Archive of Our Own

Minho was pacing around the kitchen while Hyunjin was on the phone with Changbin, his boyfriend. The vampire was barely listening to what they were saying, honestly; all he knew was that he wanted Chan to come home and be safe. He also wanted—mostly needed—explanations for what was happening with his friend. Sure, Chan had been hanging out with their demon friend a lot more lately, but it didn’t mean anything, right? It wasn’t something to be afraid of, right?

“Oh, you’re there now? Ok, great. Is he—is he ok?” Hyunjin abruptly stopped walking, almost bumping onto Minho.

“Any news?” Felix got up from his chair to go all the way to them, hand clutched to Hyunjin’s arm almost instantly.

“Changbin just arrived at Seungmin’s place. Chan’s alright,” Hyunjin covered his phone with his hand and whispered to the young vampire, trying to reassure him, then throwing a glance at Minho, faint smile on his lips. Minho smiled back.

Felix had been pretty shaken up at the idea of Chan cheating on him, or simply being hurt. He had even cried a few times, staying on his chair with tears rolling down his cheeks while the two older vampires were going back and forth around him.

Knowing, from Changbin, that Chan was doing ok… It was a relief. For everyone. They barely had time to ask more question that the warlock quickly hung up so he could take care of it, not even telling them what had happened between the vampire and the demon.

Hours. They had to wait for hours before the warlock texted Hyunjin again. ‘Chan just left’ the text said. Three words that lifted a heavy weight from their shoulders. Expectant, they all three went behind the front door and waited for the older vampire to come back home. But then, once again, it was an endless wait.

Hearing no sign of him, they went back to the kitchen; Felix back on his chair, only without tears this time.

“Are you sure he’s on his way home?” Minho asked, genuinely curious.

“Where would he go?” Felix stared at him, coldly.

It was then dead silent again, the three boys staring at each other while trying to calm their nerves.

“Maybe he just left now,” Felix whispered.

“No, he said he left hours ago.” Hyunjin took his phone out of his pocket, checking the time he received the message.

“Maybe something happened on the way?”

“It’s Chan, come on!” Minho was quick to retort.

“Seungmin said he might need time alone,” Hyunjin was still staring at his text messages.

“What were they doing anyway? Why couldn’t he tell you over the phone?” Felix got up from his seat, riling up on his emotions. “It’s been hours and he’s still not home. I can’t wait any longer; I don’t care, I’m going to find him.”

Felix walked out of the kitchen, ready to go past the front door, Hyunjin and Minho followed him, worried.

“You’re home!” the younger shouted, running towards a figure the two others couldn’t see. Until Felix tackled it into a hug and they realized it was him. Chan, standing in front of the door, frozen until his arms slowly circled Felix’s waist.

They barely took time to think, both of the vampires joining the hug; Minho squeezing them tight against his chest. The older vampire started to shake a bit, tears falling down his cheeks. Chan broke down completely, arms around the three vampires in front of him, trying to hug them back all at once.

No one really asked what had happened. They knew Chan more than anyone else—maybe even better than himself, sometimes—they knew he would talk about it on his own.

It didn’t mean that they left him alone. No, quite the contrary actually. Minho spent most of his time sitting on Chan’s bed, watching him busying himself on his laptop. Right after Chan calmed down, once everyone had broken the hug and went on with their lives, Chan left for his room. Minho followed, keeping an eye on him. He just sat there, silently, for hours. Until he felt the silence being too heavy, even for him.

“What are you doing?”

“Working,” Chan answered, eyes not leaving his screen.

“Can I see?”

“Well, yes. Not sure you’ll understand, but sure.”

Minho got up from the bed, standing behind the elder’s chair and staring at his laptop screen. And just as expected, he didn’t understand a word of what was written on it. They both chuckled at his puzzled expression, Chan patting his shoulder affectionally.

Minho wasn’t an idiot. He knew that Chan was drowning himself in his work to grasp reality back, to avoid whatever had happened at Seungmin’s house. He simply brushed his cheek against the side of Chan’s face before leaving him at his work again, exiting the room after saying he was getting a cup of coffee.

The three vampires talked between them, about their worry and their curiousness. Maybe Chan heard them. Maybe it’s what pushed him to sit them all in the living room and tell them everything, on the same night. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since Chan had come home, and he had asked them to sit in the living-room and to listen.

They thought they were ready. They really thought they were. They weren’t.

“And that’s when Seungmin broke the circle and forced me into refusing the deal.” Chan hung his head low, too ashamed to look at his family. He had barely looked at them when he mumbled he thought about leaving them for his biological family.

Minho looked at the broken vampire in front of him, then at the two others on his side. He didn’t know what to do. Felix was silently crying at the revelation of Chan almost leaving them alone. Hyunjin was staring at the floor, lost in his own thoughts. Minho wasn’t sure how a vampire previously human was thinking, but he could only guess that Hyunjin wondered if he would have done the same as Chan. Hyunjin missed his family and wasn’t afraid to show it—while Chan missed them in silence, and no one knew he wanted to see them again this badly. Minho closed his eyes a few seconds, the time to inhale deeply. He then got up from the couch and hugged Chan, tightly but not tight enough that it was hurting.

“What’s important is that you’re here now, and that you’re happy. It’s ok, Chan. We all make mistakes.”

“It’s not just—It’s not just a mistake, Minho. I almost—” Minho hugged him a bit tighter, cutting him off wordlessly.

The other two finally joined the hug, agreeing with Minho’s words and life went on again.

Chan and Felix left to their room, Hyunjin isolated himself with his Alice in Wonderland book, which lead to Minho sitting alone on the couch, a cup of cold coffee in his hands.

It was strange, late at night in this house. Especially when alone. The vampire looked around him, at the house, at the furniture and everything else. He then looked through the window, at the forest surrounding them. He felt his sides lonely. None of the vampires were there, and suddenly, he was way too aware that he couldn’t see Jisung anymore.

Jisung, Han Jisung. The love of his life. He spent a short amount of his life with him, but almost the entirety of Jisung’s. It had been around sixty-seven years since his death, but it felt like yesterday. Minho closed his eyes, suddenly breathing heavily.

Gunshots, screams, and cries. “They’re North Korean!” Minho looked around, holding Jisung closer against his chest, Hyunjin running next to him. He looked back, Chan gesturing them to run faster. It all went white for a few seconds, then another gunshot. Minho seemed to open his eyes again. Chan was on the floor, a bullet getting out of his leg as he got up and ran again. White lights kept on flashing, every time Minho feeling like he had simply blinked. He blinked once; Chan was catching up to them. He blinked again, he fell on the floor and Jisung with him. He blinked a few more times, faceless people were surrounding them. His body moved on his own, shielding Jisung’s frail body as knives and bullets ran through his back. Gunshots, screams, and cries. It filled Minho’s ears until it all went black, it all went silent. He opened his eyes again, and he was dragged by Chan from the collar as he cried, “I won’t leave without him!”, his eyes focused on Jisung’s lifeless body.

Sixty-seven years. Everything was blurry in his head, but never will he forget Jisung’s cries and how loud it got when he couldn’t hear them anymore. But then, after decades of grieving, healing and support from his family, it suddenly went all downhill again. Chan got kidnapped, and Minho was alone again. Alone in his head, alone in his life—well, it was a bit unfair to say that considering Hyunjin and Felix were there, but he was still feeling alone. Which might be why he summoned Jisung in his head. And then, he wasn’t alone anymore. Jisung was by his side again, loving him again, the only downside was him not being there, physically speaking. Minho felt happy for the first time in decades… until he had to give his lover up again. He hated Seo Changbin so much, when he made that spell and Jisung disappeared.

He now understood why he had to leave Jisung to the dead. He did. He had no hard feelings against Changbin anymore. It was a way healthier way of leaving, that was for sure. He still couldn’t help how lonely he felt, alone on the couch, with no one next to him, not even the hallucination of his dead lover.

Minho didn’t want Chan to go through any of this. Sure, Chan didn’t lose anyone recently. But he missed his family. He really did. And Minho was somehow afraid he’d find a way to get his family back… whichever way was possible. Maybe that’s why he thought it was so important to keep an eye on him. Maybe…

“You don’t have to watch over me,” the vampire laughed, head trapped against Minho’s chest. “You’re way too cuddly today, I’m fine I promise.”

“Who said the hug was for you?” He hugged him a tiny bit tighter, laughing along with him.

Chan stopped moving around, finally hugging Minho back and relaxing against his chest. They were both lying on the younger’s bed, Chan being pulled into the hug when he had just come into the room to ask for a pen. Minho had taken the opportunity to show the other his support, not knowing how else he was supposed to beside hugging him tight.

He didn’t even know if he was doing this for himself or for the other. He just had this sudden need to hug the older vampire tight and to drown the both of them in a safe bubble. Which is what happened. Both arms wrapped around Chan’s shoulders, head resting on top of the other’s, Minho closed his eyes and let himself drown in a relaxing state. They both felt safe, finally.

They both fell asleep like that, Chan sliding a bit lower on the bed so that his head could rest against the other’s chest.

Chan was the first one to leave the bed. Minho didn’t need to get up to know why. He just had to focus on this one particular sound—Chan’s voice—and he knew. The troublemaker was there. Talking. Apologizing. And Chan forgave him. Minho wanted to scream. He couldn’t understand. No. Oh, no, he really couldn’t understand. He closed his eyes, listening to Chan’s soothing voice. “Oh no, please no, do not apologize! I should be thanking you.” He could hear Chan’s smile even without seeing him. It was some unexplainable rage that was taking over Minho. The demon, that Chan was forgiving so easily, almost ruined their lives. Minho hated him, right at this instant. He wished he could erase him from their lives. He wished he could just erase the moment the demon entered their lives, so that they wouldn’t have to go through all of that.

The opposite happened.

Seungmin stayed over. Chan invited him. And then, the next day, he was there too. And the day after. And after. He seemed to have moved in, at that point.

“Don’t you have a home of your own?” The vampire spat at the demon’s face, one day. An answer would have been nice, yet the other simply vanished into thin air. “What the fu—”

“He went home,” Hyunjin said as he walked by, unfazed.

“Home? Oh, so he has one.”

“What? Of course, he does.”

“Then why is he there every day?”

“I asked him to come,” Chan’s voice rose from the kitchen. Minho grunted and went to his room. Why would he even ask him to come? Wasn’t he there enough already? How could he even be friend with him?

Not even an hour later, Seungmin was back on their couch. Seeing his face so much, Minho couldn’t claim that he hated the demon… he just had this odd need to provoke the other. He couldn’t help himself but resent him, yet not hate him. He couldn’t really explain it, it was more of a feeling than a reasonable thing. The more he thought about it, maybe he never hated him in the first place… but then, what?

Every time Seungmin would come, he’d somehow end up on their couch. And, without really knowing why, Minho would leave his room to seat next to him. He’d stay there, most of the time silently, some other time, he’d just annoy him, provoke him, in some way.

“Oh, isn’t that the little demon?” Minho had heard him, going out of his room to join him on the couch.

“You still talking to yourself?”

“Wh—Oh god, were you always this nosy?” The vampire forced a smile on his face but saying the remark didn’t hurt would be a lie. Touchy topic. He already regretted getting out of his room. Still, he sat next to him and tried to hide his hurt feelings.

“Says you.”

“We almost lost our friend because of you,” he didn’t mean to sound this harsh, but it came out this way. He wasn’t really good at hiding his feelings, anyway.

“I—Y’all should’ve been keeping him inside better”

“Oh, handcuff him to his bed, right?” Minho winked at the demon, trying to lighten the mood that had suddenly become too heavy to breathe in. That was his fault, somehow.

“I will literally throw up if you put that image in my head one more time.”

Seeing the demon blushing, Minho leaned in towards him, whispering right against his ear; “Chan handcuffed to his bed frame,” before bursting into laughter. It was worth getting his feelings hurt if in the end he could annoy him.

“Isn’t that the two bachelors flirting on my own couch?” Minho turned his head at the voice, staring at Chan who simply pushed him to the other side of the couch so he could sit between them. The older vampire looked at them both as they shared a look of disgust. Chan laughed, forcing them both into a hug.

“I will literally puke in your hair if you don’t let me go,” the vampire threatened. He simply got hugged tighter, the other vampire laughing even louder.

“Come on vampie, I don’t want him to puke on you, that’ll stink.” Seungmin added, to which Chan laughed. Minho was just confused at the nickname, his laughter dying in his throat.

If the snarky remarks had happened only once, maybe Minho would’ve bear with it… Oh, but no.

The others—whether it’d be the three vampires or the warlock—they loved to tease them in return. They loved to push them together, force them against each other and call them forbidden lovers. It was annoying at first. Until Minho stopped getting annoyed and kept going with the joke. He never really checked if Seungmin was also ok with the joke, though.

The vampire wasn’t really the type to hold grudges. He actually forgave pretty quickly about what had happened between Chan and Seungmin. He kind of had no other choice but to, actually, as every time he got out of his room, he’d fall face to face with the demon boy. And to be fair, he never really resented him in the first place. It kept him up countless of nights, enough for him to think about it. He wasn’t angry at Seungmin. He just hated strangers in general. And the demon, well, he just appeared one day out of nowhere and stole Chan. Minho never coped with it, until he stopped treating the demon as a stranger—he was definitely not, at this point. Bonus to that, he was really fun to tease.

“I knew you loved my face, but you don’t need to come every day.”

“You’re ugly, what do you mean?” Seungmin chuckled, not even sparing him a glance.

“Come on, you’re here every single day and beside Chan, there’s only me in here all the time.” Minho leaned towards the demon, his nose almost brushing against his cheek. “If you want to see me this much, I can send you daily photos.”

“Of your face?” The demon didn’t move, feeling Minho’s nose moving up and down as he nodded to the question, the tip of his nose was still brushing against his cheek. Finally, he turned around, their faces a few inches apart. Seungmin pushed him with both hands on his shoulders, an expression of disgust on his face. “I’d rather eat my own puke than to get pictures of you every day.”

Minho only had time to giggle before Chan entered the room, trapping the both of them into a hug.

“You really need to stop doing that,” the both of them said in unison.

“Oh, that’s so lovely. You’re saying the same things.” Chan beamed with joy, ruffling both of their hair as he chuckled.

Minho left them alone, going to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. He could still hear them talking, trying to stay up to date with the conversation, without really participating. Well, Seungmin was Chan’s friend, not his. He didn’t need to keep talking to him, right?

Talking with him… That’s not something that happened much. But it did happen a few times. Minho was left alone with the demon boy. Forced to keep a conversation. Sure, he’d still use the excuse of getting coffee, but it didn’t work for long. Whether the demon was less stupid than he thought, or whether he had just picked up on Minho’s excuses, it didn’t work anymore.

“You know, we can just go to the kitchen together,” Seungmin once said, when Minho tried to run away from him.

“Oh. Yeah… Sure. I guess we… can.” He still got up from the couch, walking reluctantly to the kitchen as the demon followed suit. It was, sure, an excuse not to stay with him, but he also really wanted a cup of coffee, so, Seungmin following him or not, he was still going to get it.

It wasn’t as awkward as he had feared. Running away so much, Minho knew only few about him. He had this image of Seungmin as a cocky narcissistic demon, and never really tried to get to know him. Well, not alone, not with just the two of them. He knew who Seungmin was when Changbin was there. He knew who he was when Chan was there. Minho didn’t know who Seungmin was, when he was just Seungmin. But now, Minho had no other choice but to talk to him. It was one thing to run away to hide in the kitchen, but Seungmin was there too and they had to talk to each other, if they didn’t want to make it even more awkward than it already was.

Seungmin sat at the kitchen table, Minho taking place opposite him once he had filled his cup.

“So, you—” they both started at the same time. “No, no go ahead,” they continued in unison. An awkward laugh followed.

“Go on.” Minho gestured his hand to encourage him to speak.

“No, really, you go. I was just gonna say that you liked coffee.”

“Oh, well, I was about to ask if you also wanted one.”

It was for sure awkward, but way less than they thought it would be. A few laugh and topics came by themselves. Seungmin was fun. They were pretty much alike, actually. They both shared a lot of similar stories, somehow past experiences too. There was familiarity in Seungmin, that made Minho at home. And somehow, Minho found pleasure in talking to Seungmin.

What might have caught Minho off-guard, was the fact that Seungmin didn’t despise him. He wasn’t wary either. It was a bit strange for him, the fact that Seungmin knew Minho for longer than Minho knew him.

Sure, they first met at the same time, but Minho wasn’t really himself, and barely remember Seungmin from these first interactions. The demon was one step ahead of him. He saw him at his lowest, when he was completely lost in his mind, trapped in the memory of Jisung. And Minho only discovered the demon when he was the bad guy, when he got Chan to meet the Devil and almost leave them all. It was a bit hard to have sympathy for the demon, when the other had already pitied him a few times.

So, the vampire took the time to lose his prejudice against the demon, and he spent time with him. Seungmin wasn’t like Minho had imagined him to be, in his head, and that helped a lot in making their friendships begin. Still, Minho liked to provoke him from time to time, so friend or not, he wasn’t going to stop pushing his buttons. There was something with Seungmin, he didn’t quite know what, that got him to have this push-and-pull behavior with him.

It didn’t happen often, so Minho got the most of it.

For once, Hyunjin wasn’t at Changbin’s house. Which meant that, for once, Minho could spend time with his brother. It was still oddly weird to him, having a brother. Minho grew up as an only child, in a not-so-loving family, while Hyunjin also grew up as an only child, but with two parents loving him unconditionally. Minho grew up as a natural-born 2^nd Generation of Vampire, when Hyunjin got turned when he was 20 years-old. What were the odds of Hyunjin getting turned by Minho’s father? What were the crazier odds of Hyunjin taking Minho’s place in his family mansion? And what were the even crazier odds of Hyunjin finding his way to Chan’s and meeting Minho. Sure, he hated his guts when he first saw him. Sure, it took a bit of time before he trusted him blindly. But now, the same way he’d do for Chan—maybe for Felix too—he’d give his life for Hyunjin. He loved Hyunjin, as if he had grown up with him from childhood.

“Come on, don’t stick to me so much,” Hyunjin groaned, trying to push Minho away when the other simply tightened his grip around his waist.

“No, no, no. I barely see you, let me do this!” The younger giggled when Minho leaned in, tongue sticking out.

“Go away, Minho!” He pushed him with both of his hands flat on his chest.

Minho tickled him slightly, taking advantage of Hyunjin’s weakness so he could lean in just enough to lick the younger’s cheek. He then let him go, laughing very loudly while the other whipped his cheek with his sleeves, crying in disgust.

“You’re disgusting, please!”

“Come on, you love me,” he threw a glance at him, somehow checking if Hyunjin was still laughing along with him.

Minho wasn’t always sure when to stop, nor when to start, actually. He just knew when it was already too much, and he had gone too far. He never really knew when to stop, so he sometimes had sudden panic waves, that he was the only one laughing. It never happened with Hyunjin, or anyone in his family. Didn’t mean he’d stop checking every two seconds.

The vampire stared at the demon in front of him, eyes darting from his eyes to his lips, in disbelief of the stories he was told.

“And you just—you just killed him?”

“Yeah,” Seungmin breathed out, chuckling to himself. “I mean, sure, he paid me for the job, which I did, ok. I got the job done, but he was a dickhead. He deserved it.”

“Lord, that must have been so much fun. You’re still doing that?”

“Not for the moment. I’m sort of on…a break.” Minho nodded his head, getting up to fill his cup of coffee again. “You really should do something about this addiction, you know.”

“It can’t hurt my health.” He took the coffeepot, refilling his cup. “I’m dead,” he added when Seungmin stared at him with incomprehension regarding his previous statement, well Minho saw it as incomprehension, whatever it was in reality.

“Oh, yeah right. I forgot, but you really should get it treated, though.” The demon chuckled a bit, suddenly avoiding eye contact with the vampire.

“Or what?”

“Or you’ll become coffee yourself.” This time, it wasn’t Seungmin’s voice. Minho turned around, throwing a glare at Changbin who had thrown the remark.

“Very funny, small man.” He sat back at the kitchen table, now looking at the two newly arrived boys—Hyunjin and Changbin. They sat opposite Seungmin and him, hands intertwined under the table but visible enough as their arms looked tangled. Strangely, Changbin didn’t retort anything at the nickname.

“Are we interrupting your date?” Hyunjin snickered.

“You’re sitting right in front of me, do you want me to kick you in the leg?” Minho smiled, to which Seungmin laughed.

“Oh, how lovely. You’d look perfect together.”

“I’d rather eat my own puke than that, thanks.” Seungmin earned an elbow in the ribs at that, almost falling off his chair. “Just drink your coffee and leave me alone!”

There was this one incredible thing about Seungmin; that’s how intelligent he was, yet idiot enough to do dumb thing. They weren’t that close, yet the demon spent enough time in the vampires’ house for Minho to spot that on almost right away. In a way, that was what made him likeable. He wasn’t as perfect as he liked to appear.

Seungmin appeared on their couch, one morning. So far, nothing unusual. Chan sat next to him, putting a movie on the TV. Nothing unusual either. Minho stayed a bit further away, not wanting to interrupt them. Chan was his friend, his real friend, he didn’t want to intrude. He got himself a cup of coffee, trying to eavesdrop on the two boys sitting on the couch. They weren’t discussing anything important, just random subjects. Until Seungmin said: “Hey what’s that?” And then a long screeching noise got heard, followed by a “What the heck?” from Chan. Minho was ready to jump into the living room and see what was going on, until the two started to laugh maniacally. “You fucking teared my couch apart!” from Chan. “I didn’t do it on purpose!” from Seungmin. More laughter.

When Minho finally got to the living room, there was a long tear on the left armrest, presumably where Seungmin was sitting.

And again, and again, Seungmin, almost every day, would break at least one thing, or ask one stupid question, or fall out of his chair, even dump his fingers into hot coffee just to check if it was still hot. It was entertaining, in a way. It’s probably why Minho deliberately spent so much time with Seungmin. Or maybe it was Chan’s words, that convinced him.

Lying down on his bed, Minho turned to his side, now facing Chan. The older vampire had his eyes closed, head resting on his right arm. It had been a long day for the older vampire, and Minho had asked him to come lie down with him and catch up on their lives. After talking for hours, Chan had started to doze off.

“Are you asleep?” Minho whispered.

“Resting.”

“Can I ask you something?” When the other hummed, he pursued: “What’s so nice about Seungmin that you’re friend with him?”

Chan opened his eyes, getting up just enough so that his upper body wasn’t lying down again. If Minho wasn’t aware of Chan’s feelings for Felix, he could easily believe he had some for Seungmin, for the way his eyes shined when he started talking about him.

But Minho simply listened, to his closest friend explaining how Seungmin had all the knowledges he needed, how he was thoughtful and lightened the mood with his sole presence. In a way, he could understand and easily picture that. Still, he remained a bit reluctant. Why? Probably because Seungmin sounded lovely enough to warm up his heart, and that scared the crap out of him.

“Why are you asking?” Chan concluded his speech.

“Well, he’s your fr—I mean, maybe I sh—Well, um—”

“Hey, it’s fine. Don’t get all riled up like that,” the vampire giggled, smiling tenderly at Minho. “Can we get back to napping?”
Minho ran his hand through the other’s hair, staring at him for a few seconds before letting him lie down again against him.

“How’s it going with Felix?” He felt Chan tensing against him, so he simply hugged him tight, lips pressed to the top of his head. “It’s ok, you don’t have to tell me.”

Minho was scared to get to know Seungmin, but curiosity still piqued him. A few days later, when Seungmin appeared on their couch and Chan wasn’t there to keep him company, Minho took his place. His cup of coffee in hand, he sat next to the demon.

It was an awkward silence at first, until Minho’s curiosity took the reins and started a conversation.

“What do you know about vampires?”

The demon was probably caught off guard, which would explain why he stared at Minho for a few seconds before answering: “Everything there is to know.”

This wasn’t the answer Minho wanted. This wasn’t what he looked for, at all.

“Did you learn about vampires in Hell?”

“Yeah, I, how can I explain? I uh—We were taught a few things.”

The vampire ignored the awkwardness that was slowly increasing, only asking more and more precise questions, the demon answering them more or less reluctantly each time. And it was fun, at first, because Minho got to know all the little things he’s been wondering for a while, even if he still didn’t know whether Seungmin was telling the truth or not.

“What do you know about me?” He suddenly asked, leaning a bit closer to the demon.

Seungmin gulped, his eyes quivering and clearly trying to focus anywhere but on Minho. “Everything you allowed me to know, Minho.” He clutched his hands together, fidgeting a bit on his spot on the couch.

“Which is?” Minho didn’t move any closer, he remained on the same spot. Seungmin moved to the side to get further away.

“Which is, nothing. I know nothing about you, as of personal things.” Minho saw him bite onto his inner cheek, harshly. But then, finally, he turned around and stared at him right in the eyes. “What do you know about me, though?”

Minho thought the demon was becoming shy, so when Seungmin leaned closer to him, their noses brushing against each other, breaths hitting their faces, he couldn’t help the blush that came dusting his cheeks.

“Sneaky bitch,” the vampire breathed.

“Oh wow, are you two about to kiss? Don’t make out on my couch!” Chan’s voice rang through the room. The both of them jumped at each end of the couch, laughing the awkwardness off, a few “of course no!” being uttered when Chan sat between them, laughing at their reactions.

The room was loud, both Hyunjin and Felix were laughing their asses off, clutched to each other as a way not to fall off the bed. And Minho just sat there, a smile on his face as he stared at them.

“I can’t believe—”

“And he just—”

“God, he’s so stupid!”

“And when he—”

They laughed even louder, understanding what each other was saying without even finishing their sentences. Minho couldn’t even get mad at them, because it was the first time in so long that he saw Felix laugh that much. He didn’t even know if he should get mad at them, for laughing at him. He just couldn’t.

“Lord, Minho. You’re—”

“Yeah, he’s so—”

“What? Please, end your sentences, boys!” Minho smiled, pushing the both of them off of the bed. They rolled on the floor, holding their bellies and each other at the same time.

“You’re oblivious as fuck!” They yelled together, eyes closed and tears rolling from the corner.

“What? No! No, I’m not!” The vampire lied on his stomach, his upper half body hanging in the air as he tried to tickle the two vampires on the floor.

“You are! You! He clearly loves you!” Hyunjin exhaled, holding his laughter as hard as he could.

Words hit Minho’s head harshly, his hands slowing down with the tickles. The two young vampires calmed down on their own, breath heavy and a few chuckles here and there.

“Minho, you good?” Felix asked, the vampire frozen to his spot.

Minho shook his head a bit after a few seconds, forcing a smile on his face. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Food’s here!” Chan shouted from the hall. The three vampires got up and left the room, meeting with Chan in the kitchen, fangs already out when they saw the blood bags hanging from the older vampire’s hands.

He knew that Seungmin was in the house. He heard him talk with Chan, and as much as he wanted to decipher what they were talking about, he only managed to focus on it when Seungmin locked himself in the bathroom and he heard water running.

He barely got the time to understand why Seungmin was using their shower, that the demon entered his bedroom and sat in front of him. Minho was sitting on the edge of his bed, Seungmin now sitting on the floor between his legs.

“What do you want?” The only answer he got was a brush in his hand. “Are you serious?”

“Oh, come on, dry my hair please!” Seungmin turned to the side a bit, pleading eyes on full display. Minho sighed, taking the towel from the demon’s shoulder and the brush that he was handed.

He dried the demon’s hair with the towel, quickly, before brushing it. He didn’t really try to be soft, the demon shuffling between his legs.

“That hurts!” He shouted quietly, slapping the vampire’s leg with no force.

“Listen, kid. I—”

“I’m older than you.”

“You’re what?” Minho stopped his every move, the brush stuck in the demon’s hair as if it was as shocked as him.

“I’m a demon. I lived longer than you. Time in Hell is very different, you know.”

“How old are you?” He removed the brush from the demon’s hair, getting a ‘ouch’ in return.

“I stayed in Hell for what was, on Earth, 18 years. That’d be, I don’t know, two thousand years?”

“T—Two—wait what?” Minho shouted, leaning forward so he could stare at the demon’s face. How could someone like him be two fucking thousands years old?

“Hell’s time like…120 times faster than here. Don’t you—Did you really think I was 20?”

“You damn sure are well preserved.”

“Respect me a bit more.” Seungmin pushed him with his finger on his forehead, a smile creeping its way on his own face.

“Oh, no. You’re in a 20-year-old looking body, looking like a damn Labrador, I will baby you forever.” Minho leaned forward again, a hand on Seungmin’s hair.

“I’ll lick your cheek if you call me by a dog name.”

“Oh, little puppy would do that?” Minho cooed, getting even closer to Seungmin’s face.

He didn’t expect Seungmin to actually do it, so when he felt the demon’s hot and wet tongue going up his check, he froze for a moment. Until it all cleared in his head and he laughed, licking the demon’s face in return. It escalated quickly, the both of them falling onto the bed and licking each other’s face.

Their day had continued as if nothing had happened, Seungmin going back to join Chan and talk about whatever they talked when they were alone, Minho went back to his own preoccupations… which didn’t mean a lot considering he mostly stayed on his phone and daydreamed about Jisung. What else could he do? Once in a while—or every hour, actually—he’d go out of his room to get a cup of coffee, every now and then he’d watch a movie, but what he mostly did to spend time, was think about Jisung. Well, he never went as far as imagine what Jisung would think of Seungmin, because he’d probably have died of natural causes. If he were to be alive, now, he’d be over a hundred years old. Jisung wasn’t strong enough to live forever, he was human after all. But it didn’t hurt anyone, that Minho thought about him as a way to escape reality. Not like he could talk to his hallucinations anymore.

Seungmin left when night fell, coming back the next day, and the day after. Minho stopped caring whether he was here or not anymore, so, when he got into his bedroom and was met with the demon sitting on his bed, he jumped.

“The hell you’re doing here?”

“Can’t I spend time with you? You’ve been avoiding me. I thought we were—”

“I wasn’t avoiding you. I just left you with Chan.”

“You were—” Seungmin pointed at Minho’s arm, where a towel rested.

“I was going to shower, yeah.”

“Oh, I’ll wait here then.” Seungmin smiled was bright. Minho could only return it.

He took a few spare clothes from his drawer, leaving for the bathroom. The hot water running on his skin soothed him. There was something with Seungmin… He didn’t know what. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was. This familiarity… This fondness that got out of him whenever he saw the demon. He couldn’t understand it.

As soon as he put his clothes on, he went back to his bedroom, sitting on the bed in front of the demon, forcing him to take the brush he was giving him. “Dry my hair.”

“No ‘please’? And you say demons are the impolite ones.” He chuckled, still getting on his knees to be taller than him, drying his hair with way more care than he had when he did it for him.

“Is that your true face?” The vampire asked out of the blue, Seungmin’s movements stilled for a bit, yet resumed as if nothing had happened.

“No, not really.”

“Are you possessing someone, then?”

“Not that either. It’s like, another version of me?” The demon put the brush back on the bed, sitting down on his heels.

“What’s your true face, then?” Minho turned around, guessing his hair was all done.

“I can’t show you.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, the demon suddenly leaning in. Minho wasn’t an idiot, he knew what the demon was trying to do, he knew he was about to kiss him. He panicked, and leaned to the side to get the brush, for no reason beside his own panic.

Seungmin didn’t say a word, didn’t move, and they went on by talking about the weather.

Soon after, they left for the living room, joining the others who were watching a movie. No one seemed to see the tension that was going on between them.

The movie ended with Felix falling asleep on Minho’s shoulder, Seungmin and Chan bickering over one of the actors—Chan kept on saying that he had seen him in another movie, Seungmin claiming that he wasn’t in it. Hyunjin wasn’t there, staying over at Changbin’s. After a few minutes, the two calmed down, settling for another subject.

“If there’s demons…there’s angels too?” Chan asked, an eyebrow arched with curiosity.

“Yeah, total dickheads.”

“Wh—” Both vampires gasped.

“Don’t try to mingle with them, ok?” Seungmin was looking right into Minho’s eyes. The vampire gulped, nodding his head slightly even if he didn’t know why.

After that incident, that dodged kiss moment, Seungmin avoided being alone with Minho, even if it was only such a rare thing, the vampire still noticed it. It hurt his pride, or whatever it was that ached inside of him whenever he got ignored.

Until the demon voluntarily got to his bedroom, closing the door behind him and sitting next to the vampire.

“How did you stop loving him?”

Minho turned to the side, staring at the demon now in front of him. He had this saddened look in his eyes. Probably thinking that Minho wasn’t understanding his question, he repeated; “How did you stop loving your ex?”

“I never did.” Maybe Minho should have lied. Maybe he should have found a dumb thing to say, so that Seungmin’s face wouldn’t fall into a pit of sadness and have this defeated look on it. Yet, he couldn’t get himself to lie. He, though, thought it was important to explain his thought process. “Jisung was my very first love, in a way. I loved him unconditionally, for years, decades. I spent my whole life with him. His entire life, or the most of it, was with me. No one will ever replace him, and I don’t want to. I’ll love him forever, whatever happens, whatever it takes, Jisung will always be in my heart.” He stopped a few times, saying his name was still hard, expressing his thoughts was even harder. He had a few tears in his eyes, sparkling when reflecting the sunlight coming from his window. He won’t cry, though. But he wanted to. He really wanted to cry his heart out, at the simple thought of forgetting Jisung and replacing him. “It doesn’t mean I can’t love again. I can. I definitely can. My heart isn’t closed. It’s just—It’ll forever have a place for him.”

The other stayed silent, deep in his own thought. Minho knew he had listened to him, as he nodded his head along his words, hummed and said a few “I see” here and there along his monologue.

“Why are you asking?” The vampire put his hand on the demon’s shoulder. He lifted his head, looking at him with a few stray tears tinting his cheeks.

“I want to move on.” Seungmin forced a smile onto his face. The atmosphere was odd. Everything was odd.

“Move on from wh—”

“Changbin.” He cut him off, he couldn’t keep it any longer. “I loved him for so long. I love him so much. I don’t know how to—I’m happy he’s happy with Hyunjin. And I’m really glad it’s Hyunjin. I’m happy for them, I’m—”

“Hey, calm down. Breathe in, breathe out, calm down ok?” The demon nodded his head, closing his eyes for a second before taking deep inhales of air, keeping it in for a few seconds before exhaling slowly, repeating it a few times before talking again.

“I can’t help myself but think back to our relationship. What we could’ve done better. What we could’ve chose instead of breaking up. But I want to stop. I want to feel free. I want to—I need to stop.”

Unexpectedly, Minho circled the demon’s shoulders, pulling him into a hug, one hand running through his hair. “You can cry, it’s ok.”

It came a bit as a surprise to everyone, except to Minho, when Seungmin got back to his old work. None of them really knew what had motivated him into going back to it. Changbin was pleased, saying how it was the right thing to do, that it might have been so hard to get away from murder. Minho wanted to laugh at that. He stared at the demon’s face, only seeing all the cracks and sadness inside of him. Seungmin was desperately trying to fill the void that was eating him alive.

“I can’t believe you’re going to do that again!” Chan said, pushing the demon by the shoulder, lightly. “Can you believe that Minho?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, puppy boy’s going to kill everyone again.” The demon stuck his tongue out at the remark. “You better pay me a good coffee with your first paycheck, puppy.” They all laughed at that, only the two of them keeping their eyes lock, the atmosphere tensing around them.

After that announcement, Seungmin barely came to their house. Either he was on a job or simply resting at his own house. He came once every two weeks, just to chitchat with Chan, exchanging a few words with Minho every once in a while.

Until one day… He appeared on their hallway, covered in blood, a hand clutched to his side.

“What the fuck!” Chan yelled, his voice ringing throughout the house. Minho ran out of his room, freezing on the spot when he saw the demon’s state.

A job gone wrong, that was the only explanation they were given.

“I’m sure there’s something more,” Chan murmured to Minho, trying not to draw the demon’s attention. They both threw a glance towards the living-room, at Seungmin who was lying down on their couch.

“What do you mean?”

“His wound, it’s—It couldn’t have gotten that bad in such a short time.”

“What are you implying? That he wasn’t on a job?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was a job but—”

“But not with a human?” Minho wasn’t looking at Chan anymore. He couldn’t look away from the demon grunting in pain on their couch.

When they went back to the living-room, Seungmin was already almost entirely healed. “What?” He said, when he felt two pair of eyes on him.

“What was it?”

“What was what?”

“The thing that attacked you.”

“Old friends,” Seungmin retorted, sitting up on the couch.

“Old friends sure as hell are very friendly,” Chan smiled as he sat next to him, staring at the demon. “Come on, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not. They just, changed sides or whatever.”

The two vampires exchanged a few glances, wondering what he meant by that. When they went back to ask him, Seungmin had disappeared and they were left alone again.

It had been a few weeks since Seungmin had come. A few texts from him reassured them, knowing that he was getting better. Yet, they couldn’t really forget. He was a hitman. He was a demon. He was good at his job. But he still could get hurt, and he was getting hurt sometimes.

Minho had just gone to bed, tugging on his duvet just enough to cover half of his face, closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to come.

It hadn’t been more than a minute since he started to fall asleep, when he felt a heavy weight behind him. His eyes shot open instantly, turning around only to be faced with Seungmin.

“The hell are you doing here?” The vampire whisper-yelled, trying not to wake everyone else up.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“What’s that have to do with me?”

“Can I sleep with you?”

If it wasn’t for the puppy eyes Seungmin was giving him, he’d probably throw him off the bed. But at that moment, all he could do was sigh and turn back on his side, the demon wrapping his arms around his waist, head nudged between his shoulder blades. Minho fell asleep with way more comfortableness he’d like to admit.

None of them had moved during the night, yet there was this one thing that woke Minho up. He could feel the demon behind him, small bulge against his ass—or, just below it, if he was to be more precise. He tried to ignore it, but when Seungmin moved a bit closer to him, he bit hard onto his bottom lip.

“Seungmin,” he whispered. The other didn’t move. “Hey, Seungmin,” he tried slightly louder. Still no result. “Hey, puppy boy, wake up!” He moved one of his arms behind him, pushing the demon’s face a bit.

“What the fu—" Seungmin finally said, grumpy as ever.

“I don’t know what you dreamt about, but can you not put it in my ass?” Minho fought a snicker, trying to sound angry when in fact he wasn’t at all.

It took a few seconds before Seungmin could get what he meant, suddenly moving back and apologizing. Minho turned around, facing the demon with a sly smile on his face.

“I was just joking. Need a hand?”

He smiled a bit more when he saw every steps of realization hitting Seungmin’s face. The demon simply nodded, sliding closer to Minho once again. The vampire stared into his eyes, wondering what the hell he was doing, before pushing the demon’s sweatpants just enough for his erection to sprung free.

“Be quiet, ok?” Seungmin nodded, bottom lip now trapped between his teeth.

One deep breath, a mental ‘why am I doing this?’ and before he could even register it, Minho had his hand around Seungmin’s erection, pumping on it at a steady rhythm. And it seemed to do the trick, as Seungmin’s breath got hotter and heavier, his head falling into the crook of Minho’s neck, small whimpers directly coming to his ears.

“Fas—Faster,” a moan followed.

Minho couldn’t help but chuckle, his hand moving a bit faster along the demon’s shaft, pressing a small kiss on his clothed shoulder. He felt the demon’s body shiver, one hand suddenly wrapped around his torso and pulling him closer. He could feel his hot breath against his ear, as well as every little moan and whimper dying in his throat. He played a bit with him, slowing down his movements, thumb sliding across the head. And when none of them really expected it, Seungmin pulled Minho even closer, releasing in his hand. The vampire didn’t entirely stop, moving his hand really slowly until Seungmin stopped shaking.

He felt the demon’s hand moving from his back to his crotch, resting against his soft cock. “You’re n—” Seungmin leaned back a bit, “How can you not get hard when jerking someone off?”
“Oh, puppy boy,” Minho cooed, “I haven’t eaten in three days. With no blood, there’s nothing happening, you know.”

“Oh… Oh! But you not being hard, doesn’t mean you’re not…hard, right?” It was adorable, seeing him trying to find reassurance.

Minho leaned forward a bit, nose brushing against Seungmin’s, both of their lips only a centimeter apart; “You’re right, but I’ll take care of it myself.” And he got up from his bed, leaving a disheveled Seungmin lying down on it.

When he got back from the bathroom, he couldn’t help but look at the demon. He had fallen back asleep, sweatpants put back on correctly. He looked peaceful, and defenseless—which he wasn’t. Minho couldn’t help but find him adorable. Caught up in his own thoughts, he panicked, throwing a slightly wet towel at the demon and laughing loudly when it woke him up.

“The fuck is wrong with you!”

“Clean up your mess and leave my bed!”

“The fuck!”

Seungmin got up on his knees, throwing the towel back at Minho only to get it back into his face, light insults coming along the way.

“What’s happening here!” They heard the door open, Hyunjin’s figure standing tall at the entrance. “Why are you arguing again? And what are you even doing here?”

“He sneaked in! Just get him out of my bed or something!” Minho pleaded, looking at his brother with soft and innocent eyes, mentally praying for him not to notice the white spots on his bed, right next to Seungmin.

Hyunjin grunted that they had woken him up, leaving the room without even arguing more. Minho looked back at the demon; an eyebrow arched.

“Just go shower, or whatever. You’re probably sticky.” He didn’t really know what got into him when he walked to the bed, leaving a light kiss onto the demon’s forehead. All he knows, is that he immediately run away to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.

He could hear the water running from the bathroom, not paying attention to what Hyunjin was telling him. He stared at his black coffee, wondering why he had kissed the demon’s forehead. Why he had thought of him as adorable. Why on earth had he given him a handjob! Minho was lost, so lost.

“What was he even doing in your bed, huh?” Hyunjin giggled, sitting cross-legged on the couch next to his brother, turning the TV on.

“He just showed up last night, saying he couldn’t sleep.” He stopped the story there, and it wasn’t really lying.

A few moments later, Seungmin got out of the bathroom. More minutes passed and he entered the living-room, wearing Minho’s clothes. He sat on the floor, in front of the couch, right between Minho’s legs as he handed him a brush.

“What?” Hyunjin’s voice stopped Minho, who was about to take the brush and dry the demon’s hair. “What’s going on?”

“Yeah, what do you want?” Minho asked, pushing the demon on the side.

“Dry my hair!”

“Why would I do that?”

“Wh—But you—”

“Can’t you dry it yourself?” Minho tried to argue.

“Come on, come here.” Hyunjin took the demon’s hand and pulled him to his side, taking the brush and taking care of his hair.

Seungmin simply sat there, in front of his ex’s new boyfriend, getting his hair brushed and dried. He didn’t say a word until it was done.

“He’s way softer than you!” He spat before disappearing.

“What was that?” Minho simply shrugged, feigning ignorance.

He never came back, after that. Whether it was a coincidence or not, Minho said he didn’t care when he actually did. He was worried sick. Had he hurt his feelings too much? Why was he even pushing him away, when there had been nothing wrong with drying his hair? What was wrong with him?

“Did you hear from him?”

“No, and you?”

“Neither,” Chan sighed, defeated.

“Maybe he’s working.”

“I’ll go check on him.” He suddenly got out of his chair, already about to leave the house when Minho got up too.

“I’m going with you!”

And here’s how Chan and Minho ended up knocking on Seungmin’s door, the demon opening it with eyes half shut. Minho had never been to Seungmin’s place. Everything was unfamiliar here.

Things happened without them noticing. One second they were standing at the door asking if everything was ok, the next second they were on the couch with Chan talking about Felix, and the next one they were drinking bottles of alcohol and giggling to themselves.

“Hey Vampie, come get your friend he’s too clingy for me,” Seungmin shouted to the vampire in the kitchen, still making no effort into pushing Minho out of his lap.

“Am not. You’re just—You’re soft and comfortable ok?” He nudged his face against his chest, grunting to emphasize his words.

“Say that once you’re sober, we’ll see.”

“I can’t get drunk, I’m a vampire.” He threw his arms around the demon, pulling him closer to him.

When Chan got back, Minho was fast asleep, head resting against Seungmin’s belly.

The headache that woke him up was indescribable. But not enough that he wouldn’t focus on the voices he heard from the next room.

“I think I love him.” If Minho wasn’t mistaken, it was Seungmin’s voice.

“Why don’t you tell him then?” And that, that was Changbin.

“Because that’s Minho we’re talking about!” And that, that was Minho’s cue to leave.

He got up without a noise, despite the loudness of his head, opening the door as silently as he could and running faster than he ever did. As soon as his face hit his pillow, Minho screamed into it. He was lost. So, lost. Was Seungmin in love with him? How could that have happened, when not even a few months prior he was crying about Changbin? When he was… trying to… forget abo… oh. It all made sense now. Minho felt bad. He felt so bad, for not reciprocating the feelings. He wasn’t in love with Seungmin. He’d know, if he was. The same way he had known, with Jisung. Sure, there was a part of Seungmin that reminded him of home, but that was also the case for Chan. And he wasn’t in love with Chan. The same way he wasn’t in love with Seungmin.

So, he kept it to himself. And acted as if he didn’t know.

He didn’t really know what Changbin told Seungmin, but the latter stopped avoiding him. Well, they didn’t spend much time alone together, but at least he didn’t disappear every time Minho entered a room—he called it progress.

The year went by quicker than everyone thought. One moment they were at the beginning of the year going through a kidnapping and grief, the next one it was late November, and everyone was thinking about snow and hot cocoa. Minho was not interested. It only reminded him of Jisung. Of how much he loved the end of the year. Celebrating… All he wanted was to disappear and wake up once the year had passed.

The rest of the family wasn’t on the same page. They were all seated at the kitchen table, discussing a family meal.

“Well, it’s easier to plan the table setting with the couples,” Hyunjin started, “Changbin and I next to each other, Chan and Felix—” He eyed the younger one, continuing once he had nodded his head, “Sitting next to each other, and then it leaves us with the two bachelors.” They all turned towards Minho and Seungmin, a knowing look on their faces.

“Oh, one quick thing could resolve it all,” Changbin said, eyes focused on Seungmin’s reddening face.

“Are you crazy? I could never date him, come on!” Minho exclaimed, a disgusted look on his face.

All the previous hidden chuckles died, eyes going from the vampire to the demon, eyebrows arched on some of them.

“What do you think of the idea, Min?” Changbin still continued on his idea, thinking Minho was only playing.

“I just got rejected, so—” The demon’s voice died before he could even think of what to say.

Minho felt uneasy. He never really talked about Seungmin’s feelings. He knew about it, yet he knew he wasn’t feeling the same, so why would he lie? He didn’t want to hurt him, because he still cared for him. It was a bit odd to admit it, but Seungmin was family, now. He spent enough time with him to consider him closer than when they first met, that was for sure. And, well, they had some pretty intimate moments over the year that was quick proof that Minho didn’t despise him.

The atmosphere in the kitchen got heavier, Seungmin suddenly staring at his hands and lost in his head; the vampire couldn’t help but feel responsible. It was his fault. He needed to do something about it.

He got up from his chair, taking the demon’s hand in his and forcing him to follow. “Let’s talk,” he simply said as an explanation. They went outside of the house, and a bit further into the forest. Minho didn’t want his fellow vampire to eavesdrop. He only stopped next to a random tree once he decided he was far enough.

“Did I say something?” Seungmin shook his head sideways. “Then what’s wrong?”

“I’m in love with you, Minho.” He hadn’t expected him to be this straightforward. His face may have said it all, which would explain Seungmin’s following words. “I know you don’t. I know you’re not—I know, ok? I know.”

The vampire took the demon’s hands, caressing the back of them with his thumb, a few apologies escaping his mouth.

“It’s not your fault. You don’t have to apologize. But I can’t stop looking at you and have feelings. It may be my greatest weakness, then.”

Minho wanted to lighten the mood a bit, he was suffocating just by looking at the demon’s sad face. “You know, I really thought a demon had no feelings at all.”

“Yeah, well. I do. Maybe I’m no demon.” And he disappeared, leaving Minho alone in the forest.

And then entered another period of getting ignored. Which no one really questioned, as even if they didn’t hear their forest conversation, they all saw what had happen prior to it.

Hyunjin tried talking to Minho, while Changbin talked to Seungmin—from what he heard. But it was to no avail, at least for the first week of December. Seungmin had his feelings hurt, and Minho didn’t know what to do. Whether his next move was the right thing to do or not, he still didn’t know. But he went to Seungmin’s apartment and knocked on his door.

When the demon opened, upon seeing the vampire he almost shut the door, but Minho was faster and entered the room.

“Well then, come in, I guess,” the demon murmured, mostly to himself.

“Can we talk?”

“Last time we talked; I can’t say I got happier. But I guess go ahead.” Minho was already sitting on the couch, ready to open his heart. The demon sat next to him, yet at a reasonable distance. “What did you want to talk about?”

It was harder to voice it out than he thought. Even if he had thought about it along the way to the apartment, he was still unsure of how to phrase it. So, it came out as a few strangled noises and a long sigh.

Maybe it worried Seungmin, which would explain why he got closer to him, one hand resting on the vampire’s thigh.

“It’s not that I hate you or anything, ok?” The vampire mumbled, avoiding the demon’s eyes for a moment before looking at him directly. “I care about you, a lot.” Seungmin nodded his head, biting onto his lip when Minho pursued. “Remember when we talked about…forgetting?” He nodded his head again. “I thought I was ready to move on, but I’m still stuck in the past. And that has nothing to do with you, ok?” Minho ran his fingers through the demon’s hair, eyes soft on him. “I still like you a lot, you know that, right?”

“How could I know that, when you reject me when we’re not alone?”
“Ah… Touché.” He could only chuckle at the truth of his words. Seungmin stared at him for a moment, not knowing where all of this was going. “I do like you a lot. I promise.”

“Prove it,” the demon spat with no harshness.

“I wouldn’t have given you a handjob if I didn’t like you, come on. Ain’t that proof enough?” They both laughed, the demon nodding his head as surrender.

“Ok, I guess. Wanna watch a movie?”

“You choose. I’ll get coffee.” Minho got on his knee, jumping above the backrest to go to the kitchen. “You have coffee, right?” The only answer he got was the nasally laugh of his host.

Minho came back with a cup of coffee and another one with hot cocoa—after Seungmin asked him for one—sitting next to the demon and focusing on the movie playing on the TV. ‘The Avengers’ he read when the title finally appeared. A quick explanation from Seungmin as to what it was about, and every prior information he needed to understand, and he dived into the movie. Over the hour the movie lasted, Seungmin sat closer to him, thigh pressed against his. He didn’t move away, his own hand finding its way to the demon’s hair, playing with it for a moment.

When the credits rolled, Minho finally averted his gaze to look at the demon, a silent staring taking place, before the demon’s eyes shifted to his lips for one quick second and then he asked; “Can I?”

Minho stared at him, simply nodding his head as the demon leaned in, sealing their lips softly. He closed his eyes by instinct, his hand going from the other’s hair to his neck, pulling him closer. Seungmin slightly shifted from his sitting position to face him, the couch suddenly way smaller than it was before.

He couldn’t help but let his free hand run along the demon’s waist, holding him tightly. Their lips moved against each other with familiarity, tongue brushing softly past their lips, teasing their counterpart. Minho chuckled in the kiss.

“If you don’t put your tongue in my mouth now, I’ll fucking bite you, puppy boy.” His eyes were a bit dark, lips a tiny bit swollen from the kiss. Seungmin glanced at his mouth, not even for a second, diving right back into it, his tongue dangling itself around Minho’s.

They both moaned in the kiss. Minho still had his hand on his waist, the other on his neck. Seungmin had one hand on the vampire’s cheek, the other shyly on his thigh. He wanted to squeeze it, and Minho knew it. He knew because of the way his fingers all so slightly moved whenever he ran his tongue along his. He could feel the way his fingertips were digging a bit deeper, yet not enough. Wordlessly, he removed his hand from his neck to hold his hand, forcing him into grasping his thigh.

“I won’t break,” he breathed out against his lips, kissing him again when the other didn’t answer.

This time, Seungmin held his thigh tightly, his jeans folding between his fingers. He loved it. He loved the touch. He moaned harder against the demon’s lips.

“Min—” Seungmin choked on his own words, staring at the vampire’s lust-filled eyes. “Do you—” He never ended his question, simply pointing towards his bedroom door. Minho didn’t wait, getting up from the couch, taking his hand and walking towards the room. The demon flicked his hand up, lights turning off in the living room to turn on in the bedroom.

“Shit, that’s hot. Do that again.” Minho put both of his hands on his waist, back facing the room. He still hadn’t seen the room. All he could see was Seungmin, chuckling as he moved his hand down, lights turning on in the living room, then off again when he moved his hand one more time.

Finally, Minho turned around, eyes meeting the demon’s bed for the first time. He couldn’t help but chuckle; “That’s adorable, that little puppy plushie on your bed.” He took a few steps towards the bed, staring at the little dog sitting at the top of the bed, on the pillows.

“Shut up,” the demon walked behind him, an arm looping around his waist as he pulled him against his chest. There’re a few seconds of silence, both of them holding still against the other. Seungmin’s breathing suddenly speeding up, he could feel his heart beating against his back, he could hear it beating loudly. “Minho—”

The vampire turned around, his index finger against the other’s lips to shush him off; “It’s fine. Really.” Tiptoeing, he left a quick peck against his lips before sitting on the edge of the bed, spreading his legs so that the demon stayed in-between them.

He’s at the perfect height, eye-level with the bulge inside of Seungmin’s sweatpants.

“You really chose your sexiest outfit, right?” He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood as he ran his fingers along the demon’s hips, playing with his waistband.

“Because you’re any better?” Despite his cocky attitude, Minho could hear his heart beating loudly with anxiousness.

“I’m really ok with this. Relax, ok?” Minho waited until Seungmin verbally agreed, only then he slid his sweatpants down.

The vampire ran one of his hand along the demon’s back, a part of him wondering if it was helping him relax. Another part of him was also asking him what the fuck he was doing. Minho knew that Seungmin had feelings for him. He also knew that he hadn’t, at least not in the way Seungmin wanted him to. He cared for him too much to hurt his feelings, yet there he was. He knew that nothing good could come out of this, so why the heck was he sucking his dick?

Maybe for the way Seungmin was moaning loudly. Or the way he was beaming with happiness and pleasure. There was something undeniably attractive about Seungmin, right at this instant.

“S—Min—I’m gon—Wait—” He didn’t need to say more, Minho licking the head of his cock one last time before sitting back correctly on the bed, his previously busy hand now running down the demon’s thigh.

Suddenly abusing of his power, Seungmin flicked his hand towards the wall, Minho’s body moving on his own to lie down on the bed.

“The f—” He couldn’t help but laugh when the demon straddled him, leaning down to kiss his lips again.

“Fuck, you taste l—”
“Like you,” Minho cut him off, laughing at the disgusted expression on the other face. “Come on, I just sucked you off. You can’t expect me to taste like anything else.”

The other stared at him for a moment, suddenly blowing air into the vampire’s face. The latter wiggled under him, faking an annoyed tone. And right when the demon was about to apologize, he ran his fingers along his sides to tickle him.

“Jerk!” Seungmin wriggled on top of him, trying to free himself but the vampire held him in place with one hand on his hip, tickling him with the other.

Finally, Seungmin managed to move a bit, falling on top of Minho completely, hiding his face against his neck, trying to tickle him a bit too.

They were both wiggling on the bed, laughing loudly as a few insults left their mouth. A few “jerk”, “fuckface”, “asshole” and other pet names flowing in the air.

“St—Stop at—Let’s sto—at three,” Seungmin tried to talk, out of breath. Minho hummed in approval, still tickling him. “O—One… T—On—Two!” The demon took a deep breath, holding back his laughter as much as he could. “Tw—Three!” None of them stopped. They laughed even louder. “Bitch! You lied!”
“You lied too, dickhead!”

The both of them were laughing too much, they ended up stopping on their own, arms going weak on their sides. Seungmin held still, lying on top of Minho. They remained silent, only laughing again when the plushie fell forward, right on top of Minho’s face.

“You look adorable, like that,” the demon chuckled, lifting his arm to push the plushie aside.

Minho stared at him, and for once, he really stared. That’s when he realized.

He was lying down on Seungmin’s bed, the other butt naked lying on top of him. He had just given him a blowjob. They shared an intimate moment, even if not the first one. And now Seungmin was looking at him, showing affection, being delicate and loving. Minho wasn’t feeling anything. He knew he wasn’t feeling anything. Would have it been Jisung, lying on top of him and looking at him with those doe eyes, he would have felt all warm and mushy inside, an irresistible need to kiss him. But right now, it was Seungmin. And all he wanted to do, was to hug him tight and kiss his forehead. Minho had tears filling his eyes.

“Seungm—”

“I know… I know what you’re going to say. Please… Please don’t.”

There was no way Minho could make sure he really knew what he was going to say. But he obeyed, simply nodding his head as he closed his eyes. The demon didn’t move, didn’t say a word. Turning his head, a bit to the side, Minho kissed his forehead, staying long enough that one tear escaped and died on the demon’s skin.

Seungmin finally straightened up to put his clothes back on. He then lied back down next to Minho, hugging his waist tightly enough so that he wouldn’t leave. Not like Minho wanted to leave anyway.

The next day, when Minho woke up, Seungmin wasn’t there. There was only a note stuck to his forehead—that he struggled to take off. It read ‘I had a job, left you some blood in the kitchen. You can stay. KSM’ Minho got out of the bed, walking to the kitchen where he found a glass filled with blood. Was it Seungmin’s? A random stranger? He decided not to dwell on it and to drink it, wondering if he should stay or not. He was ready to sit on the demon’s couch when he got a text from Chan, asking him to come ASAP. One quick note stuck to the empty glass and he left the apartment.

“Chan? Chan, I’m home. What’s wrong?” The vampire shouted from the hall, trying to locate the older one.

He walked to the living-room, then to the kitchen. The front door opened again. Minho went back to the hall, seeing Hyunjin as disheveled as him.

“Did you get a text too?”

“Yeah,” he breathed out.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know where he i—” Minho didn’t get time to finish his sentence that they heard it, the choked sob coming from the vampire’s room.

They ran into it, falling face-to-face with a crying Chan, two words leaving his lips with thousands of cries; “Felix left.”

The house was definitely quieter without Felix. Hyunjin stayed a bit more home now, spending time with Chan that had stopped going to work, completely destroyed by the situation. Minho wasn’t sure he had understood the situation, and he really thought it couldn’t get worse. But out of nowhere Seungmin appeared, eyes puffy from probably crying. He talked with Chan for a moment, hugging him tight, hugging Hyunjin that had taken part of the conversation, before stopping by Minho’s room. He stayed in the doorframe.

“I’m going back home.”

“Oh… Let me walk you home, then,” the vampire got up from his bed, wondering why Seungmin was telling him that.

“No, I mean—Home like… I’m going back to hell, Minho.”

“What?” Everything seemed to stop for a moment. He wasn’t serious, right? He couldn’t be. “Are you running away?” He really wished Seungmin would laugh, but instead he nodded his head. “Let me come with you.”

“Why would I do that?” The demon took a step back, and Minho ran to hold onto his wrist, scared he would vanish into thin air like he always did.

“Please,” Minho never begged in his life, but he begged at that instant. “I can’t give you what you’re expecting of me. But I care about you. I like you.” He tightened his grip on Seungmin, just enough so that he’d see his sincerity, but not enough to hurt him. “You’re important to me. Not in the way I am to you, but you are. Let me stay in your life, Seungmin.” His bottom lip started to tremble. “Don’t run away, please.”

The demon seemed lost in thought, eyes going around the vampire’s face, then to the room and ended its course at the vampire’s hand on his wrist. He sighed, shoulders dropping in defeat. “I’m still leaving. But you can come, I guess.”

It wasn’t what he had expected. But he’ll take it.

Hell wasn’t as Minho had imagined. He never really imagined it anyway, but if he had to, he wouldn’t picture it like this.

When Seungmin snapped them into Hell, well, Minho didn’t see anything at first. He never teleported or whatever that was, so he simply stumbled to the nearest corner and emptied his already empty stomach. But once he was able to straighten up and look around himself, he was met with dark wet walls made of stone.

“Where are we?” He whispered, his voice sounding a bit deeper than on earth, it startled him.

“Hell, what’s that question?” Minho jumped even harder upon hearing Seungmin’s voice. It was even deeper. When he looked up, the demon looked different. His eyes were entirely black, he was oddly taller and foggier.

“Seungmin?”

“Follow me,” the demon simply said, taking the vampire’s hand in his before walking at a quick pace.

It was hard to keep up with him. Minho tried to look around him, but he soon realized if he wanted to keep the pace, he won’t have time to discover the place. So, he gave up and kept his eyes on the demon.

They entered a room, that seemed pretty random to Minho as he hadn’t looked around, but the right one for the demon as he knew the place.

“Where are we?”

“My old room,” Seungmin whispered. And now that it was said, Minho finally saw the bed that was against one of the walls, a desk next to it.

“Why are w—”

“Seungmin!” A voice rang from behind them. Minho barely had time to move that Seungmin pushed him behind him, hiding him. He stayed quiet.

“Hey, what’s u—”

“Since when are you back?” The voice asked.

“Not long. Who has my room?” Seungmin kept one hand behind his back, whether it was to calm himself, or for Minho to not get scared, the vampire still took it and squeezed it tight.

“Oh, you know Harin? He took it.”

“He what?” The demon’s body grew bigger, and a bit red. His emotions were pretty transparent, here. “And who allowed that?”

“Oh, daddy did.” Minho choked on his own saliva, head falling against the demon’s back. “What was that?” The stranger said, trying to walk past Seungmin.

“Nothing.”

“Did you bring someone?” Minho could feel Seungmin’s body tensing. “You know that’s not allowed. Who is it? Is it a demon?”

The stranger tried to push Seungmin aside, who held still and pushed him back. They fought for a moment before the stranger held both of Seungmin’s wrists with one hand and pulled Minho from beside him, holding onto his arm and lifting him in the air.

“Oh, you brought free lunch!” Minho barely had time to look at Seungmin with fear that everything went dark.