Are You There - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Changkyun enters his home to find a trio gathered at his kitchen table. His stomach rolls at the sight of Minhyuk, the thin man cradling himself beneath a blanket furthest from the apartment door. Hoseok, sat beside him, fixes Changkyun with a fierce glare, before staring even harder at the table between them. The young vampire can feel the fae's anger radiating off him, the emotions felt between their connection far too firm now. Changkyun wonders if Hoseok can feel what he feels as well, or if it is just a one-way road.
Hyungwon, facing away from Changkyun, only motions for the youngest to enter and close the apartment door. The vampire has not spoken much since delivering the news to his two disciples. All that is left is to tell Changkyun, and prepare Hoseok as best the man can.
Changkyun takes the last seat at the table beside Hyungwon, sat straight across from Minhyuk. The younger smiles to the blonde, though he is sure it comes off as more of a grimace than anything. "How're you doing?" He asks quietly, unsure if he is meant to apologize or kill himself over what he has done.
"I'm fine, don't worry." Minhyuk, still unbothered by Changkyun's sudden attack from the morning, smiles genuinely. "Didn't even leave a mark," he adds jokingly, gesturing towards his neck.
Changkyun does not like the words, but he forces a chuckle anyway. "I'm sorry," Changkyun whispers, dropping his eyes to the table between them. "I didn't realize what I was doing. Not fully, anyway."
"I'm not mad," Minhyuk says just as quietly, tapping the table to get the younger's attention. "Seriously, don't bother explaining anything. Your control will come along in time."
Though it sounds a lot like what Hyungwon had told him in the antique shop, Changkyun does not quite believe it yet. Perhaps it is because his mind is still frazzled over Jooheon, and cannot quite process new information. Perhaps it is because he does not want to take it in as something possible. His future. He does not really want that right now.
"Just because he's not mad, doesn't mean I'm not pissed-"
"Shut up." Minhyuk, suddenly loud, interrupts Hoseok before he can say anything of any importance. "Nobody asked how you're feeling, brat."
Hoseok mimics the younger in a falsetto, his ears burning as Minhyuk glares over at him. The two had bickered for nearly half an hour already, Hoseok denying vehemently against his own muttered confessions in bed. Minhyuk cared more about the insults he had been dealt, he could live with someone thinking he was pretty. But telling him that beauty was wasted?
He will be holding onto that for a long time.
"Both of you shut up." Hyungwon, slapping a thin hand against the tabletop, draws all eyes to him. Changkyun feels his throat tighten a bit as Hyungwon glances his way, the elder visibly nervous. "Changkyun, I understand that you're still the newest to our world, but you'll need to bear with us for the day at least. I cannot explain everything that's going on in the detail you'll want, so please listen now and question later."
Hoseok, sighing, leans back in his chair and pushes a mug sat in front of him towards Minhyuk. Despite the telepath's anger, he graciously takes the mug into his hands. He has been sipping on his tea since waking up, and he can feel his strength reviving with each tug he takes from the glass. Changkyun can smell it from his place at the table, ginseng and something earthy steeped into the deep mug. His nose wrinkles at it, and he devotes his attention back to Hyungwon to try and distract himself from the stench.
"I'll bite my tongue," he tells his Master, mentally crossing his heart for good effect.
Hyungwon, with a sigh of his own, speaks rapidly. "The Counsel, a group of our kind's eldest, are essentially the highest of government for the creatures of the night. They govern, dictate, and enforce. They are the creators of law, old and new, and the ones who create judgement on those who break the law."
Hyungwon taps a hand against his own chest, clearing his throat as he accidentally lets his emotions grow too quickly. He has begun working himself up to a near anxiety-attack, something he has not reached since the first time he had killed someone. Changkyun pretends he takes no notice of his Master's unease, figuring the older will not appreciate the attention. Instead, the youngest stares at Hyungwon's hand as it gestures about while he speaks.
"I, being the half-blood vampire that I am, technically was born breaking the law. While I've been hunted for the last two centuries, I've easily avoided the Counsel and their judgement against me for existing." He clears his throat, motioning towards Hoseok now. "But this time, because I've Claimed a full-blooded fae, which is strictly against the law, I cannot promise that I'll be alive too long now."
Changkyun feels his eyes go wide, shocked into silence. It is true that he has many questions, concerns to voice, and even fears to let slip, but he holds his tongue as promised. He does not want to overwhelm his Master, the man who may be holding his last conversation. Though they have been connected like this for less than a weak, Changkyun feels that the old soul beside him has many more layers to peel apart and search through.
He does not think that Hyungwon is nearly as bad as he was a few days ago. Perhaps this morning's conversation was the main source of Changkyun's thought process. The young man had not been that close to understanding his Master until that point at the antique shop, and he does not want to lose him after such a huge moment.
"Can't you just unclaim him?" Changkyun wonders aloud, forgetting momentarily that he is meant to keep silent.
Hyungwon however cares little for the interruption. He welcomes it, in fact. He would like to remain distracted for hours if he could, terrified of the idea of dying over something as silly as Hoseok's fresh tattoo. "It doesn't work like that. The bond that comes through a Claim is nearly blood deep. Our connection will not be severed until one of us dies."
Minhyuk, recognizing that his Master is having trouble speaking now, leans forward to take over the explanation. "That's why he thinks he's gonna die. Because the Counsel will want to break the cord between Hoseok and him. They'll have to kill one of them."
Hoseok shifts in his seat, his pallor too stark to be healthy. His eyes look sunken in and sallow, and Changkyun worries that the man's cheeks may dip inward at this rate. He looks so physically drained, Changkyun wonders for a moment if he had actually drank from Hoseok rather than Minhyuk earlier. Hoseok cuts the youngest with a glare, clearly having tapped into the dark man's thoughts.
"Because it was my mistake, I'll take any blame, of course." Hyungwon lifts a hand to his temple once more, his expression guarded. "Unless anybody knows any astounding new methods to clipping a cord."
"There's always killing Hoseok," Minhyuk tosses out, sipping from his tea a moment later. "We don't really need him. He can't even read people without touching them, and basically sits around watching porn all day."
Hoseok casts his glare at the younger, scoffing. "What porn?" He wonders gruffly, folding his arms over his chest to make his biceps appear larger.
"Changkyun's thoughts, obviously."
The youngest does not appreciate the sudden dig at his sexually frustrated mind, but he keeps silent for the sake of everyone's sanity. It is almost music to his ears when the trio around him all laugh. Hoseok's thick guffaw tumbles over Minhyuk's slight wheeze, while Hyungwon only chuckles quietly.
All men stare at Hyungwon when his laughter morphs after just a few moments, a tear hitting his cheek too suddenly. It glistens in the afternoon light that seeps in through the now uncovered living room windows. The golden hue of Hyungwon's skin glints and shines as the tear trails down his right cheek and disappears beneath his chin, dragging with it an entire army of tears to march on. Changkyun wants to reach out and touch the man's shoulder, but he can feel the fear radiating off his Master. The silk of his terror drapes around him and prickles the air, sparking out when Changkyun attempts to wrap an arm around the elder. He quite literally wears his fear like a cape, protecting himself from anything that may come for him.
"Hoseok," Changkyun blurts suddenly, his mind working double-time. The broad man across the table does not even spare him a glance, his focus on Minhyuk beside him as he forces the telepath to finish his tea. "Hoseok," Changkyun repeats, struggling the fight the hurt waver in his voice.
He does not like to be ignored; isolation is one of his largest fears. He cannot sit here long and deal with Hoseok blatantly disregarding him and his words. "Hoseok please look at me, I have an idea."
"Any idea that saves a vampire is an idea I don't really care about." Hoseok takes the mug from Minhyuk when it has been emptied, standing to walk it to the kitchen sink.
Changkyun does not want to give up, but he knows that when Hoseok is angry, he refuses to give in. He has made the decision to hate Changkyun for now, and he will not stop until Changkyun can make it up to the broad man. Sinking into his seat, Changkyun ducks his head towards the wall to hide the hurt on his dark expression. He folds his arms over his chest, sucking his cheeks in to fight incoming tears he had not even felt approaching.
Minhyuk, listening attentively to both men, and their open thoughts, speaks up from his place across from Changkyun. "Hoseok, can't your father figure something out? You said that he'd specialized in healing. Can't you-"
"I'll tell my father I was Claimed by a vampire when he's dead."
Changkyun glances Minhyuk's way, thankful that the telepath had voiced his thoughts for him, despite the reply he had been given. Minhyuk had even added things Changkyun is unsure of. The young vampire does not know what it means for a fae to specialize, but he figures it would give them a certain expertise in a specific talent. Healing, he thinks, could you actually just heal a cord?
"Hoseok," Changkyun whispers before standing, his excitement rolling off him in waves. "Would there actually be a way to heal a cord? Or remove it?" Forgetting that Hoseok is meant to hate him, Changkyun approaches his older friend quickly. "You can't just say no to that, what happens if these Counsel people say that you have to die because of the cord too?"
Hoseok shrugs, turning to face away from the sink and look the shorter full in the face. "Then I'll die, Changkyun. An order from the Counsel, is an order to follow. If they place the judgement that both of us, or even all three of us," Hoseok gestures to Changkyun as well, "will be killed, then we will return in two days time for our executions."
"All three of us?" Changkyun looks over his shoulder at Hyungwon, suddenly recalling what he now is. "'Cause I'm a half-blood too?" He asks carefully, twining his fingers together in fear.
Minhyuk nods from the table, dropping his chin into his hand. "Hyungwon, I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but if you die, can I take my mother home again?"
[ x ]
Kihyun has never been called before the Counsel. Not in his twenty-five years of walking about this plane. He has lived as Kihyun, a young man of angular features and striking physique, long enough now to become completely used to the lives of a modern man in every way. Before Kihyun, the incubus was a man called Changmin, and before even that, he cannot recall. Each lifetime blurs into the next, the process of being reborn into a new body eternally lonely and empty.
Being created three centuries ago, with the direct blood of a demon and his birth mother, Kihyun has been created to live an immortal existence. While other incubi live to breed and pass, Kihyun cannot preach the same good fortune. He will continue to cycle through each time he dies, whether it is of old age, murder, or disease.
Within these last three centuries, his life has been held down low to hide out from the Counsel as best he can. But living as an incubus chasing after other men easily draws attention. During his second cycle of life, Kihyun had been a man called Eunsin, an illegitimate son of a royal Crowned Prince.
Kihyun had died after only sixteen years, but he had found that within those quick years, men were easy to come by, and work around his finger. He can still recall the first man he ever laid down with, long before the Counsel could trace laws broken so easily. Though Kihyun recalls little from his past lives, he remembers nearly every lover he has chased after, each like a prize to be won and savored.
But now, now he has finally been found out. The messenger had approached him only ten minutes after leaving the comic store this morning, and had not given him the time to arrive alone. He was dragged from the street without a warning or pause. The messengers of the Counsel are startling humans, shed of their tongues and abilities to speak after committing mortal sins against the children of the night. Kihyun wonders if the existence of a messenger is worse off than his own, unable to speak, eat, or live. They are just shells of humans once alive and well, frozen in this catatonic state only to obey the Counsel and deliver written messages and orders.
While Kihyun has met a Counsel member before, he has never arrived here. The building, sat in the center of Seoul, is one Kihyun has passed and even entered on numerous occasions. "City Hall?" He wonders aloud, glancing at the messenger though the man cannot reply.
The taxi ride had taken him here, where he had gone to watch a court preceding, and seen many a televised administrative meetings. It makes sense that the Korean Counsel would burrow here, but then when Kihyun thinks even harder, it makes no sense at all. Why hide in plain sight of the inner-workings of the country?
The messenger, who Kihyun notices opens his mouth every so often to speak, motions for the incubus to enter through the front gates. "You haven't been dead long, have you?" Kihyun peers over his shoulder at the trailing messenger, who lowers his head in shame. It is rather taboo to speak to a messenger in passing, but Kihyun figures if he is already being taken before the Counsel, not much of what he does will harm him. "I hope it becomes easier," he mutters as the messenger herds Kihyun through a small break in the building's facade just before they can reach the main entrance.
It is something like out of a movie, the way the cement of the building splits unseeingly. It is an optical illusion, Kihyun assumes, that was cleverly built into the building when it was erected. The messenger taps Kihyun's shoulder as they enter a short tunnel-like corridor, motioning in the waxing darkness that there is a turn approaching.
Kihyun rolls his eyes before pulling his phone from his pocket and switching on the flash, illuminating the pitch space around them. He groans at the filth that riddles the floor beneath his clean shoes. The messenger shies away from the bright light, and Kihyun recalls how the dark man had stayed under the shadows of an awning when he had first reached for the incubus.
"Sorry," Kihyun whispers, holding his hand over the light to dim it some. "Lead the way, I guess."
The messenger avoids the light as he walks ahead of Kihyun, and the incubus wonders why that is. He wants to ask, though he will receive no reply. The messenger wanders through the darkness easily, seamlessly, as if he has committed these empty corridors to memory in his short stay here. "Thanks," Kihyun whispers when they reach a large opening, the entryway to Kihyun's judgement room, he knows. "Do I just go in?"
The messenger nods, opening his mouth to speak again. He frowns when nothing comes out, and Kihyun tries not to notice the absence of the man's tongue resting where it ought to be.
The messenger leaves quietly, the way they had come. Kihyun waits until he cannot hear the man's footsteps any longer, before approaching the tall door. It looks like any entrance to any courtroom, broad, looming, and sealed shut. Though he was born with the strength of three men, Kihyun doubts in his ability to pull the splintered wood open and reveal the room he is meant to be judged in.
"Just do it," he murmurs to himself, pocketing his phone and plunging himself into darkness. His pale hands ghost over wood in the dark, a sweat breaking out over his cold skin as he feels around the ragged surface for a handhold. There is none, no matter how long he searches, so he simply pushes at the wood. To his surprise, light seeps in around all edges as the door pushes straight back without turning.
Kihyun tries not to dwell on the impossible, only winding around the wood to step into the Counsel's room.
He recognizes no one, nine men and women sat at a long board table of ranging ages and abilities, all ones he has never seen before. He vaguely remembers the death of an old Counsel member, perhaps the man he had once met in a past lifetime.
"Yoo Kihyun," comes a monotonous voice, distinctly female, from his left. Kihyun steps forward as the door behind him seals itself back up. He wonders if a telekinetic human resides on the Counsel, or if the door is just charmed to close when needed. He cannot smell any humans in the room, so he assumes the latter.
"Yoo Kihyun." His name is chanted for a moment, startling him back a step before collecting his nerves. He steps towards a small dais, where he assumes he is meant to stand. His eyes comb over the nine faces, recognizing three faes, three vampires, and three incubi by there scents. He wonders momentarily why there is no succubus, but does not think long before more chants hit him.
The group speaks as one, and that scares him more than any judgement he could be given.
"Yoo Kihyun, full-blood incubus in the ninth lifetime, has been charged with going against laws of nature and lying with another man."
Kihyun sighs, clenching his fists to keep from rolling his eyes. He always knew this would be what he was finally dragged in for.
At last, one voice picks up over the din and he faces the oldest looking man at the table, one of his own kind. "You are aware, young one, that your only purpose here is not to pleasure yourself, but to create life beyond your own?"
Kihyun nods, hating his own existence more now that he is been reminded of his demonic lineage and purpose. "I am aware," he answers gruffly, staring down his nose at the seated man. He wonders if this incubus is a full-blood as he is, or just someone who had been born of one. They hold no specific scents, or visual character differences, so the younger can only assume he was not not created as Kihyun was.
"Then you are aware that your prideful chase for men during your lifetimes is against the law and will earn you just punishment today?"
While he is not sure why it is against the law, he is aware that it is the law. Kihyun nods, grabbing for the small wooden podium before him for support. "I am aware," he repeats through clenched teeth. He can see movement in his peripheral, but he does not turn to look. He does not want to see what is happening behind him. Surely a blade is being prepared to plunge straight into his back.
"Because it is only a minor law that's been broken, the Counsel has decided that one lashing for each lifetime you've lived in sin will suffice."
I was born in sin, Kihyun thinks begrudgingly, but he remains silent. He knows if he points out anything in sarcasm, he will only earn a harsher punishment. Nine lashings? He can handle this, he heals quicker than any human, and is stronger than most others of his kind. The purity of a demon's blood has run through his veins for over three hundred years, and it strengthens him when he grows weak.
"I understand," is all Kihyun says as a firm grasp lands on his right shoulder. He is turned, and though he is afraid, he holds back any whimpers of fear. Being strong physically is a different story from emotional strength. He is weak inside, and wants to quiver in fear as another silent messenger, this one hulking and broad, forcefully removes Kihyun's shirt from his body.
It catches on his chin and knocks him back when he is finally free of the cloth, but the messenger only grabs at his shoulder again and turns him back to face the Counsel. A young woman, with the stench of a basement from century's past, takes both his small hands in her dirty ones. "Hold here," she whispers, dropping his palms against the podium before him. She scurries out of a hidden door in the far wall, the Counsel not paying her any mind. Kihyun assumes that everyone here is either a silent messenger or a claimed servant or pledge to the vampires.
Clenching his fists around the podium, Kihyun listens tentatively to the sound of what appears to be a coiled wire scraping against the cement floor. His back muscles tense at the sound, his eyes squeezing shut so he cannot see the leering stares of the Counsel. Kihyun shivers when a hand is placed against his spine, just between his shoulder-blades. "You will count for us," calls that same man of the Counsel, the incubus with a gleam in his eye and hair whiter than the snow of winter.
Kihyun clenches his teeth before nodding, speaking around pursed lips. "I understand." He sends out a silent prayer to anyone listening, hoping that at least someone will listen. Dear Lord, I know I am not worthy of your love, but please forgive my sins and help me bear this pain with your strength. Amen.
It is not much, but it keeps his tears at bay behind his shut eyes. That hand on his back is removed, and he knows that his first strike will come now. He pushes out one long breath through his teeth before the thin wire comes down to burn against his skin. He gasps aloud, jolting forward at the flames that lick at his back, dancing over his usually freezing body and burning straight through him. The pain, sharp and throbbing, does not cease even after he has called out a sharp, "One!"
The second is worse. While the first had come down across his lower back, the second is struck too high and winds over his shoulder to nip at his collarbone. Kihyun almost collapses, the pain stopping his lungs in his chest. He has never experienced this kind of agony in all his nine lifetimes, and he had gone through a bullet to the liver in life seven.
"Two-" he grunts out just before the third strike lands against his other shoulder, cutting deeper than the last two. He gasps at the warm feel of his own blood, dripping down his back and coating the skin almost instantly. "Three," he whimpers.
It goes on until the final, ninth strike. His back is a patchwork of lashes and cuts. Some criss-cross over one another, while others deviate from the center of his back and wrap around his front. He kneels beside his podium, crying in pain before the Counsel. Shirtless, dirty, and covered in his own blood, Kihyun is left to rest in his own painful shame before his government.
"Your messenger will return you, Yoo Kihyun. If we have you appear before us again, you will not be able to leave of your own accord. Take this punishment as your only warning."
Kihyun's upper arm is held in a fierce grip, and he is tugged from the ground by the very man that had struck him over and over. Kihyun whimpers in pain as the muscles in his back tense and move, his healing process stalled. The wire must have been laced with something blessed and holy. One more reason my prayers won't be answered, he thinks as he is walked towards the now open door to the room.
He is left without his shirt, and stumbles into the waiting body of his original messenger. Kihyun does not tug his phone from his pocket this time, and instead shivers as he trails behind the sound of the man's footsteps. He knocks into the corridor walls several times, but pays no mind to the small scrapes he receives. They are not enough to stop the searing pain spreading across the span of his back.
Kihyun feels faint when they hit the light of the outside, and he is shocked to see that the sun is already setting over the city of Seoul. How long was I inside, he wonders as he glances at the messenger. The man shrugs off his jacket, passing it to Kihyun with his eyes on the ground. Kihyun accepts the offer silently, nodding in thanks though the man does not see.
It hurts to cover the wounds, and he almost collapses as the cotton fabric tugs at a still weeping cut. Kihyun sags against the messenger, letting him lead Kihyun away. The incubus loses consciousness several times during their journey of walking and buses, but he awakens to find himself alone in the dark, sat on the cold ground and leaned against a brick wall.
He whimpers in pain as he tries to move, tumbling sideways as the jacket scrapes at his skin painfully. He cries out as he hits the ground, drawing the attention of a man closing up his shop just a few paces away. Kihyun lies still, whimpering under his breath and cradling his hands to his chest in silent prayers. He wishes that the God that hates his very existence would just kill him now. Take this pain away.
"Kihyun?"
The man whimpers louder this time, scared that anyone he knows will see him this weak.
"Kihyun, what're you doin' on the ground?" A dark face hovers over his as the man kneels down, concerned over the red-head. "Are you crying-"
Kihyun shakes his head furiously, making a fierce attempt to sit up and avoid Hyunwoo's lingering gaze. He gasps, inhaling sharply through his nose as a cut already scabbing over tears anew, crying red down his back. Hyunwoo reaches for Kihyun, unsure of what is happening, but freezes when he sees the red and brown stain beneath the man, the cement painted with his dark blood. Even under the pale lamplight, Hyunwoo has no doubt of what it is.
Cursing, Hyunwoo makes no attempt to remain gentle as he hauls Kihyun to his feet, cradling the man to his chest as he checks for wounds. "Where is it?" Hyunwoo asks, pressing his hand to Kihyun's back much to the smaller man's dismay.
He screams out in pain, shuddering against Hyunwoo as the world grows fuzzy. "Home," Kihyun whimpers. "Take me home-"
"You need a hospital!"
Kihyun shakes his head, lifting his hand to press his fingers against Hyunwoo's exposed throat. The contact is just enough to shrink Hyunwoo's better judgement. The idea of home is there, and he uses the last of his strength to blow it up. "Take me home," Kihyun whispers just before the already dark world goes black.