Archive of Our Own

The two of them met by chance. And Hansol's gonna keep saying it like that because his name is Chan and he hates how Hansol words it out like that everytime he retells the story. 

The story starts with Hansol, cramming for his modern literature finals. 

He's sharing a table with no one at the end of the library and he keeps groaning. The kind of groaning where you run your fingers through your hair and you slide down your chair so the back of your neck is hooked at the top of the backrest while you stare at the ceiling. Everyone that knows Hansol knows that he does this all the time and everyone that knows Hansol have repeatedly told him not to do so. Especially now that Hansol's back has been throbbing here and there due to his constant slouching and his final exams that are making him study till he falls asleep on his desk before he could even move to his bed. 

But Hansol's glad he still does it. He's glad he did it then and there. 

Hansol blinks and he sees an outstretched hand above him, the fingers slack and unmoving, telling Hansol that whoever owns that hand is probably asleep which kind of makes Hansol jealous. The hand then moves, closes into a fist and then relaxes again and then he sees something glint in his hand before it falls. It falls for three seconds and it was too late to move when Hansol realizes where it's heading for.

"Fucking-" Hansol slams a hand over his mouth and he rubs the other one over his right eye. He sits up, lowers his head as he rubs his eye some more, and he groans. He blinks his eyes and he sighs. He looks up and finds the hand still there, almost as if taunting Hansol. Hansol huffs, looks around for the ring and he finds it glinting next to the foot of his table. Hansol grabs it, heads for the stairs on the end of the room and stomps as angrily and as quietly as he can. He huffs, tries to come up with something aggressive but cool to say, and he was about a table away from the owner of the hand when he comes up with something. The guy was sleeping with his right hand folded under his left hand and his left hand extended to his left, hanging over the ledge. His head was looking to his right, away from Hansol, and Hansol huffs. He moves to tap the guy awake but that's when he groans softly in his sleep and he turns his head to face Hansol and Hansol stops. 

Look, Hansol's only a twenty-two year old guy. He has a lot of weaknesses being so, and one of those weaknesses would be a pretty face and he can't really argue how pretty the guy was.

Hansol finds himself staring, and then kneeling next to the table to stare at him some more. The sun was coming from the window behind him so the last rays of sun filters in through old stained windows since their library is an old church that's been re-used as a library and Hansol thinks about talking to whoever decided that to thank them because the colors of the stained glass window taints the guys skin so beautifully. His face was rendered with a jagged pattern of blue, pink and stained white that Hansol wonders if the reason they use stained glass windows on churches was to amplify the beauty of whatever god they worship because Hansol can definitely see how that would work. 

Hansol finds himself taking a deep breath and that's when his eyes open. Hansol flinches, caught at such a compromising position, his mind told him to do the most sensible thing. 

Hansol holds out the ring. 

All the while still kneeling next to the guy's table. 

"Uh. Fuck me." Hansol finds himself saying and his eyes widened at the same time the guy's eyes did. The guy sits straight up and Hansol panics. 

"Oh, wow. Okay. Look. It's not what you think. I just-" 

"Are you real?" the guy asks. And Hansol finds himself dumbfounded by the question.

"Uh. Yes? I mean. At least, I think I'm real." Hansol says. stupidly, and Seungkwan's words about him only talking about dumb shit when he's in front of anyone attractive rings inside his head.

"Uh. Okay. Look. Your ring fell and stabbed my eye and-" "My ring did that?" The guy cuts him off again and Hansol sighs. Then he processes what the guy said and he panics.

"Why? Shit, what's wrong with my eyes?"

"Uh. Don't worry. Here." The guy said and he opened his arms and motions for him to come closer. Hansol stares at him warily and the guy stares.

"I'm... I'm a vampire. I can, you know, help." The guy says and Hanols gulps. Because of-fucking-course, he manages to find probably the best looking vampire in campus and he manages to embarrass himself in under two seconds.

"Dude. You're not breathing."

"I tend to do that when I freak out."

"I'm not gonna bite you or anything."

"Oh, I'm not freaking out because you're a vampire. I'm freaking out because you're like, attractive." Hansol defends and he finds the guy's face slowly breaking into a smile. Hansol sighs, closes his eyes, and then takes one deep breath.

"Shit. Please tell me I'm just dreaming. I probably passed out from studying Romeo and Juliet and you're probably my mind's interpretation of Romeo." Hansol says and the guy laughs.

"Okay, as much as I am enjoying this, you have to stop and let me help you with your eye." The guy says and Hansol nods and opens his eyes. 

"Actually, I'm gonna need you to close your eyes." the guy says and Hansol nods. He closes his eyes again and he leans forward.

"I'm gonna kiss your eye now." The guy says and Hansol feels his hands hold his head, soft and warm skin holding his jaw, and Hansol gasps when he feels lips on his eyelid. 

Hansol finds himself taking in his scent. He weirdly smells like mint and bitter chocolate. Hansol blinks his eyes after a second and he finds the guy smiling at him. Hansol feels a chill run up his spine when he smiles and he finds himself taking the guys left hand and slipping the ring on his middle finger, because the ring wouldn't fit in his ring finger. 

"How did you..." The guy asks and he trails off.

"I don't know. But uh... don't lose it." Hansol finds himself saying and the guy stares at him with something else in his eyes but it was gone after a second. He smiles at him again and leans forward.

"You should probably get up now. People are starting to stare." The guy says and Hansol looks around and people are indeed staring. Hansol gets up and smiles at everyone until they look away.

"You're not busy now, are you?" Hansol asks and the guy stares at him for a couple of seconds before shaking his head no.

"I'm so free I did advanced reading til I fell asleep." The guy says and Hansol sighs internally. He's pretty and he does advanced reading. He's fucking perfect.

"Do you... I mean, I've already embarrassed myself like three times in under five minutes so you turning me down won't hurt that much, so... Do you like, wanna grab something to eat? Or like, coffee, maybe?" Hansol asks and the guy laughs and nods.

"How about we grab something to eat, then we go to this coffee shop that I like so we can buy coffee for the night, and then you can ask to walk me to my place." The guy says with a bright smile and Hansol has half a mind to tell him he won't need any caffeine for at least two days after seeing a smile like that. But he figured he'd embarrassed himself enough for today so he nods. 

"I'm Hansol by the way."

"I'm Chan. It's nice to finally put a name on that face." He says and Hansol smiles.

They ate at Hansol's favorite place to eat for two reasons, one was because it's only fair since they're getting coffee at Chan's favorite place, and two because Hansol wanted to show off and suggest something for Chan to order after he'd ask him what he usually likes to eat and Chan seems to see right through him but he's kind enough to let Hansol be. Chan ends up ordering the same thing as Hansol did and they eat as they introduce themselves. What course they were taking, where are they from, how old they were(Chan's physically a year younger than him but is "a lot older" than him), and what super powers they would have if they were a superhero. Hansol chose to be able to make super loud cries like Black Canary and Chan, being a vampire with healing abilities, wanted nothing but invisibility. Hansol finds himself in a tight spot after that and Chan apologized for making things awkward and Hansol was quick to say it's okay. Chan then adds that he likes Hansol's hair and Hansol wants nothing more than to record it so he can shove it to Seungkwan's face to make him regret ever judging Hansol for taking three weeks to perfect his platinum blonde hair by himself.

Being a vampire isn't necessarily something people still hide these days. But it's not something they'd proudly announce as well. Hansol's university is pretty transparent with the whole vampire thing and Hansol has seen a few but he's never actually met one and held a conversation with one. He knows about all the prejudices and the way they've been treated before, but Hansol figured modern times have made people more open. But that doesn't mean everyone is as open as they should be.

"Chan, I'm gonna ask something a bit personal so I'll understand if you don't want to answer." Hansol says and Chan nods. Hansol takes a deep breath and he stares Chan right in the eyes.

"Do I have to call you hyung?" Hansol asks and Chan's eyes widened for a second before he burst out into loud laughter. Hansol feels his heart expand at how beautiful he looks like, laughing. He leans onto the table as he laughs and Hansol shushes him when people start to stare but Chan just keeps laughing. 

Just as they agreed, they paid for their own meal and then headed for Chan's favorite coffee shop. 

"That one's on the other side of campus, right?" Hansol asks and Chan nods. 

"More time for us to talk, I guess." Chan says and he walks on. Hansol watches as Chan pulls at his coat, he turns around to call out Hansol and he smiles. The soft and cold January breeze flirting with his hair as he smiles and Hansol feels the exact moment his heart skips a beat. He walks on, tries his best not to move closer to Chan as they walk side by side, and he's glad Chan pockets his hands because otherwise Hansol would have to fight himself from taking his hand in his, given the opportunity. 

They reach the coffee shop after half an hour of them walking as they compile their lives into a few select words to share with each other, and Chan walks in first and is greeted by someone behind the counter that Hansol himself knows. 

"Oh? Hansol, right?"

"You two know each other?" Chan asks and Hansol nods.

"We've only seen each other because of our mutual friends. But yeah." Seungcheol says and Hansol nods, smiling.

"Well, what can I get for you two tonight? I might be able to give a discount." Seungcheol says and Hansol stares. Whenever he sees Seungcheol at parties, he's always dressed up in a way that accentuates his body. Tight shirts, tighter pants, sometimes he even wore shirts that hansol can barely think of as shirts given how much exposed skin is being shown. But not, in a loose white long sleeved button up shirt and a black cap for their uniform, he can definitely say that he's attractive because he's attractive. Not just for his clothes.

"What about you?" Chan asks and Hansol redirects his gaze and says the first thing he sees. 

"The choco-coffee one. The largest one possible because I need to keep studying for my last exam tomorrow." Hansol says and Seungcheol smiles as he punches his order in the register.

"Anything to eat?" 

"You?" Chan turns to Hansol and he looks up at the menu.

"Brownies would be nice." 

"Those brownies look delicious." Chan says, pointing down at the display, and Hansol smiles nervously.

"Sorry. I have, like, peanut allergy." Hansol says awkwardly and Chan's eyes widened.

"Oh. Sorry. Uh... do you have any plain brownies?"

"We have these marble brownies. They're basically choco fudge batter and butter scotch batter that's mixed in a pan so they look like this." Seungcheol says and he points at the photo on display at the screen above him.

"Cool. One whole box of those." Chan says and Seungcheol smiles.

"A dozen brownies?" Seungcheol asks and he eyes both of them before raising an eyebrow at them.

"Oh sorry. Did you want some too? Make it two, then." Chan says and Hansol laughs.

"Are you two on a date?" Seungcheol asks and Hansol turns to Chan and Chan just shrugs.

"I don't know yet. We'll see."

"So that's one whole box of brownies and your drinks. Anything else?" Seungcheol asks and they both shake their heads no.

"Oh, and that's all for take out." Chan adds and Seungcheol lifts an eyebrow at them again. 

"Does Wonwoo know you're out with someone?" Seungcheol asks and Chan sighs.

"Take out. Thank you." Chan says and he hands Seungcheol his card and then pulls Hansol towards a table and they sit and wait.

"Who's Wownoo? You don't have, like, a boyfriend, do you?" Hansol asks and Chan smiles.

"Wonwoo's his boyfriend." Chan says, pointing at Seungcheol who's now making their drinks, and Hansol nods.

"He's no one. Think of him as my older brother or something." 

"Good to know." Hansol says and he smiles when Chan turns to stare at him. 

"We haven't... Have we met before? Like, before today? Maybe around campus?"

"What makes you think so?"

"I don't- You just seem familiar." Hansol says and Chan smiles.

"Maybe we did. In another life." Chan says and Hansol can’t help but laugh.

"That would be impossible."

"Why?" Chan asks, smiling like he knew something Hansol didn’t.

"I'm pretty sure i'm not that lucky to have the chance of meeting you in a second life, Chan." Hansol says with a smile and Chan has this weird look of a somewhat smile that's also not there. 

It didn't take Seungcheol more than five minutes to make both of their drinks and he hands Chan his card as Hansol holds the brownies for Chan and Hansol watches as the two have this silent conversation  with their eyes before Seungcheol elts go of his card and Seungcheol smiles at Hansol before Chan walks out. Hansol thanks Seungcheol and then follows Chan out. 

"How much do I owe you?" Hansol asks and Chan shrugs.

"You can pay for the next time and then we're even." Chan says and Hansol can't help the smile that creeps in his face. 

"If this was a story, this is the part where the noble knight ask if he can walk you home." Hansol asks and Chan nods. But before he can say anything else, Hansol feels a strong grip on his shoulder and he stops walking.

"Actually, this is the part where the dragon bites the knight in half." a voice says behind Hansol and Chan turns to stare at the man behind him and he sighs.

"Wonwoo. Knock it off."

"You were supposed to be in the library." the deep voice says again and Hansol feels his knees starting to weaken.

"Wonwoo, I mean it. Let him go."

"Why should I?" Wonwoo guy says and he tightens his grip on Hansol's shoulder and Hansol yelps at the pain.

"Wonwoo! He's human!" Chan says, moving forward to place his hand on top of the hand on Hansol as he whisper yells and his other hand moves quickly as it hits the guy flat on the chest. Hansol drops to his knees when the hand lets go.

"Shit. I didn't- What are you doing with a human?" The Wonwoo guy says again and Chan gets down in front of Hansol and helps him up. He smiles apologetically at him and Hansol turns to get a look at this Wonwoo guy and he sees a tall dude wrapped up in two coats and a scarf. Hansol can't find him threatening that much but the pain in his shoulder was enough of a reminder to tell him that he is indeed a threat. Hansol watches his face turn from shock to what looks like disbelief, and then back to the death glare. 

"Fuck." Hansol says as he tries to shake the pain away and Chan huffs.

"If you broke something in him I swear I'll chop off your hands." Chan says and Hansol turns to him with a terrified look.

"Sorry. Vampire humor. Uh... Is your place close by?" Chan asks and Hansol nods.

"Couple of blocks that way."

"Looks like I'm gonna have to take you home for now."

"The hell you are." Wonwoo guy speaks up again and Hansol looks up at Chan's face. 

"I'll deal with you later." Chan says in a very out of character voice that terrified the shit out of Hansol and in a split second, he goes back to normal and smiles at him. 

"Come on." Chan says and he moves to Hansol's left, taking Hansol drink and the brownies from his hand and handing them to Wonwoo before helping him walk. 

It takes them about ten minutes of walking to get in front of Hansol's building and Hansol looks back to see Wonwoo still following them, holding his drink in one hand and Chan's drink in the other while the paper bag where the brownies are in is slung on his elbow. His scowl is still present and threatening but Chan urges him to open the door and he does. The three of them make their way to his room and Hansol lets out a sigh of relief when he remembers that he did clean up early that morning. Chan sets him down to sit on the edge of his bed and Wonwoo closes the door behind him. 

"So, this is gonna be weird and probably rude, but I need you to take off your shirt so I can fix your shoulder." Chan says and Hansol can feel the rush of heat in his cheeks.

"He's a child." Wonwoo says from where he's standing and Chan sighs and turns to him.

"Says the one throwing a tantrum." Chan says and he turns to smile at Hansol.

"Look, I can heal you in two ways. Either I bite you so my, uh, i guess venom can reach your shoulder or you drink my blood. And I would rather not let you drink my blood on the first day we meet." Chan says and for some fucked up reason, that actually sounds sensible.

"Fine. Uh, is it gonna hurt?" Hansol asks and Chan smiles and shakes his head."

"Not really. It will for half a second then my venom would take effect and would act as like, a painkiller. It'll numb your arm a bit so you should probably sleep right after." 

"Oh. Okay. Can I have your number then?" Hansol asks and Chan laughs.

"Yes. I'll leave you my number. Now please take off your clothes."

"I can't believe I'm hearing you say those words right now in my room." Hansol says and shrugs off his coat with Chan's help but no matter how he positions his arm, he can't take off his shirt without hurting his shoulder. Chan stares at him for a while and then kneels in front of him.

"Is... Do you like this shirt that much?" Chan asks and Hansol looks down at a plain black shirt he put on earlier because he was in such a rush.

"Uh. Not really. It's just a shirt."

"So I can rip it off?" Chan asks and Hansol chokes on air."

"What the fuck?" Hansol says and Chan laughs.

"I'll take that as a yes?' Chan asks and Hansol nods. Chan grabs the collar of his shirt with both hands and he easily rips Hansol's shirt as if it were paper in his hands. Hansol once again feels a bit of heat rush all over his body as Chan helps him off his shirt and suddenly Hansol feels self conscious. 

"I'm really sorry about this."

"It's not that big of a deal."

"You're not gonna be able to study tonight. Plus your collar bone looks bruised and your shoulder is probably sprained." Chan says and he turns to glare at Wonwoo by the door. Wonwoo stares back with a blank look and he sighs.

"I sincerely apologize." Wonwoo says in a dead voice and he bows. 

"Forgive him. He's a little tough on humans." Chan says and Hansol shrugs, making him flinch when he does.

"Alright. Down to business. Again, I'm sorry. I hope you still call me in the morning when you wake up." Chan says and Hansol watches as Chan opens his mouth and his fangs glints in the dull light of his room. Hansol gasps when Chan moves closer to bite and after that he feels nothing for a second and then he feels this deep, cool feeling under his skin as Chan licks the bite mark up and he smiles at Hansol. Chan helps him lie down and pulls the covers over Hansol and Hansol watches as the room blurs and then blacks out. 

Hansol bolts upright on his bed and he looks around. The sun filtering through the curtains on the window tells Hansol that it's around nine in the morning already and he groans when the thought of his literature finals later at three in the afternoon. He takes a deep breath and stretches his arms and his shoulder lets out a soft and satisfying pop as he did. Hansol smiles at his now movable arm and he gets up from his bed and stares at the paper bag on the table in the middle of the room. As Hansol got closer, he noticed a sticky note stuck on the side of the bag and he smiled, remembering last night. 

"Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow."

The note was written in english and was written in an untimely looking cursive penmanship. Hansol smiles at the note and he peeks inside the bag to find a box of brownies. Hansol slips his hand in the bag and tugs off the cover to grab for one and he saves the number on his phone as he chews. Hansol then starts up a message to let Chan know his number and he racked his brain for something in Romeo and Juliet that he can use and he laughs at the one he remembers.

"Thy beauty hath made me effeminate

And in my temper softened valor's steel." 

Hansol sends the message and in an instant he sees Chan has read his message. Hansol feels his heart drumming as he swallows and somehow, the dread of his exam later today seems to have vanished into thin air. 

Hansol has made a home of Chan's thoughts for the next passing days and Chan finds himself reliving the moment he opened his eyes and sees him on his knees with the ring. 

Chan takes a deep breath and he clears his mind.

"You are awfully transparent about all that's happening." Wonwoo says from his side and Chan sighs.

"Trying to hide it will just make it come out more. Emotions are like that. Stubborn and irrational." Chan says, resigned, and he pulls out his phone from his pocket. He types out a message to him and he smiles at the instant thumbs up emoji reply he received.

"Sounds like someone I know." Wonwoo says from where he's seated across Chan and Chan huffs.

"I'm a thousand years old, Wonwoo. I can handle myself in a campus town center." Chan says, annoyed and a little tired, and Wonwoo had the nerve to sigh as if he was annoyed and tired."

"Whine all you want. At the end of the day I'll do my job whether it bothers you or not." Wonwoo says and Chan has half a mind to snap his neck and leave while he's recovering.

"Well I'm gonna be going out tonight." Chan says and Wonwoo shuts his book on his lap and crosses his legs.

"You mean you'll be going out again tonight. This Hansol character has been pestering you for two weeks non stop, now, Chan. I don't appreciate him making my life harder." Wonwoo says and Chan takes a deep breath. 

"And I don't appreciate you thinking it's your job to cradle me like a child." Chan says, standing up and Wonwoo sighs heavily. 

"I apologize, my prince. I know it's not my place, as your guard, to tell you what to do." Wonwoo says and Chan grabs for his coat off of the back of the sofa and he walks on towards the door.

"But as your friend, however, i'm not going to apologize for stepping in when I know you're only gonna hurt yourself. I was by your side the first time it happened and I was still here, by your side, the last time it did. And I'm still going to be here, by your side, when you make the same mistake again in this lifetime."

"Good. I don't need you to worry about me, Wonwoo. I need you to be here when I drown my heart in cheap summer wine." Chan says and he walks on. He can hear Wonwoo's distasteful click of the tongue and Chan can't help the satisfied smile that he does because of it. 

"You're immortal, my prince. Not invincible." Wonwoo's voice rings over his head and around him.

"Pain is the closest we can get to being human, Wonwoo. Let me enjoy this." Chan says and he raises his arm to wave goodbye as he heads on out. 

“O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do:

They pray: grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”

For Hansol, the past month had been twenty percent studying, twenty percent sleeping, twenty percent eating, and forty percent staring at Chan. And it's a lot easier to stare at Chan when he hangs around Hansol as much Hansol wants him to.

In a matter of a couple of weeks, Chan has been sleeping on Hansol's sofa, and a week after, Chan sleeps on Hansol's chest on the sofa. The constant Chan in his everyday life was almost enough to make up for the death glares he always receives from Wonwoo every morning when he comes to pick Chan up. Hansol would always offer him coffee while they wait for Chan to finish his shower and Wonwoo always thanks him and stares at him the whole time they wait. Hansol still finds Wonwoo a bit odd and a little scary but the way Chan can just drag him around by the arm is tell enough that he means well for Chan and that's all Hansol needed to know. 

Hansol's train of thought derails and crashes into the weirdly detailed castle Hansol's been sketching in the past hour instead of studying. Hansol looks around to see what ticked off his thoughts and he sees a familiar smiling face outside his window. Hansol smiles, wraps the blanket over his shoulders properly around his naked torso and he moves to unlock the window. Chan drops his bag, sticks his head in, and kisses Hansol before smiling at him and getting inside. Chan is quick and solid movements but he's always so light on his feet. Hansol watches as he basically floats down the floor and Hansol finds his hands on Chan's waist as his other one shuts the window down. 

"What are you doing here? We made a deal."

"The deal was no meeting until after exams. I'm done with mine." Chan says and Hansol groans.

"Not fair. I have two more tomorrow afternoon." Hansol says and Chan takes a step closer and slips his arms inside the blanket and presses his hands on Hansol's back. Hansol shivers and lets out a breathy sigh as Chan smiles.

"Sucks to be you." Chan says and he leans up and kisses Hansol properly.

Hansol gasps into the kiss as Chan wraps his arms around his waist and pulls him close. Chan parts his mouth a bit to suck his lower lip a bit harshly and Hansol smiles. Chan pulls back slowly, smiling smugly as he pulls his arms back and sets his hand over Hansol's chest and drags them down his stomach and Hansol shrugs off the blanket. He pulls Chan by the waist and moves to grab his thighs and Chan jumps by himself, wrapping his arms around Hansol's neck, almost as if they practiced it. Hansol carries Chan on his bed, walking backwards until he feels the bed behind his knee and he pushes himself backwards ‘til they get in the middle of the bed. 

Hansol loves seeing Chan like this. On him, looking at him, touching him, holding him. He pushes Chan's coat off of his shoulders and Hansol smiles when he sees Chan wearing his shirt. Hansol leans in to kiss his neck just for the hell of it and Chan whines. Hansol loves the fact that Chan's neck is basically a huge sensitive area for him and the tiniest bit of touch would have Chan melting in his hands.

"Don't. Just wanna hang out with you tonight." Chan says, gasping as Hansol pulls his mouth away, and Hansol raises an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Really. Maybe I can help you study? I can cook ramen while you read or something." Chan says and Hansol smiles.

"I wanna try something"

"I'm not sitting on your lap while you study, Hansol. I'm a thousand year old vampire, not a house cat."

"Too bad. You'd look good in a collar." Hansol notes and Chan scoffs and leans forward.

"Oh, I do. Especially a red or black one." Chan says and he kisses Hansol again.

"Now enough day dreaming and go study while I make food." Chan says against Hansol's lips and he holds onto Hansol's shoulders to lift his leg up and crawls out of the bed.

He picks up his bag from next to the window and Hansol groans. Hansol drags himself out of bed and back to his desk and into his notes. Chan starts making a ruckus in Hansol's barely big enough kitchenette and Hansol steals a glance here and there when he hears Chan humming or talking to himself as he tastes his food and Hansol smiles whenever Chan catches him. Chan drapes the blanket over Hansol's shoulder again before he drapes himself around him and Hansol sighs. Chan's making his last night to save his grades even more difficult and he voices this out to him. Chan laughs at his misery and he goes back to the kitchen only to come back with a bowl in his hands and he sets it next to his books. Chan then pulls his chair back a bit and throws his leg over Hansol's and sits on his lap, facing him, before taking the bowl again. Hansol wraps his arms around Chan's lower back as Chan feeds him and Hansol smiles at how Chan would take a bigger bite when it's his turn and he only smiles when Hansol calls him out for it. Hansol slips his hands under Chan's shirt, soaking in as much of his warmth as he could with his palms stuck on his back and Chan sets the bowl down behind him before grabbing the blanket and gripping it hard around Hansol's neck before pulling him in close. Hansol kisses the lingering taste of kimchi in Chan's lips and Chan smiles when Hansol moves his hand from Chan's back to his thighs and Hansol stares at them straining in Chan's pants as he pushes them apart. Chan slaps his chest when Hansol gets a bit more forceful but he whines when Hansol grabs his thighs in his hands and starts rubbing his thumbs on the inside of his thighs. Hansol leans in for another kiss, keeping his hand moving as he did and he swallows every soft whimpering Chan makes in their kiss.

“Sometimes we punish ourselves the most.” Hansol says and Chan rolls on his bed to turn and stare at him.

"What?" Chan asks, voice quiet and a bit serious and Hansol sighs.

"It's from Romeo and Juliet. I think they meant it, like, for college. We punish ourselves by willingly paying institutions to torture us and we call it education." Hansol says and Chan snorts.

"You're a dork. Just finish studying already. It's been hours and I'm getting cold."

"I'm done for today. If I read any more, my brain will start melting." Hansol says, slamming his notes shut and dragging his feet towards the bed and flopping on top of Chan. Chan laughs right into Hansol's ears and Hansol feels better already. Chan pulls him up and Hansol straightens himself up next to Chan. 

Chan changed into one of his sweater and had taken off his pants and opted for one of Hansol's huge sweatpants and seeing and feeling and smelling Chan wearing his clothes is feeding into something in his Hansol's head and he finds himself rubbing his nose on Chan's neck as he wraps his arms around him. Chan lets himself be pulled up on top of Hansol and he kisses what sliver of skin his mouth can reach. Chan giggles as Hansol pulls him closer, tighter in his arms, and Chan falls slack and lets himself be held.

"Do you know what time it is?" 

"No. Why?”

"It's two minutes past midnight." 

"Oh. Okay?"

"Happy birthday." Hansol says and Chan takes in a deep breath.

"Wonwoo and I do talk when you're showering, you know?" Hansol jokes and Chan laughs.

"Thank you."

"Tomorrow, if you don't have any plans, wanna just spend the night here?" Hansol asks and Chan smiles down at him and nods.

"No gifts." Chan says and Hansol clicks his tongue.

"I already bought it so you can't do shit about it." Hansol says and Chan rolls his eyes.

"I can just not accept it."

"The hell you won't." 

"You can't make me take it."

"Yah. I'm technically still older than you." Hansol threatens and Chan nods. 

"I feel like you keep forgetting what I am, hyung" Chan says, smiling. And Hansol realizes that he wasn't smiling so much as him baring his fangs in front of Hansol's face.

"Point taken." Hansol says and Chan smiles. 

"You still don't scare me." Hansol says and Chan's smile falls. Hansol smiles and he runs his fingers over Chan's hair as he stares.

"The whole big bad vampire thing wore off that one time you came because I bit your neck. I figured you're just a twenty something guy stuck being twenty something and you just happen to have magic spit or something." Hansol says that when Chan's first tear fell on his cheek. 

Chan sees it the same time Hansol feels it and Chan moves back to sit on one of Hansol's legs. Chan wipes at his face aggressively and Hansol grabs for his wrist and he tugs at them softly. Chan stops and he sniffs. Hansol pulls his hands down his lap and watches his face.

"Sorry." Chan says and Hansol smiles. 

"Please stop crying. Wonwoo would literally have my head if he finds out the first thing i did on your birthday is make you cry." Hansol says and Chan laughs softly.

"I'm okay. I just..." Chan says and Hansol leans in for a quick kiss.

"It's okay. I figured old people are very heavy on words." Hansol says and Chan hits his stomach lightly.

"Don't take this the wrong way." Chan says, leaning in close to hover his lips an inch away from Hansol's, and he wraps his arms around his neck. 

"I love you." Chan says right before leaning in for a kiss and Hansol's mind freezes at the same time his chest burns and everything seems all too much.

Chan pulls back and smiles. And it's different and new. Chan has a long list of smiles that Hansol has etched in his mind, memorizing each of them instead of his notes, and he can list all of them if someone asked him to. But of all of them, there're three that stand out the most. The lazy smile he has when he wakes up next to Hansol. When the night before leaves them tired and high and Hansol can feel the press of Chan's bare skin on his under the covers as he pulls him in closer. Then there's the one that only comes when Chan is strung up and a bit hazed from beer or soju or whatever cheap booze Hansol has in his fridge. It's coy and teasing and open at the same time that Hansol wanted to call it a trap. It pulls Hansol in every time and the smile is always followed with a demand. Whether it's a demand for a kiss or for Hansol to take Chan's shirt off, or a demand for something Hansol would've done so regardless, there's always a demand.

And this one, the one he has right now. This one is his new favorite. 

Chan smiles with misty eyes, his hair soft and unruly on his head and his cheeks tinted pink. He looks real. The kind of real that makes him look almost too good to be real. Chan glows under the barely there moonlight filtering in through the same window he came in to and Hansol thinks there's something poetic there, in a sense, but his mind is too fogged up with all thoughts about Chan that he can't form any coherent thought other than everything that makes up Lee Chan. 

"Love is such a dull word for someone who shines as bright as you." Hansol finds himself saying and Chan snorts.

"I don't think that's in Romeo and Juliet." 

"It's not. It's mine. Well, it's yours now, too." Hansol says and Chan's smile drops as he stares.

"I think using someone else's words to tell you I love you would be kind of a shit move, don't you think?" Hansol asks and Chan closes his eyes and nods.

"You're such a fucking dork." Chan says, leaning in forward and Hansol leans in. Their foreheads touch softly and Hansol closes his eyes, too, and he wraps his arms around Chan's waist. 

"I'd give you forever if I could." Chan says in such a heavy voice that Hansol feels his heart sink. 

You're human. Chan is a vampire. Fifty years of your life is but a fling to us and you expect forever and more with him?

"Forever is overrated. Just give me your now. For as long as you can." Hansol says, ignoring Wonwoo’s words replaying through his head, and Chan lets out a shaky breath. 

Hansol leans back, lying down slowly with Chan, and they try to look for a position comfortable enough to keep their place in each other's arms. Chan has his head pillowed on Hansol's left arm, his back pressed flush on Hansol's chest, and he has both of his hands wrapped around Hansol's right hand. Hansol tangles their legs under the covers and finds himself drifting to sleep with the soft, cool minty scent coming from Chan. 

Hansol wakes up to lips on his neck and he smiles at the hands on his chest. 

“ What early tongue so sweet saluteth me? ” Hansol says, his brain barely processing the tongue that's actually on his skin and Chan palms him through his pants.

"Good morning." Chan says, voice giddy and still a bit lazy from sleep. Hansol presses his hips forward to let Chan do as he pleases and Hansol gasps when Chan slips his fingers in his pants only to pull the garter and let it snap back on his skin.

"Nope." Hansol says immediately and he grabs for Chan's wrists and holds them both up.

"I have to get up and actually study for my exams." Hansol says and Chan whines.

"You're turning me down on my birthday? Harsh." Chan says, frowning. Hansol leans in for a quick kiss and Chan smiles.

"I'll make it up to you later tonight, I promise. I'll have you screaming so loud my neighbors would call the police on us." Hansol says and he moves in closer to playfully bite Chan's neck. Chan squirms as he laughs and Hansol lets his hands go in favor of holding his hips down and rolling them over so he's on top of Chan. He bites Chan a couple more times and he pulls away to watch Chan's laughter die down.

"You're so pretty. All mine." Hansol says and Chan squirms from the attention. Hansol slips his hands under Chan's sweater and Chan gasps when Hansol leans in and bites him the way he likes. Just a slow and gentle press, dragging his teeth on his skin as he pulls away, and ending it all with a little kiss. Chan whines as Hansol pulls back and Hansol almost wants to go back on his words and strip Chan right now and devour him right here. 

"I'm gonna go get ready. We can grab some lunch before heading out. And then we can meet up after my exams are done?" Hansol says and Chan nods.

"Can't we just order food in? I kinda wanna just stay here till you come back." Chan says and Hansol's chest tightens. The thought of Chan waiting for him in his bed is ruining the last remaining braincells he needs for his exams.

"Won't Wonwoo be looking for you?" 

"Then he knows where to find me."

"Chan."

"If you're not gonna let me suck you off then you're gonna have to let me do what I want." Chan says, demanding again, and Hansol sighs because he knows he can't win. Not against Chan, anyways. 

"Fine. If Wonwoo beheads me then that's on you." Hansol says and Chan laughs.

"He won't. He'll probably break something but he wont technically kill you."

"So reassuring." 

"You know I can fix you up when he does. Magic mouth remember?"

"Magic mouth. That’s a name for it." Hansol says and he kisses Chan softly. Chan parts his lips and Hansol moves his tongue to graze Chan's fang and both of them moan from it. 

"You sure you don't want to fuck me now?" Chan says, hands playing with the hair on the back of Hansol's head and Hansol heaves out a heavy breath.

"Never said I don't want to. I said I can't."

"So what you're saying is we both want it but you decided on torturing us both?"

"Yes. So you'd be more desperate later tonight." Hansol says and Chan slaps his chest a bit hard. Hansol laughs and Chan pulls him in for one last long kiss and Hansol pulls himself away before it's too late and he lets Chan sleep some more as he studies. 

Just as they planned, Hansol orders food for lunch. He waited until the food was already on his table before waking Chan up and Chan eats his food with his hair sticking up in every direction and Hansol's sweater falling off his right shoulder. Hansol watches him chew his food slowly after he's done eating and he kisses Chan's cheek before taking a quick warm shower before heading out. Chan brushes his teeth halfway through Hansol's shower and he waits for Hansol to finish his shower. Chan was seated on the side of the sink and Hansol wears his underwear and sweater there, knowing better than to leave the warmth of the bathroom still naked, and he moves to stand in between Chan's legs. Chan takes the towel from Hansol's neck and starts rubbing his hair dry softly. Chan notes that Hansol suited his platinum blonde hair, also adding that he had the biggest crush on Draco Malfoy, and Hansol smiles. He leans in for a kiss and Chan pulls the towel down over his face after he did.

Hansol walks out of the bathroom with Chan's hand in his and he lets Chan roll around on the bed as he puts on pants and a black shirt over his sweater. He sits on the edge of the bed as he puts on socks and his shoes and Chan drapes himself behind him as he does. One arm over Hansol's left shoulder and another wrapping around his stomach. In a perfect world, he'd be allowed to carry Chan around like this all over campus and even as he takes his exam. Like those dogs that help with people's anxiety and all that. Hansol sits up straight and turns and he pushes Chan down on the bed and falls on top of him. Chan laughs as Hansol rubs his face on Chan's chest and Chan runs his hand through Hansol's still a bit damp hair, and Chan smiles down at him. Hansol sighs, scoots up without letting go of Chan, and he kisses him. It was sweet and a bit difficult with both of them still smiling, but it was a kiss. Chan holds his face up and stares and he tells Hansol to ace the exam or he's breaking up with him. Hansol laughs softly at Chan's attempt of telling him that they're boyfriends now so Hansol promised that if he fails he'll go to Wownoo first and tell him how much he has defiled Chan's body so he'll cut Hansol in half. Chan laughs as he pushes Hansol up and Hansol grabs his keys, wallet, and takes his phone out of where it's charging. He grabs for a couple of pens and folds his hand outs and shoves them in his coat pocket.

"What time are you gonna be back?" Chan asks, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders and smiling at him.

"My last exam is gonna be from three to four. Do you want me to get anything for tonight?" Hansol asks and Chan shakes his head no.

"Just get back as soon as you can." Chan says and Hansol walks up to the bed to kiss Chan one last time before saying goodbye and locking the door behind him. 

Hours later, Chan rolls around in Hansol's sheets, acting like his body's age, and smiling at the phantom image of Hansol sleeping soundly next to him. He sighs as he hears his phone go off next to him. Chan answers the call and puts it on speaker, already knowing who it is and already knowing he doesn't have the energy to keep up with him at this point.

"You better not be in his fucking apartment." Wonwoo's voice echoes in the solace of Hansol's place and Chan smiles.

"Then I guess it's best for you to look for me anywhere else but there." Chan says and Wonwoo sighs audibly.

"It's your birthday, my prince. I can tolerate your childishness any other day but this is serious."

"I can handle myself Wonwoo."

"You need to feed. It's not something you can easily pay no mind to." Wonwoo's voice was agitated and tired and Chan longs for the old unsure Wonwoo who would trip over himself every step he takes behind him. 

"Wonwoo. I did it again."

"Did what? I'm afraid you've repeatedly done a lot of things that i find distasteful."

"Fallen for him. In this life, once again."

"This is the part where I say 'i told you so', isn't it?" Wonwoo asks and Chan laughs bitterly, grabbing for his phone and sitting up with his knees to his chest.

"And this would be the part where I leave. And watch him grow old with someone else from afar. And then I'd try to live my life far away from him only for him to find me by accident." Chan says and Wonwoo sighs again.

"That's why it's called a curse, my prince." 

"I know."

"Is there really no way for me to get you to come home tonight?" Wonwoo asks and Chan smiles.

"Hansol's gonna buy me a cake, so that's a no." 

"He told you he's gonna buy you a cake?' 

"No. But he's the type to do it as a surprise even if he's as transparent as i am." Chan says and Wonwoo sighs another time.

"Birds of the same feather and all that." Wonwoo says and Chan laughs.

"Chan. Just don't do anything stupid."

"I already told you i did something stupid."

"Falling in love is the only stupid thing you haven't done on purpose so I've gotten used to it. And I find it's best not to hold that against you." Wonwoo says and he asks Chan to call him whenever he has to. Chan ends the call and watches his phone screen go black and then lights up again with Hansol's face beaming at him. Chan can't remember when Hansol even got a hold of his phone but he sees it's a quarter past four and he smiles when the sounds of familiar footsteps comes closer and closer to the door.    

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" Chan says as humorless as he can and he hears soft laughter from the other side of the door. Hansol comes in with a bright smile and a couple of paper bags hanging from his arms and a cake held up in one of his hands. Chan laughs as Hansol does and he finds himself stuck on one line in that same speech as Hansol leaves the cake on the table and Chan walks up to his open arms.

‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy’

"This love that thou hast shown

Doth add more grief to too much of mine own."

Hansol tries to catch his breath as he falls back on the bed. He closes his eyes just for a second to keep himself sane and Chan huffs out a laugh from on top of him.

"You lasted far longer this time. I'm impressed." 

"Shut up. Please shut up." Hansol gasps out and Chan leans in for a kiss before getting up and walking towards the bathroom.

Hansol watches him turn and smile and he groans because he knows exactly what that look meant. He pushes himself up and he hears the shower turn on. He wills his oh so tired legs to move just up until he gets to the bathroom and Hansol takes a deep breath when he gets to the door. Chan has the faucet to the tub open on just the right setting that Hasol could never get right no matter how many times he tries while Chan was washing himself in the shower. Hansol smiles and moves to stand behind Chan and he wraps his arms around his waist, letting the warm spray of the shower wash away the sweat and other stuff Hansol would rather not have in the tub. Chan sighs audibly when Hansol kisses his neck and Chan maneuvers them so Hansol is in his place directly under the shower and Chan runs his fingers through his hair to push it back and they kiss. It was short and sweet but Hansol can't help the chill running up his spine even under the hot shower. Chan moves away to turn off the water in the tub and Hansol rubs himself clean before joining Chan in the tub. 

He slips in behind Chan and sighs. 

"So." Hansol trails off.

"So." Chan mimics him. Hansol wraps his arms loosely around Chan's waist and Chan hums softly.

"Where have you been for the past week?" Hansol asks and Chan holds onto his wrist and starts playing with his hand.

"Just around."

"Right." Hansol says, curt and sharp. He takes a deep breath and lowers himself to submerge himself in the tub up to his neck. Chan moves along with him and he moves around the tub to sit in front of Hansol with his legs on either side of Hansol. He smiles, the blank one Hansol has started seeing only recently, and he braces himself for the apology he's about to hear. 

"I wanna take you somewhere." Chan says. Hansol blinks. 

"If you're free, that is." Chan adds and Hansol nods. 

"Wait. Like, tonight?" Hansol asks and Chan stares at him for a while before smiling and shaking his head no.

"I'd rather we just have tonight for ourselves. I missed you." Chan says and Hansol groans internally when he feels his self control crumbling. He promised himself he would be mad at Chan after dropping off the grid without a single notice and on top of all of that he didn't even show up on Hansol's birthday. 

"We can go the day after tomorrow. I'm meeting some friends at lunch tomorrow."

"Oh."

"Do you wanna come with?" Hansol offers and Chan nods

"Sure. I wanna meet your friends." Chan says and he smiles.

"I really did miss you." Chan say and Hansol takes a deep breath. 

"Didn't you miss me, Sollie hyung?" Chan says, because he's annoying and he knows how to play with Hansol and his newly discovered fetish for an old vampire calling him hyung. Hansol groans now, as Chan holds onto his waist and moves to sit on top of his thighs.

"I already showed you how sorry I am for disappearing." Chan says, leaning in to kiss his cheek and Hansol pushes himself up a bit making Chan tighten his grip on him.

"You know, one day, I'll figure out how to not be affected by this vampire magic you keep using on me." Hansol says. Chan smiles and he leans forward to wrap his arms around Hansol's neck.

"I keep telling you it's not magic. You're just really easy." Chan says and Hansol wraps his arms around Chan's back and bites the skin between his neck and shoulder. Chan laughs as he trashes and tries to push Hansol away and Hansol lets up, smiling at the dents on Chan's pretty skin.

"You're so annoyingly gorgeous, you know that?" Hansol says, a hand cupping Chan's face and smiling as he leans in to the touch. He pulls him in for a kiss and Chan hums when Hansol's other hand grips his thigh. 

"Missed you, too." Hansol says against Chan's lips and Chan holds on to Hansol's wrists.

They don't know how long they stayed there like that, lips on lips and skin on skin, but the water was more lukewarm than hot when they got up and dried off. Chan apologized for getting hard and Hansol almost passed out from the sight. So he sits Chan on the edge of the tub and goes down on his knees to sucked him off. Chan didn't last for more than three minutes, thighs shaking on either side of Hansol's face as he came in his mouth and Hansol swallowed just to tease him. Chan huffs, finally looking fucked out after everything they've done tonight, and Hansol walks out with a towel around his waist. He orders in food as Chan cleans up again and he was fully dressed and already on his bed when Chan came out and went straight for Hansol's closet. He takes a sweater and underwear from his pile of clothes which are all Hansol's clothes he deemed are his, and he crawls on the bed and flops on top of Hansol. 

That night was a lot less cold than his previous ones. They eat on the floor next to Hansol's bed, chicken bones in one plate and the unfinished ones on the other, three beer cans lying wasted on the floor next to Chan's leg as Hansol pulls Chan closer. Hansol must have ended up sleeping at some point because he jolts awake with Chan's face smiling down at him and he sees the floor entirely clean. Chan helps him up and they both brush their teeth silently before walking to their bed. 

Hansol laughs.

"What?"

"Our bed." Hansol says. He turns to look at Chan next to him and Chan smiles and crawls into the bed. 

"Do you want there to be an 'our' something?" Chan asks and Hansol nods, still standing by the bed.

"This should be a conversation for when you're not tired and a bit tipsy." Chan offers and he pats the space next to him. Hansol's body moves on it's own, as if Chan's invitation was what he needed to lie down. 

"I'm not tipsy." Hansol says, slinging an arm over Chan's chest and resting his head on his arm. 

"You are tired though." Chan says, his hand playing with Hansol's hair and Hansol hums.

"Why would you even ask if I want there to be an us?"

"I'm a vampire, Hansol. Permanence with me will burn you out and that's the last thing i want."

"Yeah, well, think about what I want, too." Hansol says and he could feel it when Chan held his breath. Hansol closes his eyes and throws a leg over Chan's and he sighs.

"This may come as a surprise to you but you're leagues above all of my past relationships. I want this. I want you. You have forever to over think and I have decades, too, so stop with all the over thinking bull shit." Hansol says and Chan turns to hug him. His chest pressed up on Hansol's face as he wrapped his arms around Hansol.

"Sorry. I don't... I've..." Chan takes a deep breath. 

"I'll do better. Starting tomorrow. I'll be the best boyfriend ever. I'll check off everything in your perfect boyfriend list starting with waking you up with a blowjob." Chan says and Hansol finds himself laughing. 

"That'd be kind of hot, actually. Can you do that tomorrow?"

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Nope. You're intoxicated so your consent means jack shit to me. Go to sleep and we'll talk about your long list of kinks and fetishes tomorrow morning. Which starts off with consensual somnophilia, apparently." Chan says and Hansol laughs again. Chan laughs as well and Hansol feels weird. Having someone's chest this close while they talk and laugh gives it a different depth that makes Hansol feel giddy. That, or maybe Chan was right on him being tipsy. 

Hansol kisses Chan that's appropriate enough for the public but long enough to earn them a couple of old lady stares from strangers passing by. Chan hits his chest when he tries to pull away and Hansol just wraps his arms around his waist tighter. Chan jabs his stomach lightly and pulls away just as Hansol hunches down. Chan smiles as Hansol smiles painfully at him and Chan winks at him and says his goodbye. Hansol watches him walk down the street and he smiles at how he can easily pinpoint his black hair over the crowd.

Hansol walks back in the cafe and he can't get rid of the smile still plastered on his face.

"You look happy." Mingyu says as Hansol takes his seat and Seungkwan scoffs next to him.

"So happy it's gross." Seungkwan says next to him and Hansol slaps his face gently.

"For once, I agree with the gremlin." Jihoon says and Mignyu elbows him and he grunts.

"Where did you find this guy? From how I imagined him from your endless stories I thought you'd be more into him than he is to you." Seungkwan asks and Hansol can feel their stares bore into him, Jihoon’s as the one that’s bugging him the most.

"What?"

"Like, no offense, but you're the type to obsess over a guy who shows you the smallest amount of interest." Seungkwan says and Hansol slaps him a bit harder now.

"It's true, though." Jihoon adds and Hansol looks to Mingyu to confirm that they're wrong and he's not pathetic but Mingyu only smiles at him and tilts his head a bit. 

Right.

"So what you're saying is I'm clingy and overbearing and all my relationships ended because of that." Hansol says and now it's Seungkwan's turn to slap him. 

"What we're saying is you finally found someone worse than you. Chan barely looked at any of us the entire time. I'm pretty sure he only looked at us when you looked at us." Seungkwan says and and Hansol sighs.

"You're being dramatic." Hansol quips and Seungkwan scoffs.

“Well, he did look at Jihoon hyung a bit.” Mingyu adds and Jihoon shrugs

“I know Chan through connections but never really met him before.” Jihoon says and Mingyu sighs. 

"I mean, Seungkwan is dramatic but he's kind of right on this one." Jihoon adds and Hansol sighs.

"Really? You too?" 

"Why is it so hard for you to accept that maybe someone might like you more than you like them?" Jihoon asks and Hansol sighs.

"Why are we even talking about this? Look. Don't keep tabs on a relationship. Don't one up each other to prove this one loves this one more. That's not how that works. We like Chan. He obviously makes you happy and we can see that you make him happy, too. So that's that." Mingyu says and everyone stares at him as he smiles at Hansol.

"Also tell these dumbasses that you top. I mean, come on. You can't possibly bottom when he has an ass like that." Mingyu adds and Hansol laughs. Jihoon and Seungkwan groans and starts nagging Mingyu to shut the fuck up and Hansol just shrugged when Mingyu asked him about it again. 

Hansol walks out of the restaurant smiling and the four of them says their goodbyes before splitting up. Seungkwan and Mingyu went to their place and Jihoon went back to the campus so he decided to walk with Hansol on his way to his dorm. Or so he says. 

"I know you're gonna give me the talk." Hansol says and Jihoon side eyes him and scoffs.

"I know you're not a virgin, Hansol. I was there, too." Jihoon says and Hansol smacks his arm and laughs.

"Can you please not bring that up every time we have a conversation." Hansol says and Jihoon shrugs.

"I'm just saying. Plus i'm pretty sure you don't need the talk given how icky you two were earlier."

"We're not icky."

"You were. Even Mingyu was grossed out. And that's Mingyu."

"He's your boyfriend. He's bound to hate icky stuff."

"So you admit that you two were icky?"

"Can we stop using the word icky? And we're not! We're completely normal."

"Hansol, I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just gonna say it. I know who Chan is. I am friends with Seungcheol, remember?" Jihoon says and Hansol nods. Right.

"So he's a vampire. Big deal."

"He's not just a vampire, Hansol."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hansol asks and Jihoon sighs.

"It's not my place to tell. But Seungcheol says he trusts them so I do, too. Just... I don't know. I'm gonna sound like a dick if i tell you not to get too attached."

"You would."

"He's a vampire. Come on, you can't possibly still see a happily ever after with you two after finding out about it?"

"I didn't find out about it, I knew about it before I even knew his name. Seriously, everyone thinks this is a big deal for me when it's really just a big deal to everyone but me." Hansol whines and Jihoon sighs again.

"Hansol. Everyone who so much as makes you feel wanted is a big deal to you"

"That's not what I meant. Chan is a big deal to me. But it's because he's my boyfriend, not because he's a vampire." Hansol argues and Jihoon sighs again. 

"I'm... Okay i'm sorry. I didn't mean to make a big deal out of this and all. I just... I want you to know that you can come to me with all of this. Seungkwan's too dramatic to actually give any kind of help and you'd probably end up comforting Mingyu more if you go to him."

"You three aren't my only friends, you know?"

"Who are the others then? I didn't approve of them." Jihoon says with a serious face on and Hansol laughs. 

"I'll see you guys later. Seven at the Hub."

"Seven at the Hub." Jihoon repeats and he nods. Hansol turns right and Jihoon turns the other way towards their campus.  

Hansol was about five steps away from his door when he received a barrage of texts that made him stop. He pulls out his phone and watches as Seungkwan's name pops up over and over, sending multiple messages instead of one long one, and Hansol sighs as he opens them. He usually just lets him finish before he starts reading from the bottom down but he catches a name that made him stop. 

"Like I said, we didn't purposely follow Chan. We just were on our way back when we saw him. I took pictures and i hope you know we don't mean anything about it but yeah."

Seungkwan's message was cryptic as hell but Hansol just sighs when he sees the photo. Seungkwan had kept the messages coming and Hansol walks in his room, turns off his phone and charges it, and then he takes off his jacket and jumps on his bed. It's fine. Everything's fine. 

Except, nothing is fine. Fuck Seungkwan and fuck his photos. Yeah, Hansol knows he knows close to nothing about Chan and the guy. The very hot and pretty guy that could probably be his cousin or something. Or maybe it's his great great grandson or something. Hansol doesn't know. He couldn't possibly know. And since he doesn't know who he is, he has become the next new demon hanging over Hansol's shoulder. Like a very indignant cape dragging him down and it doesn't help at all when Chan messaged him that he'll meet him by the Hub instead of coming over and going there together.

Right.

Whatever.

It’s cool. Hansol's very cool with that. 

What he isn't cool with is the fact that he sees the two of them laughing as he waits for Chan outside the entrance of the Hub. 

Apparently, mister wide-shoulders-and-perfect-teeth is called Seokmin and he's a friend of Chan. Hansol did say he can bring a friend over tonight seeing as they're gonna be hanging out with his friends and he's just slightly regretting it now. Seungkwan's rage over mystery guy being a possible third party is completely destroyed the minute he greeted them with his blinding smile. It's annoying, really. He had wanted Chan to bring a friend so he won't be so out of loop with the rest of his friends but it turns out Seokmin alone can pedal the conversation in any direction and even Jihoon, Hansol's only hope to tranquilizing the situation, ends up completely falling for the smile as well. And it doesn't help that Seokmin would purposely catch his eyes in the middle of him telling a story and Hansol feels queasy that he feels like he's eyeing him. Hansol would try to keep eye contact for a second but he ends up looking away and saving it as him just getting his drink but still seeing the smile on the corner of his eyes. 

The smile seems like a fitting codename for Seokmin so Hansol's gonna keep using that. Ironically, of course. 

Hansol makes up an excuse to get them their next round of drinks and he gets up from his chair to walk towards the bar. He calls up the bartender and asks for their usual with the addition of Chan's and Seokmin's and he turns to lean his back on the counter just in time to see Chan walking up to him. He smiles when he sees Chan's knowing look on his face and they both lift their hands at the same time to reach for each other. 

"I can't help but feel like Seokmin's making you uneasy." Chan comments with a smile and Hansol mimics it.

"I can't help but feel like Seokmin's undressing me with his eyes." Hansol adds and Chan laughs

"Well, I mean.. I can't really blame him. I'd be a hypocrite if I did." Chan adds and Hansol smiles and pulls him in for a quick kiss. 

"Actually... He's part of the surprise for tonight. If you remember our talk early this morning. About all your kinks and whatnot." Chan says, his hands on Hansol's shirt. His fingers were playing with the buttons on his chest and Hansol's mind finally caught up.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What? You can't tell me he's not your type. He makes you nervous."

"And that's supposed to be a good thing?"

"You're always nervous when you're talking to people you're into. It's like a subconscious thing for you. Trust me, I should know." Chan says and the barista taps his shoulder to show him their tray and Hansol thanks him as Chan takes the tray in one hand and pulls Hansol back towards their table with the other.

"Consider it a very late birthday present. I asked him to join so you guys could talk before it all. And you can totally say no."

"Is he even really your friend? He's not like, from an agency or something, right?"

"No, he's not a prostitute. He's just a really good friend who is down for a really good time. But only if my sweet and oh so lovely boyfriend wants to." Chan says and they reach the table with everyone laughing and Seokmin looking up at the two of them with a smile. Hansol stares him up and down, from his loose sweater and unbuttoned collared shirt underneath it. He kept staring as they both took their seats and he kept staring when Seokmin grabbed his beer and pressed the crown to his lips before drinking. Chan is definitely watching him watch Seokmin so he hopes Chan understood that he is definitely down for tonight. Happy fucking birthday to Hansol.

An hour in on their talking and drinking, the mic from the stage rings to life and everyone turns to see a guy smiling from up there. 

"Okay. Main reason why I brought Seokmin tonight isn't for you guys to fawn over him all night. I knew it was karaoke night and I just had to bring him."

"I'm not that great. He's talking me up so I'll embarrass myself."

"Oh no. No matter what he says, you're coming up that stage even if I have to drag you there." Seungkwan adds and Seokmin laughs. 

"Okay, okay. I will. But only if Chan will." Seokmin says and Seungkwan stands up and points a finger at Chan. 

"Chan, we're going first." Seungkwan says and he stands up and walks towards the stage. Everyone laughs as Chan chases for him and they argue until they reach the man on the stage. 

"I'm so sorry if they're too much." Hansol says to Seokmin, attempting to actually have a conversation with him.

"They're not too much, come on."

"No, it's okay. It's our job to be too much." Jihoon says in a serious voice and Mingyu's arms around his waist pulls him closer. Mingyu's been plastered onto him all night he's practically a giggling necklace now by definition. 

"I swear. It's not too much for me. You guys are cool." Seokmin says, looking right into Hansol, and Hansol feels his ears burning.

"They're coming back!" Mingyu yells and Chan and Seungkwan are walking back laughing out loud.

"Chan agreed as long as he picked the song and I gotta say, I am very okay with it."

"That translates to he loves you already. You must've picked a girl group song, then." Hansol says and Chan laughs.

"Not a group but she is a girl. Also it's not korean so try not to fall in love with my English skills." Chan says and he winks at Hansol. Jihoon fake gags and everyone else laughs.

Chan and Seungkwan ended up going on stage first and Hansol laughed at the familiar tune of an Avril Lavigne song. Both of them started off with a very energetic "You know that i'm a crazy bitch." that had the entire place howling with joy.

"And that's why~ I smile. It’s been awhile, since everyday and everything has felt this right.~ And now, you turn it all around and suddenly you're all i need the reason why,  I, I, I, I smile." Chan sings the entire chorus with his eyes locked with Hansol's and he hates how badly he loved every second of it. Seungkwan has a habit of showing off when it comes to these things but Chan was definitely not letting him have all the fun. Chan even matches Seungkwan's high notes at some point and Hansol just hates how much he loves him and his dumbass tendencies. 

Hansol is only a little endeared with how close Chan seems with Seungkwan and Hansol honestly thought it'd be a deal breaker if he and Seungkwan didn't get along. Not that he'd drop one for the other, but it'll be easier for Hansol to have them both whenever he wants them to. He's a bit spoiled and selfish like that. He smiles as Seungkwan holds Chan by his face, telling him he's so glad Hansol has someone cool enough to match his boring ass personality. Hansol only feels a little offended by it all and Jihoon pulls Seungkwan back as they say their goodbyes. their little group of six splitting in half. Jihoon tells Hansolearlier in the night that he's gonna crash Mingyu's bed and then points out that Seokmin might do the same to another bed. Hansol chokes on his drink and he's glad Seokmin and Seungkwan were on stage, soaking up all the attention, as Hansol tried to dry himself with napkins on their table. Jihoon smiles, shrugs, tells Hansol he doesn't judge him, and then asks him how long it has been since he bottomed. 

Yeah, Jihoon knows nothing about subtlety. 

But yeah. Hansol ignores the knowing smirk on Jihoon's face as they say their goodbyes and the three of them walk on towards Hansol's place with Chan in the middle. 

"Just to be perfectly clear, I am a bit tipsy. But I did consent to this to Chan when I was drunk so this is totally cool." Hansol says and Seokmin laughs out loud.

"Thank you for clearing that up, I guess." Seokmin says and Chan smiles at him, too. The air around Hansol buzzes and it's making him feel jittery. 

"You're making this weird." Chan adds with a smile and Hansol laughs

"It is weird. Sort of. Isn't it weird?" Hansol says and they both look at him.

"It's weird now that you're pointing it out." Seokmin says and Hansol lets out a deep sigh. 

"You know what? Let's not do it. We can just sleep it off and see where that goes." Chan says. holding Hansol's hand in his. Seokmin smiles at them and nods and they keep on walking.

"We could buy food. I honestly want to know who got Chan so hung up." Seokmin adds and Chan hits his arm.

"Food  sounds nice. And lots of ice cream because my throat is dying." Chan says and they all laugh. 

After fifteen minutes of them raiding a convenience store, buying ice cream, an assortment of chips, and more beer, they head on their way to Hansol's place to have their second party there. Seokmin was fun and honestly really amazing to hang out with. It was almost two in the morning and they were all still laughing out loud that Hansol is a bit worried that they might get reprimanded by his neighbors in the morning. Their little talk turns to singing and the singing evolves into an actual singing battle where everyone has their phone in their hands as their microphones, belting out three different tunes at the same time. The noise clashing and making Hansol laugh and everyone breaks into fits of giggles after him. 

Chan eventually needs a bathroom break and being alone with him now is kind of making him nervous.

"So, you're not a vampire like Chan, are you?"

"Me? Oh no. What makes you think that?"

"Nothing... Just thought I had a type." 

"Aha! So you do find me sexy." Seokmin teases and he crawls over to Hansol and Hansol laughs as he moves over him.

"Very sexy. The way you hit those high notes are such a turn on." Hansol jokes and Seokmin laughs out loud.

"Oh my God. Please tell me i didn't miss you two making out." Chan says as he got out of the bathroom and Hansol looked up at Seokmin and winked.

"Maybe."

"We can do it again." Seokmin says and Hansol stares him down but smiles and nods at Seokmin. Both of them lean in and, well, let's just say the night escalated fast after that. 

"You really didn't have to."

"It's fine Seokmin." Chan says. And Seokmin laughs.

"You know." Seokmin says, looking down but still walking on.

"It's not that hard to see right through you."

"I'm sorry, your highness." 

"Don't be. It's he who needs to apologize." Chan says and Wonwoo's footsteps appear behind them.

"I'm not apologizing for doing my job."

"Shit. You scared me." Seokmin says and Wonwoo pats him on the back and Chan sighs.

"You have got to stop hijacking my life." Chan says and Wonwoo sighs.

"I feel like I'm repeating myself when I say I don't care if you like what I do or not. I'm doing my job." Wonwoo says and Seokmin sighs.

"Is he allowed to talk to you like that?" Seokmin asks and Chan smiles.

"Sadly, yeah. Call it privilege for high ranking officers." Chan says and Wonwoo scoffs.

"I am sorry for having you spy on your prince. But you know why you had to." Wonwoo says and Seokmin nods.

"Of course. I wouldn't oppose to doing that again, really." Seokmin says and Chan laughs.

"Definitely."

"Not.” Wonwoo adds.

“You had a night with the prince. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here." Wonwoo says, Chan can hear his grip on Seokmin's shoulder tightening. Chan elbows him in the gut and Seokmin whimpers when Wonwoo lets go. Chan stops in his steps and both of them do as well without missing a beat.

"Next time I call for you, you come to me. If Wonwoo comes for you, you are to ignore him. That's a direct order." Chan says and Seokmin nods and smiles at him.

"If I find out that you did come for him I won't be so nice." Chan says, side eyeing Wonwoo and Wonwoo sighs the sigh he does when he's annoyed which Chan takes as a win.

"And when you decide to turn, come to me. Give me the pleasure of turning you myself, please." Chan says and Seokmin nods. 

"You can go now before your heart speeds up even more it explodes." Wonwoo says and Seokmin flushes from the neck up. He bows his head and turns to walk the other way. Chan decided to go for Seungcheol's cafe to get Hansol some breakfast, ignoring Wonwoo's  incessant footsteps still trailing him.

"You got your report from Seokmin."

"We need to talk."

"About?"

"We need to move."

"What?"

"Someone's on your trail again. I've," Wonwoo looks around and lowers his voice as they got inside the shop, "disposed of them. They're from the Coven."

"Why are they here?"

"They know about you now. Your curse and all. It's not safe for you. For him."

"How would they... How did they find out?"

"I'm still not sure but..." Wonwoo trails off, looking at the other side of the room where Seungcheol's wiping at the counter with a smile.

"We have to leave. This time, I'm not asking just for your protection." Wonwoo says and Chan sighs.

"I'm sorry Wonwoo. I didn't think it would come to this." 

"It's my fault for getting attached. We'll keep everything quiet but we can only stay for a month. We're pushing it by staying any longer than that as it is." Wonwoo says and Chan nods. They move up to the counter and Chan watches as Wonwoo puts on a smile as he greets Seungcheol over the counter. 

"And yet I wish but for the thing I have."

Hansol knew this was somewhat serious given that Chan was wearing his serious vampire look. It's this look he has on that makes him look as old as he probably is. His eyes were staring out of the window but his hand was still holding Hansol's. At least Chan is as nervous as he was. 

"You said we're going somewhere special?" Hansol asks, trying to break the heavy tension suffocating the cab.

"Yeah. I figured it's about time."

"Yeah that doesn't sound cryptic at all." Hansol says and Chan breaks out of his dazed look and smiles at him. 

"You trust me, right?"

"Unfortunately."

"Good. It's a mistake on your part but i'm glad." Chan says and Hansol watches as Chan lifts their hands up and kisses the back of Hansol's hand. 

"You're not so lowkey terrifying me now."

"Don't be. I'm just bringing you home." 

And he does. 

Well, home was such an oversimplified way of saying he's taking Hansol to their hundred year old mansion but Hansol's good . Yeah, he's definitely good. Also the fact that they had to keep driving for like two more minutes after they passed the gates was also good. And the cab was paid for by some butler looking dude who was waiting for them and then another butler dude opens the door for Chan and another one opens the door for him. Vernon gets out and thanks him and he just lowered his head while Vernon smiles. Chan takes him by the hand and leads him inside.

"You're taking this extremely well."

"Oh, trust me. You're gonna hear me freak out when i get home tonight."

"Oh..."

"What?"

"I was gonna ask you to stay with me tonight. If that's alright with you?" Chan asks with a shy smile and Hansol groans.

"You wanna know if it's alright with me to sleep next to you in your probably king sized bed with four mast bedpost and those curtain thingies? Oh, I'm sure I'll survive living so below my usual thread count sheets." Hansol jokes and Chan laughs. He holds his hands up, looking at someone behind Hansol and he turns to see one of the butler dudes walking forward. 

"We can prepare better sheets for your night, young master." The guy says and Chan shakes his head and smiles.

"There's no need. I'm afraid he's gonna have to survive the night with my usual sheets. Regardless of the thread count." Chan says and the guy bows and steps back. Hansol stares wide eyed at Chan and Chan smiles. 

"I think this is a great place to practice your restraint on your sarcasm. Because they will take you literally." Chan whispers and Hansol laughs nervously.

"Oh joy." Hansol says and Chan leads him inside the house. Mansion. The palace. Whatever the fuck you call this kingdom. 

Chan ends up giving him the not so literal royal tour. Starting with the west wing. And yes, Hansol is now aware that places with huge floor floor areas really use 'wings' to divide the place in name because you'll end up getting lost in the maze of the two story library next to the small ballroom because the grand ballroom is for big parties only. And if they do have parties they open up the maze garden and put up directions so no one will actually get lost in it. Not unless it's a maze party that they have where they use the maze for competition. Hansol's not even sure if Chan is messing with him or not but when they were on the second floor of the library, on their way to the 'observatory' on its third floor, Chan pointed out the ten thousand square meter maze outside. Yeah. Hansol's not doing so good with taking this in.

"Jay. Tell uncle to prepare our lunch in my quarters for today." Chan says to one of the three guys tailing them and the first one, the closest one to them, nods and bows before walking off. Chan watches him leave the observatory and then smiles at the other two.

"Okay. We're gonna need some alone time so, the usual, okay?" Chan tells them and they both nod and bowed. 

"If anyone asks, we lost you in the maze the way you always do." One of them says and Chan nods.

"Also, young master, Wonwoo's fixing up your gallery so might i suggest taking the long way around your room." The other one says and Chan nods.

"Of course. Thank you Ji. You and Wen can go do your other duties for the day, alright?" Chan says and they bowed again and walked out. Chan turns to him and his smile turns from this soft one to a somewhat unsure smile.

"This is obviously freaking you out."

"You think? Chan, you can see my kitchen when we're on my bed and now you're telling me this is your life?"

"It's not like that. That's not why I brought you here, okay?"

"Is this the part where i say i'm, like, not enough for you? That you deserve better?"

"It better not. If you say anything like that i'll leave you in the maze by yourself."

"All I'm saying is we've been living off of pizza i bought using fucking coupons when you could have an actual chef make us one while we lounge by your garden or your pool or something. You have a pool right."

"An indoor and outdoor one." 

"Great. Fan-fucking-tastic."

"So what I'm hearing is you're mad that i didn't tell you about this sooner."

"Yes. Also where's the indoor pool?" Hansol asks and Chan stares at him for a few seconds, Hansol can't quite put a finger on what emotion Chan is showing but he didn't have much time to study his face since Chan pulls him gently by the neck for a kiss. Hansol's hands hold onto Chan's waist almost as if by instinct and Hansol hums when Chan's grip tightens a bit.

"It's ridiculous how much I've fallen for you."

"Yeah. I tend to have that effect on people." Hansols says and Chan laughs right on his face. And Hansol's sure nothing in this fucking palace could be as priceless as the feeling you get when you know that you're the reason why Lee Chan is laughing. 

Chan shows him around to as many rooms as he could before getting to his part of the mansion. And yeah, it's "his part" of the mansion because apparently his part of the mansion is basically his house inside the house. They passed by the gallery Hansol heard from the one guy who said Wonwoo was in there and Chan seems to ignore it with a bit more effort than he should have. He led him towards his sort of lounge and Hansol's glad it somehow looks like it's from this century. Instead of having two floors, it was just one whole room with high ceilings and there were people fixing food on the table in the middle of the room. The wall to Hansol's right was just glass from floor to ceiling as well and it honestly looks so unreal in this light. He can see a garden in full bloom and can see the rest of the mansion from here. Chan asked if he wanted to eat first and Hansol nodded just so the people by the table would stop fussing. Hansol's also glad Chan asked them to leave the room while they ate because Hansol would've probably cried if he had to sit there and let them 'serve' him. Chan also kept staring at him with a smile on his face because apparently Hansol looked so stiff he could pass for another statue they could put in the garden up front. Hansol finally relaxes when Chan laughs at him again and he sags on his seat as Chan keeps laughing. 

After their oh so lovely lunch with food Hansol usually only sees in fancy menus at fancy restaurants that he can't even pronounce the name of, Chan takes him to his room. And yeah, it sounds LIKE THAT but honestly Hansol just stayed in Chan's walk in closet and gawks at all the clothes he has. He also gawks at the actual four post, kings sized bed Chan has, you know the ones with the roof thing on it? Yeah. Hansol climbs on it and just let the bed soften around him as if it was molding itself for Hansol's specific shape and he lets the end hold him like that until Chan pulls him up and tells him he's gonna show him what he really wanted to show him in the first place.

"The gallery?"

"Yeah. I'm... I'm gonna show you something and you're gonna have to wait until I'm done before you say anything, okay?" Chan asks and Hansol nods. Chan knocks once and the door opens to show Wonwoo wearing something Hansol has to say as his butler outfit. Or maybe his bodyguard outfit. A plain black suit with a white undershirt and his hair was slicked back. The only resemblance he has of the Wonwoo he knows are the glasses perched on his nose.

"Hey." Wonwoo says after closing the door behind them and Chan smiles sadly at him.

"Actually. I think it's okay for you to wait outside Wonwoo." Chan says and Wonwoo nods.

"Of course." Wonwoo says and he bows. He went out of the room and Hansol turned to look at Chan. Chan drags him to the middle of the room and Hansol looks around and sees a bunch of portraits hung around the walls. It looks like they're arranged by date seeing how the ones by the door are old looking paintings while the ones on the other side of the door look more like a printed photo.

A printed photo of them.

Hansol lets go of Chan's hand and stares at the photo of them from one of their first dates. The photo was of them laughing side by side, crossing the street, with him walking backwards and Chan holding him by the elbow with a huge laugh on his face. Hansol stares at the yellow beanie on Chan's head and smiles when he remembers Chan taking it off of his head and putting it on himself. Hansol was about to turn, to ask Chan why this was here, but he sees the next frame and stops. 

It was them. But it wasn't him. 

It looked old. Like, old fashioned old, but it was them. Chan had longer hair and Hansol looked like he had his hair tied up. This one was just as candid. It looked like they were walking the streets again and their clothes look like they're from decades back and Hansol finds himself looking at the next photo and sees this one is a lot less candid but a lot older. Almost as if it was taken in those first cameras that take a minute before you get a photo. They were wearing button up shirts and their hair were parted in a very unflattering way, really, but Hansol's mind was racing faster than he could make jokes about their suspenders and hair. He checks the next photo, and the one after that, and then the one after that, and as his gaze sweeps around the room he sees Chan standing in the middle of the room with a book in his hand. 

"My father thinks it's a curse. A way of punishing him by punishing his only son." Chan says and Hansol walks up to him.

"My father was, is, the first ever vampire ever created. My mother, a witch, made a spell to help them gain immortality. She casted it on him and then on herself, not knowing she was pregnant with me. It was okay at first, but magic, specifically blood magic, comes with a price. With immortality comes the need to take more of life's essence to survive. We'd need blood to survive. And it was on the day of my birth, when my mother was weakest and my father was most vulnerable, that a coven of old witches casted a curse on us that would prevent us from making more of our kind. To keep us from reproducing. And it worked. But my mother was more powerful than they thought and she managed to escape with me and my father to a faraway place. Somewhere no one knew us. so we can get a new start." Chan says and he takes Hansol's hand and drags him to the only painting that's encased in glass in the middle of the wall.

"That's where I first met you." Chan says and Hansol stares at the painting of himself lying under a tree with his arms under his head, eyes closed, and a smile on his face. Hansol stares and Chan takes a deep breath beside him.

"It was a small town. My father worked as a black smith and my mother sold flowers she grew with a bit of magic. And I was just human then. At least, we all assumed I was and I was just always tagging along my father until i met you."

"Your name was Changyun. You told me your mother gave you that name because it meant light coming from the sun but your father liked your name because it meant even, fair, equal. But to me it meant both. Like sunlight that reaches all." Chan says and he smiles at the portrait.

"I grew up with you, then. You taught me how to swim and how to climb a tree without falling head first and you taught me how to love." Chan says and his smile falls.

"You also taught me about loss." Chan says and Hansol turns to stare.

"One day, someone found out about my mother being a witch and most of the people weren't reacting so badly. They've grown to accept her as part of the town and they accepted us too. So in turn, my mother offered everyone the same spell she used on herself and my dad. To be immortal, but with a price. And that's how the first line of vampires were created. The line of the witch blood. They're vampires with special abilities. Like how I can heal. But not everyone was as accepting as the others." Chan says and he turns to Hansol.

"Your father said it was unnatural and wrong. That it was unfair to have an advantage over normal human beings and a few of the people followed him when they left the town. Just like you did. But not before you gave me this." Chan holds up his hand and the ring that started it all glints on his index finger. 

"But you came back. You came back for me and... and told me your father let you come back. But in reality, he used you. He sent a coven of witches your way and you led them to us. And as soon as I held you in my arms you had an arrow struck right to your heart. No matter what I did, I couldn't save you and my father and mother did all they could to protect us from the witches while I tried to help you but you just smiled at me and told me you'll see me in your next life. That you'll love me more in that lifetime and that next time you'd choose to stay. And when you died, something in me died with you. I blacked out and when I came to, my hand was shoved inside a witch's chest gripping her heart. But before I could kill her, she used her last remaining strength to cast a curse on me by cursing you. That you will always come back and love me but you'd always choose to leave." Chan says and Hansol finds himself wiping Chan's tears off of his face.

"And that's what happened. That's what kept happening for years on end. You'd find me just a little before you turn twenty one and you make me fall for you over again and when I give you my hand there's always something that takes you away from me. Whether it was fighting in a war, leaving the city with your family, leaving the city to find your family, you always have no choice but to leave." Chan says and Hansol feels his heart breaking at how hard Chan is crying.

"So this time I'm not gonna ask. This time I'm gonna tell you everything and I'm gonna make you feel sorry for me so you won't leave. I';m gonna convince you that-" Hansol cuts him off by kissing him and Chan takes a sharp inhale of air through his nose and sighs as Hansol pulls away. 

"Can I talk now?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Good. First of all. Don't say it like that. Like guilt tripping me with your past is the only way I'll stay." 

"It is."

"I'm staying. With you. And not because of this curse or whatever but because I love you. Because I'll always choose you." Chan breaks down crying and Hansol smiles as he pulls Chan's face towards his shoulder. Hansol helps Chan walk towards the door and asks Wonwoo to help them get to his bedroom. Hansol helps Chan up the bed and the two of them stay there, over the covers, while Wonwoo waits outside by the door. Hansol lets Chan sleep with his head on his chest and Hansol is left with one thing running through his mind.

You’ll always choose to leave

Chan wakes up with Hansol's scent clouding his head and he feels fingers carding through his hair. 

"You awake?" Hansol's voice says and Chan hums and nods.

"So. Did you know? About my apprenticeship?" Hansol asks and Chan nods.

"I figured that this was it. That was the one thing that will make you choose something over me and you'll live your life as if i was never there to begin with." Chan says and Hansol sighs.

"I have decided on what I'm gonna do, though. And Wonwoo came in and we talked about it and then he said something a bit weird but uh... he told me that you need to feed." Hansol says and that wakes Chan up. Chan sits up and moves back and Hansol laughs. 

"I have a plan. And it involves you feeding from me."

"What? But that would-" "Yeah. I know." Hansol says and Chan's mind runs a hundred miles an hour. Then Hansol takes off his shirt and Chan stops breathing.

"Let yourself be selfish for once, would you. Now are you gonna bite me or what?" Hansol asks and Chan can't help but laugh.

"I never thought i'd hear you say that." CHan says and he crawls forward. He places himself on Hansol's lap like all the times before but this time Hansol has this wild unsure look in his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm only a little scared that it might hurt."

"It won't. Quite the opposite really." Chan says and he kisses Hansol.

"I'm gonna do it." Chan says, face hovering an inch away from Hansol and staring at his lashes more than his eyes.

"Yeah.” Hansol answers and Chan takes a deep breath.

"Are you really sure?"

"Yes." Hansol says and Chan kisses the junction between his shoulder and neck before baring his teeth and sinking his fangs on Hansol's skin. The taste of Hansol's blood floods his tongue and Chan can't help the moan he lets out when he swallows. Hansol's hand grips the sides of his waist and Chan had to grip his own thighs to make himself pull back from hansol and something primal in Chan's chest growls to life at the image of Hansol's blood trickling down his skin. Chan licks the blood up and licks the puncture wound close. Hansol groans as Chan keeps on going and Chan only stops when he feels a hand on his hair. 

"Wonwoo also told me a little something that happens after you feed." Hansol says and Chan groans when he feels his other hand on Chan's thigh.

"Shut up and take my clothes off." Chan finds himself saying. Hansol's blood giving him the worst and best kind of high he's ever felt and he can feel and he can hear Hansol's heart beating under his palm on his chest which just makes his blood rush even more.

"Faster." Chan says and Hansol laughs. 

"Alright, alright. Damn." Hansol says, laughing, and Chan lifts his hand up as Hansol tugs off his shirt. Chan fumbles with Hansol's pants and Hansol laughs. Chan may have popped the button off of his pants and maybe ripped a part of it a bit but that is a problem for when they need clothes. A problem for four hours later. Five if Hansol can keep up. 

"So much of life is the same.

Hour to hour, day to day.

We sleep. We eat. We pray.

We welcome new life, let old life out.

How do we make our mark upon the world?

What can we point and say,

"Yes, That's mine"? "

"You're about to cry." Hansol notes and Chan scoffs.

"No, I'm not. Shut up."

"It's okay. I'm not gonna judge."

"I said shut the fuck up." Chan scowls, tearing up, and Hansol sighs. 

"Well, when Wonwoo sees you looking like that I'm not taking the blame." Hansol says and just then he sees Wonwoo across the crowd. Who knew there'd be this many people here this time of the year.

"Shut up. No one's crying." Chan says and they made their way across the airport terminal. 

Seungcheol and Wonwoo were surrounded by so many people that Hansol laughs at how ridiculous they look. Seugncheol was swamped around by their friends, Jihoon uncharacteristically clinging onto him as Mingyu pats his back and Seungkwan was talking to Seungcheol. Jeonghan and Joshua, his closest friends, were hanging around behind him and writing something on a piece of paper and then shoving it inside a pocket of Seungcheol's bag. Wonwoo was accompanied by Chan's parents. As weird as that sound. Apparently Wonwoo was technically adopted into the family since he was orphaned at such a young age and they technically did raise him as his own. But Hansol still feels a bit uneasy knowing his history with Chan. Like, their history kind of history. Apparently vampires can feed off of each other and given what happens after Chan feeds off of him now, he can imagine the things they might have done all the years Wonwoo's been "assigned" to feed Chan. 

"Did you make him cry again?" Wonwoo says with a scowl and Hansol scoffs.

"This time, it's your fault that he's crying." Hansol argues and Chan elbows him as he wipes at his face.

"Can I have a word?" Wonwoo says and Chan sniffs and nods. They walk off to the side and Hansol smiles at Chan's parents.

"Chan will be fine. Wonwoo has always been something he's had next to him for so long now." Hansol nods at Chan's mom and he smiles at Chan finally giving in and pulling Wonwoo in for a hug. Wonwoo wraps his arms around him and Hansol looks away to give them a little bit of privacy.

"I know. Chan called him his significant annoyance, so I try not to let their thing make me jealous. It's hard, but I do try." Hansol jokes and they laugh. Someone taps him on the shoulder and he sees Seungcheol smiling brightly at him with his arms out wide. He gives him a hug and a couple hard pats in the back before pulling away. 

"Dude. They have their own private jets. Like all of them. Wonwoo said he hasn't been using his for years. I'm kind of freaking out."

"Wait 'til you see where Wonwoo plans to take you. Send me a photo or something." Hansol teases and they both look over to where Wonwoo and Chan were still holding each other.

"You think they can survive being apart from each other?"

"We'll see. Maybe Chan will bring out his own private jet and we can tag along your honeymoon."

"It's not a honeymoon!"

"Sure. It's your pre-wedding-get-away trip. Whatever. Point is your ass is so gonna be sore." Hansol teases and Seungcheol hits him at the back of his head, laughing. Chan's parents then called for Seungcheol and Hansol took one step away from them before being pulled in by his neck.

"Since when was your boyfriend the prince of fucking vampirism? What the fuck?" Seungkwan hisses and Hansol laughs.

"What?"

" Dude . He's got a white card. A white card ." Seungkwan freaks out, again, and Hansol just lets everything unfold.

"That's like, you know Toph's passport in Avatar? The flying boar? It’s like that! And he took a course in History of Immortal Beings. He knows them, Hansol. Like, they have ancient scrolls with their names on them." Seungkwan says, pointing at Jeonghan, and Jeonghan laughs.

"From what I heard, Hansol's in the scrolls, too. Changkyun?" Jeonghan says, he's met them a few time when Seungcheol would bring his friends around and Hansol jsut smiles and nods.

"Changyun. And yeah actually." Hansol corrects him and something about his face says he might actually recognize Hansol after that.

"What the fuck? You've been gone a month and come back with this shit?" Seungkwan screams and Hansol laughs. Missing for a month wasn't planned. He just really, really had to see how many places in the mansion he can 'defile' with Chan. Surprisingly, a lot. 

"Oh. And I'm basically betrothed? To be betrothed? Basically we're like, engaged." Hansol says and everyone just stares. Even Jihoon has his mouth hanging open.

"Oh my God, you're marrying the vampire prince. Oh my fucking God." Seungkwan yells, again, and Hansol sighs.

"And Wonwoo?" Seungkwan asks and Hansol shrugs.

"Wonwoo's like his right hand man. Not technically a brother but he's close enough." Hansol explains and 

"So Seungcheol is also marrying a vampire prince." Seungkwan asks and everyone stares at Hansol.

"Wait." Jeonghan cuts in and everyone turns to him.

"He's a vampire? Like, Wonwoo is a vampire?" Jeonghan asks and he turns to stare at Chan and Wonwoo in horror.

"Yeah. Seungcheol didn't tell you?" Hansol asks and Jeonghan shakes his head no.

"Well, yeah. He's basically second in line, I guess. But no one cares about vampire politics these days anyways." Hansol says and everyone stares.

"If no one cared then why were you literally kidnapped?" Jihoon adds, scoffing, and Hansol shrugs.

"Oh that. That's because I'm like his reincarnated boyfriend for eternity." Hansol says, pointing at Chan and everyone stares.

"Oh, I guess I'm technically the avatar, huh?" Hansol offer and he smiles.

"What?" Seungkwan asks and Hansol takes a deep rbeath

"Uh, how do i say this? Um, basically i’m like Chan’s boyfriend who keeps getting reincarnated only to fall in love with him but then like, leaves him? Then I die and come back to life again and he falls  in love and I leave him again and it’s a cycle.” Hansol explains and everyone stares.

“But like, we broke the cycle. Again, betrothed. I’ll turn in a year or something.” Hansol explains and everyone just kept staring. 

“Alright. Enough with that. Me and Wonwoo are gonna have to board now.” Seungcheol butts in, placing his hands on Hansol’s shoulders and everyone’s attention was redirected at him. 

Everyone said their last good byes, Hansol knew better than to tease anyone for being too emotional seeing how Seungcheol basically helped everyone here through a lot of shit and he’s gonna be gone for a year. Wonwoo told Chan that in all their years alive he never once thought he’d find someone like Seungcheol and all that romantic crap so Wonwoo went all out and planned a year long world trip for Seungcheol. Hansol may have been joking about it earlier but Chan told him that their last destination before going home next year would be a little island in The Philippines that their family owns (of course) where Wonwoo would ask Seungheol to marry him. So yeah. Although Hansol’s not sure if Seungcheol would say yes to turning into a vampire. He’d obviously say yes to the marriage thing since they’re practically married since he met them but he knew Wonwoo would be okay with loving Seungcheol until his death comes from old age. 

It makes Hansol think about him and Chan. How forever is an actual thing he can have with Chan and it’s such a scary yet exciting feeling. Like floating in the ocean so deep you can’t see the end of it. 

“Hey? Earth to Hansol?” Jihoon calls out and Hansol snaps out of his thoughts. 

They decided to grab lunch before heading off into their own places and Chan waves at his parents as they got in their car. After eating and talking more about what kind of life Seungcheol is gonna have with Wonwoo, they decided to go on their separate ways home. But that also means Jihoon is taking the same line as he and Chan were. 

“Chan said he’s gonna go to the bathroom first.” Jihoon says and Hanosl nods.

“You okay? You were like, on autopilot the entire time we were having lunch.” Jihoon says and Hansol smiles.

“I’m fine. Just thinking.” 

“That’s extremely dangerous for you.”

“Har har.”

“Look. This vampire shit is weird, i get that. But it’s not that much different day to day life compared to your previous one as a human.” Jihoon says and Hansol smiles. 

“You say that like you’re a vampire.” Hansol teases and Jihoon turns to him, confused.

“What?” Jihoon asks.

“What?”

“Hansol. I am a vampire.” Jihoon says. Hansol stares, let's those words connect to each other and he blinks.

“What?”

“Are you serious?” Jihoon asks, laughing, and Hansol runs a hand over his hair.

“Hold on, does Mingyu know?” Hansol asks and Jihoon kept laughing. 

“Well I sure hope so. I’ve been feeding off of him for years now so it’d be awkward if he thinks i’m just some weirdo who has a blood kink.” Jihoon says and Hansol is just letting it all process because what the fuck?

“What?”

“Dude. I’m a direct descendant from Chan’s mother’s first clan. My last name is literally Lee.”

“That doesn’t say shit. Lots of people have Lee and like, Kim, for their surname.”

“More than half of the Lees are descendants of vampires. The Kims are the werewolf clan.”

“ Mingyu is a werewolf?!” Hansol screams and Jihoon slams his palm over Hansol’s mouth so fast Hansol feels his lips bleed a little.

“Okay. We’re getting side tracked. Look. I’m a vampire. I was talking about you probably freaking out because of becoming one. That’s our narrative here. I’m gonna let you go now so don’t freak out.” Jihoon says and Hansol nods. He pulls his hand away and Hansol stares.

“Were you a vampire since we met?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m eighty-seven years old, Hansol.” Jihoon explains and oh my fuckingGod.

“Oh my god. My first time was with an old guy.” Hansol says and he laughs when Jihoon smacks him at the back of his head.

“You’re an idiot, you now that.” Jihoon says and they both see Chan smiling at them as he walks towards them.

“Guess that answers your question.”

“About?” 

“Having a type. Face it, you’re into the whole vamp thing.”

“Maybe. Or I just attract vampires.” Hansol adds and Jihoon scoffs.

“You guys ready?” Chan says, ppping out behind the both of them, and Hansol nods.

“Yup. Your blood bag’s being stupid again.”

“What did you just call me?” Hansol asks, offended. 

“He’s just teasing you.” Chan says and Hansol glares at Jihoon as he laughs.

“Is that what I am to you? Blood supply?” Hansol turns to Chan and Chan sighs as Jihoon laughs. 

“Please. Blood is the last thing I’d probably want you for. I have a whole clan who would happily line up just so they’d get to feed me.” Chan says and Jihoon laughs louder.

“Not really reassuring, babe.”

“Look. All I’m saying is there’s a lot of things I like about you and blood is probably third on the list. Maybe second. Can we go now?” Chan says and Hansol sighs.

“You sure you wanna go with me? My whole apartment is as big as your bed.” Hansol says and Chan sighs.

“Yes I wanna go with you. Come on. Wonwoo’s gone! It’s literally what we’ve been wanting since we met. I wanna do everything he told me not to do."

“Oh so you were holding back up until now?” Hansol asks, amused by the thought, and Chan smiles sweetly at him and winks.

“I’m one of the oldest vampires on earth, babe. You’ll know when I stop holding back.” Chan says and Hansol smiles.

“Alright. I’m out. Maybe I can still catch up with Mingyu and Seungkwan.” Jihoon says and Chan laughs. Chan holds him back with a hand on his wrist and Hansol watches them bicker while they wait for their bus. 

As soon as Chan opens the door, the sight of Hansol’s already bare apartment hits him harder now that Wonwoo’s gone. The photos taped on the walls and all the posters and frames lying around when he first got here were all nowhere to be seen. Hansol’s arms wrap around his waist and pull him inside and then smiles before dropping Chan on their bed. 

“You’re gonna start acting weird about this aren’t you?” Hansol asks, the tip of his nose already pressed on the skin of his neck as Chan sighs.

“It is weird.”

“It’s not. Look, it may be hard for you to accept this but I’m not him. I’m just Hansol.”

“And Hansol’s more than enough for me.” Chan answers back and the effect on Hansol is visible. 

“Stop trying to flirt with me I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” Chan answers back and Hansol drags him in the middle of the bed and hovers over him with a smile.

“You ready to live in L.A. with me for a year?” 

“You’re going there for your apprenticeship, Hansol. Stop making it out like it’s a vacation.”

“All I’m saying is, I’m gonna be in L.A. with my lovely, fat-assed boyfriend, and we’re gonna live in a penthouse or something that’s high enough that we can probably have sex by the window and no one will see.” Hansol says and Chan rolls his eyes.

“Everything ends up with sex with you, doesn’t it.” Chan says, reaching up to hold Hansol’s jaw and he leans in to the touch.

“You know I’m as easy as they come.” Hansol says and Chan smiles.

“Just… tell me you won’t regret this.”

“Regret what?”

“Choosing me.”

“Choosing you is probably the only mature and reasonable decision i have ever made.” Hansol says, looking right at his eyes, and Chan feels some kind of weight lift off his shoulder.

“And I already told you I didn’t choose you over my life. I chose both. I want you but I also don’t want to just be your cursed-for-eternity boyfriend you keep in the guest room, or something. I want us to live like us.”

“Like us?”

“Yeah. No labels. No curse whatsoever and no royal vampire. Just us.” Hansol says with such conviction in his voice that Chan finds weirdly attractive.

“Maybe just a little bit of the royal vampire. I kinda liked the penthouse idea and I would love to be fucked by a window.” Chan offers and Hansol heaves out a dramatic sigh with his eyes closed, making Chan laugh.

“God, I love you so much.” Hansol says before leaning down for a kiss and Chan smiles as he kisses back. 

Chan thinks he can do this. Learning how to survive in L.A., how to live with Hansol officially, how to let go of Changyun. He thinks he can do it if it’s Hansol’s with him. In between Hansol’s crude humor and the way he can distract Chan with just his mouth on Chan’s skin, he thinks he can really do it.

In a matter of years, Chan can have familiarity in this life. In a matter of years, he would turn and they could have forever, together.