Highness (Jeongcheol)

Jeonghan

"We going inside?"

Jeonghan didn't answer. For once, he was the one keeping them in the car. He stared at the little yellow house—his home for the past year. Jeonghan had thought just that morning that he'd never see it again.

But did you really?

Jeonghan shook his head, annoyed at his own denial. He'd lied to himself, when he'd left with Hendrick. He'd told himself he was resigned to leave Seungcheol for good, but there was part of him—that inner, mindless, core part of him—that knew he'd never willingly leave his mate. Not for long. Even if it had been for Seungcheol's own good. Even if Seungcheol really had decided he wanted a normal human life, Jeonghan wasn't sure he'd have been able to be that selfless as to let him go.

He looked to Seungcheol in the driver's seat—they'd taken Seungcheol's car back, leaving Hendrick's stolen vehicle a smoldering wreck to go along with the cabin—who was looking at him with furrowed brows.

"I'm not a good person," Jeonghan told him, not for the first time.

Seungcheol shrugged easily. "I'm not so sure I am either."

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes at his mate. "You're awfully chill about all this. Did turning into a vampire take away the anxiety corner of your brain?"

Seungcheol relaxed back into his seat, the picture of easy unconcern. "It's a relief in some ways. Letting go. Letting it in. You're a vampire. So's my brother. Now I am too. One big happy monster family. So the world is more magical and confusing than I gave it credit for...so what?"

"I can't tell if I'm annoyed or turned on by this change in attitude."

Seungcheol grinned at him. "Knowing you, it's both."

Jeonghan scowled. Ugh. His mate was so fucking handsome when he was happy.

They'd dipped into the lake after their forest dalliance, trying to rinse off the smells of smoke and sex, and Seungcheol's curls had dried into a dark disarray, his golden-brown eyes practically shining as he smiled at Jeonghan.

Jeonghan couldn't help it. He leaned in for a kiss. He wanted to touch all that golden beauty. Seungcheol met him halfway, opening easily to Jeonghan, letting him explore his mouth with tongue and teeth.

Jeonghan hummed into the kiss and considered climbing over the center console and into Seungcheol's lap, but Seungcheol pulled away before he could, ending it all much too soon. He placed a finishing peck on Jeonghan's lips. "We should go in," he said. "They're here."

Jeonghan sighed, glancing out the car window. That was the other reason for Jeonghan's hesitation to enter the house. A familiar car in the driveway.

Joshua and Seokmin were home.

Jeonghan huffed. "So annoying. How are we going to explain all this?" He gestured vaguely at Seungcheol, trying to encompass their relationship and his former human's change in mortality. "They leave for three weeks and now you're a vampire."

Seungcheol shrugged again. If he kept doing that, Jeonghan might have to smack him. "We were going to tell them we're together anyway. Now we just have a little...bonus detail to add."

Jeonghan huffed again. "So. Fucking. Chill."

Seungcheol laughed, placing another kiss on Jeonghan's lips. "I'm sure I won't always be. I haven't had a personality transplant. I'm just relieved as hell." He cupped Jeonghan's face in his broad hands. "You're here. You're unharmed. I didn't lose you. Anything else we can handle together."

Well, goddamn. What was Jeonghan supposed to do with sweet words like that? His mate was going to make him melt into a puddle like some sort of sentimental...something.