Highness (Jeongcheol)

Seungcheol

Seungcheol gripped the steering wheel with tense fingers, his mind only half-focused on the flood of words coming from the little vampire next to him. Myungho was gushing about all the various foods he'd gotten to try in the hospital cafeteria, which—given the twelve hours he'd had to experiment with—was apparently quite a lot. He was currently reviewing the different merits of every single type of candy from the vending machines.

Seungcheol could only assume one of the lesser-known vampire superpowers was not getting a belly ache from too much junk food.

For his part, Seungcheol was fighting to keep his eyes open, trying his best to get himself and Myungho home in one piece. Work had been beyond exhausting, and he was just done. Two of his patients had tried to die on him that night, and he'd had to run codes on both of them. One had made it through the CPR, the other...

Well, the other hadn't.

Seungcheol knew—he knew—it was the way it went sometimes. He knew there had been an amazing team of healthcare professionals working to keep them alive, and that sometimes that wasn't enough. But he still hated it with every fiber of his being.

It felt like losing. He hated losing.

And he was glad of Myungho's company; he really was. He was especially glad having a chaperone had let Jeonghan feel comfortable with him going to work. But, sweet as the dark-haired vampire was, he wasn't who Seungcheol wanted next to him after the night he'd had.

Seungcheol wanted Jeonghan.

He wanted his vampire's soothing touch. Wanted his easy understanding of Seungcheol's messy emotions. He even wanted him calling Seungcheol an idiot for expecting to win every single battle of life versus death in the ICU.

But Jeonghan wasn't with him. Jeonghan had better things to do than babysit, apparently.

Seungcheol wasn't sure exactly what Jeonghan had gotten up to while he was at work. He'd told Seungcheol he wouldn't feed on anyone else, but...surely he'd gotten restless, stuck in that house with Seungcheol for days on end? Maybe Jeonghan needed some variety. Maybe he was second-guessing so much time spent with one boring human.

Or maybe he just needed a little space to breathe and spent the day crocheting a new outfit and running with the mutt. Maybe you're just being an incredibly insecure, clingy mess, Seungcheol's brain taunted.

He sighed, fingers clenching the steering wheel. He was being incredibly insecure. Maybe he could talk his vampire onto his lap again for dinner. Or...breakfast? Seungcheol was never quite sure what to call his presleep meal after a night shift.

Whatever he called it, Seungcheol wanted to cuddle Jeonghan while he ate it.

Ferdy greeted them at the door, whining in distress. Seungcheol rubbed the dog's ears. "What's up, pup?"

"Hello, dog," Myungho greeted from beside Seungcheol, waving at the puppy. He apparently hadn't spent much time around animals in the past, and he was still trying to figure out what he called "pet etiquette."

"You're home." Jeonghan's voice sounded from the living room.

Seungcheol rushed in, not caring if he seemed overeager, but he stopped in his tracks at the sight of his vampire sprawled out on the couch.

Jeonghan's clothes were mussed, his blond hair was in disarray, and...his entire face was covered in blood.

He looked like a fucking horror B movie extra.

Jeonghan greeted them with an ironic wave, his pale eyes oddly blank. "Oh, don't worry," he drawled, gesturing at the mess. "It's not mine. At least, mostly not."