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A
The thirtieth summer with Hanbin and the guys promised to be the same as ever. Hanbin and Hao would up and leave on an exotic trip to some random island they fancy just so they could act disgustingly in love from all corners of the world, not to mention all the selfies they are going to post hourly with captions similar to 285 years and still going strong. Jiwoong will cook up every single recipe from his granny packed Facebook groups to his current boy toy, who by that time, will have partially moved in with them, just as naturally as Gunwook had done so in their pool. Now Ricky is forced to listen to the loud splashes coming from the pool day and night thanks to his impeccable hearing. Pretty annoying if you ask him, considering how it brings disturbance to his nightly activities.
Certainly not sleeping though. That was a thing of the past for Ricky. He meant building and furnishing the most extravagant mansions to ever exist in the Sims ’cause who cares that he actually lives in one if he could build more and better ones? Besides, gaming is a perfect way to spend all the extra time that comes with not needing any sleep at all, which is a result of his evident vampirism.
That’s how, after almost three days of playing the Sims straight, only interrupted by Taerae’s short lived check-ups on him, Ricky took all his leftover energy to crawl down the stairs to get some refreshments from the kitchen. He could clearly hear Matthew’s excited gushing even from the hallway. Poor Jiwoong’s ear must have already been talked off about a new series that Matthew binged in just a couple of days. Oh well, his fault for keeping a chatty brat around who is obsessed with storytelling.
Stepping into the kitchen he was immediately blinded by a stream of light which sneaked in to light up the room from between two curtains. Compared to his dark bunker of a loft he just came from the brightness of this room was a personal attack against him. Although Jiwoong was much more adapted to sunlight thanks to his experience as a vampire, he still wasn’t completely immune to the scorching summer sun. Underneath his flowery apron he was clad in black from head to toe with shades perched on his nose as he washed a basin full of cherries. On his side, Matthew was sat on a chair with his legs thrown over another one, keeping the older entertained as he worked with the fruit.
Ricky not wanting to deal with them just grunted at the pair as a form of greeting, which they quickly reciprocated and as they were about to turn back to their conversation, they were stopped by Ricky’s attempt at mutilating their fridge by tearing the door open. He shrieked at the sight of blood, or more like, the lack of blood, his favorite blood! He was immediately filled with frustration for breakfast.
“Jiwoong, I can’t believe you,” Ricky shot him a nasty glance, “did you seriously have to gobble up the O-negative again?” the accused man just shrugged and turned back to the cherries without showing any remorse, while next to him, Matthew was trying his hardest to muffle his laughter. Still, his wagging ears and tail were a dead giveaway of whose side he was on. “You all know that’s my favorite!” he sulked. None the less, he grabbed a pack of A-positive, emptied it into his Hello Kitty mug, took a metal straw and he would have been out the door, had he not been almost trampled by a half-naked Gunwook, who waltzed into the room with only a towel covering his groin a phone in hand and a smug smile on his face.
“Sup guys! My my, look who decided to show up!” marveled Gunwook at the sight of Ricky, who, without paying any attention to him, left the kitchen with his portion of blood. He heard as the others switched the topic to pizza and wow… that made him remember the good old times. Back in his human days he was a big fan of pizza as well! He never had a big appetite, but when it came to pizza? He never said no… except when it had pineapples on them. That’s a huge no, a crime.
He was already on the second step of the stairs when he was abruptly pulled from his nostalgic musings of the past by a loud bang, then Gunwook’s nervous blabbers of apologies.
“Noooo, I’m so incredibly sorry Jiwoong, I didn’t mean to mess up all your work!”
“Don’t you worry about that, I was the one who was a bit too messy, you must have stepped into a puddle that I splashed out! And look, most of them are still safe and I can rewash the rest…”
Ricky could clearly see the scene in front of him that must have gone down in the kitchen: Gunwook stepped into some water, shifted, and with that he must have flipped over the basin full of washed fruit. Gunwook must be a pitiful sight as he now lay on the kitchen floor as a flapping half-fish. Thankfully, none of this was his concern, at least he thought that was the case as he plopped himself down into his trusty beanbag just when another shout came from downstairs.
“Fucking hell! Why must the pizza delivery guy have to get here now of all times?!”
With some bribing it ended up being Ricky who, oh so graciously, agreed to get the pizza while Jiwoong and Matthew helped with drying Gunwook up. He has been waiting for a couple of minutes already, thankfully in the shade that their well-kept hedge is providing, and getting bored out of his mind when a red car pulled up to their driveway. The car, comically small in Ricky’s opinion, with a logo on its side portraying a very stereotypical looking Italian chef with a huge moustache and a box of pizza in one hand, has definitely seen better days.
Ricky just soundlessly seized up the puzzled guy getting out of the car. He was looking around like a lost little puppy, who’s seeing the outside world for the first time. Quite endearing. Continuing his assessment of the guy, Ricky couldn’t decide if the pizza that Gunwook has ordered was small or the hands of the pizza delivery person were just obscenely oversized.
“Ehm, hi, hello, whatsit, eh… greetings!” said the guy as he handed over the boxed goods to him. It always delighted Ricky when somebody was unsure how old he was, he preened under the attention as his vampire ego just burst to fullness. “My apologies, I kinda got lost on my way here, you see I haven’t delivered pizza to this neighborhood before, or anywhere around here, or you know… just in general heh, you see, I just started yesterday actually, khmm so yeah…”
Ricky just about had enough of the guy’s blabbering and was about to ask him how much he should pay for the pizza when he saw how the other’s mouth just opened in a huge O, evidently shutting him up for a second. The delivery boy, when leaned over a bit, had the chance to peak over the gate and see past the tall hedges onto the estate.
“Holy shiiiit! What a crib!” gasped the amazed youngster at the sight of Jiwoong’s mansion, then a second later he stepped into Ricky’s personal bubble and as quite as he could, intimately whispered the following question into his ear “So what does your old man do to be able to afford all this?”
Without breaking the settling silence, Ricky just seized up the intruder of his personal space and came to the conclusion that it’d be the best for both of them if he just paid up and quickly answered the innocent question before he got bombarded with some more personal ones. One problem though. He wasn’t quite sure who should he consider as his “old man” in this situation. Was it the man, who fathered him and took care of him for the first 19 years of his life and now lived his life problem free as a senior citizen in China? Or was it his creator, Hanbin, who had turned him on that fatal night in order to save him, essentially becoming his vampire father (mother)? Alternatively, Jiwoong, who is the rightful owner of their residence, and very much a daddy when taking some other factors into consideration.
“Damn, dude, is he part of some shady stuff? Are you mute ‘cuz it’s that illegal?” Were the questions that brought Ricky back to reality. “Money laundering? Tax evasion? Is your dad some kind of a politician?!
“Yes, a politician.” uttered Ricky without thinking much. He just wanted this interaction to end as fast as possible in all fairness. Although, now that he thinks about it, he can totally imagine Hanbin as a politician fighting for their rights at the parliament. But realistically, it is Gunwook he believes could be the most successful politician out of all of them. He’d be capable of coaxing the old village ladies into voting for his party with nothing else just some sweet words and organic potatoes. Enough of that thought, he all but shoved a couple hundred bills into the delivery guy’s hands, hoping that it covered the fee of the pizza, throwing out a quiet “keep the change” over his shoulder and he moved on, not missing the stammering of the perplexed man.
“They are truly loaded!” were the last bits that Ricky still heard from the front of their lot as he elegantly swept his way back indoors through Jiwoong’s precious little well-kept garden he oh so adored.
“Come now, you gilled bogus! Got your food.” grumbled Ricky as he passed Gunwook his pizza, who has by now gotten comfortable with Matthew and assisted him in ogling Jiwoong as he still struggled with the cherries. The merman’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Thank you! I’m in your debt dude, you’re an angel.” were the boisterous words of the grateful fish which made Ricky fill with dread. He already knew what was about to go down. Not a moment later, with his favorite sunglasses on, ukulele in hand and a barely visible gloria above his head, Taerae just spawned next to him with a small poof.
“How many more times do I have to tell you, Gunwook, that the only angel here is yours truly?! This blood sucking twat is as far from it as it gets!”
They teased and joked around for a bit more until Jiwoong kicked everyone out except for Matthew, attributing it to the sudden population density growth in the kitchen making his working conditions “uncomfortable and inhumane”.… Rich coming from a vampire who’s a couple hundred years old but Ricky digresses.
The merman, angel and the vampire were now stood in the corridor, banished.
"They're not going to commit anything unholy in there, are they?" asked Gunwook with feigned concern, alas, immediately giving himself away because he couldn’t hide the small smirk off his face against all his efforts. Truthfully, he was much too excited about the possibility of a vampire-werewolf action going down in the kitchen during the weekend canning of harvested goods. His humor was definitely on par with his age in Ricky’s opinion…
The little group of disowned banished beings ended up separating after Gunwook has finished his pizza. He jumped back into the pool while Taerae decided it’d be in his best interest to leach off of Ricky, gently coercing him into playing table tennis on Ricky’s old Nintendo. This is what happens when somebody doesn’t think through their decision of leaving their human life behind by choosing to become a vampire. Once you enter the life of the undead, you evidently leave your guardian angel jobless, resulting in them becoming the kind of friend you can never get rid of. Kind of like a period, it always comes at the worst time and overstays it’s welcome.
At least that’s what happened in Taerae’s case. Ricky has already told him off on multiple occasions how he’s just a lazy little shit for not taking another job, and no, being able to perform the masterpieces from the second generation of kpop on multiple instruments does not count as a full-time job. Although Ricky had to give it to him, Taerae was a master when it came to playing the full discography of INFINITE on the ukulele.
Ricky didn’t know anything about Jiwoong’s past guardian angel, on the other hand he learnt that Hao’s angel, Jingxiang had been promoted to become the assistant of an archangel and Hui, who had been responsible for Hanbin’s safety, is now stationed at the Christmas division.
As Ricky pondered on about Taerae’s unemployment in the quiet of his room, the sky had turned dark, and Ricky’s mood for a little exploration in Genshin grew. He was already booting up his PC when his phone pinged. It couldn’t have been that important, he thought, it was probably just his hungry Pou which is constantly on the brink of death fighting for its life because Ricky can’t take proper care of it, or maybe another notification from My Anime List about how that very exciting, definitely not generic, never ever done before isekai he has been watching will be expanded with a third season. Don’t judge him, he’s an unemployed vampire with all the time on his hands, he has to spend it somehow!
But when his phone kept on buzzing with incoming notifications, he immediately knew what it could be, or more like, who was blowing up his phone. In any other case he wouldn’t have let himself be bothered by some messages, and kept on playing with the most ideal waifu of all time, Ayaka, but his cockblock was an exceptional figure, especially because this special someone was in a very awkward life stage of his, and while Ricky wouldn’t have admitted it out loud, he did feel some kind of big brotherly obligation towards him.
Twenty-six unread messages greeted him from Yujin which were gratuitously filled with various puking and about to puke emojis. Clearly, he wasn’t enjoying his trip to the Maldives in Hao and Hanbin’s company.
Ricky diligently read back the long breakdown of the teen and tried his best to conjure up a message that mirrored his sympathy, but in the end, they still decided to talk things out over a call instead.
It would have been a slight overexaggeration to call Yujin the Antichrist, but only a slight. Ricky simply could not comprehend what Hao and Hanbin were thinking sixteen years ago when they decided to adopt Yujin, not to mention, how the hell were they able to clear things up legally for the adoption to go without a hitch considering that they were a bunch of men (vampires) living in a mansion? They must have been a sight to see…But when the kid was only a few months old and managed to almost burn down the whole estate with his eyes, talked in unknown languages as if in a trance and refused to watch anything else than murder shows for his bed time stories as an eight-year-old, came the collective realization to them all, Yujin was a little devil, literally.
Funnily enough, as a teenager he has become quite ordinary. His “tired of life” attitude combined with him slowly growing into his limbs, eating his weight and skating made him out to be just like any other boy, but this was the time his relationship with Ricky has gotten way deeper. They became partners in crime. Gaming was always a delight and he understood Ricky’s passion for lazing around.
However, not long before the lovebirds set out for another honeymoon-esque trip with the kid, Yujin has been acting way more moody and sour, respectively, his childhood “symptoms” seemed to have reoccurred, e.g.: breaking multiple windows, picture frames and glasses with an angry shout, shifting eye colors, and a frequent complaint about headaches.
Yujin reported how Hanbin had just found the source of Yujin’s headaches: his horns started growing. And for real, he even sent a picture as evidence. Between his black locks are two very clearly visible bumps where his horns are trying to penetrate skin. After Hao contacted some of his devil friends, they were given a heads-up how in the foreseeable future the kid will face some spine problems as well, thanks to the tail he’ll be growing. And how his nails might be growing faster as well, which is arguably the smaller nuisance.
Other than the struggles of his second puberty, Yujin was also suffering because of another earth-shattering reason: there doesn’t seem to be a single McDonald’s on the tropical islands. At all. Hanbin and Hao tried their best at consoling him, but at this point he just wanted to go home as soon as possible.
Once Yujin unloaded everything off of his chest, he asked Ricky about how things were back at home. Ricky didn’t have much to share, they talked about his plans in Animal Crossing, and how he was able to region-guess Russia just from grass, then he also mentioned what happened today with Gunwook in the kitchen and how, thanks to him, he left the house after a two week long self-imposed house arrest. They chit-chatted and giggled a little while longer, however Hao interrupted them by warning Yujin to get himself ready for their stargazing date. The devil never sleeps they say, but boy was Yujin up for a short hibernation break. Nevertheless, as a self-proclaimed “good boy” he quickly gathered himself, although not without a roll of his eyes, and joined his parents.
A few hours later Yujin sent him a tiktok. Sue him, but Ricky refused to watch every one of them that were sent to him, especially the ones that didn’t come with any additional messages. However, now there were multiple key smashes and a bunch of text in all caps screaming his name, some with typos even. He couldn’t resist looking at all those “RICKY” text bubbles, so he checked it out.
His usually well-controlled, stoic façade was immediately broken by genuine amusement. The subject of the tiktok was none other than the pizza delivery guy from today… and himself. “They are truly loaded!” said the guy in the video and he switched the camera from the front facing lens to the back camera just in time to catch Ricky with his back facing the viewers.
As if this all wasn’t enough, Ricky couldn’t ignore the numbers the short video has made in just a couple of hours. The tiktok had gathered thousands of likes and hundreds of comments which piqued Ricky’s interest. Should he ignore the whole thing altogether or should he submit himself to the tiktok commenters’ almighty judgement?
Most of them were about how it’s incredulous how some people live in mansions, yet gobble down the same pizza as the “plebs”, how the blond guy is probably a spoiled brat who only got into university thanks to daddy’s money and so on. The rest were just trying to conjure up who the mysterious guy could be, how his shoulders were massive yet elegant, tried to find out his height from their doorknob and reconstructing his facial features from the back of his head.
After more than five minutes have passed, did he notice, that he was still sorting through the comment section with bated breath, and while some of them regarding his looks were a stroke to his ego for sure, he decided he would make the pizza guy delete the tiktok.
He checked out the profile, which consisted of cute dog videos and foolish dance covers to current pop songs. And against all odds, he still had thousands of followers! Ricky denied every occasion, but when he was sighing about the current youth’s activities, he did come off very boomerish; which Yujin loved to remind him of the most.
He let the video play again. Stopped it halfway through. Was he seriously this absorbed with this dumb bullshit? Only humans are fired up over these kinds of nonsenses, what’s it to him that some ditzy girlies are trying to analyze him? They wouldn’t even remember seeing this clip tomorrow anyway, moreover, if they aren’t as lucky, this will be the least of their worries in the next sixty years of their lives, while he on the other hand, will be enjoying his youthful nineteen-year-old body, gaming and slurping some tasty O blood.
That’s why in the end, he decided not to contact the delivery boy, sweet dreams to him! He must be relaxing those gorgeous doe eyes just about now. Those searching eyes that he had looked Ricky over with so piercingly when he brought the pizza. With those sensation hunting big-boy eyes…
Ricky shook his head. He shouldn’t be wasting so much energy on this incident to begin with, he has to accept it how it is, this is the life of celebrities. The thought made him grin with satisfaction. He couldn’t wipe the smug look off his face, hell, in his thoughts he was already making up scenarios where he gets tons of fans and followers. But what if some of those become stalkers? Even better, try to break in to their house? Ok, actually, he shouldn’t worry about that too much, there is no way the average joe could break through Hanbin’s security system. And to be frank, what harm could some teenage girls do to him anyways?
After he was done imagining himself as an idol, he summoned his unemployed angel companion for a round (or more) of FIFA. That night he hadn’t spent any more time thinking about the pathetic pizza delivery guy. Almost.
B
In merfolk society it was no longer considered scandalous for the youth to come up to the surface and mingle amongst the other supernaturals, but what Gunwook was doing was a bit more unusual than just meeting up with a couple of acquaintances for a cup of coffee.
Once he became friends with Hanbin and Hao at a monster party, it became a habit of his to spend more and more time at their crib. First it was the couch then the garden and let’s not forget about the huge luxury pool either. And just like that, Gunwook only returned to the see for some short-lived visits. Although the residents of the villa kept up a room for him, Gunwook much more preferred to stay in the indoor pool. This was when Jiwoong had decided they really needed a separate fridge for normal food as well, considering how there was just simply not enough space for both blood and regular food, which was now feeding three mouths instead of just one.
Gunwook was aware that the four filthy rich vampires would not have cared if they had to pay for another being besides their little devil child and werewolf lover, but that is not how this finned fellow was brought up, he was not going to be a useless settler. Gunwook made sure to start looking for a way to make money as soon as he could.
The online teaching platforms were introduced to him by none other than Hao, who himself used the site to teach classical Chinese, standard Mandarin and some other natural science related things about rocks and shit and also tutored his students from these. What Gunwook couldn’t have known, was that this is how Hao tried to compensate for the fact that about fifty years ago he was fired from a conservatory. He was deemed too dangerous to the kids and his colleagues, even though, him and Hanbin have long stopped pursuing a predator-like lifestyle by then. So that’s shortly how Gunwook ended up making bank whilst teaching kids basic arithmetic’s and geometry.
Gunwook has managed to create a pretty big circle of friends for himself consisting of both land and sea creatures, that’s why it was pretty common of him to throw pool parties to which the whole horde of friends was always invited. Gunwook loved to party, but with moderation, and he was also pretty good at keeping the crowd under control (politician…), that’s why Hao and Hanbin trusted him and even joined in to mingle with the guests.
However, Ricky was not too keen on these parties, they disrupted his tranquility by blasting the current top hits of rappers, with lyrics about the joys of life: flexing your money, drugs and getting bitches. In reality, Ricky wasn’t intimidated by any of these, past or present, he just liked to feel morally superior.
The parties are held around the pool mostly, but it’s unavoidable to keep the guests outside at all times, they always manage to sneak their way into the building for various reasons. But these can lead into some pretty unpleasant encounters, like the one Ricky just got himself into while coming down to get a snack.
Thanks to his impeccable sight, Ricky immediately noticed the ominous figure wandering about the semi-dark ground-floor, which he quickly identified as the pizza delivery guy from yesterday. He was hoping he could just slip past him in popular vampire fashion so he doesn’t have to come into direct contact with him any more than necessary. Consequently, the idea of ignoring him and passing up this perfect opportunity to get the guy to delete the by now semi-viral tiktok video just did not sit well with him.
But then the lights turned on in the nearby living-room, and the guy just so happened to notice him thanks to the brightness and he shouted.
“Here you are! I couldn’t find you outside!”
Were the words heard by not only him, but by Gunwook as well who had just rushed in through the patio doors, making him stumble and stare with bewilderment at the scene unfolding in front of him: Ricky standing straight as a pole, caught in headlights, whilst the newly acquainted delivery guy, Gyuvin (who had been graciously invited to join the party) was emoting in real life, pointing his finger at Ricky like your average clickbait video reactionist.
“You guys know each other? From where?” asked Gunwook as he joined their little circle looking from one of them to the other and back. Both of them answered at the same time, neither of them saying the full truth.
“From TikTok!”
“No” stated Ricky firmly, but they didn’t get to know the how’s and why’s because one of Gunwook’s moderately intoxicated friends seemed to have appeared out of thin air, looking for the host within the small gathering of three when-
“Is that you, Gyuvin?!” boomed the newcomer’s boisterous voice, which made Ricky want to roll his eyes and he very much had enough of everyone seemingly meeting up with everyone during his short food break, but what came next was just too much. Gunwook had once again, asked the same question with genuine curiosity:
“And Junhyeon, how do you and Gyuvin know each other?”
“Grindr!” answered excitedly Junhyeon, who had just dapped Gyuvin up, who seemingly was just as fired up by the unexpected reunion. Finally, nobody was paying attention to Ricky, it was time for him to bail when Gunwook aggressively beat Junhyeon’s back while squeeling like a squeaky-toy.
“Oh my God, is he the one with the huge cock?!”
That’s it, Ricky had ultimately had enough of this conversation, he needed to leave without a trace and get to the kitchen as unnoticeably as he could. And while the sophisticated conversation continued on about comparative anatomy, he robotically opened the fridge and without thinking took out a bag which fortunately contained AB, a slightly better than tolerable type for Ricky's taste.
By the time he poured himself a drink, the house was quiet again, but not really. Even though Junhyeon had dragged Gunwook back to the pool, he could still hear Gyuvin squirming around the house. Sadly, there was nobody else besides them, Ricky’s chances of being saved from having to interact with Gyuvin were non-existent. Moreover, all his hopes of Gyuvin forgetting him having had been a part of the conversation before scurrying off to the kitchen died, once Ricky saw his pitiful outline adorned with kicked-puppy eyes in the kitchen door. If Ricky himself hadn’t been a vampire, he would have pissed himself by the half-stranger peering at him in the dark.
“Ehm, could you tell me where I can find the shitter?” asked the guy with the utmost gracefulness he could muster up.
It was pretty hard for Ricky to keep his composure as he found himself in the best blackmail situation with his universe-appointed enemy. Or better said, choose: your bladder or the video!
“Well, I could very much tell you”, he said with fake wonder, then, with the elegance of a predator he met Gyuvin’s eyes with his own piercing ones, “but what if I asked for something in return?”
“Nooo, is this like, a bad rip off from the Little Mermaid? Like the ugly witch with the huge tits?” whined the delivery boy, and then to emphasize the extreme agony he felt with every second he wasn’t let known the whereabouts of the toilet he stomped his foot. Ricky quickly pushed the thought of an Ursula cosplay wearing Gunwook out the swirling sea of associations of his mind, he needed to get back to accomplishing his goal.
“Something like that,” sneered Ricky, “but I don’t want your voice. All I’m asking of you is to delete the tiktok about me!”
What Gyuvin performed after this simple request was much more similar to that of a reaction of a five-year-old preschooler having a meltdown at a grocery store than the reaction of a working adult man.
“No! Pleeeeeease! I’ll do anything, just don’t make me delete it! That’s my most popular video!” pleaded Gyuvin with hands clasped in prayer and head bowed deep on his knees. This particular sight in the middle of the mysterious foyer of the mansion just made Gyuvin look like a desperate medieval monk, not that Ricky knew what those looked like, he wasn’t as old as Jiwoong, nevertheless it still made him almost break his character. This Gyuvin guy truly was a natural born entertainer, he had to give it to him.
“Anything?” asked back Ricky with a cocked brow. Anything encompasses a lot of things. As Ricky pondered a bit more while looking at his blood filled Kuromi glass he was struck by inspiration.
“Yes! Truly anything, I’ll even be your slave for a day just help me out please, I really need to pee!” offered up his serf services Gyuvin a little bit too recklessly. Ricky on the other hand just became even more amused at how the interaction seemed to unfold, nevertheless, he wasn’t evil, he decided he would share the location of the sacred place where Gyuvin could take his time to unload himself.
“Very well, I’ll agree to your services… but you do know what that could lead to, right?” Ricky’s voice became serious. As a civilized modern vampire, Ricky had never drunk from anyone without their voiced consent, never drained anyone dry and the like. His vampire parents had thought him manners, gentleness and to be considerate of the fact that humans are much more fragile and vulnerable than how they may appear at first. As much of a meddling little prick this guy was, even he didn’t deserve to die in a brutal bloodbath. “You’re aware of the fact that just like Junhyeon, Jiwoong, and technically everyone else who lives here I’m also…” he didn’t feel the need to add a supernatural being, he assumed it would be granted, considering how Junhyeon and Gyuvin seem to have gotten to know one other pretty intimately. He must be aware that that not only werewolves but vampires and the like roam the city.
“Oh, don’t you worry about that, I have many friends who are just like you, I’m totally cool with it! You see, I’m not judgmental at all, for example I love the way you guys dress and…” Ricky didn’t know what to make of that last part, considering that at the moment of the conversation he was wearing a worn sweatshirt and pajama shorts with an ugly pattern.
After a quick agreement, they exchanged contacts and Ricky finally disclosed the whereabouts of the toilet with his impatient guest.
-
It would have been pretty pathetic to pounce on his new plaything the day after the deal was struck, so Ricky pretended he had forgotten about the whole ordeal. He hadn’t written to Gyuvin or thought about him much, being as he was already preoccupied with his flatmates, lazy guardian angel and wonders of the internet. But then at night, when he was chatting with Yujin, he couldn’t just not mention that the featherbrained delivery guy with the gorgeous yaoi hands he wouldn’t mind holding and the those cutely twinkling eyes of a newly-born calf had agreed to be his slave for a day in exchange for a piss at their mansion. Ah, these silly little humans and their shameful needs… But he only mentioned it as a half-thought, really. He was already done thinking about Gyuvin, ready to switch topics, turning the page, but Yujin couldn’t seem to let it go.
“Ricky, you like this guy, don’t you? You’re starting to talk about him the way Hao and Hanbin talk about each other. It’s funny as hell if you ask me… also, kinda gross.”
A soon as Yujin finished his little call-out Ricky slammed the phone on him, which got followed up by a text he received from the little devil:
TSUNDERE.
-
Three days later when Ricky was hungrily assessing the contents of their fridge, he came to the dreadful conclusion, once again, they were out of type O blood. He tried his best not to descend into a full-blown tantrum, nevertheless he still berated Jiwoong for being an inconsiderate asshole, who as usual, calmy accepted the accusations thrown at him.
Ricky was about to pick out a shoddy substitute when a flash of realization struck him to the core: he had live prey now! But who knows what blood type he has?! Sadly, Ricky still wasn’t trained enough to sniff that out with thirty years of vampire experience, or really anything that his elders were capable of. Never mind that, fresh and warm blood was fresh and warm, nothing changed that. Ricky hasn’t had the opportunity to suckle from the source itself for quite some time now, so really, any type would suffice. That is, he warned himself, if Gyuvin actually agreed to being drank from.
Maybe with a bit too much excitement he trotted up to his room and dialed Gyuvin. He was nervously pacing around in his room as the phone rang, waiting for Gyuvin to pick it up, then a heavy gasp spooked him.
“Hey, sorry, bro, I’ve just delivered an order, turns out, the owner’s dog doesn’t like me much…” Gyuvin recounted the incident still jogging, then Ricky heard him hop into a car and shut the door.
“What’s up?”
He had not expected the effect Gyuvin’s panting voice would have on him, which the last he had heard was a few days ago. Time sure does make a difference, he found it hard to answer immediately with his puzzlement, it was especially embarrassing considering he initiated the call, he should be expressing his idea, more precisely, his wishes, or even more precisely, in this exceptional case, his demands. Turns out, things seemed to click a little faster for the delivery guy as they spoke up at the same time.
“I’d like it if you could…”
“Oh, so you want it today...”
They both fell silent. Then Ricky finally spoke up.
“When does your shift end? Can you be here in two hours? I want you to pay off your debt today.” He immediately regretted his choice of wording, it sounded just like the introduction to a cheap porno, but what was said was said.
AB
And Gyuvin was actually able to get off work two hours later. Ricky wasn’t sure if he just bailed or if his working hours actually ended, but who was he to worry about the career of a quack, he needed a specific bodily fluid and nothing else, and that may have gotten him a little too on edge.
Jiwoong didn’t prod him to say where he was going and with who, but Ricky couldn’t shake off the feeling that came with the questioning glances he received as he was seen leaving their estate. Ricky felt like a teenager, hiding what he was doing on his adventurous night outs from his parents, even more as he waited for Gyuvin at the gate where they first met. He hadn’t particularly prepared for the meeting, after all, it wasn’t a date or anything like that, but the thought of luscious, silky fresh blood kept him going. A car’s headlights turning into their street caught him hopping from one foot onto the other as he waited impatiently.
At first, he wasn’t even sure if it was Gyuvin, but then he connected the dots, that he hadn’t come with the company car, but his own. His own wreck of a car, that had surely seen better days, to say the least. Then the first notes of a violent trap song reached his ear from the crumbling vehicle, so when Gyuvin reached across the passenger seat to pop open the door for him, Ricky’s first order of the day was to switch to a radio station that played retro hits. Once the comforting voice of Diana Ross hit him, he was instantly more satisfied.
“Good, now let’s head to the rock!” Ricky gave the order, much more easily than how he first expected, he was kind of nervous to be honest, he wasn’t as authoritative as Hao for example.
Ricky hoped he didn’t have to explain to Gyuvin he meant the cliff overlooking the beach, which had become quite the popular tourist spot for its lookout. And also, amongst the youth who did unspeakable things there to spice up their romance on hot nights, so Gyuvin pretty much got the hint. Or rather, he thought he did.
Surprisingly enough, Gyuvin didn’t talk much during the ride, just absentmindedly hummed along to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun playing from the radio, and occasionally glanced over at Ricky with an all-knowing smile, which, of course he thought would go unnoticed, but Ricky knew better.
Once they arrived at the gravely parking lot of the lookout, an awkward silence fell over the car. The engine wasn’t roaring anymore, even the radio quieted, only the dim overhead lights stayed turned on. Ricky was actively inspecting his fingernails, gathering courage to take action, but the other of course couldn’t tolerate the silence for long, immediately trying to come up with an interesting conversation starter.
“Ehm…Ooh, look how starry the sky is tonight! I think we might have a full moon as well,” Gyuvin started, leaning back in his seat when the realization dawned in his eyes, that this was his chance at a joke he just couldn’t skip, so he proudly fired it off. “Ricky! Are you perchance a werewolf? Did you plan to bring me here to gobble me up in one bite?”
He topped off his question with animalistic sputtering and growling, illustrated with claw-like gestures. Unfortunately, Ricky was unable to appreciate the joke as Gyuvin had hoped he would, partly because the vampiric superiority within him had been offended by the lousy comparison to the kind of a scruffy lycanthrope. On the other hand, he also got reminded of how Jiwoong calms Matthew down and renders him harmless in these times, which he found to be both terrifying and disgustingly romantic.
Jiwoong had once recounted him a story which took place circa a hundred years ago. He had met another vampire who, on a full moon, prevented werewolves from turning into uncontrollable beasts by simply draining them of the blood that gets set aflame by the moon. Jiwoong had tried this method on someone else before he had met Matthew, but failed. Thus, when the latter had requested him to try it one more time, on him, Jiwoong had been apprehensive at first. Nevertheless, as dangerous as it may be, Matthew’s trust in Jiwoong is stronger, and they had decided to give it a chance. Since they succeeded that first time, it had become something they do monthly now. Good for them, really. But then Gyuvin’s huffing and puffing jerked Ricky right back into his own, considerably unusual present.
“So, what now, are you frozen, old man?”
Ricky shook himself, and in his deepest, most unyielding voice, ordered Gyuvin to get out of the car and into the backseat. With a grin of suspicion, Gyuvin readily obeyed as Ricky mirrored him on the other side. From this newfound perspective, the situation seemed much more suggestive in the shared space and the possibilities it proposed made the two of them shift in embarrassment.
Ultimately, it was the sweet promise of the much-coveted fresh blood that emboldened Ricky to move. In a strange half sitting-kneeling position, he crept closer to Gyuvin, who was pressed into the backseat behind the wheel. The tattered upholstery of the seat uncomfortably brushed against the parts of his knee that weren’t covered by his ripped jeans, and when there was very little keeping him back from climbing onto the other, their eyes met and somehow everything seemed to have come to a stop as they ceased to exist outside the bubble they have found themselves in.
“Why are you coming so close?” Gyuvin shivered as the other hovered over his lap, making the other stop his movement in confusion at the question. Maintaining the eye contact, he answered with another question.
“How do you expect me to do this from afar?” Ricky frowned, and he couldn’t help but notice the huge gulp he received from the pizza delivery guy. Gosh he’s got a gigantic Adam’s apple, thought Ricky, but then he forced himself back into concentration.
“It’s just that, it’s not quite clear to me now…” began Gyuvin, uncertainly, like a frightened child. Ricky almost felt sorry for him, however, he then was overwhelmed with a sudden rush of anxiety that he probably hadn’t explained his intentions in sufficient detail. But suddenly Gyuvin had a huge grin on his face. “You want to suck me off, don’t you?”
The reaction this question awakened within Ricky was indescribable. The disgust mixed with excitement came crashing down on him in waves, which rendered him unable to react to how Gyuvin, with some heaven-sent audacity, had now properly pulled him into his lap. Still holding onto Ricky by his belt, he daringly cocked his head to the side, looking way too smug. Good heavens, did this wretch really think that Ricky would use his servitude to orally please him? As Ricky settled onto his new seat, that is, Gyuvin’s legs, he couldn’t help but giggle under his breath. The audacity on this guy…
“Not the least! I just wanted to get some blood from you, but I believe we have misunderstood each other.” Ricky explained, as the expressions on the boy seemed to very obviously change based on his processing of the situation. Ricky watched him expectantly, not moving from his lap. The awkward silence didn’t feel as awkward anymore as he observed the boy with eagerness. The constant flow of blood in his veins, the steady thrums of his pulse, the way he licked his dry lips to wetten them, not a single detail avoiding Ricky’s attention. All this happening in a stuffy car in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by darkness. He had to admit it, this whole situation was indeed sexual, especially from the point of view of a horny nineteen-year-old. What was even more shameful to admit, however, was that slowly he was also becoming affected by this degree of intimacy.
He thought back to his mortal days, when he had been like the now squirming boy beneath him. What the hushed whispers tickling his ear, the wet breath kissing his neck had been like, and the good kind of pain in his muscles that served as evidence. But he also knew what it had been like right after his transformation; the inseparability of hunger for prey and tenderness, the desire, that had become unnerving with its constant demand for attention. Then the memories of his recent escapades have flashed through his mind; bashful smiles, bony wrists, sweet collarbones, soft thighs and, of course, the trace of silky fresh blood on his tongue. Struck by the realization of an impending inner dilemma, he asked himself. Was that all he wanted from Gyuvin?
“Ricky… I’m not scared.” Gyuvin nervously swallowed again. He was so absurdly sweet ridiculous at this moment that Ricky barely held back a soft laugh. He had to remind himself that staying genuine and serious is what’s most important right now, he had to let the other know that he was in no danger.
“Listen, I know I said you’d be my servant for the day, but this is no laughing matter. No compromises. If you say no, there won’t be any bloodsucking. Or dick sucking, for that matter.
“I meant what I said.” Gyuvin asserted and confidently turned his head to bare his neck at the vampire.
“Alright. But if it turns out to be too much, just let me know and I’ll stop…” Ricky reminded him again, hoping he sounded firm and grown-up, and that Gyuvin hadn’t noticed how he was shaking a little with nervousness.
“As if you were talking about sex again…” Gyuvin said as a last funny remark before Ricky, with a roll of his eyes, wet his lips and leaned forward to lick a stripe up Gyuvvin’s neck, eliciting a rather shameless sigh from the younger.
Shortly, the sensual sigh turned into a pained moan as Ricky sank his teeth into the taut skin over the pulsing vein. The present seared into him with the power of a lightning bolt. His senses heightened. Even in the dimly lit car he could clearly see the tiny hairs covering Gyuvin’s body, hear his panting breath, feel his heart speed up, beating wild as a frail prey’s does, when being chased within an inch of its life and… And of course, the most intense of them all, Gyuvin’s sweat and sweet blood mixing on his tongue. He could feel him in his mouth, his nose, brain, the line of his spine.
He was about to completely surround himself to the euphoric pleasure of blood sucking when the shocking realization, shattering the mind-numbing gratification of feeding, made him stop, eyes bulging, mouth hanging open.
The two locked eyes. Gyuvin, who didn’t seem to be faring much better, still trying to grapple with his thoughts about the fact that he didn’t just donate blood in a sterile doctor’s office for medical purposes, but had given it to very seductive man seated comfortably in his lap.
“Gyuvin,” Ricky said in horror, “your blood type…”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s B...” Gyuvin started hesitantly, but the vampire, tugging at his hair lashed out at him.
“Oh, yes, B-negative, I’m well aware!” Ricky seethed, focused on the two reddish openings on Gyuvin’s neck.
“So… is that a bad thing?” he asked back dumbly, a bit confused. He looked so cuddly and innocent as he melted into the seat, giving himself up to Ricky so earnestly, he felt somewhat touched, but the outrage he felt flaring up in him has overtaken his sweet thoughts.
“Yes,” he began matter-of-factly, then he decided holding back would be useless, and decided to spill everything, “I can’t stand that blood type. But what’s worse, is that I can taste that you ate something with pineapples recently, and I fear I know what it was, am I right?”
When he received an affirmative nod from Gyuvin, he was struck down by a minor inner crisis. Is he really going to stop his feast just because the menu is not to his liking? Is B-negative type blood really that bad or is he just being childishly picky? Or a slightly more frightening option: does he just want to keep sucking blood because it’s Gyuvin’s?
Eventually, as he overcame the inner voices tormenting him, and the unpleasant aftertaste of Gyuvin’s blood on his palate, he leaned in for another mouthful. With a sudden impulse, he grabbed Gyuvin’s awkwardly idle hands and guided them to his own waist. At first Gyuvin seemed hesitant to obey, at loss to know what to make of this, but then he gripped Ricky’s shirt more firmly and as the heat grew between them, so did Gyuvin’s courage. Determined, he slid a trembling hand across Ricky’s back, resting his huge palm on the center of his back, hugging him, while his other hand just strengthened its grip and pulled him more firmly into his lap. Ricky knew he had to stop soon, only allowing himself a few more sips.
Once done, he pushed off with a final kiss to Gyuvin’s neck and straightened up in his lap. Sated, he gazed at his work with satisfaction. Under him sat a sweaty, panting, disheveled young man, who really did look like he had just been…
“Haha, you really do suck well,” grinned the destroyed Gyuvin at him stupidly, still running his hands over Ricky’s torso. Ricky wasn’t sure why he hadn’t stopped, but at this point he didn’t want him to. He had planned to let this extremely witty remark pass his ears, but what followed was something he had to react to, “Oh my God, please tell me you’re over eighteen!”
“Are you-” Ricky looked him straight in the eyes in disbelief. After mulling over the words in his head, trying to stay as objective as possible, he decided to lay things out in the open as they were, “Gyuvin, I could literally be your father!”
With tired chuckles and a relatively attractive grin, considering his condition, Gyuvin asked one of the most relevant questions of all time:
“Does that mean I have a daddy kink now?”
Ricky first snorted a laugh then warmly smiled at the other as he untangled himself from Gyuvin’s arms, muttering under his breath.
“Well… I’m not going to decide for you on such matters. But!” He raised his index finger as he sat onto the middle seat next to Gyuvin, already searching for the doorhandle on his right, “I’m driving!”
Gyuvin, who had barely been able to move a few seconds ago, badly hiding an embarrassing erection rising in his jeans, immediately tried to jump across the center console to crawl his way into the driver’s seat, but thanks to Ricky’s vampirism and the pizza delivery guy’s blood loss, he got there first, even though he had to go around the car.
Gyuvin still tried his best to persuade Ricky, why he shouldn’t drive, but Ricky, sated and better than ever, refused to hear any of it. Gyuvin, with his bruised ego, flopped around in the passenger seat, his words being drowned out by the sound of the engine revving on and the warm saxophone sounds of Careless Whisper crackling form the radio. Nonetheless, Ricky heard them all.
“Lucky for you I like to be bossed around.”
-
On their way they agreed that Ricky would drive himself home, and then he would let Gyuvin take over the wheel again so he could also get home, as Gyuvin vowed he was in a much better shape now, sounding pretty credible. Once parked in front of the vampire estate, Ricky wondered what the proper way to say their goodbyes would be, considering he had just given this young man the first bloodsucking of his life. And he also made him hard… So, the question stands, does he kiss him goodbye?
Seems like the kiss was relevant, as Gyuvin attempted to lean over into Ricky’s personal space (which he seemed to like quite a bit, considering how he had already got up-and-personal there before) while they waited in the car, engine humming and ABBA’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! playing from the radio.
Ricky, however, judged the situation to be more exciting and fun if he, although with a mean spirit, would only give a little teaser to Gyuvin of what he could have in the future. And just like that, after a quick kiss on the lips, he jumped out of the car with vampiric speed and ran to the villa without looking back at the younger, who was probably losing his mind trying to calm down his beating heart. He didn’t make him overly ecstatic and horny, right? He wouldn’t crash into a lamppost, would he? Ricky dismissed the thought; it wouldn’t do him any good if he imagined his crush(?) dying after their first date meetup. After closing the front door behind him, he faltered in his steps. From the living-room, warm, orange light was seeping through with the crackling production of a vinyl record. Seconds later, before he even knew it, Jiwoong with thick glasses on appeared in front of him, hovering a couple of inches above ground, not looking up from his crocheting. Ricky could never decide if the old man just couldn’t stop flexing his abilities in front of him or if they just came too naturally, either way, he couldn’t take him seriously when he was just a grandmother stuck in a dilf’s body.
“What a pleasant night we’re having, aren’t we?” he greeted Ricky with the spirit of an investigative dad, but Ricky really didn’t want to think about how much he knew or suspected about what had transpired in the rickety old car on the outskirts of their town between a clownish mortal and Ricky’s fangs. Ricky really didn’t appreciate the tone either, so when it dawned on him that the full moon was still up in the sky, possessed by the spirit of all the teenagers mad at their step-parents he snarked back.
“Shouldn’t you be with that dog of yours?” ok, he realized he might have gone overboard with that, it was pretty disrespectful towards Jiwoong, but especially to Matthew. Thankfully, Jiwoong didn’t seem to be offended at all, just gave Ricky a little chide and explained the situation in a soft tone.
“Now, that’s not a nice thing to say, young man! For your information, Matthew has already calmed down and is sleeping soundly in our room, my precious bun…” he looked up at Ricky with a satisfied smile, to which Ricky replied with a scowl.
“Okay, eww,” he considered the confrontation a done deal and took aim for the stairs where he was immediately flooded with memories of the events that just took place not too long ago. Giggling and blushing on his way to his room, ahh, what a hypocrite he is!
He leapt across his room, plummeting onto his beanbag, pulled out his laptop from underneath himself, and with determination he started assaulting the keyboard to update Yujin on how his night went. As he relived the steamy memories while recounting the happenings he became more and more embarrassed and frenzied. What he didn’t realize was that his frantic typing woke up a certain unemployed otherworldly bodyguard, who manifested in a dramatic pose, illuminated by the reddish-purple LED lights.
“What’s up, lil’ bro? How was your date?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Ricky tried, although unsuccessfully. Taerae was already peering at his screen from behind him, and with an indescribably disbelieving expression, glanced side-ways at the vampire, who tried to hide from the judgement, but to no avail. The messages he sent to Yujin, akin to that of a teenage girl, who just experienced the touch of a man for the first time, spoke for themselves.
“Girl! I ain’t gonna lie, Rick,” Taerae sprawled across the beanbag next to Ricky, “I thought you had better taste than to bag this discount daddy-long-leg golden retriever wannabe kid.” With that he already received the karma for insulting Matthew earlier, and his body stirred to protest the insulting words thrown at Gyuvin, to explain what a sweet guy he really was, but he just couldn’t allow himself to break character.
“I didn’t pull anyone though!”
Taerae snorted, shaking his head. “You know I didn’t just descend from Heaven, don’t you?”
O
Ricky could hear that Hanbin, Hao and Yujin had returned home, and he also knew that Hanbin could sense there was a man in their house, a human. Then he remembered he had pretty much forgotten to tell his vampire parents that he had picked up a freeloader in their absence. Pardon him, a partner. And he was also sure that Yujin almost certainly hadn’t mentioned to his parents the whole drama that had unfolded amidst their holiday, which Ricky had diligently kept him updated about, since he was reporting back the developments to him in great detail on a daily basis.
Ricky knew he didn’t really have time to shake Gyuvin awake, who was sleeping soundly on top of him, and stuff him into the closet. It would have all been in vain anyway, as it didn’t take a supernatural being to notice Gyuvin’s distinctive deodorant covered sweaty boy smell mixed with car essence when entering the room, therefore smelling his blood from the entrance of the house was no problem for a super-powered vampire.
(It also could have just been that Ricky didn’t have the heart to wake up the sweetly slumbering dog-faced object of his love, but you wouldn’t catch him admitting that even to himself.)
And so Hanbin barged in suddenly, without knocking (as fathers do when they check in on their children during home work time) being impressed by the scene unfolding in premiere plan on Ricky’s bed.
First, he opened his mouth into a small o, as he does, then he silently measured up Ricky, gazed into his eyes, demanding some kind of answer from the man lying across from him. Ricky couldn’t really do anything besides stare back at Hanbin, silently judging him with his double chin thanks to his neck-breaking position. As they were both hesitating to speak up, Hao preceded them ever saying anything by coming up behind Hanbin and gently pushing him out of the doorway back into the hallway. Ricky could clearly understand the heated and muffled whispering between them that began immediately afterwards.
Ricky found it pretty amusing how they spoke of him as a virginal 19th century spinster, not an immortal being who has already lived 49 years and had done far worse than sleep in a bed with the pizza delivery boy.
The End