bite me once, shame on you. bite me twice...

lesson eighteen: guard your heart

He wasn't sure how long he slept but it was obviously long enough for the sun to fall, moon taking its place in the sky. There was a knock on the door, Jeongin's sweet smile greeting him as the other vampire opened the door. His eyes weren't as bleary as before, his hand coming up to rub the gunk out of them.

"Rise and shine, Jinnie. We have so much to talk about." Jeongin crossed the room, deftly stepping around all of the scattered pencils and brushes on the floor. He shifted open the curtains, allowing slivers of light to be seen.

Hyunjin hummed, stretching out on his bare bed. He hadn't bothered putting the sheets back after Minho had yanked them down.

"Wha' do we have to talk abou'?" The words came lisping out, his tongue feeling a few sizes too big. Lazy with sleep.

"We have new members to welcome to the family!" Jeongin crawled onto Hyunjin's bed, smile taking up most of his face. He looked sweet, not at all mischievous. Hyunjin knew there was a menace laying beneath the sweet appearance. He had too often been victim to Jeongin being a little shit, words dry and witty hidden behind a deceptive smile.

"Huh?"

"Just come on, sleeping beauty. Or I'll drag Jisungie in here to wake you up."

Jisung's method of waking up the vampires was singing directly into their ears. He had a wonderful voice but he was loud. The only thing worse was Changbin waking him up, he preferred yelling.

Hyunjin took his time sitting up, stretching out his limbs. He felt exhaustion all the way through his body, to his muscles and bones. Jeongin now seemed sympathetic, coming over to stand by Hyunjin's side and gently pet his hair. He wasn't much for contact, neither was, but Jeongin could be kind when he wanted to be.

Hyunjin blinked hard, trying to think of what happened in the past day.

"You... You punched me." Hyunjin murmured, squinting up at Jeongin. He nodded quietly.

"You were scratching Chan hyung too hard and Changbin hyung was trying to feed you and I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry, Jinnie." Jeongin's lips pouted out. His eyes were sparkly in the low light, like the stars outside.

Hyunjin laughed to himself, mostly in disbelief. Jeongin still looked remorseful.

"It's okay. I'm not upset about it." Hyunjin stood, almost stumbling over his own feet like a baby deer. Jeongin caught him with a hand around the elbow, leading him to the hall. There were traces of Yongbok's sugary scent up and down, like he was sweating everywhere. Hyunjin was only mildly ashamed of the way his tongue lolled out to catch more of the smell.

"None of that, Jinnie." Jeongin chided, sounding more like a grandmother than a young man. He used the hand not on Hyunjin's arm to close Hyunjin's mouth, knuckles against his jaw.

Hyunjin muttered an apology, letting Jeongin lead him down the stairs. The others were gathered in the living room. Chan and Changbin sat together, heads ducked low to whisper. Seungmin and Minho were focused on some kind of notes. Jisung and Yongbok were snuggled up together, Jisung mindlessly playing a guitar as Yongbok hummed.

"He lives." Jeongin announced, pushing Hyunjin into the center of the room. He looked around at the faces, his sire and his old friend and new friends.

"I... I want to apologize for everything. Especially to you, Yongbok." Hyunjin rubbed the back of his neck. He knew he would be blushing if blood ran the same in his body.

Yongbok was already smiling when Hyunjin turned to him. "It was my idea to go out. We're both to blame here."

"But, I-"