Chapter Text
“I didn't expect this from you, Est.” Was the sentence Est dreaded to hear in his entire twenty-four years of living, out of which he spent seven working for an organisation he was forced to bow in front of.
His boss, Som, was pacing in the old, grease-smelling warehouse, a cigarette bud between his slightly black-stained teeth. His forehead wore a bunch of wrinkles on them, his knuckles and fingers cracked with years of experience bunched into them as he massaged the skin.
The bodyguards standing in the corner of the room didn't dare say anything, their heads bowed low, their hands placed on the guns strapped to their waist. Est’s accomplices stood beside him in the same manner, though one out of the four bit his lip, trying not to laugh at the situation that was taking place.
The boss’ gaze snapped towards that person. “Anything you want to tell us, Lego?”
At the question, Lego burst out laughing, placing a hand on his mouth to muffle the sound of pure amusement, but it did nothing. “I-I’m sorry! It's just that— the situation is way too unreal to believe!”
Tui let out a snort, but masked it with a fake cough when Est turned his head to glare.
“It's not everyday you see a person with a sun-like personality sitting in a creepy warehouse like this,” Hong agreed, crossing his arms as he looked at Est. “Am I right?”
But Hong slowly approached the man sitting on the worn-out leather couch, slowly tapping his shoulder to see if he was real. “Would it be ironic to call you a sunshine, considering the fact that you probably can't go out in the sun?”
William, the man with sparkles in his eyes, shook his head. He looked way too optimistic for someone who was sitting in a room full of people who owned knives and guns as if they were groceries. “That's a misleading stereotype! I can go out in bright sunlight– well that is if I wear my sunscreen which I really don't sometimes–”
Nut frowned, pulling back. “Are you sure? I mean you told us that you are newly-turned. So what if later you can't?”
“Nut.” Est interrupted him with gritted teeth. “Can we not do this right now?”
Nut stood up straight, clearing his throat. “Right. My bad.” But a smile betrayed him when William giggled.
Som sat on his swivel chair, which made a popping sound under his weight. The others pretended not to notice, except William who giggled. The boss glared at him. “So how do you plan on returning him?” He asked Est.
“Return me?” William pointed at himself. “Am I some delivery package that arrived at the wrong house? I'm a mortal being!” He sounded offended.
“Immortal being.” Lego whispered helpfully.
William made a face of realisation and shot a finger gun at him, smirking. “Right. I'm still getting used to all this, sorry. Thanks for correcting.”
“No problem bro.”
“Kids!” The boss barked and the room died down. “Est, you didn't answer my question. How should we send him back? ‘cause this kid doesn't seem like good news to us. If we release him, he'll probably announce it to the entire world that he was kidnapped.”
Est sighed, nodding, not daring to look up at his boss.
William raised his hand. “I promise I won't do that but I don't think I want to be released.” The boss frowned at him for that statement. “Well, if I have a pretty thing to look at everyday, I don't see the benefit of going back to the boring world again where I don't see him.” He pointed towards Est.
The cigarette fell from Som’s lips. Nut and Lego made a sound of surprise, Hong widened his eyes, Tui squealed, and the bodyguards lifted their heads for the first time that day. And Est? He froze, ears and cheeks heating up as if he was standing on top of a stove.
“Excuse me?” Est managed to choke out. He couldn't believe the audacity this kid was having. Flirting with him? Wow, William really had the guts, because no one even dared to talk back to him let alone this.
William shrugged, leaning against the cushions of the couch. “I don't hear anything wrong in what I just said.” He looked way too unbothered but way too serious as well. It was almost as if he was talking with a classmate and not with a.. man who had a knife in his pocket.
“I'm not a pretty thing. That's where you are mistaken.” Est tilted his head, as if challenging William to go against his words. What did William find so pretty about the oil grease on his shirt, the dirt stained on his arms, and the gunpowder smell that followed him?
William leaned, placing his chin on the palm of his hand. “Aren't you though? Your doe eyes and your red lips which you've bit four times since the past five minutes say that you're beautiful. To me at least.”
“You counted?” Est frowned, didn't bother to hide the disbelief in his tone. Just what the hell was this vampiric kid?
Som slammed his hand on the table, silencing whatever William had in mind that he was about to say. “This is insane! Pure bufoonery! I want him–” he pointed towards William. “out of here before next week.”
Est nodded, his hands tightening into a clasp behind his back. He pretended not to hear the sigh this baby vampire just let out. He had to do whatever to take this William dude out of this situation.
When the boss finally dismissed them, Lego stretched his arms above his head, groaning as he felt the muscles stretch. He turned to look towards William, who was eyeing the place down with curiosity. “So,”
William snapped his neck to look at him, sitting up straighter. “Can I have candy?” He asked, but the room fell into a pit of silence as he did. “What?” He questioned innocently once he saw the nasty stares everyone was giving him.
Tui stared at him with a scandalous look. “Are you sure you're a vampire? I've heard they only drink blood—”
“Another misleading stereotype!” William cried out.
“This is the first time I've seen a vampire ask for candy and not a blood bag.” Hong took out his gun from its hostler before setting it down on the cracked wooden table. He pretended not to notice the way William’s eyes lingered on the blue-orange graffiti he had decorated the gun with.
“I don't have a craving for blood.” William shrugged, standing up, although his legs shook a little from sitting down for far too long. “Just something sweet and strawberry-flavored.”
“Ask P’Est. He has a stash in his room—” Nut was cut off by the sound of a bullet firing in the room. He bucked down in reflex from the sound, covering his ears. Lego and Tui shrieked and Hong slowly backed away.
“That's a lie.” Est calmly replied, staring at the wall he had just shot a bullet at. He lowered his gun and looked at William straight in the eye. “I don't own candy. I don't eat candy, as a matter of fact.”
Lego snorted. “Sure you don't—”
“Sweetheart, I heard Diamond was calling for you a while ago.” Est interrupted with a tight smile, sighing when he watched the younger dash out of the room at the speed of lighting. “And he complains when he has to run in his missions?” He quietly grumbled to himself.
Est pretended not to notice when he caught a sight of William approaching him from the corner of his eyes. He mentally winced, praying that he wouldn't snap when William asked him a stupid question.
“Pretty phi,” William rested his elbows on the table, the same one on which Est was inspecting the used guns. “How are you going to send me back?”
Est breathed through his nose. Someone please give him strength to deal with this man otherwise he was going to grab one of these strong guns and shoot himself in the head. Or maybe he'd shoot William– man, he doesn't know.
“I don't know. Maybe we'll just drop you back where we found you.” He replied, picking up a soft cloth and rubbing it at the stubborn stain on his gun. “That alleyway, right? I think I remember that route.”
William’s smile faded as he stood up straight. “That alleyway is really creepy, and you're going to leave me there? Me?” He moved closer to Est, lips jutted into a pout.
“If it were so creepy, then why were you there?” Est finally looked at William, throwing the cloth on the floor and crossing his arms. “Also, aren't you a vampire? You probably have some super strength to protect yourself. Stop being a scaredy cat.”
“How many times do I have to tell you I'm not yet a vampire with thousands of years of experience!” William slammed the table with his hand, trying to look frustrated but all he did was look like a toddler throwing a tantrum because the adults were not understanding his blabbering. “I'm barely twelve months old in the vampiric world! I don't have enough experience nor do I have enough control.”
Est let out a snort at that. “Yeah, you act like it too.”
William sighed, rubbing his forehead. “You're foul-mouthed, but you're pretty so I'll let it go.” He glanced at Est, making a knowing sound. “I have a weak spot for cute boys, you know?”
Est grabbed a gun and faced it towards William, who widened his eyes and ran away from the fear of being shot.
Of course, Est wasn't going to shoot him but William was not going to take any chances
“Idiot.” Est muttered, watching William run into a pole, frenzied. He set his gun down, ignoring the warmth he was feeling on his neck despite the cold air in the warehouse.
The next time Est saw the vampire was when he was laying down in bed in his room after a long day. His limbs were aching and his fingers were gifted with new blisters, but he didn't pay any heed to it. He just wanted to close his eyes, and fall into a slumber without being woken up.
But of course, when did Est ever receive what he wanted? Because the next thing he knew, his door burst open and there outside his room stood Lego and William with matching sly grins on their faces.
“What the–” Est jolted awake, heart pounding in his ribs as he clutched his sheets. What were these two doing, standing in front of his door like guilty children who came to wake up their mom after they threw up in the middle of the night?
“Boss told me to drop him off.” Lego nudged William into the room, who looked around with a judging eye.
"Orange Caramel? Really?” Est heard the judging in William’s tone when he saw the music posters. His cheeks heated. They made really good music, alright?
No one could blame Est for being a fan. He spent his teenage years listening to them while training with knives.
Drop him off in our apartment? In my room?” Est stood up, still a little shakened. “Why is this creature here? I thought we were keeping him chained in the warehouse?”
“Yeah well, we thought so too, but this little guy here–” Lego jutted his chin towards him. “Chewed our boss’ head off, complaining about how the metal handcuffs were hurting his wrists.”
William nodded with a pout, raising both his hands in front of Est to show him the red lines that were marked across his wrists. “They hurt really bad, pretty phi.”
Est opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. He could not believe what was going on. The amount of tantrums William was throwing was seriously messing up with his brain.
“So you decide to bring him here?!” Est raised his voice in annoyance, he felt like he was three seconds away from pulling out the strands of his hair due to pure irritation. Just why did he end up in a situation like this?
Lego shrugged. “Boss said that he was your responsibility since you brought him here.” He placed his hand on the handle of the door, ready to walk out. “I'll be going now. Have a good night you two.” And he left, shutting the door close behind him.
Est stood frozen in his place, staring at the brown-painted door that Lego had just walked out of. His fists were still clutched tightly, his hair a tousled mess as he desperately tried to make sense of what was happening. He didn't yet realize that William was still exploring his room with curious eyes.
“A pink teddy?” William picked it up, eyeing it with a glint in his eyes. “I didn't know the grumpy-head slept with a teddy in his bed? That's cute. I knew you were not as scary as you made yourself be.” He chuckled, placing the soft toy down.
Est rubbed his face with his hand. This was not going to be easy at all. Dealing with William at the warehouse was already bad enough, now he has to share a room with him too for the night? That man was going to suck the blood out of him!
Literary or figuratively.
Est wished for a proper night of sleep, something he wasn't able to achieve for weeks now. Just when he set up the room with dim lights, scented oils and soft music, ready to hit the slumber land, he was greeted with this menace of a vampire.
William sat down on the bed, already half laying down by the time Est turned to look at him. He patted a spot next to him. “C’mon it's getting late. Don't you want to sleep?”
Est frowned, crossing his arms. “Get off my bed. Right now.” He demanded, watching William slowly sit up obediently.
Surprising.
“You don't want me to sleep on the bed with you?” William tilted his head, voice sullen. “Then where am I supposed to sleep?”
“In the living room.” Est pointed towards the door. “But certainly not here– so, out!”
William crossed his arms. “P’Tui and P’Hong are playing video games in the living room, and I believe they'll probably not sleep until dawn. So now what?”
Est inhaled sharply. He'll make sure Tui and Hong have a hard time at training tomorrow since they value their gaming time so much and don't like sleeping. “Sleep anywhere but just not here!”
“Are you afraid that I might do something to you when you're asleep?” William pointed towards himself. “Well don't worry! I should be more afraid ‘cause I'm sleeping next to a person who owns sparkly knives. Vampires are harmless in front of people like you.” He smiled sarcastically as he patted the spot next to him again. “So c’mon,”
Est exaggeratedly huffed, uncrossing his arms. “Then it's either you sleep on the floor or I do. Because there's no way I'm sharing my bed with you. No way in hell.”
William immediately got up from the bed, and sat down on the cold floor below. “You take the bed then. Pretty things don't deserve to be on the floor.” He looked immensely proud of what he had just said.
Est thought it was bullshit. But he did not have the energy to retort back anymore, so he just quietly climbed back in bed, settling under the covers. Just when he was about to close his eyes, he realized something. He turned to look down at William.
“Are you just going to sleep like that? Without any blankets or pillows?” He asked, watching William nod his head. This was odd. Looking at himself, Est couldn't imagine sleeping without blankets let alone pillows. Comfort was his top priority when sleeping. If William went to bed like that, wouldn't it be more nice to just sleep on big rocks?
William bent his elbow and rested the side of his head on his palm. “No, I don't need them. My body runs cold anyways. And for the pillows–” He cracked a guilty smile. “It would be nice if you lent me one.”
Est sighed, grabbing a spare pillow from his bed which he was not using before tossing it towards William. “Don't drool on it, or I'll kill you.”
“Got it.” William placed the soft, black pillow under his head and sighed in satisfaction. “Good night! See you tomorrow.”
“That is if I don't push you in the sunlight without your stupid sunscreen as soon as morning hits.” Est mumbled to himself, closing his eyes.
William snapped his eyes open. “What was that?” He looked Est, who released his first snore of the night.
Est felt like he was floating above the clouds. Everything felt soft and comfortable under his body. He felt warm, not in an unpleasant way though, just the perfect temperature. The sunlight that steeped through the curtains felt good on his closed eyelids and he could hear the angels singing in his ears.
“P’Est! If you don't wake up now I'm sprinkling sticky glitter all over your favourite pocket knife and you're going to have to deal with it!”
There goes his precious sleep.
Est stirred awake, rubbing his eyes as he tried to make sense of who disturbed him and his precious slumber. There stood Lego, who had a hand on his hip, judging Est’s entire existence at eight am and William, who was smiling a little too bright for someone who still hadn't brushed his hair.
“What?” Although Est wasn't even fully awake, the usual bite in his tone never left. He just wanted to lay back down again and fall unconscious. It was the only time he didn't have to worry about four careless kids and stress over stupid strategies made by the other members of the organisation.
“Boss is here.” Lego clicked his tongue, grabbing William’s arm to rush him towards the bathroom. “In the living room. Right now.”
Est sat up straight in a second, feeling his head spin for a second. Som was here? Why? He never visited Est and the others in their shady apartment. They always met up at the headquarters or at the warehouse. So this was very unlikely. The last time Est remembered Som coming here was two years ago when Lego and Hong were newly recruited, and that too was because the two of them were scared to sleep in the dull-like apartment that Som had to pretend like he was clearing the space from evil spirits by sprinkling holy water, which was literally just spritz of lime soda.
Est got out of bed and walked out of his room. There he saw Som sitting on the couch with a bruise on his face, with Nut pressing a frozen pack of peas to the redness. Est paused. What the fuck?
“Your vampire– he's a special one, isn't he?” Som chuckled, but winced when Nut accidently pressed too hard. “Good heavens, Nut! Are you taking some sort of revenge on me?”
Nut backed up a little, shaking his head quickly.
“My vampire?” Est questioned, frowning. “He's not mine. But what happened? That bruise looks horrible.” He stepped closer to inspect his boss’ face. Yeah, it was nasty. Red in the middle and a bit of brown and purple on its edges. There was a little scratch too which released a bit of blood.
“I came here in the morning to see if you five were doing well after spending the night with William for the first time. But the moment I stepped in the house, it was as if William teleported in front of me at the speed of light and punched me, thinking I was a threat.” Som pulled away from the frozen pack. “I can't blame him. But I still can't believe how strong he was despite being half-asleep. Like just look at me!” He motioned towards his face.
Est sat on the table, ignoring the smell of burnt toast that was wafting around them. “In my at least seven years of knowing you, this is my first time seeing you like this. It's kind of funny if you think about it.”
“It won't be funny if you get a taste of it too.” Som grumbled.
“That idiot called me pretty like five times since we met and it's only been two days since we did. I don't think he has it in him to punch me.” Est crossed his arms, shrugging. Nobody could blame him for being confident, they had enough proof of William being a loser for Est.
Tui whistled from the kitchen. “The faith you have in your man! We love to see it!”
“Can you focus on your toast and try not to burn it?” Est snapped. “It's been years and you still suck at making toasts!”
Tui gasped. “Y-You hit a weak spot.” His words came out shaky and a bit watery. He turned his head away and focused on buttering his toast without letting his tears fall on them.
Est exaggeratedly slumped, glaring at Som. “You see what I have to deal with? It's like I am a single mother of four kids. And you don't even pay me enough for this!” He genuinely complained about his grievances but Som just laughed, brushing off his words.
At the moment, William came out of Est’s room and rushed towards Tui the moment he saw him sniffling. He observed the situation in front of him and quickly grasped on. He grabbed a new piece of toast and showed it to the elder. “P’Tui, what if you do it like this–” He then showed the proper and easy way of making the toast without burning it to Tui, whose face changed at the brand new lesson.
“Wait! That's so intelligent!” He grabbed the toast from William’s hand. “Thanks! I'll try it right now.”
Som, who watched this interaction from the living room, smirked. “This kid might be beneficial for this.”
Est didn't like the mischievous tone in his boss's statement. “What do you mean?” He asked carefully, frowning. He had an idea that he wasn't going to like whatever his boss was about to propose.
“What if we keep him?”
Est didn't dislike the idea, for the very first time.
He despised it.
Est stood up. “No. No way at all.” He walked away from his boss. “You're crazy to even suggest something like that. You've lost it. Maybe that punch really hit you so hard that all your brain cells faded away.”
“Est, listen to me–” Som stood up, ready to defend his idea just like how lawyers defended their clients in front of the superior judges. In this case, he was a prosecutor, William was his guilty client, and Est was the unbothered judge.
But Est had his hands over his ears, refusing to hear him at all. He could barely handle a day with William, what made Som think he was okay with spending the next uncountable years of his job with the vampire? Absolutely not. No way in hell. He would rather let Lego decorate his knives with glitter and let the neighbourhood’s stinky dog roll all over his favourite jacket.
He was too deep into his thoughts to notice that he was about to walk into a half-opened door. When he was two seconds away from body-slamming into the wood, he was immediately pulled to the side by a strong grip on his waist, which left his heart beating fast.
He looked at the one who gripped his waist and his heart dropped almost down to his stomach when he realized who it was.
There stood William, all in his glory, looking very concerned for Est and his stupid brain. He was holding Est tightly, internally proud that he managed Est from walking into the door. But when he looked at Est, that feeling faded away. Because he saw the elder being frozen like a block of ice. He wasn't sure if Est was just surprised or angry that William touched him.
But the vampire didn't care. He leaned towards Est, worried. “Are you okay? You should at least watch where you're going.” He softly nagged.
Est continued staring at William, his lips parted. This was the first time that there had been a physical contact between the two of them and Est would be lying if he said he didn't feel the electricity current that was still coursing through his veins.
Som clapped from behind. “See? He's extremely useful for us. You don't even have to worry about being the only responsible one anymore. Not if you have William to help you out.”
William looked at Som, confused. “Huh?”
Tui, right at the time, emerged from the kitchen, sounding overjoyed. “William, look! I didn't burn the toast with your technique! It worked!”
Som smirked, clasping his hands behind his back. “Would you like to join our team?” His voice was slow and steady, but it held undertones of cunningness and carefully-planned strategy. He reached out a hand towards William, who stared at with hesitation.
He glanced at Est, who was still frozen in his place and then looked back at the awaiting hand.
Just what did he get himself into?
“Later that day, Som barged into the aforementioned room, his voice panicked and laced with frustration.”Est!” He shook his head. “Hear me out, will you? Stop acting like a kid!”
“Me? Acting like a kid?” Est turned around sharply, eyes blazing with irritation and a feeling he didn't know how to describe. “You're the one who brought in that stupid fucking idea! William? In our team? Really? You literally told me that you wanted him out yesterday!”
“I know I did. But that was before I saw his potential.” Som walked forward, placing his hands on Est’s shoulders and pushing him down to sit on the bed. “Est, you may not agree with me, but I believe I did the right thing. He is a benefit to us.”
Est was about to speak but Som cut him to it. “Don’t you see my swollen eye? That was because of him! He has crazy fast reflexes and his punches hit hard. Est, let me tell you, I almost saw my grandma waving to me from the gates of heaven, that's how strong he hit me.”
“I know he's very clingy and annoying to you, but having a supernatural being in our gang can only do us more good than harm.” Som raised an eyebrow, as if silently challenging Est to go against him. “You know it too.”
Est tried to glare at his boss but failed to do so as he finally acknowledged that Som was right. He swatted his hand. “Whatever, but don't you dare ask me to be nice to him. That kid won't get even a smile from me.”
Som shrugged. “Alright.”
At that moment, William rushed in, his voice high-pitched and loud. “Pretty phi, do you have any clothes I can fit into?”
Est huffed at his boss, who guiltily smiled.
His training began the very next day. William found himself busy with excessive physical practices, which led to him being sweaty and drained after almost every single round. But the surprised looks on the trainers’ face every time he succeeded in a practice made it all worth it.
“How the hell– William! It took me three days to learn the spinning hook kick!” Tui complained, watching how the young vampire went through the challenges with ease.
Lego patted his back, sympathetic. “It's okay, phi. Not all of us have super strength like him.” William strongly denied that statement. He was practically a toddler in the vampiric world, he was sure that his strength hadn't come in yet.
“It took him three hours…” Tui pouted, looking at his own legs.
In the next five days, William almost didn't have any time to breathe. Despite having his body sore most of the time, he couldn't find himself to hate it at all. He enjoyed the adrenaline and the hype that came along with it. The boxing training he was receiving helped him in releasing all the pent-up anger he bottled from his past. His trainer didn't know about all that. He was just proud that William threw bone-cracking kicks and powerful punches.
The most unexpected thing throughout this ongoing journey was Som’s behavior. Although initially not liking William’s appearance in the gang, Som was very supportive. He regularly monitored William’s training sessions and offered him advice in parts he was lacking in. He was comforting when William was in despair and was proud when William finished a mission successfully. He was almost like a father figure, which made him an easy target for playful bullying.
The vampire found out that no matter how terrific and intimidating his boss was in front of rivals, he was actually the main victim of teasing with his people. At first, William was hesitant to even wish Som a good morning, but after seeing Tui and Lego pulling Som’s leg playfully, he decided that he was not going to miss out. So now, he was a permanent member in the “Bully Khun Som” group, which comprised of Tui, Lego, Nut and Hong aside from him
“Khun Som,” William put his hands together in front of his face and bowed. “I respect you so much, but if you ask me to torture another person by showing him my non-existent fangs, I'm going to put a bullet through my skull.”
“What kind of a vampire are you if you can't even grow fangs, huh?” Som joked, raising an eyebrow. He motioned William to open his mouth so that he could check for the teeth himself. “Wait! I can see them a little!” He stated happily.
“Great! I'm going to bite you first then!” William scowled.
Est entered the room at the moment, arms crossed, looking extremely disinterested and annoyed. “William. Don't you have sparring practice with P’Karn?”
William, though initially happy that he heard his favourite human’s voice, his smile immediately dropped. He winced. “I forgot about that.” He mumbled. P’Karn was the strictest trainer they had. He didn't tolerate any annoying jabs, and didn't have any patience towards bullshit. He strived for perfection and ambition only. William trained for fun and a breath of fresh air, completely unserious. And that's why he didn't like William at all.
Well, the feeling was mutual anyways.
Before opening the door to the basement, William closed his eyes and prayed to the almighty, hoping that he wouldn't receive a boxing glove to his face like last time when he made fun of his P’Karn’s lockscreen. It seemed like Karn really loved dumb guinea pigs..
William pushed open the door, and to his surprise, he saw the trainer lying down on the foam mat, staring at the cracked ceiling above him. Karn turned his head towards William and nodded, motioning him to lay down beside him.
The vampire hesitantly approached him and laid down with a distance of at least five feet between them. He glanced at Karn’s peaceful expression, something he had never seen before. It was always a scowl between his eyebrows. “Uh phi-”
“Do you like Est?” The quiet voice broke through.
William choked on his saliva, immediately sitting up straight as he patted his chest rapidly. What the fuck? He turned towards Karn, who looked unbothered as ever about the fact that his student nearly saw his end. “What?” He asked, voice breaking into a desperate plea to understand what the hell was going on.
“Do you like Est?” Karn repeated. “I'm asking because I can see how you look at him with that dumb lovesick look on your face. It's weird, you've only known him for a few days.”
William stared at Karn with disbelief. “I- why do you want to know if I like him or not?”
“Do you?” Karn arched an eyebrow. “I just need a simple answer. Yes or no?”
William sighed, collapsing on the mattress again. “I want to believe that it's just a fleeting attraction.” He started, raising an arm above him to draw invisible patterns in the air.
Karn didn't reply with anything, just observed the way William moved his fingers around. A few minutes later, he slowly sat up straight, nudging William’s calf with his foot. “C’mon, get up. We still have to spar. You're not off the hook.”
William internally groaned but stood up too. “When am I ever?” He grumbled to himself, catching the boxing gloves Karn tossed at him.
“Stop complaining, kid. Complaining will never get you anywhere in life.”
“Complaining is a right I've earned since I was merely a child. I will exercise that right till I breathe my last breath.”
“Quoting words like you're Shakespeare himself will also get you nowhere by the way.”
The sparring practice went on for the next twenty minutes, and William was two breaths away from collapsing due to sheer exhaustion. He weakly raised a palm to stop Karn and crumbled down on the floor, soaking the mattress beneath him with his sweat.
Karn took off his gloves and also wiped a sweat from his brow. “Done already?” He panted, throwing the gloves aside and bending down in front of the vampire to place a finger under his nose.
“Still breathing. That's a sign to keep going.”
William weakly glared. “I'm a vampire. Not a superman, who keeps on working twenty-four-seven.” He was already out of breath again. “Give me a break, will you?”
Karn sighed. “Kid-”
“Phi,” Est entered the room, and for William, it was as if an angel entered the rooms of burning flame. He used his remaining willpower to sit up straight and crack a smile at the elder, although it went unreciprocated. “Khun Som is calling you.”
Karn nodded, throwing a last look at William and shaking his head before he walked towards the door. When he passed by Est, he patted his shoulder and lowered his voice. “Give him some water at least. That kid is dying.” And he left, leaving Est there with William.
Est looked at William, crossing his arms as he walked towards him. “You looked like you've fought a raging bull.” He stated, judging the way how William was basically drowning in sweat, panting and eyes heavy-lidded.
“Have you seen P’Karn?” William questioned, arching an eyebrow. “He's no less than a bull.”
Est shrugged. “And you— clearly can't handle him. Do you want to go to the hospital and get admitted to the emergency room?” He taunted, sarcasm evident in his tone.
“No.” William smirked, though it looked broken. “Your face gives me enough energy. No IV needed.”
Est bent down in front of William, tilting his head as if he was mocking him. “Really?” He drawled, raising his hand to flick William’s forehead. He was still getting used to William constantly flirting with him, but no rule in his book said that he couldn't tease him back.
William’s jaw dropped at the unexpected retort, and before he knew it, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he— passed out.
That evening when he woke up, it was to the smell of food. The junk, greasy takeout from a restaurant nearby was just too much for William to not wake up. The aroma was rich and spicy in a way that made William drool even before he could blink away the sleep.
“Good thing you're up.” Nut dragged William from the bed— wait bed? William recalled passing out on a foam mattress? Who the fuck transported him here?
“We've got all kinds of varities.” The elder made him sit down on a chair, smoothening all the messy strands over his head. “French fries, burgers, cheese-burst pizzas, garlic breads— you name it.”
“Can I have the garlic bread then?” William asked, eyes twinkling like the shooting stars. He always had a huge appetite for garlic bread. That warm and buttery garlic over that soft, toasted bread was to die for. William loved the flavour and texture of it. If he could, he would marry the creator of it
“Oh for sure!” Tui slid him a box across the table. “Here ya go!”
Lego tilted his head, clicking his tongue. “Wait, aren't vampires— like not allowed to eat garlic? Doesn't it kill them?” He carefully asked, as if he was afraid to break William’s excited spirit.
All heads snapped towards him, with mixed nervousness and curiosity.
William froze mid-way, the bread almost touching his lips. He chuckled, though it came off as awkward. Right. He was a vampire now. And according to cringy movies and unrealistic books, vampires couldn't sniff garlic, let alone eat it. His heart dropped in realization. Did that mean that he couldn't eat anything garlic-related anymore? Specifically garlic bread?
William’s throat closed up.
He gulped down the growing lump in his throat, voice cracking as he spoke. “It should be fine, right?” He looked around, receiving shrugged shoulders and uncertain looks as responses. “Yeah, it should be fine.” He looked down at the garlic bread in his hands and decided that it was worth it. Anything for this masterpiece of a dish.
And he popped the garlic bread piece in his mouth, a sound of satisfaction tearing out of his throat.
So worth it.
Lego winced and looked down at his own plate. “Something tells me this is not going to end well.”
And he was right.
Because just ten minutes later, William’s usual pale skin broke into angry, red rashes.
The feeling started small— just some random itches around his wrists and neck which he soothed by scraping his fingernails against. Then started the burning sensations and the skin around his mouth felt thick. And then at last, angry rashes took place all over the skin of his neck and arms, a few designated over his cheeks too.
Hong noticed William looking unusual, he furrowed his eyebrows. “William, that does not look good!”
William hastily scratched his neck. “Tell me about it!” He felt like he was about to rip his skin off just with his fingernails. It burnt too much.
“Do you not have a single vampire acquaintance who can guide you?” Est finally spoke up, extremely judging with the way William was losing his mind.
“No!”
“Great.” Est rolled his eyes.
“I'll get you some rash cream.” Nut stood up before he left the room, not forgetting to throw a concerned look at the younger.
“Do medicines even work on vampires?” Lego asked again. He surely had a thousand questions about all this.
“Well I hope they do!” William snapped. “Cause I'm pretty much fucking dying over here!”
Tui raised both of his eyebrows, pursuing his lips. “William cursed. For the very first time.”
Yeah, because William felt like using formal and normal words were not going to help measure the intensity of pain he was feeling right now. Cursing, although unhelpful in soothing the burn, definitely helped him in expressing his emotions a lot better.
Nut returned with a glass container of soothing balm which was supposed to work? Man he doesn't know. According to William, the color of it looked like mold that had been around for fifteen years. He was hesitant in applying it to his skin.
Lego made a noise of satisfaction when he saw that balm. “That's the good one! It always helps with burns and rashes!”
“Are you sure?” William asked, panicking as he saw Nut inching closer towards him with it. “It looks like rat poison-”
“Nonsense!” Tui barked. “It might look disgusting but it's strong enough to relieve pain in ten minutes.”
“I doubt it-”
Nut opened the lid of the container and the smell hit William, strong and bold. He was a little relieved that it wasn't as pungent as he expected it to be though. William squirmed, shaking his head left and right so as to stop Nut from touching his face.
But his attempt was vain because Tui and Lego joined in holding him down. Even Hong joined in to hold his legs together so he would stop thrashing around. Est sat away from them, rubbing his temples with an exhausted look on his face.
“Are you ready?” Nut snickered, scooping the balm with his three fingers before he rubbed it on William’s neck.
The vampire screamed, but when he felt the burn slightly fading within just a few moments, he calmed down and let Nut apply the balm on his irritated skin. He sighed in satisfaction when he realized he didn't have to lift his hands every two seconds to scratch at his skin.
The others finally backed away, releasing William from their tight hold, clearly exhausted themselves. Holding down William when he was in the stage of acquiring supernatural vampiric power was not for the weak.
“Well this concludes it,” Hong laid down on the floor, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. “William cannot eat garlic bread.”
“That ticks off one of my questions about vampires.” Lego mumbled.
“All that drama and for what?” Est raised the question, heavily judging.
“You will never experience the pain of not being able to eat garlic bread again.” William stated, sniffling. “Do not downplay my agony.”
“Great heavens..” Est shook his head, standing up. “Does anyone want a cold drink? Soda?”
A bunch of voices overlapped with each other, shouting out their preferences for drinks.
“I'll take a lemon soda.” William lazily raised an arm in the air, looking very in despair.
Lego turned towards him, frowning. “Wait… can you consume lemons?”
William groaned, slapping his face with his hand.
By the time Est came around a few minutes later with soda cans, he found William sitting up, listening very intensely to whatever the members were spewing.
Est placed the cans down on the floor, watching as everyone immediately reached for the ones they wanted. He confusedly asked. “What was everyone talking about?”
“We were telling him what happened on the night we kidnapped him.” Hong answered, cracking open his can of ginger ale, giving an awkward smile to William, who was looking at his can with longing.
Est immediately winced.
He remembered that night a little too well.
It was supposed to be a fine Friday night. They had a mission to complete and Est was confident enough that he was going to pass it.
The mission was to kidnap the rich son of a rich businessman so that they could find out more information about the terrible acts his family was involved in. It was simple, a task that Est thought he was perfectly capable on doing on his own.
But Est underestimated the power of fate.
Because when Hong reported that the rich guy disappeared into some alleyway, he had thought that he was one step closer in acquiring success. He even internally rejoiced when he saw the man leaning against the grimy wall, looking all polished in a suit.
Since it was dark and Est could barely see, he had immediately concluded that it was the heir he was supposed to kidnap. So just a few steps behind from the other figure, he took out an old-looking rag laced with chloroform and slowly inched towards the unsuspecting figure.
By the time he was barely five centimetres away, he pulled the rag around the person’s face and covered their nose and mouth tightly with it, making sure they had no chances at breathing and thus, leaving the person temporarily unconscious.
When he managed to drag the boy out from the alleyway and push him inside the small truck where the others were waiting for him, Lego gasped. “Phi!”
Est took off his mask, sweat lacing at his eyebrows. “Hm?”
“This is not Nick!” He exclaimed, catching the attention of everyone in the truck.
Est froze for a moment, and then he looked down at the unconscious boy’s face. He turned to face Lego. “You're kidding.”
“I wish I was! But he looks nothing like the boy in the picture that the boss sent us!” Lego pulled on his hair. “Oh my— we're going to die.”
Est closed his eyes.
Fuck.
“What were you even doing in that alleyway?” Est snapped out of his flashback daze when Hong asked William.
“I was at an aunt’s wedding nearby and needed a fresh breather.” William shook his head. “Who knew I'd get kidnapped by a fine ass man in that very hour?”
“You wanted fresh air in an alleyway? Are you crazy?” Est frowned.
“I don't know. It seemed peaceful and secretive.” William shrugged, taking a sip from his lemon soda.
“You're the weirdest person I've ever seen.”
“I'm a vampire. If that wasn't a giveaway in itself, then I'm flattered.”
Shopping malls were fun. The smell of the air conditioner, the crazy neon lights from the play zones, and the quiet bustling of the crowd felt nice.
What was not nice— was William talking non-stop in his ears.
Som had sent him with William to the mall so that they could buy some necessities such as clothes and toiletries for William since he was going to live with them now. Est had strongly refused at first, making up an excuse about having to sharpen his knives but his boss wouldn't hear him out.
So now they were here, trying out three different shops in every ten minutes that passed by just because nothing was fit for William’s taste. Est’s feet were aching, and he wanted nothing more than just to go home and sleep the exhaustion off.
“William, that's the fourth shirt you've tried on.” Est spoke up with tired eyes tracing William’s every single move. “Are you not satisfied with anything you've worn?”
William pouted, shaking his head as he checked himself out in the mirror. He was wearing a pink and white striped sweatshirt. He turned around in front of the mirror. “This does not look good, does it?”
Est absolutely did not wanted to compliment William at all, but if doing that meant that he could go home soon, he would do it. “Yes! Yes, it looks so good on you. It brings out your…” He paused, tilting his head. “Your skin color?”
William turned around to face him, mortified. “It makes me even more pale? Oh no, I'm not buying it then.” He immediately disappeared into the changing room, drawing the curtains with a sharp sound.
Est groaned.
He finally lost it when William made a dissatisfied face after trying on the sixth shirt. He stood up sharply, all the shopping bags that were on his lap fell onto the cold floor as he did. He called out to William. “How about I pick your outfits?”
William froze. After processing the sentence Est had just blurted out, he turned around and looked at the elder in disbelief. “You? You want to pick my clothes?” He frowned. This was not Est Supha speaking. He was sure. It was probably his nicer twin. “What world have I transported into?”
Est rolled his eyes, not bothering to reply. He turned around and started strolling around the store, eyeing the racks full of colorful clothing. He could feel William’s gaze burning holes into his back. He didn't care. He just wanted to leave this place.
In his mind, he didn't really care for William’s preference for clothing. He just picked out whatever he saw first. The clothes were an odd combination of pinks, blues, blacks, maroons and even purples.
From afar, when William saw his phi going for the pink shirts, he internally winced. “It's okay. He picked it out for me, so I'll wear it.” He mumbled to himself.
After at least five minutes, Est came back, shoving the pile of clothing into William’s arms. “Here. Take these.” He huffed out, gulping. He sat down on one of the cushion chairs, urging William to go into the changing room.
William hesitantly stepped in the changing room and started his not-so-official fashion show. He came out every two minutes with a different clothing article on his body, twisting and turning in a dramatic way so that he could show Est. But Est, however, couldn't care less really.
When William finally finished trying out every single clothing that Est had picked out for him, he came out with a gleeful smile. “I… love it.”
Est raised an eyebrow. “Love what?’
“The outfits you picked out! I can actually see myself wearing them!” William stepped forward and grabbed Est by the shoulder, shaking him gleefully.
Est sighed in relief, shoulders slumping. “That's great to hear. Now can we please pay for them and get out of here? I'm tired. And hungry.”
William gathered all the outfits in his arm, although struggling for a bit but he managed. “Sure!”
When they exited the mall, William turned around to face Est, all happy and cheery as if he didn't just suck out all the energy out of Est. “You said you were hungry? I know a spot around here that serves great fried rice. Wanna go?”
The refusal was sitting at the tip of Est’s tongue. But he didn't have the chance to say it out loud as William didn't wait for his answer and just grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the location of the shop.
They walked for about ten minutes until William pulled him into an old-looking shop that was quite small for the amount of people that were visiting. The air smelt of burnt garlic and spicy fried eggs, a smell Est thought was comforting. The owners were an elderly couple, who gasped the moment they saw William entering through the door.
The old woman immediately rushed towards the vampire, cupping his face. “Is that really you, William?” She asked, disbelieved. Her husband stood right behind her with a smile. “You haven't visited for the past three months, I thought you must've forgotten us.”
William laughed when the old woman pinched his cheeks. “I could never forget your fried rice, mae. I was just— busy.” Yeah. Busy trying to adapt to life after being turned into a vampire.
The old woman’s husband observed William’s face for a solid two minutes. “You seem oddly pale— and thin. Tell me, are you not eating enough?”
William paused, not having the answer ready in his mouth. He knew that if he confirmed that he was not eating well, he'd receive an earful of nagging. He didn't want that right now. So he stalled the conversation by turning towards Est. “I’ve brought my friend along!”
Est, who was busy observing his surroundings, snapped his neck towards William at his mention. He looked towards the elderly couple and awkwardly greeted them.
Immediately, the attention was shifted towards the other. The old woman took one look at Est’s face and said to William, “He's a handsome young guy.”
Est’s cheeks flushed red. “I— uh thank you?”
“Isn't he?” William gloated with a smirk on his face.
The old man waved his hand around. “Enough talking! We've kept you enough at the door.” He grabbed both of their wrists and pulled them towards an empty table. ‘C’mon, let's get you two something to eat.”
When they sat down at the table, William immediately ordered two plates of egg fried rice, not even waiting to hear Est’s choice. “You would love it, trust me. It's the best here.” He replied with shining eyes.
Est glanced at him for a second before he looked down at his glass of water. “You seem to really like this place.” He stated quietly.
William’s smile faded for a moment, as if he didn't expect this observation from the elder. He chuckled. “Yeah. I used to come here a lot. They practically raised me.”
Est didn't reply.
When their dishes arrived later, William didn't hesitate to dig in. He made a sound of satisfaction in the back of his throat when the familiar taste hit his tongue. The burst of spiciness and the savoury egg made him close his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw Est looking down at his food, almost as if he were hesitating.
He didn't think twice. William placed his spoon down and picked up Est’s instead. He scooped some rice on the spoon, and didn't forget to place a small piece of fried egg on top before he pressed the spoon against Est’s lips, urging him to eat. “C’mon. It's good. You won't get food poisoning, I promise.”
Est looked surprised at William’s bold action but he opened his mouth nonetheless. When the taste settled down in his mouth, his eyes opened wide for a moment. He grabbed the spoon from William’s hand and immediately dug in himself.
William laughed when he saw Est hurrying with his bites, one after another. “Slow down. You'll get indigestion.” He poured some more water in Est’s half-empty glass.
A minute later, Est paused, snapping his neck up to look at William with wide eyes. “This has garlic in it! You're going to get an allergic reaction again.’
William smiled, guiltily taking a bite of rice again. “I'll ask P’Nut to apply that balm for me.” There was no way he was going to miss out on his beautiful rice.
After the meal when the two were saying their goodbyes to the elderly couple, William turned towards Est. “So… did you like it?”
“What?” Est feigned ignorance.
“The food, phi.”
Est hummed, shrugging. “It was okay.”
William gasped in mock offence. “Okay? Phi, I saw you licking your spoon. Just say my recommendation was good!” He whined, shaking Est's arm.
“Why would I compliment you?” Est asked, frowning. “Shouldn't it be mae whom I should compliment? She was the one who made it after all.”
“I introduced the place to you!”
It was one of those stress-free nights in the gang. The sounds of cricket chirping and the faint cold breeze of the night was nice to experience once in a while.
Est was in his bed, all cuddled up with his blanket pulled up to his chin and his phone to keep him company with. In the next five minutes, he would turn off all lights and put down his phone before he would fall into the sweet silence of slumber. He felt giggly just by thinking about it.
Just when he felt it was the time to hit the pillows, he turned off his lights and put his phone down. He puffed out his pillows and gingerly laid his head on it, groaning at the soft feeling. He turned around in his bed and internally smiled when he found the perfect position.
Just when his eyes were about to close, a loud sound of laughter interrupted his serene silence. Est froze. Just when he thought it was okay to fall asleep again, another wave of noise barged through.
Est calmly exhaled, this little thing annoying him to his core. He had waited all day for his peaceful sleep at night and that was also slowly being taken away from him. It was unfair. Truly.
When the noise came for the fifth time, Est finally lost it. He threw the blankets off him and got out of bed, storming out of his bedroom with irritation burning into his skin.
The sight in the living room made him forget about his annoyance for a moment. The sight of all the gang members sitting in a circle on the floor, cuddled with blankets and pillows, with a bunch of snacks in the middle truly left him speechless.
The guys finally noticed his presence. Lego, who was holding a tablet in his hand, smiled sweetly at Est. “Oh, hi phi!”
“What's happening here?” Est asked, confused. “And why are the lights off? It's so dark—”
“Aren't you supposed to be asleep?” Hong asked. “It's past your bedtime, grandpa.”
Est smacked the back of his head. “All of you were loud. I couldn't sleep.” He glared at them, crossing his arms. “You didn't answer my question by the way.”
“We're debunking vampire rumors!” Nut replied, popping a gummy bear in his mouth.
Est blinked.
“....huh?”
“I made a list of stereotypical rumors about vampires and we're asking William if they're true or not!” Lego informed, shaking his tablet.
Est looked at William. “He's a baby. How can he give answers to things he might have not experienced yet?”
“Hey!”
“Yeah, but we're asking him what he knows.” Tui shrugged. “He may not know much, but he knows enough.”
“Why don't you join us, phi?” William pulled Est to sit on the floor next to him. “It will be fun!”
"You and I, clearly, have very different definitions of fun.” Est grumpily muttered but still sat down, crossing his legs as Hong tossed him a packet of chips.
“Okay, back to the conversation—” Lego held up his tablet, reading out the question. “Does all blood taste the same?”
“Yes, but everyone can tastes it differently.” William replied. “Some say it is sweet, salty, and even bitter. But I have never bit someone before so I don't know.”
“Can you survive without blood?”
William nodded. “Yeah but only for a limited period of time. I can control my thirst but I need to quench it once it gets really bad.”
“What happens if you don't?’
“It's simple; I die.” William shrugged.
Est felt weird with the way how casually he had talked about death.
Lego winced. “That's cruel.” He looked down at the screen again. “Next question. Vampires can teleport?”
William made a humming sound. “Only those who have that power can.” He answered simply.
“Vampires have different powers?” Nut asked, eyes twinkling. He seemed way too interested in this.
“Yeah. Some have super hearing, mind reading, some can see the future and some have shape shifting!” William chuckled. “It's cool, really. I have invisibility.”
“That's so nice to have!” Hong shrieked. “I’m jealous.”
“Do vampires and werewolves hate each other?” Lego asked, taking a sip of a soda.
“We had some bad blood with them a thousand of years ago but nobody really cares now.” William said. “Except the orthodoxes though. They keep on provoking each other to fight. The newer generation is calmer. I'm glad for that. I have a few werewolves friends.”
“Can vampires transform into bats?”
“Yes. But it requires training in order to do that. You can't just randomly be a bat whenever your heart feels like it, ‘cause it's difficult to do so.” William replied. “My father told me that he had tried once back when he was my age but ended up transforming into a rooster accidently.”
Everyone burst out laughing, even Est cracked a smile at that.
“Okay,” Lego cleared his throat after laughing. “Do all vampires own castles?”
“The rich elder generation— yes. The young adults in the new generation— no. But its all in the generational wealth though. My grandfather owns one.”
Tui gasped. “Can we ever visit it?”
“I'm afraid not.” William gave them a guilty smile. “He holds… resentment against humans.”
“What? Why?” Nut asked, frowning.
“He believes humans are incompetent and mindless.”
Bunch of gasps resonated around the room.
“Okay! It says here that you cannot be born as a vampire?” Lego read out. He then looked at William. “So all vampires need to be converted?”
William nodded, stuffing his mouth with sour jellies. “Yeah. I wasn't born a vampire dude. I got converted by my cousin, who was instructed by my grandfather.”
He saw anticipating faces looking back at him, hoping to hear the full story. But William waved his hand in the air, dismissing them. “It's a long story.”
Everyone groaned. “Okay whatever. Here's the sixth question, are vampires immortal?”
Est yawned, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. He shifted his position a bit, clutching the pillow on his lap.
William shook his head. “I literally told you I can die of thirst.” He giggled, way too joyous for someone who was talking about death. “Many people believe that we can be killed by putting a stake through our heart.”
“Well.. can you?” Hong asked.
“Yes, of course!”
“Can you force people into giving you blood?” Lego asked.
“By using our powers and banishing their memory after drinking, yes.” William replied, receiving looks of disbelief. “It's survival!” He cried out, defending himself.
“Do you people have blood bags?”
“Yes. It contains the blood of people who have died. We receive them from organisations made specifically for the vampires in case we can't find any humans to drink from.”
“They have a system too…” Tui uttered in awe.
“Okay, this is a personal question—” Lego put down his tablet, sitting up straight. “Do vampires need sleep? I mean I have seen you sleep, but do you really need it?”
William shook his head. “It depends. Some vampires do, and some don't. It just depends on their energy levels and how much exertion they can handle, to be honest. Speaking of me, I don't need it but I sleep when the night feels too long or when I’m not roaming outside.”
Everyone nodded, understanding.
William was about to say something when he felt an unexpected weight on his shoulder. He turned his head and the sight made him freeze.
It was Est, dozing off against William. His eyes were closed and his heart-shaped lips were slightly parted, letting our soft breaths. His hair messily fell onto his forehead and eyes, giving him an unguarded look.
Tui and Lego collectively gasped. “Phi Est looks so adorable!”
William stiffened, wanting to say that they were right. But he was afraid that his slightest movement would wake Est up.
“Maybe we should all sleep.” Nut announced, standing up. “It's been a long night, right?” Everyone agreed, before they slowly disappeared in their rooms.
William stayed there, having Est still use him as a pillow. He brushed a strand of hair from Est’s face. “You're pretty, phi.” He mumbled quietly into the buzz of the night.
Est stirred, and William’s heart fluttered.
Est deemed himself as a person who wasn't afraid easily. Well, he wasn't afraid of most things, like insects. What he was afraid of was the dark, especially when it was accompanied with loud bursts of thunder and lightning strikes.
Est hated everything about it. The loud noises, the grumbling roars, the gloominess it brought along with itself, he despised every single moment of it. So he made sure he was never alone in times like these. Having company made him feel slightly better as it gave him a source of distraction.
But tonight, Est was with a company he didn't ask for. He was sitting at his desk, earphones in his ears as he desperately tried to shut off the violent roars of the sky when he caught a glance of William laying down on the cold floor.
It confused him. Because what the hell was William doing, staring at the ceiling with his eyes blank? It almost creeped Est out. He didn't look like a human at all- oh right, he wasn't one. Est reminded himself. Vampires are supposed to be creepy, right. But this was the first time Est saw such a silent expression on William’s gleeful face.
“Dude?” Est called out hesitantly, wondering for a second if he had just ruined his peace himself as William sat up straight at his voice. This was weird. Why was he so obedient? Weren't vampires supposed to be stubborn and selfish like how they described in movies?
“Your room is pretty boring actually.” William said as if he made an observation. “Just two posters of your favourite bands and nothing else. No fairy lights, no extra lamps, no stickers— how do you live like this?”
Est frowned, offended. “I do not need lamps or fairy lights. I'm okay with that single yellow bulb I have. And why would I need stickers—”
“Why would you not want stickers?”
“They're useless.”
“Yes but at least they're fun.” William retorted with a smile. He dug a hand in his pocket and showed Est some packs of stickers.
“Do you just randomly carry those around?” Est asked, confused but lowkey amused.
William didn't reply. He instead stood up and strutted out of the room. He came back a few moments later with a mini ladder. Est didn't even know they had a mini ladder in the apartment. Where the fuck did they keep it?
“What are you doing?” Est asked cautiously, watching William place the ladder in the middle of the room, positioning it properly so it was safe to climb up. “Hey what the hell— get down!”
William waved a hand. “I'm giving your room some personality!”
“It doesn't need personality!”
William stretched his arm above his head and placed a yellow saturn sticker on the plain, white ceiling. He grinned. “Looks so much better.”
“Yeah, ‘cause a single sticker suddenly makes my room look so much more positive.” Est snapped.
William chuckled, peeling off the next sticker off the sheet and in just the next five minutes, a patch of Est’s ceiling was filled with a bunch of colorful stickers about animals, planets and stars.
“Do I look like a five year old?” Est asked sarcastically, watching William climb down the ladders.
“You haven't seen the best part yet.” William walked towards the switch board and turned off the lights and immediately, the stickers on the ceiling started glowing in different colors. And Est found himself feeling attracted to the stickers almost in a second.
William walked towards Est, crossing his arms, a genuine smirk on his lips as he watched the other eyeing the stickers with a glint in his eyes. “Liked them?”
Est snapped his head towards William, clearing his throat. “They glow.” He stated, finding himself looking up again.
“Yes, they do.” William chuckled. He then noticed the black earphones in Est’s ears. He pouted. “You know it's rude to wear earphones while talking to someone, right?”
Est glanced at him for a second before he started playing with the string of his earphones. “I— it's not because I'm being rude. It's just the noise of the rain, it's too loud.” He replied, voice vulnerable. He never liked talking about his fears, but something in the way William was acting told him that it was okay to do so.
William’s playful pout immediately dropped. He straightened his posture. “You don't like the rain?” He tried to keep the surprise out of his tone. Est didn't seem like the person who would be afraid of the thunder. But again, he was so mysterious that William couldn't read him at all.
“It's loud, messy and gets things dirty.” Est said, sighing. “I don't like it.” His voice started shaking again as the music in his ears temporarily stopped for a second, letting him listen to the loud roar that just took place.
William stared at him for a moment. He didn't say anything but he gently grabbed Est’s hand, shocking the other one. “What?” He didn't reply. He made Est stand up and dragged him slowly towards the bed.
William softly pushed Est to sit down on the bed and pulled the blanket over his lap. He motioned him to lay down, and surprisingly, Est obliged. He laid his head down on the soft pillows and soon, the glowing ceiling came into his vision again.
William then laid down on the floor himself, looking at the ceiling too. “I used to do this.” He started, feeling Est’s gaze on the side of his head. “I used to overthink things a lot. So I started to place stickers on my ceilings so I could stare at them when I couldn't sleep at night. And instead of thinking about complicated thoughts, I started thinking about silly animal stickers.” William heard Est let out a breathy chuckle.
“That's ridiculous.” Est stated. But what he said was the complete opposite to what he was thinking. He didn't think it was ridiculous at all.
William didn't reply, but the faint smile on his lips said everything.
Est then turned to look back at the ceiling again, a silent drumming of his heartbeat caught his attention. He gulped. The memory of William smiling barged into his mind again. The smile was quiet and serene, nothing like the teasing one he had seen for the past few weeks.
Est closed his eyes and tried to shift his focus onto something else. The soft pillows, the warm blanket, the earphone string that was digging into his neck, nothing worked. It irritated him a little once his mind replayed the soft tone of William’s voice.
“Phi?” William craned his neck so that he could see Est better. “Are you asleep?”
No reply.
William laid his head back down, chuckling to himself.
So when hours later Est woke up to an empty room, he looked down at his hands and stared at them in shock. “Did I really fall asleep during a thunderstorm?” He questioningly mumbled to himself. This was very unlikely of him. He never fell asleep during times like these, his body was always in an alert mode. So if he fell asleep, then that means his body felt safe around…
William.
Est slapped a hand over his face, shaking his head rapidly as he denied the thought. “No no no, not possible. Not at all.” He chanted to himself, denying the possibility. He stood up with his hands over his bare ears, his earphones already had fallen during his sleep.
He opened his bedroom door and the sight of all his friends having returned back home brought relief to him.
“Hey Phi!” Lego called out, concern flooding his eyes. “We're so sorry.”
“Yeah, we're sorry none of us were with you today while it was raining.” Tui said, his voice filled with guilt.
“Oh don't worry about it.” Est waved his hand, his gaze fixed onto the fried chicken the group had ordered. He stretched his arm to grab a drumstick, pretending not to notice the gazes that burned holes into him
“How did you hold up while being alone? ‘Cause you don't look too shaken up.” They sounded relieved.
“William was with me.” Est quietly replied, chewing. “He… accompanied me.”
Nobody replied for a solid two minutes. But then after that, all of them slowly shifted their heads to look at William, who was trying to get out of the last piece of meat stuck in his teeth with his tongue. He looked like he was struggling.
“Oh.”
Yeah. Oh.
A rattling scream broke Est out of his daydream. The scream was so loud that his heartbeat sped up and he almost dropped the glass he was holding. He frowned. Who the hell was going through it?
He turned his head around and there he saw Nut, who was sitting on the floor, rubbing his shoulder with a disturbingly pained expression. Besides him sat William, who looked back at Est with a guilty smile. A smile that said ‘I did nothing wrong!’
“Nut, what happened?” Est asked, standing up to walk towards them. Upon bending down to inspect him, he saw teeth marks on Nut’s pale skin. He came to a conclusion pretty quickly. “Did you bite him?” He asked William, who avoided his eyes.
“His fangs are growing in.” Lego replied as he passed by with a tray of food in his hand. They were having a little ‘bonding time’ as Som liked to call it. This type of evening took place at least once in three months, where everyone gathered in the apartment for some dinner.
“They hurt.” William sulked. Est noticed the slight lisp he was having, probably because he wasn't used to talking with fangs in his mouth. It was kind of adorable actually.
“So.. you're teething?” Est asked, confused.
“He's like a baby.” Tui snorted from the kitchen.
William didn't even try to retaliate, knowing damn well they would still continue to tease him. What was the use anymore?
“He's been having this constant urge to bite everyone. And he does!” Hong complained from the couch. Est looked at him, his confusion never fading away. “He's bitten everyone today, and now Nut finally had his turn.”
Est frowned. “He never bit me though.” He felt weird. Why had William approached everyone but him?
“Consider yourself lucky.” Nut grumbled. “I feel like I just got pierced with a thin needle.”
William nudged him. “It was not that bad.”
Est ignored them, standing up. He walked over to the kitchen where Tui was chatting with Karn. He grabbed a soft, clean cloth and rinsed it under cold, freezing water. He wringed the cloth to drain out the excess water and brought it over to William, who stared at him, a little surprised.
“Chew on it.” Est stated like it was obvious. “It'll help with your teething.”
William’s shoulders slumped as he lazily grabbed it, pouting before he placed it in his mouth, starting to chew on it. Well, he didn't really like this method but the fact Est had cared this much for him, made him feel a little better.
“William’s getting treated like a baby.” Lego teased, giggling, completely ignoring the glare William had just thrown at him.
“We can't do anything about it if it helps lessen the pain.” Est shrugged, sitting down on the couch.
So William just sat there in the corner for the next ten minutes, chewing on the cold, blue cloth Est had just fed into his mouth. He looked adorable like that. Everybody who passed by, threw a smile at him. Hell, even Karn ruffled his hair. That gave William the cold shivers.
When William came back to join the group in the living room, Nut flinched and hid behind Hong. The vampire tried not to smirk at the power he held. He sat down besides Est, who acknowledged him with a single glance.
“Finally, William.” Som chuckled, calling his hands. “So, how do you feel now?”
His fangs still felt sensitive but he could handle that. He felt a bit of soreness in the inside of his mouth and his lips were cracked with a bit of dried blood, an incident that occurred earlier when he accidentally pierced his lip with his left fang. “I'm okay now.”
“Glad to hear that!”
“It's your first time in Som’s bonding evening right?” Karn asked, unboxing a container of chicken noodles. William nodded to that question. He had no idea what happened during evenings like this, but he was pretty curious too.
“I'm happy you could join us, my boy!” Som laughed, looking a bit too happy for someone who didn't really like the vampire boy for the first time they had met. The one-eighty shift in his behaviour was amusing to see though.
“We eat good food, gossip around a little and finally end the night with some games.” Tui explained, separating his chopsticks. “It's pretty fun until someone cheats during Monopoly and all hell breaks loose.”
“One time P’Karn threw his slipper at Khun Som just because he cheated in Twister!” Nut laughed. “It was such a fun evening.”
“How do you even cheat in Twister…?” William mumbled.
“Experience. Technique. And desire to win.” Som replied, joining his hands in a prayer motion.
William seriously nodded, taking advice. He was reaching out for the noodles when Est slapped his hand. Shocked, William looked at Est. “What was that for, phi?”
“Don't your teeth hurt?” Est arched an eyebrow. He grabbed a container and carefully thrusted into William’s hands. “Here. It'll be easier to consume.” And it was a container filled with plain chicken broth.
The room went dead silent.
That was until Lego spoke up. “What the hell is wrong with Phi Est…?”
Som looked confused too. Because, didn't Est absolutely hate the idea of William being with them? So why was he acting so caring? Did he eat something spoiled to make him so weird?
Est’s ears burned red when he finally registered the looks he was receiving. He looked down at his own food, gulping. “Can everyone go back to eating?” He tried to sound firm like he usually did, but no one obliged. So he added a little, “Please?”
Soon after, everyone went back to making conversations with each other. Lego fought with Som over a fried dumpling, Tui elbowed Nut in the rib after he made a dad joke and William laughed loudly when Hong choked while slurping noodles into his mouth.
But Karn’s gaze never left Est. He continued observing the suddenly silent man, taking in his every move. When Est finally met his eyes, Karn tilted his head towards the balcony, suggesting something. “After the meal.” He mouthed.
Est subtly took in a sharp inhale of air, giving him a tight nod before he continued eating.
He tried to eat as slowly as he could, but the food in his plate was disappearing way too quickly for his liking. Karn had already slipped out into the balcony a few minutes earlier, making him feel tense.
When he finally cleared off all the food in his plate, he set it down gently, gulping down a glass full of water before he quietly disappeared towards the balcony.
The balcony wasn't huge or anything. They lived in a shabby apartment complex, so the best they could have was a small one with rusty railings, so compact that it could only fit two people at a time.
Est spotted Karn leaning against the railing, looking at the blank night sky. He slowly moved towards him, sliding in so he could stand besides Karn, who immediately shifted to give him some more space.
Nobody spoke, and the longer the silence stretched out, the more suffocated Est started to feel. He stopped believing that the lack of space between them was the reason why he felt so difficult to breathe.
“You seem lighter these days.” Karn finally started speaking, almost startling Est out of the silence they had built.
Est tried not to show too many emotions on his face. “What does that mean?”
“You seem less guarded. Well, it's not a drastic change of course, but I can notice it.” Karn explained, glancing at Est. “Any reason for that?” He then looked at the moon above.
Est followed his gaze. “I'm not sure..” With the way he was staring at the sky, it seemed like he was searching the sky for the answer to the question Karn was inflicting upon him.
Karn hummed. The silence returned, but this time, heavier.
Karn was always like a father figure towards Est ever since he joined the organization. He was strict, a little cold of course, but that was for the best. Est learned a lot of lessons from him, and not just the physical ones. He always looked up to Karn, admiring the way of his thinking. His opinion mattered greatly to Est. He was the type of a person whom he hated disappointing the most. So whatever Karn was implying, Est was sure he had an idea of that. And he was scared, although not sure more of himself or Karn.
“It's because of William, isn't it?” Karn’s voice broke his train of thoughts. Est’s breath hitched for a moment, his hands going numb over where they were placed on the railings.
To be honest, Est didn't know at all. He was confused. He hadn't felt this way ever since he was fifteen. But at the time, he was less guarded, more relying on feelings rather than logic, and that resulted in him having a bad experience.
This time though, Est was careful. Way too careful with his heart. He often restricted himself from what he was feeling, in fear that he would go through the same pain again.
“I don't know.”
Karn let out a soft smile. Est could count on his five fingers the amount of times Karn had smiled at him, and this moment was one of them. Est almost felt like he was hallucinating.
“That’s fair. That kid is annoying.” That statement made Est let out a breathy chuckle. Half a laugh and half a relief that Karn dropped the topic.
“But he's very pure-hearted too.” Karn said. “I'm not saying this to praise him or whatever, but he's a good kid. I like that about him.”
Est didn't reply. He looked down from the railing. He could agree. William was a nice person. The way he comforted Est through his fear that night said a lot about him. As much as Est didn't want to believe it, but every time he thought of that moment, his heart felt warmer. And that scared him more than anything.
“Okay, that's enough now.” Karn turned around, slapping Est’s shoulders softly. “We should get back before they start screaming at us for running off.” He joked, leaving to go back to the group.
Est stayed for a minute more. His hand came up to rub his face. When he came back, William’s eyes lingered on him, bright and cheerful. “Phi! Come join! P’Tui and Khun Som are the only ones left to play.” They were playing Uno, and judging by the situation they were in, it seemed like a pretty competitive round of it.
Est sat on the floor next to William, who leaned to whisper. “P’Tui has a plus four card. He's definitely going to win the game.” He informed, giggling.
Est smiled, quiet and soft before he shifted his eyes to look at the game.
He didn't know about Tui or Som, but William was slowly starting to win the game of stealing Est’s calm and peace.