Last Breath - Part 20
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When Minho awoke to his mother calling his vampire's name, knelt on the floor by his bed and reaching under it, it may have been the oddest awakening ever.
"Onew, Onew, please get up."
"Mom." Minho said, full of concern. "He bites."
"Oh," she quickly stood up, "honey, I didn't mean to wake you."
Minho sat up, shaking his head and sniffling. "It's fine. What do you want Onew up for?"
"Yeah," Onew said, "What do you want Onew up for in the daytime?"
After glaring through his mattress at Onew, Minho watched his mom bite her lip and nervously clasp her hands. "There's something on TV... the news... from the hospital.."
Onew rolled fast out from under the bed, shooting to his feet and running out of the room. "Mom," Minho said seriously, and asked, "What is it?"
"I don't want you to worry."
Before her sentence was even over, Minho was out of bed and rushing from his bedroom to join Onew in the living room. Their curtains were pulled up, and Onew stood behind their couch with the TV remote in hand, rewinding the news some.
Minho moved by his side just as Onew hit play, to the sound of a reporter detailing a 'massacre' at the city's hospital just last night.
"It was vampires." Onew told Minho.
"Minho," his mother said to him, a fake calm in her tone, "You should get all the rest you can before tonight.."
Onew paused the TV, looking at Minho. "Go rest."
"After all that's happened to me, what on the news could be so bad?" Minho took the remote out of Onew's hand, hitting play. He watched the screen stoically as a familiar face appeared in a picture on screen. He recognized Taemin's mother, and listened to her being spoken of as the patient who disappeared.
"Did vampires take her?" the question was directed at Onew.
"No," Onew said, "The vampires weren't attacking her. They were attacking the hunters." Onew frowned, looking at Minho. "This has nothing to do with us."
"Are you sure?" Minho's mom asked.
"It's Taemin." Minho said in a breath, "How does it have nothing to do with us?"
"Taemin has his own life, and we have ours. That's how." Onew shook his head, "This is why I didn't want you to know.."
".. Why? What is 'this'? Why didn't you want me to know?"
Onew wrinkled his nose at Minho, turning fully to him, "Because you want to get involved and help him, but we can't, Minho. He's a hunter, he's choosing this kind of life."
"He's the same as me," Minho said, eyes narrowed, "Do you think he could have gone back to school and been normal after he was involved with you? Like Key and Jonghyun would have let him off?"
"If he tried to be normal, he'd at least be dead." Onew said.
Minho looked at his mom, who looked horrified, and turned angrily to Onew, "Don't talk like that in front of my mom."
Onew was quiet for a long moment. Then he looked at Minho's mom, and said "I'm sorry."
She frowned at him, turning her attention to Minho. She didn't say anything, though, before Minho took Onew's hand. "Excuse us." he told his mom, guiding Onew back to his bedroom.
"I'll bring in soup." she told him, and he responded with a quick thanks before he shut the door.
"I didn't mean to make her upset." Onew said, sounding unhappy as he walked over and sat on Minho's bed. Minho crossed his arms, staring thoughtfully at Onew. After a long moment of silence, Onew glared at him, "What?"
"I got Taemin into this. You and me." Minho said, "If he's in trouble, we need to help him."
Onew scowled, "I don't know where he is or--"
"You know more than you're telling me. I know that."
"Did you forget that you and I need to leave the country?"
"Taemin will still be here. And he'll be fighting the same vampires we're running from, even though he doesn't have the strength, but you do. If a group of humans can fight vampires, then why do you and me have to run and hide?"
Onew stood up again, "With as helpless as you feel whenever you're around vampires that aren't me, how can you ask that? How can you want to try to fight?"
"When Taemin has helped us so many times, how can I not?" Minho's voice was calm now, as he walked over and got in the bed. After he laid down, Onew sat by his side, touching his hand to Minho's forehead. "We can be safe, if we just go, now. There might not be another opportunity. We could die, or worse, and there's probably no saving Taemin."
"Thinking about it now," Minho said quietly, "I wonder if it'd be better to die fighting for the life I have.."
Onew dropped his hand, frowning, "It isn't like that. No matter what, your life can't be the same. What if Siwon had kept you? Do you think he'd have let you hold on to your human life?"
"Isn't that why I picked you over Siwon?"
"I'm not a giant prick like Siwon--"
"Yeah you are."
Onew glared at Minho, until Minho broke into the slightest hint of a smile and said, "Fine. Not giant."
"Pfft. Now I'm short?"
"You are shorter than me."
"Rub it in."
Minho smiled, amused, and slowly, Onew did too. Then he quickly shook it away, raising a brow at Minho. "Why do we do that?"
Minho blinked at him, "Argue like a married couple?"
"Exactly."
"It's what people who are close do, I guess." Minho frowned a little himself, "It's kind of annoying being this close to someone."
"It can be good." Onew said, dropping down and very suddenly pressing his lips to Minho's mouth. Minho could tell something was up. Something about the way Onew felt was all too mischievous, and he quickly jerked his head away, just in time for his mom to open the door with a bowl of soup.
"I.. hope I wasn't interrupting.." she said, giving Onew a scrutinizing look.
Onew straightened up, and stood from the bed. "I'll go back to sleep. Enjoy your soup."
Minho glared at him until he disappeared under the bed.
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