life is still going on ; norenmin

19. revenge is blood sweet

"hyuk."

kwan's voice was softer than it has ever been. he was peering into the room through a big enough crack in the door to fit his head through, his expression softening at the sight of his older brother.

lee hyuk had his eyes closed, his hands gripping onto the sheets of his bed. his dark hair was a mess and his room was just as messy. kwan was used to his surroundings — hyuk was never a neat person to begin with.

"hyuk," kwan calls again. "it's kwan, your little brother."

that gets the older to open one eye, catching sight of him before sitting up, yawning and turning his eyes on him. "kwannie?"

he had been a bit off ever since he got bitten, though he had been getting better over the past few months. hyuk had apparently been bitten for awhile, but not nearly as long enough to meet the fate of turning into a vampire. hyuk gave kwan an attempted smile and made his slow way off the bed, pulling the shorter in a hug.

"how are you?" kwan asks when he pulls away. "i've been busy, couldn't find a whole lot of time to call you."

"busy with yeonggi?" hyuk asks with a tilt of his head. "do you still screw around with him?"

"no," kwan lied before shaking his head. "look, it was only one time a year ago. i just felt like it. i won't do it again."

"i don't get why geun still pads after you like a lost dog," hyuk's half-smile turns into a frown.

"it's not like he knows," kwan says softly. "anyways, how are you, big brother?"

"i'm fine," hyuk says, though his smile remains gone. "what have you been doing?"

"getting revenge for you," kwan whispers and hyuk takes a few moments to process his words before his eyes are widening. "letting all those vampires pay — "

"okay," hyuk turns white at the mention of vampires, just like geun. ghost-white, whiter than a sheet. "what do you mean by letting them pay?"

"i killed some," kwan's lips stretch into a smile that would make anyone's skin crawl. "all dead, and they'll never hurt you. ever."

"that's a good thing?" hyuk whispers. "they're not the ones who attacked me, kwannie."

"who cares? less vampires to hurt you," kwan purrs, his eyes gleaming in the low light. "i love you so much, big brother. i did this for your safety."

you getting attacked is why i have an undying hatred for them, kwan's thoughts went on as he hugged a tense hyuk. i'll never stop until i rid of every last one. just to keep you safe.

"that is good," hyuk's voice is a whisper, though much more quieter than the first. "i think."

"of course it is," kwan says happily. "so, since i'm visiting and ma isn't here, do you want to eat out? i'll take you anywhere."

"you have enough money to?" hyuk asks.

"i've always had enough."

"but how? where do you get it from?"

kwan can't be annoyed at the older. "none of that matters, hyuk. let's go eat."

to be fair, hyuk has every right to side-eye kwan's comment. his old way of earning enough money was letting yeonggi use him. kwan doesn't exactly regret it, but yeonggi was old news and he needed something new. the guy with the gun was decent enough for kwan's taste. geun was handsome and worth absolutely nothing, but he provided kwan enough by being a good enough loyal sidekick who praises everything he does.

he's so easy to control and it makes kwan's life easier in many ways.

~*~

the couch became winwin's new territory. he's never going to leave it, curled up under the covers and always appearing half-sleep until yuta gets back from work. winwin never really took much time to explore the place he has been staying out for awhile now.

yuta had work again as a police officer, winwin would be left alone for a long time. he decides to leave the couch and take a proper look around. he's already seen the bathroom, to use it himself or help yuta put on a bandaid to hide the bite mark on his forearm.

he finally stepped foot in the kitchen. winwin never learned to cook because he was born a vampire and vampires can't live off of human food, even if they can eat them. now he's reminded of mina's wife, ju, who was turned into a vampire and knew how to cook and sometimes would do so her adopted son, qianfan, would have some human food every now and then.

was ju, her wife, and child okay? yet, winwin feels too scared to go back and check. even if they shared no friendship between them, he would be comforted knowing no one else met nabi's fate.

oh, poor nabi....

at the thought of that, winwin suddenly feels discouraged and makes an instant retreat back to the couch that had become his bed. he hopes nothing happened to know. he hopes, he hopes, he hopes....

meanwhile, renjun was looking for dresses for yua, along with other clothing for her that wasn't old clothing mrs. na had for jaemin and jeno when they were little. she was allowed to come along so she could pick her own clothing, but yua kept picking up way too many and would whine about not being able to pick just one.

so when it finally came to picking her dress, renjun made sure to remind her that she was only getting one of them and it couldn't be too expensive. he had already spent enough of mrs. na's money on her new clothes.

the options given to them were pretty, going from beautiful white dresses with flowers to light green ones that reminded renjun of spring. yua seemed rather interested in the green one.

"it looks like a lizard!" she says with a giggle.

"a lizard?" renjun repeats. "i think of springtime."

"springtime? what's that?"

"when the flowers grow back and the cold weather gets warmer," renjun tells her. "everything turns pretty again."

"then i want it!" yua then says. "i wanna be pretty like springtime!"

"alright," renjun retorts with a soft smile. he picks up the dress, checks for the size, and let's yua carry it, seeing the little vampire's eyes light up.

renjun hadn't forgotten to search for suits for him and his boyfriends, having done it prior before looking for things for yua. after paying for the dress, he lets yua snag a new action figure before they start to leave the mall altogether.

yua points out things on the action figure as she holds the box containing it in her little hands, her excitement clear and obvious. that's when renjun's good mood is immediately dampened.

"are you vampires?" an unfriendly voice sounds and renjun turns his head over his shoulder to see a woman pointing at them with a frown on her face.

"yes, so what?" renjun says with a frown of his own. yua looks around curiously before she spots the room, giving the woman a glance with her huge, black eyes.

"surprised you'd even show your faces out in public," she looks disgusted before turning on her heel and walking away.

with a scowl, renjun lightly pushed yua along so they could leave. can't people just keep some things to themselves?