Absolute - Chapter Seven
Title: Absolute
Chapter: 7/?
Fandoms: TVXQ/DBSK, Super Junior, SS501
Pairings: Various (a LOT O.o; )
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, Violence, Character Death
Summary: Seoul’s All-Boys Night School is just like any other night school in the area, but there’s one thing that sets them apart from all the others, and that is their students. Seoul has been the battleground of an underground, interspecies cold war for centuries, with populations of vampyres, lycans, and all those in between. Even so, no one saw it coming when young members from practically every division ended up in the same night class, along with several unassuming humans. How do you deal with suddenly having to play nice with those you were raised to hate? A dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, where the only rules were to get rid of the enemy, not be caught by the humans… And not to fall in love.
A/N: Sorry for the late~, but it was Christmas! *buried under bricks* As well, updates are going to be once a week again because at this rate I'm gonna run out of chapters before I start writing more. I can't decide whether I want to update on Friday or Saturday. You guys will probably say Friday, huh? It won't matter if it's one day earlier after this week xD *shot* On a side note, I was AMAZED at the amount of comments the last chapter received! *honored* Thank you so much to all my wonderful readers~, commenters and silent ones alike! *happiness* And thank you to the wonderful mi_iseul for betaing~!!!
Teaser Trailer | Characters and Terms | Prologue & Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
It had been three days since the fight in the classroom.
YunHo had gotten someone to patch up the hole in the wall quickly, though it was still obvious if you looked closely that it had been recently plastered. The tension was still present in class, but no one was at each other’s throats. Except from the occasional comment between YunHo and HeeChul, it was almost peaceful.
But no one was fooled; the silence was only temporary. Once you stepped off the school property, you were fair game.
The day after the no-violence-in-school agreement had been made, HyunJoong found himself ambushed by a group of slayers. He was able to get away, but word found its way back to HeeChul, then through the network of Vampyres. The next day, KiBum was caught by one of the newer, feistier Vampyres. The Vampyre was killed, but it was dangerously close to Lycan territory, which prompted YunHo to act that same night when he was thwarted by YooChun. It was a dangerous game of cat and mouse; the only rule was not to be caught by the humans.
And through all that, KyuHyun had yet to reappear. JongWoon returned to class the next day but he seemed distracted even by his standards, zoning out (and tripping) more than usual. He hardly waited for JaeJoong and KyuJong to walk home with him anymore, taking off as soon as the teacher dismissed them.
SungMin sighed inwardly as the teacher marked KyuHyun absent yet again. He was starting to get worried. All right, so maybe he and KyuHyun had never really talked… or even acknowledged each other, but he was allowed to be worried about his classmate, right?
No, he hadn’t been worried for JongWoon when he was absent, nor KyuJong, YoungWoon, or YunHo. Only KyuHyun. And if he was going to be perfectly frank with himself…SungMin did have something of a soft spot for the singer. More than a soft spot…
It wasn’t something he was going to tell anyone ever, but from ChangMin’s knowing smiles as SungMin returned from wandering the halls where KyuHyun could usually be found singing, it seemed his secret wasn’t such a secret after all.
Instead, SungMin found solace in the form of Henry. The Canadian boy had yet to really fit into the class, though he did talk to KiBum, Han Geng, and RyeoWook every now and then. Henry could often be found conversing idly with their teacher, who had a degree in English Literature from Stanford, as well as a degree in Creative Writing. The two would have long conversations in English, and God only knew that they were talking about, because SungMin hadn’t a clue.
No matter what they were talking about though, Henry never said no if SungMin came to him asking for help. After walking around for a bit, he would always return to the classroom, where Henry could usually be found on their breaks. Conversation between them was minimal, and contained only of the simplest language, but the Gifted man could see Henry was practicing hard to learn their language. For some reason, that made SungMin want to press himself harder to learn English, if only to be able to talk with the young Canadian.
They were going over different verb tenses this time, when Henry paused and looked up at him uncertainly.
“Few day ago…” he started hesitantly, the words formed clumsily but with great care. “What happen, in morning? There was fight?”
SungMin thought about the question for a moment. He had asked ChangMin that same day what had happened, but the other Gifted man had put on the mysterious act yet again and wouldn’t tell him anything. Or at least, anything that made sense. He knew ChangMin knew what had happened as it was obvious from the way the other man had acted. He might even know more than that. But for now, SungMin was in the dark.
“I’m not sure,” he replied, being careful to keep his voice clear and use language that Henry would have an easier time understanding. “No one is saying anything. I asked around, but I can’t find anything.” Henry translated the words in his head then nodded, worrying lightly at his lower lip.
“It is dangerous, you think?”
What was he supposed to say? SungMin suspected there was something more going on here, more than mere humans could cause, but how was he supposed to say that? As far as he was aware, Henry was human, but then again SungMin had never really been in contact with any non-humans except for ChangMin, so he wouldn’t know where to look first. If there were more non-humans in their class, obviously the ‘look for glowing eyes and wings’ theory wasn’t going to cut it. They all looked human to him.
“It might be,” he responded finally, giving the human what he hoped was a reassuring smile. SungMin would have to be more persistent with his questions; if he could get a straight answer out of ChangMin, he would have a good start.
Henry lowered his head at that, frowning to himself. SungMin clapped one hand on the younger man’s back. “I’ll find out, alright?” he said quietly. “And then I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”
Henry gave him that bright, chipmunk smile in return, relieved. “Thank you, hyung,” he replied clumsily. SungMin had to resist the urge to pinch the boy’s cheeks. How could anyone look so adorable?
“Don’t worry, you won’t be out of the loop,” the Gifted man said happily. Henry looked confused at the expression, and SungMin laughed, settling down to explain another Korean expression to the Canadian.
*****
Returning from the small slayer meeting, HyukJae looked around for his boyfriend, frowning lightly. DongHae, usually waiting for him in the classroom or just outside the building doors, was nowhere to be found. Looking into the cafeteria as well as anywhere else the other student could be, he turned up nothing.
Worry ran through the slayer. It wasn’t like Hae to just vanish; sure he had a short attention span and liked to wander off, but he usually wandered right back within a few minutes. The Demon was generally insecure the farther away from his boyfriend he was, and stayed in more-or-less the same locations.
Looking at the time, HyukJae saw there was still over half an hour before class started. He should really look for DongHae; the feeling that something might have happened to him was making him nervous.
Walking through the hallways quietly, he listened for anything, any sound that could give away a student’s presence. The general chatter and noise faded away the farther from the main area he went. Soon, there was only the sound of his own footsteps for company.
It was then that he heard the faint sniffles, a quiet sob echoing down the hallway. HyukJae’s pace quickened, his heart in his throat. There was no need to ask who it was. He knew.
Finally he ran into the classroom where DongHae was hiding, his eyes scanning the darkness for his boyfriend. Seeing a shape in the back of the class, HyukJae started forward, only to stop in surprise.
DongHae was in his Demon form. Curled up on one of the desks, he rocked back and forth slowly, muffling sobs in his knees. His wings were furled around him, and trembling visibly.
Why had DongHae taken his true form, here in a school where two students in their own class were slayers? It was so dangerous; even far away from the others, there was too much of a chance he would be found. If there was one thing HyukJae knew about the slayer society, it was very much a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ world. No one would bother to ask why there was a Demon crying alone in a classroom until DongHae was already dead.
“Hae?” he called softly, watching his boyfriend as he approached carefully. He didn’t want to spook the other man, which was all too easy when DongHae was in one of these states.
DongHae stiffened and then lifted his head with a sniffle, glowing red eyes meeting HyukJae’s in the darkness of the classroom. The slayer walked slowly to the desk the demon occupied. DongHae watched him come closer, not moving.
Only when HyukJae tried to pull the Demon into an embrace did DongHae flinch away, leaning back and nearly falling off the desk. In a panic, HyukJae grabbed DongHae’s arms to pull him upright.
A shock ran through him, almost electrical, and he released the Demon with a suppressed yelp. His hands stung but when he looked there were nothing visibly wrong with them, like being burnt without the actual burns.
A small whine came from deep in DongHae’s throat, and the Demon scooted himself as close to the edge of the desk as he could, putting a little distance between himself and HyukJae.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, red eyes over-bright with tears as HyukJae looked up from his hands.
It was only then that HyukJae finally understood what was going on.
Demons had their own brand of what you could call ‘magic’. No one liked referring to it as such, whether Demon, slayer, or otherwise, but if pressed, Demons would refer to it as magic. A human had once called it Allodynia, after the medical term for a painful response to a non-painful stimulus, but the term had yet to be fully adopted by either side.
Allodynia was, simply put, the ability to cause pain with a single touch. It was what linked the Imps, Featherfolk, Felinefolk, and minority groups together under the collective name of ‘Demon’; spawn of Satan. It wasn’t their physical appearances, though looking at a standard imp would definitely give one the impression of the Devil. The Allodynia was the ultimate torture method; depending on the Demon, it could be used to cause physical pain, mental, emotional, or a mixture of all three. Prolonged exposure could cause worse; complete breakdowns, insanity. Death.
There were Demons who enjoyed their control over others, and who gave the rest of their kindred their bad name. There were those who disapproved, but would use it to defend themselves. Then there were those like DongHae, who would never use the Allodynia no matter what was happening. And, like the vegetarian Vampyres, they were ultimately the most dangerous out of the bunch.
Because some 'abilities' were meant to be used, and if they weren’t, they went out of control.
HyukJae had been unlucky enough to grab DongHae’s bare skin when he went to pull him back up; that was all it had taken to start the pain. Even now, mulling over this in his head, he could feel his arms going numb from it and knew they were going to ache for days to come.
“Hae,” HyukJae murmured, watching another tear roll down his boyfriend’s cheek, his sharp teeth worrying at his lower lip to the point where it bled.
As HyukJae reached out slowly to brush the tear away, DongHae jerked his face away, mop of brown hair falling into his eyes.
“Don’t touch me, Hyukkie,” he whispered, but it hit HyukJae as hard as though DongHae had shouted at him.
Ignoring the stab of hurt, he sighed and hopped up on the desk beside DongHae, who stiffened, then relaxed when HyukJae didn’t try to touch him again. After a moment, the Demon slowly lowered his head to rest his cheek against the other man’s shoulder, protected by his shirt.
“How long before it’s over?” HyukJae asked, keeping his own voice calm for DongHae’s sake. He could still hear faint hiccups from the other boy as he tried to stop himself from crying further.
“A… A few minutes. Give me five minutes, alright?” DongHae replied, his fingers curling into the fabric of HyukJae’s sleeve.
“You know… I may not know much about this, but I heard that if you’re in contact with someone, it’ll take less time for you to regain control-“
“No!”
DongHae stiffened, shaking his head hard at the idea and starting to push himself away from HyukJae again. Sighing softly, the slayer wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist, careful not to touch skin, and held him close.
“Alright, alright. Calm down, Hae.”
“I would never hurt you like that,” DongHae said with conviction, looking up at HyukJae with watery eyes and making him feel like a total jerk for even suggesting it.
“There must be some way to… to stop it from happening though, right?”
“Not as far as I know,” DongHae sniffed. “It doesn’t happen that often though… I’ll just cope.”
“I just don’t want you to accidentally reveal yourself to the slayers,” HyukJae replied quietly. “You have to change into this form when it happens, right? What if next time you’re smack in a crowded street, or in class? Can you run out fast enough to avoid anyone seeing?”
“I’m not sure…”
DongHae trailed off, looking down at his hands for a long moment. “I… I think it’s over,” he whispered. “The feeling’s gone.”
HyukJae hesitated, then reached up to touch gentle fingertips to Hae’s cheek. When there was no shock or surge of pain, he relaxed and DongHae gave him a watery smile.
“Gods Hae, don’t scare me like that again,” he murmured, wiping away the other student’s tears before kissing him gently. DongHae responded, wrapping his arms around the slayer’s body and curling his large wings around them.
“Wow.”
DongHae stiffened in surprise and HyukJae fell right off the desk at the interruption from the doorway. Groaning in pain, the slayer pushed himself up into a seated position, and looked up at DongHae, who had somehow managed to avoid being taken down with him. The Demon was staring at the classroom doorway, mouth agape.
JunSu leaned against the doorframe, a curious and amused expression on his face as his eyes went from DongHae on the desk to HyukJae on the floor.
“Wow. I’d wondered if there were any Demons in the class, considering we seem to have practically everything else, but this, I wasn’t expecting.”
His eyes locked on to HyukJae’s and the human realized with a start that JunSu knew he was a slayer.
“How?” tumbled from his lips before he could stop himself.
“How do I know you’re with the slayers? I saw you going to talk with them earlier,” JunSu replied with a shrug. “It’s really not that hard to figure out. But why is a slayer like you… lip-locking with a Demon like him?”
HyukJae stood and DongHae climbed off the desk, the demon taking a defensive stance in front of the slayer and expanding his wings to their full length, shielding his boyfriend from view.
“Don’t hurt him,” he said quietly, the glow emitting from his eyes intensifying slightly.
“Hae, it’s okay,” HyukJae murmured, embarrassed at the sudden protectiveness his boyfriend had for him when it was usually the other way around. He tried to get DongHae to fold his wings again, but the Demon stubbornly kept them open, and that coupled with the desks on either side stopped HyukJae from moving out from behind him.
“Hey, I don’t plan on starting anything,” JunSu said, hands rising slightly. “Actually, I think it’s adorable,” he continued with a wide smile.
“I’m all for inter-racial peace and all that, which is why my Vampyre peers tend to ignore me unless they need me for something. I didn’t think it was possible for slayers to get along with non-humans, but you’re actually dating one!”
“… So you don’t care?” DongHae asked cautiously, trying to ignore HyukJae poking lightly at the back of his wings, even though it tickled.
“No? I think you two deserve medals for your open-mindedness, actually.”
Relaxing, DongHae finally folded up his wings, nearly hitting HyukJae with them. Turning around at the yelp, he giggled helplessly at the indignant look the other boy was giving him.
“I can protect myself, thanks,” HyukJae muttered, the tips of his ears red.
JunSu walked over to them, the couple turning to face him again. “So, what do you plan on doing?” the Vampyre asked, hopping up on to a desk. “This looks interesting. I want in.”
“We’re not interested in a threesome,” HyukJae protested, DongHae bursting into another fit of giggles.
“Not in that way,” JunSu said with a pout. “I mean, I want in on the secret. I won’t tell anyone, you have my word on that. Knowing who’s more open-minded on the whole supernatural thing is always interesting.”
The two others exchanged a look. “I don’t see why not, as long as you promise not to tell anyone,” HyukJae said cautiously, looking back at the beaming JunSu.
“Great! Now, tell me, does anyone else know about this?”
“No,” DongHae admitted, wincing. “None of our families know. Nor do our friends. Well, if they do know we’re together, they don’t know what I am.”
JunSu nodded. “It would be problematic,” he murmured. “HyukJae, are your family hardcore slayers?”
“Yeah,” HyukJae replied. “Anyone who’s not 100% human drives them batty. They know Hae’s my friend, but nothing more than that. I try not to bring him over too often while they’re home.”
“Seems like you’ve got a bit of a problem,” JunSu concluded. “Any idea what you’re gonna do now?”
“Just keep on going?” HyukJae shrugged. “I don’t know what else we can do.”
“Keep fighting to be together,” DongHae quipped, fingers intertwining with HyukJae’s.
JunSu looked at them both, and smiled inwardly. They were perfect for each other. Looked like now that he finally had a beginning point maybe the idea of peace wasn’t so far-fetched after all.
*****
It had been a simple matter to get the Lycan pack leader to trust him.
If there was one thing KyuJong prided himself on, it was that no one ever seemed to suspect him of anything. He supposed it was the reason why he’d been chosen for this particular mission - he could get in and out with no one so much as batting an eyelash. He was human and he wasn’t related to any of the current slayer families, so why should he be a threat?
It helped that everyone thought the seventh slayer family had all perished in that massacre. The only ones who knew KyuJong was still alive were himself and the underground, anti-supernatural group that had rescued him as a child.
It had started simply enough. KyuJong was an errand boy for his workplace, and his boss had connections with the extremist group. Before he’d even started school again, KyuJong had been running errands that would take him to the place where the known Lycan leader worked.
Months before, he’d been the quiet little messenger boy, delivering letters and supplies. Gradually the level of interaction between him and the Lycan leader stepped up until they were actually holding conversations. KyuJong was careful never to let anyone else see his face clearly; he didn’t need any of this coming back to bite him later.
The Lycan leader was trusting of the young man, too much so. KyuJong felt guilty for tricking the friendly elder, but then the memory of his family lying in bloody and dismembered heaps in their living room would come back full force and the guilt would disappear.
He had to do this. For them, for everyone.
“Seonsaengnim! Seonsaengnim!”
The middle-aged man looked up from his work when KyuJong came skidding into view, nearly crashing into the door in his haste. No one else was around; it was only the Lycan this night.
The man had never seen the errand boy this pale, or this distressed. “KyuJong ah? What’s wrong?”
He strode over with a frown as KyuJong gulped for air, hardly able to breathe.
“There’s, there’s-“
He burst into a coughing fit.
“Easy there, don’t forget to breathe.” The man pounded his back lightly until KyuJong could speak again.
“There’s, a strange man one street down,” he finally managed to say, panting. “I couldn’t see clearly, but there was a girl with him, and she was screaming. I went to help, but then he looked at me, and…” He drew in a shaky breath. “There was red all over his mouth.”
He could tell the second his words hit home, the older man stiffening. He’d named a street that was right on the edge of Lycan and Vampyre territory, but still on the Lycan side of the line. That meant there was a Vampyre feeding on Lycan territory, a violation of the unstable treaty between races.
“Are you sure?” The man spoke softly, and KyuJong shivered involuntarily. He could feel the anger rising off the leader. Of course he would be angry; it was an act of war to feed away from Vampyre territory.
If there had actually been a Vampyre feeding off it’s territory.
KyuJong nodded, his eyes wide and face pale. The wolf straightened.
“I’ll take care of it,” he answered. “You stay here, alright?”
He got a glass of water for the rattled human and left after KyuJong had given him the precise location of the Vampyre sighting.
Sighing softly to himself, KyuJong leaned against the wall and slid down it. There was a lump in his throat that wouldn’t go away, even as he sipped at the water. A clock ticked away in the corner, the sound echoing inside his head.
Five minutes later, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out, KyuJong flipped the device open. “Yeoboseyo?”
“It’s done. You did well, KyuJong.”
Closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall, a long exhale left the human. “Is there anything else I need to do?” he asked quietly.
“No, we can take care of the rest. Get yourself some sleep. There’s going to be one hell of a show in your class tomorrow.”
“Fun,” KyuJong murmured, closing the phone and dropping his head between his hands.
This small push was all they should need to spark a war. The extremist group’s goal was to cause the non-human races to annihilate each other and destroy themselves from the inside out. KyuJong agreed and supported them whole-heartedly. There was no place in the world for monsters.
It was just so hard to convince himself that he was really doing the right thing…when all he could think about was that he was now a murderer.
*****
It really was a long night. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, the young woman walked down the back alley towards her own territory. Seriously, why was she working in Vamp territory again? She should have just found a new job on her own side of the line. Walking around here at night gave her the creeps.
It was even worse whenever she happened to stumble upon a Vampyre feeding because she couldn’t do anything about it. They were within their rights to hunt on their own territory.
Turning a corner, the young Lycan nearly gagged. What was that horrible stench? Holding her sensitive nose with one small hand, she advanced slowly. Smelled like a body. A dead body.
Another Vampyre victim, most likely. About to just keep on walking past the alley the smell was originating from, a shift in the breeze made her freeze. Past the disgusting stench of bodily fluids and spoiled meat, there was another scent in the air. A subtle brush of forest pines and earth.
A Lycan.
Shaking her head hard to clear it, she started down the other alley, trying not to breathe so much. God, it stank.
Turning the corner, her eyes landed on the dismembered heap on the ground, and her other hand had to be clamped to her mouth to stop a scream. The man was torn to shreds, insides spilled across the pavement and skin torn to ribbons. The whole thing screamed of Vampyres. Sinking to her knees in horror, the young Lycan’s gaze went to the man’s head, which was the only thing left intact. A muffled sob came from her as she scrambled for her phone, shaking hands pushing the buttons.
The one at the other end answered after the first ring. “Yeoboseyo?”
“YunHo oppa?” She swallowed thickly, fighting down a wave of nausea. “I found your father.”
Chapter: 7/?
Fandoms: TVXQ/DBSK, Super Junior, SS501
Pairings: Various (a LOT O.o; )
Rating: PG-16
Warning: Angst, Violence, Character Death
Summary: Seoul’s All-Boys Night School is just like any other night school in the area, but there’s one thing that sets them apart from all the others, and that is their students. Seoul has been the battleground of an underground, interspecies cold war for centuries, with populations of vampyres, lycans, and all those in between. Even so, no one saw it coming when young members from practically every division ended up in the same night class, along with several unassuming humans. How do you deal with suddenly having to play nice with those you were raised to hate? A dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, where the only rules were to get rid of the enemy, not be caught by the humans… And not to fall in love.
A/N: Sorry for the late~, but it was Christmas! *buried under bricks* As well, updates are going to be once a week again because at this rate I'm gonna run out of chapters before I start writing more. I can't decide whether I want to update on Friday or Saturday. You guys will probably say Friday, huh? It won't matter if it's one day earlier after this week xD *shot* On a side note, I was AMAZED at the amount of comments the last chapter received! *honored* Thank you so much to all my wonderful readers~, commenters and silent ones alike! *happiness* And thank you to the wonderful mi_iseul for betaing~!!!
Teaser Trailer | Characters and Terms | Prologue & Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
It had been three days since the fight in the classroom.
YunHo had gotten someone to patch up the hole in the wall quickly, though it was still obvious if you looked closely that it had been recently plastered. The tension was still present in class, but no one was at each other’s throats. Except from the occasional comment between YunHo and HeeChul, it was almost peaceful.
But no one was fooled; the silence was only temporary. Once you stepped off the school property, you were fair game.
The day after the no-violence-in-school agreement had been made, HyunJoong found himself ambushed by a group of slayers. He was able to get away, but word found its way back to HeeChul, then through the network of Vampyres. The next day, KiBum was caught by one of the newer, feistier Vampyres. The Vampyre was killed, but it was dangerously close to Lycan territory, which prompted YunHo to act that same night when he was thwarted by YooChun. It was a dangerous game of cat and mouse; the only rule was not to be caught by the humans.
And through all that, KyuHyun had yet to reappear. JongWoon returned to class the next day but he seemed distracted even by his standards, zoning out (and tripping) more than usual. He hardly waited for JaeJoong and KyuJong to walk home with him anymore, taking off as soon as the teacher dismissed them.
SungMin sighed inwardly as the teacher marked KyuHyun absent yet again. He was starting to get worried. All right, so maybe he and KyuHyun had never really talked… or even acknowledged each other, but he was allowed to be worried about his classmate, right?
No, he hadn’t been worried for JongWoon when he was absent, nor KyuJong, YoungWoon, or YunHo. Only KyuHyun. And if he was going to be perfectly frank with himself…SungMin did have something of a soft spot for the singer. More than a soft spot…
It wasn’t something he was going to tell anyone ever, but from ChangMin’s knowing smiles as SungMin returned from wandering the halls where KyuHyun could usually be found singing, it seemed his secret wasn’t such a secret after all.
Instead, SungMin found solace in the form of Henry. The Canadian boy had yet to really fit into the class, though he did talk to KiBum, Han Geng, and RyeoWook every now and then. Henry could often be found conversing idly with their teacher, who had a degree in English Literature from Stanford, as well as a degree in Creative Writing. The two would have long conversations in English, and God only knew that they were talking about, because SungMin hadn’t a clue.
No matter what they were talking about though, Henry never said no if SungMin came to him asking for help. After walking around for a bit, he would always return to the classroom, where Henry could usually be found on their breaks. Conversation between them was minimal, and contained only of the simplest language, but the Gifted man could see Henry was practicing hard to learn their language. For some reason, that made SungMin want to press himself harder to learn English, if only to be able to talk with the young Canadian.
They were going over different verb tenses this time, when Henry paused and looked up at him uncertainly.
“Few day ago…” he started hesitantly, the words formed clumsily but with great care. “What happen, in morning? There was fight?”
SungMin thought about the question for a moment. He had asked ChangMin that same day what had happened, but the other Gifted man had put on the mysterious act yet again and wouldn’t tell him anything. Or at least, anything that made sense. He knew ChangMin knew what had happened as it was obvious from the way the other man had acted. He might even know more than that. But for now, SungMin was in the dark.
“I’m not sure,” he replied, being careful to keep his voice clear and use language that Henry would have an easier time understanding. “No one is saying anything. I asked around, but I can’t find anything.” Henry translated the words in his head then nodded, worrying lightly at his lower lip.
“It is dangerous, you think?”
What was he supposed to say? SungMin suspected there was something more going on here, more than mere humans could cause, but how was he supposed to say that? As far as he was aware, Henry was human, but then again SungMin had never really been in contact with any non-humans except for ChangMin, so he wouldn’t know where to look first. If there were more non-humans in their class, obviously the ‘look for glowing eyes and wings’ theory wasn’t going to cut it. They all looked human to him.
“It might be,” he responded finally, giving the human what he hoped was a reassuring smile. SungMin would have to be more persistent with his questions; if he could get a straight answer out of ChangMin, he would have a good start.
Henry lowered his head at that, frowning to himself. SungMin clapped one hand on the younger man’s back. “I’ll find out, alright?” he said quietly. “And then I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”
Henry gave him that bright, chipmunk smile in return, relieved. “Thank you, hyung,” he replied clumsily. SungMin had to resist the urge to pinch the boy’s cheeks. How could anyone look so adorable?
“Don’t worry, you won’t be out of the loop,” the Gifted man said happily. Henry looked confused at the expression, and SungMin laughed, settling down to explain another Korean expression to the Canadian.
*****
Returning from the small slayer meeting, HyukJae looked around for his boyfriend, frowning lightly. DongHae, usually waiting for him in the classroom or just outside the building doors, was nowhere to be found. Looking into the cafeteria as well as anywhere else the other student could be, he turned up nothing.
Worry ran through the slayer. It wasn’t like Hae to just vanish; sure he had a short attention span and liked to wander off, but he usually wandered right back within a few minutes. The Demon was generally insecure the farther away from his boyfriend he was, and stayed in more-or-less the same locations.
Looking at the time, HyukJae saw there was still over half an hour before class started. He should really look for DongHae; the feeling that something might have happened to him was making him nervous.
Walking through the hallways quietly, he listened for anything, any sound that could give away a student’s presence. The general chatter and noise faded away the farther from the main area he went. Soon, there was only the sound of his own footsteps for company.
It was then that he heard the faint sniffles, a quiet sob echoing down the hallway. HyukJae’s pace quickened, his heart in his throat. There was no need to ask who it was. He knew.
Finally he ran into the classroom where DongHae was hiding, his eyes scanning the darkness for his boyfriend. Seeing a shape in the back of the class, HyukJae started forward, only to stop in surprise.
DongHae was in his Demon form. Curled up on one of the desks, he rocked back and forth slowly, muffling sobs in his knees. His wings were furled around him, and trembling visibly.
Why had DongHae taken his true form, here in a school where two students in their own class were slayers? It was so dangerous; even far away from the others, there was too much of a chance he would be found. If there was one thing HyukJae knew about the slayer society, it was very much a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ world. No one would bother to ask why there was a Demon crying alone in a classroom until DongHae was already dead.
“Hae?” he called softly, watching his boyfriend as he approached carefully. He didn’t want to spook the other man, which was all too easy when DongHae was in one of these states.
DongHae stiffened and then lifted his head with a sniffle, glowing red eyes meeting HyukJae’s in the darkness of the classroom. The slayer walked slowly to the desk the demon occupied. DongHae watched him come closer, not moving.
Only when HyukJae tried to pull the Demon into an embrace did DongHae flinch away, leaning back and nearly falling off the desk. In a panic, HyukJae grabbed DongHae’s arms to pull him upright.
A shock ran through him, almost electrical, and he released the Demon with a suppressed yelp. His hands stung but when he looked there were nothing visibly wrong with them, like being burnt without the actual burns.
A small whine came from deep in DongHae’s throat, and the Demon scooted himself as close to the edge of the desk as he could, putting a little distance between himself and HyukJae.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, red eyes over-bright with tears as HyukJae looked up from his hands.
It was only then that HyukJae finally understood what was going on.
Demons had their own brand of what you could call ‘magic’. No one liked referring to it as such, whether Demon, slayer, or otherwise, but if pressed, Demons would refer to it as magic. A human had once called it Allodynia, after the medical term for a painful response to a non-painful stimulus, but the term had yet to be fully adopted by either side.
Allodynia was, simply put, the ability to cause pain with a single touch. It was what linked the Imps, Featherfolk, Felinefolk, and minority groups together under the collective name of ‘Demon’; spawn of Satan. It wasn’t their physical appearances, though looking at a standard imp would definitely give one the impression of the Devil. The Allodynia was the ultimate torture method; depending on the Demon, it could be used to cause physical pain, mental, emotional, or a mixture of all three. Prolonged exposure could cause worse; complete breakdowns, insanity. Death.
There were Demons who enjoyed their control over others, and who gave the rest of their kindred their bad name. There were those who disapproved, but would use it to defend themselves. Then there were those like DongHae, who would never use the Allodynia no matter what was happening. And, like the vegetarian Vampyres, they were ultimately the most dangerous out of the bunch.
Because some 'abilities' were meant to be used, and if they weren’t, they went out of control.
HyukJae had been unlucky enough to grab DongHae’s bare skin when he went to pull him back up; that was all it had taken to start the pain. Even now, mulling over this in his head, he could feel his arms going numb from it and knew they were going to ache for days to come.
“Hae,” HyukJae murmured, watching another tear roll down his boyfriend’s cheek, his sharp teeth worrying at his lower lip to the point where it bled.
As HyukJae reached out slowly to brush the tear away, DongHae jerked his face away, mop of brown hair falling into his eyes.
“Don’t touch me, Hyukkie,” he whispered, but it hit HyukJae as hard as though DongHae had shouted at him.
Ignoring the stab of hurt, he sighed and hopped up on the desk beside DongHae, who stiffened, then relaxed when HyukJae didn’t try to touch him again. After a moment, the Demon slowly lowered his head to rest his cheek against the other man’s shoulder, protected by his shirt.
“How long before it’s over?” HyukJae asked, keeping his own voice calm for DongHae’s sake. He could still hear faint hiccups from the other boy as he tried to stop himself from crying further.
“A… A few minutes. Give me five minutes, alright?” DongHae replied, his fingers curling into the fabric of HyukJae’s sleeve.
“You know… I may not know much about this, but I heard that if you’re in contact with someone, it’ll take less time for you to regain control-“
“No!”
DongHae stiffened, shaking his head hard at the idea and starting to push himself away from HyukJae again. Sighing softly, the slayer wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist, careful not to touch skin, and held him close.
“Alright, alright. Calm down, Hae.”
“I would never hurt you like that,” DongHae said with conviction, looking up at HyukJae with watery eyes and making him feel like a total jerk for even suggesting it.
“There must be some way to… to stop it from happening though, right?”
“Not as far as I know,” DongHae sniffed. “It doesn’t happen that often though… I’ll just cope.”
“I just don’t want you to accidentally reveal yourself to the slayers,” HyukJae replied quietly. “You have to change into this form when it happens, right? What if next time you’re smack in a crowded street, or in class? Can you run out fast enough to avoid anyone seeing?”
“I’m not sure…”
DongHae trailed off, looking down at his hands for a long moment. “I… I think it’s over,” he whispered. “The feeling’s gone.”
HyukJae hesitated, then reached up to touch gentle fingertips to Hae’s cheek. When there was no shock or surge of pain, he relaxed and DongHae gave him a watery smile.
“Gods Hae, don’t scare me like that again,” he murmured, wiping away the other student’s tears before kissing him gently. DongHae responded, wrapping his arms around the slayer’s body and curling his large wings around them.
“Wow.”
DongHae stiffened in surprise and HyukJae fell right off the desk at the interruption from the doorway. Groaning in pain, the slayer pushed himself up into a seated position, and looked up at DongHae, who had somehow managed to avoid being taken down with him. The Demon was staring at the classroom doorway, mouth agape.
JunSu leaned against the doorframe, a curious and amused expression on his face as his eyes went from DongHae on the desk to HyukJae on the floor.
“Wow. I’d wondered if there were any Demons in the class, considering we seem to have practically everything else, but this, I wasn’t expecting.”
His eyes locked on to HyukJae’s and the human realized with a start that JunSu knew he was a slayer.
“How?” tumbled from his lips before he could stop himself.
“How do I know you’re with the slayers? I saw you going to talk with them earlier,” JunSu replied with a shrug. “It’s really not that hard to figure out. But why is a slayer like you… lip-locking with a Demon like him?”
HyukJae stood and DongHae climbed off the desk, the demon taking a defensive stance in front of the slayer and expanding his wings to their full length, shielding his boyfriend from view.
“Don’t hurt him,” he said quietly, the glow emitting from his eyes intensifying slightly.
“Hae, it’s okay,” HyukJae murmured, embarrassed at the sudden protectiveness his boyfriend had for him when it was usually the other way around. He tried to get DongHae to fold his wings again, but the Demon stubbornly kept them open, and that coupled with the desks on either side stopped HyukJae from moving out from behind him.
“Hey, I don’t plan on starting anything,” JunSu said, hands rising slightly. “Actually, I think it’s adorable,” he continued with a wide smile.
“I’m all for inter-racial peace and all that, which is why my Vampyre peers tend to ignore me unless they need me for something. I didn’t think it was possible for slayers to get along with non-humans, but you’re actually dating one!”
“… So you don’t care?” DongHae asked cautiously, trying to ignore HyukJae poking lightly at the back of his wings, even though it tickled.
“No? I think you two deserve medals for your open-mindedness, actually.”
Relaxing, DongHae finally folded up his wings, nearly hitting HyukJae with them. Turning around at the yelp, he giggled helplessly at the indignant look the other boy was giving him.
“I can protect myself, thanks,” HyukJae muttered, the tips of his ears red.
JunSu walked over to them, the couple turning to face him again. “So, what do you plan on doing?” the Vampyre asked, hopping up on to a desk. “This looks interesting. I want in.”
“We’re not interested in a threesome,” HyukJae protested, DongHae bursting into another fit of giggles.
“Not in that way,” JunSu said with a pout. “I mean, I want in on the secret. I won’t tell anyone, you have my word on that. Knowing who’s more open-minded on the whole supernatural thing is always interesting.”
The two others exchanged a look. “I don’t see why not, as long as you promise not to tell anyone,” HyukJae said cautiously, looking back at the beaming JunSu.
“Great! Now, tell me, does anyone else know about this?”
“No,” DongHae admitted, wincing. “None of our families know. Nor do our friends. Well, if they do know we’re together, they don’t know what I am.”
JunSu nodded. “It would be problematic,” he murmured. “HyukJae, are your family hardcore slayers?”
“Yeah,” HyukJae replied. “Anyone who’s not 100% human drives them batty. They know Hae’s my friend, but nothing more than that. I try not to bring him over too often while they’re home.”
“Seems like you’ve got a bit of a problem,” JunSu concluded. “Any idea what you’re gonna do now?”
“Just keep on going?” HyukJae shrugged. “I don’t know what else we can do.”
“Keep fighting to be together,” DongHae quipped, fingers intertwining with HyukJae’s.
JunSu looked at them both, and smiled inwardly. They were perfect for each other. Looked like now that he finally had a beginning point maybe the idea of peace wasn’t so far-fetched after all.
*****
It had been a simple matter to get the Lycan pack leader to trust him.
If there was one thing KyuJong prided himself on, it was that no one ever seemed to suspect him of anything. He supposed it was the reason why he’d been chosen for this particular mission - he could get in and out with no one so much as batting an eyelash. He was human and he wasn’t related to any of the current slayer families, so why should he be a threat?
It helped that everyone thought the seventh slayer family had all perished in that massacre. The only ones who knew KyuJong was still alive were himself and the underground, anti-supernatural group that had rescued him as a child.
It had started simply enough. KyuJong was an errand boy for his workplace, and his boss had connections with the extremist group. Before he’d even started school again, KyuJong had been running errands that would take him to the place where the known Lycan leader worked.
Months before, he’d been the quiet little messenger boy, delivering letters and supplies. Gradually the level of interaction between him and the Lycan leader stepped up until they were actually holding conversations. KyuJong was careful never to let anyone else see his face clearly; he didn’t need any of this coming back to bite him later.
The Lycan leader was trusting of the young man, too much so. KyuJong felt guilty for tricking the friendly elder, but then the memory of his family lying in bloody and dismembered heaps in their living room would come back full force and the guilt would disappear.
He had to do this. For them, for everyone.
“Seonsaengnim! Seonsaengnim!”
The middle-aged man looked up from his work when KyuJong came skidding into view, nearly crashing into the door in his haste. No one else was around; it was only the Lycan this night.
The man had never seen the errand boy this pale, or this distressed. “KyuJong ah? What’s wrong?”
He strode over with a frown as KyuJong gulped for air, hardly able to breathe.
“There’s, there’s-“
He burst into a coughing fit.
“Easy there, don’t forget to breathe.” The man pounded his back lightly until KyuJong could speak again.
“There’s, a strange man one street down,” he finally managed to say, panting. “I couldn’t see clearly, but there was a girl with him, and she was screaming. I went to help, but then he looked at me, and…” He drew in a shaky breath. “There was red all over his mouth.”
He could tell the second his words hit home, the older man stiffening. He’d named a street that was right on the edge of Lycan and Vampyre territory, but still on the Lycan side of the line. That meant there was a Vampyre feeding on Lycan territory, a violation of the unstable treaty between races.
“Are you sure?” The man spoke softly, and KyuJong shivered involuntarily. He could feel the anger rising off the leader. Of course he would be angry; it was an act of war to feed away from Vampyre territory.
If there had actually been a Vampyre feeding off it’s territory.
KyuJong nodded, his eyes wide and face pale. The wolf straightened.
“I’ll take care of it,” he answered. “You stay here, alright?”
He got a glass of water for the rattled human and left after KyuJong had given him the precise location of the Vampyre sighting.
Sighing softly to himself, KyuJong leaned against the wall and slid down it. There was a lump in his throat that wouldn’t go away, even as he sipped at the water. A clock ticked away in the corner, the sound echoing inside his head.
Five minutes later, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Taking it out, KyuJong flipped the device open. “Yeoboseyo?”
“It’s done. You did well, KyuJong.”
Closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall, a long exhale left the human. “Is there anything else I need to do?” he asked quietly.
“No, we can take care of the rest. Get yourself some sleep. There’s going to be one hell of a show in your class tomorrow.”
“Fun,” KyuJong murmured, closing the phone and dropping his head between his hands.
This small push was all they should need to spark a war. The extremist group’s goal was to cause the non-human races to annihilate each other and destroy themselves from the inside out. KyuJong agreed and supported them whole-heartedly. There was no place in the world for monsters.
It was just so hard to convince himself that he was really doing the right thing…when all he could think about was that he was now a murderer.
*****
It really was a long night. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, the young woman walked down the back alley towards her own territory. Seriously, why was she working in Vamp territory again? She should have just found a new job on her own side of the line. Walking around here at night gave her the creeps.
It was even worse whenever she happened to stumble upon a Vampyre feeding because she couldn’t do anything about it. They were within their rights to hunt on their own territory.
Turning a corner, the young Lycan nearly gagged. What was that horrible stench? Holding her sensitive nose with one small hand, she advanced slowly. Smelled like a body. A dead body.
Another Vampyre victim, most likely. About to just keep on walking past the alley the smell was originating from, a shift in the breeze made her freeze. Past the disgusting stench of bodily fluids and spoiled meat, there was another scent in the air. A subtle brush of forest pines and earth.
A Lycan.
Shaking her head hard to clear it, she started down the other alley, trying not to breathe so much. God, it stank.
Turning the corner, her eyes landed on the dismembered heap on the ground, and her other hand had to be clamped to her mouth to stop a scream. The man was torn to shreds, insides spilled across the pavement and skin torn to ribbons. The whole thing screamed of Vampyres. Sinking to her knees in horror, the young Lycan’s gaze went to the man’s head, which was the only thing left intact. A muffled sob came from her as she scrambled for her phone, shaking hands pushing the buttons.
The one at the other end answered after the first ring. “Yeoboseyo?”
“YunHo oppa?” She swallowed thickly, fighting down a wave of nausea. “I found your father.”