『Schadenfreude』▷ jaesahi。

b r o t h e r

"So, are you finally dying?"

"That's mean, hyung," Jaehyuk pouted. "I'm terribly ill, you know? How could you say such a thing?"

The other exhaled, dropping two hands to his sides before he approached the other, gait steady and slow. An offhanded bearing was his display as he ambled towards Jaehyuk, calloused hand reaching out to place itself atop the younger's head and softly stroke the velvety hair. "Sure, sure. You're always so dramatic, ain't ya?" he quipped.

Jaehyuk dark orbs were replaced with white for not more than half a second, gyrating to the back of his head in his exasperation. "I'm telling on you to uncle," he spat, falsely bitter. "You always pick on me."

"You're 21 years old, honey. Stop acting like a damn baby."

"You're a human, hyung. Stop looking like a zombie."

The older stilled.

"Rude," he hissed. "I'll have you know that anyone who gets a maximum of eight hours of sleep a week is supposed to look like a zombie instead of you know, like you. How the fuck do you look so handsome when you barely sleep?"

Jaehyuk grinned cheekily, "Trade secret."

"Trade secret, my ass. Give me a list of your skincare routine and I'll-"

"Park Jihoon!"

The male stopped, addressed, perceivably biting the inner side of his cheeks in what seemed to be frustration. He let go of Jaehyuk's hair, eyes lustrous despite its sunken state, proffering him a smile full of comfort yet with florid anger beneath. His cheeks were pale as Jaehyuk's from fatigue, and recollections of a drunken call of complaints about bossy and jaundiced seniors crawled their way from the back of the halfling's mind.

"Can't even fucking visit a relative," Jihoon grumbled.

Jaehyuk released a giggle, the sound resonating gently, so mellow and melodic it was enough to make a bellwether's collar pendant chime.

"What?" the older snapped.

"Nothing, hyung," he halted himself lest he rolled down the aisles. "Relative is just..."

"Seriously?" Jihoon showed a lour, thinking ludicrous of his implications. "It's been two years. Whether you like it or not, we're legally considered brothers."

Jaehyuk gifted him a reassuring smile.

"I know."

He huffed, tucking ten fingers  back into his pockets. A holler of his name and a roll of his eyes later, he spun around to take his leave as a vocable of auf Wiedersehen plodded out of his mouth, lab coat undulating with the zephyr of his turn.

It suited him, Jaehyuk marveled. A man meets his fate in the path he walked to avoid it, as they might say, as now Jihoon who had been so adamantly refusing to be a doctor once young was now well on his way to become one. Travails were made and more to come, yet he moved forward without halt firm as a giant Sequoia tree. Human lives were always so short but change was indispensable, unlike vampires and nymphs with their periphrastic lives and dulling flames. Jihoon and him were a perfect example, to say. One whose dreams had changed in a mere twinkle of the eye, and another with hundreds of years whose goal had remained selfsame.

By the door, Jihoon threw up his hands to the air in what Jaehyuk deemed as exaggerated indignation as he made his way out of sight.

"My friend is dying, my brother's dying, and I'm dying of karoshi soon! What a great-fucking-doctor I am."

Jaehyuk forced down the titter to his throat, abstentious. It was not more than ten minutes thereupon that a livid vampire came sauntering into his doors, quite unlike his routinely calm visage, face crumpled up in red outrage. The Korean took in the infrequent sight, wondering what it was that he himself most likely had unpremeditatedly done.

"Welcome back, Asahi,"he enounced, dragging out each word in a way that he positively knew that the other found annoying. "It hasn't been that long since you left. Why are bac—"

He stilled, arms limp by his sides for Asahi had slammed the door so tightly shut and barreled to his seated figure in but few seconds, entangling their bodies as he sat himself atop Jaehyuk's lap. Not dissimilar to the position they used to find themselves in during the younger's equinox, Asahi bestraddling his thighs as he sat there, mind frazzled.

His composure was returned in approximately a fracture of a second, fingers creeping their way up to Asahi's sides, slinking itself slowly to the vampire's shirt. Colleywobbles filled him and he seethed beneath the boy, nonetheless still paid no effort to leave nor make the other do so.

Asahi's mien was atypical, brows knitted together in a way that Jaehyuk couldn't quite place, the scent of petrichor clung desperately on his shirt. However, there was no rain outside nor was the other drenched or miry, dry as it had been few hours ago.

"What happened?"

It was weird, if he dared say.

Mockery was lost in two words, adrift in the sea of nothing. No fleer was present on his face nor was there a jarring smile that adorned it with annoying vestige— although that was strange to say the least as he was in the presence of a man he deared to nettle.

Nonetheless, his hands moved in illusory wont, fingers setting in between the scrunched eyebrows to smoothen them so, unthought about aim to soothe the younger. Asahi's response to his actions were elysian, shifting closer to his lukewarm body like a cuddlesome child, breathing softly against his neck as he relished the touch.

"I fought with Daemon."

Jaehyuk's lips quirked, curious. "Again?"

"No, this time I almost killed him."

He pursed his lips in wonder of what could drive Ettore to bare fangs at his compeer, but spoke no more for he knew that he needn't to.

"And why is that?"

Knuckles turned whiter than they had already been as Asahi gripped tighter to his shirt, snuggling even closer as looking for warmth in a body he knew had gone tepid.

"He said something he shouldn't have."

"What did he say?"

The vampire lifted his head, orbs of scarlet staring into his cheval blanc, luminescent like the ethereal beauty of mangata.

"Don't wanna tell."

Jaehyuk's lips broke into an uncharacteristic, chastising smile. "Oh come on," he urged. "Tell me?"

"No."

"Asahi."

"I said I didn't wanna."

"Asahi."

"No."

"Tell me."

The frown on Asahi's face deepened till his features sunk.

"I said no. Shut up."

Inquisitive, Jaehyuk curled his fingers onto the other's, prying further.

"Tell me."

"No."

"Pleas—?"

"I said shut up."

Call it hackneyed of him to say, but the next thing that Asahi did was truly the greatest way to ever hush one.

After all, with lips against his, there was no way he could speak.