too fragile for your love (too strong for your heart)

wandering through the woods (we step into the sky) pt three

"stop worrying so much about me, mom," he says, angling his phone better so that his parents get a good look at his face through the camera. "i'm totally fine, my grades have never been better and i'm eating all my vegetables."

"can you blame me?" his mom frets, running a hand through her hair. "we come home from your aunt's and find out that you dyed your hair behind our backs!"

"that was an impulse decision!" he says, laughing. "you believe me, don't you, dad?"

"as much as your mom does," his dad says, teasingly. "give it a rest, honey. jake is a smart kid. i'm sure he's already made plenty of friends back there."

"have you, really?" his mom demands. "i know you love keeping your nose buried in your books twenty-four-seven when you aren't playing soccer, but it's not like you have time for any sports there."

"for your information, my social life is flourishing," jake says, turning his nose up in a dignified manner. "my juniors worship the ground i walk on and my seniors can't spend a single day without being graced by my presence."

"alright, you narcissist," his mom says, breaking into a grin. "i'll stop worrying. your brother's going to be sorry that he missed you."

"tell him that i'm gonna steal his spot as the soccer king when i visit for the holidays," jake says, struggling to remain straight-faced. "love you, mom. love you, dad."

he relaxes back into his pillows after tossing his phone onto the rickety table beside his bed. his lighting is shot for the week, or until his landlord calls the electrician, so the only light filtering into the room is through the skylight. it's sunny outside, and it feels almost therapeutic, as he traces patterns of dancing motes in the narrow beams of sunlight, his enhanced eyesight allowing him to witness revolving rainbows and kaleidoscopes amidst the dust particles.

closing his eyes, he thinks back on the past few weeks, recalling conversations, meetings and discoveries, all focused around one thing: the undead way of life.

he was pleasantly surprised to find out that jungwon, sunoo and sunghoon attended the same university as him. though, they belong to different departments than him which explains why their paths have never crossed before. but now, he spends almost every lunch hour at their table, where they do anything but actually eat. he often joins jungwon on tteokbokki or ramyeon days (he will always love ramyeon, no matter what), but sunoo and sunghoon don't like the taste of normal human food as much as jake does. it does nothing for vampire nutrition but he enjoys chowing down on carbs, regardless.

they are, sometimes, joined by ni-ki who sneaks into campus, after ditching his own schedule at the local high school he attends. even though he's a senior, he isn't too bothered by the effects of his truancy. "i know the entire syllabus by heart, anyway," he protests whenever jake needles him about missing his classes. "and, heeseung hyung always says that rebellion builds character."

that's another thing that jake finds fascinating about the coven.

their respect and admiration for lee heeseung is on another level, altogether.

jake gets it, he really does. heeseung, on top of being the unanimous leader ("alpha," jay says. "it was always uncontested. even after wonie takes over as leader, heeseung hyung is still going to be the alpha."), is unimaginably powerful. from what jake understands, every vampire has a special ability apart from being able to transform into furry critters at will. sunghoon wields his in the form of telekinesis. ni-ki prides himself on being an empath. jay is amazingly strong and agile while jake loves hearing stories about sunoo's thrall magic. but, heeseung?