Open Window (OnHo) - Part 37
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Onew clicked a light on, lighting a den area up. Wicker furniture had big smooshy looking cushions, and there was a pink Hawaiian print rug on the floor. Beachy trinkets cluttered the walls, and the the entertainment center was out of date - the tv a big box and the movies on the shelf beneath it were all VHS.
"This is your house?" Minho asked.
"The furniture came with it." Onew responded simply. Taemin kneeled in front of the entertainment center, looking curious. "They left all their movies too.. ah, maybe they have a DVD player at their new place.."
Minho looked at Onew suspiciously. Onew casually shoved his hands in his pockets, smirking at Minho. "Is something wrong?" he asked it quietly, underneath the sound of Taemin excitedly going through the tapes. ("Ohh Looney Tunes!")
"A lot is wrong." Minho replied, also quiet.
"You don't think you can trust me?"
Minho nodded, "You only told me two ways to break a bond, after all."
Onew's smirk disappeared.
Taemin stood up, "There's nothing all that good though.. hey, um, Noodle, do you have any food here? I know you're a vampire and eat blood and all but.."
"The kitchen is right through there." Onew pointed to a door way, "Help yourself."
Taemin grinned, "Do you want anything, Minho?"
Before Minho could wave him off, Onew announced that he needed clothes, and after all - he was still shirtless. He left to shower, and so Minho told Taemin, "Let's cook something."
Neither Taemin or Minho knew much about cooking, but what Taemin did know he seemed to fail at executing, so it ended up that Minho stood over the stove while Taemin played with the oddly wacky magnets on Onew's refrigerator.
And they talked. Taemin said that no matter what, he wasn't driving if they had to go somewhere. Minho assured him if nothing else, he'd do it. And they promised to stay together until "all of this" was over.
Taemin talked about how much he disliked certain vegetables, and enthused about his love for meat. Minho spoke of how a good, balanced meal was important to him, and that included vegetables.
Both of them commented on how they were glad they didn't have to live off of blood.
Then Minho told Taemin every detail about the night him and Onew met.
As they ate, Taemin confessed he used to have fantasies about something like that happening to him.
"Someone breaking into your window and biting you?"
"Seeing something supernatural... or.. being singled out, like I'm special, you know?"
Minho didn't understand it. "Do you feel special now?"
Taemin thought about it before he answered, "I kind of imagined something like this.. would be an adventure. It'd be hard sometimes, but it'd be rewarding enough so that wouldn't matter. In one way, I feel like, I finally have really good friends. Who aren't just internet friends."
Minho frowned a little.
"Onew said he needed me to save you. I didn't have to do anything much, but, he needed me. In that police station, I thought my life was over, but he came. Even though I'm still really scared.." Taemin looked around the room, as if admitting he was scared would cause something to jump out, "It's not that I feel special. It's that I feel a lot happier to be alive."
Minho tried not to comment on how extremely weird he thought Taemin was. Minho was happy to be alive before. Now there was danger and fear and confusion. He couldn't understand Taemin being optimistic in this situation - so he, feeling uncomfortable, changed the subject. "Onew," he said, "Do you think we can trust him?"
Taemin's eyes widened. He thought again of Onew backing away from him. "Why.. why wouldn't we be able to trust him? He saved us, after all. Anyway, you're the one who's.. bonded to him. And you, you.. seemed to be getting along with him um.. in the backseat.."
"When?" Minho turned pink, eyeing Taemin.
Taemin shook his head, "I mean.. oh, Noodle! I played with your magnets."
Onew stepped into the kitchen with wet hair and a light green t-shirt with comfortable looking blue pants. "Taemin," he said, "Go take a shower next. I put clothes in there for you."
"Where's the bath--"
Onew pointed to the doorway he came from. "Through the living room, left into the hall, first door on the right."
Taemin hurried off, leaving his empty plate on the table.
Onew carried it to the sink, leaving it in there and returning to sit next to Minho. "If another vampire bonds with you, our bond will break."
Minho nodded, "I was told."
"I didn't tell you, because I don't want you to get mad at me and go looking for some other vampire to help you out."
"You can't hold out on information like that just because of what I might do. I'm not an idiot."
"You went to The Council like an idiot!"
For a moment, Minho said nothing. He stared wide eyed at Onew, like he'd just slapped him in the face. Finally, when Onew's angry expression had just started to fade away, he said "Onew, I was worried about you. I don't know why I was.. this whole bond thing is a little bit new to me, and it was freaking me out, and I needed to do something. If you were more open with me to begin with.. if you weren't in such a rush to get away from me, none of this would have happened."
Onew looked like he might be getting angry again, but Minho could feel that guilt again, and knew that Onew's anger was once more directed only at himself. "I know. I made mistakes." Onew said.
"Apparently, you've made a lot." Minho dared to say, but Onew didn't seem to fault him for it.
"I need you to trust me, Minho. Don't you know that you can trust me?"
"Again.. with the knowing." Minho said, frowning. "I know that you won't hurt me intentionally. I think the bond is telling me that. But I don't know that you won't hurt me accidentally, trying to take care of me all by yourself. So no, I don't know that I can trust you."
Finally, the anger disappeared, and Onew seemed to relax. He looked at Minho with the soft eyes which made Minho feel most uncomfortably like a schoolgirl, and that's when Minho quickly said, "I'm not gay."
"Hm?"
"I said I'm not gay. You might have noticed.. things.. but I've never been interested in other boys before, and I seriously doubt I'm going to-- stop smirking at me."
"It's just cute. You're cute."
"I'm not gay."
"A bond is something that goes way beyond gender." Onew said with a shrug.
"Either way," Minho stood up, carrying his plate to the sink. "I don't want to have sex with you."
Onew stood up, meeting Minho as he turned to come back to the table. Minho blinked at Onew, feeling strangely small despite his height-advantage. Onew rested his hands on the counter behind Minho, gazing at him deeply.
"... What?" Minho asked, beginning to blush.
"I do."
"You do?"
"I do."
"You do what?"
"Want to have sex with you."
Minho opened his mouth, but had no words.
Onew smirked.
"I-I still don't."
"You don't?"
"I don't!"
Onew stepped back from Minho, laughing. "I really mean it. You are too cute."
"Can we talk about something else?"
"Like what?"
"Like why you're a vampire criminal or whatever, for one thing."
"I'll tell you later."
Minho crossed his arms, looking annoyed.
Onew grinned playfully, "Want to watch Looney Tunes?"
Click here for Part 38