Chapter Text
taehyun
they were sitting on the floor untangling christmas lights when beomgyu’s head snapped up and looked to where taehyun’s phone rested on the coffee table. “yeonjun-hyung is about to call you,” he said, casually. taehyun blinked at his boyfriend, wholly unimpressed at his showing off. it was entirely unnecessary this far into their relationship, and yet the vampire took every opportunity.
said vampire gifted him an annoyingly smug grin before returning to untangling, his swift fingers accomplishing the task much faster than taehyun could. “sometimes i really wonder what i bring to the table in this relationship,” he muttered. he was half-joking, but beomgyu immediately halted his movements and pulled the lights out of taehyun’s grasp as well. he looked guilty, a rather adorable pout gracing his cherry red lips.
“i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to make you feel—.”
“i know, hyung, it’s okay. i was joking, don’t worry,” taehyun interrupted with a giggle. still, beomgyu took his hand and rested his thumb over his pulse, like he always did. it never failed to make taehyun’s heart speed up, much to his chagrin and beomgyu’s satisfaction. his gaze bore into taehyun’s, close enough that little flecks of silver were visible in his vermillion eyes. there was something mesmerising about them, and taehyun’s heart rate subsequently slowed.
the effect beomgyu had on him would never grow on him.
“you are precious to me, taehyun,” the elder whispered. “you bring me life, and purpose, and i don’t ever want there to exist a power imbalance between us, alright? whatever i can do to make you feel secure, i’ll do it. i’ll do anything for you.”
it wasn’t rare for beomgyu to give him these types of declarations, taehyun had come to learn. in fact, it was quite common of his personality. he hailed from an era where it was considered the height of romance to rattle off soliloquies to one’s partner, and he had carried the tradition to the present day. it made sense he made his living as a songwriter and part-time poet, and taehyun never knew how beautiful the korean language could be until he met beomgyu.
he blushed furiously, looking down and doing his best not to burst into tears with the sheer amount of love he felt. it was, understandably, a lot. “you do enough, hyung,” he replied shyly, pushing the lights out of his way to climb into beomgyu’s lap. the vampire immediately placed his hands on his hips to steady him, before sliding his arms around his waist. “you protect me and you love me and you always encourage me to go after what i want.”
beomgyu smiled sheepishly, chilled thumbs rubbing circles into his skin. “you literally keep me alive, so you’re always going to be the more important half of this relationship,” he quipped. taehyun snorted and rolled his eyes, before leaning in to press a lingering kiss to beomgyu’s forever cold lips. he couldn’t remember what it felt like to kiss a pair of warm lips.
as they kissed, taehyun’s phone went off, just as beomgyu had predicted. the elder burst into giggles as taehyun playfully bit his lip before climbing off his lap to grab his phone. he pressed answer and held it up to his ear as beomgyu returned to the lights.
“hello, hyung,” he greeted.
“what exactly does it look like when a vampire is courting you?” yeonjun asked in a panic, forgoing all formalities. taehyun’s eyes widened and beomgyu once again dropped the lights, twisting around with a jaw dropped. “um,” taehyun replied eloquently, thinking back to when beomgyu first started courting him. “it usually starts with gifts. beomgyu-hyung gave me a pair of earrings.” beomgyu reached out to flick said earrings, which taehyun wore at all times. yeonjun gave a manic little laugh on the line and taehyun furrowed his brow, moving off the floor to sit on the couch. “are you okay?”
yeonjun laughed again, and taehyun could picture him pacing the floor in his apartment. “what comes after gifts?” he asked, ignoring the question on his wellbeing. taehyun glanced at beomgyu, who mimicked eating. he got the movements wrong, of course, but it was endearing nonetheless. “beomgyu basically forced my favourite foods down my throat claiming that i was too skinny. still does, honestly,” he replied. yeonjun let out a long, pitiful whine. taehyun nearly laughed, biting it back in time.
“i can’t tell if i’m going crazy or not,” his friend lamented. taehyun leaned back, letting beomgyu play with his fingers. “is this about soobin? do you think he’s courting you?” he asked, already knowing he was right. the two had been inseparable ever since they were introduced, and taehyun had been on the receiving end of many panicked yeonjun rants. but to hear that soobin appeared to be actively taking steps to court him was a new development. it excited taehyun, potentially having another person understand what it was like to be technically mated to a vampire.
yeonjun sighed. “what if it’s only because of my blood type?” he asked, so quietly. it made taehyun frown. “hyung, that’s not true,” he reassured. “has soobin given you any reason to think that he’s only around you because he wants to drink from you?” there were a few seconds of silence and then yeonjun muttered out a solemn ‘no’. taehyun smiled, saying, “see? just let him court you, hyung. i know you like him, and it really seems like he likes you, too. enjoy it.”
beomgyu moved closer, pulling the phone away from taehyun to bark into it, “quit overthinking, hyung! your blood type may be rare but there’s still plenty of AB at the blood bank, how else do you think soobin has survived this long?”
taehyun slapped beomgyu’s bicep as yeonjun let out a shallow laugh. “wow, i thought i was special, beomgyu,” he teased. beomgyu shook his head, wrapping an arm around taehyun and pulling him to his side. “taehyun is the only one who’s special, hyung! seriously, don’t worry about soobin, just let him do his thing,” he said. yeonjun rattled off a bunch of offending words at beomgyu’s antics, before thanking taehyun and resolutely hanging up.
“you don’t…you don’t think soobin really is just courting yeonjun so he’ll have a fresh food source, do you?” taehyun asked, hesitant. he didn’t want to offend beomgyu by insinuating one of his closest friends could be so mean, but beomgyu only laughed, leaning in to breath in taehyun’s scent deeply. “no, taehyunnie. i know exactly what he’s up to, trust me,” he murmured, inhaling.
taehyun shuddered, eyes falling shut as he gripped beomgyu’s arm. “kai will be back soon,” he reminded. beomgyu hummed, pressing a cold kiss behind his ear. “good. he can finish untangling the lights while i have my way with you.”
yeonjun
yeonjun had never had to think about his scent being desirable. he had never experienced being around someone who actively liked how he smelled. most vampires he interacted with caught one whiff of his blood, recognised it as AB, and kept a polite amount of space between them. so yeonjun never knew what it was like for a vampire to be in his personal space. even beomgyu kept his distance, though he figured that was more because he was always attached to taehyun’s side.
their ward, kai, acted like all the others, save for the exception of greeting yeonjun with a hug every time they were around each other. it was quick and never lasted long, but was so endearingly cute that yeonjun suddenly wished kai was his ward.
however, now that soobin was courting him—at least, that’s what yeonjun suspected he was doing—he suddenly had a lot of new vampiric experiences to draw on. soobin was a touchy person, finding any excuse to wrap his arm around yeonjun as they’re walking, or slip their fingers together. he squished himself up against yeonjun’s side to watch tiktoks together and was always reaching out a hand to pull yeonjun back to him when they were in crowded areas.
it was cute, but also drove yeonjun insane. it was obvious that soobin liked him and wanted to protect him, despite yeonjun not needing a lot of protection. it made a warm, fluttery feeling cascade over him, though, and he felt like a giddy teenager falling in love for the first time. soobin was lovely, attentive, and frankly one of the most beautiful vampires yeonjun had ever seen.
and he was really learning what it meant to be courted by a vampire. it was nothing like being pursued by a human. and yeonjun wouldn’t be modest, he’d had his fair share of human-to-human relationships, and most of them started in a dark club with loud music and plenty of alcohol. he’d never been ‘wooed’, for lack of a better term. and now that it was actively happening, he felt like blushing, giggling teenager every time soobin so much as smiled his way.
he thought he’d be more prepared, what with playing witness to taehyun and beomgyu’s courting period. but it was one thing to watch it happen to someone else and experience it firsthand. of course, he couldn’t wholly compare himself to taehyun, the younger had had to turn down so many courtships before meeting beomgyu that it honestly made yeonjun glad his blood type was unwanted. he couldn’t imagine having to chase off so many vampires, at the risk of them not taking the rejection well, either.
he was glad taehyun had beomgyu now. he wasn’t worried leaving him alone in crowded places anymore and he could rest easy knowing that some creepy vampire wasn’t stalking his dongsaeng.
but back to his situation, because that was the real crisis.
so far, soobin had made no move to so much as even acknowledge yeonjun’s scent, and he certainly never expressed his thirst to him.yeonjun figured he was being polite, allowing them time to get to know one another, like a gentleman, or whatever. and yeonjun didn’t have a problem with that, really, but he knew the time would come where soobin would inevitably want to drink from him. he once overheard kai saying that blood ‘fresh from the source’ was like the difference of a human drinking plain water compared to a fine wine. incomparable, highly preferred, and more effective.
and soobin had essentially lived off blood bags his entire vampiric life. yeonjun was the first person he’d met with AB blood and likewise, soobin was the vampire he met who could only consume his blood type. it was fuel for his anxiety, his brain telling him that soobin wasn’t, couldn’t be interested in for any other reason. or that, if he was, it was only because of his thirst and desire to have a human to feed from that was colouring his opinion of yeonjun.
taehyun, and by extension beomgyu, had of course told him he was being a complete idiot, but he didn’t think it was that unusual. he was insecure, and craved reassurance. and he didn’t know how to ask for it, especially since he felt it was too early in the courtship to even bring it up. hell, soobin hadn’t even officially told him he was courting him. definitely too early.
but they were meeting up tonight, and yeonjun hoped that it would be the night that they finally labeled whatever it was they were doing. anxious thoughts aside, it was growing harder and harder to control his feelings for the vampire, and his urges to wrap him up in his arms and kiss him until he couldn’t breathe.
they weren’t doing anything fancy, just continuing their mission to visit every record shop in seoul in an attempt to find a rare, limited edition vinyl of ariana grande’s dangerous woman album. it cracked yeonjun up, the first time soobin told him he’d been looking for literal years with no luck. “ariana grande, seriously?” he’d teased. “you’re like…way too old to be into her that much.” soobin had pouted, crossing his arms. “she’s timeless, hyung. and music has no age limit, so are you going to help me or not?”
and so yeonjun helped. it was during these trips that he started picking up on the courting rituals. soobin had bought him a vinyl he’d found that had particularly pretty artwork (he had no idea who the artist was), and the next time he’d gifted him a copy of the new kendrick lamar album after he lamented over the shop being sold out. it was the third trip that soobin insisted they get food afterward, even though it would—obviously—only be for yeonjun’s benefit. and thus established their routine. meet at a record shop, peruse until they inevitably determined the famed ariana vinyl was nowhere to be found, throw in a bit of gift giving, and then food.
yeonjun was sure this one would be no different in practice, except he had a secret he’d kept since their second excursion, and he felt that now was the right time to reveal it. he felt bad, always being on the receiving end of soobin’s affection, and it was time he took a turn. he’d found the ariana grande vinyl online for a decent price and planned to surprise soobin with it. as he got ready to leave, he carefully tucked the vinyl into his tote bag and smiled at picturing the vampire’s reaction. he hoped he was happy.
when he arrived at the shop, on the quieter side of seoul, soobin was already there. he always was, and yeonjun liked to tease him for his timeliness. he looked dashing in his peacoat, black hair carefully styled out of his eyes, his skin shining in the setting sun, red eyes bright. yeonjun’s breath caught in his throat as he got off the bus, because yeah, soobin was just…hot. like really hot. yeonjun was ruined for any other man.
he gripped his tote bag as he crossed the road and soobin’s gaze caught his as he approached, a beautiful smile spreading across his face. his dimples popped out and yeonjun couldn’t help but return the smile giddily. soobin met him halfway, stopping a couple feet from him, like always. god, how yeonjun wanted that space between them to disappear.
“hi, hyung, you look very pretty,” soobin greeted, always honest. yeonjun blushed as soobin took in his basic outfit, and blinked away his embarrassment. “and you look very regal for a record store hunt,” he teased. soobin chuckled, touching his coat. “i’m hoping it brings us some luck, because i’m getting more and more pessimistic each failed attempt,” he replied. yeonjun took the leap and stepped closer, reaching out and smoothing out his collar. “i think today might be our lucky day,” he remarked.
soobin grinned again, turning and placing a hand on the small of yeonjun’s back as he pushed the door open. “i’m glad you’re optimistic for the both of us, then.” yeonjun bit back another smile, letting soobin guide him inside.
they walked up and down the aisles together, soobin staying close beside him like he always did. he stood a bit behind and off to the side of yeonjun, a protective stance that brought butterflies to yeonjun’s stomach every time. it wasn’t like he needed protection, but it felt really nice anyway. and he certainly didn’t mind everyone around them knowing that soobin was with him.
after nearly half an hour of searching, soobin let out his symbolic ‘i’ve given up’ sigh. yeonjun turned to give him a sympathetic smile as the vampire slouched in defeat against one of the boxes of vinyls. “i need to just accept defeat, hyung,” he murmured, covering his face with his hands. yeonjun chuckled, taking his hands away from his face. he resolutely does not let go of them. “you worked hard, soobinie, don’t be so hard on yourself,” he soothed. soobin met his eyes, full of dramatic despair, and leaned in to rest his forehead on yeonjun’s shoulder.
it nearly made yeonjun yelp with surprise, because soobin had never gotten so close before, but he managed to control himself and simply let the vampire do what he wanted. he was sure he could feel his racing heart, though, and that brought a bright flush to his cheeks. still, he powered through. he let go of one of soobin’s hands to carefully thread through his hair. it, like the rest of him, was cold, chilly like he’d just doused himself in cold water. but it was soft, and he liked running his fingers through it.
“you know, i actually have something to give you that might make you feel better,” he whispered. soobin only grunted, unmoving, and yeonjun chuckled, nudging him enough to lift his head. he did his best to ignore how close the vampire’s mouth had been to his throat. as soon as soobin was upright again, he pulled his bag from his shoulder and gripped the vinyl between his fingers.
he spared a glance at soobin, who had a curious expression, eyes darting down to the tote for only a brief second before settling back on yeonjun. this time, yeonjun couldn’t hide his blush, and he swallowed nervously before pulling out the vinyl and presenting it to the younger. he watched in real time as soobin’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped, fangs on complete display. the sight of them sent a shiver up yeonjun’s spine; he’d never seen them up close before.
soobin quickly closed his mouth as he blinked rapidly, disbelief written all over his beautiful face. “hyung, i…what? where did you get this?” he asked, gaze switching between yeonjun and the vinyl. yeonjun laughed, pushing the vinyl into soobin’s hands. the vampire flinched, haphazardly grabbing ahold of it. he held it like it was precious metal and yeonjun had to bite back his endeared coo.
“don’t worry about where it came from, just be glad it’s yours now!” he replied. soobin fish mouthed a few more times, still at a loss for words. yeonjun couldn’t stop smiling, the vampire’s reaction exactly what he’d been hoping for. it was only when soobin carefully tucked the vinyl into his own bag that yeonjun’s nerves returned. because the vampire closed the distance between them and wrapped yeonjun up in the warmest (well, not really) hug ever. he gasped a little, surprised at the embrace, but quickly gave into his desires and hugged soobin back.
he felt the vampire’s nose brush over his neck, and he shivered, but he didn’t care if soobin could feel it. it felt like they’d crossed into new territory, a line they’d been toeing for weeks now, and yeonjun wasn’t about to go back.
when they pulled back, soobin kept his hands on yeonjun’s waist, and yeonjun didn’t move his from soobin’s hips. the younger shook his bangs out of his eyes as he smiled at yeonjun. “you’re amazing, hyung, i can’t believe you found it. i can’t believe you looked for so long with me. i just can’t believe you,” he whispered. yeonjun, for the umpteenth time that night, blushed and finally gave in to his urges and pinched one of soobin’s cheeks.
the taller grimaced and flinched away, but the move only resulted in him shuffling closer to yeonjun. “we’ll have to find something else to do now instead, since we’ve accomplished mission: ariana grande vinyl,” he remarked. he had been worried about what would happen once they found the vinyl, if they’d stop hanging out altogether, and yeonjun would be the first to confess that that was the last thing he wanted.
he felt connected to the vampire in a way he wasn’t entirely sure he understood, not to mention he was still pretty sure soobin wanted to court him. in fact, upon hearing yeonjun’s remark, the vampire’s face suddenly morphed into a panicked expression and he quickly reached his hands around to take yeonjun’s.
“yeah! yes, of course, i don’t want to stop seeing you,” he blurted out, before his eyes widened and holy shit he was so fucking cute yeonjun was going to die. in an effort to help the frazzled vampire calm down, he pulled on his hands and moved them off the sidewalk and around the side of the record shop building to give them a bit more privacy. soobin looked distressed, letting go of one of yeonjun’s hands to run through his hair, and yeonjun gave him a sweet smile.
“i don’t want to stop seeing you either, soobin-ah,” he replied. soobin’s face broke into a happy smile, and then he quickly schooled his expression into something serious and determined. yeonjun felt his heartbeat speed up and it felt like the world around him melted away. soobin put his hand in one of his pockets and dug around for a moment, and yeonjun’s breath caught in his throat.
shyly, soobin presented yeonjun with a pendant. it was tiny, silver with black inlaid diamonds, and it looked like something that hailed from the middle ages. it glittered in the moonlight and it was yeonjun’s turn to drop his jaw in awe. he moved closer to look at it, and he saw the letter ‘c’ engraved in the centre, barely visible against the dyed metal. “this is my family crest, and…and i want you to have it,” soobin explained softly.
yeonjun lifted his face and he couldn’t organise his thoughts enough to form a proper sentence, just like soobin earlier. soobin, apparently picking up on the irony as well, let out a chuckle, before taking yeonjun’s hand and pressing the pendant into his palm. it was cold against his skin, but set a fire off in yeonjun’s heart.
when he met the vampire’s eyes, they were a sparkling black just like the diamonds. “soobin-ah…,” yeonjun breathed. soobin stepped closer, his presence suddenly all-consuming, his scent infiltrating all of yeonjun’s senses. he wondered if his own scent was clouding soobin’s brain too.
“hyung. i’ve grown so fond of you. would you…would you please give me the pleasure of courting you?” soobin’s voice was shaky, but his gaze wasn’t, and yeonjun felt captured. hook, line, sinker. he wondered if this was what taehyun felt like with beomgyu.
understanding that he needed to give soobin an answer, he pressed the pendant against his heart and slid his other arm around soobin’s neck, bringing their faces close enough that their noses brushed.
“it would be my pleasure, baby.” and he leaned in to connect their lips.
BUZZ.
yeonjun’s phone went off, causing the human to jump in surprise and effectively ruining his attempted kiss. it did cause soobin to pull him against him protectively, but yeonjun couldn’t even be happy about that because why the fuck was beomgyu calling him? he never called him, he either texted or had taehyun call him.
which—
“beomgyu, what’s wrong?” yeonjun asked as soon as he accepted the call.
on the other line, the vampire sounded out of breath, scared, and yeonjun’s blood ran cold.
“it’s t-t-taehyun, h-he—h-hospital, p-please come h-help me.”