Are You There - Chapter 37: Chapter 37

"You can't just pop into my shop-"
Hyungwon bypasses the short man, careful to cradle Changkyun against his chest and keep him from striking a shelf on either side of them. "Where's your wife?" Hyungwon demands, smelling the woman not far, even over the sour scent of Changkyun's blood.
The fae in question steps from her therapy room, a vial of rose oil slipping from her fingers when she spots the bloodied pair stood in the center of her tea shop. She recognizes Changkyun's face, though he is pale and turned almost completely away. Though he could have been the reason for her undoing just earlier today, she does not hesitate to question the state he rests in. "Why's he look so dead?"
It is a silly question even to her; vampires are dead already. A walking corpse of flowing blood and pumping lungs, a curse never to pass on. Yet as soon as the words pass her lips, she regrets them. She can recognize easily enough that the man holding the younger is his Master, the ever-popular vampire who had Claimed her son as well. And from the pained and red expression tugging his features back, she can tell that something is not quite right here.
Ignoring her husband's muttered complaints, Hyein shuffles toward the damp pair. With a hand out and grabbing for the limp body, she searches for the young man's thoughts only to find none. Her brows furrow, her dark eyes lifting to search Hyungwon's face. "What's happened to him? His mind is blank." The absence of a block worries her more than anything, meaning no thoughts linger within Changkyun's mind at all.
"He's dying," Hyungwon rushes out, pushing past the woman towards the back of her store. He can smell the various oils and solvents seeping out of the room she had emerged from and does not hesitate to carry his youngest into the small space. Hyein follows behind, her hands finding each other against her chest in worry. She does not like vampires for various reasons. They are a rather conniving species, and do not like to have things done without a bargain. She does not want to help this man knowing that he will later be indebted to her. She wants nothing to do with a vampire or his offer of anything.
But her son's image flashes before her mind as she reaches her therapy room. This vampire, void of energy and life, is bad for Hoseok. If they truly share a bond, Hoseok can be at just as great a risk as he. Hyein, after watching her son nearly pass before her only a nine hours ago is not ready to watch that storyline again. The only problem is that Hyein does not have the strength to bring creatures back from the dead. And that seems to be where this scenario is headed.
"Baram!" She shouts for her husband as Hyungwon lies Changkyun down on her therapy table. The younger does not stir, but Hyein can sense the last glimmer of soul attached to him. She wonders if it is her son's own hold on him that is keeping the vampire alive by only a thread. "Baram-" She cuts off her own shout, turning on her heel instead to drag the man from within the shop, her nerves fluttering in her stomach when he attempts to leave her grasp.
"Hyein I'm not helping-"
"He's dying!" Hyein fixes her grip around her husband's arm, knowing that after years of realigning spines the manual way, she is far stronger than the silly tea harvester. She has hefted bodies across her table while her husband gathered leaves and cloves, she knows she can beat him in a feat of strength.
"I don't care if he dies! One less of them to worry over!" Baram lifts his free hand as if to strike out at his wife, but she drops a heeled shoe onto his own sandaled foot. He shouts, attempting with all his strength to fight from her grasp. "Hyein, we aren't servants for them! Why should we care if one dies! Just like that half-blood today-"
"He's connected to our son." Hyein does not lift her voice above a whisper, despite her husband's shouts. She is not surprised when he asks her to repeat herself, and does so just as softly. It hurts her more than he must think to admit something like this. Their son should not be so easily dragged into the life of a vampire's, yet he is both Claimed and connected by soul.
Lee Baram mulls over this information, understanding that a blood bond can mean the beginning and end of a life. While Hoseok is not his only son, he is the older and therefore meant to carry on his bloodline as best he can. Even if he does not die with this vampire, his body will be damaged eternally.
He still does not want to help the vampire.
Hyein sighs, her husband's thoughts loud and clear though she has not even touched his mind. "Please, Baram. Just look at him. I'm not losing my son because of your pride."
As the couple argues for power in the store, Hyungwon's hands never leave Changkyun's body. The wound has not closed fully, merely dried up like any human's would. The blood there has crusted over and his shirt has stuck in place, but Hyungwon does not want to pull it back. If the wound was not burned as if cut with a blessed blade, Hyungwon would not think twice about using his own saliva like a dog.
But the skin is scorched even through his shirt, and the elder cannot get close to the skin without his fingers searing. He needs the fae to come back and fix this. They are the only creatures with the abilities to reconstruct a soul, to regenerate life, to heal Changkyun. Hyungwon has stared at the lifeless form for too long, and becomes acutely aware that a piece of himself is dying with his youngest.
He felt it in the store, a simple splinter in his chest, but it is growing now as he realizes that this may not be reversible. His watch over the younger was not strong enough, and Changkyun may be gone completely.
Hyungwon's eyes lift when he hears the fae man's approach. The shorter stands in the doorway, his wife huddled close behind with a complacent smile on her thin lips. Hyungwon does not know if they will help or let Changkyun die here, but he sends a single prayer out to anyone listening that it will be the former. The fae catch his thoughts, aware of the block missing in the vampire's mind. Baram appears less than phased by the plea, but Hyein is clearly effected. Her eyes shake as she stares down at Changkyun from over her husband's shoulder. If she had the abilities, she would not have waited for her husband's resolve, yet she does not.
"To keep my own son alive, I'll help your vampire." Lee Baram's sleeves are rolled up slowly, deliberately so as he eyes the thin man stood still beside his Claim. "I'm not going to revive him. I'll collect what I can of his life, and you'll deal with him after that. I'm not going to be responsible if he dies later."
Baram holds his expression still as possible as Hyungwon eyes the shorter man. The vampire wants to argue, spit and shout, but he cannot force something beyond this. The fae are a bloodline of nothing but faith in themselves. They do not trust others, and though they often have the natural urge to care, heal, nurture, there are always the oddities that cannot conform. They will believe in their own superiority until their last parting breath. Even then, Hyungwon figures they will not disregard their beliefs.
"Just help him."
Hyungwon's voice cracks, a surprise to his own ears. He almost wants to glance about in question, wondering who has spoken over him, but he knows it was his own sinful voice. His tears still burn the edges of his eyes, resting thick in his throat awaiting departure. The couple both nod, shutting themselves into the therapy room with simultaneous sighs.
Hyein approaches Hyungwon carefully, her hands up to ward him off as if he will attack. He stares down at her, eyes narrowed only to fight off his own tears. "Your Claim will wake up as soon as my husband begins to work," she explains slowly, her voice level as she tries to motion Hyungwon into the corner of the room. "I'll need you please not to speak. Your Claim is not truly awake, and will not hear you if you call out to him."
Hyungwon nods, his eyes moving past her to Changkyun again. Baram stands above the vampire looking rather disinterested in the night's outcome.
"He will scream," Hyein continues. Hyungwon notices a subtle similarity in the way she speaks and the way Minhyuk often speaks to patients and guests at the hospital. Relaxing, as if to ease the wrong thoughts into one's head. But Hyungwon cannot feel her in his mind and knows she is merely being honest. "He won't stop screaming for a long while, but you cannot touch or speak to him. My husband is going to purify his blood-"
Hyungwon's eyes go wide, his gaze falling on the woman before him again. "You're going to kill him-"
She shakes her head, shaking her hands as well after a moment. "He won't be blessed with holy water. He's going to be flushed through with nectar. And it's going to be agony without enough blood to protect him from it." She pauses, gazing up through a grimace at the vampire. "I recommend you prepare a vein of yours because as soon as my husband finishes, your Claim will need to eat or he really will die."
The man preparing to work like any skilled surgeon on the vampire before him humphs. "You can shut up now," he grumbles with a glare spared for his wife.
She ignores the jab, motioning for Hyungwon to sit himself down against the wall. Neither of them sit. They only wait as Lee Baram peels up Changkyun's shirt. He ignores the tug of skin and blood against the fabric, exposing the darkening wound against the vampire's side. He has not worked to heal someone this far gone in a long time, not since his youth, but his son's body on the other side of this cord is a strong motivation to work swiftly. His hand flattens against Changkyun's chest, searching for a spark to ignite.
Changkyun's eyes peel apart in an instant and his empty body pulls in a withering breath. Hyungwon almost feels relief before his youngest lets out a bloodcurdling wail.
[ x ]
Jooheon wakes in the room of his shared apartment cold and alone. Yet with a complete understanding of what has happened. Rising, and hurrying to dress in clothes that are not still sticking to his skin from the rain, he rushes from his room in a flurry of denim and fear. Kihyun is sat on the sofa, a plain view towards the front door when Jooheon bolts past. "Where're you running to?" He is trying his best not to think about Hyunwoo, and worrying over Jooheon is the best way he can find.
Jooheon pauses with his hand on the apartment door, his blonde hair hanging lank in his face as he turns to face the incubus. "I don't really know," he admits before pulling the door open. He steps into his shoes before rushing out and leaving the door open behind him. His phone is in his hand as he shuffles from the building, Kihyun on his heels.
"Jooheon- Hey what's going on!?" Kihyun's small hands reach out for the blonde, but he cannot quite keep up with Jooheon. They both burst through the apartment building's front door, the sun warming them through a few seconds apart. Kihyun's slippered feet slap the pavement quicker than Jooheon's, but his legs are not long enough to keep them evenly paced.
Jooheon glances back when he realizes Kihyun is following after him, slowing to a stop beneath a shaded store awning. "Have you spoken to Hoseok today?"
"Today?" Kihyun scoffs, glancing around for a storefront that is even open this early. "It's barely seven, why would I have talked to him-"
"Well do you know anything about Changkyun?"
Kihyun blanches, his lips pursing in confusion. "Obviously not, I just work with him." He knows not what Jooheon is getting at, and he hopes that the blonde has not suddenly come to realize something he should not. Like the fact that Kihyun actually knows Changkyun quite well, and that they have all been acquainted for years. "Should I know something?"
Jooheon sighs, his phone still clutched within a tight fist. "He was attacked last night. I swear it wasn't a dream. I thought it was- I was fucking exhausted but it just-"
"Slow down for me." Kihyun holds up both hands, warding away Jooheon's rampant words. "What do you mean he was attacked?" The incubus, though he has a rather intense dislike of the vampire, cannot help but grow concerned upon seeing Jooheon's fear. "You saw it?"
Jooheon shakes his head, tugging in a painfully deep breath. "I wasn't there, but I pulled a knife from his stomach."
Kihyun's eyes narrow, his head quirking to the side in a deeper set confusion. Kihyun knows that a vampire is not really to be worried over with something as simple as a knife to the stomach. But he humors the blonde anyway, knowing that Jooheon would not know as much as a mortal. "Okay well... Well I can call Hoseok for you? Is he supposed to know where Changkyun is?"
Jooheon nods, his phone already lifting to eye level to make the call himself. Kihyun just lets him be, calling the fae and eyeing the blonde carefully. Hoseok does not answer for him, and the incubus sighs motioning for Jooheon to go ahead. The blonde gets an answered call and sighs into the receiver, a nervous wreck as Hoseok's voice fills his ear.
"Hey Kid, did you get home okay?" Hoseok on the other end, tucked safely in a hospital room, gets a swift smack to the arm from the telepath beside him. Hoseok gasps, drawing the phone from his ear in annoyance. "What's your problem?" He hisses, Minhyuk's own expression wild and taut.
"I convinced him he was dreaming last night!" Minhyuk's voice is lower than a whisper, but Hoseok can feel the fury roll off the telepath in waves. "Don't be stupid!"
Jooheon is speaking from the phone, and Hoseok only rolls his eyes before drawing the speaker back to his ear. "...and I just woke up with this horrible feeling. Is he okay?"
Hoseok wonders for a moment what he has just missed, but clicks the pieces into place as his eyes fall onto the sleeping form in the bed beside him. "Changkyun is okay." He can feel in his gut that Changkyun is okay, alive and breathing. He had felt it last night when the breath left the vampire's body. But Changkyun really is okay now. He thinks.
"Where is he?" Jooheon's eyes, falling on every point of the street surrounding him including Kihyun, cannot seem to rest. "Hoseok?" Jooheon grows impatient within only a few seconds of going unanswered.
"We're in the hospital. He's resting."
Minhyuk sighs at that, eyeing the blood bag corded into Changkyun's arm. It is the third he has been hooked up to since just this morning when the telepath arrived with a change of clothes and snacks for the fae. Hoseok had rested overnight with the vampire, and claims that he had gone through more than five bags between the midnight hours and dawn.
"What hospital?"
Kihyun's eyes squint further at Jooheon's question, beyond confused now at the thought of a vampire resting in a hospital room for anything. Acting quick, Kihyun snatches the phone away from Jooheon's ear. "Hoseok?"
The fae startles at the incubus' voice, not expecting to hear him. "Yeah? Kihyun?"
Stepping away from Jooheon on the sidewalk, Kihyun speaks exclusively to Hoseok. "What happened to Changkyun?" He keeps his voice low, though Jooheon is not trailing the few feet after him. Kihyun had given him a stern look, and is certain the blonde will stand still.
"Hyungwon thinks it was a Rogue." Hoseok's voice is just as soft, his eyes steady over Changkyun's still form in the hospital bed. "He's sleeping I think, or comatose. Jooheon can't see him."
Kihyun stares at the blonde, wondering if he should relay that information. Minhyuk speaks to Hoseok quietly on the other end of the call, the telepath's voice too soft to be heard even with Kihyun's perceptive ears. Hoseok comes back on the speaker a moment later, sounding more tired than before.
"Kihyun, Minhyuk says to bring Jooheon I guess. Something about fresh implants."
The pair share a sigh, Minhyuk's ideas none too enticing. Kihyun is still reeling from trying to confess to Hyunwoo, and Jooheon is about to jump over the edge just in front of him. "I don't think his head can take anything new."
Hoseok looks pointedly at Minhyuk, who only pouts at the older fae. Hoseok nods and speaks quickly. "We're at the Seoul Medical University. Just bring Jooheon and we'll figure it out, okay?"
He ends the call without an answer, leaving Jooheon with nothing but a frown from Kihyun as he passes the phone back. "I know where Changkyun is. Hoseok says you should go." Leading the blonde towards the street where little to no taxis pass despite the work hour, Kihyun keeps his lips pursed instead of explaining any further.
"Wait- Is he okay-"
"Just come on." Kihyun spares no glance, and no thought for Jooheon's questions. "Hoseok and his friend will explain I'm sure when you get to the hospital."
"You're not coming with?" Jooheon is nervous; nothing in the last few days has made a lick of sense, and the chance at gaining some answers scares him.
Kihyun shakes his head, flagging down a lone cab a block down. He has some things to fix in his relationship, or what remains of it.