penumbra

Chap. 29 - The Day After pt.1

cw: panic attack (not on POV), smut scene towards the end, small cuts during sex, painplay (kinda)

- - -

"Joong" it echoed into his mind.

It was kind of... dark? Why?

"Wake up, darling" he was starting to recognize that voice.

His eyes began fluttering open.

Wait a minute.

Had he been asleep?

"Good morning" tickled his ears as the blur of his vision gradually blended into a proper image of reality.

Yeosang looked at him from above with a soft smile.

Hongjoong couldn't believe he had actually fallen asleep, and had no nightmares during the night on top of that. He looked down and found Seonghwa sound asleep, snuggled up against his chest, every facial feature on his beautiful face thoroughly relaxed and content.

His heart dropped when he felt his mouth going dry and itchy.

Seonghwa looked... tempting. In the worst way possible.

"That's why I'm here," Yeosang explained through a gentle whisper.

Hongjoong pressed his lips together, ignoring the sharp sting that came when his fangs poked the inside of his mouth.

Oh, god. The human's scent now just...

"I brought you a bag," Yeosang added, trying to get Hongjoong to at least look away from Seonghwa. "Let's go outside for a bit."

Hongjoong locked his jaw. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Seonghwa.

So he took the deepest of breaths and writhed as carefully as possible so he could get himself off the bed without waking the other, which was surely a little tricky since his body was still twitching and not quite responding correctly. The human did whine and scrunch his face up a bit, but stayed put in dreamland for the moment. Hongjoong mourned the loss of that warmth for both the right and wrong reasons.

Once outside, Yeosang walked Hongjoong over to the far end of the hallway.

"Your body is off balance because it's trying to heal" the older said after a brief sigh when Hongjoong sank his fangs into the fragile plastic surface and began slurping loudly. "I assume this is the first time you go through this process after being well-fed for a decent period. Your hunger will be unstable. Not dangerously so, in my opinion. I'm sure you will take notice as soon as anything feels out of the ordinary when you're next to the human. Still, I will give you one bag a day for the next three days, alright? That way we can keep your urges in check."

Hongjoong nodded along as he gulped down blood as if he was about to die.

He didn't even feel that hungry, rather he was taking out his fear and frustration on the innocent non-sentient bag he was draining. It hadn't been that close of a call with Seonghwa moments before, but he still felt terrified.

The blood was done in seconds.

Yeosang gave him a fond smile as he grabbed a thick, deep red handkerchief from his pocket. He took the empty bag from Hongjoong's hands and began cleaning the mild crimson mess around the younger's mouth. Hongjoong suddenly felt heavy and oddly tired. It was like gears inside his body were turning, going turbo mode while ignoring possible rebound effects. He frowned with a tiny groan.

"Go back to bed," Yeosang said. Hongjoong hesitated. "You won't hurt him, darling, I promise."

So he did as he was told, still apprehensive, but willing to believe in himself just a little bit. It wouldn't hurt, right?