Are You There - Chapter 25: Chapter 25

"It hurts," Changkyun murmurs as he holds Hoseok's wrist in near awe. "I could feel it too," he adds, tugging his bottom lip between his teeth. Hoseok rolls his eyes before yanking his hand away from the vampire's grip and cradling it to his chest.
"Don't touch me," he hisses at the younger. Minhyuk, standing a ways away from City Hall's  incredible facade, frowns at the fae's harsh tone. Hoseok has been complaining about Changkyun for hours; before he had returned home, after he had returned home, and even during the trip to City Hall. Hoseok had not stopped digging into the young man, and though Minhyuk understands his anger, he does not understand why it continues aloud.
The telepath can see from the distance that Changkyun is hurt by Hoseok's brush-off, and he sidles up to the darker man with a hand out to touch his shoulder gently. "Just ignore him," the blonde murmurs as they turn towards the street where a taxi called minutes ago should be arriving soon. "He's being childish."
"I deserve it," Changkyun admits under his breath. Everything in his mind, positive or negative, lands him under the label Bad Guy. He cannot escape it now, and he does not even want to try. "It doesn't matter if you forgive me or not, that's two people now that I've just stolen from." Changkyun holds up two fingers as if to strengthen his point, his lower lip pouting out as he glances Minhyuk's way.
"He doesn't understand," Minhyuk murmurs, the pair stopping at the curb to wait for their driver. Hyungwon had left almost as soon as he and Hoseok had emerged from the tunnels, evaporating into nothing and dispersing with the wind. And Hoseok refuses to talk about what happened within City Hall, even though Changkyun saw everything through their connection.
"I don't understand either." Changkyun admits around a sigh, tilting his head back to stare up at the autumn moon above. "I asked him not to kill me. I didn't want to die. But now the thought of death is always crushing down on me." Changkyun lifts a hand to his throat, shivers running down his spine as Minhyuk's heartbeat quickens. "Not always my death. I've got this disgusting natural urge now to just..."
"To kill." Minhyuk's deadpan makes the younger weak at the knees, his nerves fried to the core and seared into a state of terror. "With time, control will grow and you'll learn to restrain yourself." Minhyuk tightens his grip around Changkyun's shoulder, shaking the younger a bit against his own side. "Just think about it! You haven't even killed anybody yet! And it's been a handful of days now."
"Great confidence booster," Changkyun grumbles. The darker man shoves his hands deep into his pockets, a wind picking up from the East and knocking his long hair into his eyes. "What does that thing on Hoseok's wrist mean?" Changkyun assumes a topic-change will help ease his mind, but he cannot stop his thoughts; even if they were to speak of Jooheon and his rosy lipped-kisses, it would work to no avail.
"It's a branding, a work of the fae. They connect two souls even deeper than just a vampiric Claim. Now they're connected by the government. Like hand-cuffs." Minhyuk is not sure how to explain it so that Changkyun can understand, his hands moving about wildly as he grasps for the perfect analogy. "It's just to show that they're owned by the Counsel and are together in the matter."
"Got it." Changkyun tugs his hands from his pockets to run a hand over his right wrist, still aware of the tingling sensation there. It is not his own pain, instead Hoseok's, yet he feels it on his own skin and in his own nerves. "Is it like the connection Hoseok and I have? Do they feel together?"
Minhyuk shakes his head, glancing over their shoulders when the pair hears the scuff of the broad man's shoes behind them. Hoseok is following quietly, a distance back to appear nonchalant. He does not have many other places to go but home or with his new band of brothers. He does not like either of those options a particularly heavier amount than the other. Minhyuk smiles to himself before facing the street again, a car bustling by and shifting their hair with a new breeze.
"They aren't connected to that extent. Their stretch goes as far as Hyungwon's Claim, just as before. Only now they're both under watch of the Counsel. More than they already were, I guess."
"Those people just hurt them to hurt them? For no real reason?"
Minhyuk's head bobs from side to side, considering his answer before delivering it. "Not for no reason. Hyungwon did break the law. Claiming another child of the night, unless a fellow vampire, is against the laws of nature. The Counsel believes that a vampire's Claim is unholy, and may only be used on one's own kind."
"But Hyungwon Claimed you, didn't he? And he has that fae woman in his hideout."
Minhyuk flinches at the mention of his mother, their taxi finally pulling to a stop a dozen feet away. "I'm only a half-blood," Minhyuk reminds Changkyun softly as he walks the younger towards their waiting driver. "And that woman is a pledge, not a Claim. She willingly remains under Hyungwon's care."
Changkyun, realizing he has been placed deep into a learning moment, asks, "Well what's the difference? Between a pledge and a Claim I mean. They sound the same."
Focusing some energy on locking out the driver's mind, Minhyuk opens the back door for Changkyun. The telepath keeps a mental grip on the man, making sure he cannot hear their conversation as he shuts Changkyun in into the backseat. Minhyuk glances back for Hoseok, finding him lingering a few meters back. "Are you coming along? Or are you going home to cry to Mother and Father?"
Hoseok grumbles, but slides himself into the front passenger seat of the cab, leaving Minhyuk with the other half of the backseat. He slides in, continuing his conversation with the vampire as if he had not been interrupted. The cab pulls from the curb as soon as his door is shut, Changkyun having already given his address.
"A Claim is from one vampire to the other. Vampires, despite all the old myths of remaining as lonely creatures for eternity, are like pack animals. They have the select few who remain as Rogues, though those few are often hired to do the bidding of the Counsel." Minhyuk brushes his light hair back from his face, his energy draining fast as he holds his grip on the driver. This morning, paired with almost no sleep in the last few days, has weighed its toll on his strength.
"Claims are meant to keep vampires connected," Hoseok interrupts from the front seat, having caught a glimpse of the paling telepath in the rear view. "The elder Claims one they've turned, or one who has remained as a Rogue for too long. It's a defensive strategy more than anything. For hunting."
Hoseok's words make Changkyun sink in his spot, his eyes on his hands in his lap. Minhyuk clicks his teeth beside the youngest, kicking his foot out at the back of Hoseok's seat in anger. "Shut up, beefcake. You don't know anything about it. You only know what your precious fae teachings told you about it."
Changkyun's ears prick up, and he glances between both men from his vantage point. He can see both as their shoulders lift and drop in barely concealed anger, Hoseok's nostrils flaring and Minhyuk's hands in his hair.
"Changkyun," Minhyuk says softly after a few deep breaths. "Historically, the Claim of a vampire was meant for hunting. But in modern days, we have pledges. Hunting is not necessary." At his final word, Minhyuk jabs his foot into Hoseok's seat once more, beyond annoyed with the fae. "The glorious fae, who have passed down their teachings for centuries without change, don't seem to realize we're in the twenty-first century. Ignore him."
"So pledges," Changkyun probes, none too eager to watch another fight spring out between the pair. "They're for blood?"
Minhyuk's stomach rolls, but his head nods slowly. "More or less. Vampires, after doing a service for a human or others of the night, take out a contract to... Well, essentially they own the family line until they inevitably die out. Each generation must bring forth someone to be under the pledge, until the family ends. They're usually servants within the vampire's life, whether for blood or errands, doesn't matter."
Changkyun gestures at Minhyuk hurriedly. "So you're Claimed, but only because you're a half-blood. If you were a full fae, you could only be a pledge?"
Minhyuk nods, the car already pulling to a stop at Changkyun's apartment building. "Someone pay him, I'm broke." Minhyuk climbs out of the car, and Changkyun is quick to follow, leaving Hoseok alone to foot the bill. "I was a pledge before my father died," Minhyuk admits as the pair approach the apartment.
This is news to the youngest, as he steps a bit closer to the telepath for more information. "Your family is pledged? To who!"
"Hyungwon of course," Minhyuk answers gently, pulling open the front door to the building. Changkyun is thankful that he has still got his keys in his pocket and can get them into his home. He leads the way through the lobby and up the few flights of stairs in silence, mind whirling. Changkyun is quick to unlock his apartment door usher the telepath in, leaving the door open for Hoseok if he should choose to follow. "A grandfather from about three generations ago first pledged himself to Hyungwon, and I'm under the most current pledge. I can't imagine I'll be giving any offspring, though."
Minhyuk glances back towards the slowly closing apartment door as Hoseok squeezes his broad frame through it. Despite the annoyingly harsh man's demeanor, Minhyuk cannot deny the underlying attraction there. Hoseok is gorgeous, and he knows it, and though he makes it a point to resent the telepath, the younger cannot help but acknowledge the beauty the elder was dealt.
"My mother is another pledge of his. The fae you smelled while meeting what he adores calling the family." Minhyuk shivers at the thought of being related to any of the cretins that Hyungwon uses as blood bags. He knows that with his history of highs and euphoric encounters with the vampire, he cannot escape the comparison with the so-called cretins, but he likes to think that his place under Hyungwon's wing is higher than theirs. He has a Claim. He must be important.
"Your mother is a pledge?" Hoseok stares down his nose at Minhyuk as he busies himself in the still stocked kitchen, asking for no permission as he begins hunting for snacks. "That's funny, the Counsel were just asking for some fae Hyungwon's got his claws around. Must be another."
Minhyuk's eyes narrow on Hoseok as the telepath approaches behind him. "The Counsel wants his pledge? His fae?"
Hoseok sighs in pure joy as he finds a paper bowl of microwavable noodles. "Yeah. Lee something. Counsel said she had old crimes to pay up for and has to be delivered over by Halloween."
When Minhyuk does not reply, Hoseok glances up from his struggle with the plastic film around his bowl. His eyes of deep pitch find Minhyuk's, though the blonde's gaze has clouded over with a total lackluster. "Lee Seonhae?" He whispers, his lips barely moving to form the words so familiar to him after a lifetime of calling after the woman.
Hoseok thinks on it, tossing his paper bowl down with a nod. "Yeah that sounds about right. Whatever the lady did, the Counsel looked serious about it. If she's a fae hiding behind a vampire, depending on how long it went on, she'll probably be killed."
Changkyun, having placed the pieces in order with only a few moments of thought, rushes forward to catch the telepath as his knees give out beneath him. "You're an idiot," the vampire mumbles, glaring through his lashes at his older friend. Hoseok's lips work, opening and closing as he realizes what he has just told Minhyuk. He lifts a thick hand to hide his face behind, hurt for the half-blood that has crumpled into the vampire before him. Though Hoseok resents his use of the fae abilities while only being of half the bloodline, he cannot deny the intrigue the telepath gives him.
The blonde, while ugly under the laws of nature, is beautiful in Hoseok's eyes. Perhaps that is why he hurts more now watching the telepath break, than he had when his own blood's magic had been burned into his wrist. Cursing under his breath, Hoseok leaves without another word. He knows not  where else to go but to his family's home, and he hopes that his mother will have some kind of insight on how to cure a broken heart.
He first must figure out who is more broken tonight.
[ x ]
Jooheon finds himself alone in his apartment, angry and hurt. The night has set, and the white paper he had pulled from his apartment door rests on his coffee table like a ghost sat before him. Angry red words scribbled in a thick marker are scrawled across the top of the page.
NOTICE OF EVICTION
He had forgotten to pay his rent when his latest paycheck came in.
One thing after another today; every thing that could go wrong seems as though it has. He was fired early this morning. He was abandoned twice by Changkyun. And now he is being kicked out. It is only the thirteenth, he still has until the new month to find a new place that will accept his lacking credit score and inability to provide a security deposit. Fifteen new days is plenty of time.
Jooheon sits for over an hour in the dark. The sun is long gone now, but he makes no move to stand and turn a light on. He lets the little moonlight fall across the paper on the table, those words flashing across his one track mind over and over again. So simple. Just a stack of money from one hand to another. How could he have let it slip his mind?
What had happened on the tenth that had made him late again? Hoseok's party, he reminds himself with a roll of his eyes. The party had been on the eleventh, followed by his wild weekend of blackouts and drunken memories. But the day before, Jooheon and Changkyun had fought about the party.
"It all traces back to you," Jooheon mumbles, the darker man's face lingering on his mind as he lets his narrowed eyes drift shut. He is not tired any longer, and he will not be falling asleep easily tonight, but he wants to try his hardest to block out the dark message sat on his table. He has to try his hardest.
Perhaps if Changkyun and he had not argued, Jooheon's mind would have been in its right place and he would have put his rent forth on time. If he had not had Kihyun on his arm at the party to enable his drinking habits, he would have gone home early. If Jooheon had half a mind and taken up an extra shift at work as his best friend had on Wednesday, he would have a place to stay in November.
"Shit." Jooheon's curse tastes like acid on his tongue, and he glances about the room almost expecting to be scolded. He curses as any other adult would, but still grows weary when cursing out of anger.
More than that anger though, he feels lost. He does not know who to ask for help. Surely Changkyun will not bother to pick up any of his calls. The dark man could not escape the blonde's grip fast enough today, and had not even bothered to send an apology or check in via text. Jooheon has been alone in his own head since being left alone physically. He had taken the first few hours to wander the neighborhood and do some light grocery shopping. He had needed many things, and he returned in the late evening to find his landlord's eviction notice. He had not needed that. It was a slap he was not expecting, and was disastrously unprepared for.
"Shit," he says again as he pats at his pockets for his cellphone. The hour has gotten late, and 9:48 blinks up at him when he checks his lockscreen. Not many people would bother venturing out to see him. Hoseok would, surely, but when Jooheon sends the broad man a text, he gets no response.
The message remains unread for several minutes, before Jooheon gives up and moves on. He does not have many friends outside of Changkyun and Hoseok. They are his two closest, though he does have a friend from work that may be up to distracting him for a stint.
To JackedSon: Hey, I'm in the mood to blow some cash. Drinks?
His friend Jackson is a man always prepared to party his stress away. Coming from China, Jackson is always pressured just a little harder under the dome of South Korea's standards. He does not conform well, and Jooheon likes that about the man. Being of the same age helped them grow close while working together, and their mutual eagerness to go out helped spur a friendship worthy of killing Kihyun in his place.
From JackedSon: sorry bud, staying in with mark 2nite. see you at work monday?
Jooheon does not know how to tell Jackson that he has been fired. He only sends back a halfhearted reply, telling the Chinese man that it is alright. They will see one another around. There are not many people left to message. His parents, of course, though they live hours away and would never be willing to venture out this late in the eve. Hyunwoo is in his phone in case of emergencies, but Jooheon does not think this counts as an emergency.
Apart from old friends from school he is sure have different numbers now, Jooheon only has one number left.
[ x ]
Hyunwoo glares as Kihyun's phone rings on the bedside. The smaller man has only just escaped into the shower, surely aching under the hot water, but his phone has not stopped ringing. Hyunwoo can recognize the name on the screen, the photo one of Kihyun and the blonde man together. The image makes the dark man's stomach roll. After seeing Jooheon and Changkyun rush about flushed and holding onto one another, Hyunwoo is absolutely sure that Kihyun is chasing after a man that does not love him back. It hurts to watch. It hurts even more to see Jooheon feeding into that love now.
Swiping the call to answer it, Hyunwoo picks the phone up and speaks with cold and deliberate tone so the man on the other end understands that he is serious. "Jooheon, if you keep calling my boyfriend, I'll make sure doctors can't even take my foot out o' your ass. Got it?"
Hyunwoo, never a man of his word when it comes to violence, hangs the phone up before Jooheon can even breathe into the receiver. He slams the phone down on the bedside, clenching his fists to keep from striking out at his bedpost. This morning, coming in to open the store, Hyunwoo had been sure of Kihyun's absolute mania. But for whatever reason, his intrigue had taken over and he had let the small man linger around the shop. He was good enough company, though he only spoke of himself and Jooheon, or himself with Jooheon. Though Kihyun and Changkyun had not been good company while together, Hyunwoo had enjoyed having the smaller man beside him. He felt protective over the slightly manic man. His childish actions made him seem younger, and far more vulnerable than he probably was.
Still lost in thoughts, Hyunwoo does not hear Kihyun when he reenters the bedroom. His towel is draped over his shoulders, Hyunwoo's shirt fitting only slightly large over the same jeans he had been wearing earlier. The shower has done the incubus well, and most of his wounds have made their first attempts at sealing shut, though Kihyun can still feel the skin tear if he moves too wide.
"Hey," the small man calls out to Hyunwoo, hugging the towel closer as the chilled room hits him. "Thanks again for taking me in tonight. I know I was a mess, and you didn't have to help-"
"Only a monster would leave you on the street like that."
Kihyun grimaces at Hyunwoo's choice of words, nodding despite his unease. "That's true, I guess." Unwinding the towel from round his shoulders, Kihyun drapes it over the back of a small wooden chair Hyunwoo had used while cleaning the smaller man up. He gestures towards the bedroom door over his shoulder, shuffling his weight barefoot on the carpet.
Hyunwoo notices his soiled shirt and socks tucked under an arm and sighs. "Are you planning on running without any socks? You don't even know where your jacket is. You'll freeze before you make it home." Hyunwoo stands from his spot on the bed and crosses back to his dresser, thankful to have purchased new socks recently. The last thing he would want to hand the beautiful man stood helpless in his room would be an old work sock with holes and stains on the sole.
"Fresh from the package," Hyunwoo tells Kihyun as he tosses a still tagged pair of socks to the smaller man. Kihyun fumbles and drops his soiled clothes trying to catch the white garments, sighing at himself as he kneels to recollect himself.
"Thank you," he whispers, Hyunwoo's ears barely picking up that the small man has spoken. Kihyun tears the tag off the socks and tugs them onto his feet, almost laughing at how large they are on him. The heel markers pull up above his ankles, and the sight is almost too warm to keep the smile from his lips. "I should head home," he says quietly as he stands, the clothes in his hands wound into a ball like a shield.
He is not afraid of Hyunwoo. He is afraid of being cared for. His body steals energy from men he pursues, and he does not want the nurturing fuel within Hyunwoo to fade any. But the tall man is unaware of the threat, and steps forward with a hand stretched out towards Kihyun.
"It's almost ten. You should just sleep here for the night." Kihyun's eyes grow as he stares up at the approaching man, and Hyunwoo wonders if he has said something wrong. "I can sleep on the couch, calm down."
Kihyun shakes his head, shying away from Hyunwoo as the large man continues to approach. Hyunwoo's outstretched hand, reaching for the closet behind Kihyun to retrieve an extra blanket, stops midair. He stares down at the smaller man wearily, surprised by his reaction. "I shouldn't stay here," Kihyun murmurs, his shoulders lifting to hide himself a bit more.
Hyunwoo shakes his head, trudging forward and moving Kihyun out of his way as gently as possible. "You shouldn't wander the streets this late at night either. It's a Saturday, anybody could be wandering around waiting for a pretty face to pass by."
Kihyun feels his cheeks flush, his lips pursing as he drops his eyes to the ground between them. He feels Hyunwoo's hand move past his head, hitting the wall behind him. He shifts from the way, giving Hyunwoo space to push what was actually a door aside and enter his closet. Though Kihyun understands that in this body, he is attractive, he never once has heard the words come from someone as if it were an insult.
"Is it bad to be pretty?" He wonders quietly, giving in and sinking down onto Hyunwoo's bed. He remains perched on the edge, not expecting an answer, but getting one when the tall man steps free of his closet with a blanket draped over one arm.
"It is when you can make more than one person care in the span of just a few hours."
With that cryptic message, Hyunwoo leaves Kihyun alone in the bedroom and moves himself to his cold leather sofa in the den. It is not comfortable by any means, but he rests easy knowing that Kihyun is no longer alone. Better yet, he is not with Jooheon.