서울 생활

birthdays were kiiiiiiiiind of a big deal in their family, you know ? especially the twins, being the first borns and all. their little appa had already cried at least three times this morning, and sungwoo was sure that there would be more tears to come. it was their normal, however weird their normal may have been.

and though the twins no longer share a room, though they're slowly becoming their own people, they still make time for each other ... one way or another. it's nice to know that despite how many arguments the two of them may have, they'll always have each other.

they came into this world together, and if the twins had their way, they'd no doubt leave it together too.

sungwoo has something in his hand, awkwardly hands it off to his brother at the same time that his gift had been passed over to him. and there's nothing graceful about the way he opens it, minnie's wrapping skills left a lot to be desired and he was sure that even a good gust of wind couldn't have blown it open. joking aside, he's surprised to see a brand new pair of sneakers ( the exact same kind he'd been eying up for some time now, mind you ) with some AA batteries shoved inside.

" why am i actually surprised you got me batteries ? " he laughs, though there's something in his gaze that says he's a little too eager for minnie to open his gift ( wrapped much better than sungwoo's own, if he does say so himself. ) " go on, open it. before little appa comes bursting in here demanding we do some fucking ━━━ i don't know, coming of age photoshoot. "

and inside the box that he'd handed over to his brother were a few things really, because sungwoo had always been a gift giver by nature, and he had a tendancy to ... well, go a little over the top. minnie would find some new switch games, candy, and maybe a container of fish food too. but beneath a sheet of paper rested a jacket, leather. not unlike the one that his brother had gotten their uncle ji for his birthday.

𝐀𝐑𝐓  𝐈𝐍  𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒  𝐓𝐎  𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂  𝐖𝐀𝐒  𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄  𝐎𝐅  𝐇𝐈𝐒  𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆   ;  more  technical  creative  things  such  as  drawing,  painting,  gift  wrapping  —  those  weren’t  in  his  wheelhouse  at  all,  but  despite  that,  the  effort  was  put  in  ;  playful  grin  spread  upon  his  features  as  he  waited  for  his  brother  to  open  it,  his  eyes  filled  with  excitement  and  sparkling  with  anticipation.  As  terrible  wrapping  job  is  torn  open  so  easily,  arms  are  crossed  upon  Cheol-min’s  chest,  grin  widening  as  he  watches  the  expression  on  his  twin’s  face.

𝐇𝐄  𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐖  𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓  𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐖𝐎𝐎  𝐖𝐀𝐒  𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆  𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌  𝐅𝐎𝐑  𝐀  𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆  𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄  ;  and  just  because  their  parents  were  idols  and  their  family  was  extremely  well  off,  didn’t  mean  that  they  got  everything  that  they  wanted.   With  how  Cheol-min’s  producing  was  going,  he’d  manage  to  mix  a  few  things  for  some  smaller  artists  who  were  willing  to  take  a  chance  on  a  kid  (  he  assumed  being  Jung  Jiyong’s  nephew  helped,  since  their  uncle  let  him  do  some  work  with  him  from  time  to  time  )  and  it  gave  him  some  hefty  pocket  change.  So  why  not  get  his  brother  something  nice,  right?  They  might  have  argued  a  lot  more  then  they  wanted  as  of  late,  but  …  as  the  both  of  them  had  always  said  :  womb  mates  until  they  were  tomb  mates  —  a  phrase  that  meant  that  they  would  always  stick  by  each  other,  no  matter  what.

                         The  two  of  them  wouldn’t  have  it  any  other  way,  though.

𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑  𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆  𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐅  𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍  𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍  𝐇𝐈𝐒  𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑  𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐒  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒  𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃  𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄,  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders  as  he  moves  his  hands  to  his  own  mouth  to  blow  on  them,  always  cold  because  of  what  he  was,  unable  to  regulate  a  regular  body  temperature.  It  was  why  he  was  always  wearing  sweaters,  layers  —  even  in  the  summer.  It  was  annoying  being  so  cold  all  the  time  but  he  made  it  work,  sort  of.

“   dude,  I  asked  you  what  kinda  batteries  were  the  best  for  a  reason  —  kind  of  a  dumb  joke  I  guess.   You  know  I’m  really  bad  with  gifts.  ”

𝐅𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐘  𝐇𝐎𝐖  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒  𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄  𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆  𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒  𝐓𝐎  𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇  𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑  ;  one  being  a  water  demon  and  the  other  being  an  electricity  demon  …  The  Storm  Twins  was  what  their  Big  Appa  jokingly  (  and  affectionately  )  called  them  ;  a  reference  to  their  complimenting  abilities  of  water  and  electricity.  Cheol-min’s  gaze  falls  to  the  box  held  out  to  him,  wrapped  much  better  to  the  one  given  to  his  brother,  the  blonde  taking  it  into  his  hands  and  tearing  it  open.

“Okay,  okay  —  chill  out  !  Don’t  jinx  it  —“

𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐖𝐎𝐎  𝐖𝐀𝐒  𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒  𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑  𝐀𝐓  𝐆𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐒  𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍  𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐋-𝐌𝐈𝐍  ;  and  flirting.  And  …  pretty  much  everything  else  (  maybe  it  was  the  imposter  syndrome  talking  ).  Hand  picks  up  each  switch  game,  flipping  the  case  an  over  and  eyes  lit  up,  flickering  briefly  to  the  peach  flavoured  candies  he  liked  so  much  —  until  gaze  falls  to  the  fish  food  and  he  rolls  his  eyes  with  a  laugh.  “Fish  food??  Seriously  —“  he  shouldn’t  have  been  surprised  about  it  either,  and  yet  …

𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑  𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒  𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄  𝐒𝐄𝐓  𝐎𝐍  𝐇𝐈𝐒  𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒  𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐊  𝐅𝐎𝐑  𝐀  𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓  ;  hand  bow  peeling  back  the  tissue  paper  to  see  the  jacket  neatly  folded  inside  and  his  eyes  widened,  eagerly  taking  it  out  to  look  it  over  —  his  excitement  doubled  in  comparison  to  moments  ago,  the  box  and  tissue  falling  to  the  floor  as  he  holds  it  out  at  arms  length,  scanning  it  over  before  setting  it  down  on  Sungwoo’s  bed,  tearing  off  the  jacket  and  hoodie  that  he  had  on  and  picking  the  jacket  back  up,  sliding  it  on  and  adjusting,  feeling  the  leather  as  he  ran  his  hands  along  the  edges  of  it,  laughing  as  he  …  felt  like  himself.  This  was  something  he  would  keep  for  a  long  time  —  this  made  him  feel  like  he  finally  knew  who  he  was.   

“  Dude,  this  is  so  sick  !  ”

𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒  𝐖𝐑𝐀𝐏  𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃  𝐇𝐈𝐒  𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑  𝐀𝐍𝐃  𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋  𝐇𝐈𝐌  𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄  ;  grin  never  fading  as  hand  moves  to  ruffle  Sungwoo’s  hair  —  an  affectionate  family  they  were,  weren’t  they?

“You’re  annoying  too,  you  know  —  “  a  pause  before  gaze  softens.

“Yeah.  Womb  mates  until  we’re  tomb  mates.  Always.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ Unfortunate.

He wasn't OFTEN in the habit of expunging the younger ones. Night - Kind was, after all, similar enough to Hunter - Kind. They had a life cycle, they had a lineage : they had a childhood. However, were that childhood permitted to unfold and unfurl, bear the fruit of ADULTHOOD, it'd become a pain later. How long that took for those vile ilk, he can't always discern. A demon different from a vampire, which differed from a GHOUL.

Sigh is expelled, silver dagger tossed into the air, caught with ease. There were a few ways to go about it, of course. He preferred something clean, at the worst of times ... This one hadn't done anything particularly heinous, likely enough. Not at the age he appeared - maybe sixteen or so.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ❝ Let's make this easy for me, tonight, okay ? ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤI'm not really in the mood to play CHASE. ❞

𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐒𝐔𝐍  𝐇𝐀𝐃  𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍  𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆  𝐈𝐍  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐒𝐊𝐘  ;  water  colours  painted  in  pinks,  oranges  and  yellows  ;  hues  of  deep  blues  appearing  a  sight  time  continued  to  slowly  encroach.  Late,  had  it  gotten;  cellphone  squished  between  ear  and  shoulder  as  Cheol-min  rummaged  through  his  bag  to  make  sure  he  had  everything  after  hanging  out  with  his  friends  at  the  mall  —  as  normal  kids  his  age  tended  to  do.  Normalcy  was  always  something  he  held  onto  very  tightly,  especially  since  his  demonic  abilities  and  appearance  (  though  hidden  to  blend  with  his  human  peers  )  had  managed  to  finally  appear.  It  was  a  reminder  that  he  was  …  different.  Extremely  so  —  so  much  so,  that  he  didn’t  want  to  be  different.  He  just  wanted  to  be  like  everyone  else  —  but  that  was  impossible  when  it  came  to  his  bloodline.

“  I’m  fiiiine,  Little  Appa  !  Seriously  —  I  just  lost  track  of  time  !  Home  isn’t  more  then  what,  a  fifteen  minute  walk  away?  I’ve  done  it  before  !  You  don’t  gotta  worry  —  I’ll  be  home  just  in  time  for  dinner,  promise  !  Yeah  —  uh  huh,  love  you  too,  bye  !  ”

𝐁𝐀𝐆  𝐈𝐒  𝐙𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃  𝐀𝐒  𝐇𝐄  𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐒  𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆,  throwing  it  over  his  shoulder  and  sighing  as  phone  was  moved  to  check  the  time,  then  shoved  into  his  pockets,  pausing  at  works  spoken  towards  him,  gaze  falling  onto  the  man  across  the  way,  looking  around  to  see  if  there  was  anyone  else  the  the  could  be  talking  to  before  pointing  to  himself.

“  …  Are  you  talking  to  me  ?  “

𝐇𝐄  𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐒,  𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃  ;  gaze  flickering  towards  the  silver  dagger  and  something  in  the  back  of  his  mind  suddenly  screams  for  him  to  run  away  —  to  teleport  the  hell  out  of  there,  to  do  SOMETHING.  He  knew  about  hunters  ;  his  family  knew  many  and  were  friends  with  some  of  them.  But  this  guy  didn’t  seem  friendly  —  not  in  the  slightest.  Hands  shot  up  in  front  of  Cheol-min  as  he  started  to  step  back,  anxiety  starting  to  wrap  itself  around  his  lungs  and  choke  him  from  the  inside.  This  had  to  be  a  mistake.  Gaze  glanced  to  his  own  hand  which  still  looked  normal  —  human.  Thank  god  for  that.

“  L—look,  man.  I  don’t  know  what  you  want  —  I’m  just  a  kid  !  ”