It was about noon the next day when Wooyoung and San were abruptly woken from their peaceful sleep.
A ruckus had disturbed them in their little dark room, only to be greeted by their captain. He was there to see if San was ready to be set free, and jokingly added making sure that Wooyoung was still alive.
Neither were fond of that joke, which quickly had Hongjoong apologizing.
So the thing is, the previous night/morning, after the couples little heart-to-heart, Yunho returned confused, but understanding of what happened. Sadly though, in order to ensure no one would be suspicious of what happened, Yunho had to lock San up again. Meaning that the vampire slept like that all night, with Wooyoung cuddling into his side. At least Yunho brought the hunter a blanket to at least try to keep warm.
"Where'd the blanket even come from anyway?" Hongjoong asked after lending Wooyoung a hand to help him up.
Wooyoung accepted the offer, being tugged onto his feet by the vampire. "Oh, uh, I went and got it after some time last night. I got kinda cold. So yeah."
Hongjoong hummed, seemingly accepting that answer. He reached down to San to also offer him a hand up, which the younger accepted as well. The leader was about to speak before being cut off with his own chuckle. San smirked a little as well.
Meanwhile Wooyoung turned beet red, putting a hand over his stomach.
"What have I said about reacting to that?" Wooyoung whined loudly, highly embarrassed. He slipped past Hongjoong and made his way out of the mock maze, about to reach for the door when there was a tug at his good arm, causing him to spin around.
He stood face to face with San, who held an apologetic look to his eyes. Hongjoong rounded the corner of the shelving units, smiling softly as he looked at the bonded pair as they bickered with one another.
"This is probably the best I've ever seen you after a close call San." Hongjoong remarked, interrupting the couples moment not only with his voice, but also by walking by them to get to the door. "I'm glad you're doing well."
San hummed, nodding his head. There was a look to him though that showed he was thinking, almost showing he was guilty, but it was equally as clear he was trying to hide it. At least for now.
"And I suppose we can wait a little bit longer so Wooyoung can eat." Hongjoong added, smiling a bit more cheekily in the hunters direction.
Wooyoung's jaw tightened as he glared at his leader, not appreciating the joke over his grumbling stomach.
"Is everybody else awake?" San asked innocently, following Hongjoong out of the room when the older started walking, looking back to hold the door open for Wooyoung.
"Essentially." Hongjoong replied with a sigh. "Jongho and Yeosang were both out on the couches, trying to stay awake, but they both keep drifting off. It's actually kind of funny since they keep leaning up against each other."
San chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm assuming Yeosang was trying to stay up to make sure no one else needed medical help."
"From what I understand, yes. You know how he gets sometimes." Hongjoong shrugged his shoulders, pausing his movements at the end of the hallway before they exit into the main part of the warehouse. "And same with Jongho, he wanted to make sure you'd be fine. I don't think either of them actually went to bed and just crashed on the couches."
In synchrony, San and Wooyoung let out heavy sighs. It got both of them to look to the other in a brief shock, earning a chuckle from Hongjoong.
"Anyway, go eat. Take your time, it's no rush." Hongjoong moved his head in the direction of the kitchen, showing a sympathetic look. "I'll go inform the others."
With that being said, the captain turned and walked into the main living space, already speaking to the others who were gathered. San looked to Wooyoung, waiting for the smaller to move so he could follow. Except Wooyoung also looked to San, awaiting the same thing.
Rolling his eyes, Wooyoung realized what happened, so he made his way towards the kitchen, only for an idea to pop into his head. With his hand on the door handle, he looked over his shoulder to try to spot Yeosang, quickly seeing him sitting on one of the couches, head leaning against the back of it. He didn't look the best, that was to say the least.
"Hey, Yeosang." Wooyoung called out, quickly earning not only the the mentioned's attention, but everyone else's as well.
"Yeah?" The vampire groggily replied, forcing his eyes to stay open as he located where the voice came from.
"I'm making food, and there's going to be a portion for you as well." Wooyoung stated with a smile, leaving options open for Yeosang to do what he wants, not forcing him to have to come into the kitchen at that moment in time. He knows that the vampire still likes to eat alone most of the time, so he at least wanted to have something made for him for whenever he would eat, however he liked.
Not waiting to hear a response, Wooyoung pushed the door opened and stepped inside. Of course San immediately followed, being the one to close the door behind them.
"That was nice." San commented, moving to sit at the counter space, simply watching Wooyoung begin to gather materials. Only he began to feel confused as his boyfriends movements slowed to a stop. "What's wrong?"
"I just realized..." Wooyoung trailed off, looking down at his dominant hand, which while he could use it, it was still sore to lift his arm and use it properly.
San stood from his chair, walking around the counter to stand before Wooyoung. With a few delicate fingers, he placed them on Wooyoung's chin, raising his head so their eyes could meet.
"Tell me what needs to happen, and I can make it happen." San smiled, voice soft as he gave his offer. "You can still do what you can with your left hand, but don't force yourself."
Wooyoung snickered, shaking out of San's hold, but despite him wanting to be annoyed, he couldn't stop the side smile from forming.
"Fine." Wooyoung sighed, rolling his eyes as he turned to the side, trying to hide how that really made him feel.
How despite learning something kept hidden, Wooyoung still felt this much happiness. How despite revealing something so troubling about himself, he didn't have a complete breakdown. They continued to be them.
With Wooyoung's carefully guided instructions, San was able to work his way through the kitchen for the first time in his life. He made so many mental notes of what to do and what not to do, and when Wooyoung would pause for a taste test, San would even try the human food as well, even though it wasn't appealing to him in the slightest. He wanted to make sure, even if it was one recipe, if Wooyoung was unable to guide him, and/or unable to make his own food, San would at least have something to bounce back on.
And this is the first time Wooyoung even considered letting San help in this way, so really, the vampire hadn't thought about trying to learn this skill before. Now he realized after trying this, how essential it might be to their relationship one day.
"Thank you for helping me." Wooyoung said quietly though full of appreciation.
"Of course." San replied, sitting on the opposite side of the counter where he initially was. He took occasional glances at Wooyoung as he ate, but for the most part either kept his gaze down, or looked elsewhere in the room. "It was actually kinda fun."
Wooyoung snorted.
"What? What's so funny?" San immediately questioned, his smile heard in his voice, the laugh not be hidden that well either.
"Just that a vampire found cooking fun." Wooyoung answered, looking up in a way that could be interpreted as a glare, but wasn't one in the slightest. "Don't get used to it though, as soon as my arm is better I'm making my own food again."
San pouted, "aww, why?"
Wooyoung again snorted out a laugh. "Because, I can make my own food. And frankly, I don't trust you making me anything edible without my guidance."
"Ouch." San held a fist over his heart, as if he just embedded a dagger into it, faking a pained expression. "I could be the greatest cook ever, and you wouldn't know it."
Wooyoung shrugged, smiling brightly. "Maybe. Maybe not. I will give you credit though, this does taste really good."
San smirked cockily. "See? I can be—"
"But only because I was telling you what to do, and you followed my words exactly." Wooyoung leaned forward slightly to finish his remark, also smirking cockily.
The two looked each other down from across the counter, waiting for the other to give up their little battle they had going on. Except they both lost at the sound of the door opening. They both straightened themselves back out, trying to calm their hearts and hide their flustered cheeks.
At the same time, the couple realized they didn't even take into account who walked in, so they turned their heads in unison to look at whoever it was. Only that made them look even more suspicious.
"Do I even want to know what was happening in here?" Yeosang sighed, shaking his head as he shuffled further into the room. "I can feel the tension in the air."
That statement only made Wooyoung's cheeks burn brighter, and San, well for the first time in a while he wanted to disappear. Usually he didn't get flustered like this, nor get embarrassed, or hell let alone blush like he was, but all of these things were very prominent to him in that moment. This whole sensation was unusual for him, and with one look across the counter, he realized he was mirroring exactly what Wooyoung was feeling.
Our bond, has it really grown to this degree? Is that actually even possible? Or is this all in my head? Is this what love is supposed to make me feel? It must be.
"Nothing was happening." Wooyoung defended, standing from his place as he watched Yeosang continue to approach.
"Uh huh, sure." Yeosang returned, not even looking in the hunters direction anymore as he made the sassy comment. "Thanks for thinking of me though, with making food."
"Oh, yeah, sure." Wooyoung tried to get himself to calm down, staring at the back of Yeosang's head as he dished himself up the remaining portion of the food. "But uh, you should thank San more than me, he was the one that did most of the cooking this time."
Yeosang spun on his heels, wide eyes landing on San.
"Really?" He sounded very shocked to say the least.
"Yup." San returned, nodding confidently, almost too confidently.
Yeosang's eyes went to Wooyoung.
"And you ate this food? And didn't die?" Yeosang, while still using that same shocked tone, was obviously playing around. It was clear in his eyes and the subtle smile.
San had an outburst then, all in good spirit though. He defended himself and his limited cooking abilities, even using the points Wooyoung made earlier to back himself up. Wooyoung and Yeosang glances at each other once, then bursted out into a fit of laughter. San looked between the causes of the deep and squeaky laughs, then spun on his heels to see the door being opened once again, Seonghwa leaning into the room.
Upon receiving questioning looks, Seonghwa explained himself. "There was a ruckus, I was just making sure everyone was okay in here."
The care was the most evident thing about Seonghwa, but there was no denying the fact that the laughter had gotten to him from outside the room, so there was an air of playfulness even to him as well.
"Yes, yes, everyone is fine." San grumbled, waving Seonghwa off with two hands while turning to sit back down in his seat. Only he immediately shot back up and appeared at Wooyoung's side in a heartbeat, taking the dirty dishes out of the hunters hands. "I said I would do the dishes, you go sit back down."
"You aren't the boss of me." Wooyoung repeated a line that felt foreign to him at this point, though the sassiness didn't disappear in the slightest. "You made the food, I can at least clean up."
"No." San held the dishes higher, out of the smallers reach, when he tried to grab at them. "Rest your arm."
"But—"
"Sorry Wooyoung, but I have to be on San's side for this one." Yeosang chimed in sheepishly, having sat at a free spot at the central counter space, but didn't begin eating quite yet. "You should rest your arm, at least until tomorrow." He was shot a look that doubled as a glare and mock betrayal. "Please?"
"You could come out here with the rest of us, Wooyoung." Seonghwa offered as a quick alternative, smiling when the hunters eyes landed on him. "Umm, Jongho....had some things to show you. Yeah."
Wooyoung rolled his eyes, picking up on the fact that that last part was obviously a lie, but nonetheless he backed away from the sink. He didn't even spare San or Yeosang a look as he walked out of the room, ducking past Seonghwa as well. The three vampires all looked to one another with sheepish expressions before doing their own things.
Seonghwa closed the door and followed Wooyoung back over to the couches, his eyes widening when he realized Jongho had fallen back asleep on the couch. He must've made an audible gasp as well.
Wooyoung chuckled, glancing over his shoulder to look at the taller. "I knew it was a lie anyway."
"What was a lie?" Mingi questioned, turning his attention to the others as they neared the couches. He and Yunho sat on the couch adjacent to the one Jongho was occupying, taking up hardly any space since they were so close.
"That Jongho—"
"Nothing important." Seonghwa interrupted cheekily, sitting beside Hongjoong on the floor.
The captain had both of his elbows resting on the coffee table, hands embedded into the back of his hair. He stared intently at the surface before him, lost in thought. It was like he was miles away, not giving any acknowledgment to what was happening around him. No one seemed worried either, so Wooyoung just assumed that this happened sometimes, and disregarded it as well.
"That was rude." Wooyoung commented, jokingly glaring at Seonghwa.
He got no response other than a brief teasing facial expression.
The change is insane sometimes, we all just dealt with some pretty serious stuff yesterday, where death was even involved, and it's like none of that happened. Even I'm acting that way too....
Breathing out, Wooyoung looked around for a place to sit. Despite there being more space on the couch that Jongho currently resided on, he didn't want to sit there in fear of waking the vampire up. But then again, he was sleeping through the noise of them talking, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. Still, he didn't go in that direction, instead he sat on the opposite side of the couch Yunho and Mingi were on, forcing himself to become very close to the armrest. This was the couch he and San usually sat on anyway, so it felt more natural to be at this angle. Not to mention Jongho was using the right side of his couch, and that's the side Wooyoung would prefer to be on right now.
"Hey, we don't have diseases you know." Mingi said playfully after watching Wooyoung sit down.
"I know." Wooyoung rolled his eyes, but then motioned to his right arm which now rested comfortably on the armrest. "But its better for my arm to be here."
Mingi hummed, nodding his head. Yunho then leaned back in the couch, looking at Wooyoung as well.
"How are you holding up?" Yunho asked delicately, and those words, well they held a double meaning, one that the others wouldn't understand. It felt like those words were more in reference to last night, rather than Wooyoung's current state.
"Fine." Wooyoung responded as he let out a heavy breath. He nodded reassuringly towards the taller, but something in his eyes must've not portrayed the same meaning.
Yunho's expression changed, as if saying, really?
Wooyoung's jaw clenched up and his own expression changed, yes, really.
Yunho looked back towards the others, accepting the end of that. Wooyoung appreciated it, looking ahead of himself again as well.
While it was quiet, it wasn't necessarily awkward amongst everyone. Except for Hongjoong, who was staring into space, and Wooyoung, who didn't have his phone, everyone was on their personal devices doing who knows what. Wooyoung was suspicious that the couple to his left were texting each other, since they both seemed to be typing on the screen pretty often, and had their ringers off.
Sighing, the hunter leaned his head back against the couch and simply stared at the high ceiling. His mind began going places, but he tried to focus on the more lighthearted thoughts. Like how he was lucky to of at least been able to change his shirt last night, since Yeosang gave him a spare one in the infirmary, but despite that he still felt gross since he didn't feel like he actually changed or got ready this morning.
Suddenly a face blocked his vision, leaning over from behind the couch, which caused his eyes to widen. After the initial shock, he huffed, the air blowing into San's face. The vampire was smiling despite the brief discomfort of air being blown at him.
"Where'd you even come from?" Wooyoung muttered, shaking his head as he sat upright again, watching as San rounded the couch to stand before him.
"The kitchen." San remarked like a smart-ass.
Wooyoung just stared at him. "I know that you idiot, I mean—"
"To be fair, I didn't even hear him at first either." Seonghwa budded in with a hesitant chuckle, causing San to move slightly so both he and Wooyoung could have the older in their line of sight. "I was lucky I saw him appear."
"Is Yeosang almost done?" Mingi asked, glancing over to the kitchen. With the way his voice lowered, it was like he was trying not to be indecent, or he was hoping Yeosang couldn't hear him.
"He only just started eating." San said with a downturn to his lips. "You know how he is, he didn't want to eat around me."
"It's okay, we have time." Seonghwa reassured, nodding his head and looking at everyone in the room.
Jongho began slightly shifting around, showing that he was likely to wake up soon.
"Hongjoong, are you okay?" San asked, staring directly at the mentioned with a tilted head. It seems other than Wooyoung, he was the only other one that seemed confused by the olders behavior. That's not to say the others necessarily weren't, San was just the only one that didn't care about speaking up.
Hearing his name, Hongjoong snapped out of his trance. His eyes seemed glossed over as he looked around, only waking up when he locked eyes with San.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." Hongjoong brushed off, sitting upright and tried to get a baring of his surroundings again. "Just lost in thought."
San eyed him skeptically before accepting that answer. He then sat on the floor directly in front of Wooyoung, using the hunters legs as a backrest. Wooyoung merely stared at the back of the vampires head, questioning the nonchalantness about him, but internally smiling about it at the same time.
"How are you?" Hongjoong didn't seem to want the attention to be left on himself, which is why he asked San that question.
"Great." San answered almost cockily, his hands turning outward beside him as if to show it off. "Like nothing happened."
Hongjoong chuckled to himself, shaking his head. Jongho and Seonghwa both appeared to have similar reactions.
"Who would've thought figuring out you're bonded to someone and him being by your side would've been the immediate solution all along?" Hongjoong stated his rhetoric question, again shaking his head.
Wooyoung felt the way San stiffened up, and with a quick glance to the side, he knew Yunho just did the same thing. Funnily enough, Mingi looked over at the same time, him and Wooyoung locking eyes for a moment.
"Yeah, who would've thought." San put up a pretty convincing act that nothing was wrong, his words trailing off.
I thought you wanted to tell the others...then again, I can't blame you for wanting to back out. If it isn't the right time for you, then that's okay. I just hope you know I'm supporting you no matter when you share it.
As if reading his thoughts, San threw his head back, hitting against Wooyoung's knees, which had them both cringing a little, and stared up into his boyfriends eyes. While he tried to seem playful to the others, Wooyoung could see the genuine fear and anxiety behind his eyes. He could only show a soft smile, reaching forward with his good arm to brush some of the hair out of San's face.
San continued to stare at Wooyoung despite the frequent hand blocking his vision. It calmed him to just admire his boyfriend and listen to his even heartbeat. He tuned the others out, and simply did his best to help himself in that moment.
Eventually after an unaccounted for amount of time Yeosang made his appearance. In a flash he was on the same couch as Jongho, just sitting on the opposite side. While he was still looking around at the others, his head had a downward tilt to it.
"I'm sorry I was—"
"Yeosang, what have we talked about? You don't need to apologize." Seonghwa cut off, sending a scolding look in the mentioned's direction despite his delicate tone.
Yeosang, slightly taken aback, bit his lower lip, nodding his head as he looked away from the older.
"Alright, well now that we're all here, let's get to talking, shall we?" Hongjoong placed his hands down flat onto the table, taking a breath as he looked around his crew. "Who would like to start?"
After everyone took glances to one another Mingi was the one to finally speak up. He took it upon himself to begin explaining what happened on their mission, and every once and a while Seonghwa or Yunho would speak up to give their own input, correct something, or make an additional comment.
Upon entering they tried to act as natural and casual as they could until it was too late. Yunho and Mingi lingered around some groups of people, watching each and every staff member that they could count. Seonghwa entered the building a few minutes later than them to begin executing their plan. The older never spared the couple a glance, instead going straight to the bar where he came up with a quick, deceitful plan.
There were two bartenders at the bar, where it wasn't necessarily busy but it wasn't empty either. Both of them were constantly on the move, only one faltered when Seonghwa sat in her section. Seonghwa immediately noticed the way that she seemed to take to him, and he absolutely used that in his favor. Her flirting attempts weren't subtle in the slightest, which Seonghwa returned with a ton of acting on his end.
Eventually the woman wanted to lead Seonghwa somewhere more private, even if she was on the job. Seonghwa followed into a door beside the bar, shooting a look over his shoulder at the couple still near the dance floor. Yunho and Mingi looked to each other and nodded, but that action was most definitely meant for Seonghwa, just not in an obvious way.
Seonghwa did admit it did feel bad leading this poor woman on, at least at first...until he realized he wasn't the only one acting.
After being led up a flight of stairs and being met with the horrendous smell of smoke, Seonghwa followed the woman into a sorry excuse of a bedroom. He closed the door behind him, leaning against it to try to keep to his act, but really, he just wanted to slip right back out of it.
He kept up with the flirting until the woman went to her nightstand, and surprisingly, pulled out a gun and pointed it at Seonghwa. Her hands were beyond shaky, so he knew even if she fired, she wouldn't have a good shot. He questioned her numerous times, feigning innocence up until she admitted she knew he was a vampire, and had to do her part.
"That confused me, but I couldn't get any other answers out of her." Seonghwa sighed, shaking his head as he recalled the event. "She was only human, so even with my speed, she didn't know what hit her. I simply disarmed her and knocked her out. I didn't want to have to kill her unless if she left me no other choice."
During that time Yunho and Mingi noticed a few uncomfortable shifts amongst the staff, but nothing of true significance. They received a quick, brief text from Seonghwa, telling them to exit the building and go up the fire escape on the side. Wooyoung had given them a rundown of the building before all of this happened, so they were hoping to get one person upstairs so they could open the fire exit door and let the other two in. They didn't want to be outnumbered upstairs where it could be a lot more dangerous.
So Mingi and Yunho unsuspectedly made their way out of the building, and because it was dark, they slipped into the side alleyway unnoticed and carefully climbed the fire exit. Seonghwa waited anxiously, opening the door when he heard the other two outside. They were all thankful there wasn't any kind of alarm system to alert people to them, when in reality there definitely should've been.
Mingi in that moment gave the others masks to hide their faces, and also to kind of block out the terrible smell, saving one for himself as well. Though hiding their faces was kind of pointless at that point, since they were seen on the cameras downstairs anyways. That was an afterthought that they didn't consider initially.
The three snuck through the narrow corridors, hating the creaky floorboards but loving the loud music from downstairs as a coverup. Their ears would pick up on these smaller sounds, but no human ear should. There were two humans that they did encounter, both unarmed, but both panicking upon seeing the vampires.
Yunho knocked them both out with little regard to the injuries they would sustain, or if they would even live. It was the easiest for him to be the one to protect them in this instance.
After that they found the unoccupied head office. It set them off because they were expecting to see the boss that Wooyoung described residing in here. Regardless, they took the chance to raid the room, looking for anything and everything that could help them. Yet nothing seemed to be of any use on the surface. Mingi found the boss's computer, and began hacking into that as the others continued to look through books and files galore.
It was then that Yunho tried to pull a book away from the bookshelf and found it had some resistance to it, but with the speed he pulled it at there wasn't time to question anything as a click emitted from it and the bookshelf moved away from the wall. Mingi was too focused on hacking the computer to truly notice, getting additional help from Yeosang over a protected call. Seonghwa on the other hand locked eyes with Yunho, and they knew that wherever that passage led was where the information they wanted was.
As a quick measure of defense, Yunho moved some heavier chairs and one of the other bookcases to block the door after locking it. Without leaving any room for debate Yunho started for the secret passage, trying to get Seonghwa to stay with Mingi, but the older didn't listen and followed, insisting Mingi would be safe now that those extra defenses were up anyway.
Yunho relented, turning to start going down the very narrow hallway, which led to a very steep set of stairs. There was hardly any room to move walking normally, so both men had to walk at a strange sideway sort of angle, Yunho keeping his dominant hand facing forward, while Seonghwa kept his dominant hand facing the back.
The grey concrete walls turned even murkier as they got to the bottom of the staircase, revealing a square room. Most notably amongst all of the random belongings down here was a giant safe in the far corner. The two theorized that these goods were stolen, that had to of been the only reason such a random assortment of all kinds of things were hidden away like this, especially since none of them looked to have any true personal value.
Mingi chimed in that that must've been the time he was hacked into the computer and was sifting through files upon files, and conversations upon conversations.
Yunho continued, explaining how he went to the safe immediately to try to see if he could get in it, while Seonghwa kind of picked through a few things here and there throughout the room. He couldn't find any sort of fault in the safe, and certainly couldn't just guess a code to get it to work, so he sent Mingi a quick text asking if he's seen any indication of a code.
To his surprise Mingi sent back a picture of the computer screen, filled with numerous different number and letter combinations, claiming they were in a document titled passwords. Mingi was apparently already looking through that for something he needed, and Yunho happened to text at the right time.
It was a hassle, but Yunho read through all of the information, trying to find the right code initially so he hopefully wouldn't set off an alarm for inputting the wrong one. Seonghwa took that time to continue scavenging, though found little things of value.
"All except for that thing I showed you Hongjoong." Seonghwa looked over to the leader as he said that, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't think it was of major significance, it was just this little coin looking thing, the only reason I grabbed it was cause it had a pirate ship on it and figured he'd like it. I wouldn't have even seen it if it didn't happen to fall near my foot when I picked up something else."
Wooyoung's brows furrowed. Weird. Why did we find something with a pirate ship on it at both locations?
Wooyoung didn't get a chance to speak up about his thoughts quite yet as Yunho continued talking.
The safe luckily didn't have an immediate alarm, still Yunho was conscious of how many mistakes he made. After a few attempts the safe did in fact open, which had Yunho shaking his head in disbelief. Disbelief that he actually found the right password, and disbelief that this person would just leave all of their passwords in such an easy to find place.
Pulling the door open, Yunho was met with an appalling amount of money stacked high in the small space. He knew it had to of been stolen, not just because it was hidden in such a place, but also because almost every stack consisted of a different currency. But the money wasn't what caught Yunho's interest. He took a few steps forward, in that time Seonghwa appearing behind him to also get a look at this for himself.
Picking up an odd stack of documents, Yunho flipped one open, feeling a wave of confusion wash over him. He looked over his shoulder to Seonghwa, who also seemed taken aback by the information he briefly saw. He locked eyes with Yunho, nodding his head as a way to signify that those definitely needed to come with them.
Seonghwa left and returned with two duffel bags he found within the mess, giving one to Yunho. The taller prioritized taking every single document while Seonghwa stole the already stolen money. As they filled their bags though, loud bangs sounded from upstairs, sending immediate panic through Yunho.
The taller didn't even wait for Seonghwa and was up the stairs in record time. There were people at the door, trying to get inside. A commotion started, shouts and banging filling both the room and the hallway. Mingi was still trying to download everything on the computer, and he admittedly started panicking since it wasn't going fast enough.
Seonghwa was up the stairs moments later, closing the bookcase behind him. He went to the windows located on the back wall, drawing the curtains. He concluded that if push came to shove, they could jump. After all, they were only on the second story, hanging outside of the window and dropping wouldn't do too much damage. Yunho didn't like it since Mingi was physically weaker than them in that kind of way, but Mingi assured that he would be okay and that was the only way they could get out of there.
For a few minutes Seonghwa and Yunho held the blockage in place, ensuring the humans wouldn't get inside. All was well until bullets flew through the door, cracking the wood, breaking the lock, some even flew so far as to shatter one of the windows. Both of them ducked down, looking to Mingi, each with a different reason, Yunho to ensure he was okay, Seonghwa to see if they could take their leave.
"I couldn't get everything, but I'm sure that I got the stuff that was significant." Mingi ran a hand down the side of his face, obviously beating himself up from the way his eyes were lowered and his head shook. Even the reassuring arm around his shoulders from Yunho didn't seem to lift his spirits.
"I might be able to hack into the computer from here if you got the right information." Yeosang muttered, his leg bouncing anxiously as everyone could see that there were thoughts swimming through his mind. "That is, if there is any loose ends. If you did what I told you, then you should've gotten everything we would need."
Mingi hummed, nodding his head. That seemed to at least reassure him a little.
From there it was explained how the three made their escape. Seonghwa was the first to the window, breaking away the remaining glass with his elbow, dusting off any nasty shards to prevent getting cut. He then climbed into the window, looking around to ensure there weren't a whole lot of people out on the street, then hung from the windowsill and allowed himself to fall. He landed gracefully, taking a few steps back to look up to where he just fell from.
Yunho poked his head out of the window, throwing the two duffle bags down seconds later. He instructed Mingi to go first, to which the he did. Yunho followed right after, his last sight of the room being the humans breaking down the barricade. He didn't even hang down like the other two, just fell straight onto the concrete. Mingi was worried, but Yunho wanted them out of there, to the point he wasn't paying attention to his own wellbeing. Not like he got injured from that though.
The humans shouted, but were smart enough not to fire shots from the window out into the street. The three vampires took off back to where Yunho parked his car a few streets down. They piled in, Yunho already driving before the others could even put their seatbelts on.
Their getaway wasn't simple, even though they outran the humans that were trying to get into the office space, there must've been others waiting around in the lower level, or hell maybe there was even security off premises already ready in cars. It was a full on car chase for a long while, which definitely didn't help Mingi's unease at the time.
Yunho didn't even know where he was driving, just that he was doing everything in his favor to out-drive their pursuers. They're all lucky Yunho is a skilled driver, no matter what vehicle he's in, so long as he can get speed, he's out of there. He can and will find ways fit in the most anxiously small spaces to hide or utilize the most busy roads to weave recklessly through traffic, it doesn't matter, he will make any situation work in his favor so long as vehicles are involved.
Unluckily, the people chasing them were willing to go to equally extreme lengths to catch them. Shots were fired upon reaching a desolate road. It caused Yunho to swerve more than he would've liked after being startled from the fact that his side mirror was just taken out by a bullet. Now the humans were asking for it. Seonghwa took it upon himself to fire shots back at the other cars, aiming for tires and the car engine rather than the humans. Mingi on the other hand ducked low in his seat, staring straight ahead to try to get his fears under wraps, as well as trying not to get car sick while the car only picked up in speed.
Seonghwa ended up taking out all of the other cars, he only had to shoot one of the front tires to a few different cars before causing them to lose control and crash into each other. It was a huge mess of car pieces going everywhere, and a pile of cars itself. Anyone that lived would be severely injured, that is, if there were any survivors.
"But yeah, we managed to get away without any other people following from that point." Yunho scratched the back of his neck, trying to recall anything else, his voice on the lower end. "I have no idea what happened at that place or mess, nor do I really care. We got what we wanted, but who knows how many of those humans were in those cars, how many witnesses there were, or who all might be looking for revenge. I don't think we left enough tracks to be followed though."
Everyone took some time to process that information, especially knowing they were about to get a whole lot more.
"Does your car need a lot of repairs?" Jongho asked, trying to get Yunho out of his own mind and onto something he cares about in a more positive way.
That seemed to backfire a little though, since Yunho only let out a heavy huff of annoyance, his head falling back on the couch.
"Yes. Broke my side mirror, some of the paint got scratched up, a bullet hole is in the back, tires probably aren't in the greatest condition anymore, amongst a few other things. I'm just glad the main windows didn't break, and they had terrible shots and didn't get my tires. There's probably other tune up and repairs that I couldn't immediately assess, so to say the least, it'll take me a bit to get it back into the condition I like it, but it shouldn't be too extremely costly."
Pausing to look at his side, Yunho nudged Mingi's head playfully, causing the younger to let out a sound of surprise and look to his boyfriend.
"Probably is going to be a while till Mingi gets in a car with me driving too." Yunho chuckled, leaning in to give the mentioned a quick peck to show that he was playing around.
Still, Mingi protested, defending himself. "It's not my fault you drive like a psycho that belongs in some car-action-movie-thing, even without my fear of fast moving vehicles I know for a fact I still wouldn't have liked it." Mingi huffed, looking over at Seonghwa, then pointed a finger. "I know he didn't like it either."
"Hey, don't get me involved!" Seonghwa's eyes went wide, hands shooting up in mock surrender.
After a few more moments of bickering, the group finally got back onto the topic at hand. San and Wooyoung took their time explaining everything that happened on their end. Their stories were essentially similar, not having to add too much when the other was talking, just naturally they took over different parts. It took a while for everything to get out, but in the end, everyone was caught up on everything. Even Hongjoong and Yeosang had a little bit to share, nothing much that the others didn't know, but assured things were running as they should on their end.
Silence filled the room as everyone processed everything once again, and thought of what this meant for them.
"So we know where this last base is, and how to get in." Jongho muttered, nodding his head.
"Correct. We have a lot more planning though to figure out how we should go about this." Hongjoong returned, sighing as his thoughts obviously were already running every which way. "We need to do this a lot sooner than later though, like a week is the absolute maximum amount of time to waste. If word gets to this final group about how theres been infiltrations and deaths at their other two locations, then we won't end up with anything."
"It'll give us enough time to sift through all the information though." Yeosang added, already turning to look over into the dark corner where everything was laid out. "Theres a lot to go through, but we will for sure get plenty of answers."
"It just...this seems like its a whole lot bigger than us." Mingi spoke softly, almost like he didn't want to say that aloud.
"Agreed." Hongjoong nodded in his direction, tapping his fingers against the coffee table. "Whatever we've gotten ourselves into this time, I'm afraid we won't be able to get out of it until it's completely resolved. And who knows how long that'll take."
Wooyoung groaned, head falling back onto the couch. San immediately turned around to see what was wrong, putting a reassuring hand on his knee.
"Wooyoung?" San questioned, now patting the hunters leg when there was no response.
"I feel used again." Wooyoung whispered, looking up at the tall ceiling as he let out those words. "I had no idea the place I used to be at was involved in something so deep, and I thought I knew everything about them. Whatever is going on, the fact that I had documents that would lead me to vampires, the random appearance of old coworkers, god it's just...I hate being a connecting point like this."
"Wooyoung you wouldn't of known that any of this would've happened." Hongjoong was able to speak up first to reassure. "There is no need to blame yourself for anything, there is simply nothing to be blamed for."
Wooyoung groaned as a way to respond, still looking up at the ceiling.
The others ignored him, starting to talk again about what they should do and how they should do it. They decided to divide up all the information to look through and would only note the things of importance, they would only get rid of the other information after its been checked over by a couple different people. A painstaking task, but it was what needed to be done.
"For now though, we rest. I know I said that we are on a time crunch, but we won't be as efficient in our current states." Hongjoong explained, finalizing everything. "We'll begin tomorrow morning."
No one disagreed to that.
"You better adhere to that too." Seonghwa grumbled, somewhat jokingly, more so serious, in the captains direction.
"I will." Hongjoong sighed, sending an assuring look to the other. There was a look to him though that made it seem like he was caught.
Everyone began gathering themselves then, going to rest in different places or just talking amongst one another about more lighthearted topics. Almost everyone had stood up, Wooyoung looked at the back of San's head questioningly since the vampire hadn't moved yet. Wooyoung could tell he was anxious, so he reached down and put a hand on his shoulder.
San snapped from his thoughts, looking back at Wooyoung, only to feel his worries wash away. He bit his lip for a moment, taking in the beauty of Wooyoung's eyes, before feeling confident in what he was going to do.
"Wait!" San called out, quickly snapping his head back in the direction of everyone else.
Most of the others were still in the nearby area, only Mingi and Yunho pausing on the stairs to see what was going on. Yunho locked eyes with San, and in that moment, he realized what was about to happen.
"I...there's something else I need to share." San couldn't control the pounding of his heart, or the way his hands shook at his side. He could only sit on his hands and hope that would be good enough. There was a pressure against his other shoulder, and from both hands came a reassuring squeeze, reminding him Wooyoung was right behind him.
Confusion grew amongst everyone else, regardless they waited around to see what this was about.
Taking a deep breath, San closed his eyes, releasing that same breath, he opened his eyes again. Breathe.
"There's something I've been keeping from all of you." San started, voice audibly shaking despite the fact that he wanted to remain as calm as possible. "Something that...I think you all should know now."
The air was quiet, thick with confusion and anticipation. San hated it, he hated feeling singled out like this, it made his fears worse. Another squeeze on his shoulders, thumbs tracing patterns delicately. He continued.
"There's no right way to put it, so I guess...I just need to say it." San was shaking his head, trying to think of the right way to go about this, making him wish he rehearsed something beforehand. Then again, every time he's rehearsed something it's always gone off the hook anyway. "I...I need vampire blood to survive. It's the reason I go crazy for lack of a better word. I get low on vampire blood, and you all know, when your low on blood you're closer to insanity. Human blood can prolong that kind of, sometimes more than others, but...yeah. I hope you aren't mad at me for keeping that and you aren't—"
"Woah, no one here would ever be mad at you for that." Hongjoong interjected, obviously processing the fast words San said, but needing to be caring and nurturing at the same time. There was some silence for a minute or so before he continued. "Everything is starting to make so much sense now."
"It really is." Seonghwa muttered in agreement, some of the others making a similar remark.
"If that's the case, how have you been getting blood?" Yeosang questioned lightly, trying not to trigger anything, but really was too curious not to ask.
Something clicked then and Hongjoong turned his head back to Yunho, who visibly didn't seem surprised in the slightest. "You knew, didn't you? You have been his blood source."
"Yeah." Yunho answered lowly, unable to look his leader in the eye.
Mingi seemed even more taken aback, not betrayed, just confused as things started making connections in his head. He looked to Yunho, and Yunho looked to him. They were communicating without saying any words. Things were making a whole lot more sense now. All the times Yunho and San would disappear to talk, it was actually buying them time for San to get the blood he needed, Yunho's vampire blood. All the times Yunho's neck was sore, or would have his wrists covered for seemingly no reason. The fact that whenever San had an outburst, Yunho was there, with a duplicate set of keys, and San always seemed better afterwards.
"How did I not see this sooner?" Hongjoong questioned aloud, saying something they were all thinking. "Everything was right there in front of me, hell San, you even took my blood before, and I just, didn't connect the dots." He paused, brows furrowing as he looked over to the mentioned. "Why did you feel the need to keep that from us? We could've helped you, and—"
"I don't know." San cried out, head falling forward against his knees so he could hide better. "I thought, I don't know, like I was a monster or something cause I don't survive on human blood. And I thought it'd scare you all if I needed to have—"
"Do we really seem like the type to get scared cause of something like that?" Jongho laughed lightheartedly, trying to be a voice of reason. "Did you forget what we all do in life? You possibly having to take one of our blood here and there is nothing."
"Seriously, I mean if I knew that from the get go, I'd of even offered you mine. Granted, I don't know if it'd even help you that much." Yeosang added, smiling in San's direction as assurance that nothing was wrong with him, that there was no judgment in the air. "It's not as much of a scary thing as I think you've made it seem in your head."
Now San cried for a different reason, still keeping his face hidden nonetheless.
"You know, I've known some vampires here and there through my life that would casually drink vampires blood as well." Seonghwa added, shrugging his shoulders and keeping his voice neutral. "If you rely on it, then there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Hell, there was one unfortunate guy I knew way back when that needed hunters blood to survive, just like you human blood could hold him off, but he needed hunters blood to set him back on the right track. Same thing with the rest of us actually, we could drink hunters or vampires blood to hold off a little, but need human blood in the end. Just dangerous for us cause in our case drinking another vampire's blood could lead to terrible things, as you've seen already with that psycho guy from before, but every once in a while is fine. You aren't like that though, since you need it, so really San, you're okay."
Wooyoung removed one of his hands from San's shoulder and instead trailed up it and down his upper back. The vampire continued to let out some pretty hefty sobs, probably so taken aback by how positive the others are taking this when he thought he'd be abandoned for this.
Hongjoong stood from his place, carefully treading over to where San was sitting. Mingi moved his legs to give Hongjoong room once he realized that the older was sitting on the floor beside San. Wooyoung also let go of San, uncertain as to what would happen, but wanting to give the leader some room. Gently, Hongjoong raised an arm, putting it around San's shoulders, moving him in a way that would cause San to lean against his side. His hand rubbed slowly up and down San's arm, silently calming him.
"I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you had to hide that from us." Hongjoong said quietly, voice lulling everyone into a sense of calm. "Shh...it's okay. I'm sorry for being so ignorant and not considering that you might've not drank human blood, but I hope you know that doesn't change my image of you in the slightest. We work with this moving forward, and the second you feel your thrust becoming too much to handle, you can tell me, and I'll make sure to get it under control."
"Me too." Seonghwa chimed in, smiling when San picked up his head.
Everyone else chimed in one by one, San watching each of them say that they'd offer their blood to him as well. Mingi wasn't sure if his blood would suffice, since he is turned and all, and Yeosang already explained his reasoning, but it didn't go unappreciated in the slightest. Yunho of course had to joke a little about San already taking his blood, so he of course didn't need to make a fuss if he needed blood again.
"Of course, if you are more comfortable with Yunho's blood, then you have to do what works for you." Hongjoong nodded in reassurance, standing again when San seemed to calm down. He held a hand out for San to take, helping the younger up. "We've got your back through anything, like how we know you have ours. We may be tough on you, but it's cause we care for you. Alright? Don't forget it, you always have a place with us."
San smiled, tear streaks still staining his face. He sniffled, wiping them away as he nodded his head.
"God, it's like the world has stopped crushing me." San laughed with a saddened tone, sniffling again as he took a look around at all the others.
They were still the same people he knew and loved, and he was the same to them. Nothing changed despite this big secret being revealed.
"If anything, I might be able to use some of the medical equipment to create a separate blood stash for you San." Yeosang explained, already planning things out from the sound of it. "It wouldn't be difficult, and we have spare stuff lying around. Each of us could chip in."
"You don't need to do that." San shook his head, voice showing his appreciation but dejection of the idea. "Really, cause I mean, I don't like stored blood anyways."
It seemed like he might've continued his sentence, but was cut off by Yunho. "He likes the thrill of the hunt."
San yelled at him, reaching back for a pillow to throw in his direction. "It's not like that, and you know it!"
Yunho caught the pillow with ease, throwing it back at San. "Sure, says you who doesn't know how to control your damn fangs."
"I try my best and you know it." San whined in return, trying to throw the pillow again only to find some resistance. He turned to see Wooyoung holding the pillow, eyes pleading for him to stop.
"I don't want either of you to hit my arm with that thing. It's a pillow but your strength makes it like a rock." Wooyoung explained, gaining chuckles and laughs from the others.
San took a second to pause then, looking around with that same subtle smile on his face. Nothing changed in the slightest. He realized then, there were no more secrets, nothing holding him back anymore. He could be completely him, and no one judged him here. Now thinking about it, he didn't know what he was thinking, the fear really got to his brain. Of course none of them would think any different of him, and now, he was even more glad Wooyoung was by his side, since he would've never gotten this off his chest if it weren't for him.
"No more secrets, right?" Wooyoung questioned cautiously, voice lowered originally, as if he were reading San's mind. The vampire nodded with a smile, quickly changing to shock as Wooyoung's smirk grew. "Well then, it's official and everyone should know, San and I are dating."
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A/N: Hello everyone, I just wanted to say a quick thank you for more than 6k reads and more than 400 votes. I can't express how much it means to me to see this story continue to grow.