Chapter Text
“The barrier isn’t completely gone. But it’s weak.” Yeonjun says while helping Beomgyu sit up and lean against a tree.
“Just like me.” Beomgyu winks, though Yeonjun stares coldly at him, not finding the strength to smile. “Oh, come on, old man, you should be happy I’m not dead.”
“I can’t be happy if you’re hurt.”
Jake laughs softly next to them as he hands Heesung a glass of water. “How long have you two been together?”
The two exchange looks, both of them becoming red and looking away. Jake laughs again.
“Oh, you’re adorable.”
Beomgyu snorts as he takes a sip of the potion he made with the herbs surrounding them. “I think it’s been too long.”
Yeonjun agrees as he observes the sorcerer, eyes shining with fondness. “Yeah.”
Jake watches silently as Yeonjun takes Beomgyu’s chin and gently wipes a drop of potion trailing down his chin. He averts his eyes as he feels like he’s intruding on something very private.
He looks down at Heesung but the vampire doesn’t seem present despite looking up at the sky. “Hyung, you feeling all right?”
Heesung takes in a deep breath but doesn’t look away from the sky. “I think I can smell Seonwoo and Riki.”
As Seonwoo and Riki approach the place where the house was, the two of them stop dead in their tracks at the sight.
Before Seonwoo can turn to Riki to ask anything, Riki is pulling Seonwoo back and grabbing Yeonjun’s hand headed for Seonwoo’s chest.
Seonwoo falls down, watching with wide eyes as Yeonjun knocks Riki back and punches him.
“Riki!”
The vampire grabs Yeonjun’s neck and squeezes, feeling enough rage to hold until his eyes pop out. Yeonjun punches him again, not giving up even when his face is red. Riki growls as rage begins to take over his mind. He punches Yeonjun back with enough force to gain space to pull his knee up and hit him.
“Old man, don’t fight!” Beomgyu comes closer, with Jake supporting him. “It wasn’t intentional!”
“It was reckless. And these kids are at fault! I’m not risking anything anymore!”
“But I need Seonwoo! And Seonwoo needs Riki! You can’t break the cycle or else our plans will fail!”
Yeonjun is determined to beat the vampire to death but neither of them looks tired. On contrary, Riki looks more energetic than usual. Seonwoo grabs his jacket from behind and tugs him back from combat.
“I’m sorry! I really didn’t mean to destroy it!” Seonwoo cries out, wiping his tears furiously. “I’m so sorry, Beomgyu! I was just so scared, I thought that vampire came for me and...”
Riki interrupts him by hiding his face in his chest, looking at Yeonjun with a glare. “Seonwoo, you shouldn’t apologize for something you have no control over.”
Yeonjun points his finger at them, eyes wide in shock. “I advised you! If you’d listened, none of this would have happened! Why doesn’t anyone listen to me?! If you came to me for help, then listen to me!”
Beomgyu brings his palms together and mutters an enchantment. His aura appears, sea blue and mesmerizing. He lifts his hand and moves it from right to left and all of them watch in shock at a small two-story wooden hut that appears. Yeonjun watches as Beomgyu wavers, having troubles with his balance. Without a word he goes to stand behind the sorcerer, hand coming to rest on his hip as he finishes muttering the enchantment.
Beomgyu looks at all of them and smiles. “We’re in this together now. I want to help you. Please accept it.”
Jongseong walks to them with Jeongwon slowly dragging his feet across the ground. The vampire looks very pale and sick but the black smear is gone from his face.
“I think... accepting your help is the least we can do for you now.” The vampire says and Beomgyu’s smile widens.
“Well, get in, quickly. I’ll see if I can bring the house together.”
“You don’t think it’s suspicious?” Yeonjun asks as he puts a few bottles in front of them. Beomgyu reaches out and pours all of them a glass and Seonwoo immediately leans forward once he smells alcohol.
Riki is trying not to laugh at the boy and the latter can see him, a shy smile appearing on his face as they both remember their conversation back in the library in the vampire domain. The knowing look on the vampire’s face makes Seonwoo’s face redden.
“Well, we didn’t think more about it. We were kind of occupied with our prince dying.” Heesung answers, meaning no disrespect as he sighs, mind suddenly going elsewhere.
Jeongwon bows his head, lips pressed in a firm line. Jongseong pats his arm and smiles.
“Plenty of people knew about the meeting. But it doesn’t necessarily have to mean it was someone on our side. The real question would be why?” Jake says before tipping his glass back.
Yeonjun turns to Jeongwon. “Vampires have committed many atrocities to show they’re a superior race.”
Jeongwon, Heesung and Jake all turn to look at him in surprise, perhaps mostly hurt by the indirect accusation. Beomgyu doesn’t agree with his mate. He shakes his head.
“I think it runs much deeper than we think. I really believe the last war against the sorcerers and this sudden attack is connected.”
“How? The vampires didn’t participate in the war. And the demons could dislike us for that but they, too, were coaxed by the gods. Favours and such.” Jake rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, Soobin’s brothers were in debt to Zeus and Odin.” Heesung chuckles.
“Right! I remember how angry Soobin was. And that happened around his maturing. He was so embarrassed.” Jake laughs.
Jeongwon smiles as he watches the two of them reminisce the old times. He looks down when Jongseong takes his hand and holds it tight. He feels blessed to have this man in his life during these dark times. It takes a great burden off his chest when he compares this circle of friends and the one he didn’t have when his father died.
He can’t help but look at Heesung, remembering very well how much the older vampire helped him and fought to keep him safe. Now he feels even stronger because there are more of them. To go to great extents to save his life only proves how much he means to them.
Even Seonwoo, for whom he believed wouldn't be exposed to so much britality this soon, especially from his side. The baby sorcerer isn't sporting a wound on his neck, thanks to his genes but it still doesn't make Jeongwon feel less guilty. Despite apologizing and Seonwoo trying to convince him that it was nothing, with a smile on his face, Jeongwon can't bring himself to look the boy in the eye.
“I’m afraid that the few strongest races would mind the vampires being on good terms with the sorcerers. There are a few who actually had pretty serious disagreements with them.” Yeonjun says and Beomgyu agrees.
“Yes, I remember demigods being angry with the royal family for refusing to get involved in their civil wars. Some of them even managed to sneak in the domain and attack the king. Thankfully, his guards were there and no one got hurt. But still, demigods are pretty dangerous creatures.”
“In terms of sorcery, they come close to you.” Heesung points out and Beomgyu nods.
“Yes. Sorcerers are unique creatures, along with gods and thereby, demigods. But demigods are much more vicious in nature. Must be their human side.” Beomgyu says and for a moment Seonwoo expects them to look at him but it doesn’t happen. A warm feeling envelops him as he feels more a part of the group than the previous time he listened to them talk about humans.
He looks at Riki, remembering how he seemed to despise humans but the vampire is intently listening to them speak. He can’t help but notice him tapping his fingers against his thigh, looking impatient and tired at the same time.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen much of them since the war. They seem pretty closed off.” Jake says as he pours himself another glass. He doesn’t hesitate to scan other glasses and fill them, much to the others’ pleasure.
Jeongwon hums in agreement, nodding toward Heesung. “We’ve ran into them on a few occasions. Not a chatty bunch.”
“They never talk to anyone.” Heesung rolls his eyes. “But I do recall one of them saying something about changes about to be made. I don’t think... Well, I guess I don’t want to think I heard him say those words and did nothing after the war.”
“They’re always talking shit. Plus, there’s no solid evidence. All they can do is talk.” Jongseong assures the vampire.
“What about elves?” Jake’s question has them all shaking their heads.
“No way. Those creatures wouldn’t harm a soul. Especially unprovoked.” Jeongwon says and Jake nods with a small smile.
“Fairies?”
Silence befalls at Riki’s words. Seonwoo thinks it must be because it’s a silly thought – fairies can’t be involved into something like this. His opinion on fairies seems to be a wrong one as they all seem to think about it.
“Fairies are... dangerous.” Seonwoo’s mouth drops open at Heesung’s statement.
Jeongwon nods. “Yeah. I think we both have had troubles with them.” He looks at the wolf to his left who quickly nods.
“Our packs are pretty territorial and don’t like admission of other creatures but the growing cities are luring many of others home. We’ve been provoked a few times by them. I believe they’ve hurt a few of wolves, maybe even pups, but there is no proof. Even if there were, the only thing that can come out of an argument with them is war.”
“Jeongwon, wasn’t your mother a sorceress?” Yeonjun’s question makes all of them look at him in shock.
The vampires seem to be surprised by Yeonjun’s knowledge, rather than the revelation itself.
Seonwoo looks especially surprised. “What?”
The demon is confused by their reaction. “What? I think I heard someone say that, years ago.”
“The late queen was...” Heesung begins but Jeongwon clears his throat loudly while looking at him. The vampire stops talking and begins to play with his glass.
The prince sighs and forces a smile. “My mother was a sorceress. Though I must add, only a few people knew that. And if you know, then I shouldn’t be surprised if someone else knew too.”
Yeonjun clears his throat, looking into Jeongwon’s eyes and refusing to let the vampire think he might be intimidated in any way. “Yes, well, word travels fast when you’re a demon like me.”
“I bet it does.”
“But I’ve also heard stories about vampires and sorcerers being forbidden to mate.”
At this Beomgyu looks up at Seonwoo, well aware of the sorcerer’s magic and the feelings blossoming between him and the vampire sitting next to him.
“Vampires have been said to be susceptible to their blood. And many sorcerers can use that to gain control over vampires.” Beomgyu says, only after lowering his eyes onto his hands. “It’s a painful topic to vampires.
“And what comes out of a bond like that?” Yeonjun asks, tilting his head towards Beomgyu.
The sorcerer hesitates, displeased with the fact Yeonjun wants to him to answer when he knows the answer too.
“Daries.”
Jongseong brings his fist against the table, startling Seonwoo. “You should be careful of what you speak.”
Yeonjun leans forward, protective of his mate just as much as the wolf is. “And you should think first, be mad later. Does Jeongwon look like a daries to you?” At his silence, Yeonjun rolls his eyes. “Of course he doesn’t.”
“So, his mother was not a sorceress?” Seonwoo asks.
“Well, either that or...”
Jeongwon stands up before Yeonjun can end his sentence. He’s disappointed with the demon’s behaviour but he shouldn’t have expected anything else – it is in their blood to provoke. Without another word he makes his way to his bed, settling in while everyone remains quiet.
“What was the real reason the wizardry domain was attacked?” Yeonjun asks as he stares ahead at the place where Jeongwon is no longer sitting in. “There are reasons to believe the vampire king’s bond with his sorceress queen brought panic to the two domains. And instead of listening to words of reason, the two went ahead and mated. Jeongwon, this isn’t an insult to you, we’re just taking things into consideration. If the stories are true, then you have a daries sibling running around. And I’m almost one hundred percent sure that’s true.”
“How could’ve a daries survived for three hundred years without anyone finding it?” Jeongwon asks, clearly irritated.
“There are ways to control them. And there are ways to use them.” Yeonjun says, looking around at the others who are listening to him. “Daries are dangerous creatures, born only a handful of times since our creation. They feed on blood, not exclusively a sorcerer’s, and fight an incontrollable bloodlust even sated. They are addicted to the blood of sorcerers, so they are convenient servants. Strong, smart and dangerous, they are top predators among all races. And they seek out sorcerers.”
“It means there are more of them.” Beomgyu says, his eyes becoming wider the longer he looks at Yeonjun. “It means it’s already serving someone if it really is alive.”
“And someone wanted to prevent it from happening again. The war broke out, one race exterminated – we’re down to only one daries. A potential catastrophe was stopped. The king’s mating with a sorceress would have been a perfect excuse for the races to mix.”
Heesung pushes his chair back and stands up. “All right, I think we shouldn’t be talking about this while drinking.”
“Agreed. But I will take this one with me.” Jake takes a bottle of alcohol and hides it underneath his shirt before standing up and going to his bed.
Beomgyu stands up and Yeonjun follows, walking behind the sorcerer and disappearing behind a wooden wall hiding their bed.
Seonwoo and Riki exchange looks, not impressed by the whole situation. The vampire stands first, making sure Seonwoo doesn’t fall or trip. He’s seen him drink a few glasses during their discussion and he doesn’t know if he should be proud or worried about Seonwoo’s alcohol tolerance.
The boy lets Riki drag him towards the bed and sighs. “Why couldn’t I have been born during the peaceful times?”
His question echoes in the silent house but they all hear him. And they all wish the same, especially since they’ve lived during those times. It’s sad, nostalgic and heartbreaking that everything changed in a blink and the consequences are following them to this day.
Riki helps him lay down and doesn’t get to move away as Seonwoo holds onto his sleeve tightly. Without saying anything, he settles next to the boy on the bed and Seonwoo sighs loudly as he throws his arm and leg over him.
“Riki, you smell like... cherry blossoms.”
The vampire’s heart stops beating and he hears Heesung and Jake gasp from across the room. He pulls Seonwoo closer and wants to laugh but controls himself. What Seonwoo doesn’t know can’t hurt him.
And if he only knew what the scent of cherry blossoms means to vampires...
Soonyoung jumps in the spot when Kai throws a large bag on the floor. The latter stares at him, utterly disappointed with his unprofessionalism but Soonyoung doesn’t notice as he leans against a desk and sighs.
“Kai, you startled me.”
“Hm, you don’t say.”
Choosing not to argue with him, Kai opens the bag and kicks the demon in it in the back. “You better be nice.”
Soonyoung watches with wide eyes as the demon sits up and looks at the two of them with the nastiest look he’s ever seen on someone.
“I’m not talking, you dumbass!”
Kai doesn’t hesitate to kick him again.
“You look a bit familiar.” Soonyoung says.
The demon scoffs. “I’ve told you ten times already, I didn’t smell anything on the borders.”
“Then why are you not talking about something?”
“Because...” the demon yells, swinging his fist back but a simple raise of an eyebrow is enough of a question. He smacks his fist on the floor. “Prince Soobin will skin me alive!”
At this, Soonyoung crouches next to the demon and smiles. “My friend, if we bring you to Soobin and accuse you of withholding information... I think Soobin will do more than skin you.”
The demon stays quiet for a moment, thinking and looking between the two demons. He looks down and sighs.
“Can you keep my name out of this if I tell you? What I did was to protect my family.”
“Of course, but you’ll have to be relieved of your position. If you made a mistake once then you’re doing it again.”
“I agree with that. But I still want to serve prince Soobin.”
Kai stares at him for a moment, wondering if the demon will live to see tomorrow. But he nods. “That’s all right. We’ll think of something.” He doesn’t have to look at Soonyoung to know the demon is confused and worried about Kai’s promises.
The demon starts talking. “We were in the wolf domain, in the city. And someone was following me the entire time. I thought I got rid of him but when I least expected it, I was taken away like a sack of potatoes. I really don’t know where I was, or who I was talking to but I know one of them was a vampire. An older one. I also remember them smelling like... like forests and, and lemons, if it means anything to you.
Then one of them brought in my mate and kids and I had to do it. I had to open a portal for a few fairies. They brought no weapons with them, only their usual pouches but they were small and didn’t look like there was anything in there.”
Kai stands up and takes in a deep breath. “I suppose we should’ve seen that one coming.”
Soonyoung sits on a chair, still looking at the demon. “Fairies. Took them long enough to do something.”
“Yeah, they’ve been itching to crush Soobin since his younger days. We should report this to Soobin and see what he’ll do next.”
“Knowing him, he’ll probably go and face them.”
“Yeah. Convincing him not to do that will be easy. But we might not be able to stop him from releasing hell upon them.”
Taehyun plucks the blades of grass and sets them in his basket. He looks up when he sees rainbow reflect on the grass.
An attack?
He strains his ears to try and hear something.
He can’t hear anything.
There’s thrumming in the air and Taehyun’s breath stutters as he realizes there’s a dangerous presence approaching him. It’s wild and scalding, like fire. Taehyun begins to sweat from fear of being attacked but realizes the presence, whatever it is, is passing by him.
It feels like removing a massive stone from his chest.
He has to go back home.
“Ready?”
Jeongwon turns around to look at Jongseong while he’s fixing the collar of his shirt. He nods, smiling at the wolf as he approaches him and sits down.
“Yeah.” Jeongwon mumbles and sits next to him. “Though, I don’t have a really nice feeling.”
“Why? What are you thinking about?”
The vampire is quiet for a moment, organizing his thoughts and discerning his emotions.
“If, what we talked about last night is true... I feel like I have to find him. And I will most likely have to face the council because everything related to our past was witnessed by them.”
“You won’t be alone in this.”
“I know. But it will be so hard because their influence is too great. I can’t face them head on. I’ll lose.”
“Then we’ll figure out a plan once we return.”
Jeongwon pouts and leans against Jongseong, melting against the wolf as he wraps his arms around him. “Sometimes I just want to be a normal vampire, far from all this stupid stuff and problems.”
“I know, baby. I’m sorry this is happening to you.”
“I'm so glad I have you.”
He lifts his head and sharea a gentle kiss with his lover. Jongseong smiles and cups his cheek, looking into his eyes.
“Every step of the way.”
“Can you two stop being so gross?” Jake comes stumbling in the house, his shirt in his hand as he cradles a bottle of an orange liquid. He sits on his bed and holds his head in both hands. “My head is killing me without all that lovey dovey crap.”
Jeongwon rolls his eyes and stands up, Jongseong following him. “Jake, you’re losing your sense of propriety. I am your prince, after all.”
Jake hums. “Yeah, no, I think you’re his.”
He’s stunned into silence while Jongseong nods behind him, agreeing with Jake’s statement. Jeongwon grabs his hand and pulls him out of the house.
“Jake, you’re crossing the line.” His voice is weak as Jongseong watches the tips of his ears redden.
“Well, I guess some company was nice after so many years.” Beomgyu says as his guests stand before him.
“Yeah, most of you are a pain, but nothing unmanageable.” Yeonjun adds and flinches away when Beomgyu hits him with his elbow.
Jeongwon smiles and bows to them. “Thank you for saving my life. I welcome you to my domain anytime, should you decide to visit. If there’s anything I can do for you, please feel free to let me know.”
“Oh, are red honey fingers still being made? Can I get, like, a basket of those?” Yeonjun asks and Jeongwon is taken aback for a moment.
“Well, I think they are. I’ll bring a few to you, personally.”
“Awesome.” Yeonjun claps, a wide smile blossoming on his face.
Beomgyu closes his eyes for a moment, refraining himself from hitting the man again. Heesung steps forward and makes a circle with his hand, successfully opening a portal. One by one, they begin to step through it to the other side, waving to the couple staying behind. As Heesung is the last one left, he looks at them once more.
“You know, Jeongwon would’ve been thrilled if you’d taken his offer to come with us.”
Beomgyu smiles. “We know. But we have a few more things to take care of before leaving this place.”
“Besides, it might not be the best time now to go out there.”
Whether consciously or not, Yeonjun moves closer to Beomgyu. Whether Heesung understands the subtle action as Yeonjun’s worry or not, he has to agree with the demon.
Now definitely might be a wrong time to bring one more sorcerer with them. Even the first one is still being hidden from everyone.
With a small nod and a smile, Heesung steps through the portal and it closes.