[RP/FIC] Night and Day - Day - Chapter 13
Title: Night and Day - Day
Authors: yeonah and mi_iseul
Chapter: 13/13
Genre: Angst/drama/fluff (yes, there is some fluff in there somewhere LOL)
Rating: PG
Summary: The stories of two vampire/human couples. Part 1, 'Night', deals with Kyuhyun and Yesung's story. Part 2, 'Day', deals with Sungmin and Ryeowook's story.
In the wrong place at the right time, Sungmin becomes Ryeowook's guardian. It's not all smooth sailing, however. Ryeowook explains his decision to Kyuhyun and a reluctant Kyuhyun gives in, but not without a fight. And without reckoning on Sungmin's interference, though it doesn't come without an unexpected cost...to them all.
"I can't control myself. At all. Do you not realise what that means?" he asked, his voice shaking as he turned to look out the window at the lights of the city that could be seen from his office window.
"I could attack Yesung. Or Seunghyun. Or anyone at all, really. It's just getting worse and I'm just...so tired. I can't cope any more...even with Sungmin and Nicole's help."
He glanced bitterly at Kyuhyun. "I don't think you really want me to kill Yesung, do you? I know you love him...and want him to have the life and choices neither of us got to experience for ourselves, but...you have to understand that anyone could be fair game for me now."
His hands balled into fists as Ryeowook spoke, making threats against Yesung's life as if it were a foregone conclusion, Kyuhyun couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You're a selfish brat," he snapped, tempted to slap some sense into Ryeowook. The only problem with that was that he knew it wouldn't do any good. "Don't you realise what it'll do to Sungmin if you die? He was nearly beside himself when you were shot and he didn't even know you at the time!"
"He doesn't know me now, so what does it matter?" Ryeowook snapped back, his nerves and temper fraying. "He'll get over it soon enough and go back to his normal life and forget all about me. He'd be better off doing that...than being stuck playing guardian to someone like me..."
"I still think you're making a huge mistake, Ryeowook," Kyuhyun insisted, his face pale. How could he convince Ryeowook not to do this? At the same time, he understood the soul-deep exhaustion and sorrow the other vampire felt; after all, hadn't he felt the same until he met and fell in love with Yesung?
"I disagree," Ryeowook replied, falling silent as tears threatened to overwhelm him. He had to somehow keep this from Sungmin but it was hard. "Please...I am begging you. Kill me before something else goes wrong and Yesung and Seunghyun pay for it with their lives..."
Sighing, Kyuhyun remained silent for a while, thinking about the possible conclusions and not really seeing any way out. If he refused, Ryeowook would just find someone else to do it and possibly risk betraying them all. But if he did it...Sungmin would hate him...and Yesung might turn against him as well. Part of him wished Yesung hadn't been called out; maybe he would have had better luck convincing Ryeowook not to go through with this.
His mind going around in circles, Kyuhyun sighed again. "Fine," he eventually replied, getting off the bed so Ryeowook could lay down on it. "I don't like it...but you're not really giving me much choice..."
"I'm sorry," Ryeowook said softly, nodding his thanks as he took the spot vacated by Kyuhyun, laying back on the bed and closing his eyes. "I just don't see any other option any more. I can't live like this...I never asked for it to begin with..."
"What do you want me to do?" Kyuhyun asked, rubbing his temples to try and relieve the tension that he could feel building up. "I'm not exactly very good at this; I've never killed another vampire before..."
Ryeowook opened his eyes and stared up at Kyuhyun. "What about Yesung's kidnapper?" he asked in surprise. "Didn't you help...?"
"Well yes, but I didn't kill him. That was...Yesung..." Kyuhyun said quietly, looking away. "Just answer my question..."
Closing his eyes again, Ryeowook shrugged. "Just drain me. Feed from me until there's nothing left..."
Unable to help himself, he felt a strong burst of regret and sorrow, the emotions filtering down through the bond he shared with Sungmin as Kyuhyun bent over him and began to do what Ryeowook had asked, feeding from him.
Fighting back a growing feeling of unease as he entered the studio and greeted his co-worker, Sungmin grabbed his bag from his locker and went to change. Ryeowook will be fine, he told himself firmly as he got out of his street clothes and into the white robes, tying the black belt around his waist firmly. It was only an hour and a half, then he'd be able to see the vampire again. It was normal to be antsy so soon after witnessing a complete emotional breakdown from the doctor, but there was nothing he could do about it right now so he wasn't going to worry about it.
It was easy to think so, but something completely different to do it.
About to shove his phone into his bag, Sungmin glanced at the display and realized he had a missed call from his boyfriend. Again. That had been happening a lot recently. Sighing softly, he decided he would deal with Dongyul after as well and walked back out into the main room to greet the students.
They were halfway through the second exercise and Sungmin was starting to relax a little when the emotions coming from Ryeowook shifted, a strong wave of guilt and pain nearly overwhelming him. Paling, Sungmin watched the kids repeat the exercise again and tried to contact Ryeowook.
Is everything alright? he asked, but there was no reply. Frowning slightly, he excused himself quickly and left the main hall, his co-worker watching him with a confused expression. Finding his phone again, he dialed Yesung's number and waited for his friend to pick up. Both lines were busy however.
Worry ate at him as he fiddled with his martial arts pole, trying to contact Ryeowook through the bond again with no luck. It was then he realized with a jolt that he was sensing the vampire less and less, the bond practically fading even as he grasped at it.
Running back into the main hall, he pulled his co-worker aside.
"Emergency, I have to go," he whispered urgently. The panic in his eyes stopped the other man from arguing and he merely nodded before Sungmin turned and left, not bothering to change out of his outfit or put down his pole.
It took only a few minutes to reach the hospital but even that time was too much. He could barely sense Ryeowook any more and it scared him, the feeling too smiliar to when the doctor's heart had stopped. It felt like energy was being slowly drained from him and he desperately pushed as much of it as he could spare through the tattered remains of the bond to buy him some time. He still couldn't reach Ryeowook.
Ignoring the stares as he ran in through the side entrance, Sungmin hurried straight for Ryeowook's office and nearly knocked poor Yesung over when he turned the corner.
"HEY! Watch where you- Sungmin?" Yesung stared at him. "What are you-"
Too concentrated on the fading bond to reply to his friend, Sungmin went to the office door and opened it, running in. When he saw Kyuhyun bent over the bed, latched on Ryeowook's neck, strong instinct and anger spurred him into action.
"Get away from him!"
He darted forward and used his pole to hit key nerve points in the back of Kyuhyun's knees that would force him to the ground and away from Ryeowook before jamming his pole between the two vampires, knocking Kyuhyun over properly.
Yesung stood in the doorway, his eyes wide and face pale. "Kyu...?"
Sungmin ignored them, going straight for Ryeowook. "What the hell are you thinking?!?" He quickly checked for a pulse, then turned to Yesung in a panic. "He needs blood. Find Nicole!"
Jumping at the tone of the other man's voice, Yesung glanced at Kyuhyun before taking off down the hallway.
Breathing heavily from where he'd fallen to the floor when Sungmin hit him, Kyuhyun refused to look at either man, wiping blood from his lips slowly as he sat up.
"I was only doing what he asked me to do," he said softly, his voice sad. Making no effort to get up past what he'd already done, Kyuhyun kept his eyes on the floor in front of him. He wondered if either of them would believe him, but it was the truth.
"He threatened Yesung...and Seunghyun..." Kyuhyun continued softly when Sungmin didn't say anything. "He wants to die...and I couldn't say no..."
His voice shook. "You don't understand what it's like...but go ahead and hate me. It won't change the fact that we're vampires, that he's lonely, tired, and afraid. That he's going out of control and nobody can help..." Kyuhyun trailed off, close to tears. "And it won't change the fact that I hate myself just as much as you do. I couldn't say no..."
Nicole looked up from her paperwork as she heard running footsteps and recognised Yesung. About to greet him, her expression changed to worry at the look on his face.
"What's going on?" she asked worriedly, getting up from her seat and coming around the desk. "Is Ryeowook ok?"
Breathing unevenly, Yesung shook his head hard and went up to her so that no one else would hear.
"Something...went wrong and he...he needs blood," he said shakily, still pale from the scene he and Sungmin had come in on. Kyuhyun feeding from Ryeowook. Why? Why would he do something like that? What had happened?
"A lot of blood," he specified, urgency in his eyes and voice. How much had Kyuhyun taken? From the fear lacing Sungmin's voice, it had been far too much.
Swallowing thickly, Sungmin didn't even try to fight the anger at Kyuhyun's words.
"Of course you could have said no," he snapped, hands shaking. "How is dying going to solve anything? Is dying going to give him control or change everything that's happened? The only thing it stops is any hope of recovery."
Looking back down at Ryeowook, he shook the vampire's shoulders lightly.
"Can you hear me? Ryeowook!" He could barely sense anything through the bond. Even though he was giving the doctor his energy, it wasn't that the other man needed...it was blood.
"Where is Yesung?" There was no time; Ryeowook was slipping away from him. He might already be gone by the time Yesung and Nicole gathered enough blood packs and got back here.
Looking around the office, Sungmin spotted the drawer where Ryeowook kept all his medical instruments and ran over, opening the drawer and looking through it. His fingers closed around a scalpel, his mind made up. It was his job to keep Ryeowook alive above all. All the other rules about being a guardian were secondary to that.
Even the rule about feeding from a guardian.
Walking around Kyuhyun back to the bedside, the martial artist didn't even glance at the singer before flicking the sharp blade across his wrist, flinching and drawing in a sharp breath as blood dripped down his hand. It wasn't deep enough to kill, or pierce any important veins, but enough to bleed...and then Sungmin would have to trust in the fact Ryeowook would instinctively go after the blood to do the rest.
Placing the scalpel down, he pressed the cut to Ryeowook's pale lips.
Hovering between life and the death he craved, Ryeowook felt the bond he shared with Sungmin snap, the pain sharper than he expected it to be. Despite that, he felt himself slip further and further towards death, the unexpected scent of blood filling his senses. Too weak, he lay unmoving on the bed.
"I never expected you to understand," Kyuhyun replied, tired and sad. "I just told you what he asked and how he felt. I can understand because it's how I felt too before Yesung told me he loved me. If he hadn't saved me then, I would have done the same thing as Ryeowook did."
"You're wrong though," he added, finally looking up, his eyes red. "It does help stop the pain from killing him from the inside out. When you have nothing left to exist for...since you can't call what we have 'life'..."
Moving out of the way, Kyuhyun went to sit by the window, looking out into the darkness, feeling his own despair all over again; as he'd told Sungmin, Kyuhyun had been all too familiar with the feelings Ryeowook had and the pain was still fresh in his mind.
"There is nothing more we can do..." Kyuhyun's voice was soft, almost painfully gentle as he spoke, then fell silent.
Nicole's eyes widened as the impact of Yesung's words hit her. "What happened?" she asked, grabbing the keys and setting off at a run for the blood bank.
Her heart breaking, she grabbed a cart and began to stack bags of blood onto it, almost carelessly throwing them in her haste. Ryeowook couldn't die...he had too much to live for, even if he didn't believe it himself. Blindly brushing away tears as she continued to get the blood packs Ryeowook needed, she shoved the chart at Yesung.
"Just scribble in whatever," she choked out, her voice catching on a sob. "I'll fix it later..."
Catching the packs that slipped off the cart, Yesung stacked them back on. It was a lot of blood but...would it be enough? Would anything be enough?
Doing as Nicole said, Yesung waited until she was done then took off down the hallway, going as fast as he could without tipping the cart over or losing some of the vital blood packs. Even if it was enough, would they be able to get it to the vampire in time?
"There is always something to exist for," Sungmin said stubbornly, watching Ryeowook carefully. "This is giving up before he has a chance to find it."
The doctor wasn't reacting to the blood slowly trickling past his lips, Sungmin becoming increasingly panicked.
Ryeowook, wake up! It was useless...he couldn't sense anything any more. But the vampire wasn't dead yet...not yet. I'm your guardian, you idiot, and you're not going to die on my watch.
He applied more pressure to the edges of the slash, forcing more blood out and ignoring the pain.
Kyuhyun looked back at Sungmin, suddenly angry.
"Just how old do you think I am?" he demanded, standing up and watching the human's futile efforts at keeping Ryeowook alive. "How old do you think he is? It's not much different for us than for you humans; we can't wait around forever for love, affection, or support, even if we do have that luxury...."
"Your spirit still dies, the longer you go without emotional support," he added, snapping at Sungmin. "And I don't mean your paltry efforts at trying to make Ryeowook feel better about the contradictions he particularly faces."
"As far as I've ever seen, he's the only one of us vampires who has actually tried to make things better but it only makes things worse for him. Even without being a vampire, that wears on a person until you just can't go on any more. Think about how many human doctors suicide when they can't face the losses any more. It's no different with him, except for the fact that the losses he faces are caused solely by his own need for blood..."
"Don't judge us when you don't understand what it's like..."
Nicole watched Yesung leave with the cart, scrubbing at her face with one hand. Whatever was going on must have been pretty traumatic; the normally chatty Yesung barely said anything to her the entire time but looked sad and angry. Sending a quick prayer for Ryeowook, she busied herself with fixing the logs, trying to stop her tears.
Sungmin stiffened, his frustration at being unable to help Ryeowook turning into anger. "I can feel it!" he snapped back. "I can feel his emotions as clearly as though they were my own, and while I know I can't understand fully, I understand more than any other human here! A spirit can't die...it can only appear to."
He turned back to Ryeowook, his heart racing as he kept trying to reach for the bond that was no longer there. Blinking back tears of frustration and pain, Sungmin struggled to keep a clear mind. It hurt so much more than he thought it would...but hadn't he already known it would hurt badly from when Ryeowook's heart had stopped?
"There's a reason things are like this. There's a reason why he didn't die years ago and there's a reason why he can't die now!"
He couldn't die...
"You could have killed yourself years ago too. You said so yourself. But you didn't and now you have Yesung. Don't try to tell me that doesn't mean something! Unless you regret meeting him too?"
Yesung ran in that instant, stopping at Sungmin's words. His eyes widened, pain blossoming in his chest before he shook his head and pushed the cart up to Sungmin.
"Here it is. What are we supposed to do now?"
Sungmin turned from Ryeowook and grabbed a blood pack, paying no attention to his bleeding wrist.
"We need to get him to feed, but I don't know if he has the strength...I don't know how to get it straight into his veins and we might not have the time."
"Then we get him to drink it," Yesung said firmly, grabbing a pack as well.
Kyuhyun stiffened as Yesung came in at just the wrong moment, hearing Sungmin imply that he regretted meeting (and falling in love with) Yesung, which wasn't the case at all. Yesung's reaction stung as Kyuhyun was completely ignored, the two humans turning to help Ryeowook instead.
"I never said that," he said quietly, not sure the others were even listening to him at that point. "But it doesn't matter; you're not even listening..."
Upset that Sungmin seemed to believe there was a reason he and Ryeowook had been made vampires when he didn't believe it himself, Kyuhyun didn't know what to say or think at that point. Other than to point out something Sungmin seemed to have forgotten.
"Ryeowook won't thank you for this..." Kyuhyun murmured, then slipped out the door, his heart heavy. He had a lot of thinking of his own to do and couldn't do it while they were there, making it plain they didn't want anything to do with him.
Sungmin wouldn't have known it but his blood was starting to make a tiny shred of difference, Ryeowook's senses slowly starting to come back to him despite his unwillingness to live. The same sweet blood that had attracted him before, attracted him again, and he felt his heart start to beat a little stronger as more and more of Sungmin's blood trickled past his lips. Suddenly it was withdrawn and Ryeowook's body gave a small twitch.
Blinking back tears as Kyuhyun left, Yesung drew in a shaky breath and pulled himself together for Sungmin's sake. His roommate needed his help. He could hide in his dorm and wonder why all this was happening later.
Sungmin knew Ryeowook would probably hate him for reviving him, but at the same time, he'd rather Ryeowook be alive to hate him than be dead. The hate he could stand. He just couldn't let the vampire die. Sungmin was under no obligation to help anymore; the bond was broken, which was as official a way as any to say Sungmin was no longer Ryeowook's guardian. But he couldn't let him die.
Whether Ryeowook understood why next week or next century, Sungmin just couldn't leave him to die. Seeing the twitch out of the corner of his eyes, hope raced through him. Ryeowook was reviving.
"Come on, hang in there," he murmured, tearing the bag of blood open and upending it slightly, watching the red liquid drip into the vampire's mouth, some missing and trickling down his face. Yesung waited with another bag at the ready, chewing on his lower lip with distressed eyes.
Outside the door, Kyuhyun stood with his back to the wall, his eyes closed and blinking back tears. He shouldn't have expected them to understand anything, even if Yesung was beginning to understand some things, or at least said he did. It wasn't anything like they thought it was and claiming reasons for everything just upset Kyuhyun so much he couldn't think straight, and that was without any of the problems that went with following Ryeowook's wishes.
Sliding down the wall into a seated position, Kyuhyun ignored the curious stares of staff and patients alike as he pulled his legs to his chest and sat with his head down, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Yesung hadn't come after him, which told Kyuhyun a lot about how he felt about the situation, none of it good. If he broke up with him over this...Kyuhyun wasn't sure what he'd do and mentally cursed Ryeowook for putting him in this position.
That said, he had been serious in what he'd told Sungmin; being a vampire didn't mean you were any wiser or stronger emotionally or mentally than anyone else, nor did it come with fantastical patience. Given the fact that they had considerably longer than normal lifespans, Kyuhyun would have said that most vampires he'd encountered became less patient and willing to wait for things, rather than the other way around. Put someone in a situation like Ryeowook's and you had a definite recipe for disaster either way you looked at it.
With more and more blood trickling down his throat now, Ryeowook was finding it harder to maintain the peace he'd managed to achieve, in a limbo of sorts as he was. His body wanted the blood and wanted to stay alive, Ryeowook's spirit wanting the opposite. The internal struggle tired him out, showing as convulsions in his physical body as the blood Sungmin was giving him was quickly absorbed and created a thirst for more.
Watching Ryeowook carefully, Sungmin kept trying to reach the vampire through the mental bond. It wasn't working though...being so close to death seemed to have broken it permanently. Realizing this, pain jolted through his chest as he pressed his lips firmly together. He couldn't let Ryeowook die...
The twitches and jerks from the doctor were reassuring though. He was reacting to the blood. Finishing the bag, he tossed it aside and took the one Yesung offered him right away, already torn open. He positioned this one over Ryeowook's mouth as well as Yesung readied another, then another. Would what they had be enough?
Worrying about this, Yesung glanced at the door with pained eyes. He wanted to go after Kyuhyun but at this rate he wasn't sure if he'd be able to do more than scream at him. Shock and anger at what had happened made his hands shake, his breaths coming in strained bursts. All he could do now was help Sungmin and hope he calmed down enough to try civil conversation with his boyfriend later.
Ryeowook's body continued to spasm, the convulsions increasing in severity and occurrence, the young vampire's body arching off the bed from time to time as blood continued to trickle down his throat. After some time, Ryeowook began to moan as if in pain with each contortion of his body, twisting as if to try to avoid the blood Sungmin was feeding him.
Kyuhyun could hear the moans and clenched his fists, the pain hurting him nearly as much as it probably hurt the others to hear it. Why couldn't they have just left Ryeowook alone and abided by his wishes? Was that really too much to ask? His head ducked where he sat huddled up on the floor outside Ryeowook's office, it didn't take long for Kyuhyun to snap, getting up and going back into the office.
"Stop it," he said from behind clenched teeth, his eyes showing the pain he felt on Ryeowook's behalf as he attempted to stop Sungmin from giving the young vampire still more blood. "You're hurting him....just leave him alone. He wanted to die, can't you respect his wishes?!"
Jumping as Kyuhyun came back into the room suddenly, Yesung paused and looked between him and Sungmin, a bag of blood in his hands unopened. From the first moan of pain Ryeowook gave, Sungmin had flinched as though it was physically injuring him to hear the agony he was causing the vampire, and knowing how close their bond was, it made sense that it would be hurting Sungmin as well. Yesung didn't realize the bond had snapped and disappeared; if he had, he would have questioned why Sungmin was being so seriously affected.
Seeing the determination in his friend's eyes strengthened Yesung's resolve. When Kyuhyun moved to get between Sungmin and the bed, Yesung put down the bag of blood in his hands and grabbed Kyuhyun by both arms, pulling him back.
"He doesn't have to die! This doesn't have to be it! Just leave them alone, Kyuhyun. Sungmin knows he won't be thanked for this and he's doing it anyway."
Blinking back tears, Sungmin continued to mechanically keep giving Ryeowook blood, his hands coated with red from when he slipped. As the reactions increased, he started talking to Ryeowook softly, gentle words of reassurance in a calm voice that didn't give away his shaking hands.
Struggling in Yesung's arms, Kyuhyun's pain grew as Ryeowook's cries of anguish became weaker. Whether that meant he was close to regaining consciousness or if he was truly dying, Kyuhyun didn't know but he didn't want to find out.
"Let me go," he said desperately, trying to reach the other vampire to protect him from what he felt were Sungmin's misguided attempts at keeping him alive. "He doesn't want this...you don't understand!"
As he struggled, Ryeowook's eyes snapped open, a vivid red. Sitting up and grabbing Sungmin's waist as he bent over him with the blood pack, Ryeowook sank his fangs into his former guardian's neck, Kyuhyun's eyes going wide with shock and surprise.
"Ryeowook, stop it!" he shouted, trying to break out of Yesung's hold in order to get to Sungmin and pull him away.
This had been a totally unexpected turn of events and Kyuhyun wasn't even sure what to do as this hadn't been anything he'd ever experienced before. Before he could do anything, the door burst open and to Kyuhyun's renewed shock and amazement, two new vampires appeared, a man and a woman.
AND THUS THE DAY IS OVER AND SUNSET BEGINS....
Authors: yeonah and mi_iseul
Chapter: 13/13
Genre: Angst/drama/fluff (yes, there is some fluff in there somewhere LOL)
Rating: PG
Summary: The stories of two vampire/human couples. Part 1, 'Night', deals with Kyuhyun and Yesung's story. Part 2, 'Day', deals with Sungmin and Ryeowook's story.
In the wrong place at the right time, Sungmin becomes Ryeowook's guardian. It's not all smooth sailing, however. Ryeowook explains his decision to Kyuhyun and a reluctant Kyuhyun gives in, but not without a fight. And without reckoning on Sungmin's interference, though it doesn't come without an unexpected cost...to them all.
"I can't control myself. At all. Do you not realise what that means?" he asked, his voice shaking as he turned to look out the window at the lights of the city that could be seen from his office window.
"I could attack Yesung. Or Seunghyun. Or anyone at all, really. It's just getting worse and I'm just...so tired. I can't cope any more...even with Sungmin and Nicole's help."
He glanced bitterly at Kyuhyun. "I don't think you really want me to kill Yesung, do you? I know you love him...and want him to have the life and choices neither of us got to experience for ourselves, but...you have to understand that anyone could be fair game for me now."
His hands balled into fists as Ryeowook spoke, making threats against Yesung's life as if it were a foregone conclusion, Kyuhyun couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You're a selfish brat," he snapped, tempted to slap some sense into Ryeowook. The only problem with that was that he knew it wouldn't do any good. "Don't you realise what it'll do to Sungmin if you die? He was nearly beside himself when you were shot and he didn't even know you at the time!"
"He doesn't know me now, so what does it matter?" Ryeowook snapped back, his nerves and temper fraying. "He'll get over it soon enough and go back to his normal life and forget all about me. He'd be better off doing that...than being stuck playing guardian to someone like me..."
"I still think you're making a huge mistake, Ryeowook," Kyuhyun insisted, his face pale. How could he convince Ryeowook not to do this? At the same time, he understood the soul-deep exhaustion and sorrow the other vampire felt; after all, hadn't he felt the same until he met and fell in love with Yesung?
"I disagree," Ryeowook replied, falling silent as tears threatened to overwhelm him. He had to somehow keep this from Sungmin but it was hard. "Please...I am begging you. Kill me before something else goes wrong and Yesung and Seunghyun pay for it with their lives..."
Sighing, Kyuhyun remained silent for a while, thinking about the possible conclusions and not really seeing any way out. If he refused, Ryeowook would just find someone else to do it and possibly risk betraying them all. But if he did it...Sungmin would hate him...and Yesung might turn against him as well. Part of him wished Yesung hadn't been called out; maybe he would have had better luck convincing Ryeowook not to go through with this.
His mind going around in circles, Kyuhyun sighed again. "Fine," he eventually replied, getting off the bed so Ryeowook could lay down on it. "I don't like it...but you're not really giving me much choice..."
"I'm sorry," Ryeowook said softly, nodding his thanks as he took the spot vacated by Kyuhyun, laying back on the bed and closing his eyes. "I just don't see any other option any more. I can't live like this...I never asked for it to begin with..."
"What do you want me to do?" Kyuhyun asked, rubbing his temples to try and relieve the tension that he could feel building up. "I'm not exactly very good at this; I've never killed another vampire before..."
Ryeowook opened his eyes and stared up at Kyuhyun. "What about Yesung's kidnapper?" he asked in surprise. "Didn't you help...?"
"Well yes, but I didn't kill him. That was...Yesung..." Kyuhyun said quietly, looking away. "Just answer my question..."
Closing his eyes again, Ryeowook shrugged. "Just drain me. Feed from me until there's nothing left..."
Unable to help himself, he felt a strong burst of regret and sorrow, the emotions filtering down through the bond he shared with Sungmin as Kyuhyun bent over him and began to do what Ryeowook had asked, feeding from him.
Fighting back a growing feeling of unease as he entered the studio and greeted his co-worker, Sungmin grabbed his bag from his locker and went to change. Ryeowook will be fine, he told himself firmly as he got out of his street clothes and into the white robes, tying the black belt around his waist firmly. It was only an hour and a half, then he'd be able to see the vampire again. It was normal to be antsy so soon after witnessing a complete emotional breakdown from the doctor, but there was nothing he could do about it right now so he wasn't going to worry about it.
It was easy to think so, but something completely different to do it.
About to shove his phone into his bag, Sungmin glanced at the display and realized he had a missed call from his boyfriend. Again. That had been happening a lot recently. Sighing softly, he decided he would deal with Dongyul after as well and walked back out into the main room to greet the students.
They were halfway through the second exercise and Sungmin was starting to relax a little when the emotions coming from Ryeowook shifted, a strong wave of guilt and pain nearly overwhelming him. Paling, Sungmin watched the kids repeat the exercise again and tried to contact Ryeowook.
Is everything alright? he asked, but there was no reply. Frowning slightly, he excused himself quickly and left the main hall, his co-worker watching him with a confused expression. Finding his phone again, he dialed Yesung's number and waited for his friend to pick up. Both lines were busy however.
Worry ate at him as he fiddled with his martial arts pole, trying to contact Ryeowook through the bond again with no luck. It was then he realized with a jolt that he was sensing the vampire less and less, the bond practically fading even as he grasped at it.
Running back into the main hall, he pulled his co-worker aside.
"Emergency, I have to go," he whispered urgently. The panic in his eyes stopped the other man from arguing and he merely nodded before Sungmin turned and left, not bothering to change out of his outfit or put down his pole.
It took only a few minutes to reach the hospital but even that time was too much. He could barely sense Ryeowook any more and it scared him, the feeling too smiliar to when the doctor's heart had stopped. It felt like energy was being slowly drained from him and he desperately pushed as much of it as he could spare through the tattered remains of the bond to buy him some time. He still couldn't reach Ryeowook.
Ignoring the stares as he ran in through the side entrance, Sungmin hurried straight for Ryeowook's office and nearly knocked poor Yesung over when he turned the corner.
"HEY! Watch where you- Sungmin?" Yesung stared at him. "What are you-"
Too concentrated on the fading bond to reply to his friend, Sungmin went to the office door and opened it, running in. When he saw Kyuhyun bent over the bed, latched on Ryeowook's neck, strong instinct and anger spurred him into action.
"Get away from him!"
He darted forward and used his pole to hit key nerve points in the back of Kyuhyun's knees that would force him to the ground and away from Ryeowook before jamming his pole between the two vampires, knocking Kyuhyun over properly.
Yesung stood in the doorway, his eyes wide and face pale. "Kyu...?"
Sungmin ignored them, going straight for Ryeowook. "What the hell are you thinking?!?" He quickly checked for a pulse, then turned to Yesung in a panic. "He needs blood. Find Nicole!"
Jumping at the tone of the other man's voice, Yesung glanced at Kyuhyun before taking off down the hallway.
Breathing heavily from where he'd fallen to the floor when Sungmin hit him, Kyuhyun refused to look at either man, wiping blood from his lips slowly as he sat up.
"I was only doing what he asked me to do," he said softly, his voice sad. Making no effort to get up past what he'd already done, Kyuhyun kept his eyes on the floor in front of him. He wondered if either of them would believe him, but it was the truth.
"He threatened Yesung...and Seunghyun..." Kyuhyun continued softly when Sungmin didn't say anything. "He wants to die...and I couldn't say no..."
His voice shook. "You don't understand what it's like...but go ahead and hate me. It won't change the fact that we're vampires, that he's lonely, tired, and afraid. That he's going out of control and nobody can help..." Kyuhyun trailed off, close to tears. "And it won't change the fact that I hate myself just as much as you do. I couldn't say no..."
Nicole looked up from her paperwork as she heard running footsteps and recognised Yesung. About to greet him, her expression changed to worry at the look on his face.
"What's going on?" she asked worriedly, getting up from her seat and coming around the desk. "Is Ryeowook ok?"
Breathing unevenly, Yesung shook his head hard and went up to her so that no one else would hear.
"Something...went wrong and he...he needs blood," he said shakily, still pale from the scene he and Sungmin had come in on. Kyuhyun feeding from Ryeowook. Why? Why would he do something like that? What had happened?
"A lot of blood," he specified, urgency in his eyes and voice. How much had Kyuhyun taken? From the fear lacing Sungmin's voice, it had been far too much.
Swallowing thickly, Sungmin didn't even try to fight the anger at Kyuhyun's words.
"Of course you could have said no," he snapped, hands shaking. "How is dying going to solve anything? Is dying going to give him control or change everything that's happened? The only thing it stops is any hope of recovery."
Looking back down at Ryeowook, he shook the vampire's shoulders lightly.
"Can you hear me? Ryeowook!" He could barely sense anything through the bond. Even though he was giving the doctor his energy, it wasn't that the other man needed...it was blood.
"Where is Yesung?" There was no time; Ryeowook was slipping away from him. He might already be gone by the time Yesung and Nicole gathered enough blood packs and got back here.
Looking around the office, Sungmin spotted the drawer where Ryeowook kept all his medical instruments and ran over, opening the drawer and looking through it. His fingers closed around a scalpel, his mind made up. It was his job to keep Ryeowook alive above all. All the other rules about being a guardian were secondary to that.
Even the rule about feeding from a guardian.
Walking around Kyuhyun back to the bedside, the martial artist didn't even glance at the singer before flicking the sharp blade across his wrist, flinching and drawing in a sharp breath as blood dripped down his hand. It wasn't deep enough to kill, or pierce any important veins, but enough to bleed...and then Sungmin would have to trust in the fact Ryeowook would instinctively go after the blood to do the rest.
Placing the scalpel down, he pressed the cut to Ryeowook's pale lips.
Hovering between life and the death he craved, Ryeowook felt the bond he shared with Sungmin snap, the pain sharper than he expected it to be. Despite that, he felt himself slip further and further towards death, the unexpected scent of blood filling his senses. Too weak, he lay unmoving on the bed.
"I never expected you to understand," Kyuhyun replied, tired and sad. "I just told you what he asked and how he felt. I can understand because it's how I felt too before Yesung told me he loved me. If he hadn't saved me then, I would have done the same thing as Ryeowook did."
"You're wrong though," he added, finally looking up, his eyes red. "It does help stop the pain from killing him from the inside out. When you have nothing left to exist for...since you can't call what we have 'life'..."
Moving out of the way, Kyuhyun went to sit by the window, looking out into the darkness, feeling his own despair all over again; as he'd told Sungmin, Kyuhyun had been all too familiar with the feelings Ryeowook had and the pain was still fresh in his mind.
"There is nothing more we can do..." Kyuhyun's voice was soft, almost painfully gentle as he spoke, then fell silent.
Nicole's eyes widened as the impact of Yesung's words hit her. "What happened?" she asked, grabbing the keys and setting off at a run for the blood bank.
Her heart breaking, she grabbed a cart and began to stack bags of blood onto it, almost carelessly throwing them in her haste. Ryeowook couldn't die...he had too much to live for, even if he didn't believe it himself. Blindly brushing away tears as she continued to get the blood packs Ryeowook needed, she shoved the chart at Yesung.
"Just scribble in whatever," she choked out, her voice catching on a sob. "I'll fix it later..."
Catching the packs that slipped off the cart, Yesung stacked them back on. It was a lot of blood but...would it be enough? Would anything be enough?
Doing as Nicole said, Yesung waited until she was done then took off down the hallway, going as fast as he could without tipping the cart over or losing some of the vital blood packs. Even if it was enough, would they be able to get it to the vampire in time?
"There is always something to exist for," Sungmin said stubbornly, watching Ryeowook carefully. "This is giving up before he has a chance to find it."
The doctor wasn't reacting to the blood slowly trickling past his lips, Sungmin becoming increasingly panicked.
Ryeowook, wake up! It was useless...he couldn't sense anything any more. But the vampire wasn't dead yet...not yet. I'm your guardian, you idiot, and you're not going to die on my watch.
He applied more pressure to the edges of the slash, forcing more blood out and ignoring the pain.
Kyuhyun looked back at Sungmin, suddenly angry.
"Just how old do you think I am?" he demanded, standing up and watching the human's futile efforts at keeping Ryeowook alive. "How old do you think he is? It's not much different for us than for you humans; we can't wait around forever for love, affection, or support, even if we do have that luxury...."
"Your spirit still dies, the longer you go without emotional support," he added, snapping at Sungmin. "And I don't mean your paltry efforts at trying to make Ryeowook feel better about the contradictions he particularly faces."
"As far as I've ever seen, he's the only one of us vampires who has actually tried to make things better but it only makes things worse for him. Even without being a vampire, that wears on a person until you just can't go on any more. Think about how many human doctors suicide when they can't face the losses any more. It's no different with him, except for the fact that the losses he faces are caused solely by his own need for blood..."
"Don't judge us when you don't understand what it's like..."
Nicole watched Yesung leave with the cart, scrubbing at her face with one hand. Whatever was going on must have been pretty traumatic; the normally chatty Yesung barely said anything to her the entire time but looked sad and angry. Sending a quick prayer for Ryeowook, she busied herself with fixing the logs, trying to stop her tears.
Sungmin stiffened, his frustration at being unable to help Ryeowook turning into anger. "I can feel it!" he snapped back. "I can feel his emotions as clearly as though they were my own, and while I know I can't understand fully, I understand more than any other human here! A spirit can't die...it can only appear to."
He turned back to Ryeowook, his heart racing as he kept trying to reach for the bond that was no longer there. Blinking back tears of frustration and pain, Sungmin struggled to keep a clear mind. It hurt so much more than he thought it would...but hadn't he already known it would hurt badly from when Ryeowook's heart had stopped?
"There's a reason things are like this. There's a reason why he didn't die years ago and there's a reason why he can't die now!"
He couldn't die...
"You could have killed yourself years ago too. You said so yourself. But you didn't and now you have Yesung. Don't try to tell me that doesn't mean something! Unless you regret meeting him too?"
Yesung ran in that instant, stopping at Sungmin's words. His eyes widened, pain blossoming in his chest before he shook his head and pushed the cart up to Sungmin.
"Here it is. What are we supposed to do now?"
Sungmin turned from Ryeowook and grabbed a blood pack, paying no attention to his bleeding wrist.
"We need to get him to feed, but I don't know if he has the strength...I don't know how to get it straight into his veins and we might not have the time."
"Then we get him to drink it," Yesung said firmly, grabbing a pack as well.
Kyuhyun stiffened as Yesung came in at just the wrong moment, hearing Sungmin imply that he regretted meeting (and falling in love with) Yesung, which wasn't the case at all. Yesung's reaction stung as Kyuhyun was completely ignored, the two humans turning to help Ryeowook instead.
"I never said that," he said quietly, not sure the others were even listening to him at that point. "But it doesn't matter; you're not even listening..."
Upset that Sungmin seemed to believe there was a reason he and Ryeowook had been made vampires when he didn't believe it himself, Kyuhyun didn't know what to say or think at that point. Other than to point out something Sungmin seemed to have forgotten.
"Ryeowook won't thank you for this..." Kyuhyun murmured, then slipped out the door, his heart heavy. He had a lot of thinking of his own to do and couldn't do it while they were there, making it plain they didn't want anything to do with him.
Sungmin wouldn't have known it but his blood was starting to make a tiny shred of difference, Ryeowook's senses slowly starting to come back to him despite his unwillingness to live. The same sweet blood that had attracted him before, attracted him again, and he felt his heart start to beat a little stronger as more and more of Sungmin's blood trickled past his lips. Suddenly it was withdrawn and Ryeowook's body gave a small twitch.
Blinking back tears as Kyuhyun left, Yesung drew in a shaky breath and pulled himself together for Sungmin's sake. His roommate needed his help. He could hide in his dorm and wonder why all this was happening later.
Sungmin knew Ryeowook would probably hate him for reviving him, but at the same time, he'd rather Ryeowook be alive to hate him than be dead. The hate he could stand. He just couldn't let the vampire die. Sungmin was under no obligation to help anymore; the bond was broken, which was as official a way as any to say Sungmin was no longer Ryeowook's guardian. But he couldn't let him die.
Whether Ryeowook understood why next week or next century, Sungmin just couldn't leave him to die. Seeing the twitch out of the corner of his eyes, hope raced through him. Ryeowook was reviving.
"Come on, hang in there," he murmured, tearing the bag of blood open and upending it slightly, watching the red liquid drip into the vampire's mouth, some missing and trickling down his face. Yesung waited with another bag at the ready, chewing on his lower lip with distressed eyes.
Outside the door, Kyuhyun stood with his back to the wall, his eyes closed and blinking back tears. He shouldn't have expected them to understand anything, even if Yesung was beginning to understand some things, or at least said he did. It wasn't anything like they thought it was and claiming reasons for everything just upset Kyuhyun so much he couldn't think straight, and that was without any of the problems that went with following Ryeowook's wishes.
Sliding down the wall into a seated position, Kyuhyun ignored the curious stares of staff and patients alike as he pulled his legs to his chest and sat with his head down, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. Yesung hadn't come after him, which told Kyuhyun a lot about how he felt about the situation, none of it good. If he broke up with him over this...Kyuhyun wasn't sure what he'd do and mentally cursed Ryeowook for putting him in this position.
That said, he had been serious in what he'd told Sungmin; being a vampire didn't mean you were any wiser or stronger emotionally or mentally than anyone else, nor did it come with fantastical patience. Given the fact that they had considerably longer than normal lifespans, Kyuhyun would have said that most vampires he'd encountered became less patient and willing to wait for things, rather than the other way around. Put someone in a situation like Ryeowook's and you had a definite recipe for disaster either way you looked at it.
With more and more blood trickling down his throat now, Ryeowook was finding it harder to maintain the peace he'd managed to achieve, in a limbo of sorts as he was. His body wanted the blood and wanted to stay alive, Ryeowook's spirit wanting the opposite. The internal struggle tired him out, showing as convulsions in his physical body as the blood Sungmin was giving him was quickly absorbed and created a thirst for more.
Watching Ryeowook carefully, Sungmin kept trying to reach the vampire through the mental bond. It wasn't working though...being so close to death seemed to have broken it permanently. Realizing this, pain jolted through his chest as he pressed his lips firmly together. He couldn't let Ryeowook die...
The twitches and jerks from the doctor were reassuring though. He was reacting to the blood. Finishing the bag, he tossed it aside and took the one Yesung offered him right away, already torn open. He positioned this one over Ryeowook's mouth as well as Yesung readied another, then another. Would what they had be enough?
Worrying about this, Yesung glanced at the door with pained eyes. He wanted to go after Kyuhyun but at this rate he wasn't sure if he'd be able to do more than scream at him. Shock and anger at what had happened made his hands shake, his breaths coming in strained bursts. All he could do now was help Sungmin and hope he calmed down enough to try civil conversation with his boyfriend later.
Ryeowook's body continued to spasm, the convulsions increasing in severity and occurrence, the young vampire's body arching off the bed from time to time as blood continued to trickle down his throat. After some time, Ryeowook began to moan as if in pain with each contortion of his body, twisting as if to try to avoid the blood Sungmin was feeding him.
Kyuhyun could hear the moans and clenched his fists, the pain hurting him nearly as much as it probably hurt the others to hear it. Why couldn't they have just left Ryeowook alone and abided by his wishes? Was that really too much to ask? His head ducked where he sat huddled up on the floor outside Ryeowook's office, it didn't take long for Kyuhyun to snap, getting up and going back into the office.
"Stop it," he said from behind clenched teeth, his eyes showing the pain he felt on Ryeowook's behalf as he attempted to stop Sungmin from giving the young vampire still more blood. "You're hurting him....just leave him alone. He wanted to die, can't you respect his wishes?!"
Jumping as Kyuhyun came back into the room suddenly, Yesung paused and looked between him and Sungmin, a bag of blood in his hands unopened. From the first moan of pain Ryeowook gave, Sungmin had flinched as though it was physically injuring him to hear the agony he was causing the vampire, and knowing how close their bond was, it made sense that it would be hurting Sungmin as well. Yesung didn't realize the bond had snapped and disappeared; if he had, he would have questioned why Sungmin was being so seriously affected.
Seeing the determination in his friend's eyes strengthened Yesung's resolve. When Kyuhyun moved to get between Sungmin and the bed, Yesung put down the bag of blood in his hands and grabbed Kyuhyun by both arms, pulling him back.
"He doesn't have to die! This doesn't have to be it! Just leave them alone, Kyuhyun. Sungmin knows he won't be thanked for this and he's doing it anyway."
Blinking back tears, Sungmin continued to mechanically keep giving Ryeowook blood, his hands coated with red from when he slipped. As the reactions increased, he started talking to Ryeowook softly, gentle words of reassurance in a calm voice that didn't give away his shaking hands.
Struggling in Yesung's arms, Kyuhyun's pain grew as Ryeowook's cries of anguish became weaker. Whether that meant he was close to regaining consciousness or if he was truly dying, Kyuhyun didn't know but he didn't want to find out.
"Let me go," he said desperately, trying to reach the other vampire to protect him from what he felt were Sungmin's misguided attempts at keeping him alive. "He doesn't want this...you don't understand!"
As he struggled, Ryeowook's eyes snapped open, a vivid red. Sitting up and grabbing Sungmin's waist as he bent over him with the blood pack, Ryeowook sank his fangs into his former guardian's neck, Kyuhyun's eyes going wide with shock and surprise.
"Ryeowook, stop it!" he shouted, trying to break out of Yesung's hold in order to get to Sungmin and pull him away.
This had been a totally unexpected turn of events and Kyuhyun wasn't even sure what to do as this hadn't been anything he'd ever experienced before. Before he could do anything, the door burst open and to Kyuhyun's renewed shock and amazement, two new vampires appeared, a man and a woman.
AND THUS THE DAY IS OVER AND SUNSET BEGINS....