best. And sure, he took a few painkillers to subside the pain on his neck, but everything was fine.
“Cheol?” Jihoon once asked as Seungcheol was staying in his quarters to accompany Jihoon.
“Hm?”
“May I ask you something?”
“Of course, love.”
“Well, who was that person, anyways?” Jihoon hummed. “He seemed…oddly strong for a vampire. Like, too strong for even an elite to defeat with one swipe. I’m sure that he drank a lot of blood, but he was obviously not feral in the slightest.”
“According to him, he’s the Reaper of Blood.” Seungcheol clarified, to be met with Jihoon’s wide eyes.
“Wait, that old legend?” Jihoon tilted his head. “It was just a myth, though?”
“That’s what I thought as well.” Seungcheol nodded his head, agreeing.
“I heard from the seniors, that the Reaper of Blood does really exist…” Jihoon recalled. “They say that he has the unrivaled strength that even the gods fear. He has the most vivid shade of red in his eyes if he’s lusting for blood, and the stamina of a horse. A true competitor for Dracula, the seniors would say.”
Seungcheol nodded in agreement. “Exactly. That’s why I was quite baffled. But—you are okay, right?”
“Cheol, I said already, I’m fine.” Jihoon shook his head, a smile across his face. “You don’t need to worry, sheesh .”
Seungcheol smiled fondly at his mate before locking their lips together, in a long kiss, but it wasn’t a passionate one, it wasn’t filled with the lust and desire they crave in the dusk hours of the day. It was a soft, loving one—even if his lip had a few cuts and bruises, even if he could taste a little bit of blood when kissing him, the blood still had the familiar scent of the calming lavender and the silver rays of the moon, and tasted like fresh strawberries and cheesecake. If Jihoon was his oxygen, then he didn’t need to breathe like a normal person anymore (well, he wasn’t really breathing in the first place).
They pulled away after a long kiss as Seungcheol pressed his lips against the younger’s cheek for another, more chaste and loving peck. “God, I love you so fucking much, Jihoon, you know that, right?”
“Of course I do.” Jihoon responded, his eyes sparkling with a thousand stars, his eyes shining in the right way. Not glazed with tears that threatened to fall, or glazed with the stray tears that escaped his eyes, but shining with the stars that twinkle in the skies at the right hours of dusk, and the moon that would tell the warmth of the sun.
Because, to Seungcheol, Jihoon was his sun and moon. His existence.
He allowed him to relax as a sleepy Jihoon pressed on his chest. Ah, humans—sleeping during the hours where the children of the night would be wide awake. Jihoon was usually a night owl and worked night shifts, but it was reasonable, since he was exhausted and drained from a week ago.
But, he would keep him safe. Whatever danger would cross, he would be there to defend him.
For he is Choi Seungcheol’s mate, the prince of the long-forgotten vampire kingdom, the glorious Attacca Empire and the last descendant of the famed Choi Clan. For he is Lee Jihoon, and for as sharp as his blade was and how cold his gaze might be, will always be his precious, the love of his life.
His treasure.