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

and under the moonlight (i become all yours) pt four

"whoa," he exclaims, craning his neck, as he stares up at the winding skyscraper, situated on the outskirts of the yongsan district, claiming to be a whopping seventy floors tall.

after felix left, heeseung said that there was something he wanted jake to see, and so, here they are, standing across the street, in front of the headquarters of the south korean vampire high council. the sun has long since disappeared behind the rain-gathering clouds, and in spite of the clean, futuristic look of the building, it appears ominous against the backdrop of the darkening sky.

"how have you been feeling, these past few days?" heeseung asks, stepping on to the zebra crossing, and motioning for him to follow.

"okay," he says, shrugging. "well, as okay as i can get."

"no voices in your head?" heeseung says, his tone light. "no violent impulses? no whispers in the dark?"

he hesitates, wondering if he should mention the temporary homicidal and self-destructive thoughts that had assaulted him, that night, but decides against it. he hasn't felt that way, ever since, and even though there's a constant buzzing underneath his skin, it's more of a childish can i go out and play instead of an insane let me the fuck out. "the fire," he says, slowly. "it's behaving, if that's what you mean. i haven't tried summoning it, yet but i think it won't go crazy if i do."

"good," heeseung says, and jake can tell that the other vampire knows there are some things he isn't being told. he steps into a well-lit lobby, as heeseung holds the door open for him, and looks around. it's air conditioned, and pleasant to the eye. in fact, no one would be able to tell that it's a building full of vampires, from outside appearances alone.

"it's got a few concealing charms," heeseung says, as if reading jake's mind. "notice-me-not and such, if you want to get technical."

"like the muggle repelling charms in harry potter?" he asks, grinning.

"exactly like that," heeseung replies, heading for the reception. "stay close to me."

"heeseung," the woman at the register looks up, smiling coolly. "the boss is out at the moment, sorry."

"how much do you want to bet that he's crashing the global warming protest, two blocks down?" heeseung replies, flashing a smirk.

the woman stares at him for a second, her face working weirdly, before she loses it. her fangs glint under the bright lighting, as she laughs uproariously, clutching her stomach. "man, do you think i'm stupid enough to take that bet? get out of here!"

"whatever you want, noona," heeseung says, reaching forward to take the keys that she's extending towards him. "thank you."

"what are you even doing here, on a weekend-" the woman demands, before her eyes fall on jake, who's half-hidden behind heeseung. "oh. i see." she breaks into a smirk of her own. "you must be jake. i'm jennie. nice to meet you."

"nice to meet you, too," he says, tentatively. "uh- i didn't catch you at the party, last week."

"i wasn't there," jennie calls out, as heeseung leads him away. "but, i doubt there's a single undead soul in this building who hasn't heard about you!"

"what's she talking about?" he asks, as they enter the elevator and heeseung presses the button for the fifteenth floor.

he glances at the silver-haired vampire, who, for once, is refusing to look at him. "she was on duty, when sunghoon called in about the rouge vampire."

"and, that's all?" he asks, skeptically,

heeseung nods, his jaw clenching and jake has to look away, before his knees can become weak. "that's all."