The Crescent Crown (Minsung Royalty AU)

Not-So-Living Legend

"Hwang is the family name of a... certain group"

"A gang?" Jisung prompted. 

"No not exactly," Changbin thought for a moment. "More like a coven. They're dangerous people, Ji. Not like you."

Jisung lifted an eyebrow. 

"They kill for fun, hunt people for sport, and never leave survivors. There's even some speculation that they might be..." He trailed off for a moment, reluctant to say it out loud.

"Vampires?" Jisung prompted. 

Changbin narrowed his eyes. "How did you know?"

"I told you, right place right time." Jisung leaned closer.

"I met the leader one time and he was as pale as death. They mostly stay away from here but he walks in with a distinct pallor and leaves looking... human."

A shiver went down Jisung's spine. 

"That's enough ghost stories for tonight." Changbin said as he got up, holding out his hand to help Jisung up. "Was I helpful enough to meet your boyfriend?"

"Hmm," Jisung took Changbin's hand. "If you tell me where I can find the leader."

"Why do you care so much?" Changbin asked as he went towards his bedroom, Jisung following close behind. "You shouldn't be involving yourself with those types of people in the first place, especially when you're trying to get out of the business."

Jisung never wanted to be an assassin in the first place, but there very options for him. Thinking about his past always just made his head hurt so he avoided it, but he knew that when he was younger he wanted to be artist. After his last job he had saved up enough money to go without pay for a while so he planned on distancing himself from the underground as much as he could. It was far from an easy task because nearly everyone he knew was deeply entrenched in the inner workings of the hitman business. 

It wasn't who he was or who he wanted to be, and he had expressed this Changbin. The idea that involving himself with the Hwang coven could strengthen his ties to the life he was trying to leave gave him pause, but then he reminded himself that he was investigation for Minho's sake. 

"You don't have to worry about me," Jisung crawled into bed, avoiding eye contact with Changbin so he wouldn't the anxious thoughts swirling around his head. Changbin pulled off his shirt and flopped onto the bed beside Jisung.

"I know," Changbin ruffled his hair. "But I do. Please, whatever you do, be safe."

"I'll try," Jisung whispered. 

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Jisung woke up much earlier than Changbin because the birds chirping outside and he had always been a light sleeper. He pried Changbin's arm off his waist and sat on the edge of bed, staring out the window. He saw people milling about as they did their morning chores. Kids clung to their mother's sides while they navigated the cobblestone walkways and pointed at the stores they passed. It made his chest ache for a thousand reasons he couldn't name.

He wanted children, he had known that since he was young. A part of him longed for a childhood like that because he was robbed of it and he knew he would never get those years back so he wanted to give it to his own kids. He didn't know who his father was, and his mother had disappeared when he was eleven. Running around the streets with nothing to his name for the past nine years had exhausted him to the point where he was always just searching for a way out. A life where he didn't have to fight tooth and nail to be safe. 

Jisung ran his hand down his face and stood up, stretching his sore muscles. Changbin would have to meet Minho soon or he would actually kill him, but that wasn't too inconvenient. Minho always whined about never meeting Jisung's friends so it would kill two birds with one stone.