Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The winters were colder than they had been in the years before. The snow fell earlier, at least Sunghoon thought so. He wasn't entirely sure. He thought the city looked prettier with a blanket of snow covering its surfaces. Sunghoon sidestepped a group of girls who stopped to take a photo in the snow. People were bundled with long scarfs up to their noses and jackets so thick it made them waddle slightly. This was always his favorite season, everything just seemed so much quieter, innocent. Snowflakes landed on Sunghoon’s skin but never melted. He wasn’t cold—he never was. The wind bit at his exposed skin, but it may as well have been a whisper. The world around him moved too slowly, the people sluggish, their blood a faint hum beneath their scarves and layers.

His pocket buzzed and Sunghoon swiftly took out his phone to answer the call,

“Hey, hyung, do you think you can stop for chocolate on your way home?” Sunoo’s voice came statically through the speaker and Sunghoon smiled.

“You couldn’t have called five minutes ago when I passed the convenience store?”

“Please?”

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “Yes, fine, I’ll be home in like ten.” He clicked off the phone, turning around on his heel to go to the convenience store he had seen a few blocks back. 

It was decorated for Christmas, but walking in he was hit with a wave of heat. He headed straight to the snack aisle, picking through the selections to find the brand of chocolate he knew Sunoo liked. He placed several of the bars on the counter, paying for it and stepping back out into the cold. 

The city’s quiet was broken by a sudden crash to Sunghoon’s left. He stopped mid-step, instinctively tensing. A gust of wind sent snow swirling across the pavement, but the street was otherwise still. Then he heard it—a sound so soft he almost missed it. Crying. Faint, uneven. Not the muffled sniffles of someone upset, but deep, shaking sobs. Something about it sent a prickle of unease down his spine. He should walk away. But he couldn’t; like a moth to a flame. It led him to a small alleyway, dark and cramped, just out of reach from the streetlights. Sunghoon heard the sobbing before he saw him. A thin, reedy sound, curling through the cold night air like a ghost. He should’ve walked away. Should’ve ignored it. Instead, he turned into the alley.

His eyes adjusted quickly but not quick enough that he didn’t trip over the object laying in the middle. He crashed to the ground with all the grace of a wet piece of paper, just barely turning in time so he didn’t smack his head against the concrete. He rolled onto his side, groaning and rubbing the shoulder he landed on. 

“What…?” He turned his head. Eyes. Sunghoon scrambled back, hitting a far wall and staring at the body. It was a man, maybe middle-aged and staring blankly through Sunghoon. His throat was torn open and a puddle of blood stretched its way with greedy fingers towards Sunghoon.    

Then he saw the boy. Wide-eyed. Trembling. Mouth slick with blood.

“ What the fuck? ” His voice barely felt like his own.

The boy’s chest heaved. He pressed himself into the corner, like he wanted to disappear into the brick. His hands clutched at his own shirt—a shirt stained in deep, wet crimson.

“I—” The boy’s voice cracked. “He attacked me, I swear—”

Another sob ripped out of him. Sunghoon flinched.

This wasn’t normal.

“How old are you? Where is your coven? Why are you out here?” Sunghoon rattled off question after question. Why was this fledgling out here all by himself? Without any sort of supervision? 

The boy only sobbed harder, “What are you talking about?” 

Sunghoon was taken aback for a second, “Your coven,” He paused, “Who turned you?”

“Turned me? I don’t know what’s happening to me!”

Sunghoon blew out a breath. This was a lot more complicated than he originally thought, “Do you feel that fire? In the back of your throat? In your veins?”

The boy looked at him with wide, dark eyes and nodded his head, Sunghoon continued, “Do you know what that means?”

Sunghoon watched fear claw its way back into his eyes and took it as a ‘no’. “It means you’re hungry. ” He gestured halfheartedly to the absolute disaster behind them, “For that. It means I need to get you as far away from here as fast as I can.” 

He dug through his pocket for his phone, dialing a number, “Hey, I’m going to be home a lot later than I thought.”

“What? Why?” He heard crashing in the background and someone cursed, then a door closed, “What’s up? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just…caught up with something. Tell Jay I’ll be late for dinner.”

Jake sighed, his voice full, smooth, “Okay, he’s not going to like that. Be safe.”

“I will. Talk to you later.” He hung up the phone and turned his attention back to the boy. He was shaking, his breathing uneven, eyes locked on the blood staining his hands.

“I killed him,” he whispered, the words barely escaping his lips. “I—” His voice cracked, and he choked back a sob.

Sunghoon hesitated before crouching beside him, his fingers tightening around the boy’s wrists to still his trembling hands. “I know,” he murmured, “But you didn’t ask for this. You didn’t know.”

The boy leaned into his touch and up close Sunghoon could see the shadows under his eyes and the sunkenness of his cheekbones. “You stay here, okay?” He shrugged off his jacket to wrap it around the boy’s shoulders; it wouldn’t do much but it made Sunghoon feel better nevertheless.

Sunghoon rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and hooked his arms under the man and dragged him over to prop him against the wall. His head lolled to the side and Sunghoon wrinkled his nose at the smell. 

“Talk me through what happened.” He grabbed a nearby tarp from on top of a trash can.

The boy sniffled, picking at the skin of his fingers, his fingers trembling “He grabbed me?”

His voice wavered and Sunghoon glanced at him, “Uh huh, then what?” 

“He pushed that against my throat.”  

Sunghoon looked up to see what he was pointing at. The light glinted very slightly off the blade of a pocket knife.

“He pushed it against my throat and then…I don’t remember what happened!” He said with a bite of anger that had Sunghoon’s head snapping up. But just as quickly as it came, it fizzled out, “And then you were here.”

Sunghoon sighed, “You were probably starving and attacked on instinct. How long have you been feeling like this?” 

“Maybe like a week? Week and a half?”

Sunghoon stopped wrapping the body and whipped around, “ What?”

The boy froze, “I’m not entirely sure! It’s been like twelve days? I thought I had the flu for a while but…”

“ Twelve days?” Sunghoon blinked at him blankly, there’s no way he would've survived twelve days. Right? “This is the first time something like this happened?”  

He nodded.

“Holy shit. This is so much worse than I thought. I need to get you out of here now.” Sunghoon finished wrapping the body, hauling it into the dumpster against the wall and closing the lid. He’d have to come back later. “Stay right here. Do not move.” He waited for some sort of affirmation before rushing back into the convenience store to grab some baby wipes. When he returned the boy was still in the same spot as before.

“Take your shirt off.”

For the first time the boy showed something other than fear, albeit it was confusion but it was something, “What?”

Sunghoon waved him off, focusing on opening the baby wipes, “Take off your shirt. You can’t walk around like that.” 

The boy cautiously removed his shirt and Sunghoon quickly buttoned up the jacket. The baby wipes were colder than he thought and unfortunately he had no way to warm them so he just muttered an apology when the boy flinched back. He was taller than Sunghoon had originally anticipated, which Sunghoon had only realized after he had to reach up a bit to properly clean off his face. His hair was dark, which only served to bring out his even darker eyes that stared at Sunghoon cautiously; like he wanted to trust him but was afraid to do so. Once Sunghoon was done he took the boy's blood-soaked shirt and tossed it in the dumpster with the body.

“What’s your name?”

The boy paused, searching Sunghoon for something he wasn’t quite sure of, “Riki.”

Sunghoon smiled, “Hi, Riki. I’m Sunghoon.”

Riki nodded, bringing his arms up and Sunghoon’s eyes drifted to his chest. It was covered in long, deep scratches that Sunghoon guessed came from Riki’s own nails. He pursed his lips and Riki quickly covered the exposed skin.

Resigned to not saying anything, lest he break the already fragile trust established, Sunghoon fitted a small face mask over Riki, fussing with it until he got it to his liking. A pit settled in his stomach, something that Sunghoon didn’t even have time to decipher at the moment. Riki was too new. He had no coven. No sense of control. And he should’ve been dead if he’d gone twelve days without feeding.

So why wasn’t he?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunghoon practically dragged Riki to the trains, the hold he had must have hurt but to his credit he didn’t feel Riki resist against him once. He shoved him on the trains, forcibly sitting him down on the furthest seat away from people he could find. Riki was antsy, fidgeting restlessly, his jaw flexing under the mask. Sunghoon could feel his discomfort, it was rolling off of him in waves. His body was tense, wound up like a coil ready to snap at any given moment. The entire atmosphere of the train shifted as every person became aware subconsciously that their lives were in danger. Sunghoon used his body as a shield to both protect them from Riki and Riki from them.

“What’s wrong?”

“It hurts.” Riki’s voice was strained, emphasized by another flex in his jaw. 

Sunghoon tightened his hold with one hand but brought the other up to tug Riki's mask under his nose. 

He recoiled, “That’s worse, that’s so much worse.”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” Sunghoon pulled him down, pressing Riki’s nose against his neck, trying to overpower the scent of blood with his own. After a second his body began to unwind, like undoing a coil. Sunghoon idly ran his fingers through his hair, hyper aware of Riki, trying to be read when he was going to snap again. When they stopped Sunghoon pulled the mask back up over his nose and dragged him through the crowds of people.

About ten minutes later they were walking on a small dirt path. The moon was clearer now, illuminating the path before them as if telling them where to go.

“Are you…Are you going to hurt me?” Riki didn’t stop walking but his voice was quiet, resigned, as if he already knew the answer but just wanted to hear it aloud.

Sunghoon made a disbelieving sound, “What? You think I would bring you all the way out here to kill you?” He scoffed, “No, that’s too much work; if I wanted to hurt you I would’ve just done it in the alleyway.” After he said it out loud, Sunghoon realized that it probably was not what Riki had wanted to hear, if his flinch was any indication. He reached to touch the boy’s shoulder, to apologize but he bit his tongue, staying quiet.

He let Riki lead the way mostly, only redirecting him when he strayed too far in the wrong direction. It seemed to calm him, the sense of control and Sunghoon was not going to be the one to take that away from him so he let him lead, nearly running into his back when he came to a shortstop. 

He stood there, as if unwilling to further enter the property and Sunghoon looked back at the house. Sure, it was big, but it didn’t look old, in fact, Heeseung had gotten it remodeled to fit a more modern appeal not that many years ago.

“What’s wrong?” 

Riki only shook his head, “It feels weird here.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Like strong, something’s really strong here.” His face held a certain degree of desperation, like he needed to convey that feeling to Sunghoon and have it reciprocated. 

Sunghoon cupped his hands again and pulled him a bit further into the property, “It’s okay. I won’t let anything hurt you, I promise.” 

When they reached the front door Sunghoon slid his key into the lock and pushed open the door. The hallway was empty, which was fairly odd considering who he lives with. He led Riki to the living room, gesturing to one of the couches, “Sit, I’m going to grab you some bags.” 

He helped Riki settle on the couch, pushing him down by his shoulders when he felt arms wrap around his waist. 

“You’re late.” 

The words were whispered into his ear and Sunghoon fought the urge to roll his eyes, “I called and told you I would be late.”

“Not this late.” 

Sunghoon physically felt when Jake’s attention wandered over to Riki who was sitting cautiously on the edge of his seat. 

“You brought home a baby?” 

Sunghoon nearly snorted until he heard Riki scream. Heeseung had him pinned to the couch by his throat and Sunghoon scrambled to be rid of Jake’s arms. 

“Hyung! Hyung, stop!”

Heeseung only looked at him, confused and Jungwon’s voice wafted over to him, “Who is this?”

Heeseung stepped back, allowing Jungwon to get closer to Riki. Riki shrunk back and Sunghoon instinctively grabbed one of his hands. Jungwon’s eyes flicked up to him, “Why would you bring home a fledgling?”

Sunghoon sighed, “I found him.”

Jay entered so quietly that Sunghoon barely noticed him until he spoke, “You found him? And decided to just take him home? I think that’s called kidnapping .” His voice was amused, but there was an underlying sharpness to it, as if he was already calculating the risks. Sunghoon sighed, not in the mood for one of Jay’s lectures. 

“I–What? No. Just, everyone back up.” Jungwon and Heeseung stepped back and Sunghoon squeezed Riki’s hand before running to the kitchen. He rifled through the cabinets, searching for a cup. Once it was found he grabbed a knife, slicing open his palm to allow his blood to drip into the cup. He came back with a full glass and handed it directly to Riki. “Drink this.”

“What is going on?”

Sunghoon sighed and turned to Jungwon, “I found him in an alleyway. He’s scared and starving, I didn’t know where else to take him.” 

Jungwon pinched the bridge of his nose, “You can’t just take him. What about his coven? Now they have a missing fledgling.”

“He doesn’t have a coven.”

All movement in the room stopped, “What?” 

Sunghoon turned to Riki who was watching them with growing fear, “Riki, who turned you?”

Riki shook his head rapidly, “I don’t know, I swear I don’t know.”

“What do you know?” Sunoo sat, perched, on the arm of the couch, peering down at him and Riki jumped, knocking himself into Sunghoon and completely spilling the cup of blood.

“Why would you do that?” Sunghoon got up to retrieve the knife from the kitchen, “You’re all scaring him.”

“We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

Sunghoon scoffed, slicing his palm open again and handing the cup back to Riki once it was full. Riki wrinkled his nose and pushed the cup away.

“Riki, you need to drink, otherwise you’ll never feel better.”

Riki took the cup reluctantly, curling into Sunghoon’s side to get away from the prying eyes of everyone else. 

Sunghoon smiled, content with petting his hair while he drank until he felt Jungwon’s stare on him, “Start explaining.”

He held Jungwon’s eyes for a while, but as always, caved, “When I turned back to grab Sunoo his chocolate I heard crying,” He paused when he felt Riki stiffen, “So I followed it and found him in the corner of an alleyway.”

“You’re not telling us the whole story.” Heeseung gave him a sideways glance when Sunghoon made a disagreeing sound. “You reek of blood. Why is that?”

Sunghoon stuttered a little, caught off guard, “What?”

Heeseung rolled his eyes, leaning into Sunghoon’s space, “How long have we been together? You can’t lie to me, it doesn’t work.”

He winced, “There was a…person,”

The intake of breath in the room was audible and Heeseung pulled away. Next to him, he could feel Riki freeze, even the rise and fall of his chest coming to a halt. Sunghoon turned to face Riki, carefully taking the glass out of his hand and placing it on the table next to the arm of the couch. Tears formed a silent path down his face and Sunghoon hastily wiped them away.

“I didn’t mean to,” It was a broken whisper and Sunghoon could feel everyone inch a little closer. 

“I know you didn’t; it’s okay,” Riki didn’t look quite like he believed him but he allowed Sunghoon to gather him in his arms. He quickly pressed his nose against Sunghoon’s throat and Sunghoon sighed, pointedly not making any sort of eye contact with any of the others as he waited for Riki to calm. “I know you didn’t.”

“Hyung?” Sunghoon looked up, “Can I have a word?” Jungwon nodded his head towards the kitchen.

He disentangled himself from Riki to follow him into the kitchen but not before shooting a look at Heeseung and the others in an attempt to communicate ‘ don’t do anything stupid.’ Once in the kitchen Jungwon whirled on him.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You really think I can’t tell when you’re leaving things out? I know you; you can’t hide things from me, at least not successfully.” He cornered Sunghoon, walking him back until Sunghoon hit the counter. 

“Jungwon…”

Sunghoon leaned back as Jungwon pushed himself into his space, placing his hands on either side of Sunghoon’s waist.

“I’ll ask again, hyung, what aren’t you telling me?” 

To Sunghoon’s credit, he fought it, but to Sunghoon’s disadvantage, Jungwon always had an uncanny ability to make any and all of them cave in an instant.

“It was drained.”

Jungwon groaned, his head thumping against Sunghoon’s chest. “He drained someone?”

“Not efficiently, to be honest.” Sunghoon laughed when Jungwon threw half-hearted punches at his shoulder. 

“It’s not funny. The council will be after him.”

“...Not if we get there first.”

“What are you suggesting?” 

Sunghoon jumped but Jungwon merely turned to look at Heeseung, his eyes trailing over him lazily. “I think it’s quite clear what he’s suggesting, no?” 

“Where’s Riki?”

Heeseung rolled his eyes, “He’s with Jay, he’s fine.”

Jungwon, who still hadn’t released Sunghoon, ghosted his lips down Sunghoon’s carotid artery, lightly resting his teeth there when he felt Sunghoon shiver. “You care for him.”

“He was attacked, from what I’ve gathered. He’s alone and afraid,” Sunghoon tilted his head back to allow Jungwon more room, “I know what that’s like.”

Heeseung stepped closer to them, guiding Sunghoon to look at him, “What do you need from us? Hmm? How can we help?”

“I’ll go back tonight, before the sun comes up, to get rid of the body. Just stay here? Make sure he eats?”

Jungwon hummed against his throat, finally pulling back enough to see Sunghoon, “No, we’ll go, you stay with him; he’s more comfortable around you.”

Heeseung nodded his agreement, tangling his fingers with Sunghoon’s and pulling the both of them towards the living room again. Riki was sitting next to Jay who was very worriedly asking him all sorts of questions that even Sunghoon hadn’t yet gotten to. Sunoo was still perched on the arm of the couch, gently running his hand through Riki’s hair, who seemed to relax into his touch.

“He seems to be okay so far, taken quite a liking to Sunoo in my opinion.” Jake looped his arms around Sunghoon’s neck, answering Sunghoon’s question before it ever left his mouth. Heeseung made his way over to Jay and Sunoo, leaving a kiss on Jake’s cheek as he went. Jungwon clapped his hands and all the attention diverted to him. 

“Jay-hyung, hold down the fort?” Jungwon didn’t wait for an answer but Jay snorted anyway.

“When do I not?”

Jake pulled away from Sunghoon and Sunoo slipped away from Riki, much to his dismay and then they were gone.        

Jay also departed from them under the ruse of getting the spare bedroom ready. Sunghoon settled back on the couch next to Riki.

“How are you feeling? Do you need more blood?” 

Riki leaned heavily against the couch but shook his head. “What do I do now? I didn’t ask for this.”

Sunghoon worried at his bottom lip with his teeth, “I know,” that seemed to be all he was saying as of late.

“I want to go home.”

Sunghoon’s heart cracked, he knew that feeling, but Riki couldn’t go home. Not while he was a danger to everyone and everything around him. “Riki…” Sunghoon started, keeping his voice low and gentle, “Do you remember anything about your turning? Anything at all that could help us find the person who did it?”

“I don’t remember much.”

“That’s okay,” Sunghoon assured, “But if you remember anything I need to know.”

Riki fidgeted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable about reliving that memory. “I don’t remember everything,” Riki said, voice hoarse. “But… I remember pain.”

Sunghoon didn’t say anything. He let Riki talk at his own pace.

“I was just walking home.” His fingers curled into his sleeves. “There was this man—he had too many bags. Groceries. I offered to help.”

A pause. Riki’s breathing stuttered.

“Then… it was like the air changed.”

Sunghoon frowned. “Changed how?”

“I don’t know.” Riki swallowed. “It felt wrong. Like the world shifted out of place or something."

His hands were shaking now. Sunghoon could hear his pulse spike.

“I woke up on the ground. My throat was burning. And I was so hungry.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I thought I was going to die.”

A heavy silence.

“But you didn’t,” Sunghoon murmured. “That’s the weird part.” He cringed when the words left his mouth, “I’m sorry.” He reached for Riki.

Riki ducked under his hand, “It’s fine,” He pushed off the couch, taking quick steps and disappearing into the kitchen. Sunghoon wasn’t sure he knew where he was going but he also recognized that Riki needed any sort of space he could get right now. 

So, instead of following Riki, he traced the sounds of Jay and went to go help. Jay was doing his nervous fluttering around the guest room, adding one set of sheets then stripping the bed and adding different colored ones.

Sunghoon stopped him in the middle of him replacing yet another pair of sheets. “I don’t think he’s going to pay any mind to whether the sheets are blue or black.”

“You don’t know that.” Jay moved to continue and Sunghoon stepped in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing.”

“You’re such a liar, Jongseong, ” He crowded into Jay’s space, backing him up until Jay had no choice but to look at him. 

“I just—what about his family?”

Sunghoon rubbed soothing circles onto the small of Jay’s back. Riki’s voice echoed in the back of his mind; I want to go home . “I don’t know. He can’t go home yet; it’s not safe.”

Jay glared at him, “Yeah, I know that, but what are we going to do? What if his family reports him as missing? How do we explain to him that one day he is never going to be able to see them again?”

“Jay, we’ll cross those bridges when we get to them. Right now the goal is to get him to survive until tomorrow.”

“He didn’t ask for this.”

Something in the back of Sunghoon’s mind burned, both Jake and Riki’s voices fighting to the forefront of his memories; one decades old, another just a few minutes. I didn’t ask for this.

“Did we?”

Jay looked at him, “What are you talking about?”

“Did we ask for this? Did Heeseung? Did Jake?”

Jay flinched at the last name, muttering, “ No.”

Sunghoon sighed, guilt making itself at home in his chest when he saw how ridgid Jay went, “I’m sorry, that was mean,” Jay’s shoulders relaxed a little, “I know that what happened to Riki was unfair. I know that he didn’t ask for this. But we can’t change that right now.”

“What are we going to do?” Jay grasped the front of his shirt, twisting it in his hands, “Hoon, I haven’t had a bad feeling like this since Jake’s turning.”

Sunghoon’s heart froze; he hadn’t either but he had been hoping beyond hope that he had been the only one feeling that way. That it was some kind of fluke. 

“We’re going to do what we always do; we’re going to figure this out together.” He uncurled Jay’s hands from his shirt, leaning down to kiss his knuckles, “But for now, one step at a time. We need to keep him fed and alive, everything else comes after.”

Jay deflated against him and Sunghoon was more than happy to hold him up for the time being, pressing small kisses everywhere he could reach. Jay pulled away first, mumbling something about continuing to ready the room and disappeared into the hallway. Sunghoon hesitated at the doorway, glancing back at Jay and the staircase where he could hear Riki shuffling around.

Their heartbeats were calm, steady, safe for now.

But Sunghoon couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut. Something was coming.

A storm. A reckoning.

And when it arrived—

He would burn the world down before he let them take his coven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This is the place?” Jungwon asked, standing in front of an alleyway that, in his opinion, made the perfect place for a murder. Very few people still lingered on the streets, most already settled into their homes to escape the snow and the temperature. It was still dark outside, and the low light of the street lamps didn’t make it into the alley, which only served to put Jungwon more on edge.

“Uh…yeah, this is the address he texted.” Sunoo’s nose was wrinkled and his lips were turned down at the corners.

Jake stepped a bit closer, not fully entering the alley without Jungwon’s explicit order. “It smells like blood. A lot of it.”

Jungwon took a minute to breathe, confirming Jake’s statement, it almost clogged his nose with how potent the smell was. “Great, alright, Sunoo-hyung, you stay here, keep watch. You two,” he gestured to Jake and Heeseung, “Help me.”

Sunoo looked relieved, turning on his heel to watch the dying life of the city and the snow as it clung to every available object. Heeseung strode forward, heading towards the back of the alleyway first. Jungwon waited the brief second it took for his eyes to adjust fully, almost immediately finding the blood stains on the concrete. The building loomed over the alleyway, blocking most of it from the snowfall but it didn’t block out the cold.

“Is it fresh?”

Jungwon startled a little, not having expected Jake to be hovering so closely over his shoulder. Jungwon shrugged, dragging a single finger over the patch of blood. Most of it had frozen over but the puddle was large enough that Jungwon’s finger still came back stained red.

Jake pulled back, his face contorted with mild disgust, “That’s him. That’s what Sunghoon smelled like earlier.”

“Didn’t like the smell?”

From somewhere in the back Heeseung shouted, “He didn’t smell like us at all. It made me feel itchy.”

Jake groaned, “Oh my god, I wanted to force him to take a shower right then. I couldn’t stand it.”

Heeseung’s laugh echoed their way, “Yeah, I know, you were practically gnawing at my shoulder. You’re not subtle.”

Jake squawked, ”I was not.”

Jungwon could hear the smile in Heeseung’s voice, “Sure, baby.”  

“I didn’t like that he didn’t smell like us either.”

Jake looked at him approvingly, taking Jungwon’s hand and wiping the blood off with the helm of his shirt.  

“Jungwon?” Heeseung called, sounding further away than he was even two minutes ago.

Jungwon and Jake pushed to their feet, finding Heeseung standing by a dumpster pushed tightly against the wall. Jungwon gagged, the smell of lightly decomposed body was certainly not his favorite scent. Heeseung lifted the top and they all peered inside. It was entirely empty aside from a neatly folded tarp. Jake reached inside, grabbing it and holding it in his hands like he was unsure what to do with it.

Heeseung took it from him, unfolding the blue tarp that smelled like it had a dead body wrapped in it, because it probably did. 

“Huh?” He dropped the tarp, which fell heavily to the floor. Instead in his hands was a T-shirt, rather large, and stained in blood all the way down the front. His eyes went wide and without a word he handed it to Jungwon. 

Jungwon took it, turning it over in his hands. A small black card rested on the top, almost like a business card. On it, printed in pretty swirly letters was the name, “ Nishimura Riki,” Underneath the name was a single mark, like a tally. 

On the back–just two words

Tread lightly. 

His grip tightened.

“Fuck,” Heeseung muttered. “That’s not good.”

Jake shifted uneasily, “What does it mean?” 

Jungwon exhaled sharply. His headache pulsed in time with his rising anxiety, “It means we’re being watched.”

Jake paled, “By the council?”

“ I don’t know.” He took a calming breath, “The body’s gone, I’m presuming?” 

Heeseung and Jake nodded.

“Who—?”

His fingers tightened around the bloodstained shirt. His voice quieter this time, “We don’t know.”

Heeseung’s ringtone shattered the silence. Jungwon flinched. Heeseung fumbled for his phone. Not good. Not good at all.

“Hey—“ Heeseung paused, “Woah, hold on, slow down. What do you mean?”

Behind them Sunoo shouted, “It’s almost sunrise, we should head back soon if we want to check on the others.”

Sunlight wasn’t instant death, but it did drain them, fast—especially when they were already running on empty. Jungwon couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen Sunghoon eat something and Riki was new, his state fragile. They couldn’t risk it.

“Did you check his room?”

Jungwon’s attention snapped back to Heeseung who was now pacing back and forth. He heard Jay’s panicked voice through the phone and held out his hand. Heeseung handed it over without a fight.

“What’s wrong?”

Jay took a deep breath on the other side of the phone, “I can’t find Sunghoon or Riki.”

Beside him, Jake locked up, immediately pulling out his own phone to call Sunghoon. It went to voicemail. He tried again, nothing.

“What?”

“I can’t find them. They’re not in the house and the snow is throwing off their scent. It’s like they’re everywhere and nowhere all at once. I can’t track them.”

Jungwon slowly counted to ten in his head, of course this would happen right now. “He’s gone? They both are? Are any of the windows broken or maybe the back door?” He heard a blur of movement and then Jay’s bordering-on desperate voice.

“There’s nothing .”

“Fuck, okay, we’re on our way.” Jungwon hung up the phone, handing it back to Heeseung. He tucked the card into his pants, folding the shirt and gesturing to Heeseung and Jake to follow him out of the alley. 

Sunoo turned to greet them, the words dying on his lips when he saw their faces, “What’s wrong?”

“Jay can’t find Sunghoon or Riki.” Heeseung said, taking the lead down the street.

“What? But the sun is coming up soon, neither of them are strong enough–”

Jungwon’s headache intensified, momentarily blinding him, “Yeah, we know, that’s why we’re panicking.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Find them.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Escaping already?”

Riki froze with his hand on the door knob and Sunghoon chuckled, leaning in the doorway.

“And here I thought we were good hosts,” Flashes of Heeseung grabbing Riki by the throat and Jungwon’s terrifying interrogations flooded to the forefront of his mind and he winced, “Okay, well, maybe not.”

Riki turned to him, “I should go.”

“You can’t. Where are you going to stay?” When Riki didn’t have a response he hammered on, “How are you going to eat? Will you be able to control yourself around people yet–” Sunghoon edged closer until he had Riki pinned up against the very same door he was going to escape from.

“I managed twelve days by myself !”

“I know, and that is both admirable and incredible but how long are you going to last a second time?”

Once again Riki didn’t answer him, slumping back against the door. When Sunghoon looked up he could see the tears clumping his eyelashes, “I don’t know what to do.”

Sunghoon slid his hand down from Riki’s shoulder to his hand, pulling him away from the door, “Come with me.” Riki followed him hesitantly as Sunghoon led them to the back door. He slid the glass open, then turned back to Riki, waiting. Riki seemed to be weighing his options, eyes darting between the house and the woods that lay just beyond. Sunghoon watched him, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Sunghoon started towards the woods without Riki, hearing him take a deep breath and then the door closed. He heard the crunch of snow under Riki’s steps as he approached. He kept a general distance from the boy, keeping close in case something went awry but letting him get a feel for his surroundings.

Snowflakes stuck out against Riki’s dark hair, pure white against ink black. He weaved in and out of the trees, his footfalls quieter now, moving with a fluidity that Sunghoon only ever saw in one species: Vampires . He found it hard to look away as Riki ran his fingers over the rough bark of trees or caught snow in his hand that would never melt. 

It was still dark, the stars seemed to wink at them and the world was still quiet. Even between them. Especially between them. Riki’s face clouded with something dark before clearing and Sunghoon, not for the first time, wished he had some insight into what Riki was thinking. 

“I’m sorry.”

Riki turned to him in surprise, “For?”

“I’m sorry that you were turned like that.”

“It’s not your fault.” It was a whisper, but Sunghoon could hear the grief in it.

“I’m still sorry, Riki, that shouldn’t have happened.” 

Riki shrugged, but he didn’t brush off the hand Sunghoon laid on his back. “I just—I can’t—“ He looked at Sunghoon, something akin to desperation etched into in his face. 

Sunghoon nodded, it hurts to talk about. It hurts to face all the things you’ve lost in such a short period of time. At least when Sunghoon turned he had Jay to lean on, Jay to share the grief with. Riki was alone. For twelve days.

They continued in silence until Riki started fidgeting. Sunghoon tensed, eyes immediately sweeping their surroundings in case Riki was picking up on a threat he wasn’t. But he got nothing.

Then Riki spoke.

“How did you become…? How did you meet…?”

Sunghoon relaxed a bit. If this is what Riki needed to keep from falling over the edge, Sunghoon would happily oblige.

“Jay was my first; my first in practically everything. We met before all this.” Sunghoon said, almost surprised by the memory. “Back when we still had curfews and report cards. Jay used to pass me notes in class–stupid drawings mostly. He was always like that though–easy to be around.” 

They were just boys back then–boys who didn’t know how to say I love you, so they said stay with me instead. 

Jay had been the steady one, the thoughtful one, always noticing things Sunghoon thought no one saw. And Sunghoon followed because it was easier than saying don’t leave me behind. 

They sat too close on rooftops, passed each other small notes, snacks and pretended they meant nothing, stared too long when no one was looking. Everyone saw it. Everyone but them. And then their world changed. They never got to say it, not really–not before the fangs and fire and fear took everything soft away. But somehow, that love stayed, twisted and sharpened, maybe. But it was still there. It was still theirs, even as they were learning to be soft again. 

Sunghoon cleared his throat, “The night we turned…Jay wasn’t supposed to be there. We had gotten into a fight, one of our worst ones.” He closed his eyes, willing the memories away. “I was jealous, it was petty and so I left and he followed. He always does.”

He let out a small laugh, like it was ridiculous, “I don’t even remember most of it–like you–I just remember not being able to see Jay but I could hear him screaming. I could feel that he was in pain.”

Riki made a small sound. “You were attacked?”

Sunghoon nodded. “Just grabbed off the street mid-fight, it was…awful. If I hadn’t fought with Jay, if I hadn't been so jealous maybe we…” He cut off, “I don’t know.”

He shuddered, and Riki drew closer, almost like he was trying to offer comfort.

“When were you… y’know?”

Sunghoon raised an eyebrow, ducking underneath a low-hanging branch. “Turned? A long, long time ago… 1934, maybe?”

“You lived through WWII ?”

Riki was blinking so rapidly at him, mouth hanging open, that Sunghoon had to laugh at his expression. “I lived through both, actually. I was just really young during the first one.”

“You’re joking.”

“Not at all. Jay, Jake, and I were two when it started and six when it ended.”

Riki whistled. “That’s insane.”

Sunghoon elbowed him in the ribs, and he doubled over.

“Jay and I met Heeseung at a bar.” He continued, running a hand through his hair.

Riki raised an eyebrow.

Sunghoon shoved him half-heartedly. “It was some late-night place in the city. Jay and I used to pick up strangers from places like that–feed, vanish and move on. It wasn’t elegant, it wasn't safe either, but we didn’t know any better. We were barely holding on by a thread at that point. But we thought we were clever.” He smirked a little, “Two reckless fledglings pretending we weren’t falling apart.”

He shifted, like the memory still made his chest ache.

“Then Heeseung walked in.” The name landed like an exhale. “He didn’t even look at us at first. He just walked in, coat still damp from the rain, like he belonged in a different timeline altogether but just hadn’t noticed yet. The whole place had quieted. No one turned to stare, not really but it was like the air tilted around him, like the music didn't know what key to play anymore.”

A small smile played at the corners of Riki’s lips, like he could picture it, like he found it amusing. 

“He smelled like something I still can’t name,” Sunghoon added, almost distantly. “Warm, clean, a little sweet–like candle smoke or citrus. It didn’t make any sense. He didn’t make any sense. His skin was too smooth, too bright in the dark light. His eyes swept over the room like nothing particularly caught his interest.”

Sunghoon smiled faintly, almost embarrassed. “I didn’t breathe right the entire time he was in the room. He sat down, ordered something he didn’t end up drinking and then, just as we were about to spiral–make a mess we couldn’t really get out of again–he looked right at me. And he smiled.”

Riki tilted his head. 

“I don’t–I don’t even know how to explain it but it was like he knew. Like he’d already seen the worst parts of us and didn’t care.”

He paused. “Then he said something stupid, like ‘ You boys always hunt this sloppily?’ And I–” He broke off, groaning and rubbing the back of his neck, “I nearly choked. I thought we were being slick, right? That we were in control. But this guy–this inhumanly beautiful guy–was watching us like a hawk and flirting while we barely contained ourselves from tearing everyone’s throats open.”

Riki laughed, eyes crinkling up.

“He bought us drinks, laughed when Jay made poor attempts to flirt back. He stayed exactly two steps ahead no matter what I did.” Sunghoon shook his head. “By the end of the night I couldn’t tell if I wanted to kiss him or run away and hide forever.”

He glanced over at Riki, still flitting in between trees and bushes covered in the bright white snow, but his eyes never left Sunghoon.

“Heeseung got us out of the city when things got ugly. Cleaned up our messes before the Council even caught wind. He let us stay with him–took us back to this tiny place with one bedroom and one window with black-out curtains taped up on the wall. ‘If you want to stay’” Sunghoon recited, “‘you follow my rules.’”

A beat passed.

“I think he’d been alone for a long time. You could feel it, even when he smiled. Like the quiet around him was older than anything we knew.”

Another pause, softer.

“But that night…I remember thinking, He’s dangerous, and not being scared. Just drawn. Like something in me recognized him before I had the words for it.” His mouth curved up, “We thought we were the hunters, turned out he was just letting us play pretend.” 

“You loved him?”

“Love.” Sunghoon corrected automatically, “But, yeah, he just…it's pretty hard not to if I’m honest.”

Riki was watching him softly, the snow in his hair piling up. Sunghoon averted his eyes, “We met Jake next. In 1936, when he was twenty-four. He was… he was everything. He had this light about him that just drew us right to him.”

A voice in the back of his head whispered like a moth to a flame. Except they had always been the flame.

“He actually brought us together in a way.”

“What do you mean?”

“We had all been dancing on the line of friendship for years at that point—Jay and I for almost seven years. I think Jake was the little puzzle piece that clicked for us. We were all completely enamored by him. Always have been.”

Riki swung around a tree trunk, his movements lithe, silent. His steps no longer made a sound at all and if he didn’t leave behind tracks, Sunghoon would have never known he was there in the first place. “I can see that,” Riki mused, almost to himself.

“Yeah?” Sunghoon asked.

“Hmm, you all kind of gravitate toward him.”  

Riki wasn’t looking at him but Sunghoon watched him, surprise not even beginning to cover how he felt. Then Riki met his eye and made a small gesture with his hand in an impatient sort of ‘go on’ way.

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “He was so different from what we were used to. He used to make us laugh until our ribs hurt. He’d run through the house barefoot, hair still wet from the rain, dragging us out just to see a star he liked. Said it made the city look softer. He had a way of turning the world quiet.” Sunghoon laughed. “He had us completely wrapped around his finger. Anything he wanted, we would fight over who got to give it to him.”

Sunghoon snagged a low-hanging branch, twisting it in his hands “He knew what we were. He didn’t care. But he also didn’t want to be a part of it. He never had any desire to live forever, and we were okay with that. We were okay with loving Jake for the rest of his life as long as it meant getting the privilege of loving him. But when it came down to it…”

Riki’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why did he change his mind?”

Sunghoon sighed. “In 1940, we went out for Jake’s twenty-sixth birthday. Some idiot was driving when they weren’t supposed to be. They hit Jake. He was dying, and we weren’t ready to lose him. So… Heeseung turned him.”

He paused, squinting up at the sky for a moment.

“He had the hardest transition out of everyone. It took him decades to feel normal again. It was… difficult for all of us. Heeseung-hyung didn’t sleep for weeks after. He kept trying to feed Jake himself, trying to ease the pain but Jake would push him away every time. He didn’t want to turn, he didn’t want this, but we did it to him anyways.”

Riki watched him with wide eyes, and Sunghoon was involuntarily reminded of Jake. 

The car hit him so fast. One second, Jake had been laughing, the next—he was crumpled on the pavement, limbs twisted wrong. Sunghoon couldn’t think. Just ran. Just dropped to his knees beside him, pressing shaking hands against the wounds that wouldn’t stop bleeding.

“Jake—Jake—stay with us, please—”

Jake’s fingers twitched against his wrist. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

The street lights flickered. Too bright. Too harsh. Heeseung was saying something, but Sunghoon couldn’t hear him over the pounding in his own skull.

Jake was dying.

Heeseung moved first. His hand was already at Jake’s neck, jaw clenched, fangs bared—not from hunger, but determination.

Sunghoon snapped out of it. “Hyung—what are you—”

“He’s slipping, we don’t have time!” Heeseung’s voice cracked. “I can do it. I have to do it.”

Sunghoon’s breath caught. “He—he didn’t want this.”

Heeseung’s eyes were wild, wet. “And he didn’t want to die either.”

Jay approached, his voice shaking, panicked. “You know what Jake said. You know he never—”

“Are you willing to watch him die?” Heeseung shouted.

Jake let out a choked gasp, his eyes rolling back.

Sunghoon stared down at him, panic clawing up his throat. Jake’s skin was cold. His blood was everywhere.

“Sunghoon.” Heeseung’s voice was shaking. “Say it. Please. I need you to say it.”

Sunghoon looked at Jake—his Jake—and whispered, “Do it.”

Heeseung was already moving.

Sunghoon felt a hand on his shoulder, prodding. He shook his head, like he was trying to shake off the sight of Jake’s blood, his body. He turned to Riki, “We never really told Jake it was okay to be angry. We just tried to fix him. I think that made it worse.”

It was quiet for a moment, then Riki nudged him, “What about Sunoo?”

Sunghoon’s smile slowly returned, “Jake met Sunoo first. 1963. He was working the counter at some record store we lived near. Music was…Jake’s anchor back then. It was the only thing that made him feel normal.”

Normal wasn’t quite the word. It was the only time Sunghoon could catch a glimpse of the Jake from before, before they stole his humanity. He looked so human whenever he sang, like the melody and lyrics gave back life. “He came home talking about this ‘kid at the shop’ every day. Said he had a smile like sunlight. Naturally, we got curious.”

Sunghoon laughed, “So we started dropping by the store, each of us on our own, like we weren’t all doing the exact same thing.”

Riki was grinning now, “Did he ever notice?”

“He noticed everything,” Sunghoon said fondly, “He found a photo, from 1927 with Heeseung right there in the background. Clear as day. He brought it to our apartment and said, dead serious: ‘You’re vampires.’ Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.”

Riki laughed, nearly running face first into a tree, and Sunghoon realized that it was the first time he’d heard Riki laugh. “Yeah if you think that’s funny you should have seen Heeseung-hyung’s face.”

Riki wiped away a tear, “Wait, so that’s how he got turned?”

“No, we were moving away, we had stayed there too long, people were starting to ask a few questions here and there. We were packing up when Sunoo actually threatened to jump in front of our car if we didn’t take him with us. Jake tried to convince him not to turn; I think it was one of the things Jake liked about him first, just how human he was. But Sunoo threatened to go find someone else to turn him so we figured it was safer if he was with us. A week later I turned him. I think it was right after his twenty-fifth birthday.”

Sunghoon looked up, the sun was just starting to beat away the dark, they’d have to go inside soon. He stole a glance at Riki. He was swinging around the trunk of the trees, so much snow in his hair that Sunghoon almost couldn’t see the black underneath. Before he could think his decision through his hand shot out to grab his wrist. Riki looked at him quizzically and Sunghoon reached up, shaking the snow out of his hair. It was damp now, falling a little bit in Riki’s eyes but his skin seemed brighter, less sunken than it had when Sunghoon had first found him. He tongued a bit at his fangs and Sunghoon made a mental note to get him some more blood when they got back to the house. He released Riki, leading them further into the woods. 

They reached an edge. Sunghoon crouched at the very end, looking out at the city as it began to wake up. He could hear everything if he strained but it didn’t feel as ear piercing as it did some decades ago. In fact he found it comforting now. Riki stayed hidden in the treeline for a while but Sunghoon could feel his presence. He waited and eventually Riki inched closer, staying at least two paces away from the edge.

“And Jungwon?”

Sunghoon startled, turning to look at him. “What?”

Riki looked at the edge suspiciously, “How did you meet Jungwon?”

“Jungwon…We met Jungwon at a party. He was twenty-four, and it was not a good party to be at per say.” When Riki raised an eyebrow he continued, “In the eighties there were these massive parties people–vampires–would throw, with dessert .” He looked at Riki meaningfully.

“What?”

Sunghoon pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and pointer finger, “People, Riki, people.” Riki’s mouth opened in a small “o” and Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “We went because an old friend of mine invited me, we didn’t usually go or participate in those things but he had insisted, so we went. Jungwon caught our attention pretty quickly, he was adorable–obviously– but also it didn’t seem like he belonged there. Most humans at these parties wanted to be there, they–mostly–knew what they were getting themselves into. Jungwon did not seem like he knew what he was doing there. Jay shadowed him like a guard dog most of the time but the one time he looked away he was gone.”

Riki cocked his head, his eyebrows scrunched together. “They got him, didn’t they?” He asked softly bending down to pick up a small rock and tapping his finger against the pointy end. 

Sunghoon didn’t have to ask who “they” were. “Yeah, we heard him screaming; so we all went running and some guy had him pinned at the wall and was draining him. Draining humans had long been outlawed, parties like that weren’t even really allowed unless all humans participating were adults and consenting to being fed from. By the time we processed what was happening and got the guy off of Jungwon his pulse was so weak. We took them both back to our place.”

Sunghoon winced, “Jungwon…was in bad shape. He only gained consciousness once, just for a second. His eyes were barely open and his throat was torn up, but he looked at us without fear. Like he knew we were the ones who could save him. He said ‘Help me.’ That was it. Just that. And then he slipped back under again. Heeseung threw everyone out of the room, wouldn’t let Jay anywhere near him and Jay–Jay was hysterical. He was pacing, throwing things–I had to stop him from killing the guy–five separate times. I’d never seen him like that before–not even with Jake.”

He shifted, head tilted up to try to recall the details. “When Jungwon woke up…he didn’t say much. But when he opened his eyes, there was this…stillness. Like the whole house leaned toward him. He adjusted slower than some but steadier too. Like something was building. Even when he was still in pain, even when he couldn’t sleep, he watched us. Heeseung didn’t really talk after he turned, just watched him back, like he was trying to figure out who Jungwon reminded him of. Jay, on the other hand, never left his side and Jungwon only really seemed to relax if Jay was in the room–at least in the beginning.”   

“What happened to the other guy?”

Sunghoon smiled, “We turned him in. When we dragged him home we just kept him in Bloodlock until the Council came to get him. They do not take the threat of human lives lightly.”

Riki looked at him sideways, “He’s dead?”

Sunghoon hummed, “Yeah, he broke the law, that was the price that came with it.”

“Have you ever…? Do you remember…the people you killed?”

Sunghoon sucked in a sharp breath, “Yes. Always.”

“Do you ever feel guilty?”

“Yes.” 

“Does it ever go away?” Riki asked quietly. 

Sunghoon shook his head, “Human life is a…fragile thing. And when you feel it slip from your fingers for the first time–it’s overwhelming, especially if you’re already disoriented” He turned to look at Riki, “I won’t tell you that it’ll get any easier. But you become almost…numb to it. When you live forever you’re surrounded by it. It’s everywhere, everything you touch eventually dies. Except for us.”

Riki’s features darkened with an emotion Sunghoon didn’t have the words for; guilt? Grief? He couldn’t tell. “I felt him die. But I didn't stop.”

“You couldn’t.” Sunghoon reminded him gently. “I still remember the first person I killed; her name was Alice. She was a tourist from America and she was twenty-four. She had a little sister, parents that loved her, and I took that away from her. She was scared, terrified out of her mind, I could taste it.”

“I’m sorry,” Riki whispered and Sunghoon couldn’t help but feel like the roles had reversed. 

“It was a long time ago, but I never forgot her. I don’t think I ever will.”

They sat in the quiet for a little while as Sunghoon fought down the bile rising in his throat. He hated that memory. He could remember how her heart slowed, and slowed, and slowed until it stopped completely. He could remember how it felt for his clothes to stick to his body with her blood. He could remember how her fear tasted, how she looked at him like he was a monster. He hated that part of himself. 

“My point is that it’s not your fault, Riki. Any of it.”

Riki nodded, looking up at the sky to hide tears Sunghoon pretended not to see, “Thank you.”  

Sunghoon took a look out over the city and saw the sun peaking through a bit, “Shit, we got to get inside,” He grabbed Riki’s hand, dragging him back through the woods. They hadn’t been living here for that long yet and the longer they tracked through the woods the more Sunghoon worried he didn’t actually know where he was going. The sun was beginning to reach the edges of the woods and Sunghoon felt like a cold hand had gripped his heart. Just when the panic had begun to set in, Riki pointed to the house in the clearing. Sunghoon ran , slamming the glass door shut once they made it inside. 

Jay was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, his phone held to his ear. He looked up when they walked in, “Where were you?” He pulled Sunghoon into a one-armed hug, holding him to his body. “Yeah, no, I got him, they’re both here.” Sunghoon heard Jungwon’s voice on the other side of the phone before Jay hung up.

Sunghoon pulled away a bit but Jay didn’t let him get far, pulling him closer by the belt loop of his jeans.

“Where were you?”

“I was just taking the fledgling out for some air,” He jabbed a finger towards Riki who waved awkwardly.

Jay sighed, his shoulders dropping as he leaned forward into Sunghoon’s chest, “You’re a fucking idiot; the sun’s out.”

“Yeah, I cut it a bit close. I’m sorry,” He wrapped his arms around Jay’s shoulders and pressed a small kiss to his hair, then he turned back to Riki, “Don’t do what I do, got it?”

“Huh?”

Jay mumbled something against his collarbone but pulled away, moving towards Riki. Riki didn’t move away but he tensed up the closer Jay got, “Are you hurt? Did you get burned at all?”

“I’m okay,” Came Riki’s response.

But Jay didn’t seem convinced until he had ensured with his own eyes that Riki was fine. Once he had finished his inspection he addressed Riki again, “Are you hungry?”

Riki’s eyes slid to Sunghoon who just nodded back at him, “Yes, please.”

Jay nodded, opening the fridge and rummaging around until he pulled out a bag with the letters ‘O+’ written in sharpie on the front. He poured it into a glass and handed it to Riki before turning on Sunghoon. 

“Are you hungry?”

Sunghoon shrugged, “Not really.” 

Jay nodded but Sunghoon could still feel the anxiety radiating off of him, could hear how fast his heart was beating. He was pacing a bit and Riki watched him warily until Sunghoon snagged his hand.

“Hey,” He cupped Jay’s jaw and angled his face to look at him, “I’m sorry we worried you, but we’re okay I promise.” He saw some of the anxiety in his eyes fizzle out, “No one is hurt, we’re okay.” Jay’s arms slipped around his waist and Sunghoon wrapped his around Jay’s shoulders. They stood there for a while, Sunghoon holding Jay and Riki quietly sipping on his glass until someone streaked past them, nearly knocking Riki right over.

“You’re an idiot ,” Jake’s hair was tousled and he looked like a dangerous combination of worried and angry.

“Funny, you’re the second person to say that in the past five minutes.” Sunghoon let Jay go with one arm, extending it to Jake. His eyes softened and he took Sunghoon’s hand.

“We have a problem.” 

Sunghoon turned, finding Heeseung leaning against the doorframe with Jungwon not that far behind, “Oh no.”

Jungwon shot a look at Riki, “The body’s gone.”

Chapter Text

Glass shattered and everyone turned to look at Riki who was staring at the broken glass and puddle of blood like it was foreign to him. Within the next moment Jay was out of Sunghoon’s arms and gently helping Riki step out of the ring of glass. Before Sunghoon could move to help clean everything up however, the floor was clean and Jay held a wad of blood soaked and glass filled paper towels, tossing them into the trash.                

It was quiet for a moment then, “What now?” 

Jungwon shrugged but Sunghoon could see the underlying stress in the taught line of his shoulders, “For now, we wait. It could be the human police, or it could be the council. We don’t know.”

“What do we do if it's the council?” Sunoo hopped onto the counter, beckoning Riki closer to which he complied, settling with his back to Sunoo’s chest. 

“I don’t know.” There was so much weight to Jungwon’s words, so much fear that Sunghoon wanted to reach out to him but Heeseung got there first, wrapping his arms around Jungwon’s waist and whispering words Sunghoon couldn’t quite hear into his ear. 

He turned to check on Riki instead and found himself holding his breath as the rest of the other’s attention also drifted to Sunoo and Riki. Sunoo, at some point, must have offered his wrist to Riki as a replacement for the glass he had dropped earlier. He was leaning back, one hand raking through Riki’s hair, the other pressed tightly to Riki’s lips. Next to him, Sunghoon felt Jungwon stiffen but he stuck out his arm to block him from moving to stop it. 

“What are you doing?”

“If it gets to be too much Sunoo will let us know.” 

They all stood still, as if too much movement would break the trance. Eventually Sunoo tugged at Riki’s head and Riki let go without a fight, falling back to lean his weight completely onto Sunoo. A small trail of blood fell down the corner of his mouth but Sunoo wiped it away, whispering small praises to him. 

Riki’s eyes peeled open slowly and when they landed on Sunghoon he reached out, “Hyung.”

Sunghoon startled but drew closer, “Feel good?” 

Riki’s answering nod was sharp, uncoordinated and when he looked up at Sunghoon he found his eyes hazy and unfocused. 

“He’s blood-drunk. You gave him too much.” He glanced up at Sunoo and didn’t find him the least bit guilty or caring.

“He needed it.” 

Sunghoon rolled his eyes but stole Riki away from him, allowing Jungwon to step in between Sunoo’s legs. Riki blinked slowly at him before wrapping his arms around Sunghoon’s neck and burying his face against his chest. 

“ Hyung.” 

Sunghoon chuckled, hoisting Riki up so that he could carry him properly. He made his way up the stairs, kicking open the door to the spare bedroom Jay had set up earlier. He moved to lay Riki down on the bed but he only clung to him further.

“I can still feel it. Hyung, make it go away.” His words were slurred but Sunghoon could still make out most of what he said. 

“Still feel what?” 

Riki gestured to his clothes and it took Sunghoon a minute to realize he was talking about the blood from his kill. 

“What do you want to do?”

Riki shrugged, “Make it go away.”

Sunghoon sighed and pried Riki’s hands off of him, much to his displeasure, walking into the bathroom attached to his room. Inside he turned on the water in the bathtub, holding his hand under the water until he deemed it warm enough. Then he returned to collect Riki, helping him strip to his underwear and lowering him in the tub. The water around him quickly turned pink as the dried flakes of blood that stuck to his chest soaked into the water. Sunghoon sat on the edge of the tub, hesitating until Riki leaned his head against Sunghoon’s ribs, murmuring a quiet, thank you.

Sunghoon nodded, making quick work of rinsing off Riki’s chest, having to drain and refill the water a couple of times just because of how red the water got. The dark scratches were still prominent on his chest, even extending to his shoulders and arms. If Sunghoon looked closely he could even see that some of the scratches were deep enough to have drawn blood. They had to have been recent, even more so than when he had found Riki in the alleyway, because all the blood should have healed them.

“Riki?” Sunghoon kept his voice soft and Riki turned to him, “Please stop this,” He gestured to the scratches, “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Riki just blinked at him owlishly and Sunghoon sighed, bringing his own wrist to his mouth and biting down. He offered his wrist to Riki, who took it with warm hands and pressed it to his mouth. Sunghoon watched, ensuring that every wound closed before pulling Riki off and licking the bite to close it himself. They fell back into a comfortable silence and Sunghoon gently lathered some shampoo into Riki’s hair.

“I’m scared.”

Sunghoon paused in the middle of rinsing the shampoo out of Riki’s hair. 

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Riki grasped clumsily at Sunghoon’s hands, his eyes big and pleading, “ Hyung .” He didn’t say anything else but Sunghoon received the message loud and clear. He wouldn’t let anything touch Riki, not the council, no one. Riki was theirs now, whether they knew it or not. 

Sunghoon didn’t know whether it was the warmth of the water or the exhaustive activities of the day that lulled Riki to sleep right there but he had to prevent Riki from face-planting in the water. He started to drain the water, preparing to lift Riki out when a second pair of hands appeared. 

Heeseung helped to lift Riki out of the rapidly cooling water, towel him off and redress him in Heeseung’s clothes because he was the closest to Riki’s height. When they tucked him securely into the sheets Riki’s hand shot out, grabbing a hold of Sunghoon’s wrist. 

“Don’t go.” 

Heeseung raised an eyebrow but Sunghoon waved him off, running his hand through Riki’s damp hair, “Go back to sleep, Riki, I’ll be here when you wake up.” 

He had to wait there a couple extra minutes but once he had ensured Riki was asleep, Sunghoon snuck out the door, dragging Heeseung with him and closing the door. “He trusts you.”

Sunghoon turned his head to face Heeseung, “He’s scared, I was just the first person he latched onto.”

Heeseung rolled his eyes, “That wasn’t what I saw. He trusts you, otherwise he wouldn’t be begging for you to stay with him.”

Sunghoon didn’t know how to respond to that. “What are we going to do if the Council comes for him? Hyung, I won’t let them touch him. I can’t.”

“So we won’t let them get near him, simple solution.” He made it sound so simple, so easy that Sunghoon almost believed him.

“We can’t control that. What do we do if they show up here? What if they just take him and we never see him again? I don’t even think he’s finished turning–”

“Hoon,” Heeseung cupped his face, effectively forcing his rambling to come to an end, “Stop. You’re right. We can’t control that. But we can hide; we can hide him until he’s well enough to make his own decisions. We can hide any connection there might be to us and the body. We will make this work.”

“Thank you.” Sunghoon said, wrapping his arms around Heeseung’s waist and leaning his head against his shoulder. Heeseung was right; they could make this work.

“You stress too much.” Heeseung brought his arms around Sunghoon’s shoulders, massaging the tension out of the muscles in his neck. When he pulled back, Heeseung scanned his face, “Do you want to stay with him tonight?”

Sunghoon considered this, on one hand, it would reassure him that Riki was alive and safe but he also knew how it feels to be desperate to be alone during this. “No, he needs to sleep and he can’t do that if I’m hovering over him to make sure he’s breathing.”

Heeseung laughed, “Of course you would do that,” He paused, “So do you want to go back downstairs?”

Sunghoon winced, “Jungwon’s mad at me.”

“He’s not mad at you.”

Sunghoon gave him a doubtful look and Heeseung rolled his eyes, leading him back down the stairs and away from Riki. 

Jungwon sat on the couch, a very sated Sunoo in his lap with Jay and Jake on either side. Sunghoon raised an eyebrow in question and Jungwon shrugged, tightening his hold on Sunoo.   

Sunoo stirred a bit, twisting and Sunghoon caught a glimpse of a very distinct mark placed where his shoulder met his neck that looked remarkably like the outline of Jungwon’s fangs. 

“Really?”

Jungwon grinned, one hand gently coaxing Jake’s head to the side, revealing the same mark. Sunghoon’s eyes turned to Jay who also turned his head so Sunghoon could see the matching mark. 

Sunghoon blinked dumbly. He had expected Jungwon would want to remark him tonight — the way Jungwon had hovered, the way his eyes had tracked every movement. He had even known, somewhere deep down, that the others would crave it too; they always did after a scare like this. But the immediacy of it — the way Jungwon claimed all of them so openly, so quickly, right here on the couch — still managed to knock the breath out of him. It wasn't a surprise, exactly. It was the sheer force of belonging, crashing into him all at once. Jungwon handed Sunoo off to Jay, beckoning Heeseung closer with his finger. 

“Hyungie,” 

Heeseung approached him, throwing Sunghoon a playful smile on his way and straddled Jungwon.  

Jungwon pulled his head to the side, biting down on Heeseung’s throat immediately. Heeseung tensed up; the muscles in his back bunching up under his shirt before he melted into Jungwon, going completely boneless as Jungwon held him there for a moment longer before releasing him. Heeseung turned to him and Sunghoon could almost see the fog that clouded his mind as Jungwon pet his hair back into place and murmured sweet praises to him. Jake snatched him from Jungwon pretty soon after and all attention turned to Sunghoon. 

“Hyung, come here.” It wasn’t so much of a request as it was a command. Sunghoon stumbled over, practically falling into Jungwon’s lap as the other rearranged him to his liking. He ended up straddling Jungwon much like Heeseung had, his forehead resting against Jungwon’s shoulder. 

“What you did was dangerous.” Jungwon followed the curve of his spine with the tip of his finger. 

Sunghoon made a disagreeing sound, “Riki? He’s anything but dangerous–”

Jungwon tightened his grip on Sunghoon’s waist, pulling him up to look at him, “You brought an unknown person into the house, that’s dangerous. He could have been a threat.”

“I–” Sunghoon was tempted to argue more but one look at Jungwon made him rethink that desire, “I’m sorry.”

Jungwon hummed and before Sunghoon could react properly he sunk his teeth into his neck. Sunghoon gasped, flinching away slightly until the pleasure crept up on him. It was warm and spread through him slowly like a river until it buzzed in his veins, clearing away any thoughts he had and leaving him more like mush than a person. A hand running through his hair and a voice eventually cut through the fog in his thoughts.

“Sorry, I forget how sensitive you are sometimes,” Jungwon chuckled, not sounding sorry at all. His chest moved with the shake of his laugh and Sunghoon focused on that sensation to help further ground him. 

“Feel better?”

Jungwon nodded, “Much. Also, hyung?” Sunghoon lifted his head a bit. “We won’t let anything happen to Riki, he’s safe.”

Sunghoon relaxed further into Jungwon’s embrace at those words, “We should think of a plan.”

“Tomorrow,” Sunoo murmured, “We’ll think tomorrow, right now I would rather sleep.”

Sunghoon hummed his agreement, before grabbing Jungwon’s hand to get his attention, “Jungwon?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you, for searching for the body, even if you didn’t find it. Thank you.”

For a minute it looked like Jungwon wanted to say something more but Sunoo pulled on his arm, pouting, “Hey, we helped too.”

Sunghoon smiled, “Thank you, Sunoo.”

Jungwon traced his fingers along Sunghoon’s spine, his voice dropping to a murmur. “We won’t let anything happen to Riki.”

Sunghoon wanted to believe him. He really did. But somewhere in the back of his mind, a different voice whispered— You’ve already been found. 

There was a quiet murmur of conversation that Sunghoon wasn’t quite following as they made their way up the stairs, but he could follow the sounds of their heartbeats. They moved unhurriedly, bumping shoulders, ensuring that at some point or another they had contact. Jungwon grazed his fingers across the small of Sunoo’s back, the nape of Jake’s neck, circling them around Heeseung’s wrist or Jay’s arm. At some point, Jungwon reached for Sunghoon but before he could actually touch, he hesitated. Sunghoon leaned in the rest of the way and Jungwon’s arm rested heavily around his waist, his skin felt like it was burning through his clothes. 

Jungwon brushed his thumb over the healing mark on his shoulder, sending a full body shiver through Sunghoon. Sunghoon tossed a glare at him, but it didn’t have any bite. Jungwon smiled back at him, reaching for Heeseung this time instead. He leaned up with his arms wrapped around Heeseung’s neck, whispering something in his ear. Heeseung bit down a smile, his eyes flickering briefly to Sunghoon, then darting between Jay and Jake. Jungwon pulled away, reaching for Sunoo this time, pulling him by the wrist into his room. Heeseung lingered for a moment, but he looked amused, like he knew something Sunghoon didn’t. He leaned into Sunghoon’s space, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

“Hyung!” Jungwon called, his voice slightly muffled through the door. 

Heeseung rolled his eyes, his hand lingering on Sunghoon’s shoulder as he pulled away, before disappearing behind the door to Jungwon’s room.    

Sunghoon shook his head, trying to pull himself out of his thoughts enough to open his own bedroom door. 

“Hoon?”

Sunghoon turned, Jake still stood in the hallway, his hands flexing at his sides.

“I’m going to stay with Jay tonight,” He paused, “Join us? Please?”

Sunghoon’s gaze shifted to Jay who stood only a couple paces behind Jake. He was uncharacteristically quiet, in all the years Sunghoon had known Jay he never knew him to be quiet. It was unnerving. Jake clenched his hands into fists by his sides but Sunghoon could still see the tremor in them. His heart was beating rapidly, almost like he was angry or afraid. Sunghoon’s eyebrows furrowed and he took a step forward, reaching for Jake but Jake jumped back into Jay’s chest. 

“Just…” Jake took a steadying breath, stepping close enough that he could trace his fingers along Sunghoon’s jaw. His hands were still shaking, “Get changed and meet us in Jay’s room. Okay?”

Sunghoon nodded dumbly, watching Jake disappear down the hall and into Jake’s room. Jay remained for a moment and Sunghoon desperately wanted to reach out and touch him but something made him stop. He felt for the door knob behind him and slowly opened his bedroom door. Jay watched him until the moment the door closed. 

Once the door was shut Sunghoon deflated, leaning his forehead against the cool wood. He contemplated for a moment taking a shower but decided against it for the moment. He pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it in the direction of the hamper in the corner of the room. He did the same with his jeans, switching them out for a looser sleep shirt and sweatpants. The material was soft and Sunghoon ran his hands over it, trying to calm the knot of anxiety that was twisting in his stomach. 

His door opened with a sharp sound that made Sunghoon cringe. He padded down to Jay’s room, hesitating just outside the door. Inside there was little sound, he could hear Jay’s heartbeat and the rhythm of Jake’s breath but aside from that there was no movement. 

After another moment he entered, closing the door behind him. The room was quiet, but the tension in the air was anything but.

Sunghoon had barely stepped inside fully before Jake grabbed his wrist, tugging him close without hesitation. The movement was sharp, desperate, instinctual.

Jay was already watching—eyes dark, unreadable as he leaned against the bed frame. But Sunghoon could feel the weight of his gaze, feel the way it pinned him in place.

For a moment, none of them spoke. Then Jake exhaled shakily, pressing his forehead against Sunghoon’s shoulder. “You were gone.”

Not an accusation. Not anger. Just raw, quiet fear.

Sunghoon swallowed, his fingers twitching against Jake’s arm. “I came back.”

Jay made a quiet sound—something between a scoff and a sigh. “Not fast enough.”

His voice was steady, but the way his fingers curled around Sunghoon’s jaw wasn’t. He tilted Sunghoon’s face toward him, eyes flicking over every inch of his skin, as if searching for something.

Jay’s grip on Sunghoon’s jaw tightened slightly, his thumb brushing over his pulse. His eyes flicked to Jake for half a second—a silent question, an unspoken command.

Jake inhaled sharply and nodded, his grip on Sunghoon tightening as he pressed closer.

“You don’t smell like us.” Jay’s voice was strained, controlled, but if only barely.

Sunghoon barely had time to process that before Jay’s mouth was on his.

It wasn’t a kiss—it was a claim, firm, and undeniable. A reminder of exactly who Sunghoon belonged to.

Jake’s fingers dug into Sunghoon’s sides, clutching at him like he might disappear again. His breath was unsteady as he pressed his face against Sunghoon’s neck, inhaling deeply. Needing to breathe him in. Needing to know he was still theirs.

Sunghoon let out a slow breath, his body softening between them. He didn’t fight it, didn’t try to push back. Instead, he let them have him. He could feel the need in their touches, their voices. The need to mark him. To pull him back into their orbit. To erase every trace of someone else. Jake shifted slightly, pressing a kiss to the curve of Sunghoon’s throat, his fingers sliding under his shirt as if needing to feel skin.

Jay pulled back just enough to murmur, “That’s better.” His fingers traced Sunghoon’s jaw, tilting his head slightly, inspecting him. Then his eyes shifted to Jake and almost imperceptibly he nodded. 

Jake pulled the collar of Sunghoon’s shirt to the side, his lips moved from Sunghoon’s jaw, trailing lower, pressing heat against skin that had been too cold for too long. Sunghoon hissed at the drag of teeth against the soft area where his shoulder met his neck before Jake soothed the sting with his tongue. 

Jay’s grip tightened—not hard, but firm, like he could squeeze out every trace of scent that wasn’t theirs.

He leaned in, teeth scraping against Sunghoon’s bottom lip and Sunghoon shuddered, every part of him itching to touch Jay, Jake, to settle the raging thing in his chest. His fingers found their way under Jay’s shirt, scratching at the skin there. Jay inhaled sharply, catching Sunghoon’s hand as it traced the edge of his waistband.

“Not now.” Jay’s hand slid up to Sunghoon’s throat, not squeezing, just holding, like he was grounding himself. “Not yet.” His thumb brushed over Sunghoon’s pulse point, slow, deliberate. 

Jake’s teeth nicked his skin again, a reminder and a warning all in one. Sunghoon dropped his hands from Jay’s body, his breath stuttering. He should resist–should push back just a little–but his body betrayed him, leaning into Jay’s grip, into Jake’s heat. Fingers turned his head to the side. Jake’s eyes were dark as he tugged on the helm of Sunghoon’s shirt, the question written clearly across his face but Sunghoon wanted Jake to say it. 

“What?” He whispered.

Jake made a small amused sound against Sunghoon’s flushed skin, “Can I take your shirt off, Hoonie?”

“Please,” Sunghoon hadn’t meant for it to come out as desperate as it sounded, but it was all at once hitting him how much he needed them too. For them to touch him, hold him, erase the day with their hands, their mouths, anything they were willing to give him. Jay hummed, twisting his finger around the bottom of Sunghoon’s shirt, teasing, testing. Then, they pulled away. 

Sunghoon felt like he was thrown off-center without Jay and Jake to ground him to his spot. He stood still, swaying slightly, like a ship without an anchor. Jay ran a single finger from his covered shoulder to his bare wrist. Sunghoon leaned into the barely-there touch with a small sigh. 

Jay nodded toward the bed and Sunghoon hesitated, weight shifting between his feet. His body ached for them, but something about the distance between them now felt heavier, charged. Still, his feet moved before his mind caught up. Two steps. 

The mattress dipped beneath him as he crawled onto it, settling back against his hands. He swallowed hard, breathing shallow. He had nowhere to go now. And maybe that was the point. He looked back at them, breath catching in his throat. 

Jay had Jake’s head tilted back, his mouth biting at the skin of Jake’s jaw. Jake’s hands gripped the front of Jay’s shirt, pulling him as close as he could get. 

“Jay,” Jake gasped.

Jay chuckled, “Yeah, baby?”

Jake’s hands tore at Jay’s shirt but Jay carefully uncurled his hands. He turned Jake around and Sunghoon locked eyes with him. Jake’s hands were flexing intermittently again, like he didn’t know what to do with them. Jay kissed the area right below Jake’s ear, his hands no longer visible underneath Jake’s shirt. Sunghoon’s breathing was unsteady in his chest.

Jake’s head turned towards Jay as he murmured something against Jake’s skin, something Sunghoon couldn’t hear over the pounding in his ears. Jake nodded, sharp, uncoordinated and Jay released him. He stumbled towards Sunghoon, who leaned up to meet him half-way but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Jake looked—felt calmer the moment he came in contact with Sunghoon and he gave him a small smile, pushing him down onto his back. Sunghoon stretched out underneath Jake as he rucked up his shirt. His breath was hot over the skin of Sunghoon’s hip and Sunghoon arched into it.

Jake breathed out a small laugh, low and amused. “You forgot, didn’t you?” He waited, letting the words settle, letting Sunghoon feel them. Then—sharp, deliberate—he bit down, hard enough to make Sunghoon jolt, a curse slipping past his lips. Jake hummed against his skin, satisfied. “Don’t worry—we’ll fix that.”

His hands gripped the sides of Sunghoon’s waist but Sunghoon couldn’t tell if it was just for the sake of contact or to hold him still. His hands were everywhere, scratching his nails down his chest, his sides, kissing across his stomach, engulfing Sunghoon entirely in flames. 

He hissed at the heat when Jake licked a straight path up his abs. His hands dropped to Jake’s head for something to hold on to, but he met resistance. 

Jay caught Sunghoon’s wrists, gathering them easily in his own and pressing them into the mattress above his head. His grip wasn’t tight, but it was unyielding. Sunghoon exhaled shakily, testing the hold—only for Jay’s fingers to tighten, a silent warning. Sunghoon tugged again and when they didn’t budge Jay just looked down at him, a small smile playing at the edge of his lips.

Sunghoon could feel Jake move upward. He dropped a kiss on his navel, his ribs, the center of his chest, stopping once to bite down on Sunghoon’s nipple teasingly. He reached Sunghoon’s collarbone and stopped there, sucking a mark into the dips of the bone. He added two more identical ones to the hollow of Sunghoon’s throat before sitting back on Sunghoon’s thighs. His face was smug, satisfied as he looked down at Sunghoon, tracing his fingers over the already dark marks just to watch Sunghoon squirm. 

Jay smoothed his thumb over the sensitive skin of Sunghoon’s inner wrists, leaning down to press feather light kisses to Sunghoon’s neck. 

Sunghoon trapped his bottom lip between his teeth. His breaths were coming out in huffs. He looked up at Jake who seemed momentarily star-struck. His eyes were even darker than they had been a few moments ago, his hands that rested on Sunghoon’s waist had a small tremor. 

“Fuck, you’re so perfect.” He breathed out finally, crashing his lips against Sunghoon’s. It was desperate, needy, Jake was everywhere and it was too much and not enough all at the same time. They parted only so that Jay could pull Sunghoon’s shirt fully over his head, the pressure of his touch leaving for a moment. Jake licked into his mouth, biting at his lips, wholly consuming Sunghoon as he burned. 

Sunghoon's hips kicked up automatically when Jake’s hand brushed over the front of his sweatpants. Jake grinned into the kiss, keeping his hand tantalizingly light over Sunghoon. 

Jake’s teasing touch had Sunghoon arching into him, desperate for more pressure, more friction—more of them. But before he could chase it, Jay’s grip on his wrists tightened. Not harsh, but firm enough to remind him that he was not in control.

“Easy,” Jay murmured against his throat, his voice low, steady—commanding. He dragged his lips up the column of Sunghoon’s neck, lingering just below his ear. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

Sunghoon’s breath stuttered, his body caught between burning up under Jake’s mouth and melting under Jay’s hands. His pulse jumped when Jay finally let go of one of his wrists, only to trace slow, deliberate fingers down his chest, ghosting over Jake’s marks like he was appraising them.

Jake made a noise in the back of his throat, his lips still brushing Sunghoon’s jaw. “We should give him more,” he said, half a question, half a challenge.

Jay looked like he was considering and Sunghoon resisted the impulse to squirm. Jay’s hand slipped lower, nails dragging just enough to make Sunghoon shiver. “You’re right,” he agreed, a wicked smirk curling at the edges of his mouth. “He’s still so restless. We can do better than that.”

Jake shuddered at the words, his fingers flexing against Sunghoon’s waist like he was fighting the urge to move faster, to do more. Jay noticed, smirking as he dragged his hand down the center of Sunghoon’s chest, his touch featherlight. He traced over the marks Jake had left, pressing down just enough to make Sunghoon suck in a sharp breath.

Jay’s grip tightened—not punishing, but firm, grounding. “Breathe, Hoon.” His voice dipped, the command threading through Sunghoon like fire in his veins.

Jake let out a quiet curse, watching the way Sunghoon reacted, completely at their mercy. He leaned down, brushing his lips over Sunghoon’s stomach, his tongue flicking out just to feel the way Sunghoon twitched under the attention.

J ay took advantage of the distraction, shifting his hold so that Sunghoon was fully beneath him, Jake caged between them. “Slow down,” Jay murmured, and though it was directed at Jake, Sunghoon felt the weight of it too.

Jay slid his hands down, skimming Sunghoon’s sides, slow and purposeful, savoring the way Sunghoon’s body tensed, anticipating, waiting. “We’re not rushing this.”

Jake exhaled shakily, nodding as he let Jay guide him, let him dictate the pace. Sunghoon, caught between them, felt like he was standing at the edge of something overwhelming, something inevitable.

Jay smirked, eyes dark as he leaned in, his breath hot against Sunghoon’s ear. “Now, let’s see if we can make you beg for it.”

Sunghoon bit down a whimper; he had a feeling it wouldn’t take very long at all. Sunghoon carefully and slowly placed his hands on Jake’s thighs. Jay watched him but didn’t seem to disapprove so Sunghoon ran his palms up to Jake’s hips and back down to his knees. Jay’s hands moved from Sunghoon’s waist, trailing up, his mouth rough on the skin of Jake’s neck. Jake gasped, his body bowing to Jay’s lips, his tongue, his hand that dragged Jake’s shirt up his chest. Bright red marks littered wherever Jay’s mouth wondered and very quickly Jake was bare from the waist up. Sunghoon’s hands twitched on Jake’s thighs and he heard Jay laugh—low, sweet. 

“You can touch.” Was all he said.

That was all the permission Sunghoon needed to run his fingers up the expanse of Jake’s chest, tracing over the muscle and skin he’s known for years. Jake’s breath hitched under Sunghoon’s fingers. His eyes fluttered closed for a second, lips parting like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.

Jay leaned down, his voice brushing against the shell of Jake’s ear, “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

J ake nodded, shaky, like the heat was short-circuiting his ability to think. Sunghoon’s hands flattened against his stomach, sliding up to cup his sides. He felt Jake tremble under his touch and it did something to him—lit something warm and heady in his chest.

Jay shifted closer, one hand still firm around Sunghoon’s wrist, the other sliding slowly down Jake’s spine. “You’re doing so well for us, baby,” he murmured, not quite to Jake, not quite to Sunghoon—like it was for both of them.

Jake’s fingers curled into the sheets. “Jay…”

“Shh,” Jay soothed, pressing a kiss just under Jake’s jaw. 

Sunghoon’s mouth went dry. He looked up at Jay, who met his gaze steadily, like he was checking in. Sunghoon swallowed and nodded once. Jay smiled, soft and approving.

“Kiss him,” Jay said, his voice quiet but commanding.

Sunghoon didn’t hesitate. He leaned in and kissed Jake gently at first, then deeper when Jake opened up to him—desperate, grateful, greedy. Jake's hands came up to hold Sunghoon's face, sinking into it as Jay trailed kisses down his back, his hands never stopping, never letting either of them drift too far.

The heat pulsed between them—slow and steady and inevitable. The kiss deepened—Sunghoon barely registered when Jake’s hands moved from his face to his waist, pulling him in until there was no space left between them. Their mouths moved like they’d been starved for this, for each other.

Jake’s hands gripped tighter, his breath ragged. “Jay—” he gasped, like he needed something, like he didn’t know what to do with how overwhelmed he felt.

“I’ve got you,” Jay murmured, then pressed his mouth to the back of Jake’s neck, biting down.

Jake moaned, low and raw. Sunghoon swallowed the sound, pulling Jake down again and pushing his tongue past his teeth.

Jay’s hands slid between them, separating Jake and Sunghoon just enough to pull at the waistband of Sunghoon’s sweats. “Off,” he said simply, and Sunghoon lifted his hips, letting Jake help drag the fabric down until they were gone, left somewhere on the floor.

Jay leaned back just enough to look them both over—Jake shirtless, flushed, lips bitten red; Sunghoon, bare and shaking under the heat of their attention.

“There you are,” Jay said, voice low and pleased, like the sight of them was something he’d earned. “That’s better.”

Jake sat back on Sunghoon’s thighs again, but this time his fingers dug in with more purpose. “He’s still shaking.”

“Good,” Jay said, settling behind him again, wrapping one arm around Jake’s waist while his other hand slid back over Sunghoon’s chest. “Let him feel it.”

Sunghoon gasped at the sensation of both of them on him—Jake’s mouth on his neck, Jay’s hand trailing lower. His body arched involuntarily. He couldn’t tell where one of them ended and the other began, just knew he was burning alive under all of it.

“Look at him,” Jake said, voice somewhere between reverent and wrecked. “So pretty like this.”

“He’s ours,” Jay said, pressing his lips to Jake’s shoulder.

Jake let out a low sound, his hips bucking forward against Sunghoon’s, catching them both off guard. Sunghoon gasped, the friction between them striking a match he hadn’t realized he was holding.

“Careful,” Jay murmured, one arm slinking around Jake’s waist to pull him back just slightly, his other hand pressing flat against Sunghoon’s chest. “Don’t get greedy.”

“But he feels—” Jake started, voice already unsteady.

“I know how he feels.” Jay leaned down, pressing his lips against Sunghoon’s collarbone, biting into the flesh until Sunghoon hissed and Jake groaned above him. “Let’s enjoy it, yeah?”

Jay guided Jake back down, his palm splayed over the small of Jake’s back, keeping him there as Jake returned his mouth to Sunghoon’s skin. But now there was rhythm—intent—as if Jay had flicked a switch and Jake was just following the pull of it.

Sunghoon’s hands drifted again—tentative at first, then surer—as he smoothed them over the planes of Jake’s chest, fingers brushing against the sharp cut of his hip bones. Jake hissed between his teeth, shuddering.

“More,” Jake muttered.

Jay clicked his tongue, amused. “You’ll take what I give you.”

And then Jay kissed Sunghoon, hard—finally—and everything seemed to crack open. His hand slid into Sunghoon’s hair, angling his head just how he wanted, mouth hot and claiming. Jake was still moving against him, grinding slowly, and the overstimulation had Sunghoon shaking, caught in the friction of their mouths, their hands, their heat.

Jay’s hand tightened in Sunghoon’s hair, holding him in place as he deepened the kiss—slow and devouring, like he had all the time in the world to take him apart piece by piece. Sunghoon moaned against his mouth, bucking up into Jake, who was dragging his hips deliberately, rolling them like he wanted to feel everything.

“Look at you,” Jay murmured when he finally pulled away, his voice hoarse, rough with want. His thumb dragged across Sunghoon’s swollen bottom lip. “You’ll cum from just this?”

Sunghoon didn’t answer—couldn’t. His head tipped back against the mattress, eyes fluttering shut, chest heaving. Jake’s lips were on his throat again, tongue circling the sensitive marks he’d left behind, and Jay’s hands were moving—everywhere—palming his chest, ghosting along his stomach, tracing patterns onto his inner thighs without yet committing.

“You remember how to beg, Hoon?” Jay asked, low and dangerous against his ear.

Sunghoon whimpered. “Yes.”

Jake chuckled against his skin, breath hot. “Then show us.”

“I—” Sunghoon shuddered when Jay’s fingers finally moved up. Just a brush. Just enough to make his thighs tense. “Please.”

“Hmmm. Doesn’t quite sound like you want it, baby.”

Sunghoon opened his mouth again but Jay wrapped his hand loosely around his cock, making his cut off with a gasp. “Please, Jay, I need—touch me. Please–I can’t–”

Jay smiled, slow and satisfied, and rewarded him with a firmer touch. His grip curled around him—teasing, not tight enough. Sunghoon bucked into it, but Jay tsked and pinned his hips down with his other hand.

“You don’t get to take,” Jay whispered, dragging his lips down the line of Sunghoon’s throat. “You get what we give you.”

And Jake was there again, kissing down Sunghoon’s chest, tongue flicking over his nipple, teeth scraping hard enough to make him jump. Sunghoon writhed between them, caught in the unbearable tension of being touched everywhere but still aching for more.

Jay leaned in, eyes locked on Sunghoon’s flushed, pleading face as he said, “Tell us what you want.”

Sunghoon’s voice was wrecked. “You. Both of you. Please—I want—need—”

Jake’s mouth met his again, swallowing the rest of the sentence. Jay’s hand moved—just slightly firmer now—thumbing at the head and Sunghoon broke into pieces under them, all jagged edges and fire.

Jake shifted on his lap, and somewhere through the haze, Sunghoon heard Jay’s voice: “ Hips up, love. ”

When Jake settled again, all Sunghoon could feel was bare skin —hot, flushed, bare skin. The contrast made his breath catch.

It didn’t escape him that Jay was still fully clothed—simple: a cotton t-shirt, soft sweatpants. But those layers felt like a wall. Too much. Too far.

Sunghoon wanted him—all of him. Pressed tight against every curve and dip of his body, close enough that even sunlight couldn’t slip between them. He broke the kiss with Jake just enough to turn his head.

“Jay,” he whispered, voice rough, “ please .”

Jay’s features softened. He reached out, palming Sunghoon’s cheek. “I’ll give you what you want. Don’t worry.”

He pulled his shirt up and over his head and Sunghoon felt relief flood through him like breath returning to starved lungs. He reached to touch—then paused, eyes flicking up to Jay’s.

Seeking permission. Still asking. Still waiting.

Jay’s gaze didn’t waver. “Come here,” he murmured, leaning down, pressing his forehead gently against Sunghoon’s.

His hand slid down from Sunghoon’s cheek, slow and steady, grazing over his neck, his collarbone, then down to rest flat against his chest. His touch wasn’t demanding—just there, like an anchor.

“You’re doing so well,” Jay whispered, kissing the corner of Sunghoon’s mouth. His voice was low, warm, threading into the quiet like silk. “Let us take care of you.”

Jay’s fingers laced with Sunghoon’s, guiding his hands up to his own shoulders, letting Sunghoon touch, explore, map out the new skin he’d been aching to feel. Jay kissed him, gentle but deep—possessive in a quiet, bone-deep way.

Jake stayed close, his hand still tracing circles against Sunghoon’s side, but now his gaze flicked between the two of them, like watching a tether re-tie itself.

“Let go for us,” Jay said against his lips, the kind of promise that made Sunghoon’s lungs feel too tight to use. He waited for a moment, lingering, before his attention drifted to Jake. Jake, who sat there patiently, twisting his hands together, his eyes darting between them. Jay reached for him and it was the first time Sunghoon could call his grip gentle. He kissed Jake’s lips, nothing more, no teeth or tongue and the tension in Jake’s shoulder line dissipated. 

He nosed at the marks he left on Jake’s neck, his shoulders, murmuring into warm skin, “What do you want, Jakey?”

“You—Hoon, please. Need it.” His voice tapered off into a whisper, his fingers curling into the waistband of Jay’s sweats, impatient. 

Jay shook his head in what looked like fond exasperation as Jake took the opportunity to shove Jay’s pants the rest of the way down his legs and wrap his hand around Jay’s hardened cock, pumping leisurely. 

Jay sighed through his nose, leaning in to drag his tongue over the length of Jake’s throat. “How about this, baby?” Jake paused. “You and Hoonie go first, then I’ll have him after. How does that sound?” His eyes slid to Sunghoon who could do nothing but nod desperately. Jake whined, hands reaching for Sunghoon and Jay, like he was trying to meld them all together. 

Jay laughed low in his throat before kissing Jake’s cheek and nudging him towards Sunghoon. Jake was clambering into his lap in seconds and Sunghoon was just grateful for the contact, for the feel of Jake’s skin against his own again. He kissed his neck, his jaw, the corner of his mouth until Jake got impatient and just slammed their lips together so hard it was almost bruising. 

In the corner of his eye he saw Jay reach for the lube they kept in the side dresser next to the bed, uncapping it with a click . He saw Jay’s hand land flat against Jake’s spine, pushing forward until Sunghoon fell back, Jake hovering over him. Jake pulled away first, breaking off with a gasp and Sunghoon’s fingers clenched against his waist. Sunghoon drew up one hand to brush Jake’s hair off his forehead, trying to memorize every twitch of pleasure that showed on his face.

“You’re so beautiful,” He whispered, almost without meaning to. Jake whined again, hips pushing back against Jay’s hand. 

Jay looked up, free hand squeezing Jake’s waist, “Easy, love, you need to be still.”

Jake huffed but stopped moving and Sunghoon could tell when Jay added a second finger just based on the way Jake’s eyes fluttered closed, his head falling to lean against Sunghoon’s chest. 

“ Fuck, Jay, please,”

Sunghoon cupped Jake’s jaw, bringing his face back up to watch every micro-movement, “Feels good?” 

Jake didn’t respond with words, just moaned low in his throat, jolting forward when Jay curled his fingers just right. Jay hummed, pressing the hand not moving flat against Jake’s back, “You’re doing so well, Jakey. Almost done.”

Jake looked like he was ready to sob at the words. His eyes were already glassy, a flush spread high on his cheeks, reaching past his chest. He looked wrecked. And Sunghoon hadn’t even gotten his hands on him yet. 

There was a slick sound of more lube, then Jake fell forward, his hands scrambling for purchase on the sheets, “Oh fuck.”

Sunghoon hooked his chin over Jake’s trembling shoulder and caught Jay’s eye, who looked far too fond for the activity at hand. He leaned forward, kissed the knobs of Jake’s spine as he worked his fingers in and out, occasionally twisting them, making Jake spasm. 

When he finally pulled back Jake let out a whimper and Jay was quick to return his touch, caressing Jake’s sides, kissing the back of his neck, murmuring how well he did, how he was going to get what he wanted now. Sunghoon pressed a kiss to Jake’s temple as Jay eased him back, leaning him against his chest again. 

Jay watched him for a moment and Sunghoon jumped, hissing when Jay wrapped a hand around his cock, covering him in lube. “Make him feel good.” He whispered before helping Jake sit up enough to line himself up with Sunghoon and sink down. 

Sunghoon’s back arched, his hands flying to Jake’s waist as he tried to think beyond the heat fogging his brain. Jake’s head landed on Jay’s shoulder, his entire body melting, as if all the strength was drained from him. 

Jay bit at his throat teasingly and Jake whined. “Come on, Jakey, show him how much you need him, hmm?”

Jake moaned, his hands coming to brace against Sunghoon’s chest as he lifted himself up carefully before dropping down again. Sunghoon cursed, nails leaving indents on the skin of Jake’s waist but that only seemed to spur him on. Jay drifted to sit across from them, his eyes dark, hungry as they watched Jake’s hips meet Sunghoons, the way Jake’s head was tossed back or how Sunghoon squeezed his eyes closed. 

Jake reached for him and Jay offered him his hand, which he cradled to his chest, even as he leaned down to lick into Sunghoon’s mouth. Sunghoon moaned, cupping Jake’s jaw to angle them better, running his tongue over Jake’s fangs that had peaked out at some point, relishing in the full body shiver he got and the moan he swallowed. 

“You feel so good,” Sunghoon rasped in the limited space between them, gasping when Jake clenched down on him in response. When Jake slowed, Sunghoon took the opportunity, flipping them over and driving into Jake. Jake yelled his name, legs wrapping around his waist, pulling Sunghoon as close as possible. 

Jake dragged his nails down Sunghoon’s back, making him hiss. “Deeper, please.” 

Sunghoon obliged, gripping one of Jake’s thighs as leverage, punching little gasps and moans out of the boy beneath him. Jake’s back arched, baring his throat to Sunghoon, who happily took the offering. 

“Hoon, Jay, please!” Jake gasped.

Jay inched closer, two fingers coming up to pinch Jake’s nipple, “Let go.”

Jake’s eyes squeezed shut, mouth falling open as he came between them. Sunghoon shuddered, stilling as Jake clenched down on him. He ran his hands through Jake’s hair, waiting until Jake opened his eyes to pull out, murmuring a small apology when the other boy winced. 

Jake was trembling, small, beautiful aftershocks that rippled through him as he slumped against the mattress, breath catching on every exhale. Jay was there in seconds. He didn’t speak at first, just reached out—hand on Jake’s jaw, turning his head to the side, thumb stroking softly. 

“Hey,” Jay whispered, voice warm now, smooth, “You did so good for us.”

Jake made a small noise, turning his head into the crook of Jay’s elbow. Jay smiled, soft, softer than Sunghoon had seen so far, and leaned down, pressing a kiss to the side of Jake’s head, then on his cheekbone. 

“Breathe, baby,” Another kiss, “Just like that. I’ve got you.”

Jake’s hands were still fisted in the sheets but the tension was fading slowly. Jay coaxed him away from his arm, just enough to cradle his face, wiping a damp strand of hair away with the back of his hand. 

“You’re perfect, you know that?” He murmured, “Every time.”

Jake blinked up at him, dazed and flushed and golden. Jay smiled, brushed a thumb under his eye and pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead. His gaze slid to Sunghoon, to where his fingers traced invisible patterns into the skin of Jake’s hip, his touch constant. 

Sunghoon’s hand stayed at Jake’s hip, but his eyes were locked on Jay—on the way his fingers moved so gently, brushing through Jake’s hair, the way his mouth softened for Jake alone. He ached for it, ached for it in a way that made his skin feel too tight.

Jay looked up slowly, like he could hear Sunghoon’s thoughts. Their eyes met and just like that, Sunghoon couldn’t breathe. Jay’s gaze raked over him—his chest, his hands, the way he was still a little too tense.

“You were patient,” Jay said, voice dropping.

Sunghoon swallowed, “He needed it.”

“He did.” Jay inched closer, kneeling between Sunghoon’s legs. “But you? You need something else, no?” Sunghoon’s breath hitched and Jay leaned in until his mouth was beside Sunghoon’s ear, “I’m going to remind you exactly why I marked you first.”

Jay had him flat against the mattress in seconds, one knee between his thighs, hands braced on either side of Sunghoon’s head. The weight of him, the way he looked down like he was reading every reaction of Sunghoon’s body before taking it, made Sunghoon tremble—and Jay hadn’t even touched him yet. 

He reached up, fingers light against Jay’s skin, like he couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop needing to touch. Jay stilled, slowly, deliberately, bringing one hand up to cradle Sunghoon’s jaw. 

“You’re already clinging,” He murmured, lips brushing just above Sunghoon’s eyebrow. “You missed this that much?”

Sunghoon whimpered, throat bobbing as he nodded. 

Jay hummed, pulling back a bit to look at him, “Words, Hoonie.”

“Yes.” Sunghoon tugged at Jay’s shoulders, desperate to feel more of his skin and Jay obliged, leaning down to kiss him, slow, deep, his tongue sliding against Sunghoon’s in a way that unraveled him instantly. Sunghoon gasped into it, his hips kicking up for friction and Jay caught him, one hand pinning his waist down like he owned every shiver. 

“You’re so sensitive,” Jay whispered against his mouth, “Did Jake wind you up that good, or is that all for me?”

Sunghoon turned his face, panting, fingers flexing against Jay’s shoulders, “You. Always you.”

Jay’s breath hitched, just for a second, then his mouth was at Sunghoon’s neck, licking over places that still ached with bite marks. He kissed and bit until Sunghoon was writhing beneath him, too wound up to stay still, hands fluttering between Jay’s arms, chest, waist, just desperate for more . 

“Stay still.” Jay said.

“I can’t,” Sunghoon breathed, “Please—Jay, I—”

“I know.” Jay’s hand dipped lower and Sunghoon jumped at the cold press of lube at his entrance. He hadn’t even seen Jay reach for the bottle. Jay kissed his shoulder as he slid in his first finger. Sunghoon gasped, clenching down on it experimentally and Jay stilled. 

“Relax, baby.”

Sunghoon allowed the tension to melt from his limbs and Jay pumped his finger shallowly as a reward. It was slow, bordering on teasing and not nearly enough but it still had Sunghoon panting and clutching Jay closer.

“You’re not holding anything back, are you?” Jay asked softly and Sunghoon choked on his answer when Jay added a second finger, twisting his fingers just right. The stretch was familiar, his body accustomed to Jay’s fingers, the burn they brought, but still, Sunghoon needed him. Needed all of him.

His back arched, nails scratching down the sides of Jay’s arms, “Need you. Please. Want you–inside, now.”

Jay paused, fingers stilling, like he wanted to hear it again.

Sunghoon bit back a whimper, all the strength left in his limbs leaving him at once. “Jay. Please.”

Jay kissed the words right off his mouth, one hand guiding his thigh up, “You’ll get me,” He said, almost tender, “I’m going to make sure you feel me for days.”

Sunghoon gasped, loud, desperate and Jay swallowed it, body pressing down, before finally giving Sunghoon what he’d been begging for. 

Sunghoon couldn’t tell if his thoughts were running too fast or too slow, or if they were running at all. The only thing his mind seemed to supply him with was how full he felt. How good he felt with Jay being everywhere, like there was no piece of him left untouched.

Jay remained still, watching, waiting until Sunghoon began rocking his hips down, struggling to find the words to tell Jay to just fucking move already.  

He pulled out until just the tip held Sunghoon open, then he pushed in, slow and steady, and Sunghoon gasped—high and broken, eyes flying open. His back arched, whole body bowing like a string pulled taut. Jay didn’t move. Just watched him—watched his body take it, adjust, and want more.

Jay didn’t ease into it, once Sunghoon had taken him fully, once the shaking had eased into something that more closely resembled hunger, Jay moved. His hips snapped forward, slow, deep and Sunghoon could feel him everywhere. 

“God–” Sunghoon gasped, legs twitching where they were hooked around Jay’s hips. “Jay–please, please–” 

Jay caught his hands and pressed them into the mattress above his head, pinning him down. “Shhh,” he murmured, his voice dark and calm, “I got you.”

Sunghoon was already unraveling, his whole body straining up for more. Jay set the pace—smooth, steady thrusts that went deep , each one measured, relentless. Like he was trying to leave a message behind in Sunghoon’s bones.

“You’re taking me so well,” Jay whispered, bending down to mouth at Sunghoon’s throat. “Look at you—like you were made for this.”

Heat coiled in Sunghoon’s stomach, pulling tighter and tighter until Sunghoon thought he was going to burst at the seams. Then Jay slowed, almost like he could hear Sunghoon’s thoughts, his hips stilling until he was barely moving. Sunghoon let out a sob, hands trying to gain enough leverage to push down but Jay held him still, brushing away stray tears with his thumb. He cooed softly, leaning down to graze his nose up the hollow of Sunghoon’s throat. 

“Jay–Jay, please, please.”

Jay pulled out slowly and Sunghoon let out another cry, reaching to grab him and Jay let him, kissing right below his ear, “Turn over for me, baby.”

Sunghoon flipped over, with Jay’s assistance, but before he could push up Jay’s hand landed heavily on the back of his neck, forcing his chest into the mattress. Sunghoon squirmed, pushing back and Jay let out a low laugh.

“You can take more, right, Hoonie?”

Sunghoon gasped, shivering under his touch, at the feeling of Jay sliding right where he needed him but never pushing in. “Jay–”

He didn’t have time to finish his sentence before Jay was pushing in again, just as slow as before and Sunghoon was ready to rip his hair out. His mind felt clouded, like stringing a sentence together required too much energy, energy Sunghoon didn’t have. Then a hand ran through his hair, cutting through the fog of more, more, more. 

“Don’t be mean.” Jake chidded.

Jay hummed, rocking his hips forward slightly. “I’m not. You know he likes it when we make him beg.”

Sunghoon couldn’t see Jake but he felt the hand he had in his hair run down the center of his spine, “You’re so pretty like this.” He murmured.

Sunghoon’s whine was cut off when Jay snapped his hips forward, scrambling Sunghoon’s thoughts completely. He couldn’t think of much else besides Jay, the drag of him inside, the pressure of his hands on his waist, his voice in his ear. Jake cut through to his brain too, whispering about how pretty he looked, how well he was doing, doing everything he could to see Sunghoon flush, squirming against Jay’s hold. Sunghoon’s breath hitched, heat curling low in his abdomen again, his back arching and his hands twisting into the sheets. 

Like he could sense it, Jay rocked his hips forward once—deep, slow—and then stilled again, buried to the hilt. Sunghoon let out a strangled noise, somewhere between a sob and a curse, trying to push back, to move , to do anything—but Jay’s hand flattened on the small of his back, keeping him exactly where he wanted him.

“Easy,” Jay murmured, voice maddeningly calm. “You’re already so close.”

“I—Jay, please—”

Jay hummed like he was thinking it over, dragging his hips back just a little and then pressing in again, just enough to make Sunghoon’s breath hitch. Sunghoon tried to speak, but it came out as a choked whimper.

Jay bent down, his chest pressing to Sunghoon’s back, mouth brushing the shell of his ear. “You want to come, don’t you?”

Sunghoon nodded frantically, his fingers fisting in the sheets.

“Then beg for it.”

He gasped—shaking, trembling—then whispered, “Please, Jay. Please let me come. I need it. I need you.”

Jay stayed right there, not moving, letting the pressure simmer between them. “Say it again.”

Sunghoon sobbed out the words, barely coherent, “Please—need to come—need you—please—”

Jake reached over then, his hand threading into Sunghoon’s, squeezing gently. “You’re doing so well,” he whispered, lips brushing his temple. “So good for us.”

Jay licked up the line of Sunghoon’s throat, voice warm and dark. “You’re such a mess for me, baby. You want to come so bad—and I haven’t even given you everything yet.”

Another slow thrust, shallow and deep at once, made Sunghoon jolt, eyes squeezed shut.

“You’ll take it,” Jay murmured. “Every inch. Every word. Every time.” His hand slid to the front of Sunghoon’s throat, hauling his body up to press Sunghoon’s back to his chest. The change in pace made Sunghoon’s eyes roll back. Jake crowded in front of him, eyes bright and when he curled a hand around Sunghoon he had to bite down a scream. Fire licked in his veins and for a moment Sunghoon got light-headed, the edges of his vision darkening slightly.    

“Jay—fuck, Jay—” Sunghoon sobbed, arching under the pressure. “I—I can’t—”

“You can,” Jay murmured, hand curling around his hip. “And you will.”

Jay’s grip didn’t falter. He held Sunghoon upright, every thrust timed to the curl of Jake’s hand around him. Sunghoon couldn’t tell what was worse—the slow grind of Jay’s cock or the maddening, tender pressure of Jake’s thumb just beneath the head.

“You’re so close,” Jake breathed, lips brushing his cheek.

“Let go,” Jay said, low and firm. “Come for us, baby.”

That did it.

Sunghoon came with a full-body shudder, a sob torn straight from his chest. His body locked up—white heat snapping through him like lightning—and Jay held him through every second of it, driving in deep, relentless until the tension finally broke.

His knees gave out, and Jay followed him down, careful, still kissing his throat. Jake caught his face, guiding him into a soft kiss as he blinked back tears he hadn’t noticed were there.

His body was half folded onto Jake, who didn’t complain even as Sunghoon leaned into him fully, knocking him over a little. Jay huffed a small laugh, pulling out gingerly and kissing Sunghoon’s spine when he whined, words evading him entirely. He reached behind himself, still desperate for contact and Jay offered him his hand which he pulled to his chest, crushing himself in a sandwich between Jake and Jay’s bodies. 

It was warm and Sunghoon had half the mind to just fall asleep right there, trapped between two of his favorite people but Jake’s voice cut through that fantasy. 

“We should shower.”

Sunghoon buried his head into the crook of Jake’s neck. Maybe if they thought he was asleep, they’d let him be.

Jay’s forehead pressed to Sunghoon’s temple, his voice teasing, “Hoonie, we have to shower.”

Sunghoon blinked past the fog enough to string together, “No.” Before returning to his hiding spot in Jake’s neck.

For a moment Sunghoon had thought he’d won and just as he let his limbs meld to Jake’s he was torn away. Sunghoon yelped, squirming against Jay’s hold as he placed him in the threshold of the bathroom on shaky legs. Jay’s eyes flashed with concern and he rushed to steady him.

Sunghoon pushed his hands away, “I’m fine.” He managed. 

Jay looked doubtful and in the corner of his eye Sunghoon could see Jake attempting to muffle a laugh from where he lay against the headboard. But, before either of them could say anything he turned on his heel into the bathroom, ignoring the twinge in his lower back as he did so. 

Quickly, the bathroom was warm with steam, the scent of soap and water replacing everything else. Sunghoon stood beneath the spray, head tilted forward, eyes closed, letting the heat soak into his skin. He could still feel them, even now. Jay’s grip. Jake’s mouth. The weight of their need. He could hear them moving around in the bedroom, arguing about which way the sheet was supposed to go and Sunghoon even heard Jay complain that the pillow covers did not match the sheets. He laughed quietly at the pure distress in Jay’s tone. But all too soon it went quiet.

Then the door opened.

Sunghoon didn’t move, he didn’t have to. He knew who it was before fingers brushed the nape of his neck, trailing down his spine.

Jay.

A second later, a familiar warmth pressed against his back. Jake.

“You don’t have to—” Sunghoon started, but Jay’s fingers tipped his chin up, cutting him off with a look.

“Yeah, we do,” Jake murmured against his shoulder, like it was obvious.

Jay didn’t move away after tilting Sunghoon’s chin up. Instead, his gaze flicked past him—to Jake. Something unspoken passed between them.

Jake’s arms were still wrapped around Sunghoon’s waist, but he leaned in, meeting Jay halfway. The kiss was slow—not rushed, not frantic like before. Just a reassurance. A reminder. Sunghoon sunk back into Jake slightly, content to just watch.

Jake pulled back first, his breathing a little unsteady. Jay exhaled, his forehead resting against Jake’s for half a second before his gaze dropped back to Sunghoon.

“You’re still tense,” Jay noted, his hands smoothing over Sunghoon’s shoulders, gentler this time.

Sunghoon swallowed. “Hard not to be.”

Jake hummed in quiet agreement, his lips grazing the shell of Sunghoon’s ear before he pressed closer, his chest flush against Sunghoon’s back.

Jay let out a slow breath, his eyes flicking between them before his lips quirked. “Then we’ll help.”

Jay reached for the soap first, working it between his hands before gliding his palms over Sunghoon’s collarbones, down his chest. Jake’s fingers followed the path of water along his spine, his touch lingering, tracing.

Jay’s hands drifted lower, his fingers brushing over Jake’s in the process. Instead of pulling away, Jake caught his wrist, holding it there for a beat. Their eyes met and Jake’s lips curled slightly before he turned his attention back to Sunghoon, pressing a kiss just beneath his jaw.

Jay huffed a quiet laugh, but his grip on both of them didn’t waver. “Don’t disappear like that again.” It wasn’t a request.

Sunghoon nodded, voice quiet. “I won’t.”

Jake sighed against his skin before finally pulling back, just enough to meet his eyes. There was something softer there now—a flicker of relief beneath everything else.

He traced Sunghoon’s jaw with his thumb, gentler now, familiar. “Good.” Then he turned to Jay, rubbing shampoo in his hair with the same gentleness he used with Sunghoon. 

Jay wrinkled his nose slightly but wrapped an arm around Jake’s waist to bring him closer as Jake meticulously rinsed the suds from his hair. Sunghoon shook his head when Jake intentionally aimed the spray of water into Jay’s face, sending him spluttering. 

The bathroom was still warm, the steam curling in soft tendrils against the mirror. Sunghoon felt weightless, any and all things not involving Jay’s touch or Jake’s smile faded into the background, seemingly irrelevant. 

Jake was the first to move, pulling Sunghoon back against him with easy familiarity. Jay didn’t let go either, his hands still pressed to Sunghoon’s waist, thumbs tracing faintly.

They pulled him out from underneath the spray and Sunghoon couldn’t even complain about the loss of heat, not when he still had them.

Eventually, Jay huffed a breath, nudging Sunghoon’s damp hair away from his face. “You okay?”

Sunghoon swallowed, nodding. But Jay didn’t let that slide. A second later, Sunghoon felt a familiar tug at his wrist. He let Jay guide him to sit on the closed toilet lid, barely processing until a warm towel was pressed into his hands.

Jay crouched in front of him, meeting his eyes. “Try again.”

Jake was quieter, but his presence was just as loud, kneeling beside Jay, resting a palm over Sunghoon’s knee.

Sunghoon breathed them in. Their warmth, their steadiness. The way neither of them had left his side. He exhaled. “I’m okay.”

Jake’s lips curved against his shoulder before he leaned in, pressing a kiss there. “Good.”

Jay watched them, something unreadable in his gaze before he sighed through his nose and flicked water at Jake’s face.

Jake flinched, jerking back. “What the hell?”

Jay’s smirk was lazy. “You were getting too soft.”

Jake scoffed, rubbing his face dry with the towel before smirking right back. “And you weren’t?”

Sunghoon watched them, something warm unfurling in his chest—something steady, something safe. He watched Jake’s eyes dart to the towel in his hands before tackling Jay to the ground, towel over his head. Jay yelped and when Jake finally relented Jay’s head popped up, hair static and sticking up at all ends, looking like an electrocuted dandelion. 

Jake burst out laughing, pointing a finger and nearly toppling over with the force of it, “You look so stupid.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Sunghoon blinked and Jay was on Jake, roughly rubbing his hair with a towel. When Jake popped up, disgruntled, his hair a matching puff-ball they paused. Then, slowly, they turned to Sunghoon, grins pulling at their lips. 

Sunghoon scooted back, holding up his hands, “No. Don’t even think about–” He never got to finish his sentence.   

The bedroom was dimly lit, the glow from the bedside lamp casting soft shadows across the walls.

Sunghoon sat at the edge of the bed, toying with the hem of the oversized shirt Jay had tossed at him. It smelled like fresh detergent, but beneath that, it was just… them; warm, familiar, home.

Jake walked back in first, patting down his still damp hair, his usual confidence softened by the quiet air between them. He didn’t say anything, just crawled into bed without hesitation, tugging Sunghoon down with him.

Sunghoon let himself be pulled, shifting so Jake could wrap an arm around his waist. Jay joined a moment later, flipping off the lamp before settling on Sunghoon’s other side.

The blankets rustled as Jay reached over, brushing his fingers through Sunghoon’s still-drying hair. The touch was easy, unhurried—like there was no rush to claim him, because he was already theirs.

Jake shifted, tucking his face against the curve of Sunghoon’s shoulder. “Tired?”

Sunghoon hummed. Not quite .

Jay leaned back against the pillows, his hand still moving lazily through Sunghoon’s hair. “You should be.”

Sunghoon let out a quiet laugh, eyes fluttering shut at the soothing motion. “Not my fault you two—”

Jay pinched his waist. “Go to sleep,” he muttered, but the warmth in his voice betrayed him.

Jake only huffed a laugh, already comfortable against Sunghoon’s side. His breathing evened out first, his body molding into Sunghoon’s like second nature.

Sunghoon could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest, the familiar rhythm calming in a way he hadn’t realized he needed.

Jay was quieter, still awake, his fingers tracing light circles against Sunghoon’s hip. His presence was always heavier, steadier—but never suffocating.

Sunghoon blinked up at him, voice softer now. “You’re still awake.”

Jay’s eyes flicked down to him, something unreadable in his expression. “So are you.”

Sunghoon didn’t answer right away, shifting to face Jay, his fingers pulling at a strand of hair that was starting to curl lightly. Jay’s eyes fluttered shut and he leaned into the barely-there touch. When his eyes opened again they were soft and Sunghoon was struck by an image of Jay back when they had first met, when they were still so young, innocent. 

Jay pushed closer, enough that they were sharing the same breath of air, “You always used to look at me like that.”

Sunghoon smiled, curling a hand around Jay’s jaw to press a kiss to his forehead, “Still do. Always will.”  

“I know.” Jay whispered, tucking his head under Sunghoon’s chin.

Sunghoon let out a sigh through his nose. He let himself be held, let Jake press closer, let Jay’s lips find the old scar on his throat. Outside, the sun rose. Inside, for just a minute, it felt like nothing could touch them. He could protect this. All of it. No matter the cost. 

Chapter Text

Jungwon shifted restlessly under the weight of Heeseung and Sunoo. Staring out the window of the room had proven useless in helping him sleep and even the sounds of their heartbeats hadn’t been enough to calm him. Something was off.

He slipped out of bed quietly, carefully avoiding the mess of limbs that was Heeseung and Sunoo. They attached themselves to each other nearly immediately after Jungwon removed himself from in between them, but they didn’t stir otherwise. Jungwon grabbed a discarded sweatshirt off the floor, pulling it over his head as he slipped into the hallway.

It was dark, quiet, the only sounds being his own movements. He made his way to Jay’s room first, pushing open the door just enough to see in. Sunghoon and Jay were curled around each other, their faces peaceful. Jake lay on the far side, his limbs twisted in a way that, to Jungwon, looked uncomfortable. A knot in his chest loosened, they were safe, they were fine, everything was fine.

He paced down the hallway, not quite wanting to go back to bed yet but not willing to go downstairs and be further away from the others. 

A quiet sound broke through the downward spiral of his thoughts. It was a whisper, coated heavily with tears and Jungwon hesitated outside of the room Jay set up for Riki. Should he knock? Should he just walk in?

His hand hovered over the door knob, not quite ready to open it but something about the fear in Riki’s voice made it impossible for Jungwon to leave. 

Jungwon sighed “Shit.” He pushed open the door before he could change his mind. Riki was sitting up, positioned as far away from the door as the bed would allow him. 

“Konon?”

Jungwon tilted his head curiously, but Riki didn’t even seem to be looking at him. He moved closer, and Riki didn’t even acknowledge his presence, calling out the name again. Jungwon reached for him, pressing the back of his hand against the other's forehead. Riki flinched away from his touch, he was burning . Jungwon cursed, running to the bathroom to wet a towel with cool water. 

Riki was still mumbling to himself when Jungwon crawled onto the bed to lay the towel over his forehead. Riki seemed to lean into his touch this time, letting out a sigh when Jungwon pressed his hand against his cheek to gauge whether or not he should get Heeseung. 

“Riki?”

He didn’t respond.

“Riki, are you hungry?”

Still nothing. 

Jungwon chewed on the inside of his cheek, contemplating. On one hand, if Riki lost control he could seriously injure Jungwon, and if Jungwon had to defend himself he could seriously injure Riki. Jungwon shifted closer, trying to see if he could get behind Riki, that way if Riki lost control Jungwon could handle the situation. Riki tipped forward, giving Jungwon the perfect opportunity to slip behind him, caging the other in with his legs. Riki, again, had no reaction. 

Ever so slowly Jungwon brought the other boy to lean back against his chest. Riki made no resistance, mumbling the name over and over again under his breath. Jungwon brought his own arm up to his mouth, biting down then offering it to Riki. When Riki made no moves to grab it Jungwon pressed it to his mouth before the wound could heal over. 

Almost instantaneously he could feel the blood being pulled from his veins and he let his head fall back against the headboard behind him in relief. Jungwon watched the sun rise from behind the curtain, even with the darkest blackout shades he could still make out the fuzzy orange ball of light rising above their home. 

The quiet had settled again and all Jungwon could hear was his own thoughts. The card; it all circled back to the card. He dug in his pocket for his phone. For a moment he stared at the empty search engine, glancing down at Riki before typing in the full name that had been printed on the card. The screen was bright with answers, some useful, others not. He blinked, overwhelmed.

Riki, at some point, had nodded off, Jungwon’s arm long since fallen out of his mouth, completely oblivious to Jungwon's struggle. His thumb hovered over an instagram link, clicking as the screen lit up in a white hue. A video popped up; a boy dancing to a Michael Jackson song, an older girl dancing with him in the background. The boy couldn’t have been older than nine, his hair was long and light brown, reaching his shoulders. His skin was a matching golden. His smile was bright and he was laughing along with the girl. He looked happy. 

If Jungwon squinted he could see Riki in the boy. He looked down at Riki in his lap. They had the same eyes, but Riki’s hair was black now, curling against the edges of his face gently. His skin was paler, his features sharper, ethereal in a way. He skimmed the rest of the profile, photo after photo of the golden skinned boy, video after video. He was wrapped up in this mystery boy’s life, watching his smile through the years, how he seemed to be everywhere but at school at every point. 

“Hyung?”

Jungwon nearly dropped his phone, “No,” He cleared his throat, “It’s just me.”

Riki pulled away slightly, sitting across from Jungwon and playing with the damp towel that had fallen from his forehead, avoiding eye contact. 

“Who’s Konon?” Jungwon asked.

Riki froze, looking up at Jungwon, “Konon…Konon is my older sister.”

Jungwon hummed, “Where is she now?”

“Back home, in Okayama, with my parents and my little sister.”

They lapsed into silence and Riki began picking at the towel again. At the look on his face, Jungwon felt the absurd urge to connect, “I had an older sister.”

Riki’s head shot up, “You do?”

Jungwon shifted under Riki’s undivided attention, entirely unused to it, “I did. She was two years older than me, her name was Iseul.”

“Is she…?”

“No, she’s sixty-three now. I have nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.” He smiled, he’d never met them, but he watched them from a distance, all of them. “I haven’t spoken to her since 1992, I think, on my twenty-eigth birthday.”

“Do you miss her?”

Jungwon cursed the burning in the back of his throat and behind his eyes, “Every day.”

Riki was looking at him, but not with sympathy. More like recognition, like he could see his own pain reflected in Jungwon’s eyes. “I miss them too.” His breath hitched. “Will I—be able to see them again?”

Jungwon’s heart lurched, and before he could think about the words tumbling out of his mouth he blurted, “You will. I will make sure you see them again.” 

Riki’s shoulders dropped, relief rolling off of him, “Thank you.”

Jungwon nodded, he wanted to regret his words; seeing them would only be more painful for Riki. But he couldn’t, not with the way Riki was smiling. It was the first time Jungwon could describe his atmosphere as light. He was struck by his smile. Now, more than ever, he recognized the boy in the videos, his smile was blinding and Jungwon couldn’t help but feel that he wanted to see that smile more often. 

Very faintly the music coming from his phone flowed between them. Riki looked down at his phone and Jungwon flipped it over. Riki leaned over, catching a glance at the screen before groaning and covering his face with his hands. 

“Where did you even find that?”

Jungwon laughed, “I found it on the internet,” Riki groaned again, “You’re quite the dancer.”

Riki’s hands fell from his face, a small, pleased smile resting on his lips, “I loved to dance.”

“Loved?”

Riki shrugged, “It was the reason I came here, I was training at a company, trying to see if I could go somewhere with it. I can’t do that anymore.”

“Jay still plays his guitar, Heeseung, Jake and Sunoo still sing. Sunghoon skates, they still do the things they love. This,” He gestured around Riki hoping he would get the gist. “Doesn’t make you different, it doesn’t change you. It…amplifies you if anything. You don’t have to stop dancing.”

Riki gave him a doubtful look, “I could continue at the company?”

Jungwon winced, “Not exactly. But you can still dance. We can get you into dance schools, teams, whatever you want.”

“And when you have to leave?”

“We’ll find you another one.”

Riki looked at him with something Jungwon couldn’t decipher, “You’ll take me with you?”

Jungwon bit his tongue, he hadn’t meant to get that far ahead of himself. Did Riki even want to stay with them? “You are staying with us until you gain control. Once you have that, it’s up to you.”

Riki nodded, but Jungwon couldn’t help but feel like he had closed off a little. Then he asked, “What do you like?”

“What do you mean?”

Riki’s hands twisted together, “You said Heeseung, Jake and Sunoo like singing, Jay likes to play music on his guitar and Sunghoon likes to skate. What about you?”

Jungwon leaned against the backboard, “I like everything. I play the piano, I like to sing, dance–although, I don’t think I’m as good as you.”

“You play the piano?”

Jungwon hummed, “Yeah, a lot of us play instruments. Sunghoon and Heeseung also play the piano. Jake played the violin for a while and the bass, I think. And Jay with his guitars; his collection is huge, you have no idea. One time Heeseung-hyung knocked one over; you would have thought hyung had stabbed him.” Jungwon smiled at the memory before remembering where he was.

Riki smiled, “Tell me more? Please?”

Jungwon exhaled, eyes flickering to Riki before settling on a spot in the distance. He wasn’t sure why he was telling him all this—why he was letting his guard down. But something about Riki made it feel... natural.

“Sunoo-hyung’s a foodie,” he said after a beat, voice quieter now. “Tteokbokki’s his favorite. He’s also... really good with a flat iron. Hair, fashion—stuff like that.” Jungwon hesitated, then added, “He makes it look easy.”

He glanced at Riki, gauging his reaction before continuing. “Jay-hyung likes to cook. He does most of it here, actually—sometimes he even follows Gordon Ramsay’s recipes, like, exactly.” A short pause. “He’s into fashion too. He and Sunoo-hyung could probably talk about clothes for hours.”

Jungwon shifted, debating whether to keep going. But Riki was still listening, waiting.

“Heeseung-hyung likes movies. But only his favorites. Try to get him to watch something new, and he’ll just pretend he didn’t hear you,” Jungwon said, lips twitching slightly. “He plays basketball with Jake-hyung sometimes, but Jake’s more into soccer.” He hesitated again, then added, “Fishing too. Oh—and he has a barista certificate from Australia. Don’t ask me why.”

A small chuckle slipped out before he caught himself. He swallowed it down, forcing his expression neutral again.

“Sunghoon-hyung’s probably the best ice skater I’ve ever seen,” Jungwon admitted. “I swear, he moves better on the ice than on actual ground. He’s an incredible dancer too. Especially contemporary.”

He stopped there, feeling like he’d already said too much. Jungwon glanced at Riki again, something unspoken lingering in the air between them.  

“I can see that—Sunghoon-hyung on the ice.”

Jungwon let out a breath. “Yeah, he’s… beautiful.”

Silence settled between them again, comfortable yet heavy. Then, Riki spoke.

“I like amusement parks,” he said, his voice softer now. “When I was little, my family and I used to go all the time.” A small smile crossed his face. “I like photography too. And video games.”

Jungwon bit his lip, just barely stopping himself from saying, We can get you a camera.

Riki exhaled, gaze distant. “I like painting, though my little sister was always better at art than me. Fishing and soccer… those were things I used to do with my dad and Konon.” He let out a small, wistful laugh. “I did a lot of sports when I was in elementary school, but soccer was the one that stuck.”

“Maybe you could play with Jake someday.” Jungwon whispered, not even entirely sure he’d been the one to speak until Riki looked at him, some of his walls visibly crumbling.

“I’d like that.” He said, equally quiet.

He fidgeted, and Jungwon noticed him tonguing at his fangs that had elongated at some point. “Do you want more blood?”

Riki paused, eyeing Jungwon’s wrist. Jungwon laughed lightly, “Come here.”

He watched Riki crawl closer, before stopping completely, his eyes wide, scared. He clutched his stomach, a pained groan slipping past his lips. Then, completely out of nowhere, he toppled off the bed. Jungwon leaped up, “Riki!”

He laid there, crumpled, not breathing. 

“Riki?” Jungwon knelt beside him, reaching out to touch him. 

Riki’s eyes snapped open, but Jungwon couldn’t see the boy from before, talking about dance, and soccer. It was like he wasn’t there. His eyes were wild, “Riki?”

Then he launched himself at Jungwon, knocking them both back. Jungwon’s head cracked against the corner of the bed frame and his vision blackened momentarily. Riki snapped his teeth at Jungwon’s throat but Jungwon held him at arm's length. He threw Riki’s weight to the side, rolling out from underneath him. He pressed his hand to the back of his head, wincing lightly at the pain. His hand came back slick with blood. A low snarl ripped through the air. The hairs on Jungwon’s arms rose before his mind could catch up.

Then—Riki was on him again.

They hit the floor hard, the breath knocked out of Jungwon’s lungs. Sharp fingers dug into his arms, and when he looked up, he didn’t see Riki—he saw hunger. His eyes were blown wide, fangs bared, lips pulled back in something between pain and desperation. His jaws closed around Jungwon’s neck and he gasped at the burst of pain.

Jungwon twisted, trying to shove him off. “Riki—”

Riki froze. His breath hitched, and suddenly, his body convulsed. He jerked back, choking, something bubbling in his throat. Then, he wretched, collapsing onto his hands and knees, his body shuddering violently.

Jungwon sat up in a daze, blood pulsated down the side of his neck and the back of his head. “What the fuck?” Jungwon watched, helpless. This wasn’t normal.  

Riki didn’t respond, he didn’t even seem aware of Jungwon. He just began tearing at his forearms. Jungwon shouted, scrambling up to stop him. He was only three steps away, at most. But it wasn’t enough.

“Stop!” He held Riki’s arms away from his body. There wasn’t anything there and Jungwon wanted to throw up. Bone, just bone. There was so much blood, it clogged Jungwon’s throat. Chunks of skin and muscle lay scattered on the floor, strewn about like someone carelessly tossing laundry. Jungwon just stood there, unable to move, think, outside of what the fuck just happened.

“Oh my god.” He held both of Riki’s mutilated wrists in one hand. He bit into his own wrist to shove it in between Riki’s teeth. The moment Jungwon’s blood touched his tongue Riki ripped himself away, dry heaving like Jungwon’s blood was acid. 

Jungwon’s head was swimming, he was overwhelmed; he didn’t understand what was happening and that terrified him. He hesitated for a moment, he didn’t want to leave Riki like this, but he had to if he wanted to truly help him. He dropped his hold on Riki, rushing to his room. Heeseung and Sunoo stirred, and Jungwon shook Heeseung until he sat up groggily. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He rubbed at his face but as soon as his eyes landed on Jungwon all the sleep evaporated from his gaze. “Wonnie? What’s happening?”

Jungwon couldn’t think, “Riki–” Heeseung jumped from the bed, Sunoo had also woken, but whether it was from the scent of blood in the air or the fear shaking itself through Jungwon’s body he didn’t know. 

Riki seemed worse than when Jungwon had left and it couldn’t have been longer than two minutes. He could hear Sunoo and Heeseung’s breath stutter in their chests. “What happened?”

Jungwon tried to push past the panic clouding his thoughts, “I don’t know. He was fine and then he was like this. I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Have you given him blood?”

Jungwon nodded, “He threw it up.”

Sunoo’s eyebrows furrowed, “He threw it up?” He stepped closer to Riki who was still ripping at his skin, having moved onto his chest. 

“Sunoo…” Heeseung warned but Sunoo ignored him completely. He dug his fangs into his wrists, circling Riki, grabbing him by his hair and forcing it in between Riki’s teeth.

Riki had the same reaction to Sunoo as he did to Jungwon. He pushed Sunoo away, dry heaving in between sobs.

“Hyung, stop, you’re hurting him.”

Sunoo took a step back, turning to them, “Hyung, can you grab some human blood? I think we have some A-positive in the bottom drawer of the fridge.”  

Heeseung disappeared without a reply, returning seconds later with Sunoo’s requested bag. Sunoo took it, trying the same technique he did with his wrist. 

For the first time, Riki swallowed the blood and Jungwon held his breath. One beat. Two. Then Riki was leaning over and vomiting up the two sips of blood. Sunoo looked down at the bag in utter bewilderment.

“But it’s human?”

Jungwon resisted the urge to cry, it crawled up his throat. He beat it back down, “What now?”

Heeseung watched him carefully and Jungwon shifted uneasily under the weight of his gaze. He wasn’t entirely used to letting his emotions run away from him, especially not in front of the others. 

Sunoo looked unsure, “I don’t know?”

Jungwon curled in on himself slightly, “He’s going to die.” He whispered. “He’s going to die if he can’t feed.”

Heeseung turned to him, rubbing his hands up and down Jungwon’s arms, “He’s going to be fine. We will figure this out.”

Jungwon pulled away. He found himself in front of the fridge. Then he just started grabbing bags at random, bringing them up to the guest room. Riki was sobbing, convulsing on the floor, nearly screaming. Jungwon dropped beside him, holding a bag out in front of himself. Riki tried to push away, but Jungwon grabbed him, pulling the trembling boy closer.

“Please don’t. Hyung, it hurts.” 

Jungwon’s throat burned again, “I know, I know. I’m sorry. But we need to find something you can eat.”

“No. Please.”

Jungwon felt a tear fall down his face, “Riki, please, you need to live.”

Riki held his gaze, then slowly and deliberately opened his mouth and allowed Jungwon to feed him the contents of the bag. He managed to swallow it, and Jungwon found himself, again, holding his breath. One beat. Two…three…four. Jungwon blinked as Riki’s seizing ceased. He flipped over the bag. ‘SH’ written in sharpie labelled the front.  

“Sunghoon-hyung’s blood. He’s keeping it down.” He riffled through the pile of bags desperately searching for another bag labelled the same. He found one, offering it to Riki. Bag after bag Riki drained, and slowly his arms began to heal over. Riki was still shaking, his body spasming violently but Jungwon pillowed his head on his lap, desperate to do anything to offer comfort. He ran his hand through Riki’s hair, like he could erase the pain with his touch alone.

Heeseung knelt in front of him, his hand reaching out to touch Riki and before Jungwon could think he snapped his teeth at him, pulling Riki closer to his body. Heeseung pulled his hand back, sighing, “Jungwon…we might need to put him into bloodlock.”

Jungwon hesitated. Bloodlock was only ever used when someone became too dangerous, too unpredictable. A reinforced room with no windows, no access, no blood nearby. It was for vampires on the edge of madness. For the ones they couldn’t save. It was not somewhere Riki belonged. It was not somewhere Jungwon wanted Riki to be. He shook his head, refusing to look at Heeseung. Riki groaned, pushing himself closer to Jungwon as if he found his presence safe, comforting and Jungwon placed a hand on his shoulder. His refusal solidified. 

“We can contain his turning better in there.” Heeseung pressed, “What if he manages to get past us and attacks in Jay’s room? They’re asleep; they’re not prepared. We can help him better in bloodlock.”

Something in him cracked a bit. Every part of Jungwon said no. Told him that was not where Riki belonged but the fear of something happening to Jay, Jake or Sunghoon; something that he could prevent? That fear took precedent for the moment. 

He took a calming breath to ward off the instincts that raged against what he was allowing. He shifted Riki, who could barely be considered conscious anymore, sliding a hand under his shoulders and the back of his knees. Riki was tall and it killed some part of him that he tried to curl up so small against Jungwon’s chest. Heeseung watched him carefully but Jungwon shouldered past him until Sunoo stepped in front of him, blocking his path to the stairs. 

“Hyung—”

Sunoo held up a hand to silence him but didn’t move to touch Riki which Jungwon felt oddly relieved about. “I’ll take him.”

Immediately something screamed in Jungwon’s head, red blaring lights that flashed at him: danger. It was utterly ridiculous; this was Sunoo . Still, Jungwon backed up like Sunoo held a knife. “No—”

Sunoo cut him off again, his voice sharp, “I am taking him into bloodlock. He will be fine until you get there. He needs to be secure until we know he is stable.”

Jungwon felt desperation rise in his chest, “Hyung, please. I can’t.”

“He will be fine. I promise you.” Sunoo’s tone was softer now, but he still did not reach out to take Riki, not until Jungwon gave the boy to him. 

Jungwon, very unwillingly, handed Riki over. He watched them disappear down the stairs, every part of him demanding to go with them. The second they were out of sight, the weight hit.

He slid down to the floor, fists clenched so tight his knuckles ached. He should’ve fought harder. Should’ve carried Riki down himself. Should’ve—

“Jungwon…” Heeseung started, his voice was gentle, soft but Jungwon felt like it was going to break him .

Jungwon cleared his throat, desperately ignoring the burning behind his eyes that reappeared at Heeseung’s tone, “Hmm?”

“What hurts?”

Jungwon blinked, the pain in his neck and back of his skull pulling itself to the forefront of his mind. He must have been hit a lot harder than he thought. He gestured to his head and his neck. With careful, deft fingers, he surveyed Jungwon’s wounds. 

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, “These are pretty bad, Won.”

Jungwon hissed when Heeseung prodded at a particularly sensitive spot. Heeseung was quick to apologize, moving from that spot instantaneously. Jungwon turned when he felt Heeseung’s presence shift behind him. He handed Jungwon a bag, AB-negative. Jungwon took it gratefully, tearing the bag open and draining it. Heeseung handed him another and another, until the pounding in Jungwon’s head faded and he felt like he could organize his thoughts without much difficulty. 

“Thanks.”

Heeseung nodded, watching him with a look Jungwon couldn’t figure out. And he hated it. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Heeseung cocked his head, “Like what?”

Jungwon searched for the words to describe it but came up empty, “You know what I mean.”

Heeseung crouched in front of him. “Jungwon.”

“I’m fine.” Jungwon responded automatically. 

Heeseung pulled closer, enough so that Jungwon could feel the heat of his body through his clothes. “That’s not the point.”

That got Jungwon’s attention. He looked up sharply, eyes rimmed red, blinking too fast. “Then what is the point, hyung? That I let Riki get hurt? That I sent him down there like he was some threat we couldn’t handle?”

“No,” Heeseung said gently. “The point is that you’re not just the leader of this coven. You’re ours , too. And it’s okay if it hurts. It should hurt.”

Jungwon sucked in a breath, sharp and uneven. His chest felt tight—like something clawing at the inside of his ribs, desperate to escape. His fingers curled into fists at his sides, nails biting into his palms. Maybe if he just stood still, if he just focused on breathing, it would pass.

But then Heeseung’s hand cupped his jaw, gentle yet firm, his thumb swiping over his cheek. The warmth of his touch made something inside Jungwon crumble. A ragged sob tore out of him, unrestrained and shaking. He swayed forward, but Heeseung was already there, catching him, holding him together as if keeping him from shattering completely.

Jungwon didn’t know why he was reacting like this, couldn’t understand what was happening but it hurt. Everything hurt. 

Jungwon cried, his control fraying at the edges as he grasped at them desperately. Control was the only thing he had left and now he wasn’t even sure he still had that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Decidedly, sunlight directly in one’s eyes wasn’t the worst way to be forced up, but it wasn’t fantastic either. Sunghoon sat up groggily, the weight of sleep still holding his limbs to the bed. He carefully eased off the arm Jay had slung around his waist, drifting towards their curtains to shut them, letting darkness cover the room. Once he was satisfied with the lack of light, he rounded the bed to press a kiss to Jay’s forehead and push Jake further onto the bed because he wasn’t entirely sure how he hadn’t fallen off yet. Jake’s eyebrows were furrowed, in the same way they did when he was worried about something and without thinking Sunghoon rubbed his thumb in the center, smoothing out the lines. Jake let out a soft breath in his sleep and curled into Sunghoon’s hand. 

Sunghoon paused, waiting until Jake went still again to slowly get up, scrounging through Jay’s drawers to find some sweatpants. He pulled the first pair he grabbed over his legs and left the room as quietly as he could, shutting the door behind him.

Sunghoon followed the smell of food to the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time. The others weren’t difficult to find: Jungwon was leaning against the counter, occasionally popping a grape in his mouth. Heeseung was manning the stove at the moment and Sunoo was sitting by the island, scrolling on his phone, at random intervals reading out whatever he was looking at. At the sound of him they turned. 

“Good morning! Jaeyun and Jongseong still sleeping?” Heeseung smiled at him.

“Yeah, I think they’ll be out for a while,” Sunghoon said, making his way over to Sunoo and wrapping his arms around his waist from behind. Sunoo hummed, turning to him a bit.

“It’s actually like three in the afternoon.”

Heeseung plated some food and slid it in front of him, “Same thing.”

“It’s not at all actually,” Sunoo mumbled under his breath and Heeseung rolled his eyes, reaching over the counter to flick Sunoo’s forehead with his index finger. 

Jungwon looked at him, his gaze warm before he turned to Sunghoon. “You smell better now. Like us.”

Sunghoon rolled his eyes. “I’ve been hearing that all night. It really wasn’t that bad.”

The three exchanged a look, heavy enough that Sunghoon shifted under it. Jungwon gathered one of his hands, dragging it into his lap, tracing the veins on the inside of Sunghoon’s wrist like he was memorizing them.

Heeseung rounded the counter to stand behind Sunghoon, pressing his nose into the side of Sunghoon’s neck, inhaling deeply. “They’re all I can smell. Can’t even find you under them.” He nuzzled lower, his breath hot against Sunghoon’s pulse.

Jungwon was nodding along, fingers brushing Sunghoon’s wrist before drifting higher to his collarbone. “They were thorough.” He sounded almost thoughtful — like he was already plotting something.

Sunoo hummed, slipping closer from his other side. “Red and purple are good colors on you,” he teased, his fingers ghosting over one of the bruises. Then his tone dropped, soft but sharp: “But don’t forget who you belong to.”

Jungwon suddenly tugged at his t-shirt without warning, revealing the constellation of marks that spanned Sunghoon’s chest and vanished under his sweats.

Sunghoon flushed, shoving his hand away, but Sunoo just whistled low. “Those look like they hurt.”

“Shut up, I was mauled,” Sunghoon snapped.

Heeseung laughed, head thrown back, but when he leaned forward again, he pressed his lips right over a particularly dark bruise, holding there just long enough to make Sunghoon shiver. “And you loved every second of it,” Heeseung murmured, his teeth grazing lightly as though he might mark him too if given the chance.

Sunghoon glared at all of them. “I hate all of you.” But the words came out breathless, his skin tingling where they touched.

Sunoo huffed a small laugh, like he didn’t believe him and Jungwon had a small smile playing on his lips. Heeseung let go of him, turning instead to Jungwon, bending his head down to whisper in his ear, his hands rubbing Jungwon’s arms. Sunghoon blinked at them, head cocked. He could only pick up pieces of the conversation: do you want to check on him? And he needs to know . But Jungwon shook his head, his shoulders caving in slightly. 

“What do I need to know?” Sunghoon blurted.

Jungwon froze and Heeseung sighed, turning to face Sunghoon but still keeping a hand on Jungwon. “Riki…” He started. 

Sunghoon’s head snapped towards Jungwon, “Is he in pain?”

Jungwon winced, “I…” He looked at Heeseung, lost and somehow that was worse than any answer Sunghoon could have received. 

Even if he strained his ears, Sunghoon couldn’t hear any movement upstairs, it was silent aside from the sound of Jay and Jake’s calm heartbeats. He couldn’t hear a third and once that knowledge processed he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

“How bad?”

The answering silence was deafening. “Worse than Jake.” Heeseung finally whispered.

“ Worse? ” Sunghoon didn’t think he'd ever seen something worse than Jake’s turning and he’d been around a long time. There was no other way to describe it other than agony. Jake would scream, crying until his throat bled. The only thing that would act like a salve to his pain was Heeseung’s blood and even that did very little. “What do you mean worse?” 

Jungwon cleared his throat, straightening a bit, “I had to—”

“We, we had to.” Heeseung interrupted.  

“ We had to move him into bloodlock…and restrain him.”

“You did what?”

“I had no other choice, he was delirious and in pain. He was a danger not only to us but to himself–” Sunghoon didn’t hear the rest of that sentence, already tearing himself away from Sunoo and the others and heading straight towards the back of the house. 

“Hyung–”

“Hoon–”

Sunghoon refused to stop, ripping open the door to the basement but he didn’t even get one foot down the stairs before a scream tore at his eardrums. His heart felt paralyzed in his chest and he ignored the hands grabbing at his clothes, bolting down the rest of the stairs. 

He froze. Riki wasn’t tied to the bed, he was chained to it. The bed sat in the center of the room, blood dripping from the sheets onto the floor rhythmically. The sheets were no longer white, almost every inch stained red or some shade of pink and it was all Sunghoon could smell. Riki was pale, his face screwed up with pain Sunghoon could only imagine and his eyes almost looked crazed. Sunghoon took a step closer and Riki convulsed, straining against the chains like he was trying to launch himself at Sunghoon. But the feel of the chains on his skin must have made it worse because he began thrashing, screaming and sobbing that it hurt, please make it stop.

“Go get more blood.” He heard laboured breathing then someone darting up the stairs. “Riki, it’s just me, okay?” 

Riki only pulled at his restraints harder, screaming like something was burning him. Sunghoon stepped a little bit closer again and this time his eyes zeroed in on Riki’s wrists. Something caught on the light and for a moment Sunghoon thought Jungwon had used some sort of handcuffs but when he looked again it dawned on him that it was bone. 

“It was worse earlier.” Jungwon whispered, “There was nothing on his arm earlier, I had to force feed him to heal it but he just tore through it again.” 

Sunghoon finally reached Riki who didn’t even seem to register his presence. He placed the back of his hand against Riki’s sweaty forehead, cursing and snatching his hand back when his skin actually burned. Sunoo and Heeseung weren’t back yet and Sunghoon was running out of options so he brought his wrist to his own mouth but before he could dig his fangs in Jungwon grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing?”

“He will drain you. Don’t even think about it.”

“He’s in pain.”

Jungwon huffed, clearly frustrated, “I know that but draining yourself will not help him. He could kill you right now, wait.”

Sunghoon held his gaze and all he could see was pain that he was sure he reflected and fear. He dropped his wrist to his side and Jungwon let out a small breath. 

“How long has he been like this?”

Jungwon rubbed at his eyes, a gesture Sunghoon knew he did when he was tired. “A couple hours, maybe.” 

Guilt bubbled inside Sunghoon, “Why didn’t you get me?”

“He didn’t start out like this, so I thought we could handle it. The first time I went in to feed him he was hallucinating a bit, calling out for someone named ‘Konon’ so I fed him and stayed with him until he fell back asleep. The second time…I don’t even know what happened the second time. It started out fine, he seemed better, calmer, he recognized who I was and talked to me, but then it all went to shit.”

“What do you mean?” Sunghoon asked, resting a hand on Jungwon’s arm.

“He started vomiting. Violently. Then he turned to me, and–I couldn’t even recognize him. There was nothing in his eyes and he just pounced. He tried to drink from me but the moment he got any blood he jumped back off of me, screaming and tearing at his skin.” Jungwon shuddered and Sunghoon pulled him a little closer, “Yours is the only blood he’ll hold down.”

Sunghoon blinked, trying to let his brain catch up with the words leaving Jungwon’s mouth, “Not even human?” Even Jake hadn’t been that bad. He could keep down other blood, Heeseung’s was just the only one that numbed the pain a little.  

“You don’t think that was the first thing we tried?” Jungwon let out a humorless laugh, “Only yours.”

Heeseung and Sunoo returned then, with a couple of blood bags labelled: ‘SH’. They handed one to him and Sunghoon held it, feeling sort of at a loss. Jungwon grabbed one too, rounding the bed, near Riki’s head. He brought it to his mouth, tilting his head to the side and very carefully letting one fang pierce the bag. Sunghoon watched as he trapped Riki’s thrashing head between his arms and forced the blood bag between his teeth. 

Riki resisted for a minute, some blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth. Then all at once the tension drained from his body. The chains went slack for the first time since Sunghoon had been down there and within seconds the bag was empty. Jungwon pulled the bag away, moving as if Riki was a frightened animal. 

“You’re okay.” He ran his hand through Riki’s damp hair, “I got you.” 

Heeseung tugged on Sunghoon’s arm, “Jay’s up.” He said. “Jake too but Jay doesn't think it’s a good idea for Jaeyun to come down here.”

Sunghoon nodded absentmindedly, focused on the way almost none of Riki’s injuries were healing, even with the blood. Only the smallest scratches stitched themselves back together and Riki only seemed relatively calmer. 

“Jungwon,” Heeseung called, “Step back.”

Jungwon looked like he would rather do anything else but pulled his touch away from Riki nevertheless. Just as Sunghoon was about to voice his confusion Riki started screaming again, startling Sunghoon. It was like the blood did nothing. Sunghoon moved to stand opposite of Jungwon, copying his movements and trapping Riki’s head to force him to drink. He calmed quicker this time, and Sunghoon used that as an opportunity to sit Riki up in the bed a little so he was supported by the headboard. Before anyone else could protest or comprehend the situation he straddled Riki’s lap, holding his wrist over Riki’s mouth. 

Riki’s eyes were still clouded with pain but Sunghoon could see the recognition and that was all he needed to press his wrist fully against Riki’s mouth. Riki latched on immediately and surprisingly it didn’t hurt nearly as much as Sunghoon had thought it would. He heard Jungwon curse him out but it was faint, more like background noise than anything else. Only when Riki’s mouth went slack did Sunghoon even dare to pull his wrist back. Riki slumped forward against Sunghoon’s shoulder, no longer screaming, but rather crying quietly into the fabric of his shirt and somehow, to Sunghoon, that was worse. 

“ It hurts. Make it stop. I just want it to stop. ”

“I know, I know,” He pulled lightly at the hair at the nape of Riki’s neck, trying anything to soothe him, “I’m sorry.”

Riki pulled away from Sunghoon’s shoulder, locking eyes with Jungwon and immediately any progress Sunghoon had made to calm him was broken. His sobs were almost incoherent and all Sunghoon could make out was little, I’m sorry ’s, and I didn’t mean to ’s. 

Jungwon shushed him, reaching to undo the chains tying him to the bed. He heard Heeseung and Sunoo rushing to do the same. The chains hit the floor heavily and Sunghoon slid off Riki’s lap, only mildly paying attention to the gross squelch of the blood soaked mattress. Riki reached for Jungwon who immediately reciprocated, pulling him off the bed and sitting him down in a separate chair, murmuring to him that No, I’m not mad at you, and It’s okay, I’ve got you. Riki’s face was buried in the crook of Jungwon’s neck, his hands grasping at Jungwon’s shoulders.

“Don’t leave me alone. I’m sorry.” Riki’s voice cracked over his words and something inside Sunghoon broke a little. 

Jungwon’s arms came up to wrap around Riki’s waist, stilling his shaking, “I’m sorry I left you. I won’t leave again, okay? Hyung’s sorry.”

Sunghoon shifted towards them instinctively, hand inches from Riki’s head before Jungwon ripped him away, teeth bared. Sunghoon’s hands went up in surrender and Heeseung stepped in between them, “Jungwon.”

Jungwon’s growl puttered out and he looked at Sunghoon mournfully, “I’m sorry–I can’t—I don’t know what’s happening.”

Sunghoon stepped around Heeseung, ignoring his warnings. Jungwon tensed with every step closer and Sunghoon held his hands up the entire time. Riki shifted in Jungwon’s hold, eyes finding Sunghoon’s.

“Hyung–” 

Sunghoon looked past him, keeping eye contact with Jungwon, “I won’t hurt him, Wonnie. None of us will, he’s safe here.”

Jungwon cringed, “I know that. But I just can’t–” He looked near tears, his hold never wavering on Riki. 

There was a pause, a small breath between moments, then Sunoo shuffled forward. To Sunghoon’s surprise, Jungwon didn’t seem to shrink back, instead he let Riki go easily, watching as Sunoo helped the boy shift to lean against a chair, his breathing labored. Sunoo turned back to Jungwon, a small, almost sad smile on his lips and Jungwon collapsed into him, his face hidden in Sunoo’s shoulder. 

Sunghoon dipped his head to the side and Sunoo nodded at him, his arms tightening around their leader. Sunghoon crouched in front of Riki, placing one hand on his knee, “Riki? How are you feeling?”

“Great.” Riki managed through clenched teeth and behind him Heeseung failed to cover a snort. 

Sunghoon glared at him and Heeseung sauntered closer but his voice was soft, “Let’s go upstairs, hmm? Get you cleaned up a little, maybe change the sheets.” Heeseung hooked his arms around him, allowing Riki to lean against him and guided him towards the stairs. 

It happened too quickly.

One moment Heeseung was dragging Riki towards the stairs and in the next he had Heeseung pinned to the padded wall, fangs tearing at his throat. Heeseung screamed, blood soaking the front of his shirt as he struggled to dislodge the claws buried in his side. 

Then just as quickly as it started, Riki dropped to the floor, vomiting and crawling away from Heeseung as if he had been the one to attack. Then he just collapsed. Sunghoon blinked and Jungwon hovered above Riki’s crumpled form, fist raised, eyes wide. Sunghoon stared. Riki was still breathing, his chest rising and falling steadily, even as he lay in a puddle of Heeseung’s blood.

Heeseung hit the floor.

“Hyung!” 

Immediately they scrambled towards him, careful never to fully turn their backs to Riki. Heeseung groaned, one hand pressed to the side of his neck, the other to his ribs, blood seeping from in between his fingers when he moved. 

“What the fuck.”

Sunghoon turned. Jay stood in the middle of the room, Jake a little ways behind him holding several drinks. Jay scanned over them, like he was trying to process everything at once before he turned to Jake, “Can you go get more blood?”

Jake nodded, looking a little stricken and set all the drinks down as quickly as he could before rushing back up the staircase. Jay knelt next to them, carefully prying away Heeseung’s hands back to get a better look.

“Fuck, hyung, these are gonna scar.”

Heeseung laughed but it sounded weak, “Yeah—ow—I know.”

Jay’s eyebrows furrowed. “Sunoo, go grab the drinks Jake brought down please. Sunghoon, Jungwon, go restrain Riki.”

Sunghoon didn’t even think, just nodded, leaving Heeseung to Jay’s care as he moved to gather Riki from the floor. The bottom half of his face was stained red and there was already a purple bruise blooming high on his cheek bone. Sunghoon grazed a finger over it unconsciously. Then he glanced up.

Jungwon was frozen, his hands twitching at his side, staring at Riki’s limp body like it might lurch up again. His knuckles were bruised, a little red from the stain of Heeseung’s blood. His mouth was pressed into a tight line but Sunghoon could see how it trembled slightly at the edges. 

He was afraid. 

“Jungwon,” Sunghoon said gently, but he wasn’t sure if he was trying to call him forward or warn him back. 

Jay looked up.

Heeseung was breathing heavily in front of him, his hands pressed tightly, again, to his wounds that refused to stop bleeding. Jay paused with his hands on the gauze, then stood. He stepped toward Jungwon, slow and measured until he was close enough to lean their foreheads together.

“You’re okay,” Jay murmured, low enough that Sunghoon could barely catch it. “You did what you had to do. He’s still breathing. So are you.”

Jungwon’s eyes fluttered shut and his hands curled into the fabric of Jay’s shirt like he needed something concrete to hold onto. 

Jay wrapped his arms around him, hiding him in their circle. “I’ve got Heeseung. You go with Sunghoon; he needs you.”

Jungwon nodded, just once, and pulled away with a sharp inhale, rubbing his sleeves over his eyes like he could wipe away everything that had just happened. 

When he finally moved to join Sunghoon he didn’t make eye contact and Sunghoon nearly missed Jungwon’s almost imperceptible flinch when he saw the bruise. He slipped his hands under Riki’s shoulders and Sunghoon followed as he went to place him back on the bed–or the bloodied lump that used to resemble a bed. 

“Wait–”

Sunghoon paused with his hands on one of the chains. Jake stood at the bottom of stairs, a towel and plain white t-shirt slung over his shoulder, a basket held in his hands. “At least let me change the sheets.” 

He put the basket down, tossing the blood bags inside to Sunoo who brought them back to Jay. Then he moved towards the bed, stripping it and carefully laying out a new set that smelled distinctly like their favorite laundry detergent. Jake was quick, efficient, smoothing out wrinkles before gesturing for Jungwon to lay Riki down. 

Sunghoon rounded the bed, resting a hand on the small of Jake’s back once he was in reach, “What do you need?”

Jake glanced back at him, “I want to change his shirt,” he said quietly, “That one’s gross, he shouldn’t be resting in it.”

Sunghoon left out the fact that technically Riki wasn’t ’resting’ and Jungwon silently moved to sit Riki up, allowing Sunghoon to remove his shirt. They laid him back down carefully and Jake scrambled up onto the mattress to sit right next to him, ignoring anything Jungwon or Sunghoon had to say.

He reached for the large bowl he had brought down with him, dipping in the towel that had been slung over his shoulder before wringing it out. Sunghoon watched as Jake carefully wiped at Riki’s face, movements gentle, like he was handling something precious. He dipped the towel again, wringing it and continuing to wipe at Riki’s face until one could no longer tell Riki had attacked anyone at all. 

Jungwon pulled on his sleeve lightly, so lightly that Sunghoon wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t been intentionally keeping an eye on him. He turned.

“I—”Jungwon frowned, like he couldn’t decide how he wanted to end his thought. “Can I—?”

Sunghoon lifted his arm, wrapping it around Jungwon’s shoulders instead and pulling him into his side. Jungwon released a breath that sounded far too weighted for Sunghoon’s liking but melded himself into Sunghoon’s side as they watched Jake move on to Riki’s chest and arms, murmuring to the unconscious boy like he could hear him. 

When he was done Jake lifted Riki, just enough to slip something soft and familiar onto his body—Heeseung’s, Sunghoon recognized—then his cloth shifted to remove the dried blood that had crusted into Riki’s hair. “You’re okay.” He whispered even though Riki still lay silent.

Only after he had done another near full-body wipe down did he allow Sunghoon to coax him off the bed, protesting loudly when Jungwon grabbed the chains.

“It’s for his safety as much as it is ours, okay? They won’t be super tight, we won’t hurt him.” Sunghoon said, gently tying one of Riki’s wrists to the bed and away from his body. 

Jake’s protests died down but he made it his personal mission to double check every chain to ensure their comfortability, demanding it be fixed if it wasn’t to his liking, and of course they complied.

The sound of gauze tearing broke through the silence.

Sunghoon glanced over. Jay was still crouched in front of Heeseung, who had propped himself up against the wall, sipping on a blood bag like he hadn’t nearly bled out five minutes ago. His shirt was ruined, blood soaked the neckline and his wounds were still actively bleeding, but he was grinning.

Fucking idiot.

“You look like shit.” Jay muttered.

Heeseung blinked, before his chest shook with a laugh that caused blood to leak violently from his wounds. Sunoo made a distressed sound. 

“You say the most romantic things, Jongseong.”

Jay ignored him, reaching over with one hand to quickly soothe Sunoo who hovered nervously. He used his other hand to peel back the fabric of Heeseung’s shirt, assessing the damage. Sunghoon didn’t look long, the angle of the gashes made his stomach turn.

“You got lucky.” Jay said.

“Don’t feel lucky,” Heeseung mumbled. “Feels like I was used as a chew toy.” 

Jay didn’t laugh. He pressed the gauze to Heeseung’s neck and started wrapping, slowly and tightly. Heeseung winced but kept talking, his voice thin but stupidly amused.

“You know, you’re surprisingly gentle for someone who just threatened to kill me three minutes ago for not staying still.”

Still nothing from Jay. Then on the last loop Jay yanked the gauze tight .

“Ah—fuck!” Heeseung cursed, folding forward like he could hide the rest of his injuries from Jay’s wrath. “Jay, seriously?”

Jay only raised a single eyebrow, “Oops.” 

“You did that on purpose!”

Jay shrugged. “You were being an idiot.”

Sunghoon covered his mouth to hide a laugh, Sunoo was not so successful, receiving a glare from Heeseung. Jay kept working, bandaging until the blood stopped soaking through the material. Sunghoon grabbed the other shirt Jake had stashed in his basket, balling it up in his hands.

“Jay.” 

Jay glanced up in time to catch the shirt that was lobbed at his head and Sunoo assisted him with removing what was left of Heeseung’s current shirt. Heeseung cursed, and Sunoo whispered hushed apologies, squeezing Heeseung’s hand and peppering small kisses on his knuckles. He pulled Sunoo down once Jay was done and Sunoo went easily shifting in Heeseung’s lap enough to hide in his neck. 

Sunghoon’s eyes swept the room again once everything settled; Jay stayed where he was but his fingers were tangled in Heeseung’s, Jake sat perched by the headrest of the bed, his hand in Riki’s hair and Jungwon hovered by Sunghoon’s side, twisting the fabric of his shirt. They were alive. Tired, hungry and terrified but alive. 

Jungwon moved first, gathering discarded blood bags and passing them out, insisting when Heeseung tried to refuse. He had his back to Sunghoon when he spoke. “I’ve been trying to see if anyone has experienced anything similar; no one knows anything.”

Jay made a confused noise, “Who have you been talking to?” 

“The Dark Covet, the Broods, and the Midnight Company so far.” 

Sunoo untucked himself from Heeseung’s embrace, pulling his phone from his back pocket, “I’ve been trying to get any information on fledglings not taking anything other than one specific person’s blood but there’s nothing in the libraries or archives,” He mentioned, “Sunghoon-hyung’s not even his sire so it just makes the whole situation more confusing.” 

Sunghoon crossed his arms, absurdly feeling a little defensive. 

“Hoon, do you know anything about his turning? How long had he gone before you found him?” 

Sunghoon winced, Riki’s words echoing in his head. “He told me twelve days.”

The silence that followed was charged, “ Twelve days?”

 “How is he even alive?” Sunoo breathed.

“That’s not normal.” Heeseung said.

“I know–”

“No. That’s not normal. I’ve seen fledglings, I’ve made fledglings.” He eyed the bed with distrust, but Sunghoon saw a flicker of something else; fear. “None of them make it past four days if they refuse to feed. None of them.”

Jungwon placed a hand on his shoulder, calming, “We’ll check footage and cameras around the city. He could have fed before that and just not remember, okay?”

Heeseung still looked a little uneasy and Sunghoon didn’t miss how he had grabbed Sunoo, preventing him from being any nearer to Riki. Or how he held Jay’s wrist, keeping him in place. Jungwon’s phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket.

“It’s the Broods.”

Jay nodded to the stairs, “Take it. We’ll be fine.”

Jungwon nodded and headed towards the stairs, but paused with one foot on the bottom step. His phone was still ringing, vibrating in his hand but Jungwon turned back around, pointedly not making eye contact with any of them.

“I promised him I wouldn’t leave again.” He whispered. 

Sunoo offered his hand without a word and Jungwon handed him the phone, stepping aside to let him make his way up the stairs. The ringing cut off, replaced by Sunoo’s voice. “Hello? No, sorry, Jungwon is occupied–” 

The door shut behind him, cutting them off from his conversation. 

Sunghoon winced at the sound. “This is my fault.”

“Shut up.” Jay muttered, shaking off Heeseung’s grip to force Sunghoon into a chair, shoving another blood bag in his hands. “Drink. You didn’t have any last night.”

Sunghoon brought it to his mouth. Jay was already gathering the empty bags, handing them to Jake. “Can you rinse these out please? Then bring them back down?”

Jake took them from him with little protest, and Jay followed him up the stairs. Heeseung turned on them the moment the door was closed behind them. “I don’t want him feeding from you again.”

Sunghoon licked the blood from his fangs. “How is he supposed to eat then?”

“We’ll figure it out, but he’s not feeding from you again.”

Jay returned, arms full of supplies, and Sunghoon groaned at the sight of the small butterfly needle in his hands. Jay only raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to do this here or upstairs?”

Jake appeared behind him, holding the now-clean blood bags, each labeled in Sharpie with ‘SH’. Sunghoon rolled his eyes, resting his arm against the bed, leaning his head against Jake’s stomach as Jay slowly inserted the needle into his vein. He flexed his hand and Jay smacked him lightly on the shoulder, sitting in the chair slightly to his left, the bag attached to the tube in Sunghoon’s arm in his hands. 

“I thought I needed to keep drinking, you taking my blood kind of defeats the purpose, no?”

Jay scoffed, rocking the bag between his hands to keep the blood from clotting. “Well, we need more of your blood in bags because there’s no way he’s feeding from you directly again anytime soon.”

He heard Heeseung laugh but Sunghoon just settled back, still drinking until Jay switched out the now full bag for an empty one, handing Sunghoon a new bag as well. 

By the time Jay was on his fourth, Sunghoon wasn’t sure he could stand without falling right back over. Jay was rocking the bag with steady, practiced motions, but his eyes never strayed from Sunghoon’s face. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great…can this be the last one for now?”

Jay nodded, “Yeah.”

They waited a few more seconds for the bag to fill before Jay was removing the needle. Sunghoon snatched his arm back, rubbing roughly at the spot until Jay grabbed his wrist, bringing his arm closer to inspect the area, his thumb brushing gently over the forming bruise.

“For my birthday, I want a hemoflow scale.” He announced when he released Sunghoon, cleaning up the needle and various tubes spread across the bed. “I’m tired of rocking these things manually.”

“A hemoflow scale? Where would we even put that?” 

Jay turned to Sunoo with a slight pout, “I don’t know but I want the new one. The 500.”

Sunoo rolled his eyes affectionately. “Yes, fine we’ll get you the new model.” 

Jungwon cleared his throat, “What did they say?”

“Mostly that it’s nearly unheard of for a fledgling to have a one-blood source dependency and even more weird for it to be to a person who had nothing to do with their turning.”

Sunoo handed Jungwon his phone back, pulling out his own. “Honestly, I think Riki created some sort of temporary bond with Sunghoon-hyung. The way he reacts to his blood versus everyone elses’—it just doesn’t line up. Riki met Sunghoon when he had just killed his first victim, that’s a lot of emotions–it could have triggered something.”

Sunghoon blinked. “What?”

“A temporary bond, maybe. I don’t know many details—there isn’t a lot of information.”

“Sunoo, you can’t form a bond without a mark.” Heeseung interrupted gently.

Sunghoon nodded in agreement, startling when Jake nearly tore the collar of his shirt open. “What the–”

Jungwon shushed him, joining Jake on his inspection of Sunghoon’s neck, his chest, and his arms. Relief rolled off them in waves when they pulled back. “No mark besides ours.” 

Sunoo looked at them for a moment, then glanced back down at his phone.. “...okay. There might not be a physical mark but bonds without them are at least suggested to exist.”

“What would even prompt that? Do you know the amount of power someone would need to have to do that? It’s not natural.”

He began pacing, cheeks flushed with frustration. “ Nothing about this turning is natural. Why would the bond be any different?” 

Heeseung held his hands up in surrender. “Okay so what does this mean for Sunghoon?”

“I don’t know. There’s nothing concrete about this stuff, I don’t know how this will affect hyung or even Riki. I’m not even sure if I’m right.”

“You usually are.” Sunghoon murmured, warmth spreading through his veins when Sunoo stopped his pacing to smile at him. 

Jake pinched him. “So what do we do?”

Sunoo’s smile faltered and he turned to look at Riki, who was still laying almost peacefully on the bed. “We wait for him to wake up.”

Chapter Text

Riki did not wake up. And Sunoo was ready to pull out his hair. They had moved him back up to his room around day three, Heeseung finally saying it was okay to do so. But he wasn’t awake–at least not lucid. He was barely conscious enough to eat, much less answer any of Sunoo’s questions. 

So, instead, he sat in front of the overly large computer in the study, pouring over footage after footage from camera feeds around the city, dating back from when Sunghoon suspected Riki had been attacked to the night Sunghoon had found him. If there was something—anything—that pointed to who had hurt Riki, he hadn’t found it yet. All the footage blurred together now, empty streets and indifferent people. None of it explained what had happened. None of it was enough.

Sunoo sighed, clicking on the next camera set that showed nothing but a dark street, passerby’s walking, talking but none of them were Riki.

“How’s it going?”

He nearly screamed, jumping so far back he fell out of his chair. Jay blinked at him before promptly bursting into laughter, doubling over with the force of it. Sunoo glared at him, pushing himself up.

Jay pushed a plate of food toward him, a glass of blood in his other hand, his laughter dying down a little. “You’ve been working on this for a while; thought you might want something to eat.”

Sunoo’s glare softened a little but he still pushed Jay’s shoulder, “You couldn’t have knocked?”

“I did. Twice. I also called your name.”

Sunoo’s brows furrowed, surprised. He was usually aware of his surroundings, so Jay coming in without his knowledge was nearly unheard of. “You did?”

Jay tugged on a strand of his hair, fond. “Yeah, I did. Why don’t you take a break? Sunghoon and Heeseung are talking in the kitchen, you should join them.”

Sunoo ignored that, he still had work to do, at least then he wouldn’t go insane waiting for Riki to gain consciousness. “How’s Riki?”

Jay sighed. “Resting right now, first time we’ve been able to be away from him in a while. Jungwon’s still with him though.”

“How are his arms?”

“He’s been ripping at them less often, but I just changed his bandages a couple minutes ago.”

Sunoo rubbed at his eyes, the amount of screens finally affecting his vision, leaving it slightly spotty and blurry. Jay stepped closer, his hand coming up to swipe under Sunoo’s eye.

“Take a break. Please?”

Sunoo hesitated. He wanted to keep working, but the concern in Jay’s eyes wasn’t something he could ignore. He wanted to ease it. To show Jay he was fine, so he relented. Jay smiled, holding some food out to him. Sunoo took it, leaning against the desk.

Jay wiped at a crumb at the corner of his mouth, waiting until he was satisfied with the amount of food Sunoo had eaten before pulling him out of the study. Heeseung and Sunghoon were still in the kitchen, talking softly across the kitchen island to each other. They looked up as Sunoo and Jay walked in, tired but affectionate smiles on their faces. 

Heeseung wrapped an arm around Sunoo’s shoulders the moment he was within reach, pressing a messy kiss to his temple. “Hey. You were in there for a while. Taking a break?”

Sunoo squirmed in his hold. “Hyung’s making me.” 

Jay rolled his eyes as he walked past, plating food for Heeseung and Sunghoon. He plated some more, handing one off to Jake in the living room, accepting his kiss of thanks and heading up the stairs to give some to Jungwon, Sunoo’s assuming. 

“Find anything?” Sunghoon asked.

Sunoo’s smile dropped and he frowned at the counter. “No. There’s nothing. It’s like he just didn’t exist.”

Sunghoon reached out to take his hand. “We’ll figure it out. He mentioned something about a grocery store. Maybe we’ll look closer at the ones in the area.”

Sunoo sighed, leaning into Heeseung’s side. “Yeah. Maybe.”

They fell quiet, quiet enough that Sunoo could hear Jungwon and Jay arguing upstairs. “He’s resting right now. Both of you will be fine if you take a break.” 

He heard Jungwon huff. “No.”

There was a crash and all of them looked up towards the staircase. Jay emerged, literally dragging Jungwon down the stairs. Jungwon clawed at the top stair, squirming to get out of Jay’s hold, cursing colorfully at him.

“...need help?” Heeseung asked hesitantly.

Jay didn’t even look at him, just grabbed at Jungwon when he managed to wriggle away. “Nope! I got this.” 

Sunoo was doubtful but he didn’t say that out loud.

To his surprise, Jay did manage to get Jungwon fully down, dropping him in the living room, directly on Jake. Jake looked surprised but latched on, refusing to let Jungwon go, even when he was vaguely threatened by the boy on his lap. 

Sunoo drifted over to the living room, sitting on the couch across from Jake and Jungwon. Jay threw himself onto the couch beside him, dramatically sprawling across his lap like he was exhausted from hauling Jungwon downstairs.

“I deserve a medal or something,” he muttered, face buried in Sunoo’s thigh.

Sunoo snorted, carding his hand through Jay’s hair. “You’ll get a participation trophy at most.”

Jake was still holding Jungwon in his lap like a weighted blanket he had no intention of giving up. Jungwon grumbled under his breath but didn’t really resist anymore. Heeseung, standing nearby with a glass of blood in one hand, tilted his head toward the TV.

“We should put something on,” he suggested. “Movie night. Just something stupid. We’re not going to solve anything right now anyway.”

“Can we watch the one with the dog again?” Jake asked. “Where he keeps coming back?”

“I cried,” Sunghoon admitted.

“You sobbed,” Jay corrected from Sunoo’s lap.

Sunghoon flipped him off without heat, already reaching for the remote.

“Subtitles this time,” Sunoo said, stretching a leg out. “Jake always talks over the important parts.”

“I add commentary!” Jake defended.

“Exactly.”

Heeseung handed out glasses, gently brushing knuckles against arms and shoulders as he passed. Jay sat up just to lean more deliberately into Sunoo. Jungwon was finally starting to relax in Jake’s hold, lids heavy, tension bleeding out of him by degrees.  It felt peaceful, close, like a pulse beating slow and steady between them all. 

Sunoo blinked down at Jay. “Shit. I left my phone in the study.” He stood, stretching. “Pause it if it starts.”

“No promises,” came from three different directions at once. 

Sunoo pushed open the study door, the lights still dim from earlier. He stepped inside and spotted his phone near the edge of the desk—and paused. 

The monitor was on.

That was weird. He didn’t remember leaving it like that. It wasn’t even on the same camera he’d been looking at.

He stepped closer.

There—on the screen.

Riki.

Just–there. Standing in the middle of an empty street. Frozen.

Sunoo’s breath caught. He clicked back a few seconds. Riki was heading out of the store, a small bag hanging on his arm. Then nothing. Like the cameras glitched.

Empty street. 

He clicked forward again. 

There. Riki.

No movement. No transition. No attack. He’d just appeared. Like a ghost glitching into frame.

His chest tightened.

“Guys?” He called.

Footsteps sounded and one by one they poked their head in. “What? We paused the movie.”

Sunoo beckoned them closer. Heeseung leaned over his shoulder.

“Is that Riki?”

“Yeah, but watch this.” He reversed the footage. Riki walked out of the store and just as he looked up to cross the street the footage cut three hours ahead with Riki standing, trembling in the middle of the road. 

“What the fuck?”

Jake turned to Jay, “I thought you said he was attacked.”

Sunghoon blinked at the screen rapidly, like he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. “He was. Or at least he said he was.”

Jay pinched the bridge of his nose. “The footage was clearly cut.”

“So what do we do? What are our options?”

No one had an answer. And then—

A knock at the door. 

They looked at each other for a moment, exchanging glances before Sunghoon slapped the desk, already out the door, footsteps quick but careful.

“I’ll get it.”

Sunoo barely had any time to process what he said before Jay was running after him, yelling something about not being stupid. He glanced at Jake before chasing after them. 

Sunghoon opened the door with one hand still behind his back, ready to slam it shut if needed. Sunoo saw the moment his posture shifted, a twitch in his shoulders, a slight lowering of his guard—but not completely.

“Hanni?”

Sunoo blinked. He hadn’t seen her since before the last council meeting. Same eyes. Same voice. But something about the way she stood on their porch made his stomach knot. Rain clung to her coat and hair, her heart beating wildly, like she’d ran here. She looked unshakable. And Sunoo didn’t trust that for a second.

“Hi,” she said. “I know I should’ve called, but you missed the last council meeting and then—well, shit’s hitting the fan. I need to see Jungwon.”

Jungwon’s voice came from the hallway before Sunoo even noticed him approaching. “Hanni.”

He was stiff, posture rigid, expression unreadable. But something in his voice—something low and taut—told Sunoo that this wasn’t a pleasant surprise.

“Hey, friend,” Hanni said, stepping past Sunghoon. “You look like hell.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Her eyes scanned the room now, flicking briefly past Jay, past Heeseung—lingering on Sunoo only a beat longer before moving on. No one breathed. No one moved. Not even when she made her way to the living room, standing at the center.

Sunoo didn’t dare look toward the stairs.

Heeseung cleared his throat, moving closer. “You should sit.”

Hanni shook her head. “No, I shouldn’t. I’m not staying long. I just… I needed to check on you. And to tell you something.”

Sunoo watched Jungwon nod, his arms crossed on his chest as he leaned against the back of the couch. Hanni stood there, her posture mirroring Jungwon’s.

“They’re going to know either way. Might as well just say it here.”

Hanni huffed a laugh, “Codependant much?”

Jungwon shot her a look, all sharp edges but no real bite, “They’re my coven. My information is theirs.”

“Fair enough.”

Jake and Sunghoon exchanged a glance. Jay’s hand landed on Sunoo’s shoulder.

Sunoo leaned slightly into it, his voice a breath at most. “This can’t be good.”

Jay didn’t answer, but his fingers curled tighter.

“Council’s whispering,” Hanni started, voice lower now. Jungwon shifted, arms falling away from his chest as he leaned forward. 

“What about?”

“Something’s shifting and you not showing up to the meeting…rattled people” 

Sunoo caught the way she stared at her fingers, restless at her sleeves.

Jungwon frowned. “It was one meeting.”

“Exactly. I think you forget how much influence you all carry. How much everyone else looks to your coven for guidance. And with the rumors flying around…people are restless, paranoid.”

Jungwon shifted again and out of the corner of his eye Sunoo saw Heeseung adjust to block the stairway.

“What rumors?”

Hanni didn’t look at any of them as she pulled a file from her coat, handing it to Jungwon. Sunoo peered over his shoulder.

The pages were damp, letters bleeding together but it was still obvious. Two photos were paperclipped to the papers—bodies. Sunoo wanted to throw up. He scanned the page, taking in the details. Each body was battered and bruised but more importantly each body was drained. 

“What the fuck?”

Sunoo couldn’t help but agree.

Jungwon looked sick. “Where did you get this?”

“I took them from Nova’s office.”

“Why?”

Hanni looked more timid than Sunoo had ever seen her, fidgeting with the buttons on her jacket. “I don’t want Mira—or any of them involved.”

Jungwon’s hand clenched on the paper, crumpling it slightly in his hold. “And so you’re willing for my coven to face the brunt of this threat?”

Hanni glared at him and Sunoo now more than ever could recognize the reason for their friendship. Hanni looked angry—it was the same expression Jungwon wore whenever they were threatened.

“Your coven cannot be so easily taken out. You’re too connected. If you find something…you can’t be so easily silenced. The same cannot be said for my coven.”

Jungwon deflated, glancing back down at the papers. He took the photos, handing them to Sunoo. “Can you look into them?”

Sunoo accepted the photos, reaching behind himself and into Jay’s pocket, stealing his phone. He unlocked it with ease, searching for the two faces in the photos. They were still discussing, talking in hushed tones and Sunoo tried to follow along as he searched. 

“This can’t be from a vampire.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It’s too clean, there’s no punctures, no claws, how would they have gotten the blood?”

Hanni didn’t have an answer for that. Sunoo glanced up.

“They’re both strays.”

Hanni turned to him. “What?”

Sunoo turned Jay’s phone to her, displaying their council-sanctioned registration. “They have no coven, isolated, lived on opposite corners of the city.”

Jake leaned back, his hand finding Sunghoon’s. “Easy targets.” He murmured. 

Jungwon sighed and Sunoo winced. His mark throbbed, burning with pain coming directly from Jungwon’s end. “Why hasn’t this been brought to our attention earlier?”

Hanni bared her teeth. “Because you’ve been MIA for nearly two weeks. No one could reach you. It took me four days to find out where you live!”

Jungwon cringed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, we’ll take care of it, find out who’s responsible.”

Hanni fidgeted again. “It’s only a matter of time they come for coven’s. Before no one’s safe. Don’t let it be mine that’s next. Don’t let it be yours.”

Sunoo flinched like he’d been burned, the same fear echoing in his veins, and the bond, thrumming through all of them. 

“I heard you talking to Nova about single-source dependency a while back.” Hanni whispered, and when her gaze landed on Sunoo, it felt like a blade.

“I…was.”

Hanni nodded, digging her own phone from her pocket. “You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to find these. Most of it’s gone now—scrubbed. This is all I could get.”

Sunoo took it from her. It was a screenshot—part of a lab report from somewhere in America. The header was half-clipped and blurry, the text smudged in places like it had been captured in a hurry, or after the original page had already been partially taken down. Five vampire’s faces on the cover but they looked hollow, dead even with their hearts still beating. 

Sunoo scrolled, eyes catching on fragmented phrases.

‘...genetically modified…’

‘...single-source feeding…’

‘...unexpected connection…’

‘...bond stab–degr–…’

‘...unmarked…”

Then:

[FILE CORRUPTED — CONTENT UNAVAILABLE]  

“They didn’t last long. That’s all it says.”

Sunoo’s fingers tightened on the phone. He didn’t look up as Jay leaned in and plucked it from his hands, already reading it over himself.

“They’re making new vampires? In America?”

Hanni shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

No one said anything. They didn’t even look at each other. 

“Look.” Hanni said gently. “Whatever you’re not telling me, be careful. They’re looking for excuses right now. Don’t give them one.”

Jungwon cleared his throat. “We’re not.”

Hanni looked doubtful but she wrapped her coat more tightly around herself, sweeping toward the door. “There’s rumored to be a third, down at the factory on the other side of the city. There’s a witness, or at least someone who knew the victim. Get to it.”

Jungwon stood. “Let us take you home.”

“No, I’ll manage.” She smiled and without another word was gone, not even a shadow left behind.

The silence that she left was painful. Sunoo glanced toward the hall, searching for Riki’s heartbeat, steady and calm. When he turned around Jake was wrapped in Heeseung’s arms, and Jay looked like he was trying to keep Jungwon together. Sunghoon approached him, holding out his arms in offering. Sunoo practically fell into him, his head landing on Sunghoon’s shoulder.

“What now?”

Sunoo glanced up in time to watch Jungwon pull away from Jay, his expression hard to read. “Now we find a body.”

“Hold on—”

But Jungwon was already halfway out the door. Jay grabbed his wrist, forcing him to a halt. “Stop. We have more to worry about than just us right now. What about Riki? You want to leave him alone right now? In the state he’s in?”

Jungwon finally seemed to hesitate and he looked around, entirely unsure of himself. Sunoo let Sunghoon’s arms fall away. “I’ll stay with him.”

“Are you sure?” Jungwon asked, stepping closer. 

Sunoo nodded and Jungwon reached up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Be safe.”

“We will.”

Jay pulled him in next, leaning their foreheads together. “Call if anything happens. And I mean anything.”

Sunoo laughed despite himself and accepted Jay’s kiss as he headed out the door. Heeseung grabbed him, kissing his other cheek before disappearing after Jay, giving Sunoo’s hand a squeeze on his way out. 

Jake jumped on him delivering small pecks all over Sunoo’s face, making him promise to call, just as Jay had. Sunghoon got him last, slipping his arms around Sunoo’s waist just to hold for now. 

“I don’t like this.”

Sunoo let out a sigh. “Me neither.” He admitted. 

Sunghoon pulled back enough to look at him, his hands cupping Sunoo’s face. Then he leaned in, his lips pressing against Sunoo’s, his arms pulling him closer. When he pulled back Sunoo felt dazed.

“I love you.”

Sunoo smiled. “I love you.”

Then they were gone.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything hurt. Not quite like the fire that had lived inside his veins for—he didn’t know how long— but enough. Like something had burned all the blood right out of him, and now all that was left was the aftershocks.  

Riki sat up slowly, wincing with every movement. He propped himself up against the headboard of his bed, already feeling like that little movement had drained him of all his energy. He leaned his head back against the headboard, eyes sweeping across the dimly lit room. Several mattresses were sprawled across the floor, blankets and clothing in loose piles, like someone had moved in and never cleaned up. 

The door opened and Sunoo walked in, humming quietly. The door bumped into a pile of what looked like hoodies and Sunoo’s singing cut off. He huffed, leaning down to pluck it from the floor aggressively, muttering something about “animals” under his breath, but he didn’t sound mad, just resigned. He moved through the room, picking up clothes, throwing blankets onto mattresses, back to humming peacefully under his breath. Riki watched him. It was calming, like a wave pushing him back under the water, but Riki didn’t feel like he was drowning. He shifted, maybe Sunoo would stay and sing for a while. He pulled the sheets up and immediately the dull fire that had settled in his limbs flared again. His stomach twisted and Riki clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to throw up. 

He must have let out some sort of sound because Sunoo’s head shot up and his breath rushed out of him. He dropped all the clothes he had managed to gather unceremoniously on the floor, quickly reaching to stabilize Riki against the headboard again.

“Take it easy, yeah?” Sunoo said, pressing the back of his hand to Riki’s forehead and cheeks. Riki leaned into his touch, or tried to. The movement forced another ripple of nausea through him and Sunoo cursed, telling him to stop moving. 

Sunoo pushed his shoulders firmly against the headboard, preventing any further twitches. His hands were warm, even through the fabric of his shirt. Sunoo slowly pulled back, darting across the room to grab a blood bag. It was larger than any blood bag Riki had seen so far, covered in large, messy sharpie letters across the front “SH”. 

He offered it to Riki, holding it out with a small “here” but Riki closed his eyes. He didn’t remember much, but the pain still echoed in his bones, pain he knew would resurface if he drank that.

Sunoo pushed it into his hands, “It’s Sunghoon-hyung’s. Please just drink it.” 

Riki looked down at it in his hands, praying that only he could see the way his fingers trembled. He didn’t want to need it. Didn’t want to trust it. But something in Sunoo’s voice–quiet, kind–pulled him unwillingly towards yes. “It hurt. Last time. I can’t—remember everything but it hurt me.”

Sunoo made a small sad sound, “No. Not Sunghoon-hyung’s, you were able to keep this down without pain. I promise.”

Riki looked over at him. Sunoo’s eyes were round with sympathy and no matter how hard he searched there was no trace of dishonesty. His eyes darted between the bag and Sunoo before he swallowed his pride and relented. Sunoo let out a little audible sigh of relief and reached for the bag, bringing it to Riki’s mouth before freezing a hair away from his lips.

Riki looked up at him and Sunoo bit his lip, looking embarrassed “Can I?”

“Yes.” 

Sunoo brought it to his lips, letting Riki drink at his own pace, only occasionally pulling back to wipe a stray drop away with his sleeve. Once it was empty Sunoo pressed his hand back to Riki’s forehead, moving down to his neck before pulling away again.

“Can you lift your hand for me?”

Fear dumped ice in Riki’s veins and he paused. Sunoo looked earnest, twisting his hands together and inching closer on the bed. “You don’t have to.” He said quickly, “Do you want more blood, we have more downstairs.”

He stood quickly and before Riki could think about what he was doing, his hand shot out to grab Sunoo’s sleeve, preventing him from leaving the room. Riki’s eyes widened and he braced for the pain to come trampling in but even after a moment it never came. At least not in the agonizing wave Riki was used to. Instead, it sat behind his eyes and in the back of his skull, whispering into the echo of his bones, more of a reminder than anything real anymore. Sunoo was still frozen but allowed himself to be pulled back towards the bed. 

“Sorry.” Riki rasped, releasing Sunoo when he registered the death grip he still had on the other. 

“It’s okay, I should’ve known, that was my fault.” Sunoo gave him a soft smile. His whole face softened, eyes curling up to half-moons, full, pink lips pulling back to reveal sharp fangs that Riki didn’t have it in him to find scary. If anything they just added to his beauty, a kind of ethereal look that made Riki fight the absurd urge to touch him, just to ensure he was real. Then his words registered.

“Wait. What?”

Sunoo cocked his head, hair falling into his eyes slightly but he didn’t push it away, “How much do you remember?”

Riki racked his still-muddled brain, only coming up with vague memories of voices, touch and pain. So much pain. “Not…a lot.” He admitted. 

“Yeah, hyung said to expect that. You weren’t in the best condition.”

Riki blinked at him. “How long was I in ‘not the best condition’?”

Sunoo winced, immediately avoiding contact and suddenly Riki regretted asking. “Eleven days.”

“Eleven?” 

Sunoo nodded, “That’s why your room had gotten messy so quickly. This is eleven day’s worth of outfits for six people.”

“What?”

“We couldn’t leave, even if you were asleep, it was like it triggered a flare or something. So we all moved in here.” 

Riki’s eyes swept the room again, taking in all the clothes that couldn’t possibly be his and everything slowly pieced itself together. “You all stayed here? With me for…eleven days? Why?”

Sunoo looked at him like he was stupid, “You were in pain and if we could ease that, even a little, we would. So if it meant sleeping here for a couple days…so be it.” He stood up with a flourish, fingers brushing Riki’s shoulder like a silent reassurance that he wasn’t leaving. He rounded the room, picking up the clothes he had dropped earlier and tossing them into a basket until the only things remaining were the mattresses and blankets. 

Riki’s breath caught. The headache behind his eyes split open and Riki was slammed with voices, touches, too much. Sunghoon, he thinks, telling him he’s okay. Hands on his shoulder, arms around his waist. It felt real, visceral. 

“Where’s–” Riki cut himself off but Sunoo looked up again, eyes warm.

“Who?” He asked, “Jungwon? Sunghoon-hyung?” Riki did respond but Sunoo still grinned, “They’re at a meeting right now, but don’t worry they’ll come back.”

Riki cleared his throat, “Why didn’t you go with them?”

Sunoo raised an eyebrow, “Do you really think that if you woke up and no one was home you wouldn’t have completely freaked out?” 

Riki didn’t respond, but Sunoo must’ve caught the way his fingers twisted the edge of the blanket, because his teasing smile softened into something gentler.

“Do you want to move around a little?” He asked, almost casually, like it didn’t matter either way.

Riki hesitated. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to stand, let alone walk—but a part of him was restless. 

Sunoo read his silence like an open book. “It won’t be very long. And I’ll be right next to you the entire time.”

“Okay.” Riki slowly pulled the blankets off his legs, still fearful the pain would come back. 

Sunoo watched him carefully, a good distance away but close enough that if Riki looked like he was going to stumble Sunoo could catch him. Riki paused before his feet touched the ground and Sunoo stepped closer, offering his hand. Surprising himself, Riki didn’t hesitate in taking it. Sunoo’s hand was warm, comforting, matching the smile that lit up his face when Riki’s hand slid into his.  

He stabilized Riki, only pulling away when it looked like he wouldn’t fall right back over. Sunoo led the way, basket tucked under his arm as he opened the door, holding it open as Riki passed through. He smiled again and hopped down the stairs, blonde hair bouncing on his head as he went.

“I just need to throw this in the laundry real quick.” He led Riki to a small room with two large appliances. It smelled soft, like lavender and there were clothes hanging from every available surface. Sunoo moved around the room with ease, tossing the clothes in his basket into the washing machine, pouring an egregious amount of detergent and then kicking the machine when it wouldn’t start. He let out a small “Yay!” before urging Riki out of the room, claiming ‘it wouldn’t run if it knew it was being watched’. 

He led them back to the kitchen, leaning forward on the counter to watch Riki. “How would you feel about a house tour?” He asked in an almost nervous way that immediately caught Riki’s attention.

“I’d like that.”

“Great!” Sunoo perked up, waving his hands around the large space, “This is our kitchen, we all take turns cooking but Jay’s the only one who actually follows any recipes.”

Riki nodded, Jungwon had told him this before. The kitchen was messier than Riki remembered though, there was a mug turned over on its side, pokemon characters facing up. Dishes piled up in the sink and various little half-empty snacks packages lay hidden in the space. But somehow, the less clinical version of the kitchen Riki had seen some eleven days ago made him feel more relaxed. Like it was lived in, not just something there for decoration. 

Riki hadn’t noticed he’d moved until his fingers grazed a very well-loved coffee machine. 

“Careful,” Sunoo advised, “if anything happens to our coffee pot we may actually witness a homicide.”

Riki stared at him, unable to tell if he was joking or not from his tone but Sunoo just clicked his tongue, “Don’t worry, I’ll say a few words at your funeral.”

“What–?” 

But Sunoo had already moved on, shouting something about the kitchen not being the only room they have. Riki rushed after him.

“And there is our living room, that couch is my favorite, it’s so comfortable…” He pointed to a couch that looked like every other couch and Riki scratched the back of his head, overwhelmed and more confused than ever but he couldn’t bring himself to be upset about it. Then something caught his eye. 

Sunoo peaked his head over, “Oh. Yeah, we have just about every game, Heeseung likes to play pretty often, so feel free to play whenever you want.” He shrugged like he hadn’t just shown Riki the largest and most recent collection of games and consoles he’d seen and walked back down the hall. Riki hesitated a moment longer before following.

Sunoo swung open a large set of doors. There was a–rather large desk that sat in the middle of the room, adorned on just about every wall were bookshelves that reached as high as the ceiling, and little loveseats that littered the area. “This is the study,” Sunoo mentioned, “it’s more of Heeseung or Jungwon’s forte but we’ve got practically every book ever published if you ever wanted to try out something new.”

Riki picked up a book that was bent open over the arm of one seat. A Tale of Two Cities, the title read and his eyes scanned over the annotated page. Except only one part was annotated, a single line highlighted. “ There was a smell of blood and smoke in the air and the city was burning." 

He put it back down. “Why is it Heeseung and Jungwon’s forte?”

Sunoo shrugged, “They handle the majority of the things Council-related.” He gestured to the mound of papers that were piling up on the desk and Riki could already feel a headache forming just from looking at it. “But, I mean, we all use the study, Heeseung and Jungwon are usually just the main ones that occupy the desk.”

Riki nodded, content enough with the answer as Sunoo pushed off one of the couches to head back out of the room, “Archives are that way–at least Coven archives but honestly it's just a bunch of unorganized files, very boring.” He gestured to a closed door across the room before he was gone…again.

Riki groaned and ran to catch up. He found Sunoo hovering by a staircase, who smiled and started to take the stairs two at a time when he saw him. “This is my personal favorite,” he said, “it’s so calm up here you can almost forget about…well, everything I guess.” 

Riki followed until Sunoo came to an abrupt stop, slamming his shoulder into a metal door, whose hinges creaked upon opening. Sunoo was muttering under his breath, “I keep telling them we need to fix the door but no, let me just break my shoulder every time I want to open the damn thing.”  

Riki didn’t know what he expected, blinding light? To burn and die? Neither happened. Darkness flooded Riki’s vision and he had to take a couple moments to adjust to the only light coming from the moon and stars above their head. Sunoo dragged in a deep breath, looking perfectly at ease.

Riki glanced at the roof’s edge skeptically, “You’re not going to push me off, are you?”

Sunoo looked momentarily offended, “After I just spent the last eleven days trying to keep you alive?”

Fair. Riki inched closer. It was an open space, lounging chairs with small tables in between. But what caught Riki off guard the most was the sizable garden on the far side. There were flowers of all colors, climbing on vines to reach a sun that was no longer hanging in the sky. “You garden?” He asked before he could stop himself.

Sunoo turned, “Oh, yeah, we all do. I like the flowers but the fruits and vegetables were Jay’s idea. We all try to take care of it, it reminds us we can create, not just destroy.” The last part tapered off as Sunoo stared at the garden, like a thought he hadn’t meant to share. 

He had a far away look to his eyes, like he wasn’t fully present and Riki found himself watching him. Then, like a switch had flipped, Sunoo snapped out of it, turning to Riki again. “We all come up here, it's peaceful, gives you a moment to breathe.”

Riki couldn’t help but agree. Everything felt so much quieter up there, like he couldn’t hear everything. And could rather just focus on the sound of his own heartbeat, of Sunoo’s. Sunoo closed his eyes, swaying in the wind slightly, humming a tune under his breath again. Riki’s eyes closed of their own accord. 

He didn’t know how long they’d stayed there, but it was long enough that Riki knew he should’ve been cold, but he didn’t feel the wind nipping gently at his cheeks. He didn’t feel it at all and then Sunoo shut the door, cutting them off from the outside.

Riki could tell they were headed back and for some reason he dreaded it. Sunoo moved happily, practically skipping as he made his way through the halls once more. “This is Jay’s room.” He gestured to a closed door with a single small guitar sticker stuck in the center. “Enter at your own risk.” He pointed to the door across from Jay’s, “That’s Jake’s room, he’s usually pretty okay with other people being in his room.” He paused. “But, just to let you know, once you go in you don’t leave until he decides it's okay for you to leave.”

Riki blinked and Sunoo shrugged, “Could be anywhere between two hours or twenty, depending on his mood.”

Riki couldn’t even process that before Sunoo had moved on, “This is Heeseung’s room, he will pretend to get mad about you using his favorite soap but honestly I just think he likes it when we smell like him.” He gestured to the door directly next to it, “That’s Sunghoon’s room, his is probably the cleanest out of all of ours.” 

He continued, “That’s Jungwon’s room.” He said.

“Jungwon’s….scary.” Riki blurted before he could stop himself and Sunoo halted mid-stride. 

He turned to Riki with a slight frown before glancing back at Jungown’s door. “Jungwon’s…like a cat. He pretends to be indifferent but then will act like it's a complete coincidence that he’s always in the same room as you.” He turned to Riki with a soft smile, “He’s actually quite soft.”

Sunoo’s eyes were warm, affectionate, as he toyed with a lock of hair. Riki nodded though and Sunoo, for the first time, was slow to move on, his fingers grazing the plain door.

“Oh! This is my room.” 

His hand curled around the doorknob, hesitating for just a moment. Riki froze. Something about it felt different, more personal than the garden, more intimate than the jokes. Then Sunoo swung the door open.

Riki peeked inside.

It smelled faintly sweet, like honey or something floral. A few plush toys sat along the bed, their eyes catching on the light. There was a mirror, covered in sticky-pads with small messages and books closed with everything from a hair tie to an empty snack package being used as a bookmark. 

Riki turned back and found Sunoo nervously twisting his fingers as he looked between the room and Riki. 

“I also don’t mind extra people in my room.” Sunoo murmured, almost like he was giving Riki a hint and Riki couldn’t help but smile at him. 

Sunoo blinked at him, like he was stunned and cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact, “Uh, we’re–we’re almost done.”

Riki laughed, following Sunoo out of the room. They stopped in front of another door and Riki’s brows furrowed. He turned back to the hallway and counted. There were seven rooms and his own room lay just across the hall. So who’s room was this?

“Another guest bedroom?” Riki guessed and Sunoo shook his head.

He pushed open the door and Riki was bombarded with not just one scent but some sweet, overwhelming combination of all of them. Riki hesitated at the doorway, blinking against the soft golden light that spilled out. The room felt like a breath held in the lungs, quiet and warm, low-lit but still humming with life. He stepped inside slowly, his footsteps muffled by the layered rugs and lingering blankets and he found himself instinctively lowering his voice, like the atmosphere there wasn’t meant to be disturbed. 

“What–?”

It wasn’t a bedroom. It wasn’t even a room, not really.

“This is our nest.” Sunoo said, his voice lowering along with Riki’s.

It was sunken and sprawling, with a mattress that spilled past the frame and spilled again onto the floor. It was layered so thick with comforters that it seemed more like a cloud that had fallen down to earth. There were pillows everywhere, soft where bodies had rested often. Some still held faint impressions.

“Your…nest?” Riki asked, still moving slowly, still looking around.

Sunoo shrugged casually but Riki could feel his eyes on him, like he was looking for judgement. “We all sleep here together most nights. Our rooms are for us to decorate and have a private space for ourselves but we end up here most nights.”

Riki nodded absentmindedly, taking another step forward. The air was warm, there was no cold from the winter outside, no draft or sharp corners. Only a slow candlelight, soft shadows and a peace so physical it made something in his chest ache. 

Clothes were scattered about, not carelessly but naturally; hoodies were tucked beside pillows, a scarf caught on the bedframe, sweatpants placed at the foot of the bed. A book lay open with a dried flower pressed between the pages. An old, worn t-shirt hung off the back of a chair, stitches obvious by some of the creases.

Something about it felt like he was intruding, like he was holding some piece of them he wasn’t allowed to see yet. But Sunoo didn’t stop him, just watched with a small, growing smile on his lips. 

Riki knelt down near the edge, picking up a worn, oversized hoodie. It was crumpled to the floor, like someone had peeled it off in a daze, forgetting it there. Riki brought it to his face before he even thought about it.

It smelt like Sunghoon, but he could detect small notes of the others between the stitches, like it’s been passed around a couple times, or stolen perhaps. He closed his eyes, the scent becoming more and more like something he associated with safety. It was plucked from his hands and Sunoo turned away for a moment, heading towards the closet in the back of the room. Riki blinked, dazed and embarrassed all at once. He hadn’t intended to do that but he couldn’t stop himself.

Before he could back out of the room, and pretend it never happened Sunoo returned, a different hoodie in his hand, holding it out to Riki. “Here, this one’s actually been washed in the last decade.”

Riki took it delicately from Sunoo’s outstretched hand. It still smelled like them. He slipped it on, the extra layer adding to the weight building in his arms. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the exhaustion from his brain. Sunoo’s hands landed on his shoulders but it felt more like he was holding him up.

“You okay?” He asked, one hand coming up to cup his cheek, like he was checking to see if the fever had come back.

“Yeah. Just tired.”

Sunoo winced, “I did drag you around for a while, maybe we shouldn’t have pushed too hard. Let’s go back to bed, yeah?”

Riki pulled away, “I slept for eleven days, I’m fine.”

Something in Sunoo’s expression hardened. “No. You spent eleven days in excruciating pain, unable to sleep for more than a couple hours at a time because you were screaming and clawing at your arms. We’re going back to bed.”  

Riki didn’t fight him this time as he herded Riki out of the room, bringing him back to their starting point. Sunoo settled him on the bed carefully and Riki winced at the soreness that had returned and spread. Sunoo handed him another blood bag, raising an eyebrow until Riki brought it to his mouth and began to drink. He busied himself tidying up the room, wiping nonexistent dust off the dresser, folding and refolding the blankets until he was just standing in the center of the room, having completely run out of things to do. Then he headed for the door.

Riki sank down further into the still-warm sheets, inhaling the scent that clung to the room. “Hyung, stay with me? Please?”

Sunoo froze, his back to Riki but Riki couldn’t find it in himself to be embarrassed. Instead he just inched back enough to pull back the sheets, patting the spot next to him. Sunoo sat down slowly, like he was giving Riki enough time to take it back. But Riki only smiled, reaching out to trace the shell of his ear impulsively, enamored with the blush that had spread over the high of Sunoo’s cheekbones. Sunoo looked down at him, his breathing shallow and Riki grinned to himself, tucking his face into Sunoo’s hip bone. Sunoo sat stiffly until Riki pulled him down further.

He cleared his throat. “You should sleep.”

Riki hummed, “Sing for me?” He asked.

Sunoo blinked, “What?”

Riki peeled one eye open, propping his head on his hand, ignoring the pain that shot through his body to do so, “That song you were humming when you walked in, sing it for me, please?”

Sunoo hesitated and Riki used the opportunity to lay his chin on his chest, looking up at him, “Please, hyung?”

“I–okay, fine.”

His voice was soft at first, uncertain — but the warmth in it spread through Riki like a balm. Riki smiled again, tucking his face into Sunoo’s hip and closing his eyes to the sound of Sunoo’s voice. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jake was exhausted. They’d been going in circles for two hours now and were no closer to reaching an answer than when they started. He twirled the pen in his hands, only barely managing not to pout when Jay snatched it away. He was bored. And tired. Not the best combination. 

“You knew this person?” Jungwon asked for the umpteenth time.

The vampire sitting across from them was timid, with long brown hair that reached past her waist. Her eyes were wide, scared but she nodded all the same, just as she had all the other times Jungwon had asked.

“He hooked me up with other…blood supplies…” She averted her eyes, casting them downwards as if she expected them to execute her there and then. If they were honest, they didn’t much care for how she got her supply, they just wanted to know if she knew who killed the man in the photograph.

“Do you have any idea who could have done this, any at all?” Jay pressed gently, but again she shook her head, refusing to look at the body. 

It was the same pattern that Hanni had shown them, only now, they were in charge. Each body was bruised, battered, and drained. Every drop was gone when the bodies were found. But there didn’t seem to be any puncture marks, no claw marks or messy trails of blood, nothing that indicated another vampire could be the culprit. 

Jake rubbed at his eyes, blinking rapidly and looking up to find everyone looking at him. “What?”

“I’ll only talk to him.” The girl repeated, pointing directly at him. Jake thinks her name is Maddie, but he could be wrong.

Sunghoon was shaking his head before she could even finish. “Absolutely not.”

“Hoon…” Heeseung rested a hand on Sunghoon’s arm, looking hesitant.

Sunghoon turned to him, his voice thick with betrayal only they could notice, “No. Please tell me you’re not actually considering this.”

“She’s harmless.” Heeseung reasoned.

“You don’t know that!”

“Jake can handle himself.”

Jake stood up, his chair scraping against the floor, effectively cutting off Heeseung and Sunghoon’s argument. He nodded at the girl and she stood too, pausing at the door to ensure he was following. Jake tried to smile reassuringly at her, ushering her out the door but not before he flipped off the others. He heard Jay laugh before the door closed.

He followed her out the building, letting her lead him down a small dirt road into a patch of woods, far past the hearing range of any vampire. The woods were silent. Jake couldn’t even hear the rustle of animals or the chirp of birds. It was like every living creature fell mute. “So…” He started, “You do know more information?”

Maddie–or whatever her name was–stayed quiet, only occasionally glancing back to reassure herself that he was there. She stopped at an open area, the same one where they’d found the body. She crouched down, reaching under some ferns and digging in the dirt there. When she straightened up she was holding a card in her hand, a small, black business card. 

“You’re marked.” She said.

Jake blinked, hand unconsciously coming up to touch the small mark on his neck, it was obvious to anyone who looked at him that he was marked, he’d never even tried to hide that. “Yes.”

“Your new one isn’t. He’s not as strong without it. But you’re safer.” She still wasn’t looking at him. 

Jake felt like someone had ripped the air from his lungs. No one was supposed to know about Riki, no one outside the coven should even know he exists yet. “What?”

She folded the card in his hand but Jake barely felt it. “He is yours, is he not?”

Something possessive curled in his chest. “He’s ours. How do you know anything about him?”

Her answering smile was a little teary, “The Underground knows everything.”

Jake pushed her shoulder when she went to leave. “No. Don’t give me that bullshit. What do you mean we’re safer? What is he weaker without?”

Her expression was carefully blank, an almost exact copy of the mask Jungwon wore when he didn’t want to give too much away. She reached up, her hand clamping down over Jake’s mark. It burned. Like her hands were going to rip the bond from his bones, cut the string that attached him to the five people he held closest. Jake screamed, falling to his knees, but her hand followed him down. 

“Your bond is strong, stronger than most. With it, he’ll be stronger, but if he remains unmarked, it will ensure your survival.” 

She let go and Jake fell forward, convulsing through the aftershocks on the damp ground of the forest floor. She walked away, until the shadows swallowed her whole. The forest was alive now, screaming but above all that he could hear his coven shouting something that sounded vaguely like his name. He couldn’t answer them. 

Just as he was regaining some feeling in his limbs he heard the pounding of feet on the ground.

“Jake? What’s wrong? What happened?” Heeseung cradled Jake’s head, his hands shaking.

Within an instant Jay, Sunghoon and Jungwon were all kneeling in the dirt beside him, their touch healing whatever Maddie did to fry his nerves. They huddled closer and Jake carefully unfurled his hand, the one Maddie pressed the business card to. His heart dropped. There were three, not just one. On each card was the victim's name, printed in the same font, the same color as the card they found the night Sunghoon brought Riki home. 

Heeseung sucked in an audible breath, taking the card from him, like if he brought it closer to his face, the similarities would disappear, taking the implications with it. 

“Where’s Maddie?” Sunghoon demanded, his hands curled into fists.

Jake’s voice came out raspy, “She took off.” He didn’t startle when Heeseung snuck an arm under his legs, lifting him from the ground. Instead, he just clung, tucking his face into Heeseung’s shoulder where his own mark glowed in the dark of the night, desperate for the contact with the bond he was so afraid he would lose. 

No one asked him any more questions until the car doors closed. 

“What happened?”

Jake sighed, “She was saying all this weird shit,” he paused, “she knew about Riki.”

A beat passed then Jungwon blinked.

“No, that’s not possible. No one outside of us knows he even exists, she can’t know.”

“She told me ‘your newest isn’t marked’ and then some bullshit about it being safer for us that way.”

Jay looked like he would be pacing if they weren’t sitting down, “How would she know any of that?”

Jake’s head pounded but he tried to dig through his memory, “She said…something about ‘The Underground’?”

Beneath him, Heeseung froze. He didn’t say anything, just handed Jake to Jay, clambering from the back to get in the driver's seat, his words hushed but fearful. “We need to get home. Now.”

When they pulled into their driveway two shadowed figures already awaited them. They sat on the porch and even with the dark and distance Jake could make out the slope of Sunoo’s head, resting against Riki’s shoulder, and the twitchy way Riki’s knee bounced beneath him. They were both wide-eyed, alert, like they hadn’t moved in hours. 

The second the headlights cut out, they bolted upright. Heeseung had barely put the car in park before Sunoo was tearing open the back door.

“Where’s Jake?” He gasped, eyes red-rimmed and wild. He scrambled over Jungwon without hesitation, landing directly in Jake’s lap. 

Jake winced but managed a soft laugh, rubbing comforting circles into Sunoo’s hip and pulling him closer. “I’m okay, I promise.”

Sunoo gripped his shirt with both hands like he didn’t believe him. His body trembled.

“He woke up screaming.” Riki whispered, still hovering outside the car. His arms were crossed over his chest. “His mark burned.”

Jay moved to the open door, his voice quiet, “Jake got hurt,” he said, hand brushing Riki’s arm in comfort.

Heeseung didn’t say a word. He just slammed the driver’s side door so hard the car shook, and stalked inside. Sunghoon muttered a curse and jogged after him.

Jay exhaled, low and tired. “Are you good to walk?” He asked Jake, stepping back to give him some room.

Jake nodded, adjusting his hold on Sunoo. “Yeah. Just–might need someone to hold the door.”

Jungwon climbed out first, reaching into the back seat to help Sunoo down, then offered his hand to Jake. Riki lingered nearby, quiet and shifting his weight like he didn’t know if he was allowed to follow. Jake reached for him but Sunoo got there first, wrapping his fingers around Riki’s wrist and tugging, not hard, not demanding but encouraging and Riki gave a tired smile letting him lead the way into the house.

The moment they crossed the threshold, the tension in the air was obvious. The sound of arguing led them to the living room. Heeseung was pacing, his words harsh and cut, Sunghoon stood across from him, his tone cold. Jay clasped Sunghoon’s shoulder and Jake noticed the way they loosened just a fraction. 

For one, tense moment they just stared at each other. Like it was them versus Heeseung and Jake hated it. He hated the look on Heeseung's face, like he was cornered, he hated how silent Jungwon was and the blatant fear being hidden behind Sunghoon’s anger.

“What is the Underground?” He asked bluntly and all eyes turned to him.

“It’s nothing.” Heeseung insisted but Jake didn’t believe him, not with the cloud of fear hanging over him.

“I don’t believe you.” Jake said simply. “You froze, you recognized it, so tell us what it is.”

Heeseung groaned, dragging a hand down his face harshly, whispering something even they couldn’t hear.

“What was that?”

Heeseung glared and if Jake wasn’t also frustrated he would have curled back from the intensity. “They shouldn’t even fucking exist anymore.” He repeated.

Jake sucked in a breath. Jungwon stayed silent, uncharacteristic for him but he shuffled closer to Jay who offered the comfort he was too afraid to ask for out loud. Sunoo and Riki remained glued together, like if they let go one or both of them would shatter. 

Heeseung didn’t even look angry anymore. Just exhausted. He collapsed onto the couch, head in his hands. “They’re a committee. Completely made up of originals. They were spearheading the war but they dissolved. They shouldn’t exist anymore.”

“Originals?” 

Jake turned to Riki, who looked like he hadn’t meant to ask that aloud. 

“Original vampires.” Jungwon answered, not turning to look at Riki. His eyes were on Heeseung, but he didn’t look afraid anymore. Now his gaze held calculation, like he was seeing something they weren’t. “They were the first vampires. We all come from them.”

Heeseung held Jungwon’s gaze, “There was a war, back when all we did was kill each other. The Underground—we didn’t like the idea of an all human council. We felt like there was no way it would end up equal and safe for vampires. We moved weapons, traded blood, planned attacks.” He took a deep breath, like the memories pained him. “It ended in the blood treaty; they won–the humans–obviously and the Underground dissipated, completely disappeared for preservation purposes. The Council didn’t like that though, they’ve been tracking down originals for years, executing them.”

“We?”

The room froze. Jake’s breath caught in his throat, he hadn’t caught that slip-up, but Riki did. Heeseung looked up at him, horror written all over his face as he realized his mistake. 

“You were a part of the Underground?” Jungwon whispered.

“You’re an original?” Riki seemed completely oblivious to the tension, just genuinely curious. 

Heeseung’s eyes were rimmed with tears he refused to let fall and Jake inched closer, offering his hand, which Heeseung squeezed. He cleared his throat. “I was. And when everyone else disappeared, so did I.”

Riki shifted, his arms crossed over his chest like he was trying to piece everything together. “Wait, how did you get away from the Council?”

Heeseung tensed next to him and Jake slid an arm around his neck, slipping down to sit on the arm of the couch. “What do you mean?”

“You said the Council was tracking down originals? Did they just not catch you yet?”

Heeseung winced and Jake didn’t miss the way he refused to look at either Sunghoon or Jay. They seemed to notice too, exchanging a glance between them, something even Jake couldn’t read. But that’s the way it always was, so much history between the two that not even decades of being with them could shake the bond they still shared. 

“I made a deal.” Heeseung’s voice was quiet, defeated. Jake squeezed his hand, something twisting in his stomach.

Jungwon didn’t look like he wanted to know, still he asked. “What did you do?”

“They found me in 1931.”

Jay and Sunghoon’s heads snapped up. “No…” But Sunghoon didn’t quite look like he believed his own words. 

Heeseung’s tears fell freely now, guilt pouring down his face. “I didn’t have a choice. They were going to kill you.”

Jay wasn’t breathing. “What did you do?”

Heeseung’s breath was choked, stuttering, “I gave them information. Five originals for your lives.”

“No.” Sunghoon repeated.

“I had no choice.” Heeseung insisted, reaching for Jay but he pulled away and Heeseung looked gutted. “It was the first time I had something to lose. They didn’t threaten me; they threatened you. I couldn’t lose you.”

Sunghoon looked terrified, “That thing with Maddie, in the woods, and Jake, was it just the start? Are they coming for us now?”

“ I don’t know .”

“Maddie doesn’t exist.”

Everything stopped and even the silent stare-down between Heeseung, Sunghoon and Jay broke to look at Sunoo. “What are you talking about?”

Sunoo, for his part, looked startled. “Jungwon asked me to do a background check? She just doesn’t exist, no record, there aren’t even photos of her beyond the one Jungwon took with his phone.”

Jake blinked, that wasn’t possible. “What about the security footage? From the factory?”

“Scrubbed. It looked like you’re talking to no one.” He held up his phone and everyone leaned in. There, sitting at the table they had spent hours at was Sunghoon, Heeseung, Jungwon, Jay and Jake but no Maddie. They were showing photos to no one, arguing with no one and when Jake stood up to follow her out of the building he was following no one.

Jake felt like the ground beneath him had shifted. Maddie wasn’t real. But Jake had seen her, suffered at her hand. If Maddie wasn’t real, then what had hurt him? What had threatened his bond?

“Syrus.”   

Jake leaned back, mind reeling from the fact that they had spent hours with someone who didn’t even exist. “Who the fuck is Syrus?”

“He’s an illusionist, makes you question reality. Can make things seem real when they aren’t.”

Jay looked to be on the verge of a panic attack. “How can we fight someone that can be anything or anyone?”

Heeseung held up his hand. “We don’t.”

“Hyung.” Sunghoon’s voice was sharp, jagged with tears that wouldn’t show on the surface.

“No. Listen, I know Syrus. If he wanted Jake dead, he would be.” Heeseung’s hand found Jake’s again and Jake held on, pressing a kiss to his shaking hands.   

“So then why did he come? Why is the Underground resurfacing?”

The question sat, weighted between them. Jake could think of one reason. Syrus, whoever he was, was only showing up now. Conveniently, at the same time bodies are appearing across the city. But no one said any of this. Instead, they shared glances, pointedly avoiding Riki. Whatever was happening, silently, mutually, they wanted Riki as far away from it as they could get him.

No one knew what to say, not really. Jake glanced at Riki, whose brows were furrowed in quiet confusion, trying to follow everything that had happened. Like he was trying to piece together the things they weren’t telling him. And Jake was afraid he would figure it out. He looked so small in that moment, so unaware of just how much was shifting beneath his feet.

Jake hated how everyone looked at Riki the same way now—like he was breakable. Or worse, expendable.

“Come on,” Jungwon muttered, already turning toward the hall. “Let’s…regroup later. I need to think.”

The others filtered out slowly, like the air had gone out of the room. Sunoo gave Jake a worried glance. Riki lingered, like he was waiting for someone to tell him what to do. Jake hadn’t known Riki for very long but he didn’t picture Riki being so unsure.

Jake offered him a faint smile, soft with guilt. “Let me walk you to your room, yeah?”

Riki nodded, reluctant but resigned, and followed.

Jake led him away but he didn’t miss the way Heeseung stayed behind. Nor the way Jay and Sunghoon did too, their eyes sharp, jaws set. Like they had been waiting.

Jake left the door cracked behind him. Whatever needed to be said now…didn’t belong to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The silence that followed Jake’s departure was colder than anything Heeseung had ever felt–and he had lived through just about every experience possible.

Sunghoon crossed his arms. Jay wouldn’t even look at him.

Heeseung swallowed.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Say what you need to say.”

But they didn’t jump on him like he’d originally expected. They glanced at each other, having another one of those private conversations no one else was privy to. Part of Heeseung just wanted to sit back and admire it because even after all this time, the way they moved together–even currently mad at him–was beautiful. The other part of him found it hard to believe there was ever a time they hadn’t been like that—insync. 

Jay looked away first, turning to Heeseung. “Why did you do it?”

“You already know that answer.”

“I want to hear it again.”

Heeseung ran a nervous hand through his hair. “They came to me with a deal. Said they’d been following me for a while, I guess but…” He looked down at his hands, turning them over. “They were going to kill you. My options were to stand there and watch you die or give up five names and their locations.” He glanced up, watching them. “I don’t regret it. I never have.”

Sunghoon’s shoulders loosened, just a fraction but Heeseung counted that as a win. “But you didn’t tell us anything.”

“Would you have been able to handle it? Freshly turned fledglings with the threat of death hanging over their heads?”

Jay flinched. “I—that’s not the point.”

“No. That’s exactly the point.” Heeseung could feel the way they reacted, he didn’t want to look up to see it, see the way Jay’s face fell or the hurt in Sunghoon’s expression. “I’d never had something to lose before. I had never cared for anyone beyond myself the way I did for you two. I couldn’t lose you. Either of you.”

He could very obviously see Jay and Sunghoon scrambling to find an explanation, a solution that they knew didn’t exist. Heeseung had two options. And he chose them. Every time. 

Sunghoon, who had been quiet up until now, had his hands in his hair, tugging harshly at the strands, “We didn’t—I didn’t—do you–?”

Heeseung stood swiftly, removing Sunghoon’s hands with practiced ease, tipping the other’s chin to look at him. “I have no regrets. The entire time, all I could think

about was you and Jay.”

“But you knew them, you were close with them.” Jay insisted and for the first time Heeseung recognized that it wasn’t anger in their tones. It was guilt. It was fear.

“They were never family to me the way you are. They weren’t my coven, I was preserving my coven.”

Sunghoon didn’t speak again. He just blinked up at Heeseung, eyes rimmed red, his mouth parted like there was something he wanted to say but couldn’t name yet. Then he was folding forward, forehead pressed to Heeseung’s sternum, breathing coming out shallow. 

Heeseung caught him like muscle memory, arms coming up easily to wrap around Sunghoon’s shoulders, like they’d done it a thousand times already. Jay came next, quieter, slower, like he didn’t want to take up space he hadn’t earned yet. But Heeseung opened an arm to him without question and Jay all but collapsed into his side. One hand curled into Heeseung’s shirt, the other fisted in Sunghoon’s, like he was trying to keep himself tethered to the both of them. His fingers were trembling where they touched them and Heeseung turned to kiss the crown of Jay’s head.

“I’m sorry.” Heeseung finally whispered and Jay hummed some kind of acknowledgement but his voice cracked a little. 

Sunghoon let out a sigh, leaning back enough to look at them. “What if you do regret it? What if one day this all falls apart, and you realize you lost your whole family for nothing—?”

“I didn’t lose my family,” Heeseung interrupted gently. “I found it. In you. In Jay. In all of us.” He reached up to cradle the back of Sunghoon’s head,  thumb brushing behind his ear. “There is nothing they could've given me that would’ve ever come close to what I have here.”

Jay looked like the breath had been punched out of him, equal parts relieved and disbelieving. “What are we going to do about the Underground? We can’t let them hurt us.”

“We won’t.”  

Neither Jay nor Sunghoon said anything right away, but they both pressed in closer–an answer in the way they moved, the way they leaned into the space Heeseung carved out just for them.

“Come on,” Heeseung said eventually, tipping his chin towards the stairs. “Let’s go up.”

“To the nest?” Jay asked.

Heeseung nodded. “Yeah. Everyone’s waiting…”

Sunghoon pulled back, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm, “We can…talk to them about this tomorrow. When my head doesn’t feel like it’s going to implode.”

“Your head hurts? Where?” Jay pulled away too, his hands drifting to Sunghoon’s face, not so subtly trying to get a better look at his head. Sunghoon complained, trying to get away but Jay’s grip was unyielding.

Heeseung watched, eyes darting between them with amusement. He failed to stifle a laugh when Sunghoon bit down on Jay’s finger making him curse and slap the other upside the head.

Jay pouted slightly, cradling his injured finger, “What?” He demanded.

Heeseung shrugged, lingering slightly in the doorway, “Nothing. Just–some things never change.”

Jay and Sunghoon’s bickering ceased and they turned to him with identical expressions, “What does that mean?”

Heeseung grinned, turning on his heel to make his way up the stairs, Sunghoon and Jay following closely. The nest wasn’t very far down the hallway, maybe a couple steps more but when Heeseung pushed open the door it was empty. Blankets remained untouched as they had for almost two weeks now, pillows still laid on the floor, clothes in a disarray. 

Heeseung frowned, turning to Sunghoon and Jay to reassure himself that he wasn’t the only one seeing it. Jay cocked his head, his mouth opening before a short burst of laughter interrupted him. They all shifted, turning to face Riki’s bedroom door, quiet aside from the small murmur of conversation.

They opened the door and this time were met with the soft, warm light from the lamp in the far corner. Jungwon was lounging on one of the many mattresses, his body fitting neatly between Jake’s legs with his back to the other’s chest. Jake looked up when they walked in, his smile warm but cautious, like he wasn’t sure how they’d return. There was a blanket thrown across their legs and Heeseung automatically searched for Sunoo and Riki. He found them curled together on Riki’s bed, their heartbeats steady and strong. Heeseung raised an eyebrow and Jungwon shrugged, looking completely unbothered.   

Jay tugged him further into the room, pushing him down on another mattress, grabbing Sunghoon on his way down. Jungwon settled more firmly onto Jake, his head on his shoulder and when Jake turned to kiss Jungwon’s temple Heeseung caught sight of Jake’s mark, now reopened, red and slightly puffy. Jungwon’s fingers traced it without looking, his touch light, possessive. 

“Sunoo said he didn’t eat much today, just a bag.”

Heeseung blinked, settling with his head in Sunghoon’s lap. “Did he have Sunghoon’s blood or did he try Riki on human today?”

“Just Sunghoon’s still, said he didn’t want to risk it with us being so far away.”

“I want to take him shopping.” 

Heeseung jumped, whipping around to Sunoo, his voice thick with sleep, propped up on his elbow. “Why?”

Sunoo shrugged with one shoulder, his nose scrunching up a little. “I don’t know. I want this room to feel like his, let him have his own clothes, and decorate a little.” He glanced back at Riki who hadn’t so much as stirred. “I didn’t like how…timid he seemed in the house, like he didn’t belong here. I just want him to have a space just for him, you know?” 

Sunoo wasn’t looking at them but Heeseung grew a small smile, heart swelling slightly. Jay clicked his tongue. “When did you see that?”

“I gave him a tour today,” Sunoo said. “After he woke up.”

Jungwon turned his head on Jake’s shoulder, a small frown playing on his lips. “You toured him?”

“Only the safe parts,” he replied, twisting the blue sheets around his fingers. “Kitchen, study, living room, my room.”

Jay raised an eyebrow, leaning back against a pile of pillows. “You let him into your room?”

“Just the doorway, he didn’t linger long.”

They watched him, quiet but focused.

“He didn’t seem too into the books in the study,” Sunoo continued, still not looking at them. “But he stopped at the game console; seemed impressed by our collection.”

Jungwon hummed. “He mentioned he liked video games.”

Heeseung turned again, staring at Jungwon like he’d lost his mind. “When did he say that?”

Jungwon didn’t answer right away, his throat bobbing. “The night I came to get you, before the chaos. We…talked a little.”

Heeseung’s brow furrowed and he could feel Sunghoon tense slightly underneath him. “What’d you talk about?”

Jungwon winced. “His interests…mostly. He likes photography too, I’ve been looking at cameras.”

“Oh, have you now?” Jay’s voice came out teasing and Jungwon hid himself in Jake’s neck. 

“Yeah. He mentioned he used to take photos a lot. It felt like he missed it.”

There was a long pause. Something shifted and everyone exchanged glances–not angry, just surprised. They hadn’t known. Heeseung tangled his hand with Jay’s, pulling him closer as he thought. That night, Jungwon had been near hysterical, more upset than Heeseung had seen in years . It hadn’t made sense at the time, when Jungwon had snapped at him, when he had refused to let Sunoo hold him. But it made sense now. 

Sunoo’s voice was gentle, in a way he only ever used around them, “He told you that?”

Jungwon didn’t nod or deny. “It was late. He couldn’t sleep.”

There wasn’t judgement but something a little quieter. The recognition that Jungwon had already built a bridge, just like Sunghoon, even if he didn’t tell them.

Jay laid back, exhaling through his nose. “Alright. So we start from there.” 

Jake mirrored him, pulling Jungwon to lay on his chest. “So we take him shopping, buy him a console and a camera. Is that all? Anything else anyone wants to share? ”

Sunoo paused, considering. “I showed him the nest.”

There was a beat while everyone digested that. Heeseung paused, their nest was their safe place but he couldn’t find it in himself to be upset. He didn’t feel violated like he expected to, and looking around the room, everyone seemed to think the same. 

Jake cleared his throat. “What’d he think?”

“He…stole one of Sunghoon-hyung’s hoodies.”

Sunghoon’s head shot up. “I thought I recognized what he was wearing! I just thought I was going crazy.”

Sunoo shook his head, biting down a grin. “He picked up a dirty one originally, I gave him a clean one instead.”

“Oh, so you aided his thievery?”

Sunoo rolled his eyes, curling back against Riki’s body, like he belonged there. They settled, finally. Not perfect, not fixed but a little closer, warmer.

Heeseung shifted to lay between Jay and Sunghoon, reaching over to curl his fingers around Jake’s wrist. He was slipping, moving between the states of sleep until he felt a little tug on his arm, someone calling his name in a hushed whisper.

“Hyung?”

Heeseung groaned, blinking his eyes open again. Jungwon took up his vision, his eyes a little hesitant. “Yeah? What’s up?”

Jungwon chewed on his bottom lip for a second, “Riki danced at a company, before he turned. I think he was training to become an idol.”

Heeseung blinked back against the fog in his head. He hadn’t known that information either, but he knew Riki couldn’t go back. He couldn’t debut, not with the cameras and the fans. He had no doubt Riki would’ve been a beautiful idol but no one could know and with Riki not aging he would’ve never been able to disappear the way they do when questions become too hard to answer.

“I know he can’t go back, but I was thinking we could look into a couple of schools for him or teams or something?”

Heeseung tried to hide his smile but Jungwon flushed anyway. “Yeah, I think that’s a great idea.” 

Jungwon nodded, laying back down again and Heeseung ran a hand through his hair. Only when Jungwon’s breathing reached a steady rhythm did Heeseung finally let himself be pulled under with him. 

Chapter Text

The pressure on his chest pulled him from that gentle state in between sleep and wakefulness. Jay rubbed his eyes, barely making out the silhouette of at least three people, limbs sprawled out in some sort of puppy-pile. Jay smiled sleepily, slowly easing himself out from the mess of arms. Heeseung made a small sound and Jay reached out to soothe him, laughing when Heeseung latched onto Jake instead, tucking his head under his chin.

Jay closed the door behind him, the pounding of six heart beats the only sound for miles—at least it was all he could hear. The sun was bright, filling the hallway with beams that spilled in from the windows. He followed the light downstairs, finding his way to the fridge. He opened the drawer they designated for blood. They had maybe four bags of Sunghoon’s blood left—enough to get Riki through the day but just barely. 

Jay’s head hurt. He pulled out the eggs instead, already cracking them into the pan he’d put on the stove. It was still early, early enough that he didn’t expect anyone else to be up for at least a little while. He added a couple tablespoons of AB+, adding enough to ensure they could all digest it with no problems. Jay couldn’t even really remember the last time they properly fed, certainly not last night not with everything that had happened. 

Footsteps moved softly behind him and Jay smiled despite himself. “You’re up early.” Sunghoon sat down at the island, a vacant, spaced-out look on his face. Jay didn’t even know if Sunghoon knew he was even there. He snapped his fingers in front of the other’s face. 

Nothing.

Jay turned off the stove, cleaning up around Sunghoon instead; he’d come back eventually. Sunoo padded down the stairs just in time to catch the food while it was still hot.

“What’s with him?”

Jay stole a glance at Sunghoon, hands in his lap, gaze empty. “Give him a couple minutes, he’s still figuring out how to function.”   

Sunoo snickered, accepting the blood Jay offered without a fight. He scrolled through his phone as Jay plated the rest of the food, grabbing some fruits to cut up while he waited for everyone else to wake. Jake was next to emerge, Heeseung’s arms wrapped around his neck, their hair a disaster. 

Jay handed them plates without looking, setting the fruit in the center. Heeseung thanked him, his voice still rough and Jake sat on Sunghoon’s other side, kissing his temple. Sunghoon blinked, awareness slotting back into place as Jake nudged him gently with the fork.  He alternated between feeding himself and Sunghoon turning back to Jay.

“The cards were the same.”

Jay paused with his food half-way to his mouth. “What?”

“The cards?” Jake offered another bite to Sunghoon, who was resting his head on his shoulder. “We found one the night Hoon brought home Riki, where he said the body would be. It’s the same as the one we found last night.”

Jay racked his brain, trying to remember if anyone had mentioned that piece of information. “What card?”

Jake twisted to look at Sunghoon who just shrugged. “I don’t remember anyone mentioning a card.”

“Because someone went missing when we found it.” Jungwon said, draping himself across Sunoo’s back, like he was the only thing holding him up. He held out his hand. “Hyung.”

Sunoo popped open his phone case, sliding the card over to Jay. It was a little black card, gold trim and gold letters. Nishimura Riki.

There was a line, like a tally, underneath Riki’s name. Jay blinked. Jake handed him three more and Jay arranged them in a line. They were identical, from the design, to the font of the names. But only Riki’s had more than just his name. No other card had said ‘Tread lightly’ or had a tally. No other card had that. Jay’s head hurt again.

“Sunoo?”

He was already shaking his head. “I can find out a lot of things, this is not one of them. There’s no way I can trace those, you’d have better luck making a snowball in hell.”

Jake clicked his tongue. “Alright. Well. What now?”

Heeseung pulled the cards towards him. “Well, what do we know?”

“We know that these bodies and Riki are involved…somehow.”

“No.”

Jay looked at Sunghoon, who had just been watching up until that point. His hands were clenching into fists, and he glared blatantly at Jungwon.

“Hoon, everything is pointing to—”

“ No. I don’t believe that.”

“We don’t know him all that well.”

Sunghoon pulled away from Jake, his gaze closed off. “You didn’t see him that night. He was terrified. He didn’t even know what was happening to him. Whatever the fuck is happening—he’s not involved. He can’t be.”

Jay watched him for a moment, watched the way his pulse jumped in his neck or the way his eyes darted between the cards and Jake. “Okay.” Sunghoon’s gaze lifted to him and some of his defenses lowered. “He’s not involved. But that means there’s a third party we haven't thought about.”  

Sunoo frowned. “Do we think it’s the Underground?”

“Why would Maddie—or Syrus, or whoever the fuck was there last night give me the cards if the Underground was responsible?” Jake asked.

“A threat, maybe? A warning?”

Heeseung pinched his nose. “But why? It makes no sense for them to threaten us by killing other vampires. Why would they kill other people when they could just get straight to the point?”

Jungwon glared at him, like Heeseung was personally suggesting that they leave the front door unlocked and plant neon signs up to their rooms saying ‘ coven is this way, open to kill! ’ 

Jay swiped at him. “We’ll keep looking.”

“Looking for what?”

Jay startled and everyone whipped around to stare at Riki, who they hadn’t even heard come down. Straightened to his full height, Jay noted that Riki was tall as he stood in the center of the room. He still looked worn, exhausted but no longer like he was on death's door. Sunghoon’s sweatshirt hung from his shoulders, reaching just above mid-thigh and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Sunoo jumped up at the sight of him, disappearing into the other room without so much as an explanation. They all stared after him for a moment until Sunghoon reached for him, offering him his wrist. Jay grabbed a bag from the fridge, tossing it to Riki instead. Sunghoon rolled his eyes but lowered his wrist.

“Still?”

Heeseung flicked him with his index finger. “Yes.”

Sunghoon looked like he was going to say something else but Sunoo skipped back into the room, handing Riki a box. Riki looked down at it.

“A phone?”

“He’s already set it up.” Jungwon noted, voice soft. “He put our numbers in, just in case.”

Sunoo nodded to it but Jay noticed the flush high on his cheeks, “I noticed you didn’t have one when Sunghoon brought you home, I figured you might want to call home or something.”

Riki’s eyes practically popped out of his head. “Oh my god. My family!”

He ripped open the box with a haste Jay hadn’t ever seen from him. Within seconds the phone was held to his ear, ringing once, twice, a third time before a click could be heard on the other side.

“ Hello?”

Jay blinked. The woman’s voice was soft, if a little anxious and she was speaking Japanese. 

Tears brimmed in Riki’s eyes but he hesitated, eyes darting around the room like the answers were hidden somewhere in the drawers. Jay cleared his throat softly, just loud enough to get everyone’s attention but not enough to be heard through the phone. Everyone looked at him and Jay nodded his head towards the living room. 

They seemed to get the hint eventually, slowly easing into the living room, but not before giving Riki’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze. They settled on the far side of the couch, trying to give him as much space as possible while still being within reach if he needed them. Sunoo rested his head on Jay’s shoulder.

“I didn’t know Riki was from Japan.”

Jungwon hummed. “He’s from Okayama, at least, that’s what he told me.”

Sunoo frowned at him. “How much else do you know?”

“That’s it.” Jungwon flushed. 

Sunoo raised an eyebrow, eyeing him just long enough to make Jungwon squirm, before turning back to Jay. “Hyung, what’s he saying?”

Heeseung pushed his shoulder. “We’re not supposed to be eavesdropping.”

“They’re angry but they were worried more, you can hear it in their voices.” Just as Jay said it Riki’s voice drifted over to him. His voice was deeper in Japanese, rich as he spoke, desperate to reassure his family on the other side.

“ No, I promise—I’m okay. My phone broke, I couldn’t get a new one until now. I’m staying with some…friends right now.”

Jay stifled a laugh at the hesitancy in Riki’s voice when he mentioned them, the word just felt too small. They all looked at him for an explanation but Jay just shook his head, not willing to share–at least, not yet.

They busied themselves relatively easily. Sunoo insisted on attempting to braid Heeseung’s hair and Heeseung gave no fight because if they were honest, it was Sunoo and none of them were immune to his power. Sunghoon spaced out again, his head pillowed in Jungwon’s lap and Jake was talking a mile a minute about something Jay didn’t even know about, but he smiled because Jake glowed when he was happy. And if talking about physics made him happy then so be it.

Riki appeared again, silently, like a shadow. They didn’t turn to him right away, instead just Sunoo looked over at him, his smile already in place.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Jay stole a peek this time. Riki’s eyes swept over them, taking in the way they were all connected in one way or another. “Yeah, I’m fine. They were just…worried.”

“You told them you were safe though? That you’re okay?”

Riki nodded, inching closer until Jay patted the seat next to him, inviting him to sit. “Yeah, they have a general idea of where I am, but they know I’m safe.”

“You’ll have to call them more often. Let them know how you are.” Jay whispered, careful with all of Riki’s guilt that was being handed to them.

Riki looked exhausted but the day had barely started and Jay felt the need to fix it. But he didn’t know how and he hated that feeling even more. So instead he reached out, his fingers brushing Riki’s shoulder but he saw the way Riki’s head tipped toward the touch Even without meaning to, they enclosed him in their circle. Jake kneeled on the floor in front of Riki, his hand inches from his knee and Jungwon surrounded him from behind. No matter where he turned, Riki had them, for anything he needed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunoo pushed open Jake’s door, not bothering with knocking. Jake was lying sideways on his bed, his legs in Jay’s lap. He looked up when Sunoo closed the door behind himself.

“Is knocking not a thing anymore? What if we were fucking?”

Sunoo shrugged, already crawling onto the bed. “Then I guess I’d have to join,” he said, kicking Jake’s legs off and settling into Jay’s lap. 

Jay rolled his eyes but locked his arms around Sunoo’s waist, his head propped on his shoulder. Sunoo melted against him, tilting his head to the side when Jay tucked his face into his neck.

Jake glared halfheartedly.  “Oh, so first you break into my room and now you’re stealing Jay?”

“Can’t steal him if he’s mine too.” Sunoo teased.

Jake opened his mouth but Jay beat him to it—tossing a pillow at his face. Then he turned back to Sunoo, lips brushing his ear. “What brings you here?”

Sunoo hummed. “Wanted to see if I could rope Jake-hyung into something.”

Jake raised his head again. “What are we doing?”

Sunoo couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. Jay pulled back, already shaking his head. “Oh no. That’s not a good sign…”

But Sunoo caught the look in Jake’s eye, and he knew he was on board. “Will you help me, hyung?”

Jake hesitated for just a moment but Sunoo already knew he had him hooked. Jake sat up, already leaning forward. Jay stood with a sigh, disentangling from Sunoo with a last squeeze around his waist. “Whatever you two are cooking up, I want no part in it.”

“You’ll be sorry when we come back rich and powerful,” Sunoo called after him.

“I’ll take my chances,” Jay muttered, kissing Jake’s hair on the way out.

The door clicked shut behind him and Sunoo pulled out his phone. The room shifted—lighter now, charged with the thrill of a shared secret.

Jake turned towards him fully, eyes sparking. “Alright, what’s the plan?”

Sunoo leaned in, conspiratorial. “I want to bring the stores to Riki.”

Jake blinked. “What?”

“He needs his own clothes, first of all. He can’t just keep wearing our stuff. And his bedroom still looks like a guest room–like it’s not really somewhere he’s going to stay.”

Jake’s brows furrowed slightly, the corners of his mouth tugging downward. “He is staying.”

“I know that,” Sunoo said softly. “We’re just going to make it more obvious. Real clothes, decorations, shoes—things that are actually his.”

A slow grin spread across Jake’s face, like he was already picturing the chaos. “So what, we bribe stylists and delivery runners to set up a mini-mall in the living room?”

Sunoo’s smile turned wicked. “Exactly.” He angled his phone toward Jake, showing the growing catalog of clothing options. “What do we think is his style?”

Jake took the phone, already tapping away. Sunoo leaned over his shoulder, watching as Jake filled the cart with an unhinged sense of determination—grabbing at least one in every size. Sunoo propped his chin on Jake’s shoulder, adding quiet commentary as they scrolled. 

Riki already leaned towards their darker clothing so Sunoo added more—sleek, inky fabrics, heavier boots. Jake layered in color, texture, wild prints and things that Sunoo thinks would make Riki scowl just long enough for Jake to burst out laughing. 

They moved from one store to the next, each more extravagant than the last, until Sunoo couldn’t remember which ones they’d actually purchased from and which were still in limbo. But it didn’t matter because Riki would open the door and know—he belonged here. With them. Every corner, every hanger, every choice: his.

They found themselves in the living room as they waited for the deliveries, giddy smiles on their faces. Riki walked past, laughing, his arm around Sunghoon’s shoulder. 

“Riki!” Jake called, waving him over.

Sunghoon pushed him towards them and Riki bounded over, his smile nearly blinding and Sunoo realized belatedly that there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do to keep that smile on his face. “What’s up?”

“How would you feel about a little shopping?”

Riki’s eyebrows furrowed and he tipped his head to the side. “We’re going shopping?”

“Not exactly…”

“It’s not a great idea to take you out of the house yet, but we came up with a solution.” Sunoo murmured, tugging at a strand of Riki’s hair that had fallen in front of his face. 

Riki looked no less confused than when they started but the sound of the doorbell cut him off. Sunoo jumped up, crowding Riki up the stairs as Jake headed to the door. 

“Hyung?”

“Just stay up here for a little, okay? I’ll call you when it’s okay to come back down.” 

Jake had very clearly gotten started with the unboxing when Sunoo made his way back down the stairs.

“Redecorating, Mr. Kim?”

Sunoo turned. “Something like that.” He smiled at Mark, a taller vampire with long black hair he pulled back. 

They may have gone overboard. Boxes towered past Sunoo’s height, stacked like a fortress, reaching as far as the kitchen island. And a mannequin wearing sunglasses stood in the corner, for some reason.

Riki remained quiet upstairs but Sunoo could feel him hovering, waiting for Sunoo’s call. Jungwon appeared at some point, hovering in the entrance of the hallway, like he was just supervising the chaos they had invoked. But Sunoo knew just from his stance that he was guarding, blocking them from Riki more than he was blocking Riki from them.

Delivery men moved around him, offering nothing more than a polite greeting or smile, never lingering too closely near any of them. Jake took a box from one of them.

“Took a bit longer than I would’ve thought. Was the hill hard to get up?”

Mark shook his head. “Nah, Council ordered checks on deliveries this big, we got stopped a couple miles back.”   

Sunoo froze. “What?”

Mark shrugged. “Yeah, they rerouted the patrols too, no warning or anything. Backed everything up for hours.”

He heard Riki’s breathing freeze in his lungs. Jungwon was rigid where he stood guard.

The workers didn’t linger.

Boxes were stacked, racks lined up, receipts signed. One by one, the helpers and delivery drivers filed out, nodding politely as they passed Jungwon—whose posture never shifted from where he’d stood, still and silent. Sunoo muttered thanks under his breath as the last cart wheeled through the door, Jake already peeling open the nearest box like a kid on Christmas.

“Clear,” Sunoo called softly, already halfway up the stairs.

Riki met him on the landing, eyes wide, fingers wound tight in the hem of Sunghoon’s sweatshirt. He looked at once overwhelmed and starved for it—curiosity warring with the hesitation in his bones.

“Come on,” Sunoo said, nudging him with his shoulder. “It’s chaos, but it’s yours.”

Riki took a single step down. Slowly. Jungwon was at the base of the stairs now, waiting.

Their eyes met. Jungwon didn’t say anything at first. Just reached out, fingers closing gently around Riki’s forearm, holding him there for a second too long. His thumb brushed over Riki’s wrist, feeling his pulse under the delicate skin. Then, quietly, he let go.

“Good luck,” Jungwon murmured, the corners of his mouth lifting and Sunoo wasn’t sure if he was teasing or warning. And then he stepped aside, finally giving Riki a path forward.

Jake had already pulled a few pieces out, laying them across the back of the couch—dark denim, soft knits, a pair of boots that still had the tags on. Sunoo was practically glowing, hands fluttering as he talked through color palettes and silhouettes and how some of the jewelry was custom-made with UV-safe stones.

Riki didn’t say anything.

He just stood there, staring.

Sunoo faltered mid-sentence.

Jake noticed too. He stepped closer, voice quieter now. “Hey. It’s okay.”

Riki’s fingers tightened around the edge of the couch. “Why are you doing this?”

The question came out raw. Barely above a whisper.

Sunoo didn’t hesitate. “Because you deserve to have things that are yours.”

Riki’s mouth opened, then shut again. He looked like he didn’t quite know what to do with his hands—like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to touch anything.

Jake stepped into his space without forcing it, just close enough that Riki could feel the warmth of him. “You’re staying with us right now. That means your room should feel like your room. Not some guest space we tossed together.”

“And your closet shouldn’t be borrowed sweatpants and one stolen hoodie,” Sunoo added, a little softer now. “You deserve to pick what you like. To have mirrors and lighting and decorations that you chose. Hell, if you want wallpaper that glows in the dark, we’ll make it happen.”

Riki blinked fast, his lashes damp.

Jake reached out first, brushing Riki’s wrist with the backs of his fingers. “You don’t have to do everything today. We’ll go at your pace, okay?”

Riki looked up at him. Then at Sunoo. Then back at the pile of clothes like it had transformed into some monster, leering towards him like something terrifying but Riki didn’t seem afraid. 

He swallowed hard. “Okay,” he said, voice thick. “Yeah. Okay.”

Sunoo grinned and shoved a jacket into his arms. “Good. Because we’re just getting started.” 

Riki held it like it was going to bite him and Sunoo gave him a little push. “I think over there are accessories,” he gestures to the boxes closer to the far side, teetering somewhat dangerously. “Over there are pants and shoes,” he pointed to a separate pile. “And over there should be shirts and jackets.”

Riki blinked at them, looking between the jacket in his hands and the sort-of distinct piles Sunoo had pointed out. “I…have no idea what to do.”

“Right.” Jake laughed. “We’ll help then. Sunoo?”

Sunoo, full of anxious energy, was more than happy to help organize. He started with the top box in the shirt pile, pulling out a hoard of tank-tops.

“How do you feel about tank tops?” He called.

Riki looked up from where he was sorting shoes, picking apart options he liked from those he didn’t. “Yes.”

Sunoo smiled, sorting them into what he mentally deemed into his ‘yes’ pile before pausing. “What size do you want?”

Riki hesitated. “Small or medium.”

He removed the other sizes, moving them to his designated ‘no’ pile before continuing. They made a system of sorts, Jake and Sunoo would ask his opinion and if he approved, move on to preference in size. Sunoo had thought they’d made pretty decent progress until he came across a soft sweater that looked almost crocheted. It was light pink, with black detailing. Sunoo held it up.

“What do you think of this?”

Riki made a face. “Absolutely not.”

Sunoo frowned and Jake looked up from where he was sorting jeans. “Why? I think it’s pretty.”

Riki made the same face again and Sunoo had to bite down a grin. “Pink is not my color.”

Sunoo stood, his knees protesting at the sudden movement and held the sweater up to Riki’s face, like he was comparing something. He turned to Jake, who hummed consideringly. “I don’t know…pink totally seems to be your color, Riki.”

Riki looked horrified, adamantly refusing and pushing the sweater away. Jake teased him further, insisting that no other color would be as vibrant on him, and Riki looked like he wanted to die. 

Sunoo laughed. “If it makes you feel any better, Sunghoon-hyung’s color is also pink.”

From somewhere upstairs echoed: “ No it’s not!”

Jake pulled another pink item from somewhere, wrapping it around Riki like a scarf. Riki tackled him, sending them rolling into a pile of folded clothes. 

Sunoo screeched. “You’re ruining my piles!”

They ignored him, grappling for the upper hand. Jake snapped his teeth at Riki, not anything threatening but enough to make Riki pause and Jake flipped it on him, rolling to pin him to the floor. 

“What the hell is happening?”

Sunoo stopped his complaining enough to look at Heeseung, who looked entirely overwhelmed. Their piles were gone, every inch of the floor was covered in clothing. Sunoo sighed, sweater still in hand.

“Hi, hyung.”

Jake and Riki rolled into another set of boxes, sending it crashing to the floor. They paused, Riki’s hand twisted in Jake’s hair, Jake’s knee in Riki’s stomach. “Oh. Hey, hyung!”

Heeseung blinked, he gestured around the room. “What—?”

“It’s for Riki. We took the shopping to him!”

He nodded, looking dazed and made for the stairs. Jake, at this point, had grabbed sunglasses and fussed with them on Riki’s face, patting down his hair. Suno sighed at the mess but turned enough to call out to Heeseung who had disappeared into the hallway.

“Thanks for letting me use your card, hyung!”

“ What?”

Sunoo hid his grin, picking up the pair of jeans right next to his feet. Jake and Riki had settled, their faces flushed, breathing labored. Jake leaned forward, brushing a rogue thread off Riki’s shoulder.

“You’ve got—” He plucked it gently, barely touching him. “There.”

Riki paused, following Jake’s hand as he pulled back. Jake cleared his throat, snagging a light pink hoodie from off the floor, his smile soft. “Pink really would look pretty on you.”

Sunoo leaned back against the couch. Riki very obviously did not like pink. But when Jake held up the hoodie, smiling, Riki hesitated. He didn’t say no. He took it from Jake’s hands, folding it neatly in his lap and Sunoo noticed the way Jake’s smile faltered for just a moment before returning wider, warmer. 

Sunoo brushed his hand along Riki’s shoulder, adding just enough pressure to get his attention. He handed him on the shirts he’d approved of, nudging Riki toward the pants. “Go grab an outfit. Try it on.”

Riki moved quietly, gathering a few things and letting Sunoo lead him to the downstairs bathroom. Sunoo turned to give him privacy but Riki’s fingers closed around his forearm, holding tight. 

Sunoo stilled. Riki’s knuckles were white. Then he looked up, just as Riki murmured, “Thank you.”

The words were quiet, almost lost in the air between them. But when they registered, Sunoo flushed. “Anytime.”

Riki hesitated, eyes darting between Sunoo and Jake, who sat back on his hands, watching the exchange from afar but Sunoo knew he was listening. Then Riki let go. He stepped back and the door closed, leaving Sunoo to the silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunghoon was laughing when Jay came to get him, draped over Heeseung, nearly on top of him. The glow from Heeseung’s laptop lit both their faces, the movie playing all but forgotten. Heeseung reached around him, teasingly complaining about him ruining the movie but Jay could see his grin, the glow he had when he looked at Sunghoon.

Jay smiled despite himself, leaning in the doorway to watch. Heeseung kissed Sunghoon’s cheek, only succeeding causing another fit of laughter.

“You’re not here to steal my movie buddy, are you?”

Jay grinned, pushing off the wall, “I need to borrow him for a little while, you can have him back after. I promise.”

Sunghoon was still smiling when he rolled off the bed, his lips kiss-bitten, his hair a disaster. He paused momentarily to lean down, catching Heeseung by surprise when he pressed a kiss to his lips. He pulled back, Heeseung following him up but Sunghoon held him back by his shoulder. “I’ll be back.”

Heeseung looked like he was pouting from where Jay was but he slowly stretched back out, his hands behind his head, laptop forgotten. “Be quick.”

Sunghoon rolled his eyes, finally heading towards Jay, “Don’t miss me too much.”

On their way out Jay could hear Heeseung mutter under his breath. “No promises.”

Jay didn’t say anything, but Sunghoon’s arm stayed slung over his shoulder longer than it needed to. The weight of it was comforting in a way Jay didn’t expect. “What’s up?”

“I need another bag.”

Sunghoon groaned but didn’t stop until they were in the living room. He sat on the couch. “Finally got your new hemo-something?”

Jay rolled his eyes, “Sunoo got it for me on his little shopping spree this morning.” He kissed Sunghoon’s cheek. “Let me go get my kit.”

Sunghoon hummed his acknowledgement and Jay slipped into the kitchen, pulling his phlebotomy kit from one of the top cabinets. Sunghoon already had his sleeve rolled up, arm propped up across the back of the couch, but he was restless.

Jay dropped beside him unceremoniously. “Sit still,” He said, nudging Sunghoon’s thigh with his knee as he set the kit down beside them, busying himself with setting up the empty bag in the machine. “I don’t want to chase your vein again.”  

“I am still,” Sunghoon muttered, shifting in his seat. “You just have butter fingers.”

Jay glanced up. “Butter fingers?”

“You know. Sweaty from nerves and stuff.”

Jay let the silence between them stretch just long enough to be offensive before he replied, bone-dry, “I’ve been drawing your blood for weeks. If I was nervous, you’d be dead.”

Sunghoon’s mouth twitched.

They settled into the corner of the couch, moving the piles of jeans to the side. The light was low, spilling onto them in a way that made Jay think Sunghoon looked more like an angel than anything else. Sunghoon’s fingers curled loosely near Jay’s shoulder. He’d stopped flinching a while ago, but Jay still noticed the way his jaw tightened whenever the smell of the alcohol swab reached his nose. 

Jay worked gently—so gently it made his own chest ache a little. He smoothed his thumb over the crook of Sunghoon’s elbow before he started. “Tell me if it hurts.”

“It’s a needle,” Sunghoon deadpanned. “It’s supposed to hurt.”

Jay resisted the urge to smack him upside the head. “Shut up.”

Sunghoon smiled, resting his head against his shoulder, watching as Jay pressed the pad of his finger lightly into Sunghoon’s skin, finding the vein with practiced ease. His other hand rested on Sunghoon’s thigh, his fingers digging into the muscle. He slid the needle in–smooth and precise.

Sunghoon didn’t move, not even a twitch.

But Jay felt the tension in his arm, feeling the way it ran through his shoulders, even if his face remained impassive. So he rested his hand against Sunghoon’s wrist, only turning slightly to press the power button on his HemoFlow. He rubbed slow circles there, against Sunghoon’s pulse, like he wasn’t even thinking about it. But he was. He always was. It still felt a little unreal–like something he’d only ever let himself imagine.

“You’re getting better at this,” He said, voice low.

“Maybe you’re just less bad at it.”

Jay let that slide. The bag filled gradually, the machine rocking it from side to side, a slow hum emitting from it. Jay didn’t look at it. He watched Sunghoon instead. 

He’d tilted his head back, eyes half-lidded, mouth soft–without the kind of stress he’d carried for the past two weeks. He looked…reluctantly relaxed. Not comfortable–too tense for that but trusting.

The machine beeped lightly, automatically clamping down on the now full blood bag. The flow of Sunghoon’s blood stopped and he lifted his head from the back of the couch to watch Jay remove the needle. Jay pressed gauze to the puncture and secured it gently with tape, then traced a feather-light touch across the inside of Sunghoon’s arm, following the lines of his veins, down to his fingers. Sunghoon hummed, his eyes closing.

“You didn’t even wince.” Jay murmured. 

“Told you,” Sunghoon said, smirking faintly. “I’m brave.”

Jay gave him a look but didn’t stop touching, his fingers slipping under Sunghoon’s rolled-up sleeve to trace up to his shoulder. Sunghoon shuddered. “You’re dramatic.”

Sunghoon flexed his fingers and inspected the gauze. “So where’s my reward?”

Jay blinked, caught off guard. “Your what?”

“My reward,” Sunghoon repeated, lounging back. “I was brave. Where’s my sticker? My lollipop? My Batman bandaid?”

Jay scoffed, but he was already leaning in, the soft scent of clean linen and iron clinging to Sunghoon’s skin.

He kissed him. 

Soft, slow, gentle. Sunghoon made a sound in the back of his throat but melted into it, tugging Jay closer by his waist. Jay’s hand found Sunghoon’s jaw, tilting his face up just enough to deepen it–not urgent or even possessive until he felt Sunghoon’s tongue prod at his lips. Jay laughed, pulling back enough to see him. 

Sunghoon’s eyes were still half-closed, mouth parted like he’d forgotten what he’d even asked for. He looked breathtaking and Jay leaned back in, opening to Sunghoon, shivering when the other ran his tongue over his fangs. He swung a leg over Sunghoon’s lap, letting Sunghoon pull him that much closer, drunk on the need rolling off of Sunghoon in waves. 

He pulled back, dragging Sunghoon’s bottom lip with him until he let him go, settling back against Sunghoon’s thighs. Sunghoon blinked, coming back to himself. 

“I was expecting a lollipop,” he said, voice just a little hoarse. “But I liked that better.”

Jay let out a quiet laugh, slipping off of Sunghoon’s lap. “Next time I’ll bring both.”

Sunghoon grinned, proud of himself and faintly dazed.

Jay looked at the sealed bloodbag, still held by the machine. It was getting harder to pretend that this wasn’t costing them all something. 

But Sunghoon was still here. Still teasing him. Still brave. Still warm under his hands.

“I see you guys got…distracted.”

Jay’s head shot up. Heeseung was sitting on one of the boxes, his posture relaxed, like he was just there to enjoy the show. Jay slid off of Sunghoon, feeling mildly embarrassed, but Sunghoon didn’t let him go far, pulling him into his side instead.

“Maybe…” Sunghoon allowed, turning slightly to see Heeseung. “Why? Want to add to it?”

Heeseung scoffed but stood, catching Sunghoon’s arm to press a kiss to the gauze on his inner elbow. “Are you hungry?”

Jay caught the way Sunghoon softened but a small smirk still played on his lips. “Are you offering?”

“Always.”

Surprise flickered across Sunghoon’s face and he pulled back a little. Heeseung watched him, completely calm before tilting his head to the side, offering Sunghoon his neck. Sunghoon lifted just enough to cover Heeseung’s throat with his mouth. Jay saw a flash of fangs before Heeseung’s breath sounded like it was punched out of him. Heeseung’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment, his hand reaching towards Jay.

Jay held him, running his thumb over Heeseung’s knuckles as Sunghoon drank. The color Jay hadn’t noticed had drained, gradually returned to Sunghoon’s face and he pulled back slowly, tongue brushing over the punctures like an apology. Heeseung exhaled shakily, his fingers still tangled in Jay’s. 

“You okay?” Jay asked, voice soft.

“Yeah.” Heeseung blinked, but his smile was real, if a little tired. 

Jay was hesitant to believe him; he didn’t like the grey tint to Heeseung’s skin or the exhaustion hidden behind his eyes. He pushed off the couch, encouraging–forcing–Heeseung to take his spot next to Sunghoon, grabbing the new bag of Sunghoon’s blood on the way.

Jay passed by the mannequin in the kitchen, not even bothering to stop and question the overgrown doll with sunglasses still perched on its plastic nose. He opened the fridge, grabbing the first bag he saw and replacing it with Sunghoon’s but paused before pouring the human blood into the glass he’d prepared. Heeseung was oddly particular with his blood, filtering it a minimum of ten times before even considering drinking it. So he grabbed the old filter that probably needed to be replaced soon and poured the blood. Over and over until it looked somewhat like something Heeseung would drink.

He brought it over to Heeseung, who looked from the glass to Jay in surprise—like he hadn’t expected Jay to pay any attention to how Heeseung liked his blood. Jay wanted to strangle him, shake him, kiss him—of course Jay would do that. Hadn’t he always? Heeseung took it from him, sipping on it leisurely like he was trying to savor it. He didn’t say anything, but his fingers curled tighter around the glass. Sunghoon watched them quietly, his hand still steady on Heeseung’s knee.

“Is Hyung okay?”

Jay didn’t need to glance up to know who it was, he could feel them hovering by the doorway. Sunoo shifted nervously from one foot to the other, Riki glancing over his shoulder at Heeseung.

Heeseung laughed gently, reaching for Sunoo and beckoning Riki closer when he stayed behind. “I’m fine, promise.”

Sunoo’s expression shifted, less worried, more set, like he had a plan. Jay sat up straighter.

“Good enough to play some games?”

Sunoo bit his lips and Jay narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Riki wanted to play and I told him you were a worthy enough opponent.”

Heeseung raised an eyebrow. “Worthy enough?” He repeated.

Jay stepped in. “Before anything happens, you’re removing these boxes from the living room. I am not dealing with a head injury; I’m off duty.”

Sunoo flopped dramatically on the back of the couch. “Where would I even put them all?”

“I don’t know, the study or somewhere but not here where it could be an issue. Especially knowing how you guys get.”

Sunoo groaned but was up in a flash, grabbing boxes and putting them somewhere Jay couldn’t see, but as long as they weren’t in his line of sight—Jay didn’t care. Within moments most of the living room was clear and Jay could actually take a breath without feeling like he was going to accidentally suck cardboard into his lungs.

Jake made his way down the stairs, Jungwon clinging to his hand. Jake settled on the floor, controller in hand and Jungwon pushed himself into Jay’s lap, making himself comfortable. Jay kissed his jugular.

“You okay?”

Jungwon didn’t answer aside from a small hum and leaning back against him further, his body more relaxed than Jay had felt in weeks. The TV turned on, bright with colors and music blasting from the speakers. Riki sat between Heeseung and Jake on the floor, his posture rigid. Heeseung leaned back, his head pillowed against Sunghoon’s thigh.

“I don’t know why you guys are so excited when you’re just going to lose.” He murmured, voice muffled slightly against the fabric of Sunghoon’s sweatpants. 

Jake turned to him slowly. “Oh. Is that how it is?”

Heeseung shrugged but Jay saw the way he hid his grin in Sunghoon’s leg. Riki relaxed a little. “I wouldn’t be so sure, don’t you have arthritis or something at your age? Are you sure you can still work the controller?” 

Heeseung’s head snapped toward him, his mouth hanging open as he scrambled for a defense. Sunoo cackled, snug in between Sunghoon and Jay. The game started and while Jay wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking at–he was sure that Riki was winning. Jake and Heeseung leaned forward, their hands flying until Riki shouted something, stealing Jake’s controller to hold it above his head–just out of Jake’s reach. 

Jungwon shifted on Jay’s lap, his face tucked into Jay’s neck as he laughed at Jake trying to climb Riki to get it back, all while cursing and calling him every name in the book. Heeseung, with both of them distracted, managed to win and Riki and Jake froze before erupting in protests and demanding a rematch. 

Heeseung grinned at them and Jay shifted Jungwon off his lap, handing him off to Sunoo. “I’ll grab some snacks.”

They waved him away and Jay wasn’t even sure they’d heard him. In the kitchen he grabbed a couple snacks and blood bags. He grabbed the new bag they’d just drawn from Sunghoon not even hours earlier, tearing it open. He poured it into a glass but hesitated on his way out. Then, glancing back at the fridge, he paused. There had to be a way. To ease the burden of Sunghoon, to bring Riki to some sense of normalcy. Maybe if it was just a drop—practically nothing but it just might work. He opened the fridge again, pulling out the bags labeled O, Sunghoon’s blood-type back when he was human. Slowly, carefully, he added one drop to Riki’s glass. He picked everything up again, handing it off to the respective people. Jay squeezed in next to Sunoo again.

His heart twisted as he watched Riki take the first sip. There was a beat where nothing happened–then Riki’s eyes widened, and he doubled over, coughing violently. The glass slipped from his hands, shattering on the carpet. His body curled in on itself, fingers clawing at his throat.

Jay sat frozen, the discarded snack still in his hand. He always knew what to do. Always. But now, his mind was blank, white noise rushing where instinct should’ve been. Jake had his arms around Riki, murmuring low reassurances as Heeseung rubbed circles on his back, but Riki was still coughing, hands trembling.

Sunghoon reached for him instinctively, dropping to his knees in front of Riki, one hand brushing his arm. “Riki—”

But Riki flinched.

It wasn’t a dramatic recoil, just a sharp jerk of his shoulders. His eyes widened and locked on Sunghoon like he was something dangerous, not familiar. Not safe. His breath hitched, fingers tightening around the blanket someone had thrown around him. “Don’t—” His voice cracked. “Please don’t touch me.”

The whole room stilled.

Jay forgot how to breath. Even Heeseung fell quiet.

Sunghoon’s hand hovered for a second longer, then curled into a fist and dropped. “Riki, it’s me,” he said, too softly. Riki looked torn, his breathing uneven but he tipped his head forward, his head landing on Sunghoon’s shoulder. Sunghoon kept his hands at his side.

When Riki pulled away he stood, leaving him to Heeseung and Jake’s care.

“What was in that?” Sunghoon asked sharply, eyeing the spilled liquid.

Jay’s stomach dropped. “It was yours…I just added—” he admitted, his voice quiet. “I added O, just to see—I thought it might help.”

The room went still.

“You what?” Sunghoon’s voice was like a whip and Jay flinched. “You thought using human blood without knowing anything about this was a good idea?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Jay said, standing now, hands lifted in defense. “It was one drop and it’s been two weeks. We need to know if we can ween him off your blood!”

“You just set him back weeks!” Sunghoon snapped. “We don’t know anything about this!”

“Exactly! We don’t know anything about this so that means we won’t know how it will affect you!”

Riki shifted, pulling away from Jake and Heeseung, his face pale and stricken. “It tasted wrong—”

Sunghoon turned toward him, and Jay could see the restraint it took for him not to touch Riki. Instead he looked to Heeseung and Jake. “Take him upstairs.”

They swept him up easily and Jay was left with all the rage boiling in Sunghoon. 

“That was fucking stupid. You have no idea what you’ve done.”

Jay grit his teeth. “I know exactly what I’ve done. I’m sorry, I would never want to hurt Riki, but you have to understand why I did it.”

“No. I don’t, actually,” Sunghoon snapped. His voice shook—not with rage, but something tighter. “Because if you understood , you never would’ve risked it in the first place.”

“It was one drop.”

“One drop is enough when it comes to him!” Sunghoon stepped closer. “You saw what happened. You heard him. He said it tasted wrong. He was scared of my blood, Jay.”

Jay’s expression faltered.

“You made him scared of me.”

That landed. Jay didn’t respond right away. His fingers clenched around the hem of his shirt, too tightly.

“You think I wanted that?” he asked, voice rising. “You think I haven’t been tearing myself apart watching you bleed for him again and again while he flinches at his own hunger?”

Sunghoon didn’t move. His chest was rising and falling too quickly, his jaw clenched like he was holding something back.

“You’re not the only one trying to save him,” Jay said, quieter now. “But the way things are going? You’re going to kill yourself before we even figure out how to help.”

“So you thought the answer was to trick him?!”

“I thought the answer was to try something! ” Jay shouted. “Because no one else is doing anything except sitting around pretending this is sustainable!”

Sunghoon’s lip curled. “You lied to him.”

Jay’s hands dropped, voice flattening. “He trusts you too much to question anything. He never even asked if it was your blood. He just drank it. ” He shook his head. “Do you know how terrifying that is? That kind of dependency?”

Sunghoon was quiet for a second too long.

Jay took a breath, low and bitter. “Or maybe you like it. That he needs you and no one else.”

Sunghoon moved.

It wasn’t violent—he didn’t shove Jay, didn’t strike him. But he closed the distance between them with enough force that Jay had to stop talking, breath catching in his throat.

“You don’t know shit about what this feels like.” Sunghoon’s voice had dropped to a deadly calm. “Watching him fade. Listening to him beg you not to stop feeding him because he doesn’t want to go back to how it felt before.” His mouth twisted. “I don’t want to be needed like this. I want him to be okay. ”

Jay’s expression cracked.

“Then help me, ” he said. “Stop treating me like the enemy just because I fucked up once.”

Sunghoon turned away, dragging both hands through his hair, pacing now like he couldn’t be still.

Jay didn’t follow.

“That’s enough.” Jungwon didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t have to.

Sunghoon stopped. Jay did too.

Jungwon looked between them, something unreadable in his eyes.

“We can’t afford this. Not now. Hyung was only trying to help. You would’ve done the same in his position.”

Sunghoon scoffed and Jungwon raised an eyebrow. “Would you have not? Jay being tied to a fledgling we know nothing about and for some reason we cannot figure out can only drink his blood? Would you have not done something, hyung?”

Sunghoon flinched but remained quiet and that silence was an answer within itself. 

Jungwon turned on Jay. “Go apologise, I don’t care how but make it right.”

Jay nodded and stepped around Sunghoon without another word, following their scents upstairs. 

It led him to Riki’s room but he paused outside the door. He knew Riki knew he was there but he knocked anyway. There was a shaky ‘come in’ and Jay pushed open the door gently. Riki sat, curled in the middle of his bed, Sunoo curled around him, Heeseung and Jake sitting directly across.  

Riki’s room felt warmer now but maybe Jay was just imagining it. He still had the same sheets Jay had put on from the last time he did laundry but the comforter was half-falling off and Jay could’ve sworn the blankets that surrounded it used to belong in the nest. There was a bulletin board hung up on the wall—empty but Jay smiled anyway, because at least Riki had the intention to fill it. 

The room was still somewhat empty but Jay could see glimpses into a Riki none of them knew and would never know. Printed pictures of his family, him standing in between two smiling girls tucked into the corner of the mirror. 

Jay lingered by the door, unsure where to put himself. Heeseung caught his eye, gave a small nod, then stood. Jake followed, brushing Riki’s shoulder lightly before stepping out with Sunoo in tow. No one said anything as they passed him. Jay was grateful for it. 

He walked in slowly, careful not to look at Riki directly. The bruises under his eyes looked darker now. His knees were pulled to his chest.

Jay sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t have done that without telling you.”

Riki didn’t answer.

“I thought it might help,” Jay added. “I just wanted to see if—”

“Why did it taste like that?” Riki interrupted. His voice was hoarse, but steady. “It was still hyung’s blood, wasn’t it?”

Jay’s heart twisted. “Yeah. I just…I added one drop of human blood. His blood type from before. I thought if we tried to wean you off slowly—”

Riki shuddered. “It felt like it was burning me. It felt like…before.”

Jay blinked. “I didn’t know—”

“I know.” Riki’s arms tightened around his legs. “But I trusted you.”

That hurt more than anything Sunghoon had said downstairs.

Jay looked down at his hands. “I didn’t mean to break that.”

“You didn’t,” Riki said quietly. “But it scared me. It wasn’t just the taste…something was wrong with it. Like my body was rejecting it before I could even swallow.”

Jay stayed quiet.

“I thought I was getting better,” Riki continued. “I…know you’re worried about him. I hear you talk. I don’t want to hurt him either, I don’t want to be some…parasite.”

Jay finally looked up. “You’re not a parasite.”

Riki met his eyes then, and Jay realized there were tears welling in the corners of them.

“Then why do I feel like one?”

Jay didn’t have an answer. He moved closer instead, sitting against the headboard beside him. Carefully, he reached for Riki’s hand. Riki let him hold it. 

“It burned.” He whispered.

“We’ll fix it,” Jay promised. “We’ll figure out what you need and how to get there. You won’t be alone.”

Riki nodded, just barely.

Jay didn’t breathe. Riki had been so tense, jaw tight, shoulders stiff, eyes darting around like he was still waiting for something else to go wrong. But now…he was still. His head slumped against Jay’s shoulder sometimes during the silence, hesitant at first, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to rest there. Jay didn’t move, didn’t dare to. He just let Riki lean, adjusting minutely to support the weight without startling him. 

His hand clenched on Jay’s arm before relaxing like he just had to be sure Jay was still there before slipping. His breathing evened out and Jay shifted so Riki was laying down, relieving the strain that had to be in Riki’s neck. He pulled away slowly, covering Riki with a blanket he knew was Sunghoon’s.

Jay found him sitting in the hallway, legs drawn up to his chest and head tipped back against the wall. For a second, Jay just watched. Sunghoon’s knuckles were white where they clutched his own sleeves, his jaw set too tight for someone trying to relax.

“I thought you’d be in bed,” Jay said softly.

Sunghoon didn’t look up. “Didn’t want to be.”

Jay sat beside him, careful not to touch.

The silence stretched.

Then, without a word, Sunghoon leaned into him.

It wasn’t forgiveness. It wasn’t warmth. It was the need to feel something familiar—someone familiar. Jay stayed still as Sunghoon buried his face in his shoulder, his hand curling in the hem of Jay’s sleeve, grounding himself.

“I’m still mad at you,” he said, voice muffled.

Jay closed his eyes. “I know.”

“You lied to him. You lied to me.”

“I know.”

Sunghoon’s breath hitched, his body shivering slightly despite the warmth. “But I didn’t want to be alone tonight.”

Jay didn’t ask if he meant alone in his room or alone in the way that made your ribs ache. He just tilted his head so it brushed Sunghoon’s, resting there, quiet.

Sunghoon’s hand moved slowly, clumsily, pressing against Jay’s chest like he was checking he was still real. Still here. His fingers curled in the fabric.

“I’m not ready to forgive you yet,” he whispered. “But I didn’t want it to be anyone else who found me out here.”

Jay swallowed the knot in his throat and wrapped his arm around Sunghoon’s shoulders, just enough to hold him in place. “That’s okay.”

For now, this was enough. Not healed. Not whole. But close enough to not fall apart.

Jay felt Jungwon before he heard him, lingering behind him. He pressed his cheek to Sunghoon’s hair, turning to Jungwon. 

“Is Riki…?”

“He’s sleeping right now.” 

Jungwon nodded, looking relieved. Heeseung’s arm wrapped around Jungwon’s wasit from behind, dragging Jungwon to lean against his chest. “I’m going to take this one—make sure he actually sleeps tonight.”

“Where’s Sunoo and Jake?”

“In Jake’s room.” 

Jay hummed his acknowledgement and Heeseung’s arm tightened around Jungwon’s waist. Jungwon protested as Heeseung practically wrestled him into his room, but the door never fully closed. Instead it was left cracked open, like an invitation.

Jay nudged Sunghoon a little, encouraging him to stand and led him to his room. Sunghoon crawled in bed first. Sunghoon didn’t look at him but when Jay settled next to him, Sunghoon pulled him closer, tucking his face back into Jay’s neck. Jay laid his cheek on Sunghoon’s hair.

Guilt still weighed heavily on his chest but the sound of Sunghoon’s heartbeat softened it. They’d find their way back. They always do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The house was quiet

Unnaturally so. No murmuring from the other rooms, no laughter echoing from the living room. Just stillness. Heavy, tense and regretful.

Riki woke to it, blinking in the dark with a start. His heart stuttered, unsure why at first. Then he realized: he was alone.

The mattresses he was so used to being filled when he tiptoed over them in the middle of the night were empty. The heartbeats he’d used like a lullaby were distant. Their presence, once a constant hum underneath his skin, was now dimmed. He could still feel them, but it was like trying to listen to a pulse underwater.

He tried to sleep again. Rolled over. Kicked the blankets off. Pulled them back on. But the silence lay thick in his lungs. 

So he got up. 

One by one he padded up to their doors, bare feet silent against the wooden floor, heart louder than his steps. The house was still—like the walls themselves were holding their breath as Riki hovered outside of doors he wasn’t sure he was invited into.  

He paused outside of Heeseung’s room first. The door cracked open before he could even touch the handle, slow and soundless, as if it had been left that way on purpose. As if someone had hoped he’d come. Or maybe that was just Riki’s own hope.

The light from the hallway spilled across the bed. Heeseung was sprawled sideways across the mattress, his body half-draped over Jungwon’s, a tangle of limbs and shared breath. They looked soft like that, unguarded, peaceful, asleep.

Riki stared for a long time.

It would be so easy, he thought. To knock on the door. Heeseung would probably offer to make him tea, if Sunghoon’s stories were anything to go by, and Jungwon would likely invite him in, pretending it was all for Riki’s sake but he could tell it was for Jungwon as well. But something stopped him. He couldn’t bring his knuckles to the wood, even if he tried. 

The memory from earlier pressed hot behind his eyes, and he swallowed it down. He lingered in the doorway, hand clenched at his side, then stepped back without making a sound. 

Jake’s room was next.

The door was wide open and Riki could see the faint glow of Jake’s bedside lamp washing over the mess of blankets. Only the very top of Sunoo’s hair was visible, pressed into the crook of Jake’s shoulder, their legs tangled beneath the sheets. 

Sunoo’s arm was thrown carelessly over Jake’s stomach, and Jake’s hand rested over it, even in sleep. Both of them were so still, so quiet, it almost didn’t feel real. 

Riki stood in the doorway and bit down on his lower lip, hard.

He felt like a ghost. 

Like he was haunting the hallways.

Like he didn’t belong in any of these rooms, much less this house.

He ended up in front of Jay’s door.

He knew Sunghoon was in there before he opened the door. Their bedside lamp was on, a faint golden light that spilled across the room, illuminating the countless musical instruments.  Sunghoon was curled into Jay, his head in Jay’s lap. Jay was sitting up, his book resting on Sunghoon’s head. He looked up.

Riki froze.

Jay blinked, like Riki would disappear at any moment. He started to get up and Riki took a step back. Jay paused but Riki didn’t know whether it was because of Riki’s reaction or if it was because Sunghoon shifted in his sleep, clinging to Jay.

“You’re up.” It wasn’t a question, but surprise still colored his voice.

Riki hesitated. “I…can’t sleep.”

Jay frowned, his eyebrows creasing. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s empty. My room is…empty and quiet. I can’t sleep.”

Jay looked like he was processing for a moment then he turned to Sunghoon. Jay shook his shoulders gently, coaxing him up. Sunghoon sat up groggily, but the moment his eyes landed on Riki all the sleep evaporated from his gaze.

“Riki? What’s wrong, are you okay?”

Riki didn’t have the opportunity to answer before Jay wrapped an arm around Sunghoon’s shoulders, grabbing his attention. 

“Come on, get up.”

Sunghoon stood without question but he looked lost as he watched Riki. Jay slid off the bed, taking Sunghoon’s hand to drag him from the room, only pausing to offer his hand to Riki who only hesitated for a moment before taking it. 

They ended up in front of Jake’s room. Jay let them go, entering the room without any sort of hesitation.  Riki reached for Sunghoon, who startled at the touch but reciprocated immediately, his arm coming up to wrap around his shoulder.

Riki watched in horror as Jay stripped Jake’s bed of its comforter. Jake groaned fighting with Jay for possession of his blanket. Jay won.

“Let’s go, come on.” 

Jake rolled over onto Sunoo, who was already half-awake, cursing at Jay. Jay leaned over enough to kiss his forehead, before pushing Sunoo off the bed completely. Sunoo flailed, landing with a thump that honestly sounded painful to Riki.

He shot back up, his glare lethal but Jay merely smiled.“Hyung.” Riki called. Sunoo stopped in the middle of launching himself at Jay to stare at Riki, his arms falling to his sides. 

“Riki? You’re up?”

Jay was still dragging Jake from the bed as Sunoo made his way to Riki. Jake looked mildly annoyed but not surprised and Riki wondered how many times they’d done this. Jake fell onto Sunghoon once Jay had managed to haul him from his room. Sunghoon laughed, somehow not breaking the silence and patted his back sympathetically. 

Riki leaned into Sunoo’s side, watching. The quiet was still present but Riki didn’t feel like it was suffocating him anymore. It felt warmer, like there was space. Space that Riki didn’t feel like he was invading. He could just be present.

They were in front of Heeseung’s room next. Jay seemed a lot more gentle this time, running his hand up and down Heeseung’s shoulder and whispering to Jungwon. Jungwon’s head popped up, his hair disastrous but he rolled off the bed without any other complaints. He padded over to the small crowd by the door, his head landing on Riki’s shoulder. Riki decided he liked sleepy Jungwon the most.

“Hyung said you couldn’t sleep?”

Riki nodded against Jungwon’s head and Jungwon shuffled closer, pressing his nose against Riki’s neck, breathing him in. Heeseung came slower, his eyes half-shut but he just squeezed by them, walking into Riki’s room like he owned it.

Jay shrugged, beckoning the rest of them forward into Riki’s room. Heeseung was already in Riki’s bed, one arm behind his head. Riki blinked at him but Heeseung didn’t seem to care, just smiled and moved over to give Riki room to climb on. 

Jake nudged him and Riki took the hint, settling next to Heeseung easily, his head inches from the other’s shoulder. Sunoo curled around him from behind and Riki could feel Jay behind him, his hand resting on Riki’s shoulder. Sunghoon and Jake settled somewhere on Heeseung’s other side, if their bickering was anything to go by and Jungwon crawled up the bed, laying on top of Heeseung who—to his credit—complained minimally. 

Riki let out a sigh through his nose. Their heartbeats filled his ears and for the first time since he woke up he felt calm—peaceful. And finally, finally, the steady hum began under his skin again. He could breathe. They were there, every single one of them within reach. And for now, it was everything he could ask for.

Chapter Text

“Sunoo! All your shit’s in my study! I can’t even get in!”

Riki’s eyes slid to Sunoo but he didn’t even bother looking up from the phone he was sharing with Sunghoon. They were sitting on the couch, all of them—aside from Jungwon who had wandered off some time ago—Riki was curled on his side, scrolling mindlessly on his phone. Jake’s hand rested on his ankle absentmindedly, his own legs in Heeseung’s lap. 

Jungwon stomped into the room and Riki had the fleeting thought that he would look far more intimidating if he wasn’t wearing a shirt that swallowed him. Sunoo glanced up, unimpressed.

“Hyung told me to put it all in the study.” He said, pointing a lazy finger at Jay.

“ I did not!” Jay insisted.

“Riki?”

He clicked his phone off when Jake squeezed his ankle to get his attention. Jungwon was staring at him, hands clenched into fists. Riki blinked at him, noting what looked like sweatpants hanging off his right shoulder.

“Did they explode on you?”

Jungwon visibly faltered, his expression warring between rage and embarrassment. Jake came to his rescue, tapping rhythmically against his skin. “Did Jay tell you guys to put all the stuff in the study?”

Jay still looked flabbergasted by the accusations, but Riki took a moment to think. “Yeah,” he made air quotes and repeated in a poor imitation of Jay’s voice: “‘I don’t know, the study or somewhere but not here where it could be an issue.’”

Jay looked somewhere between betrayed and impressed as Jungwon turned on him. Jay didn’t even bother standing up to defend himself. In fact, he looked incredibly fond as Jungwon paced back and forth, rambling and using too many hand gestures for Riki to keep up with. He glanced around the room.

Everyone had put their phones away, intent on watching Jungwon try his best to lecture Jay while Jay just stared at him with what could only be described as heart-eyes. Jay let him continue for only a few more minutes before grabbing his hand and tugging him into his lap. Jungwon struggled against his grip but Jay just rested his chin on Jungwon’s sternum, grinning until Jungwon grumbled something incoherent and allowed Jay to nip at his neck playfully. 

Riki leaned back against the couch again once he was sure Jungwon wasn’t going to strangle anyone, content to watch the one person Riki originally thought to be more reserved melt under Jay’s attention. He kicked Jake lightly, just enough to get the desired reaction of Jake’s attention when the doorbell rang. 

Riki frowned, upset that it stole Jake’s attention away as everyone’s heads snapped towards the door. Jungwon glared, slipping off of Jay’s lap to stand. Jay pursed his lips, tugging at Jungwon’s wrist to get him to look down.

“Hanni?”

Sunoo stole Jungwon’s phone from his pocket, unlocking it. “She didn’t text.”

“She didn’t last time.”

Riki’s eyebrows creased. “Who’s Hanni?”

“A friend of mine,” Jungwon said.

The doorbell rang again and Heeseung pushed past Jungwon towards the front door. He froze with his back to them but when he turned to face them his face was ashen. Riki felt like someone had poured ice into his veins. 

He’d never seen Heeseung look afraid, not even when Riki had torn into his neck. 

He looked fucking terrified now. Like the ground had been ripped out from underneath him. He looked breakable.  

He started moving before anyone had processed his words.

“Council.”

Before Riki could even question what ‘council” meant Jake had scooped him up. Riki dropped his phone but that seemed irrelevant when Jake was running so fast that the halls passed in a blur. Jake only stopped to consider how to fit Riki into the study that was already full. He set Riki down on his feet, hands coming up to briefly cup Riki’s face.

“Do you remember what we did yesterday?”

Riki nodded, not entirely sure where he was going with that but fear still gripped his throat, stealing his voice. 

“Quiet again, yeah? They’re human but they notice everything.”

“Hyung, I don’t understand—” 

The sound of the front door made Riki pause and Jake flinched. They waited for a minute. Footsteps padded further into the living room and cool, detached voices floated his way. 

“These are the people that hurt Heeseung?” He whispered, just low enough to get Jake to look up. Riki could see the answer in Jake’s eyes but Jake nodded anyway.

“Maybe not the same people but the same group.” 

Riki wasn’t distracted enough to miss the steel in Jake’s voice, the pure, barely reigned in fury that caused a dark cloud to shadow his face. Riki expected to feel a stab of fear at the look, at the unbridled hatred. But he didn’t. Jake didn’t look scary, not to him. Instead, something sharp and furious unfurled in his own chest, an anger he wasn’t ready to name. 

Jake’s hands tightened unconsciously in Riki’s hair when Heeseung spoke, the small tremor in his voice evidently—hopefully—only audible to them. Riki tapped Jake twice, in the center of his chest, right over his heart. Jake….Riki couldn’t even describe how Jake looked when he met Riki’s eyes. He looked torn, like everything was unraveling and he was frantically knotting the pieces together.

“Go.”

Jake let out a breath that told Riki that was exactly what he needed to hear. He pressed their foreheads together. “Stay safe.”

And then he was gone. Riki looked around. He didn’t even have the opportunity to appreciate the fact that he was right. Boxes were tipped over, the contents spilling onto the floor, assumingly where Jungwon got buried. 

Riki sighed, shuffling over to the far wall to press his ear to it. He could pick out six anxious heartbeats and two relatively calm ones. His skin crawled. He didn’t like how…at ease the two strangers seemed to be. It was easy to pick out voices. Jungwon’s was cold, no traces of anything beyond the basic politeness Riki assumed he had to express. 

“To what do we owe this pleasure?”

A woman’s voice answered, high, nasally, angry. “ You missed the last meeting.” 

It wasn’t a question but she said nothing more. Like she expected them to fall at her feet with apologies and explanations.

“We did,” Sunghoon sounded bored, “we had other things that required our attention.”

Someone snorted, but it sounded indignant. “And what could that possibly be?”

There was a brief pause but Riki felt like the room had dropped a few degrees. 

“I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

The woman scoffed. “It is when you are neglecting your duties—”

“ We are neglecting nothing.” 

Riki had never heard Sunoo like that. He couldn’t imagine the person that embodied the sun ever had anything but warmth. But Sunoo sounded irate and Riki could picture his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes cutting on these strangers that had invaded their space. Riki was learning that Sunoo was—if anything—territorial over spaces he considered to be their safe spots. And he guarded them. If Riki didn’t want anyone in his room, Sunoo would shield the entrance to ensure he had the privacy of falling apart by himself, even if Sunghoon insisted on seeing him.

“Why are you here?”

Apparently Jay had decided whatever timer he had set for his required hospitality had gone off. Riki’s heart tripped over itself at the lengthy pause but the strangers recovered.

“You keep your pets close, Jungwon. Losing one would be such a tragedy.” The male voice said coolly.

Whatever had begun to spread in Riki’s chest when the strangers first arrived threw itself at the confines of his ribs, itching to sink its teeth into man’s neck, his wrist, anywhere it could watch them bleed for their comment. He flinched at the image his mind supplied, terror curling around his heart. Not because of the image itself.

But because his blood sang at it. 

He wanted that. He wanted this man to suffer for threatening Jay.

He wanted it so badly he nearly bit straight through his tongue to stop himself from doing exactly what his instincts screamed at him to do.

“Are you threatening my coven?” 

It was the first time Riki could detect any kind of emotion in Jungwon’s voice and Riki half wondered if Jungwon’s mind was supplying him with a similar image of the man lying in a pool of his own blood. 

The strangers brushed right over it and Riki could hear them quietly moving about the living room. He stumbled back a step when it sounded like they were right next to him, only barely managing not to knock over a mountain of boxes.

“Heard you had a rather large delivery the other day.”

“Redecorating.” Several people said at once and their voices fused so well Riki couldn’t even be sure who had spoken and who hadn’t.

“With clothing?”

Sunoo gritted his teeth and Riki winced at the sound. “In with the new. Out with the old.” He said flippantly.

There was another pause and then the woman clicked her tongue. “I assume the Broods debriefed you on your missed meeting?”

Riki frowned. This was the second time these strangers had mentioned this so-called meeting. A meeting that was apparently important enough to warrant an unannounced drop-by. Why did they care so much about the deliveries? And why did they say it like it was evidence of something more?

Riki’s head hurt and he pushed his thumbs into the space where the bridge of his nose gave way to the beginning of his eyebrow. It did little to relieve his pain.

“Of course.” Heeseung replied smoothly.

There was some shuffling and Riki barely managed to catch the inhale of the two strangers. He couldn’t tell if they were surprised or offended.

“You may leave.” Jungwon said.

Even Riki froze. It wasn’t a suggestion. It wasn’t arguable. It was a warning. Everything in his voice said there would be consequences to suffer if his command was not followed. He heard the strangers’ heartbeats kick up a bit, Jungwon’s fire swimming in their veins. 

“Regarding the next meeting—” The man started.

“ Leave.”

He heard the audible sound of the man’s mouth snapping shut and then—finally, the sound of the front door shutting. The silence left behind was louder than any threat the council had made. Riki could hear every breath, every swallow, the staccato rhythm of six hearts clawing their way back to normal. No one moved at first. Even the house barely breathed, just enough to keep itself alive.

Riki deflated at the same time as the coven, his shoulders sagging forward with relief. He listened to six hearts just a room away that beat like one and tried to sync his own to their rhythm.

It didn’t work.

Riki waited, crouched, with his ear still pressed to the wall until the door slammed open. Jake was on him instantly, turning his head back and forth as if the strangers, upon their departure, teleported into the study solely to beat Riki. Riki pulled away, but paused when he saw Jake’s shaking hands and anxious eyes.

“I’m okay,” he murmured.

Jake didn’t look entirely convinced but allowed Riki to stand so he could lead the way to the living room. They were all standing now, formed in a circle that opened for Jake and Riki, closing again when they had been deemed safely inside. 

Riki tensed immediately, feeling the air press down on his lungs, nearly suffocating. Sunghoon’s jaw was ticking, a small twitch in his eye that Riki hadn’t seen before. Jungwon looked bored, his eyes scanning over Riki once before shifting back to Heeseung. Sunoo looked near tears, stress rolling off of him in waves that were starting to make even Riki sick. 

Jay smiled at him, hand brushing Riki’s elbow in silent greeting, but when he turned his head Riki caught a quick glimpse at his neck. The small mark that always sat on the small juncture was inflamed, red, like it had been reopened. Riki had to stop himself from reaching for it. Then he glanced down, there was another small mark on Jay’s wrist, also inflamed and open, glowing faintly. He scanned Jay again, counting five separate marks in various spots on his body, all reopened.

He considered asking directly. Why did they question the deliveries? Why did they threaten Jay like that? What were these meetings? But something made him pause, the questions lay heavily on his tongue, too much to lift. He swallowed heavily, only able to come up with:

“What happened?”

Jungwon’s gaze slid to him but Heeseung jumped in before he could say anything.

“It’s just the council. They came by to…check on us.” He glanced around the room, like he was confirming something with the others. 

Riki could barely stop himself from frowning. That didn’t sound like a check-up. But he didn’t understand why they would lie. What were they keeping him out of? 

“If it was a check-up why are you all so afraid?”

All of their hearts stopped for a moment. Jungwon recovered the fastest. “We’ve never had the most fun experiences with them.”

Heeseung huffed a humorless laugh and Jungwon glanced at him before returning his knowing stare to Riki. He felt exposed, like even his skin had been peeled back and Jungwon could see every piece of him. Even the parts of him he wouldn’t even acknowledge himself. 

“Why do you hide me?” He said instead, just to lift the pressure of Jungwon’s eyes.

Jungwon tilted his head, but before he could answer, Sunghoon’s hand twitched like he might physically stop him. He threw a meaningful look at Jungwon, one Riki could only decipher as ‘stop talking’. Heeseung’s jaw locked, Sunoo’s grip tightened. They didn’t want him to know. That alone made the question heavier on Riki’s tongue.

“Why do we hide you?” Jungwon repeated. “Would you rather die?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Sunghoon looked furious but he didn’t attempt to intervene, although maybe that was due to the current death-hold Heeseung had on him.

“What?”

Jungwon looked tired all of the sudden. The bags under his eyes stood out against his skin, and the line of his mouth tilted down into a frown. He rubbed his eyes and Sunoo stepped forward, despite Jungwon’s warning glare, to shove himself into Jungwon’s space, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. 

Jungwon exhaled, hands gentle on the small of Sunoo’s back. “What do you remember about the council?”

Riki paused for a moment. He remembered the pain in Heeseung’s face when he talked about them. The fear that ran through all of them when they realized who was knocking at the door. They had hurt Heeseung before, and presumably Sunghoon and Jay too if their reactions that night were anything to go by.

“They hurt you guys.” It felt silly putting it that way. Like he was simplifying something he didn’t fully understand. Still, Jungwon cracked a smile.

“They did.” He confirmed, eyes flicking once to Sunghoon before settling back on Riki. “But it is never just us. You’re unregistered. Illegal. That alone is enough for them to decide you don’t get to exist.”

Sunoo stiffened against him, but Jungwon kept going, voice flat “And then there’s the human. The body—even if it was an accident—that’s the kind of thing they use as justification.”

Sunghoon made a sound like a growl, sharp and low, but Jungwon didn’t take the words back. His gaze stayed on Riki, merciless in its calm. “One offense is enough for execution. You’ve got two. If the council finds out you’re here, you won’t get to argue your case, you won’t even get to say goodbye.”

Riki’s stomach dropped and suddenly air was a scarce resource that danced out of his way, laughing when he desperately tried to pull it into his lungs. “Will you guys suffer? For helping me?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “There’s always a possibility.”

Part of Riki wanted to run. To erase any and every trail that would lead back to them. He could do that. He could protect them—

“Don’t even fucking think about it.” Jay’s voice was steel. “I will board your fucking windows up.”

Riki blinked at him, but his surprise must have also been obvious because Jake touched his shoulder, his tone accusing. “You’re easy to read. It would actually be comical if it weren’t for what you were planning on doing.” 

“I—”

“We’ll get you ID’s, a believable story, something tangible the Council wouldn’t question.” Jungwon cut in. “I have connections, I can even get you into a coven, if you want.”

Riki had to bite his tongue and Jungwon’s gaze sharpened, intrigued. Without looking away from him, Jungwon tilted his chin toward Sunghoon and Heeseung. “Hyung, they haven’t fed in a while, have they?”

It was a testament to how well Jungwon knew Jay that the words landed like a hook. Jay faltered, eyes flicking nervously to Heeseung and Sunghoon. Sunghoon caught the look immediately and glared, shoulders stiff, refusing to bend to whatever game Jungwon was playing.

Jungwon didn’t relent, he pushed Sunoo a step closer with a casual hand, his voice turning softer, almost worried. “And Sunoo-hyung…he doesn't look alright either.”

Jay made a small, distressed sound, in his throat, hands twitching between Sunoo, Heeseung, and Sunghoon as if he could steady all three at once.

That was all the opening Jungown needed. He nudged Jay toward the others. “Take them upstairs. Make sure they feed. I’ll keep Riki down here—he’s fine for right now.”

Sunghoon reached for Riki’s wrist the moment Jungwon tried to steer him away.

Jungwon’s hand shot out, catching Sunghoon’s arm mid-motion. Their eyes locked and Riki took a step back, feeling burned even if their glares weren’t meant for him.

“Let go,” Sunghoon said lowly, trying to twist out of his grip but Jungwon held steady, iron-still.

“No,” Jungwon countered, voice sharp. “Back down.”

For a moment, the room froze around them. Riki risked a glance at Jay—half afraid that if he looked away the tension would shatter into something uglier. Jay was sharing a look with Heeseung, like they were trying to decide if an intervention was needed.

Then Sunghoon bared his teeth, leaning closer as if to press the fight further, but Jungwon didn’t flinch. He simply tightened his hold until Sunghoon’s breath hitched, his shoulders finally sagging a fraction. The fight bled out of him but his glare burned hotter for it.

Only then did Jungwon release him.

Sunghoon wrenched his arm free with a sharp jerk. His gaze turned to Riki, softer, just for him, like the edge of the fight didn’t exist between them.

“I’ll check on you after,” he said, half-promise, half-warning before Jay got his hands on him and forced him toward the stairs.

The circle broke at last. The others followed, ushered by Jay’s anxious urgency, their voices fading until the soft thud of a door shutting upstairs marked their absence.

Only then did Jungwon look back at Riki. His jaw was tight, but otherwise the cold, splintered version of him—the one that just stared Sunghoon down—was gone. Like Riki had imagined it. 

But he hadn’t. For the first time since he’d been thrown into their world, Riki didn’t recognize them. He didn’t recognize him .

“How badly did you want their blood?”

Riki froze, heart in his throat. Jungwon was leaning against the back of the couch now, casual, as if nothing had happened. His eyes lit up with interest at Riki’s reaction. 

“What?”

“Huh.” Jungwon’s mouth curved up, not quite a smile. “I wondered if I’d have to break out the body bags today. Surprised you managed to resist.”

Riki’s heart slowly returned to normal. Jungwon hadn’t peered into his thoughts—he was talking about the hunger. The hunger Riki hadn’t even felt once. Not even when their blood saturated the air so thickly it was all Riki could smell. 

Jungwon’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward into Riki’s space. “What was that?”

Riki felt a strange thrill at being the one with the upper hand, however briefly. “Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I was fine .” Riki gritted out, but he couldn’t look directly at Jungwon. “I didn’t…want their blood.”

Jungwon let a long, slow pause stretch out between them. His eyes glinted with that dangerous calm that hadn’t left since Heeseung had announced the council’s arrival. 

“Really?” His tone was light but the weight behind it pressed into Riki’s skin. “Because a spike in heart rate isn’t nothing. An increase in breathing isn’t nothing . And that obvious relief— definitely not nothing.” 

Riki looked away but Jungwon’ fingers brushed his arm, a heat that forced Riki to be rooted in place.

“So tell me, baby,” Jungwon’s voice dipped low, cutting straight through whatever was left of Riki’s defenses, “what is it you aren’t telling me?” 

Riki’s head snapped up, meeting Jungwon’s gaze. He thought—just for a moment—that Jungwon hadn’t expected him to. That, maybe, Jugwon had startled himself. 

It wasn’t just the pet name that had shocked him. He’d heard it often enough, whispered between them enough times, even tossed playfully at him by Jake once during a card game. But not like this. Never like this.

It sounded like a warning, whipping against his skin so quickly Riki nearly flinched. But….it also sounded like a claim, and despite himself, something warmer unfurled in his chest.

“Riki,” Jungwon’s fingers curled firmly on his chin, but he didn’t put any pressure behind them, “look at me.”

Riki lifted his eyes reluctantly, already accepting his loss in the fight. “I…I didn’t—” Riki started, then swallowed, heart beating against his ribs. “I didn’t want their blood.” He insisted.

When Jungwon lifted a single eyebrow, gaze coaxing, the words tumbled out before Riki could stop himself. “I wanted their deaths .”

Jungwon didn’t say anything for a moment, but something shifted in his eyes. He dropped his hand, leaning away from Riki—who would’ve felt hurt if it weren’t for the fact that he still felt entirely surrounded by Jungwon's presence. He swayed slightly, body leaning in to fill Jungwon’s previously occupied spot before he even realized what he was doing. Heat creeped up his neck—why did he want to close the space Jungwon left behind?

“Why?” He asked at last.

“They threatened Jay.” Riki whispered, hands clenching by his sides, anything to distract him from the weight of Jungwon’s stare. 

“Hm, so you did eavesdrop?"

Riki couldn’t help but scoff. “I was in the study. The walls aren’t exactly soundproof.”

Jungwon’s mouth twitched ever so slightly. “Noted.” He paused and Riki could almost see the gears turning as he thought over the council’s visit. “What else did you hear?”

Riki chewed on his bottom lip. All of his questions came back in a flood, pressing down on his tongue, clawing at the confines of his mouth to be revealed. Riki swallowed them. “Tell me about the meetings.”

Jungwon hummed, nodding like he’d been expecting that. “No.”

It was a long shot but Riki still gritted his teeth, just barely refraining from pulling at his hair. He hated the deceptive calm in Jungwon’s voice, his face, like nothing could faze him. “Fine. Then tell me about your marks.”

Jungwon blinked, brows furrowing. “My marks?”

Riki crossed his arms, nodding and for the first time that night Jungwon’s mask slipped. The crack of surprise was so small anyone else might have missed it, but Riki caught it, and the brief surge of pride almost made him smile. 

Jungwon tapped his forefinger against his chin in mock contemplation and Riki twitched. Finally, Jungwon looked at him, once more leaning into his space but Riki didn’t move. “What about my marks?”

Riki’s breath hitched when Jungwon got close enough for him to feel the heat of his body through his clothes. “What are they?” 

“They’re claims. To put it simply.” Jungwon pursed his lips, glancing off to the side. “They let everyone know that we’re in a bonded coven, but more importantly that they’re mine.” 

Riki’s eyes lingered on the mark on his neck, glowing, but its brightness differed from the ones on the others’ necks. In fact, it more closely resembled the mark on Jay’s inner wrist. “You marked yourself?”

Jungwon blinked at him momentarily, hiding his smile behind his hand. “No. I can’t mark myself,” he touched the mark lightly with his fingertips, “this one is Heeseung’s. He’s like the…second in command. If something happens to me, then he’s in charge.”

Riki felt unsteady. Something ugly twisted in his gut, so sharp he pressed his hand to his stomach. The thought of Jungwon not being there—of any of them not being there—knocked the breath out of him. They seemed so…unbreakable. Riki didn’t know why he’d never considered death a possibility. For him, maybe, but not for them. Never for them. 

“Then what about…?” He trailed off, eyes stuck on Jungwon’s wrist. He reached for it before stopping himself. He glanced up at Jungwon, who frowned at him, clearly debating. For a second Riki thought he’d refuse. Then, with an exaggerated roll of his eyes, Jungwon dropped his arm into Riki’s waiting palm.

He turned Jungwon’s wrist over, exposing the small glowing mark on the inside. “Then what about this one? Whose is this?”

Jungwon’s heartbeat picked up from underneath Riki’s fingertips. “What are you talking about?”

Riki frowned, risking a glance up at Jungwon. Jungwon looked like he was moments away from vomiting and Riki ran his thumb over the small mark, watching the lines of Jungwon’s shoulders relax but only slightly. 

“Your mark? On your wrist?” He reached up, using one finger to tug Jungwon’s shirt collar down a little to expose another mark on his collarbone. “There’s one here too.”

Jungwon pulled away, nearly running up the stairs. Riki followed, mind reeling with the panic he just saw on Jungwon’s face. They stopped in front of Heeseung’s door, and Jungwon pushed it open without knocking. That quickly turned out to be a mistake. 

Jake—who they hadn’t expected to be there—was in Heeseung’s lap, straddling him, fingers tangled in Heeseung’s hair like he’d anchored himself there, refusing to let go. Heeseung’s hand curved firm around Jake’s hip, chest to chest, while the other slid beneath his shirt, tracing the ridge of his spine with a slow, burning touch. Jake arched into it, hips shifting, a sharp little roll that dragged a rough sound from Heeseung’s throat.

Jake only grinned, wicked and kissed him harder, teeth catching at his lip. “Something wrong, hyung?” He whispered against Heeseung’s mouth, taunting, though his voice shook with want.

“Brat,” Heeseung groaned, tugging hard at the hair on the back of his neck before surging up to claim his mouth again. “Keep that up and see what happens.”

Their mouths clashed together, messy, deeper, like they wanted to drown in it. Jake’s hand slipped lower, fingers curling in the fabric of his waistband, teasing. Heeseung groaned, answering with a possessive drag of his palm up Jake’s back, pulling him in until there was no space left between them.

There was a flash of fang as Jake laughed against his mouth, reckless, dizzy with it, and Heeseung chased the sound down to his throat, teeth grazing against his skin. Jake gasped, sharp and high, clutching tighter, body arching like he’d offer himself up completely if Heeseung so much as breathed the word. 

Riki couldn’t look away. Heat clawed at his stomach, sharp and sudden. He wanted that. The closeness, the pull, the permission to unravel in someone’s hands, knowing they’d take care of you. The sight of it ached in his teeth, heavy and sweet, like hunger and want had tangled together until he couldn’t tell one from the other. 

“Hyung.” Jungwon’s voice cut through the room, desperate. 

Heeseung froze but Jake startled so hard he nearly slid off the bed until Heeseung caught his wrist. Riki finally tore his eyes away, but not before he saw the flush blooming across Jake’s cheeks. Jungwon was already clambering across the bed, his movements jerky, and Riki saw the same flash of panic from downstairs. Heeseung’s confusion flickered across his face, but his arm still circled Jungwon’s waist the instant he was close enough to touch. Jungwon fisted the hem of Heeseung’s shirt.

“Take it off.”

Heeseung choked on air and Jake barked a breathless laugh, pushing his hair off his face. “If you wanted that you should’ve just waited a few more minutes.”

Jungwon growled low in his throat, hands trembling as he tugged harder. “I need to see—I—” He twisted Heeseung’s collar, like he’d rip it open if he had to until Heeseung caught his wrists.

“What’s going on?”

Jay’s voice in the doorway made Riki jump. Sunghoon and Sunoo trailed behind him, watching Heeseung and Jungwon like they couldn’t decide if they should be intrigued or concerned. 

“Jungwon’s trying to strip Heeseung-hyung.” Jake supplied dryly, shifting to place a pillow on his lap. Riki refused to look at him.

Jay hummed, unimpressed. “Understandable.” But he stalked closer to the bed, his hand landing heavily on Jungwon’s shoulder, trying to pull him back. 

Sunghoon slid in next to Riki, but he didn’t look angry like the last time he’d seen him, instead his eyes were bright with amusement as Jay attempted to drag Jungwon away from tearing Heeseung’s shirt off.

He’d barely manage to succeed before Jungwon was turning on him with a huff. “Fine, then you take your shirt off.” Jay blinked, thrown, but Jungwon was already trying to wrestle him out of the fabric.

Jake leaned lazily against the headboard, glancing briefly at his phone. “Wait—did I miss the date? Do we have an orgy scheduled today?”

Sunghoon was doubled over, shoulders shaking with laughter and Riki’s face burned. Sunoo shook his head, unfazed as he flicked through his calendar. “No, that’s next week.”

Riki’s mind reeled, everything moving too quickly for him to keep up with. He stared as Sunoo clicked on his calendar, the header simply labelled ‘Group Sex!’ with a smiley face, and turned it towards Jake who frowned in disappointment. Riki blinked, he supposed he shouldn’t be entirely surprised they apparently kept a sex calendar, but he didn’t expect for them to talk so openly about it. 

“Okay, wait.” Heeseung’s voice wasn’t loud but it cut through the chaos of the room all the same. Silence crashed over the room but Heeseung only had eyes for Jungwon. He gestured for Jay to release him, reaching up slowly to dig his fingers into the mark on Jungwon’s neck. 

Jungwon shuddered, making a small aborted sound in the back of his throat, but yielded to Heeseung’s touch, letting him pull him closer. “I need—” He broke off but Heeseung waited patiently, thumb rubbing circles into his mark that sent constant shivers down his spine. “I need to see something. Please, hyung.”

Heeseung nodded, dragging Jungwon closer by his neck to press a kiss to his forehead, so gently that Riki had to look away. He was nothing like the Heeseung Riki had seen when Jungwon ripped his door open, his touches were tender where they had been bruising on Jake, careful where they had roamed freely across Jake’s skin. Heeseung pulled back to ruck up the fabric of his shirt before pulling it off his body completely. 

Someone wolf whistled and it was quickly followed by the sound of a smack and Jake’s quiet “Ow!” 

When he was completely naked from the waist up he turned back to Jungwon with a raised eyebrow. Jungwon reached out like he was going to touch but curled his fingers into fists at the last second. 

“Riki, come here.” 

Heeseung startled, like he’d forgotten about Riki’s presence but nodded his head when Riki asked for permission to join them silently. Heeseung didn’t look too bothered, but Riki noted how the tips of his ears turned red when he shifted closer. 

Riki glanced back at Jungwon for further instructions, noting that the others had moved closer, like they were closing them in. “Show me his marks.”

Sunghoon stepped forward. “What—” 

Jay shushed him, head tipped to the side in curiosity as Riki turned back to Heeseung, hands braced in front of him. “Can I?”

“Go ahead.”

Riki tried to ignore the small tremor in his hands as he traced the first mark with his fingertip. It rested on his right pec, slightly off center, glowing. He pivoted just enough to reach for Jungwon again, exposing the one on his collarbone.

“They’re the same.” He murmured, scanning over the others, eyes pulling on Jay. “It’s Jay’s.” 

Heeseung’s pulse thrummed under his hand and Jay’s mouth dropped open a little, confirming Riki’s theory. His hand slid to the side, a matching one on the opposite side of his chest, if a little lower, closer to his ribs. Heeseung’s breath hitched but Riki didn’t look up.

“I’m guessing this one’s Sunghoon’s.”

No one answered him, but he kept going, sliding higher on his shoulder. Jake shivered when Riki dug his fingers into that mark and Riki knew enough to know that it was Jake who put that mark there. Still, he called out a quiet, “Jake’s.”

Riki pulled back, frowning. He scanned Heeseung’s chest again, before crawling around him to check his back. Nothing. He shifted to sit in front of Heeseung again, searching until he caught it. Nearly hidden in the waistband of his pants lay another small mark, resting on his v-line. Riki blushed but pressed his fingers to it anyway.

“And Sunoo’s.”

For a long moment no one moved. Then Jay dragged a hand down his face, digging his fingers into his eyes.

“What the fuck.”

Riki withdrew, looking up at him. “What?”

Jay made a bunch of gestures at him before cutting off with a groan and covering his face with his hands. Riki frowned, glancing over at the others, gauging their expressions to try to decide if he’d done something wrong. Jake looked thrilled, Sunghoon in awe, Heeseung looked terrified but Sunoo just looked tired. 

Riki carefully pried one of Jay’s hands away from his face, turning his wrist over in his hand. He brushed his thumb gently over the mark there. “This is Heeseung’s,” He turned slightly to run a bent knuckle over Jungwon’s neck, “it matches this one.”

Jay let out a sound akin to a whine. “Do you even hear yourself?”

Sunghoon cleared his throat, effectively stealing Riki’s attention. “How long have you been able to see these?”

Riki’s brows furrowed as he thought. “I don’t know, the whole time? As long as you weren’t wearing clothes to cover them, it wasn’t like you were hiding them.”

Heeseung cursed softly under his breath, reaching for his shirt to tug over his head. But Riki didn’t miss his flinch when he turned his gaze on Heeseung. “Yeah, because you’re not supposed to be able to see them.”

“But they’re right there.”

“No. They’re not. The only mark other vampires are supposed to see is the leader’s, on our neck, the others are supposed to be invisible to everyone outside of the bond.”

Riki felt a headache blooming behind his eyes. Of course. Of course it couldn’t just be normal. Not with him. “So why can I see them?”

“Great question.” Sunoo murmured, typing rapidly on his phone. “Add it to the list of problems we don’t have answers to.”

Riki tipped his head back to look at the ceiling, like that would keep the tears of frustration from rolling down his face. He felt Sunghoon slide in behind him, his arms circling around his chest until Riki felt like he could fold himself into Sunghoon and hide.

The others were arguing above his head, voices harsh enough to make Riki press back into Sunghoon further. 

“She already risked herself to warn us before, she’s trustworthy!” Jungwon insisted.

Heeseung scoffed, and the bed dipped, letting Riki know he’d moved off the bed. “She came to us to take something off of her own coven’s plate. That does not mean she’s trustworthy!”

Riki closed his eyes, his head pounding like someone had smacked him with a bag of bricks. He didn’t startle when he felt Sunghoon’s lips at his ear.

“Are you hungry?” He asked, his voice level but his grip on Riki tightened.

He considered it. Riki wasn’t really hungry, hadn’t been since the council had arrived but perhaps the blood would offer him an escape from the yelling and the unanswered questions. He nodded against Sunghoon’s shoulder, not protesting when Sunghoon shifted them to lean against the headboard. Jake glanced at them, offering a tiny smile before kicking Jay in the knee, jabbing his head at Jungwon and Heeseung’s fight.

Jay pouted momentarily but stood obediently, his voice easily throwing a wrench in their argument. “Stop. Jungwon will call Hanni to come over, that’s the plan now.” He held up his hand to stop Heeseung from interrupting. “We are in way over our heads, we don’t know what we’re doing or what any of this means. We need an outside perspective. Hanni is the best option at the moment.”

Heeseung looked torn, like he was watching them all walk into a trap, unable to save them. “Jay—”

“ This is our best option.” He repeated, each word a nail in the coffin. Once he was sure Heeseung wouldn’t fight him anymore he turned on Jungwon. “ But, if I get even an inkling that she will be a liability for this coven I will personally tear her heart from her chest. I don’t care how long you've been friends, understood?” 

Jungwon flinched but accepted Jay’s terms.

Sunghoon tapped Riki’s arm, stealing his attention. “Feed from me?”

Riki swallowed thickly. He hadn’t fed from Sunghoon since he was in bloodlock. What if he took too much? What if he couldn't stop? What if he hurt—

Sunghoon groaned, using his nail to make a small cut on his shoulder. He grabbed the back of Riki’s neck, tugging him close until their foreheads were nearly touching. “Oh my god, you think too loudly.” Then he pulled Riki to his shoulder. 

Riki’s mouth parted for Sunghoon’s skin easily but it took Sunghoon whispering “I trust you.” for Riki to sink his teeth into his shoulder. His blood burst against Riki’s tongue, the warmth of it pleasant when all Riki could remember was the chill of refrigerated blood-bags. Sunghoon didn’t make a sound, his hand came up to cradle the back of Riki’s head, but he didn’t hold him there.

Another hand landed on the small of his back and Riki could tell by the way they started rubbing comforting circles that Jake had shifted closer, his head resting on Sunghoon’s opposite shoulder. All sounds eventually gave way to just one: Sunghoon’s heartbeat. It covered the sound of Jungwon picking up his phone, of Heeseung’s final warning and Jay’s clipped response. 

Riki felt dizzy when he finally pulled back, like his head was too large for his body and he’d tip off to the side if he moved. Jake’s eyebrows furrowed in concern but he leaned over Sunghoon’s body to lick the wound. It stitched itself back together quickly, the indents gone like Riki had never been there in the first place and Riki had to beat back tears. His mark was gone before it even really got to exist. 

His vision swam. He could see Sunghoon’s mouth moving but he couldn’t hear anything. Sunghoon’s heartbeat still echoed in his ears and Riki shook his head to clear it. It didn’t work. Sunghoon shifted out from underneath him and Riki wanted to grab him. To stop him from leaving because suddenly the room was feeling so, so, cold but his arms felt like lead. Sunghoon left, Jake tucked under his arm. Riki didn’t even realize the tears hitting his folded hands was his own until Jay pulled him down, drowning out Sunghoon’s fading heartbeat with his own. 

His world returned in fragments, but if Jay noticed his rapid lucidity he didn’t say anything. 

“What’s wrong with me?”

Jay traced invisible patterns up his arm, his tone as soft as his touch. “Absolutely nothing.”

Riki ignored the burning in the back of his throat. “You didn’t freak out—that I fed from hyung.”

“I trust him. And I trust you.”

Riki squeezed his eyes shut. “Stop. Please. ”

Jay didn’t say anything more, not until Riki reached out first, curling his hand around Jay’s forearm, like he couldn’t stand being touched at the moment but still craved the contact. His breath caught on nothing, his chest rising too fast for how still the room was. The discovery sat heavily in his chest—seeing something he shouldn’t have, something private. If he could see that, what else was wrong with him? What else was broken?

Jay shifted beside him, rolling his sleeve up so Riki had more access to his skin. “You know,” he said, voice mild, “one time Sunghoon stuttered so hard he forgot what words were because Sunoo just…looked at him.”

Riki blinked, the jagged edges of his thoughts hitching. “What?”

Jay shrugged, like it was nothing. “True story. He just stood there, wide-eyed, couldn’t finish a sentence. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Riki stayed quiet, but he could picture it and it was almost enough to beat back the dark in the corners of his mind.

“Jake once ate fried dumplings for three months straight,” Jay added before the panic could catch hold. His tone stayed soft, and he turned his arm over in Riki’s grip, giving him new skin to trace over. “Until the smell made him physically gag. We had to hide them from him after.”

A broken laugh slipped out of Riki, too quiet but real. The panic didn’t vanish, but it faltered.

Jay tilted his head, studying him, then dropped another life raft. “Heeseung…you’d never guess it, but he cried the first time Jungwon hugged him. Full-on, ugly tears. He teared up everytime Jungwon so much as looked at him for the next three days.”

Something in Riki’s chest cracked, the spiral slowing. Jay didn’t stop talking, didn’t give the silence room to grow teeth again. 

He didn’t hear it when the others had reentered the room, but they must have at some point because Jay’s voice trailed off.

“Riki? Do you want to go to your room?” 

Riki slowly peeled himself off of Jay, even if it felt like he was tearing his own skin off doing so. But Sunoo made an offended sound. “No. She does not get to be in his space on top of that. This was your idea, if Riki’s going anywhere it’s your room.”

Jungwon didn’t hesitate. “I’m good with that.”

“I want to go downstairs.” He paused at the scratch in his own voice. “Please.”

They didn’t stop him as he shouldered past them, pausing just long enough to retrieve the sweatshirt he’d stolen from Sunghoon from his room. He settled himself on the couch, wrapping a mound of blankets around himself, trying to picture where he would be if he hadn’t been attacked.

Sunghoon walked past with a soft smile that faltered when he looked a little closer. “What’s wrong?”

Riki avoided looking at him. “Don’t I get a say in this?”

Sunghoon dropped down beside him. “Say the word and I will bar her from ever getting inside.” 

“Just…tell me who she is?”

Sunghoon chewed on his bottom lip, but sat back. “Do you remember what I told you about Jungwon’s turning?”

Riki thought for a moment. He remembered Sunghoon telling him about the party, the attack, and Jungwon's pain. He nodded.

“He wasn’t the only victim of that night.” Sunghoon looked lost in himself, gazing at the far wall like it had their history written in its walls in invisible ink Riki could not see. And maybe it was. “There was a girl, Jungwon’s age, who was drained too. A different coven found her, dumped out a window to try to hide the evidence.

“The Broods contacted us first, mentioned that their fledgling was having a hard time adjusting and had heard we had taken the second victim. So we set them up…like a playdate of sorts.” He smiled softly, like he was picturing it. “We figured that they’d be able to bond, find comfort in the fact that they were in it together.”

Riki’s eyebrows furrowed. Something in Sunghoon’s tone tipped up, like he wasn’t sharing something. “But that wasn’t how it went?”

“Oh god no. The first time they saw each other, Hanni broke one of our vases and tried to cut Jungwon’s throat with one of the shards. Then Jungwon tried to gauge out her eyes.” He laughed, like the memory was hilarious. “It took four of us to pull them off each other.”

“I—” Riki pursed his lips. “So why is she coming?”

“They made up at some point. I don’t know when or how but suddenly they became inseparable." 

Riki frowned, something hot pooling in his veins, something that begged him to lock Jungwon away from Hanni, to bare his teeth and make it known Jungwon belonged nowhere but here. The burn crawled higher in his chest, tightening, coiling, dangerously close to spilling over.

Then, the doorbell rang. 

The sound sliced through his thoughts, but not enough. He was trembling, nails digging crescent marks into his own palms when Sunghoon cut off his own words, turning toward him. Without speaking, he extended his hand, palm open, steady. It wasn’t a demand, but an offering, one that Riki desperately wanted to take. 

Riki’s throat closed. He wanted to scoff, to refuse, to prove he didn’t need saving. But the heat was eating him alive, and his body moved before he could decide, his hand slipping into Sunghoon’s, clutching too tightly. The heat slowed, not stopped, but simmered into a manageable hum.

The door opened. Her perfume hit him first, sweet and sharp, and Riki’s stomach twisted. It was too much, too different from the six scents he’d come to associate with safety, with home. But what really burned was the way Jungwon’s voice softened when he greeted her, so unlike the clipped tone he’d used with Riki not so long ago.

Then she appeared. Her short black skirt swayed with each step, her cropped t-shirt exposed pale skin that should be pink from the snow outside but wasn’t. Her hair was pulled high, swinging back and forth as she briefly acknowledged each of them.

She breezed into the living room and Riki’s jaw tightened. He didn’t miss the way her eyes flicked across each coven member like she was cataloguing them.

Her nose wrinkled. “Why does it smell so weird—” She stopped when her eyes landed on Riki. She blinked, like she expected him to be a figment of her imagination before pointing at him and turning to Jungwon. “Jungwon, there’s a baby on your couch,” she announced, as if Jungwon could have possibly overlooked him.

Riki bristled, nails biting harder into Sunghoon’s hand.” I’m twenty-three,” he growled.

Jay was on his feet in a heartbeat, squatting in front of Riki like a shield. “Riki, Hanni. Hanni, Riki.” 

Hanni blinked, mouth falling open in an ‘o’. “That’s a fledgling.” Her tone shifted, sharper now, eyes narrowing. “Is he registered?”

Heeseung’s chest rumbled, low and dangerous, before Jungwon smacked him sharply, a warning. “Stick to safe questions.” He told her, voice cool.

Hanni laughed but it didn’t sound real. “Fantastic. So, no.” She considered Riki, her chin in her hand, her arms across his chest. “How did you find him? He’s so…pretty.”

Sunoo perched on the arm of the couch, his hand landing on Riki’s shoulder. “Watch it.”

“So possessive,” Hanni murmured, like she was filing away that knowledge for later, “relax, the last thing we need is an addition to our coven. I’m not stealing your boy.”

Jungwon sighed, rubbing at his temples. “He sort of…fell into our laps.”

Hanni glanced back at him, but their conversation took place without words and Riki twitched. “Okay,” she fell into one of the loveseats, her legs crossed. “Why am I here?”

The room fell silent, no one was really willing to answer Hanni’s question, like they weren’t quite ready to let go of the safety Riki’s secrecy provided him. It stretched, wrapping itself around Riki’s neck, making him shift in his seat. Hanni watched, her gaze clinical but not unkind.

“Alright.” She said when she clearly got tired of the lack of an answer. “Which one of you does he have a single-source dependency on?”

Riki’s heart lurched and all around him the coven spluttered, denials spilling from their lips within the next breath. But Hanni wasn’t looking at them. She raised her eyebrow at Riki, mouthing ‘Well?’

“Sunghoon-hyung.” Riki murmured, lifting their joined hands to emphasize it. “I can only drink his blood without pain.”

Hanni’s lips pursed and beside him, Sunoo cursed, his hand coming down in an attempt to reprimand. “And when you drink other blood?”

Riki grit his teeth, the skin of his arms itched. “I vomit. Violently. And some sort of psychosis, everything looks…dangerous. Even my own body.”

Jungwon shifted his weight. Something flickered across his face, recognition, maybe? Whatever it was was gone before Riki had time to search for the right word. Hanni looked sympathetic but fascinated and Riki leaned back to avoid her gaze. 

“Well I already gave you all the…” She broke off, eyes sliding up to meet Jungwon who looked ready to throw her across the room. 

“Already gave what?” Riki pressed, entirely ignoring the glare Jungwon had turned on him.

Hanni looked from him, to Jungwon, then back again. “Apparently that is not my place to share but if you want to continue please do. Anything else I should know before I start exhausting all my resources?”

Jay opened his mouth but Riki beat him to it. “Marks. I can see bond marks.”

“Yeah, okay, so can I. It’s on their necks, that’s normal.” Hanni said, glancing around the room like she was looking for confirmation. 

Riki nudged Jay with his foot and Jay sighed but nodded almost imperceptibly. Riki shifted forward, releasing Sunghoon’s hand to point at the small, glowing mark on Hanni’s ribcage. “You have a mark between your seventh and eighth rib.” He pointed lower. “And one right above your skirt, just below your belly button.”

For half a beat too long Hanni just stared at him. Then, with a sharp motion, she slapped her hands over the marks Riki pointed out, her eyes narrowing. “Okay, I don’t like this one.”

Jungwon almost smiled. “Good thing he’s not yours then.”

“You can see marks? Not just the public ones?”

Riki nodded slowly and Hanni stood from her chair, startling everyone. She moved closer, ignoring the warning growls of Jake and Heeseung as she stopped in front of him, turning her phone screen for him to see. “Where are his marks?”

It was a photo of a man, he was facing away from the camera, his skin damp, his hair wet. He had on a pair of swim trunks but the rest of his skin was bare. Riki squinted. “He has one on the center of his lower back, one on his right shoulder, one on his thigh and one on his rib cage.” He rattled off obediently. 

Hanni stared at her phone like it had betrayed her. “What the fuck,” she murmured, pulling it back against her chest. She looked between the small device and Riki. “Isn’t that…isn’t that some ancient shit?”

The air in the room suddenly felt razor-thin and Riki tensed against it. Jake’s growl rumbled low in his throat but Jay cut across him, sharp. “He’s not some sideshow trick.” He shifted closer to Riki, a wall between him and Hanni.

Heeseung had gone utterly still, his gaze locked on Riki with something that looked too much like recognition. His mouth opened, then shut, like a machine, a muscle jumping in his jaw. He looked away like the sight of Riki burned. 

Hanni, oblivious, leaned back on her heels. “Hey, everyone knows only originals could do things like that. Have you guys ever heard of a vampire that wasn’t an Original having some sort of special ability?”

Sunoo scoffed. “He’s not an original, he's just barely turned.”

Hanni shrugged, undeterred. “Who’s to say his turn wasn’t botched? Could explain all the other weird stuff.” She tipped her head to the side, like she was studying Riki. “Sometimes, when an original passes their blood, it does something on its way down. Botched turns leave…cracks and sometimes cracks leak power.”

“They never last.”

Everyone turned to Heeseung, who looked caught under the attention. “None of those vampires lasted, their bodies were too weak, they broke down.”

“Huh…did you study originals too?”

Heeseung hesitated but nodded and Hanni looked appreciative. Riki frowned. He knew Heeseung didn’t ‘study’ Originals, that his words came from experience but why did he hide that? Was it still as dangerous for him as it was back then?

“Well, you don’t feel like you’re dying, do you?” She asked bluntly and Riki blinked. The coven flinched as one, like she had struck them all at the same moment. Her eyebrows furrowed at that and she turned back to face Jungwon. 

“I’m sorry, I know it’s technically not my place, but when did you mark him?”

Riki froze, his own heart beating so loudly in his ears that he nearly missed Jungwon’s reply. “He’s…not.”

“No, that’s not possible.” She said, gesturing to Riki like that was the answer. “You all orbit him. Same way you do to each other. It’s like you added another planet to your little solar system.”

She gestured again to the way Jake was leaning into Riki’s space, how Sunoo hovered near his shoulder, and the way Sunghoon was practically in his lap. “I’m not crazy.” She insisted and Jungwon glared at her, the first real coldness Riki had seen directed at her since her arrival. 

“Drop it.”  

Hanni sighed. “Fine, fine. Forget I said anything.” She stuffed her phone in her pocket, holding her hands up in surrender. 

Riki ignored the way his stomach dropped at the easy way Jungwon brushed it off. He pulled into himself, shaking off Sunghoon’s touch when he reached out. It earned him a sideways look from Sunoo, which he also ignored, his eyes trained on Hanni. 

“If I’m botched,” he started, shrugging off the small, distressed sound Jake let out at the word choice, “how do I fix it?”

Hanni rubbed at her temples roughly, pacing the floor and muttering to herself under her breath. “I don’t know. Yet.” She stabbed a finger at him. “But I will.”

“Okay,” Riki allowed, “what else do you need to know?”

“How much more can I know about your turning without becoming a liability?”

Riki faltered, unsure what to make of her words, much less how to answer them but Sunghoon stepped up, offering a vague: “Little.” To which Hanni nodded solemnly.

“Fantastic, okay, I love working with no information, it's so fun for me!” Hanni muttered under her breath, her arms crossed. “How long was your turning?”

Riki thought about it. He’d spent twelve days by himself before Sunghoon had found him, then another eleven—according to Sunoo—trying to tear his own skin off. 

He answered: “Twenty-three days give or take” at the same time Jungwon said “Four days.”

Silence slammed into them once more. Hanni’s mouth dropped open and Jungwon slapped his hand over his face, tipping his head back, mouth moving like he was muttering a prayer for patience. 

“Damn it, Riki.” Heeseung cursed softly, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, his expression the same level of exacerbation Riki could see on everyone else' s faces.  

Hanni’s mouth opened and closed and Riki was involuntarily reminded of the fish he used to catch when he went fishing with his sister and father. “Did you just say twenty-three days?”

“Give or take.” Riki responded immediately and beside him Sunoo smacked at his shoulder. Riki glared at him. 

“I—I don’t even want to begin— how?” Hanni cut herself off, then shook her head like she was trying to clear it of all the piling-up questions. “You know what? I don’t want to know.”

Jay straightened, stalking towards Hanni slowly. “Do I have to tell you what will happen if any of this gets out?” 

Jay wasn’t all that tall, but he seemed domineering over Hanni as he closed the distance. Hanni visibly swallowed, her earlier confidence wavering as she looked away, backing up to put space between them. 

Jungwon slipped in front of Jay, his hand gentle but insistent on his chest. “Hyung, please. She’s helping us.”

Jay flicked Jungwon’s hand away, easily moving around the other vampire. “I already warned him.” Jay said lowly. “Do I have to warn you what happens when someone threatens what’s ours?”

Hanni shook her head. “No. No one will know, aside from me.”

Like a balloon popped, Jay leaned back, suddenly all smiles, which was somehow far worse than the murderous attitude he’d adopted moments before. “Good. Can I get you something to drink then?”

Hanni glanced around the room before answering with a shaky nod, and Jay disappeared into the kitchen. Jungwon stepped up beside her, his hand resting lightly on her lower back. Riki’s eyes narrowed at that, watching as he bent a little lower to murmur an apology in her ear. Riki’s jaw ached from how tightly he clenched it.

The coven watched, transfixed, until Heeseung called him. “Jungwon?”

Jungwon looked over. “Hyung.”

Heeseung’s head tipped to the side but he beckoned Jungwon closer with two fingers. Jungwon looked more annoyed than anything but assured Hanni she was okay to sit again and made his way over. Heeseung wasted no time wrestling Jungwon into his lap, his teeth latching onto the mark on his neck when Jungwon wouldn’t still. He froze, his body locking before melting, like Heeseung had switched off his power button. 

Riki looked away, but he couldn’t get the image of Heeseung’s lips dragging over Jungwon’s ear out of his head. Hanni, for her part, seemed unfazed by the blatant claim and affection, and while her body still remained tense she seemed to have no qualms studying Riki again. 

Jay returned with drinks, passing them out to each person but stopping at Riki. “Are you good? I know you just fed—” He looked at Hanni, “Not that long ago but do you want more?”

Riki’s stomach turned at the thought and he declined, but not without catching Jay’s face pinched with concern. Across from him, Hanni’s expression didn’t crack, but her fingers drummed against her knee, like she was filing away every detail. 

Jay brought his attention back easily with a finger on his chin. “Riki…”

Riki didn’t fight it, letting Jay look his fill until he seemed satisfied. His thumb brushed the corner of Riki’s mouth but he pulled back, returning to his spot next to Jake. Hanni raised a brow in silent question and heat crawled up Riki’s neck before he could stop it.

Conversation slowly bloomed, but Riki blocked most of it out. From the little bits and pieces he did listen to he found out Hanni’s coven consisted of seven other people, two men, five women, all bonded from as far as he could tell. The others seemed to know them, asking questions to prompt longer answers out of Hanni, but she didn’t mind. 

If anything, she lit up, talking animatedly about how Youngsoo had attempted to make them food the other day—and failed miserably. She giggled regaling the tale and Riki caught how Jay nudged Jake in the ribs, prompting a smile. The warmth of it pressed against him, but he stayed separate, the laughter sliding past like water over stone.

A shrill ring cut through their memories. Hanni jumped, digging into her pocket for her phone, her smile bright when she recognized the caller ID. 

“Hi beautiful,” she greeted, “what? No, I’m like five minutes away.” She stood, switching her phone to her other hand. “Babe—I’m practically at the door.”

She paused, letting the person on the other end of the phone speak before putting her phone away. She turned to his coven—the coven. “Sorry, gotta run, promised Nova I’d be home for something.” 

Jungwon lifted his hand in a hazy goodbye, entirely pliant in Heeseung’s hold and Hanni sent him a small smile before disappearing out the door. Jay waited a beat, then two. He rounded the couch, tugging Heeseung’s head away from Jungwon’s neck. He ignored Heeseung’s playful growl, giving his hair another firm tug.

“Start talking.” Sunoo said, swinging his legs over the other side of the couch. Heeseung’s brows furrowed and he glanced between Sunoo and Jay. 

“What?”

Jay leaned forward. “You think we didn’t notice your freeze when Hanni suggested a botched turn? We notice everything.”

Heeseung rolled his eyes but Riki caught the way his hands faltered on Jungwon’s waist. Jay twisted his fingers in Heeseung’s hair, demanding an answer. Heeseung winced but relented, and Jay let go. 

“It’s Yoonchae.”

Jake groaned, stomping his feet on the floor like a petulant child. “Who the fuck is Yoonchae?”

“Only other person I’ve known to be able to see private bonds.” Heeseung took a steadying breath. “They…it shouldn’t be possible.”

Jungwon visibly blinked back the fog clouding his head. “Tell us about them first.”

“They could see bonds, like tethers that connected people together, but Yoonchae could also break bonds with a flick of their wrist, tear them apart, use them to pit coven members against each other if they wanted.”

“Great.” Jay breathed, blinking hard as though he was trying to steady himself. “Now what do you mean ‘not possible’?”

Heeseung swallowed, his grip on Jungwon tightening, but now it seemed more for his own comfort. “They were on the list.” Heeseung’s voice cracked on the word.

Beside him, Sunghoon froze. “What list, hyung?”

“The one I traded for your lives.”

Chapter Text

“But I can’t break bonds…can I?” 

Heeseung looped his arms around Jungwon’s waist tighter, a memory pulling at the back of his mind. It was slightly fuzzy, grainy, like an old film, but he could feel the hand gripping the back of his neck, a knee digging into the small of his back, the hard ground under his face. He shuddered at the uninvited cold that swept through his body, and Jay’s fingers loosened in his hair, stroking softly rather than pulling now. 

Sunghoon cleared his throat, his hand covering Riki’s. “Let’s not test it, yeah?”

Riki’s eyes were blown wide, like he was picturing the damage, the chaos he could cause if he shared the same ability as Yoonchae. Heeseung took some comfort in the fact that Riki looked incredibly uncomfortable at the idea. 

Lips tickled his ear, but Heeseung found himself leaning into Jay’s warmth. “You okay?”

Jungwon tucked himself into Heeseung’s neck, still clearing the fog from his brain as he gently pet the mark on his throat, almost adoringly. “Hyung?”

“I’m fine,” he promised, “they just…weren’t my biggest fan.” 

“How so?” Sunoo asked, one hand resting on Riki’s shoulder.

Heeseung sighed, letting his head fall back against the couch. He didn’t want to rehash his past, especially not Yoonchae. Yoonchae, who was always so cruel, who enjoyed pain, who enjoyed causing pain. In hindsight, Heeseung understood why they were kept around in the Underground—their unwavering ability to get information where it was needed was commendable to some extent, but there was no one to protect him from Yoonchae.

“You’ll always be alone. I'll make sure of it.”

Heeseung buried the instinct to lock every door and window possible—to hire a witch, maybe, to set up a ward. But he knew it was useless. If Yoonchae, or Syrus, or the Underground wanted in, there was nothing Heeseung could do to stop it, nothing but plead for the lives of his coven. 

Still, he said, “I’m going to order better security measures.”

Jay’s hand slid from his hair to the back of his neck, his touch so light it couldn’t have been considered more than a caress, but it burned. 

And suddenly, Heeseung was back on the ground, his nose broken and bloodied, leaving him unable to drag clean air into his lungs, and his ribs ached, a dull, almost numb pain that came from an injury left untreated for too long. 

Because of course, Yoonchae wouldn’t let it heal, breaking them over and over, ensuring Heeseung was always weak, always destabilized. He felt the teeth closing around his neck, the instant fear that pumped enough adrenaline through his veins to ignore his pain and push himself away. He saw the blood that stained Yoonchae’s teeth, their grin as they tilted their head at Heeseung’s rare show of defiance. A new thing to break. He felt his throat, coarse with screaming and soaked with blood. He felt Yoonchae’s grip on his ankle, dragging him back, only to slam their fist into his face. 

A thought flickered behind his eyes as Yoonchae brought down another first, bruised at the knuckles. Maybe this time they’ll finish the job.  

But they never would. Because that was no fun.

***

“Hyung? Hey, hyung, look at me.”

Jay’s hand was no longer on the back of his neck. Heeseung wasn’t even on the couch anymore; instead, somehow, he was on the floor, and everyone crouched around him. Only Jake touched him, but Heeseung felt no pain, blood didn’t clog his airways, and the only thing that remained was the dull ache in his ribs, like an echo.

Slowly, his lungs sucked in full breaths again, and he swept the room with his eyes, searching for Yoonchae in the corners. But they weren’t there. All that remained was what he had helped build, something Yoonchae promised him he would never get to have. But Yoonchae was gone. He’d made sure of it. 

Jake’s thumb brushed just under his eye, and only then did Heeseung realize the grip he had on them. He released them, muttering a small apology under his breath and ignoring the worried stares of his coven as he stood up. He shrugged off Jungwon’s silent question, trying to shoulder past them when Riki caught hold of his sleeve. 

Heeseung paused. He could throw Riki off easily, but it was Riki. Riki, who had never looked so worried before, Riki, who was dumb, and brave, and strong, and so unfairly beautiful it made his chest hurt.

“Why did they hurt you?”

All the air Heeseung had worked to get back in his lungs was punched away. Not: did they? Not how? But why?

“They liked it.” He said, his voice flat, his back to Riki. “It made them feel powerful, when I begged, when I cried.”

He heard sharp inhales behind him and the unmistakable sound of Sunoo’s whimper, a broken, sad sound that Heeseung hated more than anything. 

Riki’s hand clenched around his. “You’re strong. For getting away.” 

Heeseung curled his spare hand into a fist. He didn’t feel strong, not when every cell in his body demanded he roll over, because a docile victim was less entertaining, less fun to break. He didn’t feel strong when he ran from city to city, never staying in one place for too long, but not for fear of the locals, but rather because he knew they were closing in.

“Did the rest of the Underground…know?” Jay asked tentatively, but Heeseung could hear the strain in his voice, feel the way he was practically vibrating.

Heeseung considered lying, even if to ease their minds a little. He sighed, rubbing at his eyes in frustration. He knew he’d have to talk about it sooner or later, explain why sometimes he woke with a start or glanced over his shoulder in a crowd, but that didn’t mean he wanted to. 

He tongued at his fangs, giving himself a moment to string the sentence in a way that would soften the blow a little. “They knew. I was offered to Yoonchae once it was clear I held their interest.” 

Jake and Sunoo looked stricken, but Jay and Sunghoon looked murderous. “They got to ‘let their steam out’ as long as they cooperated and did as they were told. Everyone turned a blind eye in return.” His lips quirked up, but nothing felt funny; maybe it was the irony. “The others even made sound-proof rooms, just so no one would have to listen to me scream.”

No one moved for a while, nothing but their ragged breathing filling the room. Until Jungwon uncrossed his arms, his steps were steady but slow as he reached Heeseung. Heeseung watched him silently, answering with a nod when Jungwon raised an eyebrow. Slowly, like he was giving Heeseung time to back out, Jungwon wrapped his arms around Heeseung’s neck, pulling his face down so his nose rested right over his mark on Jungwon’s neck.

Heeseung circled his arms around Jungwon’s waist, feeling how the other vampire shook in his hold. He straightened, lifting Jungwon off the ground slightly, but Jungwon didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he kissed over Heeseung’s mark, sending small shocks through his spine.

But Heeseung reveled in it. Every shock meant he was safe. That he belonged somewhere—no matter how hard Yoonchae had tried to take that from him.

“I’ll kill them. All of them.” Jungwon whispered against his skin; his words seemed like they’d be sharp, dripping with poison, but his tone remained soft.

Heeseung grinned in spite of himself, “I don’t think you can go up against an Original, Wonnie, much less a group of them.”

Jungwon hummed, the edges of his fangs scraping against Heeseung’s mark, and a shiver racked down his spine. “They’ve never pissed me off before.” He countered.

Heeseung, still grinning, set Jungwon back on his feet. Jungwon refused to let go for another moment before stepping back, but kept himself within the circle of Heeseung’s arms. “I won’t let them touch you.”

Heeseung’s chest felt tight. “I know.”

Jake inched closer, breaking the small bubble of tension. Heeseung finally looked away from Jungwon. Sunoo was tucked into Jay’s arms, tears dripping down his face and soaking the material of his shirt. Riki had his arm around the tight line of Sunghoon’s shoulder. He bent down to mutter something in Sunghoon’s ear that had him growling slowly until Riki elbowed him, and his posture relaxed just slightly. 

Heeseung’s heart lurched. Sunoo made a small hiccuping sound, and Jay swiped his thumb under his eye. He offered his hand silently, an offering Jay could take or refuse. Jay gave Heeseung a long-suffering look that told him they’d have a conversation later, but still he pulled Sunoo’s face away from the crook of his neck, his voice soothing as he handed Sunoo over.

The moment Sunoo’s skin brushed his, Heeseung pulled him close, his lips right next to Sunoo’s ear. “I’m okay,” he promised, “it’s all over now.” 

Sunoo made a horrible sound in the back of his throat that sounded dangerously close to a sob. He collapsed into Heeseung’s body, hands grasping at his shirt like he couldn’t pull them close enough together. Heeseung had a bad feeling he’d said the wrong thing because Sunoo was heaving out denials in between shaky breaths.

Heeseung squeezed him tighter, anxiety crushing his lungs. He was the reason Sunoo was this upset, and that fact gnawed at the back of his mind. 

“I won’t let them hurt you, baby, you’re safe.”

Sunoo only sobbed harder, and Heeseung felt something wet on his cheek. He blinked, suddenly aware of how blurry the room had become. He wiped at his eyes roughly.

“That’s not the point!” Sunoo’s hands landed on his chest, and he pushed hard. Hard enough that Heeseung stumbled back a step. 

Jungwon reached to stabilize him, but Heeseung shrugged him off, his eyes tracking Sunoo. Sunoo looked guilty for a moment before fury glazed over his face again.

“It’s not okay and it’s obviously not fucking over.”

Heeseung resisted the urge to simultaneously roll his eyes and scan the perimeter for threats. “Sunoo—”

“Are they the reason you get nightmares?”

Heeseung flinched, just slightly. But it was enough. Jay cursed, and all the progress Riki had made in calming Sunghoon was thrown out the window. 

He opened his mouth, and denials weighed heavily on the tip of his tongue; anything to erase the way Sunoo crumpled or Jay’s curse.

“Don’t.” Jungwon said, dangerously quiet. Heeseung turned to him, surprised. “Don’t even think about lying to us right now.”

 Heeseung’s mouth snapped shut, but he didn’t want to look at them, didn’t want to see the sympathy he was sure was written all over their expressions. 

He heard them shuffling around; they didn’t speak, but their thoughts were loud enough. Someone brushed his shoulder, a gentle warning that had Heeseung relaxing against his will, then pressed their hand firmly over his ribs. Right over the faint, white scar. It was nearly gone, nearly as faded as the pain it had brought. 

Riki’s fingers were gentle, tracing the scar's outline over Heeseung’s shirt. Heeseung let out a shuddering breath, part of him still shocked by the tenderness they handled him with, even after all these years. It was the same part that burned with the memories of pain, of having hands wrapped around his neck, of the sick smile he saw when the sounds of his bones snapping filled the room. It was the same part that kept him with one foot in the past, no matter how much he wanted to let go.

“Hyungie.” 

Heeseung’s breath caught. Riki hadn’t called him that before. He counted to three in his head, then slowly opened his eyes. Riki didn’t hold sympathy in his gaze; instead, it was something Heeseung couldn’t quite read. There was a tight line in his shoulders, one that nearly mirrored Sunghoon’s, but his posture was sad. His mouth was set in a smile, but something in his face twitched at the wrong moments. 

Riki removed his hand without acknowledging the scar that rested beneath it, and Heeseung felt his breath come out faster. “Don’t look at me like I’m fragile.”

Riki blinked for a moment, then threw his head back with a laugh that shattered the atmosphere. When he finally settled, his smile looked more genuine, but his eyes held wrath, enough that Heeseung startled at the sight of it. 

“Oh, trust me, I know you’re not fragile.” He said. “That doesn’t mean you’re not in pain. And that doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to be furious about what they did to you.” 

Now it was Heeseung’s turn to blink in surprise. A breathless, little sound escaped him, and even when he picked Riki apart, he could find no evidence of him lying. Jake tugged on the hem of his shirt, interrupting the small stare-down between him and Riki.

“Hyung, you don’t have to talk about it now, but—”

“—but you have to let us kill them.” Sunghoon interrupted. 

Heeseung glanced over with amusement, and Jake let out an exasperated sigh, muttering something under his breath about ‘not the time’. Heeseung let his eyes drag over Sunghoon. He was still tense, wound up so tight he was practically vibrating. Heeseung smiled, deciding to ignore the fact that Sunghoon had never killed anyone outside of the uncontrollable bloodlust from his fledgling days, and settled on:

“You can take down an Original, Hoon?”

Sunghoon made an aborted sound in the back of his throat. “You think Jungwon can?”

Heeseung shrugged. “It's Jungwon.”

Sunghoon looked torn between agreeing and being offended, but Jay wrapped an arm around his waist, his hand slipping up his shirt, and Sunghoon practically melted. Beside him, Riki shifted, almost imperceptibly, so that he was leaning against Heeseung, the weight of him comforting in a way Heeseung wouldn’t admit. 

Jake caught it too, though, if his little smile was anything to go by. He reached over to tug Jungwon closer to the group. “Okay, so let’s figure out the bigger problem.”

“What bigger problem?” Sunoo asked, his expression still mostly closed off, and Heeseung felt that pang of guilt again.

“The one where somehow Riki got weird ass abilities that we believe are tied to hyung’s abuser?”

Heeseung pressed his hand to Riki’s lower back to stabilize him as everyone turned to stare at him once again. “He couldn’t have gotten them from Yoonchae, they died nearly a hundred years ago.”

“Did you see the body? Personally?”

Heeseung winced. “No, but—”

Jake gave him a look. “And you trust the council?”

“No—”

“So we’re back to square one: we know nothing.”

“If he had his turn botched, everything else would make a little more sense.” Sunoo added. “The dependency, the possible bond, the abilities. If his turning was fucked it would make more sense as to why we’ve never seen this before. Especially if it was an Original.”

Riki frowned, looking down to pick at his fingers, a habit Heeseung was noticing more and more whenever Riki was nervous, but said nothing. 

“They don’t live.” Heeseung insisted. “I’ve watched fledgling burn out within hours. The ones that cling to an Original’s power die faster than those who starve themselves.”

“Well clearly not if Riki is standing right here.” Sunoo countered.

“Yoonchae is dead, I’m telling you.”

“Are you telling us? Or are you hoping?”

Heeseung flinched, feeling a small stab of betrayal at Jungwon’s words. “Stop it.”

Jungwon had the decency to look guilty as he leaned into Heeseung’s space. “Do you know with absolute certainty Yoonchae is dead? Is there no doubt in your mind that when you wrote their name on that list the council would take care of them?”

Heeseung wanted to say yes. He wanted this to be over with, but something in the back of his mind nagged at him. He wasn’t sure. He’d written down Yoonchae’s name and had washed his hands of it. But still.

“They can’t be alive.”

Sunoo looked confused. “Hyung—”

“They would never let me have this if they were alive.”

Jungwon blinked. “Let you have what?”

Heeseung gestured vaguely to his mark and around the room. “They hated nothing more than the idea of me having someone other than them. They only wanted my misery to themselves. They used to slaughter anyone I so much as looked at. They would never let me have a coven.” 

“I hate to say this, but do you think they’re…waiting? Plotting?” Jay’s voice was muffled by Sunghoon’s shoulder, and he bit down on the area when Sunghoon tensed again. 

But Heeseung was already shaking his head. “They were never the plotting type, it took too much patience. They wanted instant gratification, instant pain. They had no impulse control, that’s why I was given to them, so that most of the impulsiveness would fall on my shoulders.” Sunghoon hissed, but Heeseung ignored him. “I wouldn’t have you if Yoonchae was alive.”

Jay looked exhausted as he pinched Sunghoon’s side. “Okay so what if it wasn’t Yoonchae but Yonchae’s blood?”

Heeseung’s head hurt. “What?”

“One of Yoonchae’s closest descendants then, maybe? Or someone using Yoonchae’s blood?”

“How would that even work?”

Heeseung’s jaw ticked as he glanced back and forth between them. They’d fallen into this pattern too many times before—Jake dismissing, Jay arguing, the rest of them caught in the middle. Normally, he’d tune it out, but tonight his nerves were already raw, and their voices scraped across them like sandpaper.

Then Riki leaned back further against his chest, light but steady, and the tension in his shoulders eased almost without permission.

“What are they saying?” Riki asked.

It took Heeseung a beat to realize Jake and Jay had switched to English—their favorite language to argue in—and that he’d been so wrapped up in their noise, he hadn’t even noticed.

“They’re just arguing,” he murmured, voice quieter than before. “Jay’s convinced of something, Jake’s not.”

Jay squinted at Jake. “I don’t know, it’s called a theory for a reason. Maybe they collected Yoonchae’s blood before the execution.”

“Why would anyone keep that?” Jake asked, exacerbated. “And for what, to waste it on a random twenty-three-year-old?”

“Maybe not random.” Jay didn’t add any more, but the implication hung in the air, one that had everyone in the room tensing.

“Enough,” Jungwon said, low, but his voice carried enough to break through to Jay and Jake. “We can argue about motives all night, but it doesn’t matter until we know how Riki was turned in the first place.”

Sunghoon exhaled sharply but nodded. “So we start there. Trace the attack. That’s the first thread.”

“Then we pull it,” Jungwon finished.

Sunoo pushed off the back of the couch, face still tear-stained. “I’ll go back to the study.” 

By the time Heeseung moved, the door was already closing behind him. Heeseung’s hand clenched around nothing, and he fought the urge to sigh. He’d just started pulling away from Riki to go after him when Riki leaned back again, his voice quiet. “Is that where he goes at night? To the study?”

Jungwon turned to him sharply, eyes curious, “What do you mean?”

Riki frowned. “When he leaves in the middle of the night? Usually he just goes downstairs for a couple of hours, at least until Jay or Heeseung drag him back up. I didn’t know he was spending all that time in the study though.”

Something in Heeseung’s chest both warmed and caught at that. Ever since Hanni had first shown up, covered in rain and shivering from fear, they’d all been a little restless, but Sunoo more than most. They lose him to his own head more often now, and Heeseung has had to drag him from the study at ungodly hours far more times than he should have. But he didn’t know that Riki had noticed that. 

He and Jay were trying to get it under control, not wanting to worry Jake further or add something else to Jungwon’s plate, but Heeseung hadn’t even stopped to consider if Riki would be cataloging it. 

“I feel him leave, it wakes me up, but I usually go back to sleep if I can hear him. Sometimes I wait until Jay or Heeseung brings him back, though. Makes me feel better.” Riki said it with a shrug, casual, like Heeseung’s heart wasn’t tearing itself apart to fit Riki inside as well.

Everyone was staring at him again, and Heeseung could tell Riki was starting to feel the weight of it when he started fidgeting. Then Sunghoon, still wrapped up in Jay, leaned forward, his eyes holding a certain gleam. 

“You’re like a human ring-doorbell. You just feel it whenever we leave, huh?” He said. Then he paused. “Well, not human, but you get what I mean.”

Jungwon grinned and let out something close to a giggle, and Heeseung thought, for a moment, he was having a stroke. Jungwon reached out for Riki with one hand, and Heeseung only noticed how much he was leaning on the other vampire once he was gone. Jungwon jabbed his finger in the direction of the hallway, his grin softening into something gentler. 

“Jake-hyung, can you check on him? I’ll talk to him later but right now I think you have a better chance of not having a paper-weight thrown at your head.”

Jake hummed, leaning down to kiss Jungwon’s cheek like he couldn’t resist, and quickly, before he seemed to realize what he’d done, dropped a light kiss on Riki’s head as well. “I just think you're using me as a sacrifice.” He teased, but was down the hall and knocking on the door before Jungwon could answer. 

Once Jake disappeared down the hall, Jungwon turned on Sunghoon. “Can you come eat, please? I don’t think I’ve seen you feed properly in a while, and it’s stressing me out.”

Sunghoon, who looked prepared to fight back, dropped his defensive stance the moment the word ‘stress’ came out of Jungwon’s mouth and didn’t even protest when Jungwon led him from the room.

Heeseung went to follow, but Jungwon stopped him. He shook his head and pointed back at Jay, who didn’t look entirely surprised by the chain of events. 

Heeseung himself should’ve seen this coming, but that doesn’t mean he’s prepared to face the disappointment on Jay’s face.

“Jongseong…” He started, twisting his fingers. 

Jay looked pained, like he’d dropped all pretenses of being fine once he knew there were no witnesses. “I just—” He ran his hand through his hair roughly, “why didn’t you tell us? We’ve told you everything. Do you not…trust us?”

Heeseung winced. “No, Seong, it’s nothing like that, I promise.” He was relieved when Jay didn’t move away from his touch. “It’s just not a good part of my past and I didn’t…” He cut off, searching for a way to make it sound less pathetic to his own ears, “I didn’t want you guys to look at me any different.”

For a long moment, Jay didn’t move, didn’t even breathe, and Heeseung panicked, thinking he’d said yet another thing wrong today. But Jay just stepped forward, forcing himself into the circle of Heeseung’s arms and burying himself against his chest. 

Heeseung’s heart stuttered, stumbled over itself, trying to keep up as he wrapped his arms more firmly around Jay's shoulders, and he leaned his cheek on Jay's hair. He smelled of their shampoo and the cologne Sunghoon had gifted him years ago. It was familiar, a scent Heeseung had come to associate with home long before they’d become an official coven.

“Hyung?” Jay said, voice muffled by the material of Heeseung’s shirt.

Heeseung cleared his throat. “Yeah, love?”

“I’m scared.” 

Heeseung’s arms tightened around Jay reflexively. Reassurances bubbled to the surface. He wanted to tell Jay everything was going to be perfectly fine, that he had nothing to worry about, that Heeseung would take care of it. But he bit those back. Jay wouldn’t want to hear those, not really. So he swallowed his automatic responses and, for the first time that night, decided he’d be entirely honest. 

“Me too, baby, me too.”

Jay held him tighter. 

*****

Jungwon’s head fucking hurt. He had intentionally dragged Sunghoon and Riki far enough away that Jay and Heeseung were just a murmur in the background. They were eating now, Sunghoon making some sort of concoction with ingredients Jungwon wouldn’t have ever thought to mix together, and Riki was happily sipping on a blood bag Jungwon had offered him. 

Sunghoon plated his…food, if you can call it that, and speared some with a utensil to offer it to Jungwon, who declined. Riki, on the other hand, had no qualms and reached over to grab some before Jungwon slapped his hand away. Riki pouted. 

“Hey!”

“You can’t even drink other types of blood, human food is a no-go until I’m sure we’ve weaned you off of Sunghoon.” 

Riki crossed his arms over his chest, now glaring at the blood bag in his hands like it had personally wronged him. Jungwon reached over to gently run his palm from the back of Riki’s neck down to the small of his back, resting his hand there. 

“Why don’t we try it?” Sunghoon interrupted, turning back to the fridge. 

“Hyung—” Jungwon started, both surprised and afraid of what Sunghoon was going to suggest, until Sunghoon slammed open the fridge and laid out the different blood bags.

Sunghoon’s hand covered Jungwon’s to give it a squeeze as he laid it all out for Riki. “Do you want to try today?”

Riki hesitated, glancing back and forth between the bag in his hands and the bags on the counter. “What are we going to do?” 

“We’ll try one drop today, and if it goes well try more?”

Riki sent a nervous glance towards Jungwon, who rubbed comforting circles into his skin. “It’s your choice, no one’s going to make you.” 

Riki fidgeted for a long moment but nodded, and Sunghoon chose a blood bag. He took the one in Riki’s hand, poured it into a cup, and very carefully added a single drop of human blood. He slid the glass back towards Riki. The glass clinked gently when it came to a stop at Riki’s hands, but he didn’t move, didn’t even look up from the blood.

Jungwon was about to tell Riki again that he didn’t have to do this today, but Riki grabbed the glass, throwing it back and taking the blood like a shot, if a little shaky. He recoiled almost instantly and threw himself at Jungwon, hiding in the crook of the other vampire’s neck.

Jungwon blinked, patting Riki’s back as he slowed his breathing, pressing a kiss to his temple just like he would with the rest of his coven. Riki tensed at the contact before falling further into him. He shot a look at Sunghoon, slightly panicked, but Riki was pulling back slowly and tonguing at his fangs with his eyebrows furrowed. 

He lifted the glass again, staring at it, then at Sunghoon. Jungwon pulled at his arm, partly to get his attention, partly to use his own hands as a barrier in case Riki tried to rip at his skin again.

“Riki,” Jungwon whispered, “you okay?”

Riki set down his glass, eyes bright, almost excited. “Yeah,” he said, “I think so.”

Sunghoon squeezed Jungwon’s hand again and squinted at Riki. “You don’t feel…murderous? Itchy? Like you might start ripping your skin off again?”

Riki let out an awkward little laugh but shook his head. “It felt…uncomfortable, but not painful. Not like before.” 

Sunghoon let out a sigh that seemed to drain the life out of him as he sagged against the counter. Jungwon felt the tension winding out of him as well, and Riki was giddy, practically vibrating where he was standing. He made a quick grab for the blood bag Sunghoon was still holding, and before Jungwon could blink, Riki was draining it. 

“Riki!—” Jungwon slapped the bag away, and it landed with an unpleasant slap, sending splatters of blood all over the floor. Riki said something in a voice that bordered on a whine, but stopped when he started to sway in place. His face scrunched up, and the color drained from his face.

“Oh my god, you fucking idiot.” Sunghoon cursed, rounding the counter with quick strides to steady Riki. 

Jungwon waited with baited breath for Riki to snap, for him to double over, for the screaming to start again, for the tattered ribbons of his arms to return. 

Not again. He can’t watch him tear himself apart again. 

But Riki didn’t move. He didn’t scream. He just took slow, pained breaths through his teeth. Sunghoon held him, whispering words of encouragement that Jungwon thought could also double as insults, and Riki clung to him. 

Just as Jungwon was about to leave to go get Jay or Heeseung, Riki straightened up. He was still a little pale, but he looked…okay. Not fantastic, but not like they’d have to go through a repeat of his turning. His hands trembled slightly where he held Sunghoon, but he no longer looked moments from passing out.

Jungwon sagged against his chair. “What did we learn?”

“Too much,” Riki winced, “we’ll try again tomorrow.”

Jungwon nodded, still eyeing Riki to make sure he wouldn’t collapse. He looked okay. But for how much longer?

“What the fuck happened in here?” 

Jungwon turned, watching Jay and Heeseung pause in the doorway. Jay scanned over everyone, taking in the spilled blood and the way Jungwon and Sunghoon were still hovering. 

Riki grinned, bounding over to Jay and Heeseung, only slipping slightly on the blood. “Hyung! I can drink other blood now!”

Jay raised an eyebrow, grabbing Riki’s elbow to guide him closer so he wouldn’t slip again. “You can do what?”

“I can drink other blood.”

Heeseung blinked, accepting Riki’s hug of celebration. “That’s…good, right?”

Jungwon rubbed his temples. “We gave him one drop, then he tried to chug the rest of the bag.”

Jay slapped at Riki without looking. “Idiot.” He hissed before crossing the room to prop Sunghoon up on the counter and grab a wad of paper towels. 

Jungwon hopped off his chair to help, pretending not to notice the way Heeseung carefully inspected Riki, trying to reassure himself that he was actually okay.

He’d just finished throwing away the last bunch of paper towels when his phone buzzed with a message. He dug it free from his back pocket, flipping it so he could see the dull screen. Hanni’s name popped up on his home screen, an old photo of them staring back at him. He smiled at it briefly before he read her message. 

Another body.

The fifth in the past month. 

Heeseung’s hand landed comfortingly on his shoulder, which he squeezed when he also read the message. “We have to go.” He murmured.

Riki glanced their way curiously. “Go where?”

Jungwon sighed. He hated lying, but he hated the idea of getting Riki involved more. “Out, we’re needed somewhere.”

Riki, to his credit, tried to look unbothered, but Jungwon noticed the twitch in his stance. “Can I come?”

“No.” They all answered, and Riki flinched back at their sudden and immediate refusal. 

Jay winced and reached for him, whether to comfort himself or Riki, though Jungwon wasn’t sure. But Riki backed away, pulling into himself and refusing to look at them.

“Jay-hyung,” Jungwon called. “Can you go get Jake and Sunoo, please?”

Jay looked reluctant but left quietly to retrieve Sunoo and Jake. Jungwon turned back to Riki, “Do you want someone to stay with you?”

“No,” Riki said just as Sunoo and Jake appeared in the doorway behind Jay.

“Riki—”

“I’m fine, just go.” He pushed away from the island, storming past the others and straight upstairs. The door slammed moments later, and the entire house flinched at the impact. A part of Jungwon wanted to just bring Riki along; it was only a matter of time before this reached him anyway. But he couldn’t bring himself to drag Riki into whatever this was, especially when he didn’t know himself.

He vaguely heard Heeseung telling the others about the situation in a hushed tone; he could hear their heartbeats pick up speed. Jay was trying to convince Sunoo to stay behind, but he was refusing, saying something about not needing to be coddled, but Jungwon wasn’t really listening. 

“Enough.” Heeseung eventually hissed. “Anyone that’s going, get in the car.” 

Everyone filed out quickly after that until all that was left was Heeseung and Jungwon and the faint, stuttering heartbeat upstairs. 

“He’ll be okay, he’ll be mad as hell, but we won’t be gone for long,” Heeseung said, wrapping his arms around Jungwon’s waist, and Jungwon allowed himself to lean back into the embrace. 

“Yeah, I know.” He said.

Heeseung pulled away, tugging him by the hand towards the car. But even when the door closed and Jungwon had double checked it was locked, he couldn’t shake off the pit in his stomach, a raw, aching feeling that had him itching to run back in to check on Riki. So, he stared blankly as the house got smaller with distance, until he could no longer see it entirely.

***

The walls of Riki’s room felt suffocating. The scents that soaked his blankets were choking him, like barbed wire cutting into the skin of his throat. He watched the car disappear from his window, counting his breaths with the passing seconds. He didn’t know what he wanted or expected. To see the car turn around? For them to come back instead of leaving him alone in a house that now felt cold and unwelcoming?

Riki wasn’t sure how long he’d waited before he found himself downstairs, pacing between the front door and the back. He reached for the door, then ripped himself away. Over and over until he was sure he wasn’t in control of his own body anymore. In the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn’t leave, not when he knew the consequences. But…he just couldn’t stay. Not when he felt like the air was being ripped from his lungs. 

He let out a growl of frustration and pulled the door open, disappearing into the woods before he could change his mind. He blew past trees that all looked the same, took turns around corners until he could no longer see the house, until all the scents were as far away as he could physically manage. But he could still feel the echo of it in his bones, rattling louder than his heartbeat.

Some time had to have passed before Riki realized he had no idea where he was. All the trees that he had hated for looking the same moments ago still looked the same, and he’d taken so many twists and turns he couldn’t even take an educated guess as to which direction he’d come from. He cursed, kicking a tree with the toe of his shoe. It didn’t relieve his frustration nearly as much as he thought it would, and all he ended up with was a scoff on his shoe.

He couldn’t even call them if he wanted to—which he didn’t, because he didn’t need them—he’d left his phone in his room when he’d stormed off. He ventured a little farther, ducking under low-hanging branches and sliding past the bushes that reached for his ankles. It was…quiet. Not peaceful, like it was when Sunghoon had first brought him out, but like everything was watching him, mocking him as he turned in circles. 

The ground crunched beneath something, and Riki tensed, ducking behind a tree. His breathing came out in unsteady huffs that didn’t disturb the air around him. 

Another crack!  

Riki took off, running without direction until he slammed into something. It felt like someone had hit him with a sack of bricks, and he stumbled back, landing on the ground.

“Oh, sorry, Heeseung—” the wall of a man started, then froze. His smile slipped, the warmth in his tone snapping cold in an instant. Riki scrambled back as the stranger advanced on him, narrowly dodging when he lunged.

“Who are you?” The stranger hissed, straightening to his full height that well surpassed Riki’s own. 

Riki didn’t answer; he ran. As far as he could, as fast as he could, weaving in between trees and trying to lose the stranger by ducking past bushes. When he finally skidded to a stop, he heaved air into his starving lungs, pressing his back flat against the wide trunk of a tree. He pressed a hand to his chest, trying to calm his frantic heartbeat enough to listen to the surrounding woods. 

It was silent. 

Riki shifted his weight, gathering enough courage to peek around the tree, but he couldn’t see anything aside from the swinging trees. He’d just breathed a little sigh of relief when a hand tangled in his hair and pain bloomed by his temples. 

Riki screamed, twisting away, but the stranger slammed his skull into the bark again and again, until the fuzzy darkness in the corners of his vision pulled forward, and Riki slumped unconscious in the stranger's grip. 

***

The first thing Riki noticed once he regained his senses was that his head felt like it was moments away from imploding. He sat up groggily on the cold, cement floor, wincing when the movement caused nausea to roll in his stomach. He blinked past the dried blood that crusted his eyelashes together and pressed his spine into the wall. A quick sweep of the area told him he had no idea where he was, but the room reminded him of whatever Jungwon had called ‘Bloodlock’.

There was a steel-enforced door that separated him from whoever had brought him, and chains that hung loosely from the walls. Riki shot for the door, adrenaline holding back the dizziness, but he never made it that far. A metal collar of some sort tightened around his neck, slamming him back into the concrete. 

Riki coughed, and pain exploded in his head. He rolled onto his side, heaving up whatever blood he’d eaten just before. The room was spinning, moving in circles that had Riki swallowing down the bile that flooded his mouth, and all he wanted to do was go back. 

They’ll have no idea what happened to him.

Riki flinched, the thought somehow being more painful than his splitting skull. 

The door hissed as it swung open, and Riki put as much distance between himself and the door as the collar would allow. The stranger from the woods entered first, his stance tense, cautious, as if Riki could possibly be the threat in this situation. A second man followed, his hand resting on the stranger from the woods’ arm.

A woman strode past them, ignoring their attempts to grab at her as she headed straight for Riki. She stopped, crouching in front of him so she was at eye level. She didn’t say anything at first; instead, she studied him, and Riki took the time to study her back. 

Her skin was a rich brown, and she wore clothes that covered most of it. Her coily hair was pulled back from her face, but what startled Riki most about her was her eyes. They held…nothing. Not amusement, not confusion, not contempt, nothing. Like Riki meant nothing. 

“You’re bleeding.” She said, finally. It wasn’t a question; she didn’t even say it sharply, but Riki still pulled into himself.

“No shit.” He spat, and she smiled, all sharp, jagged fangs that terrified him in a way the his—the coven’s never did.

One of the men who followed her growled, lifting his hand up like he was going to strike Riki, and Riki flinched, trying to jump out of the way, but the collar choked him again, keeping him in place. 

The woman held her hand up. “Enough.” And almost instantaneously, the growling puttered out.

Riki relaxed marginally, muttering, “asshole,” under his breath.

The woman didn’t say anything, but one of the men scoffed. 

“Who are you, little fledgling? And why do you reek of Jungwon’s coven?” She asked.

Riki stayed silent, his eyes bouncing between the three intruders, trying to catalog each and every movement. 

“Matthew tells me he found you just on the border of our territory and Jungwon’s. Why is that?” She sighed at the lack of response. “Shall we call him? See what he knows about a stray fledgling that smells like he’s ransacked his home?” 

Riki’s eyes snapped to hers, and she grinned. 

“There we are, got your attention now, don’t I?”

Riki glared but refused to say anything more. If he couldn’t fight them, couldn’t run, couldn’t win—at least he could stay quiet. Silence was his last weapon, and he clung to it with claws. 

To her credit, she did try, rewording her questions over and over until she sighed, pushing off the ground with a: “Well, let’s see how some more isolation will do then.”

Riki forced himself to remain quiet as they headed to the door. Even when he felt like the walls of his mind were moments away from collapsing in on themselves, he stayed quiet. The door clicked shut with a finality that had Riki shuddering, and he leaned his head back against the wall to wait. 

***

When the door opened again, it was Matthew who walked in, by himself, carrying a glass. Riki tracked him with his eyes, too tired to actually do anything but watch him make his way over, crouching in front of him just as the woman had. He set the glass beside Riki, who merely stared at it.

“It’s water,” Matthew said. “Thought you’d be thirsty after all the running.”

Riki glared at him and threw the water back in his face. 

Matthew dodged easily and blinked in surprise. “That was childish.”

Riki threw the glass at him, too. 

“You don’t make friends easily, do you?”

“You bashed my head in, then chained me to a wall.” Riki pointed out, voice as cold as he could manage. “I wouldn’t say you’re the master of new friends either.”

Matthew laughed, sweeping aside the broken shards of glass with his shoe, far enough that Riki couldn’t reach any if he wanted to. “Stranger danger.” Was his only response.

Riki wished he had something else to throw.

Matthew sighed, like Riki was the one being unreasonable. “If you’d just answered her, you wouldn’t have to be here. I’m trying to make this easier on you.”

They sat in blissful silence for only a few moments longer until Matthew had decided he was bored.

“You know, you remind me of them in a way.” He laughed when Riki glanced his way. “Yeah, I thought that’d get your attention.”

Riki looked away again, but Matthew seemed undeterred. 

“You’re stubborn as hell, mouthy, absolutely like an Enhypen coven member.” He mused, flipping one of the larger broken shards in his hand.

Riki turned him out, even if the words spread warmth in his chest despite his best efforts. Matthew left eventually, and Riki was left to the stretch of endless time that only seemed to exist within Bloodlock. 

There were no windows, no clocks, and Riki had resorted to counting every time he blinked. He’d just reached 248 when the door opened quietly, like the person didn’t want to be noticed.

They made a rush for him, and Riki nearly screamed, jumping back as far as the metal around his neck would allow.

“Easy, pretty boy, I’m getting you out of here.” The person whispered, and Riki paused. He knew that voice.

“Hanni?” He asked cautiously, dropping his defenses.

“Yeah, it’s me.” She said, reaching for the metal collar around his neck. His body relaxed at the sound of her voice, but his mind didn’t. Not yet. Not here. But still, Riki bent down to give her easier access.

“What are you doing here?”

Hanni scoffed, “This is my coven that you’ve pissed off. Good going with the glass by the way.”

Riki could hear the disapproval in her voice and elected to ignore it. “He hurt me first.”

Hanni winced, hand coming up to gently probe at his head wounds, only succeeding in making Riki want to vomit. “I know, I’m sorry. Great, your skull’s a cracked melon. Jungwon’s going to love me for this.”

“Why isn’t it just healing?” He asked, blinking past the nausea.

Hanni looked at him like he was stupid—and maybe he was. “It’s a head wound. That’s like one of the two ways we can actually die. Our heads and our hearts are a lot more fragile, that’s why we’re cautious with them.”

Riki wanted to point out that Matthew was not, in fact, cautious with his head but decided against it as Hanni fiddled with the collar again.

“I tried to get down here earlier but Youngie wouldn’t let me down and then Matthew was already down here…” She trailed off, cursing softly when the collar wouldn’t budge.

“This is your coven?”

Hanni blinked at him, pursing her lips. “How hard were you hit? Do you have a concussion?” 

Riki shook his head, then immediately regretted the action when bile rolled in his stomach and he pushed Hanni far enough away to dry-heave.

She patted his back sympathetically. “Yes, this is my coven. The guy that knocked you out in the woods was Matthew, the other one was Youngsoo and the tall, intelligent, ridiculously hot woman was my leader, Nova—she’s like my version of Jungwon.” 

Nova’s eyes flashed before Riki’s mind, the cold, deadness behind them, and he shuddered. Riki remembered vaguely the outline of her coven, two men, five women aside from Hanni herself, so that left four blank spots in Riki’s mind. He was just about to bring it up when the collar tightened on his neck, cutting off his air supply. Riki choked, dropping to his knees to claw uselessly at his neck. 

Hanni yelped. She was saying something, her voice panicked, but Riki couldn’t hear her over the pounding in his ears. She stepped back, and the collar loosened, allowing Riki to pull in a sharp, desperate breath. 

“Hanni, my love, why are you trying to break out the rogue?”

It took Riki far too much effort to look, but he knew she was there. Hanni froze in front of him, turning to face Nova with a guilty look. “He’s not a rogue,” She insisted. “He’s Jungwon’s…foriegn exchange student.”

If Riki had the energy, he would’ve laughed at the absurdity of the statement. The least Hanni could’ve done while her coven was trying to choke the life out of him was come up with a believable lie. 

“Foriegn exchange student?” Nova repeated, doubtfully.

Hanni nodded. “He’s from…” She glanced at Riki for help.

“Japan.” He said.

“Yes! And he’s staying with Jungwon for a while.”

Nova raised an eyebrow at Hanni, then turned slightly to address Riki, “If you’re really his exchange student why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

Riki tried not to startle at the sudden Japanese, but some part of him was comforted by the sound of his first language. “You tied me to a wall, I wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk.” 

Nova tilted her head, and Hanni nudged him lightly, but Riki couldn’t tell if she was telling him to stop or if she just didn’t understand what they were saying.

“And you live with them?” Nova asked.

Riki glared. “Why do you think I smell like them?”

Nova considered him for a long moment, then stepped forward without warning, her hands at his neck. Riki flinched, but the collar snapped off. She turned to leave up the stairs without another word, allowing Hanni to reach out to steady him before following her up. 

Upstairs was far warmer than it was down in Bloodlock, and Riki felt a little like he had whiplash. The smoke alarm was going off, and he watched at least two women wave a towel in front of it, trying to ward off the smoke, and another playfully hit Youngsoo with a spatula.

“This is why you’re not allowed in the kitchen!” She gritted out.

“It’s not even that bad!”  

“You just set the stove on fire trying to boil water!”

Nova strode into the chaos, quickly disarming the woman of her weapon as she kissed Youngsoo on the cheek. “Baby, you know you’re banned from the kitchen.” 

Youngsoo pouted, his mouth pulling down, and for a moment, Riki thought he was hallucinating. This was the same person who had been seconds away from beating the shit out of Riki when he was in Bloodlock, and now he was pouting after being scolded. 

Matthew came barreling up behind Riki, and he had enough survival instincts left to jump out of the way as he ran through the kitchen, shouting, “My kitchen!”

Riki glanced around. Everyone was distracted. Maybe if he just backed away…

He turned and was promptly slammed into a wall, his head rattled, and the pressure on his neck grew. Hanni shouted, but the woman in front of him wouldn’t budge; if anything, she tightened her hold. 

Hanni tackled her to the side, and Riki crumpled to the floor in an unorganized heap. He clutched at his head, like he could keep it together by pure force of will. 

“What the fuck is he doing up here?”

Hanni ignored her, reaching gingerly for Riki’s head, but he pulled away before she could touch him. “He’s already injured, don’t damage him anymore.”

The woman looked at Nova who shrugged. “I let him out, Lay, it’s fine.”

‘Lay’ looked back and forth between Riki and Hanni before scoffing, “How do you know him, Hanni?”

“He’s Jungwon’s.” She said immediately and ‘Lay’ blinked in surprise. 

“I thought you said he was a rogue?” 

“If he’s Jungwon’s, he’ll prove it eventually.”

Riki ignored the rest of the conversation, too busy trying to keep his stomach from upending again, but Hanni was whispering names in his ear, “That’s Layla,” she pointed to the woman who pinned him to the wall, “And that’s Danielle, Jasmine and Haeun.”

Riki truly did not care to learn their names, he just wanted to go home. 

He only looked up when he was sure he wouldn’t vomit all over their floor, and he could see out of his peripheral vision again without feeling the weightlessness of being unconscious. Danielle was trying to salvage whatever Youngsoo was trying to make, who was sitting in Matthew’s lap by the island. Layla was still eyeing him suspiciously but she relaxed when Nova wrapped her arms around her. 

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. “Are all covens like this?”

The room froze and Hanni cursed him out under her breath. Nova cocked her head, curls bouncing around her face. “How old are you?” It was barely above a speaking volume but the room was so quiet that it carried over with ease.

Hanni jumped in before Riki could. “He’s only been turned for about a decade.”

Nova didn’t quite look like she believed Hanni but shrugged again, offering a quick, “All coven dynamics are different. Some do it for strength in numbers, a mark for protection, others for political appeal and some are bonded romantically or sexually, depending on the coven.”

Riki couldn’t nod without losing feeling in his fingers but he hoped she saw the understanding in his eyes. “Can I go now?”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jasmine and Haeun inch closer to the door, like they were guarding it and Youngsoo tensed up. Matthew kissed his shoulder, and muttered, “I already called Jake, they’ll meet us at the border.”

Panic ran through his veins and Riki didn’t know if he wanted to cry tears of relief or try to run again. He hated how much he craved their comfort at the moment, for them to make the pain disappear. He didn’t want to be seen like this and he found himself wishing for a dark, quiet corner to curl up in, something far, far away from everything.

“Anything else?” Danielle asked, eyeing Riki like he might jump up and grab her at any moment.

Matthew made a face. “Something about him being untouched or whatever. I told him it was already too late for that. They were not happy.”

Hanni made a small distressed sound in the back of her throat and Youngsoo broke free of Matthew to wrap her in his arms, pressing her face into his neck. He glared at Riki like he was the direct cause. Riki leaned heavily against the wall, only managing to crawl a few steps away as Nova approached Hanni and Youngsoo.

“Hanni, baby,” She said softly, and the tone threw Riki off; he had no idea she could be so gentle. “Do you think he can be moved?”

Hanni pulled away just enough so that her voice was clear, “Not with his head, he shouldn’t move that much.”

Jasmine sighed, grabbing a set of keys off a hook Riki didn’t see before. “I’ll start the car.” 

Riki pushed himself to stand, but wasn’t fast enough to jump away from Matthews' grasp. The sudden jerk pulled his head to the side, and Riki gasped, his vision flashing white. He could feel the echo of the collar weighing heavily on his neck, like it was tightening, and then, he was falling.

***

Riki didn’t remember waking up; in fact, he didn’t even remember losing consciousness, but he must have because he sat up in the back seat of a car he didn’t recognize. There were voices outside, arguing loud enough that Riki’s head pounded in sync with the tones of their voices. He pushed open the door slowly, spitting the bile that had filled his mouth out onto the grass. Nova was standing in the center of her coven, arms crossed, facing what Riki could only make out to be a fuzzy outline.

“Hyung?”

Silence snapped around them, and the sudden lack of noise only intensified the pain in Riki’s head. There was a blur of movement, and then Jay and Heeseung were fighting to get a better look at him. Jay’s hands were so, so gentle when they grasped his face, but Riki bit his tongue until it bled, trying to keep in his scream. Heeseung was gingerly moving his hair out of his face, his hands cool.

“Hey, don’t move, baby, don’t move.”

Riki felt a tear slip down his cheek when Jay accidentally brushed against a particularly tender spot, and Jay looked both heartbroken and furious. “What did you do to him?” He hissed, keeping his hands on Riki like he was afraid that if he let go, he might launch himself at the Broods. 

“What I had to do, I thought he was a rogue and he ran, he could’ve been dangerous.”

Heeseung turned their way, his voice rising in pitch, and Riki tried to cover his ears. Jay chewed on his lip, and only then did Riki notice the tears that lined his eyes. He held up his finger. “Can you follow my finger, Riki?”

Riki tried, he really did, but now even the smallest movements took too much energy, energy Riki was using to try to keep standing. Jay gave up after a moment and practically carried Riki back towards the others. 

“Jay.” 

Jay froze in his attempt to get Riki into their car. “What do you want, Nova?”

“I would take care of your little problem before the council catches wind of him.”

Jay threw himself at her, snapping his teeth like he was going for her throat. Only managing to be stopped when Jungwon and Jasmine stepped in between them, pushing them further apart. “This is none of your business. Stay out of it.”

“You made it my business when you involved Hanni.” Nova hissed. “And she is mine just as Sunghoon, or Jungwon or Sunoo is yours. So you made it my problem.”

“Riki is mine, and you nearly cracked his fucking skull open!”

“Knock it off!” Jungwon snapped, pushing Jay back with a strength Riki didn’t know he possessed. He turned back to Nova, venom dripping from his voice and even Riki shuddered. “We are leaving with Riki, now.” 

Riki felt Jake grip his arm, he could hear Sunoo whispering something to him but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Nova, of the way she shifted and he knew the fight was far from over. 

“He’s not registered.”

His coven flinched as one and Heeseung growled low, threatening. 

Nova barreled on. “I’m trying to help,” she said and Riki thought she sounded genuine, almost desperate, “you need as many allies as you can get for what’s coming and you won’t have that if the council kills all of you for an unregistered, illegal, fledgling.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?” She jabbed her chin at Riki. “Does he know all the little vamps in America died?”

“Stop talking.”

“Hyung,” Jungwon softened slightly at the sound of Riki’s voice and Nova caught it immediately, “what is she talking about?”

“Nothing, baby—”

Nova laughed, a high pitched, shrill sound that had even her own coven shooting her looks of concern. “You’re lying to him. You’re fucking lying to him!”

“Nova—”

She turned to Riki like no one else was even present. “They did a little experiment, in America, the vamps had single-source dependency. Everyone died.”

Riki stumbled back into Sunghoon and regretted it immediately. His vision swam and he had to drag in deep breaths in an attempt to beat back the darkness threatening to consume his brain. “What?”

“You’re a liability.” She said flatly, and Riki didn’t even have the energy to flinch.

There was a beat of nothingness as her words sank in and no one saw Jake coming when he threw himself at her. They landed in a heap of claws and fangs and Sunghoon only let Riki go for long enough to grab Jake by the back of his shirt. 

“You don’t get to talk to him like that!” He spit and Riki swayed towards him at the sight of claw marks on his arms.

Sunghoon hauled him back and Riki reached for him, turning his arms over in his hands. “You’re hurt.” He managed then twisted to find Jay. “Hyung!”

Jay materialized by his side in an instant, peppering him with questions that Riki couldn’t keep up with. Riki grabbed his arm to stop him. 

“No, hyung, Jake’s hurt.”

Jay paused, then slowly turned his gaze to Jake. He gingerly took Jake from him, and Riki slumped back into Sunghoon’s arms, who kissed his temple gently. He heard Jay scold Jake lightly, kissing the scratches as they healed, not deep enough to leave a mark. 

Jake huffed, but Riki saw the way he leaned into Jay’s touch when Jay kissed his forehead. “I’m fine, but Riki…”

Warm breath passed over his neck, and Riki hummed weakly to acknowledge it. 

“I’m going to pick you up, okay? To take you to the car.” Sunghoon whispered, his voice a balm against the feeling of knives in his skull. 

“No, I can walk.”

Sunghoon’s arms tightened around him, and Riki couldn’t even move if he wanted to. “Don’t fight me on this, I’m not asking, I’m telling you so you can prepare yourself.” 

Riki considered protesting again, but Sunghoon was already bending down to slip his arm underneath his knees, lifting him so slowly that Riki didn’t even have to move his head. Sunghoon sat him down slowly, waiting for him to catch his breath before settling close, bracing his body over Riki’s without ever pressing his weight down. His hands were gentle on the back of Riki’s neck as he guided him to his own throat, thumb brushing tenderly against Riki’s jaw. 

Riki’s lips parted for Sunghoon’s skin, but it wasn’t until Sunghoon brushed his hands down Riki’s arms that Riki sank his teeth in. They were still fighting, the sound of it reverberating in Riki’s head. But it faded to the background, becoming mere static in the face of Sunghoon’s heartbeat. 

When he started to sway, Riki pulled back, closing his eyes. He heard the door open, and Jay’s hands pressed against his arm, forcing him to peel open his eyes.

“Did you feed him?”

Sunghoon sounded unsure of himself for the first time. “I had to. His head—”

Jay shushed him gently, “I know, love, it’s okay. We just need to keep him awake for a little while.” His hand swept through Riki’s hair, pulling it back slightly to check his injuries. 

He climbed in beside Riki, asking him all sorts of questions he didn’t really want to answer, but Jay got such a terribly worried look whenever Riki took too long to answer that he just kept up however he could. 

Riki only noticed when the rest of the coven joined based on that little warm feeling in the center of his chest spread. Sunoo was whispering reassurances, but Jake remained silent aside from the hand on his knee, which was a comfort enough. 

iThe door closed, and the car started, dragging them further away from Nova, Hanni, and the answers they carried. Jay’s arm never left Riki’s shoulders, but the way his gaze lingered on Jungwon in the front seat was sharp, accusing. Riki was too tired to ask what it meant, too tired to care. But even through the haze, he felt it—their bond stretched thin, humming with tension. Something was going to break.

Chapter Text

Riki was conscious—at least Jake thought he was. His head was still bleeding, not pouring like before but oozing, sluggish, and sticky against Jake’s sleeve. Every time the car jolted, Riki whimpered and squeezed his hand, and Jake swore he could feel every tremor travel up his arm.  

Heeseung’s cursing from the front barely registered. Jungwon’s sharp tone telling him to keep steady blurred together with the horn of a passing car. None of it mattered. The only thing Jake could hear was Riki’s broken breathing against Jay’s neck, every uneven hitch threatening to stop altogether. Sunghoon had shut down, lost entirely to the claws of his own thoughts, and Jake didn’t even know where to begin in digging him out. 

His palm was slick where it gripped Riki’s, and he couldn’t tell if it was sweat or blood. Time seemed to move backward, seconds stretched far beyond their domain, echoing in Jake’s ears with every drip of blood from Riki’s wounds. 

Heeseung slammed the brakes the second their gravel driveway came into view. He didn’t even wait for the car to stop before throwing it into park. Everyone moved in a blur, everyone aside from Jay, who was still holding Riki tightly against his body, trying to absorb the shock so Riki wouldn’t be jostled as much. His voice was low, but Riki still winced.

Jake just sat there. Hands twisting in his lap over and over until Sunoo pulled him from the car, pushing him at Sunghoon, who looked like he was staring through him. Jake approached him gently, afraid to startle him.

“Hoonie, honey,” he murmured, running the tip of his finger down Sunghoon’s arm.

Sunghoon blinked, some clarity returning to his eyes, focusing on Jake. “Jakey, Jakey.”

Jake smiled, gripping Sunghoon’s arm more firmly now, trying to ground him to his spot, “Hi, beautiful.”

He led Sunghoon inside, ensuring he always had a hand on him, squeezing lightly when he felt the other slipping away again. Heeseung was sitting on the couch, holding Riki on his lap. Jay knelt in front of them, holding Riki’s hair back with one hand and holding a wet towel in the other. Riki sat ram-rod straight, more alert than Jake had seen him since they’d picked him up.

He didn’t move, didn’t even flinch as Jay dabbed at his head, but tears rolled down his face silently. The sight was enough to throw Sunghoon back in his head, and Jake had to carefully pry him away, steering him towards the kitchen where Jungwon was already sitting, head in his hands.

Jake leaned in close to kiss his temple, staying long enough to murmur quiet words of comfort against his hair. Jungwon sniffed, turning away, and Jake knew better than to push his luck. When Riki gasped, so quiet Jake wouldn’t have heard it if not for the utter silence that held them, he slipped back into the living room. Riki was leaning back against Heeseung’s chest, holding his head away from Jay’s towel.

“Riki, I need to clean your wounds before I wrap them.”

Riki looked green, and his adam's apple bobbed in his throat. “I know, I know, just—just give me a second.”

Jay paused with his hand on Riki’s knee, his thumb smoothing over his pants, but he didn’t say anything more. Riki visibly took several deep breaths, twisting his hands in the material of Heeseung’s shirt. Only when his breath settled in his chest again did he lean forward, allowing Jay to continue cleaning the blood from his hair and skin.

“Jake?” Heeseung called, voice barely above a whisper.

Jake blinked the tears from his eyes, “Yeah, hyung?”

“Can you get more of Sunghoon’s blood? Jay thinks Riki has a depression fracture.”

Bile pooled in his mouth. “That bad?”

“Bad enough.”

Jake didn’t stay long enough to hear the rest, practically knocking Sunoo over in his attempt to get to the fridge. He pulled as many of Sunghoon’s bags from their drawers as he could, piling them into his arms and rushing them back to Heeseung. Jay had somehow managed to bandage Riki’s head in the brief time, although Jake could already see the red stains blossoming on the white fabric.

Heeseung took them from him, holding them up to Riki’s mouth, and Jake just…stood there. Useless. He couldn’t do anything, not help Riki, not drag Sunghoon out of his head, nor comfort Jungwon. 

Nothing.

Jake flinched, but from what he wasn’t sure. The air was sharp with the scent of Riki’s blood, and it burned in the back of Jake’s throat. Almost on instinct, his hand flew to his throat. He could feel the blunt stab of his own fingernails digging into the delicate skin, but it felt outside of him, like it wasn’t his own body.

“Jakey? Hey, Jake, stop.”

There was a pull, and the light stabbing disappeared. Jake blinked. He could feel the warmth of Jay’s hands on his face, hear his voice, but it took a little while for his features to come into clarity. 

“Jake, come back to me, love.”

A sound ripped from his throat, and Jake hardly registered that it had come from him when he was pulled into Jay’s arms. He scrabbled for purchase on the fabric of Jay’s shirt, burying his face in the crook of Jay’s neck. 

“He’s going to be fine, I promise.”

Jake pulled back only to get another look at Riki, who seemed marginally more lucid than he was a few moments ago. He was answering Heeseung’s questions, his eyes darting across the room, taking in details like he hadn’t seen them a hundred times before.