Are You There - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Changkyun's body goes through many changes over the next twenty-four hours, and he remains awake to experience it in full. Some seem almost imperceptible, while others are painfully obvious. Most however, are internal; only he and others like him will know of them in the future.
The first to shift within him are his lungs, collapsing and shrinking to make way for a new organ he never would have imagined could exist. It develops from the lining of his lungs, forming into a small sack that fills with a fluid unique to his kind. He can feel what it is used for, though it has only just become a part of him.
The next to change are his muscles. They don't shift and ripple like he would expect them to. Though he is still not entirely concrete on what is happening to him, Changkyun understands that everything changing is meant to make him more efficient in some way. His new armor of taut muscles give him an even broader appearance, though his movements will seem far more calculated now with so much strength to wield.
His face shifts as well, and he can feel the skin remodel like clay over his crackling bones. His cheeks, naturally rounded out due to his still young age, heighten as he lies atop his hospital bed. He can feel the skin tighten, the bones lifting to create what he assumes is the ideal male image. The sensation of the small scar above his left eyebrow rising and filling itself is jarring, as are the acne scars that erase themselves a moment later. His skin tingles in lingering spots that once housed old red markings.
There is a burning sensation atop his scalp that lasts for longer than he would have expected during the whole process. It is not painful, per say, but it is most certainly uncomfortable. Changkyun does not know what has come of the burning, but he can sense something about his hair has changed. It feels lighter, as if it's thinned out atop his head and lost some of the heavy volume it once had.
When his body has finally been released from the lock down it put itself into, Changkyun rolls off his bed and onto his feet. He cannot remember picking himself up off the ground last night, but he is thankful to have gone through everything on something softer than the cold linoleum beneath his sneakered soles.
His still form shivers in the chilled room, his old shirt undone to reveal two rectangular stickers, one over his heart and one on his right side. Peeling them away, Changkyun can barely even feel the tug of the stickers against his skin. The small hairs that once lined his body, eager to bring pain at the removal of bandages, no longer remain. His skin has smoothed down completely, as if cleanly shaven while he slept.
His brows furrow at the sight of a toned stomach above his jeans, a sight he has not seen since his later school years. Before the steady diet of frozen snacks and convenience store savories that came along with the poor adulthood he had found himself in. The stomach that once lightly protruded from his pant waistband is now slimmed and muscular; he imagines he could attract many a creature with that sight alone.
Changkyun's dark eyes shift around the room, finding metal shelves for medical equipment and porcelain walls lined with medical screening devices. He takes a wavering step forward, his knee giving out beneath him and landing him in a heap on the frosty floor. His hand pushes into a rough spot on the linoleum, his eyes turning downwards to find an almost black stain beneath his hand.
He groans at the sight, a shocking memory of what it once was shooting across his mind like a horse over its track. He almost gags when he draws his hand back and finds it covered in a fine, rust-colored dust. His eyes well with sudden tears as the rest of the night becomes clear, beginning with the image of a tall man hovering above him.
"Admiring your work?"
Changkyun flinches back against the metal rails of his hospital bed, knocking his head against a support. His eyes search aimlessly for the voice he recognizes, but finds no face to match it to. "Where are you?" He wants to shout out, but his throat feels raw, and his voice cracks halfway through his question.
A chuckle echoes about the room, bouncing off one wall and swinging around towards the next. Changkyun shivers at the sound, wrapping his arms round his middle to protect himself. A flash of a pale face shrouded by silver hair appears before him before disappearing once more. He shrinks into himself, a draft rustling his hair back from his forehead and leaving him feeling even more exposed than he already was.
"Where are you?" He calls out again, his voice stabilizing some. This time, a real reply calls back, just over his shoulder.
"I'm here, don't you worry."
Changkyun lilts forward, startled to hear that thin voice whispering at his neck. He shuffles on his hands and knees, glaring up at the hospital bed that was empty only moments ago. The thin face of his tormentor grins back, white teeth glinting in the dull light above him. Perched against his knees and fingertips, the man appears almost cat-like in posture.
Changkyun curses quietly, standing himself up quickly to try and get himself on the same level as the man. He can recall a name, though he does not want to call it aloud, or even think it. To give this man a name would be to give into him. Changkyun fears doing any such thing. "Where am I?" He asks instead, an ignorant question truly. He knows exactly where he is, but he does not know how to escape.
"An operating room," the man answers simply, letting his legs drop from the edge of the hospital bed. They dangle there for a few moments before he stands. It is all done in one languid movement, as if he were made to stretch and rise like a prince no matter what position he was originally resting in. "It's just us down here."
The man smiles, his cheeks dimpling while his tall eyes spark to life.
"Where's Jooheon?" Changkyun asks next, his feet shuffling about to try and move him away from the man. "What did you do to him?"
The man pouts. Pouts. His expression reads like a book, and Changkyun can tell that the taller is having fun. "Why do you ask of him before you ask of me? Hmm?" Changkyun's brows find one another in confusion, his eyes peering up at the man before shifting away nervously. "You have yet to even use my name. I know you were given it already."
Changkyun swallows hard, no longer trusting himself to speak. Instead, he turns towards the wall behind him, hoping to find an exit he has not seen yet. There stand two doors, simple swinging doors that only need a push to open for him. But his feet do not lift to take him forward, and his hands do not make any attempt to reach out and shove at the metal barriers. "The fuck-"
"I think you've already forgotten the agreement you made last night, little one." Changkyun can hear the man's feet approach from behind him, and he feels his muscles tense in preparation for an attack. It thankfully does not come, though this only makes him more anxious as the seconds drone by. "You could not possibly have forgotten. Isn't that so?"
Changkyun's throat burns, at the very base of it where he can feel the distinct internal mistake that has come along. It burns like flames, bubbling up into the back of his throat and over his tongue. He whimpers aloud, breaking free of whatever invisible hold surrounding him to turn and face the man.
"Hyungwon!" Changkyun almost shrieks, tears in his eyes as the burning liquid fills his mouth. He spits onto the floor, crying out just as the man before him merely turns and walks to the other side of the room, rummaging through what looks to Changkyun to be a portable ice chest. The tanned man spits again, the whiskey-like burn rushing into his mouth like bile, though it has no taste. The liquid does not relent, and continues to resurface despite his multiple attempts to clear it from his mouth.
Hyungwon paces around the edge of the room, reaching Changkyun's side with complete silence through the younger's retching. A plastic pouch is held between both hands, fingers cradling it protectively as he extends it towards the younger. "Unless you want to drown in your own venom, I do recommend you drink this."
Changkyun shuffles back, knocking into the wall hard in his attempt to escape. "Nnn-" He spits again, coughing as he realizes that he can no longer speak. Venom? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Doubling over, Changkyun attempts to heave out the burning liquid, his hands braced against his knees to keep him upright.
God, Changkyun thinks to himself. Why didn't I just let him kill me?
Hyungwon cannot help but roll his eyes at the sight before him. He knows that his own first night was surely just as visibly displeasing, but really. He knows he could not possibly have been this ignorant all that time ago. The boy before him is just being difficult.
If this were different circumstances, Hyungwon would kick out at Changkyun, but with times as they are, Hyungwon needs everyone he can get on his side. So he kneels beside Changkyun instead, ripping a corner of the bagged pint and holding it before the struggling boy. "You need to drink this, little one."
Changkyun's eyes widen further than they should as he stares down at the bag, Hyungwon's hand clenching around it just enough to let the opening flood with a sickly sweet scent. "Drink it," he repeats, waving it a bit in front of Changkyun's face. "I promise that once you do, the worst of it all will have passed."
Changkyun shakes his head this time, letting his mouth hang open rather than spitting every few moments. A steady stream of his own fresh venom drips down from his lower lip, a puddle forming beneath him on the floor. "I can't," he mutters, gnashing his teeth to try and keep his lips parted.
"You must." Hyungwon thrusts the pouch into Changkyun's face, determined to have the boy drink. In his lifetime, Hyungwon had only turned three others before Changkyun. The first was an accident, and she lived beyond the first night thankfully. The other two refused aid and let themselves die. In a sense, Changkyun has become Hyungwon's last pride to his own kind. "You have to," he urges forcefully.
"I CAN'T!" Changkyun screams down at the ground, knocking his hand against the pouch with as much strength as he can muster. Hyungwon watches as blood splatters against the floor a few feet away, each drop smacking the linoleum like hail against a windshield.
Changkyun hears it too, and his sore throat burns with a much fiercer storm as his new nature begs to take over. Hyungwon watches Changkyun closely, eager to see what the boy will do. He can see the visible struggle behind those dark eyes, and he can hear each terrified thought as it crashes through the boy's mind.
What will happen to me? What does this make me? What will it make me?
Hyungwon's hand drops onto Changkyun's back, an attempt to soothe his rampant mind, though it only brings shivers to the boy's body. He doesn't want to be touched, especially not by Hyungwon. Especially not when his entire body is begging him to hit the ground and drink what must be human blood.
This isn't right. But why the fuck doesn't it feel wrong?
[ x ]
Jooheon's phone buzzes on the cafe table, an incoming call from a number he does not recognize lighting up the screen. He swipes the answer button anyhow, lifting the phone to his ear with a frown. "Hello?"
It's too late in the evening now for any telemarketers, so it should be something important, he hopes. "Is this a Lee Jooheon?" The male voice, rather thin over the line, sounds close to exhaustion. Jooheon hums in assent, waiting for the caller to continue. "Ah, great. I'm a nurse in the hospital your friend is staying at. You can come in now to file his discharge papers, since he's not quite himself yet."
"Excuse me?" Jooheon takes the phone away from his ear, glancing at the screen where the number is still unrecognizable. "I'm sorry, who is this? What friend?"
Minhyuk on the other side of the line sighs, glaring down at his telephone's receiver. God dammit, I probably gave him a damn concussion yesterday. Despite his sudden annoyance, Minhyuk attempts once again to lure Jooheon back to his hospital.
"My name is Lee Minhyuk, and I'm a head nurse in the emergency clinic at Severance Hospital." Minhyuk shuffles through a few papers on yesterday's cases, looking for the one on Changkyun. "Your friend was admitted yesterday at around nine in the evening, and was rushed into an operating room just after two in the morning."
Jooheon considers this information, his brow furrowing as he realizes that he has not received any calls from his best friend all day. And the texts he has sent have all gone unread, which is even more worrying. "Why didn't anybody call me sooner?" Jooheon stands from his seat, leaving his jacket abandoned over the back of his chair in his rush to get outside.
"Excuse me?" Minhyuk glares down at his papers, listening as Jooheon sighs into his cellphone. "Sir? You're the one who traveled with him in the ambulance. I sent you home early this morning to rest, why didn't you ever return?" Finally, something that is not a lie crosses Minhyuk's lips, and he can take a faithful breath for the first time in a long while.
Jooheon has to think about that, while Minhyuk bites his tongue to keep from apologizing for being the cause of his departure as well. "I don't know," Jooheon answers truthfully, glancing around the dark street for a cab to hopefully idle up. "I really don't know."
Minhyuk's eyes squeeze shut at the worry evident in Jooheon's voice, hating himself so deeply in this moment. The man wishes he could take back what he has done, and force Jooheon's memories back into his head, but he cannot do that. The last time he tried, he gave a woman an aneurysm, and she passed away after slipping into a coma.
"No matter," Minhyuk says after a drawn out silence, clearing his throat to clear away his inner turmoil. "Please come in as soon as you can to sign your friend out. Just understand that he isn't quite himself and will need lots of rest. I'll be sure to brief you on his care methods when you arrive."
Jooheon has to ask again what hospital he is meant to show up at, his mind fuzzier with each passing moment that he remains on the phone with Minhyuk. When they end their call, and Jooheon finally stops a taxi at the corner nearest to him, he has only questions for himself.
"What happened to Changkyun?" He asks himself in the backseat of a stranger's vehicle, his lower lip pouting out in deeply troubling thoughts. "It's something bad enough to need an ambulance- But why would I forget something like that?"
The taxi driver listens quietly and rolls his eyes at the blatantly manic young man in his back seat, eager to drop him off and rid himself of the blonde. "Son," he calls from the front seat after having listened to Jooheon already for half the ride. "You really should learn to keep them thoughts in ya head. These days, you never know who's gon' try and use them 'gainst ya later."
Jooheon sank into his seat, his cheeks burning as he wondered to himself about Changkyun. When he arrives at the hospital, he considers asking the driver to wait for him to come back out a while later, but he is unsure how long the discharge will take, so he just pays the man and apologizes for the trouble. He imagines even if the process were only a few minutes long, the driver would want to be rid of Jooheon sooner rather than later.
Minhyuk senses the blonde's presence as soon as he is within a kilometer of the building, listening in on his whirling thoughts as he makes it to the hospital and into the emergency clinic. The older man waits at his nurse's station in the corner of the entrance ward, watching the main doors for the familiar pale face to appear. When it does, he rises, Changkyun's papers clutched between both fists.
Never has he had to forge papers saying that someone who died never actually did. Usually, it is the other way around, but there is always a first for everything. With someone like Hyungwon, who will willingly kill whomever he pleases to stay alive, Minhyuk's career has been a fraud from the start, he supposes it's no harm to change it up every once in a while.
Jooheon wanders into the emergency ward, heading straight for the registration desk where Minhyuk's coworkers sit filing away older cases from the night. "Excuse me," comes his light voice, round cheeks flushing as several pairs of eyes land on him. Minhyuk can tell even without tuning into Jooheon's thoughts that the blonde is looking for him, those dark eyes shifting over only women behind the desk. "I'm here to sign some papers for my friend's discharge?"
Minhyuk takes that as his cue to make his first appearance, smiling as wide as he can when Jooheon spots him. "Can I have your name?" Minhyuk asks gently, keeping a ruse up so nothing looks too staged.
"Lee Jooheon," the blonde answers, glancing up at the thin face with an almost flustered smile. "I'm here for Im Changkyun."
Minhyuk nods, extending his papers towards Jooheon with a much gentler smile. "Please come upstairs, your friend was transferred just a bit ago to a recovery room. I'll explain the papers and how to sign him off when we arrive."
Jooheon stares at his feet during the elevator ride, keeping his questions to himself. Minhyuk tunes in to a few, wondering if he should take the chance and answer them for the blonde. He thinks better of it when the elevator opens to the third floor, a recovery ward bright and warm before them. "This way to the waiting room, please."
Minhyuk leads Jooheon into a small alcove lined with chairs and magazine racks, indicating that the blonde should have a seat. "Excuse me, but what exactly happened to Changkyun?"
Minhyuk considers his answer, Hyungwon's words replaying in his mind before he drones out the reply that has been drilled into his head. "Your friend was attacked at work last night, and almost died due to a sudden blood clot that we didn't anticipate. But thankfully he underwent a minor surgery that cleared out any blockages that may have caused any further damage."
Jooheon's eyes go wide, his hands clenching around the papers in his hands. His lips part to question how something like this can only take a day of recovery, before his mind goes blank and eases into almost nothing.
"It was no big deal," Minhyuk says soothingly, patting Jooheon's shoulder gently. His abilities as a telepath come into full strength now as he attempts to soothe all the nerves in Jooheon's mind. The other half of his DNA makes it a bit easier. "If you'll sign the papers now, I'll tell you how you can take care of your friend. Would you do that for me?"
Jooheon nods slowly, Minhyuk's voice playing in his ears, and echoing in his mind. Don't worry about his health. Worry about the papers. "Just read over the forms and sign when you're ready. I'll be bringing your friend out soon, so please take care of this now."
Minhyuk leaves Jooheon alone, boarding the elevator once again and taking it down to the second floor, where Changkyun has been holed up for almost a full day now. Minhyuk follows the sound of Hyungwon's thoughts, his Master's mind the loudest no matter how far apart they come to be. Knocking on the operating room doors, Minhyuk takes in one deep breath before pushing one open and stepping inside.
"Master," he calls out softly, his head bowed. Though his senses are not nearly as acute as Hyungwon's are, he can still hear the subtle shift of air as his Master shuffles on the hospital bed in the center of the room. "Is he ready to leave now? His friend has arrived to take him home."
Minhyuk's gaze lifts from the ground to find Changkyun sat cross-legged on the bed beside his Master. The tanned boy's eyes are closed, and Minhyuk takes in the subtle changes in his appearance. His hair is the most noticeable, once a deep ebony, now a tawny brown that appears silvering when he tilts his head at Minhyuk's words.
Hyungwon's lofty voice echoes against the porcelain walls of the operating room, striking Minhyuk across the face. "I've sedated him, so don't worry about him attacking and killing you where you stand."
"Excellent," Minhyuk mutters, fighting an eye roll as his gaze flits between the pair. He has not been thinking that before this moment, but now images of Changkyun ripping him apart for his bountiful blood plague his head. "Why him?" He asks after a long moment of silence, Changkyun swaying in his place on the bed. "Master, from his mind, I can't find anything extraordinary about him. He's painfully average-"
"Would you suggest I move on and turn a few others? Some more suitable to your tastes?" Hyungwon stands from the bed, his full height teetering over Minhyuk menacingly. The mortal takes a timid step back, knowing better than to challenge the vampire.
"No, Master," Minhyuk replies weakly, bowing his head once more. "I'll bring him upstairs for discharge if you're sure he'll be alright to leave."
Hyungwon flicks his hand at Minhyuk, yawning as if fatigue were something he has been struggling with as of late. "I've already given him all the information he'll require on how to survive and contact me again when he is in need. I'm sure if anyone dies at his hands, he'll kill himself over it, so do not worry too hard on it."
Minhyuk's stomach falls at the thought, the idea of releasing a possible murderer into the heart of Seoul plaguing his mind. "Master, are you sure-"
"Have some trust in me, child." Hyungwon waves Minhyuk forward, motioning for him to gather Changkyun for his discharge. "He's going to last, this one. He'll be your savior."
Minhyuk does not know what that means, but he accepts it anyhow and wraps an arm around Changkyun's waist, dragging him down from the hospital bed. "Good evening, Sir," he mutters down to the dazed boy. "I'm going to escort you upstairs to your friend. It's in your best interest that you don't bite me, because then we're both probably fucked."