Vampire Brothers

Chapter 5

That night, Haneul had dinner with everyone—except for S.Coups, of course. He usually ate after everyone else was finished.

"So, how was your day today, Haneul?" Minghao asked.

Haneul nodded, "Everything's good so far."

"That's good to hear," Minghao replied.

"But, um, oppa..." Haneul hesitated.

"What is it?" Woozi asked, looking at her.

Haneul paused for a moment. "Do you know anything about the owner of this house, or the previous tenants?" she asked.

Seungkwan frowned, "Why do you ask?" he inquired before taking a bite of his food.

"A friend of mine mentioned something about the people living in this house..." Haneul said, playing with her food.

Wonwoo looked at her curiously, "What did he say?"

"Well, he said a group of vampires lives here," Haneul replied.

Vernon accidentally dropped his knife, and the entire dining hall fell into a tense silence. Dino uneasily glanced at Jeonghan and Joshua, the eldest in the room.

Haneul continued, "It wasn't really him; it was his mom. She said that a long time ago, there was a group of vampires in this village who killed every villager before deciding to stay here for good."

Everyone stiffened.

Haneul cleared her throat, "But I'm sure it's just a made-up story. I mean, vampires aren't real, right? If they were, and if they lived in this village, I wouldn't be alive today. And I'm sure there would be lots of homicides in the village. It would be a mess," Haneul said innocently, continuing to eat her dinner.

Mingyu cleared his throat, "I'm sure those are just stories. There's nothing wrong with this house, right?" he asked, looking at Haneul.

She nodded eagerly, "I'm happy living here with everyone," she smiled.

Jeonghan glanced at S.Coups, waiting for him to say something. S.Coups sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Since when did we have these kinds of rumors?" he asked aloud.

"The villagers have always talked about it, but the rumors died down years ago. I didn't know they could resurface again," Jun replied.

"What now, hyung?" Woozi asked. "Should we move?" Hoshi suggested, taking the empty seat across from S.Coups.

S.Coups looked directly at Hoshi. "We have nowhere else to go, Hoshi. We've become enemies of the vampire world after we killed the ruler, remember?" he said, turning his gaze to Mingyu.

Mingyu felt S.Coups's stare and looked up, meeting his eyes. The room became so quiet they could hear a pin drop. No one dared to speak. Since Mingyu had killed his parents, who were the rulers of the vampires at the time, the topic had been avoided.

"If you hate humans so much, why did you decide to side with me, hyung?" Mingyu asked. "Yah, Mingyu-ah," Joshua intervened, "watch your words."

Mingyu shook his head, "No, I really want to know. Everyone in this room hates humans. I know Coups hyung hates nothing more than humans. So why are you still here?" he questioned.

"Yah, Kim Mingyu! You're crossing the line!" Woozi snapped angrily.

"No! If you really hate humans, why are you still here? You could leave the village. Just leave Haneul with me. I'll take care of her. Or we'll leave—I'll take Haneul with me, and we'll leave for good. You choose," Mingyu said.

"Kim Mingyu!" In a flash, S.Coups slammed him against the wall, grabbing him by the collar. The others gasped in surprise. "Yah, Coups-ah," Jeonghan tried to calm him down.

"Stay out of this, Yoon Jeonghan," S.Coups snapped, glaring into Mingyu's eyes. "I'll deal with this brat myself."

"What do you like so much about humans, Kim Mingyu?!" S.Coups demanded. "Is it because of your family? Or is it because of Haneul? Which one?!"

"Why are you dragging Haneul into this?!" Mingyu shot back.

"You started it! You mentioned her first!" S.Coups tightened his grip on Mingyu's collar, his breathing heavy and his chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Hyung! Stop this! Please!" Seungkwan pleaded. "Haneul is sleeping. What if she sees us like this? What would you do if she saw your red eyes?"

S.Coups continued glaring at Mingyu before finally releasing him. "Everyone, leave," he ordered in a low voice.

"Good night, hyung," Dino was the first to leave. He bowed to his other brothers before exiting the room. One by one, the boys followed.

Mingyu looked at S.Coups one last time before he, too, left the room, making sure to close the door to S.Coups's reading room behind him.

S.Coups took a seat at his desk, staring at the mirror. His eyes were flaming red, and his fangs had already emerged. *Damn!* he ruffled his hair in frustration.

S.Coups went to the kitchen and grabbed a large wine bottle wrapped in red cloth from the refrigerator. He poured the contents into a wine glass, and his eyes turned red at the scent of the blood. He stared at the thick, red liquid in the glass. *I haven't drunk anything today,* he thought before taking a small sip. As the blood went down his throat, his eyes returned to normal.

Just then, a loud gasp came from behind him. He turned to see Haneul in her pajamas. "I-I just wanted a g-glass of water," she stuttered. She had never been alone with S.Coups before, and she was scared of him, as he always looked at her with cold eyes. "Good night, then," she said, bowing before quickly turning to leave.

"I'm leaving."

S.Coups's words stopped her in her tracks. She turned to face him. He was already at the sink, washing his glass. He wrapped the wine bottle in the cloth and placed it back in the refrigerator. Without another word, S.Coups walked past Haneul and up the stairs.

Haneul instinctively placed her hand over her fast-racing heart. "Did he just talk to me? I didn't do anything wrong right?" she wondered.