So Hyunwoo had gone to his best efforts to find the best place he can among the limited selection in town. He eyes Jinyoung's untouched food anxiously.

"Is it not good?" he asks.

"Hm?" Jinyoung follows his gaze down to his plate. "Oh, no! No, it's good, I'm just — " His hands flutter nervously over the napkin in his lap. "I have a stomachache right now. I just get so anxious, with the disappearances — "

A wave of protectiveness floods over Hyunwoo. "Of course," he says. "I don't blame you. What were they saying it was? Bears or something?"

Jinyoung nods, his pretty brow furrowed with worry. "Or something. You know how it is with the woods right at the edge of town. God only knows what's out there."

"I don't know much since I'm new," Hyunwoo admits. "I didn't realize quite how far out it was when I took the post out here. I'm used to handling drug dealers and teenage vandals. Bears...not so much."

"Well, I, for one, am glad this city cop decided to come out to the sticks," Jinyoung says before biting his lip and dropping his eyes. "I'm sorry, was that too forward of me?"

"Not at all," Hyunwoo says. He leans forward to rest his hand on top of Jinyoung's, but there's a clatter and Jinyoung gasps, jerking back in his seat.

"Oh, I dropped my silverware, I'm so sorry," he apologizes. "I'm such a mess — "

"It's okay," Hyunwoo reassures him. God, Jinyoung is painfully cute, all shy compliments and adorable awkwardness. He still can't believe he's sitting across from him and all signs point to it going well for both of them. His phone chimes in his pocket and he grimaces, pulling it out to silence it before glancing at the time. "Sorry about that, I just have an alarm for — "

"Curfew," Jinyoung completes for him. "Understandable."

"I don't understand what a curfew will do against bears," Hyunwoo admits as he signals the waiter to bring their check. "Then again, like I said, it's not like I have a lot of experience with that anyway."

"I guess they're worried in case it isn't bears," Jinyoung says. "Maybe something worse."

"Like an animal?" Hyunwoo frowns. "Or like a person?"

Jinyoung shudders. "Let's not talk about it," he pleads. "I live up in the woods, and walking home with everything that's been happening is already terrifying enough."

"You live up there?" The check is placed on their table, and Hyunwoo slides his card into it before Jinyoung can do anything. "You know, you don't have to go home alone. I can drive you."

Jinyoung blinks at him hopefully. "You really wouldn't mind? I don't want to be a bother."

“Of course,” Hyunwoo replies. “You could never be a bother.”

The smile Jinyoung gives him is so bright and sweet that Hyunwoo thinks he’d even walk Jinyoung home if he didn’t have a car.

It’s a good thing he does have one, though, because the drive up to Jinyoung’s place is unnerving to say the least. The entire town has an eerie cast after sundown. There aren’t enough streetlamps even in the town proper, and once Jinyoung directs Hyunwoo to turn onto a dirt road that disappears into the timber at the foot of the hill at the edge of town, the only thing separating them from the impenetrable night is the headlights of Hyunwoo’s cruiser. It feels oppressive, yawning, and Hyunwoo swears he can feel it pressing in on the walls; he looks to Jinyoung for comfort, taking solace in the sweet curve of his face, the warm glimmer of his eyes.

“Up here on the right,” Jinyoung says abruptly and Hyunwoo scrambles to follow the direction.

He can’t see until he’s swung the car around and the headlights are angled properly, but what he does see is the last thing he was expecting.

“This — This is the Kim Manor, isn’t it?” Hyunwoo asks. He’s new, but it had been one of the first things he’d picked up at the station; bad luck seems to linger around the manor like cobwebs spun fine and unbreakable. Lost pets, missing truants, mutilated hikers. By all rights, the police should probably set up a patrol close by, but instead there seems to be an unspoken agreement among cops and civilians alike — the manor is best left alone.

Even once they step out of the car, the thud of their doors closing seems oddly muffled, swallowed by the dark night. On instinct, Hyunwoo locks the car and it beeps twice, the headlights flicking off. When he’d first gotten his cruiser, he’d appreciated the convenience; but as the darkness floods in around them, Hyunwoo swallows hard and wishes he’d been given an older model.

“Guess we didn’t have to worry about bears after all, huh?” Hyunwoo laughs, but even he can hear the nervous edge to it. He glances up at the manor. It feels like it’s leaning in forebodingly over them, threatening to swallow them up. Its windows glimmer darkly in the moonlight like sheets of black ice, glass panes over darkness that seems complete and consuming.

Jinyoung laughs too, and it makes Hyunwoo’s eyes snap back to him. It’s not sweet or shy like Jinyoung has been all night. There’s no coyness now; instead, there’s a mean edge to it, like he thinks Hyunwoo’s stupid, like his courteousness up to this point is a delightful joke.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he purrs, taking a step closer and running a fingertip down the front of the Hyunwoo’s shirt, slipping between the buttons. It’s the first contact they’ve made skin-to-skin, and Hyunwoo realizes with a jolt that Jinyoung’s colder than can be justified by the night air.

“We never had to worry about bears, you silly thing.”

*

Mark slams the front door behind him, barely kicking off his shoes before stalking into the living room.

“Why do you always leave your dirty dishes for me to clean?" he demands. "And in the driveway? Really?”

“He was bigger than I realized,” Jinyoung whines from where he's sprawled out over the old velvet-covered sofa. “And now I’m all bloated and I don’t wanna move.”

“You’re a brat,” Mark says with a roll of his eyes. “A messy, disgusting brat.”

Jinyoung flashes him a winning smile and bats his lashes. “But I’m still cute, right?”

"That works on the humans," Mark says. "I've known you for too many centuries to fall for that."

"Boo," Jinyoung mutters, flopping back down on the couch.

"Boo yourself." Mark rolls his eyes. "And speaking of humans — A cop? Really? You're gonna get some poor human feds stuck out in the middle of nowhere on a wild goose chase for a serial killer, you know dead cops attract attention — "

"More food for me, then," Jinyoung says with a lazy smile. He really must have gorged himself — there's a flush on his cheeks so bright that if he were a human Mark would attribute it to drunkenness, and he looks even more youthful than usual. "Maybe I like the way they taste when they're in good shape."

"You like the eye candy," Mark corrects. "You're so lucky humanity has developed enough to let you openly ogle muscular men — "

"I was a twink before my time," Jinyoung says with a sigh.

"A century and a half ago you were a dandy," Mark grumbles. "And before that, you just wore a wig and a dress and made sure they didn’t see your front half.”

"Excuse you," Jinyoung says petulantly. "Before that, everyone was wearing wigs, thank you very much."

"Whatever." Mark tosses his jacket over the back of the sofa. It's not like he needs it, anyway. It's just easier to avoid direct contact with humans when as much of his skin is covered as possible.

"What's up with you, anyway?" Jinyoung props himself up on his elbow. "You're being all pissy. Why do you suddenly care about attracting more humans?"

Mark rolls his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension there. "Does the name Im Jaebum mean anything to you?"

Jinyoung frowns. "No. Should it?"

"You remember when Minseok mentioned that an entire clan had been taken out up north?"

"Oh, that really grisly case?" Jinyoung frowns. "Of course, I remember. How could anyone who saw the pictures not — "

"That was Im Jaebum's work," Mark interrupts. "He's a hunter. And because of you and your need to always play with your food — "

"Hey," Jinyoung says, affronted. "I learned it from you — "

"He's headed our way." Mark says bluntly. "Minseok sent word earlier tonight while you were out binging again."

Jinyoung perks up. "Fresh meat?"

"Are you not hearing what I'm saying?" Mark snaps. "This human is dangerous, Jinyoung."

Jinyoung waves a hand dismissively. "That northern clan was a bunch of newborns not even a decade old. Of course they got taken out by a hunter, it's just natural selection. Sure, this particular hunter has a tendency toward excess — "

"Sounds like someone else I know," Mark mutters.

" — but at the end of the day, he's a human. I'm sure he's just as breakable as the rest." The corner of Jinyoung's mouth curls up in a thoughtful smile. "In fact, he'd probably be quite fun to break."

"No," Mark says. "I'm stopping you right there, Jinyoung. Don't even think about it."

"Just imagine," Jinyoung says dreamily. "The look on his face when he realizes you've overpowered him...that all his confidence was for nothing...that he's going to die and there's nothing he can do — "

"All right, Dahmer," Mark says drily. "Try not to cream yourself."

"I don't know why you're acting like this is bad news, Mark," Jinyoung says. "This is a challenge. You should be excited!"

"Excited that the human who didn't stop at staking or decapitation is going to be in my town?" Mark asks. "Should I write out an invitation for him? 'We cordially invite you to disembowel us and mount our heads on the stakes you murdered us with — '"

"Since when are you scared of a little old human?" Jinyoung wheedles. "Come on, Mark, don’t be boring."

“I’m not scared,” Mark snaps. “And I’m not boring for wanting to stay alive — ”

Jinyoung throws his arm across his face, the perfect picture of dismay. “What is the point of staying alive if you’re not having fun?”

“Having fun,” Mark repeats. “Like eating police officers and leaving them in the driveway.”

“I already told you why I did that,” Jinyoung pouts. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Excuse me?” Mark asks incredulously. “You want me to deal with the driveway corpse and you talk to me like this?”

Jinyoung cocks his head. Mark wants to strangle him.

“You like when I’m a brat,” Jinyoung says, and Mark wants to strangle him even more because he’s not wrong.

“No,” Mark grumbles, turning to leave the room. “I don’t like you at all, actually.”

“Yes, you do,” Jinyoung insists, his head poking over the back of the sofa to watch Mark walk away. “Where are you going?”

“Away from you,” Mark replies, rolling up his sleeves.

“You say you don’t like me, but I know you’re going to take care of the body,” Jinyoung calls. “I know you like me, Mark!”

“Whatever,” Mark throws over his shoulder. He makes sure to slam the front door pointedly when he steps outside.

He really is too soft on Jinyoung, he reflects with a sigh. Even when he tries to mete out punishment, it’s met with eagerness and playful teasing — then again, maybe that’s Mark’s fault for his method of punishment. It’s just so damn hard to resist Jinyoung.

As he’s sure the drained body on the ground could attest to. If he could attest to anything at all, that is.

Mark crouches down next to the human. “You poor bastard,” he muses. “Didn’t they ever tell you not to trust the pretty ones?”