Everything You Do Is Magic | seventeen au

Chapter 1: Not Dead

Minghao found it shocking that he wasn't dead.

Pain. That's the first thing he noticed—pain piercing through his hazy state. Even without moving, his whole body ached in a way that reached his bones. The only thing he felt grateful about was the fact that he could feel all his limbs, plus his face. Which meant no matter how beaten up he must've been, at least he was still in one piece.

He should be dead now.

Waking up only raised more questions.

An uncontrolled wave of panic began to settle inside him when he heard several, unidentifiable voices around him.

"–you think whoever did this will be looking for him?"

"What if whoever it was followed him all the way here?!"

"Well, we couldn't just leave him!"

"Guys! Shhh! He's awake."

The room fell silent as Minghao forced his eyes to open, the soft lighting of the unfamiliar room a small mercy. His surroundings gave way to a wave of nausea before his eyes could even fully adjust, the sudden mix of new lights and scents of the uncharted territory almost like another blow to the face, dizzying in its sudden intensity. He couldn't get a feel for where he was, all he was certain was that around him were five individuals, all of them watching Minghao like hawks.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Someone with black hair and a strong build walked closer to the soft bed Minghao had been laying on. It took a longer moment than usual as Minghao was still a bit out of it, but then his nose picked up on the scent. Human. The male approaching him was human. He was the only human in the room, in fact.

"Any dizziness?" The human sat beside Minghao on the bed with only a foot space between them.

Minghao's hand twitched and he didn't answer. He could feel the dirt between his palms, his clothes covered in dust and unidentifiable stains which were currently transferring onto the sheets underneath him. Another voice spoke up, this one came from a man with a button nose and a face so gentle looking it gave Minghao a somewhat uneasy feeling that he was being deceived into a false sense of security. "You were left in an alleyway, unconscious and beaten up. Jihoon healed the visible wounds we saw. With that, you're definitely going to feel a bit sore."

The aforementioned Jihoon was, frankly, the shortest among the bunch. But it was clear that he was in no way soft, unlike the one who spoke before him. This Jihoon fellow didn't bother to hide the fact that he was assessing Minghao, waiting to see if the vampire would act out and was more than ready to step in if necessary. Minghao would commend Jihoon's bravery if his body hadn't felt like it was wrung out like a wet towel. Not many creatures could stare at Minghao like that so openly, almost like a challenge.

It took effort, but Minghao was able to smell what Jihoon was. He would've known anyway given that Jihoon apparently healed his wounds, and not many creatures had that ability.

"I'm Seungcheol, Choi Seungcehol. The one that just spoke is Jisoo, beside him is Jihoon, and the two over there are Mingyu and Seungkwan." Minghao focused on each of them for a few seconds and couldn't help but stare a little longer at Mingyu who had black horns sticking from his head.

It's been a while since Minghao's seen a demon.

"Could you tell us your name?" The human, Choi Seungcheol, asked.

"You're a human," Minghao said in a soft tone.

It was more of an observation than anything, but his words had the one named Mingyu stepping forward to place a hand on Seungcheol's shoulder. Mingyu shot the human a pained look before he turned his attention back to Minghao. "I'm not usually this straightforward, but.. we know you're a vampire. You had your fangs out when we found you, and all I could think about was.." Mingyu sighed, like he was disappointed at himself for even thinking his next words. "Do you drink human blood?"