nightfall || minsung

Chapter 22

Jeongin groaned, Seungmin laughed and Chan rolled his eyes. They couldn't let me get away with anything. I smiled, long-suffering, at Minho and sprinted away again.

I got into position behind Jeongin, who was up to bat, but my eyes were on Minho. It was smartest to zone out when Felix was pitching. He was the master at misdirection, at stalling — he was warming up on the pitcher's mound now.

"Batter up," Changbin called. "You got this, prince."

"I'll make you proud, babe." Felix rubbed the ball, tongue poking out the corner of his mouth, and lashed his arm out at lightning speed. The ball flew a couple yards and puttered out on the grass.

"Felix," Jeongin growled.

"Bum throw, lemme go again."

"You do this every time," Seungmin groaned in the outfield.

"I do not! Jisung, tell them I don't do this every time."

I was still staring at Minho, drawing little hearts in the air, and he was drawing them back.

"See?" said Felix.

"Jisung, pay attention." Jeongin smacked my head.

"Just batter up, disappointments," Haseong ordered.

Jeongin beat the ground with the bat and held it way back over his shoulder. Felix craned back on one foot, squinting, and chucked the ball. Somehow it swerved straight up and landed a few feet behind him.

Jeongin threw his bat — it bounced and nearly decapitated Chan. "Foul play!"

"Foul play?" Changbin asked Haseong.

"Foul play?" Haseong asked Minho.

Minho blinked. "What's happening?"

"Overruled," Changbin shrugged. "I wanna see how this plays out."

"Conflict of interest!" Jeongin accused.

"What else is new?" Felix wound up. "Here comes mama!"

"WAIT, I'M NOT READY."

Felix hucked the ball — it missed my face by inches.

"Christ almighty, Felix!"

"Out," said Changbin.

Jeongin snarled, lunged at Felix, who narrowly escaped his grasp and bounded the other direction.

Chan was up to bat after that — cracking his knuckles, lunging onto one knee. I waved at Minho to pass the time. He waved back.

Then I heard Felix gasp. His vision leaked into my mind in an instant. Three strangers — the nomads he had seen before — were approaching. They had smelled us, heard the crack of the bat, our footsteps buzz against the ground.

They'd be in the field in minutes. And Minho was here.

I sprinted to his side. He was still smiling. He didn't realize everything was falling apart.

"Felix, what's wrong?" said Haseong.

Felix ran to Changbin, and the rest crowded in around us.

"I don't... I couldn't...," Felix stammered. His mind was flitting between the nomads' proximity and the different futures arising as a result.

"What happened?" said Chan.

"The nomads..." Minho is here. Oh God, Jisung... Felix looked up for a quarter of a second. I saw my own fear in his eyes.

Changbin was trying desperately to calm Felix down, to ease us all. "What changed?"

"They heard us playing. It changed their path."

We looked at Minho simultaneously. He was leaning forward, intrigued, like we were a soap opera playing on TV. He flinched back when he noticed our eyes on him.

"Are they close?" Chan asked, turning to me.

I tapped into their thoughts, looked through their eyes... "A minute — less. They wanna play."

"Can you make it?"

"No, not with—" I stopped myself. "But the last thing we need is for them to start hunting anyway." It was dangerous to have Minho here, but it was more dangerous to make him a moving target. Vampires love to chase their prey.

We all looked at Chan. He thought through plan after plan, only to disregard each one when he found it wouldn't work. I tried to follow along but horror was jamming the gears and levers in my head.

"We keep playing," Chan finally said. "They're only interested in playing with us, yeah?"

It was the best option, I knew that, but I wanted so desperately to fight him on it. I wanted to growl and whine until everything was okay again.

"Changbin, sub in," I said. "I'll call it now."

I took Minho's hand. He pulled it up to his heart, rubbed circles into my skin.

The rest of them took their positions, scanning the field, watching Minho out of the corner of their eyes. Their thoughts were anxious, calculating — savagely protective. Hyunjin was cracking his fingers and neck, Jeongin's hackles were standing on end. Chan was a militant peacenik but he seemed the most prepared for a fight as he whispered his battle plan — too quietly for Minho to hear.

"The nomads get too close, we protect Minho. They growl, we protect Minho. Jisung, Felix, Hyunjin — get him out of here as soon as possible. If worst comes to worst, I want Seungmin on the frontlines, Changbin making them lethargic and the rest tearing heads off. I don't want to fight, but Minho is ours. He's everything here."

"The vampires you were talking about," Minho said then, distracting me. "They're here."

"They are." I didn't say anything more. His breathing was even, his heart rate swelling above average. He couldn't panic — a fast-beating heart would be just that much more conspicuous.

A lull, listening to his heart, his breath, his fidgeting fingers, willing them to slow.

"My love," I said then, "I can't tell you how—"

"Don't apologize. Don't."

I turned to him. He was so obviously human. I pulled his hood up, brushed my hands down his arms and hugged him. I didn't want to make it too obvious that I was trying to cover his smell with a vampire's.

"Try to be quiet, breathe evenly, stand as still as you can." I rubbed his back. "We'll protect you."

"Will you stay with me?"

"Of course I will."

"I love you so much."

I held him tighter, like I could protect him. "I love you, too. More than anything."

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apart from the drama at the end, it was really fun to write the brothers playing baseball. i still don't 100% understand how it works - sp0rts are complicated you guys

anyway, the song of the week is...

MAMAMOO - My Star

this song is super dramatic and super romantic. 'in the deep darkness that had nothing, the light that is you makes me exist.' it fits both minho and jisung tbh.

(does anyone here stan mmm?? who's your bias??)

plus HAPPY BIRTHDAY HWANG HYUNJIN!!! eat lots of good food sweetheart ❤️♥️💖❤️♥️💖❤️💖♥️

ok bye, see you next week <3