[Fic] Myth
Title: Myth
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, vampires
Prompt: Vampire!AU. Vampire!Zhou Mi. Fluff. Kyuhyun is someone who doesn't believe in those things.....and then they got involved in this complicated fights between vampire clans.
***
Perhaps there were other things that could have drawn Zhou Mi. The lines of Kyuhyun’s neck first among them, or the way his hair brushed his cheek in front of his ear, or the fine, straight line of his nose.
But it was Kyuhyun’s mouth. Lips dark in the light, wet, either from his glass or his tongue. Zhou Mi watched them part, watched them curve. They were curving for another man, and Zhou Mi let his hands curl in front of his pants pockets. The only thing to do would be to try. But he got his chance, waiting until Kyuhyun was alone, buying a drink for him, and watching as Kyuhyun asked the bartender who it was from. When Zhou Mi smiled, Kyuhyun’s head tilted. And that was really all the invitation he needed.
Just a drink that night, talking at the bar. Just a drink, almost a week later, when he learned that Kyuhyun was from across the river.
It was trouble just being there, but hearing those words from Kyuhyun’s lips, asking twice even to be sure, staggered him. It wasn’t possible. Sometimes he went to drink because it was safe. He wouldn’t be tempted. But there Kyuhyun was, a shadowed smirk catching Zhou Mi’s breath, and all his interest.
“Come with me,” Zhou Mi urged, his hand on Kyuhyun’s wrist. They’d been talking for half an hour past the realization that Kyuhyun could be- And Zhou Mi’s ability to hold himself back was waning. He needed to know so many things. There was a danger, but if he was careful, he’d be fine. They’d both be fine. He just needed to know if Kyuhyun was someone he could risk everything on.
In the alley, a lone light shone. Enough to see. Enough for it to not be frightening. He had no weapon, no reason for Kyuhyun to fear him as they faced each other.
Kyuhyun’s eyebrows rose as Zhou Mi’s thumb traced his cheekbone. For a moment, he wondered if he’d been too subtle,
“Just a kiss,” Zhou Mi promised.
As though a kiss could be just a kiss. His heart took a hard thud as Kyuhyun’s fingers slipped between his shirt buttons. Pulling him in. Holding him close. And he finally, finally got to feel those lips against his, salt and bitter alcohol. Warm to the touch, Kyuhyun’s hair so soft against his fingers as their bodies, their faces, tilted together. It felt like heat was leaping from him as Kyuhyun’s fingers scraped down the back of his jacket. It was too easy to imagine a moan, Kyuhyun pressed down beneath him. But he was the one moaning, at the tease of Kyuhyun’s tongue, the grip he took on Zhou Mi’s neck.
Just a kiss. Just need, and heat, and Kyuhyun’s shudders as Zhou Mi pinched his earlobe. Oh. Sensitive there. How much more if he were to suck, or bite-
A hand on his shoulder had him jerking, Kyuhyun gasping as he pulled away. And Zhou Mi’s stomach sank, even as he squeezed Kyuhyun’s side in reassurance.
“Looks like we have a poacher here, boys,” the man said.
“Some little river rat in our territory.”
A second and third, behind Zhou Mi.
“Don’t worry,” he mouthed to Kyuhyun, turning so he could face the men.
The vampires.
“He’s from across the river, too,” Zhou Mi said. “You have no cause to stop us.”
“He’s been here before. You go. He can stay.”
The taller vampire had a mean look about him, just short of baring his teeth. Leave the human, his expression seemed to say, and I’ll do the biting myself.
Zhou Mi lifted his chin, sliding his hand around Kyuhyun’s arm. “If I cross the river, then what? You’ll have created more trouble for yourselves. Do you want that? We’ll both leave tonight.”
They seemed to think about it. To take a human from across the river, with a his knowledge, could create a spike in hostility that hadn’t been seen in a decade. He was out of bounds himself, on the wrong side, but at least he knew better than to touch a human from there as well. Kyuhyun had just been an unexpected find.
Zhou Mi stepped to his left to stop the other vampire from reaching for Kyuhyun.
“Let us go. Now!”
The last word was explosive, and even Kyuhyun jerked behind him.
“Don’t let us see you back here,” they warned.
The path cleared, Zhou Mi urged Kyuhyun ahead of him, not trusting the vampires either way.
“What the hell-“ Kyuhyun tried asking, half turning as they went around the corner of the building.
“I’ll explain. Is there anything you need from inside? Then we need to get in a taxi and out of here, now.”
Kyuhyun’s mouth closed, not looking happy but at least still moving. Zhou Mi didn’t really relax until the taxi had started moving, but it seemed Kyuhyun was even more tense.
“What just happened?” Kyuhyun asked after Zhou Mi had given the driver an address. “Who were they? What was all that about territory? Are you in some kind of gang? What-“
“Shh,” Zhou Mi soothed, glad that Kyuhyun was talking low so the driver wouldn’t be wary. “No, I’m not. I’ll tell you why that happened. The address I gave is near where I live. There’s a restaurant there. We can sit, and I’ll try to explain.”
How much he could tell, he didn’t know. How much he wanted to tell, there was that, too. That he wanted Kyuhyun was obvious. If he trusted Kyuhyun with a very dangerous secret, he had to find that out fast.
***
It wasn’t every day that Kyuhyun almost got jumped in an alleyway after almost getting…jumped. There hadn’t been much question of where that kiss might’ve been leading, had they not had a reason to part. Something strange had happened there. Something strange that had Zhou Mi buying him a smoothie, and sitting down with him. It was a public place, and the kiss had been good, so Kyuhyun had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. At least until Zhou Mi tipped his bullshit radar over, he was going to satisfy his curiosity. Not a gang, Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun noted the truth in that. But that didn’t explain everything.
“Have you ever read the book Dracula?”
Kyuhyun thought on that for a moment, stumped. “I haven’t. But I mean, I know about vampires. Bats, and coffins, and stuff.”
As a way to change the subject it was a pretty bad one. They could talk sci-fi the whole night, but he wasn’t going to forget that they’d nearly gotten beaten up by three thugs. But still, he watched as Zhou Mi’s head dipped, lips curving for a moment as he shook his head.
“Vampires are the same as unicorns. Or fairies, right?” Zhou Mi said.
“Right?” Kyuhyun answered. It felt almost like a trick question.
“What if a news article came out saying a vampire was real? Not able to turn into a bat or anything, but surviving on blood, in the classic sense.”
“Wasn’t there a guy like that somewhere in Europe or something? I read an article.”
Zhou Mi again shook his head. “A vampire, if real, would have a very limited ability to feed. There would be a small number of trusted humans, if there were to be no laws broken. Much like in the wild, predators have certain territories so they do not all starve.”
“Okay,” Kyuhyun said slowly. “And your point is…?”
“If we’d been alone, and those guys hadn’t interrupted, would you have slept with me?” Zhou Mi waved him off as Kyuhyun sputtered. “I’m not looking for a compliment or trying to proposition you. I’m just saying, that if you were willing to go outside with me, to kiss me like that, you had to have wanted me, trusted me a little.”
Again, Kyuhyun was stumped. “Right?”
The fact that he was sitting there right then was proof. Not that gang members really had a type. Zhou Mi could be some mafia Kyuhyun had never heard of. And then, Zhou Mi was standing, pulling him out of his chair.
“What?”
“Come with me.”
The bathroom. Well lit, secluded, though not enough that he couldn’t be heard if he called for help.
“I’d take you outside,” Zhou Mi said. “But I need you to be able to see. If you freak out, if- Trust me, all right? I’m a man who really likes you, who really enjoyed kissing you.”
Kyuhyun was going to try to answer, truly. But Zhou Mi’s mouth had parted, and like some kind of slick CGI, two long and pointed teeth seemed to descent behind Zhou Mi’s normal teeth. His human teeth. He watched Zhou Mi’s tongue touch one and then the other.
He looked a bit like a saber toothed human. And Kyuhyun as a bit lost.
“So… Are you gangs of rival cosplayers? Some LARP group? I don’t…”
It was kind of geeky, to be sure, though Kyuhyun didn’t really feel like he could judge as a gamer. No wonder Zhou Mi had been a little reluctant to tell him. Most people’d be kind of embarrassed, even if they didn’t really need to be.
Zhou Mi’s hand flew to his mouth, covering it as the laugh burst out.
“Oh. Oh, Kyuhyun. No, this is not a game.”
The alternative might be that Zhou Mi was a bit overzealous in his beliefs. Which was putting it kindly. In which case, Kyuhyun would need to go. Zhou Mi could find a true believer to convert in someone else, to role play whatever vampire fantasy he was living in.
“Do you understand what I’ve been trying to tell you?” Zhou Mi asked, hand stopping halfway to reaching for Kyuhyun’s arm.
Kyuhyun could venture a guess. “You think you’re a vampire?”
Zhou Mi’s eyes warmed, almost as though he were pleased by Kyuhyun’s conclusion, and Kyuhyun’s stomach sank. He was going to have to gently extract himself. Claim he’d left the oven on, or something.
“What you saw tonight was a conflict spanning many decades,” Zhou Mi told him. And Kyuhyun thought it was a good thing that Zhou Mi was physically between him and the door. “The river is the parting of two…clans, I suppose you could call them. My clan is based here on this side of the river, and the men, vampires, who stopped us are from that side. They thought I was poaching in their territory. Humans we can feed from are…finite. So taking from another vampire’s territory could spur feuds, violence. There have been many of those. I didn’t touch you, until I knew you lived here.”
Kyuhyun remembered Zhou Mi’s surprise, questions as though making sure of where Kyuhyun was from. Vampire clans. Feuds. A third possibility emerged in Kyuhyun’s mind, that Zhou Mi could be a practical joker and he was about to start laughing in Kyuhyun’s face. Kyuhyun hadn’t punched anyone since he’d been thirteen but he thought it might be time to start again if that was the case.
“That’s…very interesting. Look, I should-“
“Can I show you?” Zhou Mi asked. “Just give me one more minute. I know you’re thinking I’m lying, or that I’m not thinking straight. But I can prove it to you. I showed you my teeth. And again.”
Teeth, that seemed to slide down behind Zhou Mi’s normal teeth. Long, curved, slender, they were longer that Zhou Mi’s own teeth by half. It was like watching some kind of sci-fi show.
Kyuhyun watched, horrified and a bit sick, as Zhou Mi cut a line down his forearm with those same teeth. Kyuhyun could actually see the skin tugging and parting leaving behind a red welt. But strangely, no blood running from it. Even though Kyuhyun could see the open wound, the only thing he could see was a slight ooze as though blood were filling the shallow well Zhou Mi had created. And that wasn’t natural at all.
“What-“
“Just give it a moment.”
There was no magic, no sleight of hand. Just both of them watching, with both of Zhou Mi’s hands in plain view, as the wound closed itself. Whatever blood there was seemed to absorb as the skin knit. No scar or discoloration, just perfect skin.
He didn’t even have words, just sounds as he stared between Zhou Mi’s arm and face. He reached out, probing the skin. It was warm, giving. Not some kind of plastic or prosthetic like Kyuhyun had wondered.
“Pick a finger, any finger,” Zhou Mi said, and when Kyuhyun picked his little finger, cut a line along it as well. Together, they watched as that healed. And one on Zhou Mi’s thumb, and on his other arm.
“You would not heal so nicely if I were to cut you,” Zhou Mi told him. “But the teeth are not made for cutting. They are made for biting. The wound would be small, and would close immediately, like a mosquito bite.”
Kyuhyun almost wanted to scratch his skin at the thought.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I belonged in a hospital,” Zhou Mi said gently. “I wondered if I should tell you at all, but it’s for your safety. You can never go back to that bar across the river. If they recognize you, they might be tempted to bite you to get back at me. They might kill you. Maybe you think I’m just making this up, a giant hoax. Some misguided fantasy. But it is my life. And unknowingly, I introduced you to danger in it.”
Kyuhyun’s mouth opened, then closed. Then opened again, trying to eke out any kind of logic or reason from anything that he was being told. “So you wouldn’t have told me, except that you thought I was in danger. So that means you had no intention of biting me? What the hell am I saying.”
They were talking about it as though it was reasonable, as though his world was slightly tilted. And he still wasn’t entirely positive it wasn’t an elaborate practical joke. Denial was a strong thing.
“I would have tried to get to know you first,” Zhou Mi said. “I knew I was attracted to you. I wanted to bite you, but I never would have unless I was invited. But when you are like I am, caution is first.”
“The kisses weren’t dangerous?”
“No. You can walk away and forget you ever met me, as long as you understand my warning.”
Great. One question down. He was definitely walking away. Somewhere. Mentally. Soon. “Why don’t you bleed?”
“My body is designed to protect itself. If I am cut, if a limb is cut off, any blood flow there seizes. I could reattach a limb given enough time, I suppose. Though I’m glad I haven’t had to try.”
Kyuhyun wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react. Yeah man, that’d be rough? Except, to Kyuhyun it’d be more than rough. More like multiple surgeries and months of physical therapy.
“I’d offer to let you feel, but not my teeth,” Zhou Mi offered, when he saw that Kyuhyun was lost processing. “You can feel behind my normal teeth though. It wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Usually I don’t put my fingers in someone’s mouth until the second date,” Kyuhyun joked. He sobered, considering. He wasn’t sure what it could hurt. “But if you’re offering.”
“Watch,” Zhou Mi said, smiling.
So Kyuhyun did watch, as Zhou Mi’s teeth came down again, wicked and slender. Without moving his head, or hands, or mouth, the teeth went back up, and Zhou Mi made a sound that Kyuhyun could continue. There was no hiding, no swallowing or spitting some prosthesis. Lightly, with the tip of his index finger, Kyuhyun held his breath and probed behind Zhou Mi’s upper teeth. It was just as smooth and ridged as his own mouth was, though there seemed to be two raised areas that he could feel that were just a bit different.
“Is that it?” he asked, and Zhou Mi grunted yes. A quick scrape of his nail detected no difference to the flesh around it, and he pulled back his hand, wiping it on his shirt. Granted, he’d had his tongue in that mouth not long before. “How is that possible?”
Zhou Mi shrugged, smiling a bit resigned. “It just is. I was born to a mother and father like me. I have no siblings, no cousins. We help each other out, because otherwise we die. I will die. I may heal from wounds, but my death was foretold at my birth, just as yours was.”
Vampires were real, but immortal vampires not so much. That made total sense. Of course. But it was that sad smile, the sigh that followed, some kind of resignation that had Kyuhyun puzzled.
“What’s that expression for?”
“I liked you, and liked kissing you. I didn’t want to make you afraid of me.”
“Afraid of two little teeth?” Kyuhyun scoffed, watching Zhou Mi’s lips twitch.
“Still, you should go home,” Zhou Mi told him, and held up a hand, when Kyuhyun made to protest. “It’s a lot to take in, and not something where it’s good to make a decision on based on pride.”
There was a point there, perhaps. And a reason to be thankful. Zhou Mi was not pressuring him, giving him a chance to think, to process. It was to Zhou Mi’s favor, something to admire. Which was bizarre, since he was still awash in disbelief.
“They’re going to think we’re doing something we’re not supposed to,” Zhou Mi said, laughing. “Here, can I have your phone? I’ll give you my number. If you have questions, give me a call.”
Kyuhyun watched as Zhou Mi tapped in his name and number, walked behind Zhou Mi in a bit of a daze as they exited onto the street. Totally without his doing anything, Zhou Mi flagged down a taxi.
“No matter what you decide, please remember to not go back to that bar,” Zhou Mi said, touching Kyuhyun’s arm. “Have a good night.”
Kyuhyun still had questions was the problem. He had a thousand of them, and he still got distracted when he focused on Zhou Mi’s mouth. It wasn’t fair that this gorgeous guy was something totally different than what he expected. Not a murderer, there was that.
“What do you want?” Kyuhyun asked, his hand on the taxi’s door. “Just someone to bite for a night?”
Zhou Mi met his eyes, and even with the shadows the sincerity was clear. “My ideal would be…much longer.”
He had that to think on, on his way home. His hand still felt Zhou Mi’s grip, and those kisses were pretty hard to forget. His big question was if he could imagine some guy biting his neck for sustenance. It wasn’t like giving a blood donation because unless he was misreading things, Zhou Mi seemed to want to date him. Or try, at least. Maybe Zhou Mi just wanted him for a few weeks.
Kyuhyun found infinite links on movies, books, myths, hoaxes. Hoaxes. When Kyuhyun closed his eyes he could see Zhou Mi’s throat baring as he laughed, the glint of his smile in the bar light, the way he’d touched Kyuhyun’s hand around his glass. Twice. Two nights, without Kyuhyun feeling weird, just startled this guy with the big smile, loud laugh, and amazing face had come over to talk to him. Score? Maybe Zhou Mi wanted to get to know him.
Kyuhyun woke from dreams as dawn was breaking. “Let me taste you,” Zhou Mi had said in his dream. His hand was on his neck, still feeling the sensations of being bitten in his dreams. He’d been startled out of the dream on a moan.
But he hadn’t been trying to get away. He hissed, sat upright and tried to have a lucid thought. He couldn’t refute what he’d seen, what he’d felt, in that bathroom. He’d reasoned that maybe Zhou Mi just had some weird vestigial teeth, and the blood sucking thing was imaginary. But that didn’t explain how he’d healed. There had been something superhuman about that. And there had been something very real, very human, as Zhou Mi had told him goodbye. If he was right, Zhou Mi didn’t expect him to call. He’d probably seen more fear and disbelief than Kyuhyun could imagine. And he’d told Kyuhyun to keep him safe. Unless that whole performance with the guys at the bar was a ruse to make Kyuhyun trust him.
But unless Zhou Mi was a consummate actor, he couldn’t believe that either.
And then rational thought snuck in. Vampires. There was no way.
But maybe there was.
***
Zhou Mi was surprised at the phone call, three days after he’d seen Kyuhyun last. Meet him at a bar on the right side of the river that time, Kyuhyun had invited. Maybe perverse curiosity, or maybe Kyuhyun just really wanted to get laid. Either way, Zhou Mi hadn’t turned him down. It was curiosity for himself as well. Most humans he had been with had known about vampires, even a little, before he had met them. His mind had told him a hundred times that he could have lied, told Kyuhyun that he was part of a gang and that Kyuhyun would be shot if he went across the river again. But the lie in that instance was worth than the truth. A light might have been okay to someone he hadn’t intended to see again, but even from one short encounter, and a second that had been longer and more intimate, he’d known that wasn’t the case.
Kyuhyun was already at the bar when he arrived, in a side table already with a drink in his hand. Zhou Mi had agonized over what to wear, how to look both normal and appealing at the same time. He’d settled on jeans, a jacket and funny shirt, comfortable and warm enough to keep him from shivering.
He wasn’t sure if he’d expected it to be awkward or not. The sleeves of Kyuhyun’s t-shirt were short, leaving his arms bare to Zhou Mi’s eyes. At least, for when he wasn’t paying attention to Kyuhyun speaking about his day. Nearly getting run over by a taxi, crafting some miracle of food for dinner, and trying to figure out what to wear.
“We’re the same there,” Zhou Mi said, chuckling. And as Kyuhyun’s eyes glanced down his torso, his skin went a bit hot.
“I just wanted to know…” Kyuhyun started, his voice trailing off.
Everything, Zhou Mi assumed. But he nearly sat back as Kyuhyun leaned forward.
“Did you lie to me about anything the other day?”
The question was a surprise, and yet it wasn’t.
“No,” Zhou Mi told him. “I was as truthful as I could be.”
“Then you really are a-“
Zhou Mi nodded. “Yes.”
“Why me?”
All Zhou Mi could do was hold out his hand, waiting until Kyuhyun took it, folded his hand around it. Just two men, two hands, both warm and maybe a bit sweaty. Part of it was for that. Part of it was for hope, and much more.
“You drew me in,” Zhou Mi said. “I hoped…”
“I can’t do this,” Kyuhyun said, standing up, and disentangling their fingers.
Zhou Mi lowered his head in acquiescence. It had seemed like it was too good to be true to begin with, but he was not going to argue. Kyuhyun giving him a second chance to talk had almost been more than he could have hoped. The only good thing was that he would know to avoid the bar that he was in, so as not to run into Kyuhyun again.
A hand closed on his wrist, and he looked up into Kyuhyun’s face.
“Are you coming?”
Zhou Mi fumbled out of his seat, following Kyuhyun out the front door. His heart had started out of his control, unsure of Kyuhyun’s goals. Unsure of anything. And he moaned into Kyuhyun’s mouth, as Kyuhyun grasped his jacket, kissed him. Kyuhyun’s mouth, the sturdiness of his hips. Something lush and inviting about that kiss that nearly pulled him off balance, as much physically as he was internally.
Kyuhyun struggled him back a full inch, panting into his face. “No biting.”
“Never, unless you tell me it’s okay,” Zhou Mi said. “I swear on my life.”
“I imagine trying to explain to someone why you want to leave holes in their neck every time you’re hungry gets old. You’re not going to go sleeping with someone else if I don’t-”
“Blood banks,” Zhou Mi whispered, and kissed him again.
***
Kyuhyun jerked as Zhou Mi climbed into bed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Zhou Mi said, regret settling over him as he watched Kyuhyun collect himself. Regret, too, because he’d been treated to a lovely sight - Kyuhyun’s naked back, with the sheet struggling and failing to cover the curve of his ass. Zhou Mi’s contemplation had been whether to tug the sheet up, or down. It was the third, sixth, eighth, fifteenth time in the last month that he’d eased himself into Kyuhyun’s bed. And that didn’t count the weekend spent at Zhou Mi’s apartment, or the nights where he didn’t stay over.
“No. I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Kyuhyun said, voice a little froggy, dark and lovely.
The warmth of Kyuhyun was amazing as Zhou Mi gave into the urge and pressed against his back. Kyuhyun’s hand immediately met his in front of Kyuhyun’s stomach, squeezing their fingers together.
“But it’s time to sleep,” Zhou Mi teased.
“Mmm,” Kyuhyun hummed. “Weird vampires need sleep.”
“Sleep is not something I’ll give up,” Zhou Mi said, and waited as Kyuhyun’s head lifted. He could almost feel Kyuhyun thinking.
“Still feels unreal. My brain still wonders if you’re pranking me, if-“
Zhou Mi rubbed the back of Kyuhyun’s hand with his thumb. “Do you sleep with guys your mind doesn’t trust often?”
“No. I don’t sleep with many guys who tell me they’re vampires either.”
Zhou Mi inhaled against Kyuhyun’s hair, and felt warm, safe, and home, even then.
“I’d find it hard to believe it if I hadn’t been born to it, too,” Zhou Mi admitted.
“I don’t understand it. I don’t like not understanding things.”
“And is your curiosity being dealt with?”
Kyuhyun shifted back toward him immediately. “I wanted you before I knew what extra features you had.”
It was with a smile that Zhou Mi nuzzled Kyuhyun’s cheek. “I know.”
Zhou Mi knew it wasn’t curiosity about his vampire side that drove Kyuhyun’s want to start, but it was perhaps why they were together right then. He wasn’t sure if the two things could be separated from each other any more. He was a puzzle. A problem to be solved. It wasn’t the first time they’d had the conversation, even. Usually Kyuhyun meandered from the topic, satisfied at least for the moment.
“Do you miss biting humans?”
Zhou Mi exhaled, shaking his head, knowing Kyuhyun could feel it. “I could go my whole life beside you, even if I couldn’t bite you.”
“Sappy.”
“Kyuhyun?”
“I don’t want to wonder. I don’t want you to wonder about me. I want you to be able to share everything with me.”
And so Kyuhyun would understand. And if they woke up together in a year, five, ten years, Zhou Mi would know he was not still a puzzle of a vampire. Perhaps still a puzzle as a man. And he would be okay with that. Humans were ever changing, but his teeth were not. If Kyuhyun could not handle the bite, or the knowledge of what Zhou Mi was, if his curiosity was sated and Zhou Mi was not enough, they could part. It would hurt, because Kyuhyun’s laughter made his heart go crooked and aching, full of love, but it would not be something he would trade knowing. Kyuhyun’s love was being woken by a kiss on the forehead, or Kyuhyun daydreaming of how strange it had been, that Zhou Mi had noticed him in that bar. The romantic heart that Zhou Mi wanted to coddle. But it wasn’t for him to coddle then, and Kyuhyun would not be protected.
“Now,” Kyuhyun said, pushing onto his feet and dragging Zhou MI with him. “Tonight. I want to feel it. I want to watch.”
“Most people don’t like seeing-“
“I want to watch,” Kyuhyun repeated.
All Zhou Mi could do was nod. He understood. The only way Kyuhyun would truly know, was if he saw. He would believe what his eyes could see, what his fingers could touch.
Kyuhyun’s hand curved around his, standing with him when Kyuhyun nodded to confirm. Now. No use waiting. It had to be then. And it was Zhou Mi who was blowing out a breath to steady himself then. There were too many possibilities of how Kyuhyun would react for Zhou Mi to be sure. It was one thing to imagine, to take on faith, and another to see and know.
The light of the bathroom was glaring, Kyuhyun resting his hands on the counter. Braced in front of the mirror, Zhou Mi pressed his chest to Kyuhyun’s back. For a moment, at least, he could feel his warmth.
“It won’t hurt much. There will be a sting. I won’t feed, not really. Just long enough for you to experience it. Okay?” The word felt so tentative as he stroked Kyuhyun’s shoulders.
“Okay. And yeah, I’m sure,” Kyuhyun said, before Zhou Mi could ask.
If Kyuhyun had thought it was some kind of trick, sleight of hand, he would know it was not any more. Zhou Mi hadn’t had time to pull any foolery. He pressed a kiss to Kyuhyun’s ear, an arm sliding around Kyuhyun’s ribs, and centered himself.
It felt physically painful to look away from Kyuhyun’s eyes in the mirror. His movements were deliberate and slow. He pressed a gentle kiss to the place he would bite, squeezing Kyuhyun’s shoulder with one hand to let him know. Kyuhyun would feel his blunted human teeth first, pressed to the skin. Only then, would Zhou Mi’s vampire teeth pierce his skin.
Zhou Mi waited for Kyuhyun to take a long inhale, and he bit. It took only a heartbeat for the taste of Kyuhyun’s blood to soothe him. It had been over a year since he had tasted fresh blood, and Kyuhyun’s wrote its appeal through his body immediately. One taste was perhaps all he would have. One taste might need to be enough, and with that thought in mind, he let Kyuhyun’s neck go.
Kyuhyun’s knees gave a bit as Zhou Mi licked his lips, and Zhou Mi gripped him. If Kyuhyun fainted-
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” Kyuhyun repeated, although he was very much not okay. He was pale, and it had nothing to do with the blood Zhou Mi had taken. All Zhou Mi could do was hold him as he took deep, ragged breaths. The sound of Kyuhyun swallowing, the half lifted hand to his neck, the stare through the mirror.
“Holy fuck, you’re a vampire,” Kyuhyun said, as though he had just realized it for the first time.
“I am,” Zhou Mi said, and wiped the last smear of blood from Kyuhyun’s skin.
Kyuhyun turned, nearly catching Zhou Mi’s arm. Zhou Mi waited for the flinch, and there was none, so he cupped Kyuhyun’s face with his hands. A beloved face, looking at him with eyes that were a bit worried. Worry was the last emotion he’d expected to see there. Amazement, horror, he’d tried to prepare himself for anything.
“You told me the truth from the very beginning.”
“From the very beginning,” Zhou Mi agreed, stroking Kyuhyun’s cheeks with his thumbs.
“I didn’t always believe-“
“I know,” Zhou Mi interrupted, his words gentle. He did not blame Kyuhyun for having a hard time believing something so fantastical. It was not something he felt entitled to an apology for. Kyuhyun had not run away, had not ridiculed, had not reacted to him at any time in fear. Perhaps that type of trust was foolhardy, but he knew the man that Kyuhyun was. And that trust and belief had built, as surely as the time they spent together had.
Zhou Mi inhaled as Kyuhyun reached for him, cinched tight around Zhou Mi’s ribs, leaving him no choice but to wrap his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck and hold. With Kyuhyun’s head against his, he felt steady, supported.
“I love you,” Kyuhyun said. “Zhou Mi.”
It was not the first time that Kyuhyun had said it, but it was the first time that Zhou Mi’s eyes had ached, so close to tears. Kyuhyun loved him. Not despite the fact that he was a vampire, and not because of it. But simply because he did.
Maybe he would never bite Kyuhyun again, or maybe he would every day. He just knew when he took a breath, Kyuhyun squeezed him tighter as though he was going to try and move. When he nipped Kyuhyun’s ear in retaliation, the quiver of laughter started deep in Kyuhyun’s belly, and then spread into him. The laughter echoed through the small space, both of them rocking together, and filled his home and his heart with joy.
***
Pairing: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, vampires
Prompt: Vampire!AU. Vampire!Zhou Mi. Fluff. Kyuhyun is someone who doesn't believe in those things.....and then they got involved in this complicated fights between vampire clans.
***
Perhaps there were other things that could have drawn Zhou Mi. The lines of Kyuhyun’s neck first among them, or the way his hair brushed his cheek in front of his ear, or the fine, straight line of his nose.
But it was Kyuhyun’s mouth. Lips dark in the light, wet, either from his glass or his tongue. Zhou Mi watched them part, watched them curve. They were curving for another man, and Zhou Mi let his hands curl in front of his pants pockets. The only thing to do would be to try. But he got his chance, waiting until Kyuhyun was alone, buying a drink for him, and watching as Kyuhyun asked the bartender who it was from. When Zhou Mi smiled, Kyuhyun’s head tilted. And that was really all the invitation he needed.
Just a drink that night, talking at the bar. Just a drink, almost a week later, when he learned that Kyuhyun was from across the river.
It was trouble just being there, but hearing those words from Kyuhyun’s lips, asking twice even to be sure, staggered him. It wasn’t possible. Sometimes he went to drink because it was safe. He wouldn’t be tempted. But there Kyuhyun was, a shadowed smirk catching Zhou Mi’s breath, and all his interest.
“Come with me,” Zhou Mi urged, his hand on Kyuhyun’s wrist. They’d been talking for half an hour past the realization that Kyuhyun could be- And Zhou Mi’s ability to hold himself back was waning. He needed to know so many things. There was a danger, but if he was careful, he’d be fine. They’d both be fine. He just needed to know if Kyuhyun was someone he could risk everything on.
In the alley, a lone light shone. Enough to see. Enough for it to not be frightening. He had no weapon, no reason for Kyuhyun to fear him as they faced each other.
Kyuhyun’s eyebrows rose as Zhou Mi’s thumb traced his cheekbone. For a moment, he wondered if he’d been too subtle,
“Just a kiss,” Zhou Mi promised.
As though a kiss could be just a kiss. His heart took a hard thud as Kyuhyun’s fingers slipped between his shirt buttons. Pulling him in. Holding him close. And he finally, finally got to feel those lips against his, salt and bitter alcohol. Warm to the touch, Kyuhyun’s hair so soft against his fingers as their bodies, their faces, tilted together. It felt like heat was leaping from him as Kyuhyun’s fingers scraped down the back of his jacket. It was too easy to imagine a moan, Kyuhyun pressed down beneath him. But he was the one moaning, at the tease of Kyuhyun’s tongue, the grip he took on Zhou Mi’s neck.
Just a kiss. Just need, and heat, and Kyuhyun’s shudders as Zhou Mi pinched his earlobe. Oh. Sensitive there. How much more if he were to suck, or bite-
A hand on his shoulder had him jerking, Kyuhyun gasping as he pulled away. And Zhou Mi’s stomach sank, even as he squeezed Kyuhyun’s side in reassurance.
“Looks like we have a poacher here, boys,” the man said.
“Some little river rat in our territory.”
A second and third, behind Zhou Mi.
“Don’t worry,” he mouthed to Kyuhyun, turning so he could face the men.
The vampires.
“He’s from across the river, too,” Zhou Mi said. “You have no cause to stop us.”
“He’s been here before. You go. He can stay.”
The taller vampire had a mean look about him, just short of baring his teeth. Leave the human, his expression seemed to say, and I’ll do the biting myself.
Zhou Mi lifted his chin, sliding his hand around Kyuhyun’s arm. “If I cross the river, then what? You’ll have created more trouble for yourselves. Do you want that? We’ll both leave tonight.”
They seemed to think about it. To take a human from across the river, with a his knowledge, could create a spike in hostility that hadn’t been seen in a decade. He was out of bounds himself, on the wrong side, but at least he knew better than to touch a human from there as well. Kyuhyun had just been an unexpected find.
Zhou Mi stepped to his left to stop the other vampire from reaching for Kyuhyun.
“Let us go. Now!”
The last word was explosive, and even Kyuhyun jerked behind him.
“Don’t let us see you back here,” they warned.
The path cleared, Zhou Mi urged Kyuhyun ahead of him, not trusting the vampires either way.
“What the hell-“ Kyuhyun tried asking, half turning as they went around the corner of the building.
“I’ll explain. Is there anything you need from inside? Then we need to get in a taxi and out of here, now.”
Kyuhyun’s mouth closed, not looking happy but at least still moving. Zhou Mi didn’t really relax until the taxi had started moving, but it seemed Kyuhyun was even more tense.
“What just happened?” Kyuhyun asked after Zhou Mi had given the driver an address. “Who were they? What was all that about territory? Are you in some kind of gang? What-“
“Shh,” Zhou Mi soothed, glad that Kyuhyun was talking low so the driver wouldn’t be wary. “No, I’m not. I’ll tell you why that happened. The address I gave is near where I live. There’s a restaurant there. We can sit, and I’ll try to explain.”
How much he could tell, he didn’t know. How much he wanted to tell, there was that, too. That he wanted Kyuhyun was obvious. If he trusted Kyuhyun with a very dangerous secret, he had to find that out fast.
***
It wasn’t every day that Kyuhyun almost got jumped in an alleyway after almost getting…jumped. There hadn’t been much question of where that kiss might’ve been leading, had they not had a reason to part. Something strange had happened there. Something strange that had Zhou Mi buying him a smoothie, and sitting down with him. It was a public place, and the kiss had been good, so Kyuhyun had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. At least until Zhou Mi tipped his bullshit radar over, he was going to satisfy his curiosity. Not a gang, Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun noted the truth in that. But that didn’t explain everything.
“Have you ever read the book Dracula?”
Kyuhyun thought on that for a moment, stumped. “I haven’t. But I mean, I know about vampires. Bats, and coffins, and stuff.”
As a way to change the subject it was a pretty bad one. They could talk sci-fi the whole night, but he wasn’t going to forget that they’d nearly gotten beaten up by three thugs. But still, he watched as Zhou Mi’s head dipped, lips curving for a moment as he shook his head.
“Vampires are the same as unicorns. Or fairies, right?” Zhou Mi said.
“Right?” Kyuhyun answered. It felt almost like a trick question.
“What if a news article came out saying a vampire was real? Not able to turn into a bat or anything, but surviving on blood, in the classic sense.”
“Wasn’t there a guy like that somewhere in Europe or something? I read an article.”
Zhou Mi again shook his head. “A vampire, if real, would have a very limited ability to feed. There would be a small number of trusted humans, if there were to be no laws broken. Much like in the wild, predators have certain territories so they do not all starve.”
“Okay,” Kyuhyun said slowly. “And your point is…?”
“If we’d been alone, and those guys hadn’t interrupted, would you have slept with me?” Zhou Mi waved him off as Kyuhyun sputtered. “I’m not looking for a compliment or trying to proposition you. I’m just saying, that if you were willing to go outside with me, to kiss me like that, you had to have wanted me, trusted me a little.”
Again, Kyuhyun was stumped. “Right?”
The fact that he was sitting there right then was proof. Not that gang members really had a type. Zhou Mi could be some mafia Kyuhyun had never heard of. And then, Zhou Mi was standing, pulling him out of his chair.
“What?”
“Come with me.”
The bathroom. Well lit, secluded, though not enough that he couldn’t be heard if he called for help.
“I’d take you outside,” Zhou Mi said. “But I need you to be able to see. If you freak out, if- Trust me, all right? I’m a man who really likes you, who really enjoyed kissing you.”
Kyuhyun was going to try to answer, truly. But Zhou Mi’s mouth had parted, and like some kind of slick CGI, two long and pointed teeth seemed to descent behind Zhou Mi’s normal teeth. His human teeth. He watched Zhou Mi’s tongue touch one and then the other.
He looked a bit like a saber toothed human. And Kyuhyun as a bit lost.
“So… Are you gangs of rival cosplayers? Some LARP group? I don’t…”
It was kind of geeky, to be sure, though Kyuhyun didn’t really feel like he could judge as a gamer. No wonder Zhou Mi had been a little reluctant to tell him. Most people’d be kind of embarrassed, even if they didn’t really need to be.
Zhou Mi’s hand flew to his mouth, covering it as the laugh burst out.
“Oh. Oh, Kyuhyun. No, this is not a game.”
The alternative might be that Zhou Mi was a bit overzealous in his beliefs. Which was putting it kindly. In which case, Kyuhyun would need to go. Zhou Mi could find a true believer to convert in someone else, to role play whatever vampire fantasy he was living in.
“Do you understand what I’ve been trying to tell you?” Zhou Mi asked, hand stopping halfway to reaching for Kyuhyun’s arm.
Kyuhyun could venture a guess. “You think you’re a vampire?”
Zhou Mi’s eyes warmed, almost as though he were pleased by Kyuhyun’s conclusion, and Kyuhyun’s stomach sank. He was going to have to gently extract himself. Claim he’d left the oven on, or something.
“What you saw tonight was a conflict spanning many decades,” Zhou Mi told him. And Kyuhyun thought it was a good thing that Zhou Mi was physically between him and the door. “The river is the parting of two…clans, I suppose you could call them. My clan is based here on this side of the river, and the men, vampires, who stopped us are from that side. They thought I was poaching in their territory. Humans we can feed from are…finite. So taking from another vampire’s territory could spur feuds, violence. There have been many of those. I didn’t touch you, until I knew you lived here.”
Kyuhyun remembered Zhou Mi’s surprise, questions as though making sure of where Kyuhyun was from. Vampire clans. Feuds. A third possibility emerged in Kyuhyun’s mind, that Zhou Mi could be a practical joker and he was about to start laughing in Kyuhyun’s face. Kyuhyun hadn’t punched anyone since he’d been thirteen but he thought it might be time to start again if that was the case.
“That’s…very interesting. Look, I should-“
“Can I show you?” Zhou Mi asked. “Just give me one more minute. I know you’re thinking I’m lying, or that I’m not thinking straight. But I can prove it to you. I showed you my teeth. And again.”
Teeth, that seemed to slide down behind Zhou Mi’s normal teeth. Long, curved, slender, they were longer that Zhou Mi’s own teeth by half. It was like watching some kind of sci-fi show.
Kyuhyun watched, horrified and a bit sick, as Zhou Mi cut a line down his forearm with those same teeth. Kyuhyun could actually see the skin tugging and parting leaving behind a red welt. But strangely, no blood running from it. Even though Kyuhyun could see the open wound, the only thing he could see was a slight ooze as though blood were filling the shallow well Zhou Mi had created. And that wasn’t natural at all.
“What-“
“Just give it a moment.”
There was no magic, no sleight of hand. Just both of them watching, with both of Zhou Mi’s hands in plain view, as the wound closed itself. Whatever blood there was seemed to absorb as the skin knit. No scar or discoloration, just perfect skin.
He didn’t even have words, just sounds as he stared between Zhou Mi’s arm and face. He reached out, probing the skin. It was warm, giving. Not some kind of plastic or prosthetic like Kyuhyun had wondered.
“Pick a finger, any finger,” Zhou Mi said, and when Kyuhyun picked his little finger, cut a line along it as well. Together, they watched as that healed. And one on Zhou Mi’s thumb, and on his other arm.
“You would not heal so nicely if I were to cut you,” Zhou Mi told him. “But the teeth are not made for cutting. They are made for biting. The wound would be small, and would close immediately, like a mosquito bite.”
Kyuhyun almost wanted to scratch his skin at the thought.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I belonged in a hospital,” Zhou Mi said gently. “I wondered if I should tell you at all, but it’s for your safety. You can never go back to that bar across the river. If they recognize you, they might be tempted to bite you to get back at me. They might kill you. Maybe you think I’m just making this up, a giant hoax. Some misguided fantasy. But it is my life. And unknowingly, I introduced you to danger in it.”
Kyuhyun’s mouth opened, then closed. Then opened again, trying to eke out any kind of logic or reason from anything that he was being told. “So you wouldn’t have told me, except that you thought I was in danger. So that means you had no intention of biting me? What the hell am I saying.”
They were talking about it as though it was reasonable, as though his world was slightly tilted. And he still wasn’t entirely positive it wasn’t an elaborate practical joke. Denial was a strong thing.
“I would have tried to get to know you first,” Zhou Mi said. “I knew I was attracted to you. I wanted to bite you, but I never would have unless I was invited. But when you are like I am, caution is first.”
“The kisses weren’t dangerous?”
“No. You can walk away and forget you ever met me, as long as you understand my warning.”
Great. One question down. He was definitely walking away. Somewhere. Mentally. Soon. “Why don’t you bleed?”
“My body is designed to protect itself. If I am cut, if a limb is cut off, any blood flow there seizes. I could reattach a limb given enough time, I suppose. Though I’m glad I haven’t had to try.”
Kyuhyun wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react. Yeah man, that’d be rough? Except, to Kyuhyun it’d be more than rough. More like multiple surgeries and months of physical therapy.
“I’d offer to let you feel, but not my teeth,” Zhou Mi offered, when he saw that Kyuhyun was lost processing. “You can feel behind my normal teeth though. It wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Usually I don’t put my fingers in someone’s mouth until the second date,” Kyuhyun joked. He sobered, considering. He wasn’t sure what it could hurt. “But if you’re offering.”
“Watch,” Zhou Mi said, smiling.
So Kyuhyun did watch, as Zhou Mi’s teeth came down again, wicked and slender. Without moving his head, or hands, or mouth, the teeth went back up, and Zhou Mi made a sound that Kyuhyun could continue. There was no hiding, no swallowing or spitting some prosthesis. Lightly, with the tip of his index finger, Kyuhyun held his breath and probed behind Zhou Mi’s upper teeth. It was just as smooth and ridged as his own mouth was, though there seemed to be two raised areas that he could feel that were just a bit different.
“Is that it?” he asked, and Zhou Mi grunted yes. A quick scrape of his nail detected no difference to the flesh around it, and he pulled back his hand, wiping it on his shirt. Granted, he’d had his tongue in that mouth not long before. “How is that possible?”
Zhou Mi shrugged, smiling a bit resigned. “It just is. I was born to a mother and father like me. I have no siblings, no cousins. We help each other out, because otherwise we die. I will die. I may heal from wounds, but my death was foretold at my birth, just as yours was.”
Vampires were real, but immortal vampires not so much. That made total sense. Of course. But it was that sad smile, the sigh that followed, some kind of resignation that had Kyuhyun puzzled.
“What’s that expression for?”
“I liked you, and liked kissing you. I didn’t want to make you afraid of me.”
“Afraid of two little teeth?” Kyuhyun scoffed, watching Zhou Mi’s lips twitch.
“Still, you should go home,” Zhou Mi told him, and held up a hand, when Kyuhyun made to protest. “It’s a lot to take in, and not something where it’s good to make a decision on based on pride.”
There was a point there, perhaps. And a reason to be thankful. Zhou Mi was not pressuring him, giving him a chance to think, to process. It was to Zhou Mi’s favor, something to admire. Which was bizarre, since he was still awash in disbelief.
“They’re going to think we’re doing something we’re not supposed to,” Zhou Mi said, laughing. “Here, can I have your phone? I’ll give you my number. If you have questions, give me a call.”
Kyuhyun watched as Zhou Mi tapped in his name and number, walked behind Zhou Mi in a bit of a daze as they exited onto the street. Totally without his doing anything, Zhou Mi flagged down a taxi.
“No matter what you decide, please remember to not go back to that bar,” Zhou Mi said, touching Kyuhyun’s arm. “Have a good night.”
Kyuhyun still had questions was the problem. He had a thousand of them, and he still got distracted when he focused on Zhou Mi’s mouth. It wasn’t fair that this gorgeous guy was something totally different than what he expected. Not a murderer, there was that.
“What do you want?” Kyuhyun asked, his hand on the taxi’s door. “Just someone to bite for a night?”
Zhou Mi met his eyes, and even with the shadows the sincerity was clear. “My ideal would be…much longer.”
He had that to think on, on his way home. His hand still felt Zhou Mi’s grip, and those kisses were pretty hard to forget. His big question was if he could imagine some guy biting his neck for sustenance. It wasn’t like giving a blood donation because unless he was misreading things, Zhou Mi seemed to want to date him. Or try, at least. Maybe Zhou Mi just wanted him for a few weeks.
Kyuhyun found infinite links on movies, books, myths, hoaxes. Hoaxes. When Kyuhyun closed his eyes he could see Zhou Mi’s throat baring as he laughed, the glint of his smile in the bar light, the way he’d touched Kyuhyun’s hand around his glass. Twice. Two nights, without Kyuhyun feeling weird, just startled this guy with the big smile, loud laugh, and amazing face had come over to talk to him. Score? Maybe Zhou Mi wanted to get to know him.
Kyuhyun woke from dreams as dawn was breaking. “Let me taste you,” Zhou Mi had said in his dream. His hand was on his neck, still feeling the sensations of being bitten in his dreams. He’d been startled out of the dream on a moan.
But he hadn’t been trying to get away. He hissed, sat upright and tried to have a lucid thought. He couldn’t refute what he’d seen, what he’d felt, in that bathroom. He’d reasoned that maybe Zhou Mi just had some weird vestigial teeth, and the blood sucking thing was imaginary. But that didn’t explain how he’d healed. There had been something superhuman about that. And there had been something very real, very human, as Zhou Mi had told him goodbye. If he was right, Zhou Mi didn’t expect him to call. He’d probably seen more fear and disbelief than Kyuhyun could imagine. And he’d told Kyuhyun to keep him safe. Unless that whole performance with the guys at the bar was a ruse to make Kyuhyun trust him.
But unless Zhou Mi was a consummate actor, he couldn’t believe that either.
And then rational thought snuck in. Vampires. There was no way.
But maybe there was.
***
Zhou Mi was surprised at the phone call, three days after he’d seen Kyuhyun last. Meet him at a bar on the right side of the river that time, Kyuhyun had invited. Maybe perverse curiosity, or maybe Kyuhyun just really wanted to get laid. Either way, Zhou Mi hadn’t turned him down. It was curiosity for himself as well. Most humans he had been with had known about vampires, even a little, before he had met them. His mind had told him a hundred times that he could have lied, told Kyuhyun that he was part of a gang and that Kyuhyun would be shot if he went across the river again. But the lie in that instance was worth than the truth. A light might have been okay to someone he hadn’t intended to see again, but even from one short encounter, and a second that had been longer and more intimate, he’d known that wasn’t the case.
Kyuhyun was already at the bar when he arrived, in a side table already with a drink in his hand. Zhou Mi had agonized over what to wear, how to look both normal and appealing at the same time. He’d settled on jeans, a jacket and funny shirt, comfortable and warm enough to keep him from shivering.
He wasn’t sure if he’d expected it to be awkward or not. The sleeves of Kyuhyun’s t-shirt were short, leaving his arms bare to Zhou Mi’s eyes. At least, for when he wasn’t paying attention to Kyuhyun speaking about his day. Nearly getting run over by a taxi, crafting some miracle of food for dinner, and trying to figure out what to wear.
“We’re the same there,” Zhou Mi said, chuckling. And as Kyuhyun’s eyes glanced down his torso, his skin went a bit hot.
“I just wanted to know…” Kyuhyun started, his voice trailing off.
Everything, Zhou Mi assumed. But he nearly sat back as Kyuhyun leaned forward.
“Did you lie to me about anything the other day?”
The question was a surprise, and yet it wasn’t.
“No,” Zhou Mi told him. “I was as truthful as I could be.”
“Then you really are a-“
Zhou Mi nodded. “Yes.”
“Why me?”
All Zhou Mi could do was hold out his hand, waiting until Kyuhyun took it, folded his hand around it. Just two men, two hands, both warm and maybe a bit sweaty. Part of it was for that. Part of it was for hope, and much more.
“You drew me in,” Zhou Mi said. “I hoped…”
“I can’t do this,” Kyuhyun said, standing up, and disentangling their fingers.
Zhou Mi lowered his head in acquiescence. It had seemed like it was too good to be true to begin with, but he was not going to argue. Kyuhyun giving him a second chance to talk had almost been more than he could have hoped. The only good thing was that he would know to avoid the bar that he was in, so as not to run into Kyuhyun again.
A hand closed on his wrist, and he looked up into Kyuhyun’s face.
“Are you coming?”
Zhou Mi fumbled out of his seat, following Kyuhyun out the front door. His heart had started out of his control, unsure of Kyuhyun’s goals. Unsure of anything. And he moaned into Kyuhyun’s mouth, as Kyuhyun grasped his jacket, kissed him. Kyuhyun’s mouth, the sturdiness of his hips. Something lush and inviting about that kiss that nearly pulled him off balance, as much physically as he was internally.
Kyuhyun struggled him back a full inch, panting into his face. “No biting.”
“Never, unless you tell me it’s okay,” Zhou Mi said. “I swear on my life.”
“I imagine trying to explain to someone why you want to leave holes in their neck every time you’re hungry gets old. You’re not going to go sleeping with someone else if I don’t-”
“Blood banks,” Zhou Mi whispered, and kissed him again.
***
Kyuhyun jerked as Zhou Mi climbed into bed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Zhou Mi said, regret settling over him as he watched Kyuhyun collect himself. Regret, too, because he’d been treated to a lovely sight - Kyuhyun’s naked back, with the sheet struggling and failing to cover the curve of his ass. Zhou Mi’s contemplation had been whether to tug the sheet up, or down. It was the third, sixth, eighth, fifteenth time in the last month that he’d eased himself into Kyuhyun’s bed. And that didn’t count the weekend spent at Zhou Mi’s apartment, or the nights where he didn’t stay over.
“No. I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Kyuhyun said, voice a little froggy, dark and lovely.
The warmth of Kyuhyun was amazing as Zhou Mi gave into the urge and pressed against his back. Kyuhyun’s hand immediately met his in front of Kyuhyun’s stomach, squeezing their fingers together.
“But it’s time to sleep,” Zhou Mi teased.
“Mmm,” Kyuhyun hummed. “Weird vampires need sleep.”
“Sleep is not something I’ll give up,” Zhou Mi said, and waited as Kyuhyun’s head lifted. He could almost feel Kyuhyun thinking.
“Still feels unreal. My brain still wonders if you’re pranking me, if-“
Zhou Mi rubbed the back of Kyuhyun’s hand with his thumb. “Do you sleep with guys your mind doesn’t trust often?”
“No. I don’t sleep with many guys who tell me they’re vampires either.”
Zhou Mi inhaled against Kyuhyun’s hair, and felt warm, safe, and home, even then.
“I’d find it hard to believe it if I hadn’t been born to it, too,” Zhou Mi admitted.
“I don’t understand it. I don’t like not understanding things.”
“And is your curiosity being dealt with?”
Kyuhyun shifted back toward him immediately. “I wanted you before I knew what extra features you had.”
It was with a smile that Zhou Mi nuzzled Kyuhyun’s cheek. “I know.”
Zhou Mi knew it wasn’t curiosity about his vampire side that drove Kyuhyun’s want to start, but it was perhaps why they were together right then. He wasn’t sure if the two things could be separated from each other any more. He was a puzzle. A problem to be solved. It wasn’t the first time they’d had the conversation, even. Usually Kyuhyun meandered from the topic, satisfied at least for the moment.
“Do you miss biting humans?”
Zhou Mi exhaled, shaking his head, knowing Kyuhyun could feel it. “I could go my whole life beside you, even if I couldn’t bite you.”
“Sappy.”
“Kyuhyun?”
“I don’t want to wonder. I don’t want you to wonder about me. I want you to be able to share everything with me.”
And so Kyuhyun would understand. And if they woke up together in a year, five, ten years, Zhou Mi would know he was not still a puzzle of a vampire. Perhaps still a puzzle as a man. And he would be okay with that. Humans were ever changing, but his teeth were not. If Kyuhyun could not handle the bite, or the knowledge of what Zhou Mi was, if his curiosity was sated and Zhou Mi was not enough, they could part. It would hurt, because Kyuhyun’s laughter made his heart go crooked and aching, full of love, but it would not be something he would trade knowing. Kyuhyun’s love was being woken by a kiss on the forehead, or Kyuhyun daydreaming of how strange it had been, that Zhou Mi had noticed him in that bar. The romantic heart that Zhou Mi wanted to coddle. But it wasn’t for him to coddle then, and Kyuhyun would not be protected.
“Now,” Kyuhyun said, pushing onto his feet and dragging Zhou MI with him. “Tonight. I want to feel it. I want to watch.”
“Most people don’t like seeing-“
“I want to watch,” Kyuhyun repeated.
All Zhou Mi could do was nod. He understood. The only way Kyuhyun would truly know, was if he saw. He would believe what his eyes could see, what his fingers could touch.
Kyuhyun’s hand curved around his, standing with him when Kyuhyun nodded to confirm. Now. No use waiting. It had to be then. And it was Zhou Mi who was blowing out a breath to steady himself then. There were too many possibilities of how Kyuhyun would react for Zhou Mi to be sure. It was one thing to imagine, to take on faith, and another to see and know.
The light of the bathroom was glaring, Kyuhyun resting his hands on the counter. Braced in front of the mirror, Zhou Mi pressed his chest to Kyuhyun’s back. For a moment, at least, he could feel his warmth.
“It won’t hurt much. There will be a sting. I won’t feed, not really. Just long enough for you to experience it. Okay?” The word felt so tentative as he stroked Kyuhyun’s shoulders.
“Okay. And yeah, I’m sure,” Kyuhyun said, before Zhou Mi could ask.
If Kyuhyun had thought it was some kind of trick, sleight of hand, he would know it was not any more. Zhou Mi hadn’t had time to pull any foolery. He pressed a kiss to Kyuhyun’s ear, an arm sliding around Kyuhyun’s ribs, and centered himself.
It felt physically painful to look away from Kyuhyun’s eyes in the mirror. His movements were deliberate and slow. He pressed a gentle kiss to the place he would bite, squeezing Kyuhyun’s shoulder with one hand to let him know. Kyuhyun would feel his blunted human teeth first, pressed to the skin. Only then, would Zhou Mi’s vampire teeth pierce his skin.
Zhou Mi waited for Kyuhyun to take a long inhale, and he bit. It took only a heartbeat for the taste of Kyuhyun’s blood to soothe him. It had been over a year since he had tasted fresh blood, and Kyuhyun’s wrote its appeal through his body immediately. One taste was perhaps all he would have. One taste might need to be enough, and with that thought in mind, he let Kyuhyun’s neck go.
Kyuhyun’s knees gave a bit as Zhou Mi licked his lips, and Zhou Mi gripped him. If Kyuhyun fainted-
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” Kyuhyun repeated, although he was very much not okay. He was pale, and it had nothing to do with the blood Zhou Mi had taken. All Zhou Mi could do was hold him as he took deep, ragged breaths. The sound of Kyuhyun swallowing, the half lifted hand to his neck, the stare through the mirror.
“Holy fuck, you’re a vampire,” Kyuhyun said, as though he had just realized it for the first time.
“I am,” Zhou Mi said, and wiped the last smear of blood from Kyuhyun’s skin.
Kyuhyun turned, nearly catching Zhou Mi’s arm. Zhou Mi waited for the flinch, and there was none, so he cupped Kyuhyun’s face with his hands. A beloved face, looking at him with eyes that were a bit worried. Worry was the last emotion he’d expected to see there. Amazement, horror, he’d tried to prepare himself for anything.
“You told me the truth from the very beginning.”
“From the very beginning,” Zhou Mi agreed, stroking Kyuhyun’s cheeks with his thumbs.
“I didn’t always believe-“
“I know,” Zhou Mi interrupted, his words gentle. He did not blame Kyuhyun for having a hard time believing something so fantastical. It was not something he felt entitled to an apology for. Kyuhyun had not run away, had not ridiculed, had not reacted to him at any time in fear. Perhaps that type of trust was foolhardy, but he knew the man that Kyuhyun was. And that trust and belief had built, as surely as the time they spent together had.
Zhou Mi inhaled as Kyuhyun reached for him, cinched tight around Zhou Mi’s ribs, leaving him no choice but to wrap his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck and hold. With Kyuhyun’s head against his, he felt steady, supported.
“I love you,” Kyuhyun said. “Zhou Mi.”
It was not the first time that Kyuhyun had said it, but it was the first time that Zhou Mi’s eyes had ached, so close to tears. Kyuhyun loved him. Not despite the fact that he was a vampire, and not because of it. But simply because he did.
Maybe he would never bite Kyuhyun again, or maybe he would every day. He just knew when he took a breath, Kyuhyun squeezed him tighter as though he was going to try and move. When he nipped Kyuhyun’s ear in retaliation, the quiver of laughter started deep in Kyuhyun’s belly, and then spread into him. The laughter echoed through the small space, both of them rocking together, and filled his home and his heart with joy.
***