Vile Beginnings Seongjoong

04

   Hongjoong slowly awoke in his own bed, the blankets pulled to his chin. His tired eyes looked around the room until they saw the vampire who's to take him later.

  Seonghwa was leaned against the closed door of Hongjoong's room, glancing around at the posters and pictures on the walls. Although the vampire had little knowledge on what- or, rather, who- Linkin Park is, he still liked the visuals of the posters.

"Do we have to be back at a certain time?" Hongjoong asked softly. Seonghwa sighed and nodded.

  "I didn't know exactly what you would require, but I packed a lot of clothes and shoes. If there's anything else, you'll need to hurry along, Hongjoong," he said. The aforementioned guy nodded and stood up from his bed.

  "Seonghwa, can I ask you a question about earlier?" Hongjoong asked, picking up a small, hand painted jewelry box. He looked inside it to make sure it still held all of his favorite pieces before putting it inside a suitcase.

"What about earlier? When your brother almost killed you?" Seonghwa asked in return. Hongjoong flinched at how bluntly the older spoke, but shook his head.

"A little before that. Why were you holding me so sweetly?" Hongjoong questioned. Seonghwa only gave a grin back in return.

  "That is what you humans call sweet? Being held at the waist and nape?" Seonghwa asked, "You gave your life to us, Hongjoong. I can do as I feel like with you."

  As the vampire continued speaking while the human packed, Hongjoong felt the tiniest bit saddened by how the vampire talked to him. He knew Seonghwa was right though; he did say he'd do anything for Bumjoong's health.

  Hongjoong nodded silently and quickly finished packing his bags.

At the doorway of their shared apartment, the pair of brothers shared their goodbyes.

"You have to go to Helen, alright? Hyung, don't cry, I'll be okay." Hongjoong hugged his older brother, who cried into his shoulder, tightly. He knew he was lying to the older, but he had to.

"We've never actually been apart from each other, Hongjoong! I'm gonna miss you," the older sobbed. Hongjoong smiled softly as his own eyes welled with tears.

"I'll miss you too, but please, just go and have fun. Now you can try to be a dancer again!" Hongjoong smiled softly, gently pulling back enough to face him.

"Okay, I'll try, to, Joong. I'm gonna talk to Seonghwa before you two leave, okay?"

"Please don't try to shank him again. That hurt me, so it'll probably hurt him, too."

Bumjoong rolled his teary eyes with a smile and nodded, causing Hongjoong to walk out of his apartment into the hallway with the last of his bags.

"What do you want?" Seonghwa asked lowly, wanting this interaction to be completed already.

  "I want to thank you for healing me, and ask you to take care of Hongjoong for me, alright? Although I couldn't really do much for him physically, I was still there for him emotionally as his big brother, and he's... Joong is a gentle man, with a big heart who still cries when he accidentally kills a ladybug, or watches a dog die in a movie.

"I know he probably put on such a big, tough act when he asked you to heal me, but he's actually quite gentle-hearted. Please, Seonghwa, don't ruin that for him," Bumjoong pleaded with the vampire, though he knew he didn't have anything to offer in return for his request being met.

Seonghwa scoffed, "You expect me to believe that the same man who entered my home unannounced and called us out as vampires is who you are speaking of?"

"When you two arrive to your house, watch Where the Red Fern Grows and you'll see what I mean. He'll bawl like a little baby," Bumjoong had a small smile on his face as he remembered how frequently he'd have to hand Hongjoong the box of tissues.

"Just- please, keep him safe, Seonghwa. I know he gave you his life in return for mine, but does that mean you have to hurt him or take his life completely?" Bumjoong asked before walking away to his room.

When Seonghwa had spoken so harshly to Hongjoong earlier, and seen how the man reacted to it, he noticed he didn't like Hongjoong's reaction to it.

Usually, Seonghwa enjoyed it when he knew he had power over someone- especially having so much over someone who's human- but he didn't like seeing how the man who deflected the knife deflated at his words.

And that- no one has ever tried to protect Seonghwa from a weapon in that way before; it had to be a human?

Seonghwa himself didn't even know why he had held the human by his waist and nap- "so sweetly" as Hongjoong had said.

Maybe it was the way the moonlight was making his coffee brown eyes sparkle as he showed Seonghwa some human items the prior hadn't seen before?

Maybe it was the way Seonghwa could hear Hongjoong's pulse race beneath his skin and within his chest?

Whatever the reason it was, Seonghwa knew he shouldn't let any of his family find out- especially if it is the prior. He may just lose his immortality if he's to ever see himself be falling for a human.