sing on my body ; heejay

expression has no option

Heeseung was just briefly introduced to Jay's four friends — Jisung, Doyum, Minhee and the group favourite Yedam — before he simply sat quietly on the side because he barely knew any of them, including Jay. While he was familiar with Aleksandr, he didn't know Jay well enough, apart from the short conversation they held when he arrived. Yedam, who seemed to notice how quiet Heeseung was, asked him random questions relating to the topic at hand to include him in the slightest. It was nice.

"Who of you are staying the night?" Jay eventually asked as he finished his grapefruit ade.

"Me, but I need to head to my apartment because I forgot my charger," Yedam said. "I planned it earlier, remember? Oh, I need to get clothes for tomorrow as well."

"Well, then I'll stay as well," Jisung said with a nod. "Why don't we all just stay? I'll even message Jinsung—"

"No, don't!" Doyum suddenly exclaimed, grabbing Jisung's arm. Everyone looked at him in confusion before he drew his arm away. "H-he's probably busy, anyways. He's got a new job, and—"

"He doesn't work weekends, though, and we haven't seen the guy after school in a while," Jay said with a slight shrug of carelessness. "I agree, call him over, Jisung—"

"No, don't — just listen," Doyum said quickly in a panic. "H-he told me he's busy this weekend because he's doing overtime. Just listen, he's not available."

Minhee frowned, crossing his arms. "Why don't you want him here, Yummie? You're awfully jumpy."

"Did you two have a fight?" Yedam asked. All eyes were on the short boy and Doyum was quiet, looking down at his lap with reddened cheeks. "Hey, you don't need to talk about it…"

"It's complicated," Doyum muttered, sighing heavily. "Jinsung and I… are on complicated terms. He… likes me, but I d-didn't reply, and he thinks I'm ignoring him."

There was silence before Heeseung spoke up. "Well, I don't know him, but wouldnt it seem like you're ignoring him if you ignore him?" Everyone looked at him in slight confusion. "Maybe you if you just spoke to him and explained yourself, there wouldn't be a problem."

Doyum pressed his lips together before sighing. "I'm scared to come forward to him. He… he's really nice, but I feel like he'd be dissatisfied with a half-assed reply."

"Like I said," Heeseung replied, "just explain yourself. I'm sure any rational human would understand."

"Yummie, I didn't know you and Jinsung had that kind of thing going on," Jay teased, earning a light smile from Doyum. "How did he tell you he liked you? I need to tease him about this."

"It was typical, not worthy of an explanation," Doyum muttered, his cheeks tinting bright red. "It doesn't matter. But… I want to accept his confession, but… we've been friends for years. It'll be strange. I'm not sure if I even like him back."

"Well, I'm inviting him, and you can talk then," Jay said, taking his phone out his pocket as he put his chopsticks down. "We need a couple around here."

•

"Are you distancing yourself from me, Aleksandr?"

Jay glared slightly at Heeseung as he tried to walk around the kitchen counter, but Heeseung sat down on the counter and crossed his legs. "What are you talking about?"

"Did you bring friends because you're uncomfortable with me here?" Heeseung asked, tilting his head. "I thought you wanted to be friendly."

"Then join us, it's not that difficult," Jay replied, walking to the fridge and taking a box of banana milk. "Look, I'm not trying to pull away from you either. Heeseung should at least be friends with Jay — Kariel and Aleksandr can hate each other all they want. Not like I had any plan to respect Kariel, anyways."

"Kariel and Aleksandr were once close."

"For the wrong reason," Jay said quickly. "Kariel used me to reach a solstice that was impossible to achieve. Kariel couldn't become a vampire, yet we continued to use one another. And who's to say that you'll be able to reach a solstice and become a vampire?"

"I'll do what Kariel couldn't," Heeseung said immediately. "I can reach solstice because I know what to do. It's not the same, anyways. The bloodline is different — in this body, I'm not an Alfin. I only have his soul. It's possible that I can become a vampire in this form."

"How come your blood tastes like Kariel's, then? I don't think you can become a vampire, so stop trying," Jay told him firmly. "Look, I feel bad for biting you, anyways. It doesn't look that fun, either."

"You need me." Heeseung crossed his arms, clearly refusing to let up anything. "You need my blood. You need Kariel's blood to reach your solstice quickly. Your human body can't keep up with being a halfling. You need blood. I'm the only one aware of this, and you definitely don't want to turn anyone into a vampire carelessly. That's why you need me."

"Look, I was hoping I'd be able to just… revert to being a human. I don't want to drink blood — I want to live a normal life as Park Jongseong."

"You won't be able to live normally for long — deep down, you need blood. You need to consume blood, or you'll perish from existence." Heeseung got off the kitchen counter, walking to the door's exit. "I might as well join you and your friends tonight. I have to pretend to be nice — at least."

Jay was quiet for a moment. "You want to they and reach a solstice, right? So I'll bite you tonight. You seem like you really want this, and I'm the only vampire you know."

"With being a vampire, I'll achieve immortality — and maybe have a bit more strength," Heeseung said. "Unfortunately, if you help me, you'll reach solstice before I do. You won't have a normal life."

Jay was silent. He didn't know what to do. "I'll bite you… if it'll help."

Heeseung smiled, walking out the kitchen. "Let me know when you and your friends will start doing things, and I'll join you."