Vampire Brothers

Chapter 9

Haneul slowly opened her eyes, immediately hit by a heavy headache. She clutched her head with a soft groan, glancing around. The room was dark, with only the bedside lamp providing a dim light. She turned to her right, noticing Sofia asleep beside her. "Unnie?" Haneul whispered, but Sofia only frowned in her sleep without waking up.

Clutching her head again, Haneul muttered, "Why does it hurt so much?"

She got out of bed, leaning against the wall for support as she struggled to walk. *I should take some medicine,* she thought, barely able to keep herself upright.

When she reached the stairs, she paused. *This is the hardest part.* Leaning against the wall again, she carefully descended the stairs, step by step. Suddenly, another wave of intense pain struck her. She touched her head, silently pleading, *Please, not now. I don't want to fall.* She tried to keep moving forward, but her legs gave out. As her body fell forward, her last thought was, *I can't take it anymore. The pain is too much.* Her eyes slowly closed, the last thing she saw was the carpet on the stairs.

Out of nowhere, someone caught her, preventing her from falling down the stairs. "You idiot!" a cold voice scolded her. "I-I'm sor—ry," Haneul stammered through the pain, unable to see the person clearly.

S.Coups sighed heavily before carefully lifting her in his arms and carrying her down to the living room. He gently laid her down on the couch, slipping strands of hair behind her ears. *Stop making me worry about you, Haneul,* he thought.

S.Coups went to his room to grab a blanket, then returned downstairs to cover her with it. He took a seat in an armchair across from Haneul's couch, watching over her.

Haneul stirred in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes, realizing she wasn't in her room. She carefully sat up, and the headache immediately attacked her again.

"Feeling dizzy again?" a voice asked.

She turned towards the voice and saw S.Coups in the armchair. She gulped, "So, how are you feeling?" he asked, but Haneul just shook her head, indicating she wasn't feeling well.

S.Coups frowned, "What were you thinking, going downstairs like that?" he asked, his tone stern. Haneul's face fell, "You could've asked someone for help. Sofia was in your room; you could've asked her. Why would you risk walking downstairs in your condition? You could've hurt yourself!" he scolded her.

Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

S.Coups sighed, "Why did you go down? Do you need something?" he asked, and she nodded. "Perhaps some paracetamol. My head hurts," she answered.

"You fainted for almost 15 hours. You should eat something before taking any medicine," S.Coups said. "Wait here. I'll cook something for you," he added, standing up.

Haneul tried to get off the couch. "N-no, it's okay. I'll just have m-milk."

S.Coups sent her a stern look. "You. Stay. Here," he warned. Haneul gulped nervously, "N-Nae."

After about 20 minutes, S.Coups returned to the living room with a serving of scrambled eggs and a mug of hot chocolate. "You should eat a proper meal the next time you wake up. I'll ask Mingyu to prepare it for you," S.Coups said as he placed the tray on the coffee table. "Eat up," he nodded towards the food.

"T-Thank y-you," Haneul carefully took the plate. "Y-You can l-leave... i-if you w-want. I'll be f-fine," she said, glancing at S.Coups as he sat back in the armchair.

"I'll wait. Finish your food. I'll give you your medicine after you're done," he said, closing his eyes. "Wake me up when you're finished."

Haneul brought the spoon to her lips, wondering, *Why is he being so kind to me?* She looked at S.Coups, who appeared to be sleeping in the armchair.

After some time, S.Coups opened his eyes and noticed that Haneul was already asleep, wrapped in the blanket. He got up and walked over to her, noticing that she hadn't finished her food. "She didn't finish it. I only made a small portion considering how big of an eater she usually is. Her head must really hurt," S.Coups murmured as he picked up the tray to take it to the kitchen.  Suddenly, a figure appeared.

S.Coups's eyes immediately turned red. "Who's there?" he demanded.

"It's me," Sofia said as she stepped forward.

"What are you doing down here?" he asked in a low voice.

"I'm sorry, S.Coups-nim. I should've kept an eye on her. I sincerely apologize," Sofia said, bowing respectfully. She was clearly scared, knowing S.Coups was a vampire of higher rank.

S.Coups looked at Haneul. "No, it's okay," he said, though inwardly, he thought, *Thanks to you, I got the chance to take care of her.*

"Bring the tray to the kitchen and get some paracetamol and a glass of water for her," he instructed.

"Understood, S.Coups-nim," Sofia said, quickly taking the tray and disappearing into the kitchen.

S.Coups carefully scooped Haneul up, making sure not to wake her. With ease, he carried her upstairs to her room and gently placed her on the bed.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Sofia entered with a glass of water and the paracetamol pills for Haneul's headache.

"Make sure she takes the pills," S.Coups reminded Sofia. "I will," Sofia replied, bowing.

As S.Coups walked past her, he paused at the door and turned back to Sofia. "And Sofia, thank you for taking care of her," he said, his voice calmer.

Sofia smiled and bowed slightly, "It's my pleasure, oppa."

The next morning, Haneul woke up and noticed she was holding onto a blanket. *A blanket?* she thought. She remembered waking up on the couch last night, the blanket already covering her. *Does it belong to S.Coups oppa?* she wondered.

Without thinking, she brought the blanket close and took a sniff. *Is this his scent? He smells so good.* She kept sniffing the blanket, realizing, *This is bad. I'm addicted to his scent.* Unknown to her, her eyes turned red.

Haneul went down for breakfast. "Are you going to school?" Jun asked as soon as he saw her walk into the kitchen in her school uniform.

"Err, yes. Why?" she asked.

"You should rest more, Haneul," Jun said, looking at her with concern.

"I'm okay now, Jun oppa," Haneul assured him with a smile.

"Are you really sure you're okay? I don't want you to faint again," Mingyu said as he suddenly appeared.

"Yes, Mingyu oppa. My head does hurt a little, but it'll be fine after I take some medicine," Haneul replied.

"You like to take risks, huh?" Minghao said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Sorry about that," Haneul smiled before taking a seat at the dining table. Minghao looked at Mingyu and Jun. "Where's Vernon?" he asked.

Before they could answer, Dino walked into the kitchen. "He was escorting Sofia and her kids to their car a moment ago," Dino said.

Minghao nodded. "Did you say goodbye to Sofia, Haneul?" Mingyu asked. Haneul nodded, "I did. I thanked her for taking care of me. I wanted to go with Vernon oppa, but she asked me to go inside and get ready for school."

Mingyu nodded in response. "I should make you a complete meal. S.Coups wants to make sure you eat well and take your medicine," Mingyu said.

Haneul looked at him. "He's not coming down for breakfast?" she asked. "I don't think so. He looked really sleepy. I wonder if he stayed up last night," Mingyu answered as he walked to the sink to clean some eggs.

*He stayed up for me,* Haneul thought, feeling guilty for causing him trouble. *I should see him before I go to school, just to thank him,* she decided with a small smile.