#moon junhui

But his worrying was entirely in vain. Apart from ruby red eyes that made you flinch in horror when you looked at yourself in the mirror, you felt exactly the same. Sort of. Your body felt entirely pain free. Not that you spend your life in a large amount of pain but there was nothing niggling. No need to stretch your neck or limbs when you’d first woken up, no annoying twinge in your toe from the bruise that had been there two days ago from when you’d stubbed your toe. You felt fresh, nimble, like you were ready to take on the world in every way possible. 

There was one other thing that you couldn’t ignore. The almost numbness of your tongue, you couldn’t place what it was from or what was causing it. It was like a dull need for something that was making your tongue and mouth feel almost on edge from how much you needed to feel something in it. And the irritability that came with that was like your mood during the worst of periods. But this went way past craving nachos or a bar of chocolate the size of your head that you get with your period. This was primal. If you didn’t get something to stop this craving soon, you were pretty sure you’d have tried to physically assault poor Junhui. 

His smile when you told him you needed something but didn’t know what only pissed you off even more. It was only when you balled your fists and tears started to fall down your now pristine cheeks, that Junhui finally sat you down and explained it was just that you needed blood. As soon as Seungkwan arrived with everything you and Wonwoo both needed, you’d feel better. It would take some time, he said, to get the right amount and for you to completely adjust to everything. You’d probably need more blood than you would when you weren’t a newbie, just so your body could fully get used to the transition you’d been through. 

How Junhui and Seungkwan dealt with you and Wonwoo during those first days, you’ve no idea. Neither of you were in a good humour, something both men found hilarious. But the second they smiled, you wanted to slap them, how dare they laugh when all you wanted to do was laugh, cry, punch someone and eat an actual whole human being at the same time. 

What did not help is that you’d never really actually thought about having to drink blood. And you were disgusted with yourself that you even wanted to drink it. But it went way past wanting to drink it, you were craving it like you’d never craved anything in your whole life. Seungkwan appeared with eight different large containers of blood in a freezer bag and placed them all on the kitchen counter, much to the confusion of you and Wonwoo. “Try them and see which suits you.”. Try them and see which suits you?! So not only were you needing to drink blood for the first time, they were happily treating it like some sort of wine tasting exercise and Seungkwan was some sort of iron laced sommelier. 

Simple. That’s what Seungkwan said it would be. You’d know straight away which blood suited you best. 

Now you’re no authority on the laws of vampires. You’d only been one for fifteen hours at that point. But surely it would make sense, in every field of science and mythical law, that the type of blood best suited to you would be the type of blood you have yourself. It made perfect sense to you. You’re literally taking on blood. When people need blood transfusions, they have blood matched to them, they need blood the same type as theirs. This would surely be the same. 

How wrong you were. Once you’d finally gotten past the idea of knocking back a shot of blood, your hand holding Junhui’s so tightly you’d think you were giving birth to a ten stone baby, you discovered that B negative was absolutely not suited to you. In fact you felt like you needed to sit down for ten minutes and cry. So that’s what you did, joined by Wonwoo, who found out B positive was definitely not for him. If you’d have been paying attention to the two well established vampires, you’d see how they were desperately trying not to fall on the kitchen floor laughing. 

Both of them saying things like “in my day it took us years to figure out the scents of the humans with our preferred blood.” or “when I first got turned, we didn’t have all this technology, we had to go through so much more.”, only made you want to throw them both out of the penthouse window. Good for them for being so fucking old one of them predates the wheel. But you and Wonwoo were very much born into the modern world and weren’t used to this sort of grotesque inconvenience. 

It took two hours and a lot of tears on mainly Wonwoo’s part but eventually you both found your blood types. Wonwoo needed B negative and you needed AB negative. Something which you were very proud of. Surely being suited to the rarest of the eight blood types gave a gravitas that the other three didn’t possess.  Junhui was happy to humour you, agreeing whole heartedly that it made you far superior to Wonwoo especially. And he stood ready to give Wonwoo a stern talking to when he threw a scatter cushion at your head with all his strength. Wonwoo forgetting that his full strength is now a lot more strength that he was used to and resulted in you landing a good three metres away from where you were first standing and a large scatter cushion shaped mark on your face for a few minutes until your skin healed quicker than feasibly possible. 

But the two weeks passed by in a haze of bickering, laughing and Junhui showing you some of the ancient texts he had about vampires in different periods of history. And it turns out Seungkwan had planned it all perfectly. After two weeks they both took you and Wonwoo to the local park, ignoring your protests of feeling like you were being walked like a dog, and exposed you to humans like a test subject. 

Seeing daylight properly for the first time since you’d been changed felt like seeing everything in vivid 4k. Everything seemed brighter, sharper almost and your sense of smell had heightened. Something you and Wonwoo had already figured out when you had simple ramen for lunch on that first day of being changed and declared it the most delicious thing you’d ever eaten. 

Everything was heightened and yet, because Seungkwan is a literal genius, neither you nor Wonwoo had any sudden urges to attack the humans you came into contact with. You could sense when their blood would be suited to you, you could tell when one lady who walked past you was on her period, but you didn’t have the urge to kill. Something which you could tell came as a huge relief to Junhui. 

Because Wonwoo and Seungkwan were both staying with you, any more intimate moments had only happened late at night when you were both sure they were asleep. You did not need Wonwoo hearing anything, he wouldn’t let you live it down for centuries you’re certain of it. 

Junhui had warned you it would be different, feel different, but nothing could’ve prepared you for that first orgasm. You’re certain nothing could’ve prepared Junhui either, he said he’d never felt anything like it. It was like both of your bodies were glowing and you swear your orgasms lasted for at least three minutes before you both collapsed in a heap. Naked, sweaty and exhausted but knowing that this was always meant to happen. Because two people who weren’t destined to be together forever could’ve shared in something as insanely earth shattering as that first night after you’d become a vampire. 

Your two weeks in vampire purgatory ended a week ago now. Jeonghan and Joshua, who were Junhui’s vampire friends who reside in France, had phoned and said they were heading to Greece for a few weeks to “soak up the sun”. Because obviously the one thing they’re missing in the South of France is sun. 

But the second Junhui was asked if you all wanted to join them, he leapt at the chance. Which thrilled Jeonghan and Joshua because they hadn’t actually booked a holiday, they were just hoping that Junhui would say he was coming along and say that of course he didn’t mind you all staying at his villa just outside of Athens. 

Junhui didn’t even need to think about it. He was longing to show you his villa in Greece and with that, all the treasures he had hiding there. And what with him being your boss, you and Wonwoo didn’t struggle to get even more time off. So that’s how you find yourself in the first class cabin of the plane that will carry you to a Grecian treasure trove just outside of Athens. 

You were excited. That is to say you were excited until about two days ago when Seungkwan turned your world on its axis. 

He’d excitedly arrived at dinner with two old manuscripts which he said dated back to 20AD. Which showed proof of something that he’d only ever heard legends of. He’d always wondered about it, wondering if it could really happen and now he said he had proof that it could. 

Blood bonding. 

Apparently the act of two vampires sharing blood. Because neither of you are gaining anything from the act, no nutrients are being shared and no thirst being satiated, the sharing of blood creates a phenomenon known as blood bonding. It shows the vampire drinking your blood your whole life before their very eyes in the blink of an eye. It’s an act so intimate, so rare, that there is hardly any information on it. It would’ve been useless for Soonyoung and Pearl, the only other vampires where you know one was turned by the other so they could spend eternity together, because they’d been childhood sweethearts. They’d always known each other, they knew each other’s story. 

Yet for you and Junhui, Seungkwan said it would be the perfect opportunity to truly know each other. To know things that you probably don’t even remember but would be fascinating to the other. And you weren’t against that in theory. You didn’t mind the idea of Junhui knowing everything about you, there were only a few decades for him to see. But what you weren’t sure of is drinking Junhui’s blood and seeing his whole life flashing before your eyes. It didn’t stem from jealousy of seeing his past loves or fear of seeing him at his blood sucking worst. You couldn’t place what you were feeling or why you weren’t thrilled with the idea but it felt almost like disappointment and you couldn’t pinpoint why. 

And whilst you weren’t sure, Junhui was absolutely enamoured by the idea. He seemed so excited to look into it further, he’d even suggested you doing it one evening at his villa when the others weren’t around and it was just you two. You’d smiled and said maybe but you really weren’t convinced. 

But what made it worse was that you couldn’t bring yourself to tell him. He’d been through so much, sacrificed his beliefs and everything he thought about turning humans into vampires for you. You couldn’t now turn around and ruin something he was so excited about, not so early into your forever together. But you still couldn’t bring yourself to be comfortable with it. 

And so now you find yourself forcing a fake smile whenever he mentions it and then quickly changing the subject in the hope he’ll forget about it. Which you know he won’t but you just can’t bring yourself to ruin things when they’ve only just really started. 

“You seem deep in thought.” Junhui smiles over the back of his pod at you. 

“Oh,” your eyes snap to him, “just thinking about nothing really.” 

“Is this about what Seungkwan said?” Your whole body tenses, has he figured it out? Is he about to tell you that he wants to do it as soon as you get to Greece? “Becasue he’s just being dramatic, we’d told Amilia not to fly that thing too early. It was a generic aircraft and we hadn’t tested the extra fuel tanks. It was all her fault and he’s just held it against every plane ever since.” 

You release a breath you hadn’t realised you were holding. 

Amilia fucking Earhart. Seungkwan and Junhui had been helping with her plans and she rushed things and flew too soon, something that apparently keeps Seungkwan up at night even now and has given him an irrational fear of flying, even in first class. Apparently he’s funded every expedition to find her that’s ever been carried out. But Junhui reckons it’s more to do with proving they weren’t in the wrong and having a post death “I told you so” moment. 

“Yeah, just thinking about her being lost at the bottom of the ocean.” You lie. 

“Oh please don’t start Wonwoo off with that again.” Junhui growns. 

But it’s too late, Wonwoo’s face appears as he lowers the screen to his pod. 

“We still don’t know what’s in over half of the ocean, you know. There’ll be creatures down there that we’ve never seen. Fuck knows what the hell is down there, plotting our demise.” 

“Ignore him. If you pretend he’s not there, he’ll shut up.” 

“You’ll be sorry when you’re eaten by a huge saber toothed salmon or something.” He tells you as he disappears again into his pod, the screen gradually showing you less and less of his smug face. 

“Hopefully it’s you first.” You grumble as Junhui smiles happily down at you. 

“Would you care to join me in my pod?” He raises his brow at you and makes your ice cold heart flutter. 

“We’re not……”

“Not that. There’s a documentary on Ancient Rome I want to mock.” 

That does sound good. Being wrapped in a blanket in a first class pod watching the man you love getting more and more annoyed with the historical discrepancies. 

“Ok.” You grin and rush to join him in his pod, hoping no mentions of blood bonding will rear their ugly heads.

“So," Junhui wraps himself around you, his chest pressed against your back and head on your shoulder, “what do you think?" 

“T-this," you stare around the open plan villa with its pure white walls and exposed floorboards but with sumptuous sofas and ancient art work on the wall, "Junhui, it's incredible.” 

It's two stories, traditional white with blue shutters, typical of Greek villas but it just has a whole air of grandness to it. It isn't overly extravagant or trying too hard. It's classy, filled with little pieces of Junhui that you know he's spent years agonising over whether they're in the right place or look too obvious that they're legitimate artefacts, and not knock off versions like people would presume. 

By the doors that open out to the patio and the shimmering blue pool, are large traditional Grecian vases. They're terracotta and have those figures of people or buildings or horses all entirely in black. You've seen them in museums and books but never thought you'd see them just decorating a home like they’ve been bought at the local department store. 

“Those images on the vases," you point at them, “they’re black, like the technique that……. " 

“Ergotimos." He says bluntly. 

He cannot just say that so matter of factly! 

“They're genuine?!" 

You rush over to them but stop yourself before you get too close. If they are genuine, and the terracotta with black images would suggest they are, then these vases are something like 2500 years old. You're not going to be the person to break them by getting too close. 

“They are." 

He smiles at you and squats down near the vases, holding his hand out for you to join him. 

"If I knock one over, it's your fault.” You mumble, joining him in squatting down near the vases. 

He shuffles closer to you, making sure you’re within touching distance. Goosebumps form all over your skin, not just because of the ancient vases but because his fingers wander up and down your spine as you both inspect the vases. He does it so casually, so absent mindedly and it makes you feel more loved than you ever have in your life. Being so tactile just comes naturally to him, like showing you his love in his touch is just an everyday thing that he doesn’t even think about. 

"This one,” he points at the figure on the vase, "is the one Joshua will claim is him. He has zero proof for that but he's adamant.” 

"They're incredible,” you look at them in wonder, "how long have you had them? Where were they before you had them? What's their story?” 

"I stole them,” he whispers in your ear before kissing the lobe softly. 

"You stole them?!” 

"Sort of. They were doing some excavating a few miles away and the idiots had left them to be thrown away! I don't know where they'd been educated but they knew nothing about ancient artefacts. Who doesn't realise they have some of the most sought after Greek vases?! So I rehomed them." 

"Did you ever consider that they'd put them to one side to assess them after they'd finished their day of digging.” You smirk at him. 

He freezes. Obviously never having considered that option. 

“No," he frowns, “they definitely had left them there to be thrown away. And they'll all be dead now.” He dismisses you, obviously not wanting to focus on his alleged theft. 

“Whatever you say." You grin at him, “But maybe we should move them, what with so many people being here and one of those people being Wonwoo." 

“Good point.” He kisses your head as he stands up, “You grab that one, I'll get this one." 

You snap into action. Marvelling at the vase in your hands. This is actually 2500 years old. You're holding something that someone in Ancient Greece created. Ergotimos himself hand crafted this vase and now you're holding it and hiding it away from your idiot best friend. You're not sure you'll ever get used to this. 

"Follow me.” He says happily, leading you through the living area and towards the kitchen. 

"You amaze me.” You frown at the kitchen. 

"Why?” 

 "This is the second of your homes I've been in where you've got a kitchen like something out of my wildest dreams and yet you still can barely open a box for frozen pizza.” 

"Wow. The woman I love, wounding me in broad daylight.” 

"I need to cook in that stone oven,” your eyes light up when you spot it. 

"Maybe next time," he sets off through the Mediterranean style kitchen, “when it's just us. Right now, I just want us to relax and that doesn't include those four treating you like their own personal chef." 

“Next time?" You raise your brow at him as you come to a stand still in front of a normal looking wooden door in the corner of his kitchen. 

“We can come here as many times as we want now, we can literally do whatever we want for the rest of eternity." 

Your whole body still tingles when you remember that you're going to see everything the future has to offer with the vampire you love. 

He gestures for you to walk through the door he's just opened and you happily wander through. 

“A pantry? Junhui honey, I meant somewhere a little safer than this." 

“Just hold on." He smiles and moves further into the pantry. 

Is that? There's another door?! 

Junhui places the vase gently on the ground, taking one last glance around to make sure nothing would fall on it, whilst he enters some codes into a keypad on the wall. 

It's very similar to the code protected doors you have at home but of course those are on the top floor of the penthouse and not at the back of a rickety old pantry. Maybe because he isn't here as much as he is at home, this being the first time he's been to Greece in five years, he feels the need to have access to his more private areas more concealed than he would normally. 

“These steps are really old," he offers you his hand, holding the vase in his other arm, “be careful please." 

You smile at him and take his hand, making sure you've got a tight hold of the vase as you start to descend the stairs. They're stone and winding, with small lights on the stone walls to guide your way. It's like you're truly entering another world as the steps seem to go on forever. But Junhui keeps a tight hold on your hand when the steps seem to get narrower until eventually you're greeted with a wall that seems to be made of frosted glass. 

“Just one more code." He murmurs, more to himself than to you. 

The final beep of the number pad sounds and seconds later a glass door, you hadn't realised was there, wooshes to the side.

You're amazed you haven't dropped the damn vase you're holding in your hand. Because if Junhui’s hidden floor of treasures at home was incredible, this is absolutely insane. 

The whole basement is like the most incredible museum you've ever seen, or dreamt to see. The white stone continues down here, just like upstairs,  and the floor is polished wood but there's no beautiful sunlight unlike the rest of the house, obviously with it being a basement. The walls are lined with a few book shelves but nowhere near as many as at home. This place is obviously where he keeps some of his larger pieces. He'd mentioned he likes to keep his books with him, something that only made you love him even more because you felt the same about your books. 

Other, even older, vases and busts are in glass cabinets and there's even part of a broken arch in the corner of the room. 

Junhui must’ve moved without you noticing because whilst you're still staring open mouthed at the room in front of you, he smiles knowingly when he takes the vase off you and you don't even acknowledge him. 

You wander into the room, mouth still open in awe as you try to take in everything you're seeing. You're probably not even taking everything in fully, you'd need to spend weeks in here to truly realise what everything is you're actually looking at. It's like stepping into every historical article and book you'd ever read only now you’re actually standing in history instead of just lost in the words of others. 

Something does bring you to a standstill though. 

In fact you're fairly certain your heart has actually stopped beating the small amount it does and you're having a full scale out of body experience. 

“What. The. FUCK. Junhui," you turn to him hurriedly, “that's not…..you've not…….it's not," you shake your head like what you’re seeing can’t be real. 

But he's smiling. You're having a complete breakdown and he's smiling?! 

“Is that," you take a deep breath and point to the large display ledge in the centre of the room, a spot light shining down on it, “that cannot be an Elgin Marble." 

“The Greeks would probably rather call them the Parthenon Marbles.” 

“Don't get smart with me Wen Junhui," you turn your finger that was pointing at the sculpture onto Junhui, “is that what I think it is?" 

“It is." 

"How? They're all in the British Museum. And don't say they're not, they're always arguing about them! How the hell do you have that?!” 

"I found it.” He shrugs, clearly enjoying your shock at one of his most priced possessions. 

"Oh please,” you scoff, "you don't just find an Elgin…. A Parthenon Marble.” 

“I bought this house. Came down here and that statue was here. Just ruined in the cellar.” 

"So how do you know it's real?” 

"Because Lord Elgin tried to buy it off me to add to his collection. Said he wanted a nice round number of statues so he felt like his collection was complete. Arrogant bastard,” he mutters under his breath, “I hated the idea he'd taken them from Greece in the first place but he wouldn't leave me alone. So I told him I'd leave it to him or his family, in my will." 

“What a very sneaky man you are." You stare at him in awe. “So he died feeling like he hadn’t completed his collection?" 

“And it means more of the marbles than people actually think stayed right here in Greece." Junhui nods. 

“I could spend the whole holiday here and never get bored.” 

“You won’t need to soon,” he takes your hand and makes you face him, “once we’re blood bonded, you’ll know all this.” 

His smile is intoxicating and even though you’ve got that horrible sinking feeling in your stomach again, you still can’t bring yourself to tell him you really don’t want this whole blood bonding thing. It clearly means so much to him and seeing as you can’t even form the reasons why you’re so against it, it seems completely stupid to bring up your worries now. 

“They’re here!” Seungkwan bellows down the stairs just as Junhui’s lips graze yours. 

“He’s always ruining things.” Junhui sighs, giving you a quick kiss anyway.

You send one last awe-inspired glance at the rogue Parthenon Marble and follow Junhui out of the cave of riches. He truly is the most caring man you’ve ever met because as the door locks behind you, he takes your hand without thinking and guides you back up the uneven stone stairs, glancing back at you with an excited smile, hoping you love his friends as much as he does.

“Yeah so,” Jeonghan finishes his glass of wine, “we actually single handedly stopped half of the world’s most beloved works of art being stolen in World War Two.”

“Single handedly?” The comically skeptical look on Junhui’s face tells you he’s heard this massively exaggerated claim more than once in his life and yet he’s still not bored of it. 

“Exactly.” Jeonghan nods, “Just Joshua and I fighting off the enemy, with the Girl With A Pearl Earring strapped to our backs, dodging bullets and grenades.” Jeonghan pretends to be dramatically dodging the deadly made up bullets. 

“Wasn’t the Girl With A Pearl Earring kept in a bunker in The Hague?” You challenge him and feel your heart swell at how proud Junhui seems to be that you’re so comfortable in calling out his friend’s bullshit. 

“W-well…..”

“Well, who do you think was in charge of The Hague bunker?” Joshua helps his friend. 

“So then you didn’t do it single handedly?” 

“Yes. It was just us in the bunker.” They both look at each other and nod at you. 

“But then who took care of it in the cave it was moved to?” 

They look at you in horror. 

“Ya Junhui! What do you think you’re doing bringing fucking Einstsein to dinner.” Joshua protests as you all laugh at him. 

“Oh don’t mention that old idiot,” Seungkwan frowns into his glass, “he still owes me money for losing that bet.” 

“What bet?” 

“I bet him that light wasn’t just one beam but little clusters of particles.” 

They all nod knowingly but you just gawk at an equally baffled Wonwoo. 

“Hold on,” You frown, sitting up a little in your seat, “you bet him that it was tiny clusters of light. You made the discovery that got him the Nobel Prize?” 

“Oh Nobel Smobel, I don’t care about that shit. But a bet is a bet and he always had such a stick up his ass. Always having to prove people wrong and then doesn’t pay what he owes! Look at what he did to poor Isaac, his whole life's work down the drain because of some idiot that looked like he’d electrocuted himself who couldn’t stop being a smart ass for two seconds.”

You make a mental note to never mention Albert Einstein around Seungkwan ever again.  

“I’ve told you, appeal to his estate.” Joshua dismisses him. 

“I tried,” Seungkwan sighs, “they told me to grow up and stop pouting over 10 Marks.” 

“What’s that in today’s currency?” 

“About 4 US dollars.” 

“You’re a fucking idiot.” 

You say it without thinking, forgetting that you’ve only just met Joshua and Jeonghan and you were hoping to make a good impression. But from the way they’re smacking the table and throwing their heads back in laughter, you seem to have unknowingly made the best impression you could. 

“Wonwoo, tell me about how annoying Junhui is as a boss.” 

Wonwoo wastes no time in holding court with Jeonghan, Joshua and Seungkwan. You love how they’ve all just accepted him. It’s one thing to meet the partner of their friend but it’s another thing to welcome with open arms a vampire who has only been changed because he wants to annoy you and Junhui forever more. 

Junhui squeezes your thigh, dragging your attention away from Wonwoo telling them all about how Junhui is anal about the way he organises his pens. 

“They like you.” He whispers, that broad smile you love so much illuminating his face. 

“You don’t think I’ve upset them about the paintings?” 

“Joshua is five thousand years old. You’d have to do something truly heinous to upset him. Or,” he glances at them all gossiping, “hide his moisturiser, the moaning he does when he feels like his skin is dehydrated. He’s the most dramatic person I’ve ever met.” 

You hum and look out onto the setting sun. 

“This place is incredible, I can’t believe you’ve brought me here.” 

“Hey,” he takes your hand, pressing a gentle kiss to it, “I haven’t just brought you here. I’m sharing this with you completely, what’s mine is yours.” 

“I hate that Junhui, you know I do. I could never bring as much to this relationship as you.” 

“You don’t need to, we’re equal in this. You choosing me to spend your life with is enough for me.”

You roll your eyes, thoroughly unconvinced but you’d be lying if you said you weren’t trying to hide your bashful smile. 

“And. You’ve brought one very important thing to this relationship.” 

You narrow your eyes at him, hoping he’s not about to lower the tone and let slip something that shouldn’t be spoken about at dinner with friends. 

“What?” 

“My most treasured possession.” He smirks at you, “By the time we get home, the new plinth I’ve ordered should be there.” 

“For what?” 

“My most treasured possession.” He repeats. 

Your knitted brows tell him everything he needs to know, his carefully chosen words have confused you enough that he’ll get rewarded with the sound of your laughter, something he thinks he’ll never stop craving to hear. 

“You must know what it is.” 

“No.” You frown. 

“It’s a book.” 

“Oh well that narrows it down.” 

“And it’s one of your favourites." 

“Junhui, that doesn’t narrow it down either!” You whine. 

“This one specific copy of it is very dear to me.” 

“Is it your Twilight books?” 

“You’re asking for trouble.” He raises his brows at you. You know he hates those books and yet you still insist on mentioning them at any given opportunity. 

“Maybe I am.” You smirk at him. 

“Don’t distract me.” He murmurs. “It’s a book you love and a copy of it that I love.” 

You rack your brain. But the only book you can think of that’s been truly meaningful to your relationship is……..

“The Chronicles of Narnia?! You’re going to put my battered old copy of that on a plinth? You’re ridiculous!” You laugh, making Junhui feel more alive than he has done in centuries. 

“It’s very dear to me,” he smiles as he pulls you onto his lap, “just like its owner.” 

“Do you think they’d miss us?” You wrap your arms around his neck, your eyes glimmering at each other in the late evening sun. 

He glances behind you. 

“No, they’re talking about how Joshua owns part of Antartica.” 

“He does?” 

“Techinally. But it’s also technically run by penguins and he’s not been able to step foot on it for decades.” 

“Maybe he could take Wonwoo, I’ve always said he walks like a penguin.” Your heart leaps as he laughs at your joke, your fingers running through his hair like you love doing so much. 

“They’re pretty busy.” He checks behind you again.  “Are you tired?” 

“Absolutely not.” 

“Me neither.” 

And you both rush to your feet to run into the house, ignoring your friends demands to know where you’re going and to keep the noise down, as you sprint up the stairs to your bedroom.

“I thought you said we were getting cleaned up?" 

“We are, shit watch your head!" He says it like you smacking the back of your head on the shower wall has worried him in anyway. And yet his fingers are still buried deep in you, curled perfectly inside and making your head spin. So he can't be that bothered about your poor head. 

“Shit," you hiss as his two fingers hit your g spot. 

It’d already been an hour since you escaped dinner and yet he'd already cum down your throat, the taste of it being almost intoxicating now all your senses were heightened. And then of course because he's a gentleman he made sure you came twice. Once on his tongue and once on his perfect length, his hand over your mouth to make sure you didn't let the guys know what you were doing. Because obviously the pair of you running into the house giggling didn't give it away at all. And presumably neither did Junhui's moan he accidentally let out as he came inside you, something he said you must've imagined when you tried to mock him for it. 

“This isn't getting us clean Junhui." You whisper. 

“Well you shouldn’t be so tempting," he kisses your neck, exactly where he'd bitten you, to turn you, all those weeks ago. 

The spot doesn't hurt and normally it has no effect on you at all if your fingers graze it or something similar. But for some reason any time Junhui’s lips touch that small spot of skin on your neck, it sends a thrill of excitement through your body that makes you feel like you're floating for a couple of seconds. 

“How," you swallow when his teeth nip at your earlobe, “am I tempting?" 

“You got naked." 

“I was already naked." You giggle as his fingers keep pumping into and out of you. 

“Yeah but then you got all wet,” 

"I think I was already wet honey.” 

"Smart ass,” 

"Fuck!” Your hands grip his biceps as his palm rests on your clit, adding a level of pressure that's bringing you perilously close to your third orgasm of the night. 

"My love, are you close?” he lifts his head to look at you, his lips touching yours but sadly not rewarding you with a kiss. 

“So close."

You clench around his fingers, only getting closer and closer to the edge when he finally does kiss you again. It hasn't even been four minutes since he last kissed you and yet even though you've been together for years now, you still get a thrill like it's your first kiss all over again. 

“Fuck I can't believe you're mine," 

“You always say that.” You manage to get out as his palm starts bouncing a little on your clit from the force of his fingers fucking you. 

“So sue me, I'll never get over the fact you're mine. And soon," he curls his fingers a little more, the long nimble digits abusing your g-spot repeatedly, “you'll know all of me. We’ll truly be each other’s. Fuck, we could do it now whilst I finger your prefect pussy, would you like that _____?” 

His fingers keep moving and you are so close to the edge, if he could just keep going for two more seconds you’d me there. 

"Gonna cum,” you moan. 

"Not yet my love,” his fingers slow, no longer hitting as deep and keeping you teetering on the edge, "tell me you'll let me do it now.” 

"Junhui I'm so close," you whine. 

“Just tell me my love." He murmurs into your skin. 

But after a few seconds his fingers slow even more and he raises his head to look at you. A look of confusion you haven't seen on his face since you walked into his office the day he told you he loved you, and he didn't know if he should risk it all or not. 

Your heart is pounding but no longer in a good way and your need to flee and get away from this situation is making you panic more and more. Something which you're certain he can sense. 

“My love?" 

“What?" 

You don't look at him, you look past him at the shower wall. What the hell do you even say? You can't break his heart and tell him you don't want to be blood bonded. He’ll think you're trying to say you don't want to spend the rest of time with him, that you're not committed to him like he is to you. 

But you can't lie to him either. You can’t let him think that you want this and let it happen for the sake of appeasing him or not upsetting him. 

The idea of hurting him in any way though makes you hate yourself. You want him only to be happy and content in this world, like you always do for the ones you love most. But you can't do it, you just can't. 

“I asked, did you want to do it tonight?" 

"I thought it was just in the moment.” You lie, glancing at him quickly and then averting your eyes back to the shower wall. 

"Why won't you look at me?” 

"I am.” You glance at him again. 

“You're not." 

His fingers slip from you, making you feel more empty than they would normally because it feels like this loss isn't going to be the only thing you lose tonight. 

He takes your chin in his fingers, making you look at him with the scent of you on them. Like a cruel reminder of how quickly this situation has taken a brutal turn. 

"You don't want me to see your memories?” 

The hurt on his face is something you hoped never to see. You'd even take the cruel indifference you faced when he tried to tell you your relationship was nothing, over this. 

"I do! I don't mind if you see everything.” 

"Then,” he thinks and you feel your heart crack, "you don't want to see mine? You're worried you'll think of me as a monster or something if you see everything.” 

The step he takes away from you feels more like a mile than a simple pace. 

"No,” you try to reach for him but he bats your hand away, like the idea of you touching him repulses him, "Junhui that's not why!” 

Tears are starting to cascade down your cheeks and he doesn't even seem to care. The same man who admitted that he hated seeing you cry when you were in a hospital bed, now only looks at you with even more contempt when he sees them. 

"Why are you crying?! Are you worried I'll force you to blood bond with me?!” 

"No!” 

"Did you even love me? You said you understood my past……" 

“Junhui please." You croak in a sob as you try to reach for him again. 

"You said I couldn’t be blamed for the people I'd killed, said you could never think less of me for it! And now,” he exasperates with his head in his hands, "I dropped everything I believed in for you ______. I thought you realised how much it took for me to agree to turn you…" 

“I do realise it Junhui, I promise I do but……” 

"But what?” He spits. 

"....but……but….” 

You can't even tell him why you're so against it because you don't fucking know. Seungkwan just sprang it on you and then Junhui loved the idea so much that now you haven't even had the time to think about why you're so against it.

"You can't even trust me to tell me why you don't want this.” 

He stares at you, like he's meeting a stranger or even worse, an enemy. Not like you're the love of his life, standing naked together as the warm water hits your bodies. 

“I've been a fucking idiot. This was all a huge mistake." 

“Junhui no," you cry, “please. Junhui, come back!" 

But he doesn't. He steps out of the shower, closing the door behind him and with it feeling like he's closed the door on your relationship. The water seems to turn chillier though it could just be the air in the shower that feels like it's suffocating you. But this shower that felt so intimate, so small when you were both lost in each other a few moments ago, now feels cavernous and like you're more alone than you've ever been. 

A mistake. 

He thinks this has all been a mistake and it's all because you have made him feel that way. 

As you turn the shower off and step out of it you can't help but wonder if he's right. You should want to blood bond with him. You should want to know everything about him that you can. And yet you don't and now you've ended up hurting the one person you'd never want to. And you don't even know why. 

You've been dressed for at least an hour, sitting on the end of the bed staring at the door hoping Junhui is going to walk through them. For the first time in forever you slept without him by your side and you felt like a piece of you was missing. He's your person, he's your life, having him by your side makes you feel whole and then suddenly he was gone and you didn't know what to do. 

You'd thought he'd come back at some point to try and talk it through, like he does when you've had little arguments in the past. One of you always gives in because you can't stand to be mad at each other. But this feels like it's gone way past being mad at each other. You've made him question the very foundations of your relationship and you can't expect him to just come back to comfort you. 

Presumably he'd gone to sleep in one of the other rooms in the villa, the others will probably all hate you now because you've hurt their friend. You'd hate someone for hurting Wonwoo and he's only been your friend for sixteen years. They've been friends for thousands of years, they're bound to loathe you. 

The sun is high in the sky and one glance at your watch tells you that you can't hide in here for much longer without making it obvious you're avoiding them all. 

You take one last deep breath and then leave the room, dreading what you're about to face. 

But as you descend the stairs, everywhere is eerily quiet. With four rowdy vampires in the house, or three rowdy vampires and one who you've hurt beyond words, you'd think there'd be more noise. 

You glance into the kitchen but there's no sign of anyone. Have they all just left you here? 

“Hey." 

"For fuck’s sake Wonwoo!” You jump when you spot him on the sofa. 

"Good morning to you too.” He smiles sarcastically. 

"Where is everyone?” You look around a little more as you move to sit next to him. 

"They all went on a run about twenty minutes ago.” 

"They just left us here?” 

"Nah, they asked if I wanted to go.” He shrugs. 

"Oh.” Your shoulders slump, he hadn't even asked you.

"What's going on?” 

"Nothing.” 

"I know when you're lying before you've even opened your mouth. And Junhui looked terrible this morning. And he didn't come from your room, he stayed in one down here.” 

"Well nothing gets past you does it, nosey?” 

"Don't do that.” He sighs. 

"What?” 

"Try to avoid my question. What happened?” 

"It doesn't matter.” 

"_____.” He unfolds his legs so he can sit properly next to you on the sofa, "You're my best friend. Please just talk to me.” 

You hang your head for a second, collecting your thoughts as best you can. 

"I think I've inadvertently ended my relationship.” 

"What?! How?! He's obsessed with you. I doubt….." 

“I have." You glance at him out of the corner of your eye. 

"How?” He asks softly. 

"You know the whole blood bonding thing?” 

"Yeah?” He asks, drawing the word out like he can't fathom how that has anything to do with anything. 

"He wants to do it. He wants to be blood bonded.” 

"Well that's a good thing, isn't it?” 

"Yes? No? Fuck I don't know!” You groan and lean back on the sofa. "I don't mind him knowing about my past, there's hardly anything compared to his.” 

"Is it because you don't want to see his past relationships? You don't want to compare yourself to them?" 

“No." You say adamantly. “I know I'm the love of his life. He wouldn't have changed me if I wasn't." 

“Then what?" Wonwoo frowns, leaning back with you. 

“I don't know! I really don't know. I'm not bothered about seeing him kill, I mean sure I'd rather not but it wouldn't change the way I feel about him. I feel…..I feel….. I don't know!! And now he's said changing me was a mistake and I think I've really ruined it all Wonwoo!" 

Tears start falling again. 

“No please don’t cry," he moans, rushing to get a tissue, “you know I can't cope with emotions like that." 

“It's just, I feel like," you take the box of tissues from him as he sits back next to you, “I haven't had a chance to think about it. I know I don't want to, I know I feel weird about it but I don't know why.’ 

“Then think now." 

“What?" You turn to him, wiping your eyes with the tissue. 

“Think about it now. They're gone for like an hour, sit and think about it now and then we can figure out how to fix it." 

He says it so matter of factly. Like “fixing it" is even an option.

“I don't think I can fix it. You didn't see his face, Wonwoo, he looked so hurt. He hates…..” 

"______.” He says sternly. "Junhui loves you. He turned you so he could spend eternity with you. Yes, he may have said some shit in the heat of the moment but we all do that. Just figure it out for yourself and then worry about figuring things out with Junhui. He's immortal and so are you, it's not like he can avoid you for eternity.” 

You stare at him. When did Wonwoo become so helpful? 

"Come on, think!” He breaks your thoughts. 

"Right.” You nod and turn to face away from him. 

But think about what? Why you don't want to blood bond with your soulmate? Why your brain seems hell bent on making sure you can't form the simple reason you don't want to? 

Your eyes wander around the room, taking in everything. Little trinkets that Junhui’s collected over the centuries. The little parts of his life that are long forgotten, and in the cases of people long dead, but that he didn't want to forget fully. 

They all form his story, they're all tiny fragments in time that make up the story of Wen Junhui and you find them fascinating. So why don't you want to blood bond with him? It would literally enable you to see everything he's been through, the good and the bad, the highs and lows. And you want to know all those things, you want to know them more than anything. And yet you can't bring yourself to do it. 

Maybe it's the idea that you'd need to bite him? You're not a vampire like him and the others, neither you or Wonwoo are. You had Seungkwan bring you every blood type to sample and figure out what you needed. You have a fridge at home dedicated to yours and Junhui’s weekly blood supply, you’ve never had to deal with the idea of actually biting another living creature. 

Maybe that's what it is? But the more you think about it, the more you imagine doing it, you know it's not that. The idea doesn't excite you and sure, you'd really rather not, but you're not against the idea of biting him. 

Your eyes land on a terracotta artefact that doesn't match the others. It isn't a Greek statue of a god or another pot that you’d recognise as something by one of the ancient Grecian potters or sculptures. 

It confuses you. 

If you had to take a guess you'd probably say it was African, maybe from a western country? You're certain you've seen similar things to it but you just can't pinpoint where. You definitely couldn't narrow it down to the exact country or time period. 

It's a sculpture of a face and it is terracotta but it's definitely like nothing else in this room. You wonder how it came to be here? Presumably Junhui has it with the artefacts here because it fits in so well with the other terracotta artefacts. And you did spot some East Asian items in the basement so he doesn't solely house Grecian items here. 

But still it's an odd anomaly, one you've no doubt has an interesting story to it. You know he spent some time in Nigeria, so maybe it's something from there? If he was here, you'd ask him and revel in the way his eyes seem to shine even brighter when he tells you of the friends he had there and the things they got up to. 

It's one of the things you love most about him. The things he's seen and the way he seems to love talking about them so much. 

The way he spoke about inventing words with Will and thoroughly enjoyed the way you'd look more and more shocked at how he was best friends with Shakespeare. Well. It's one of the reasons you fell in love with him. 

Everytime there's something small you spot that he's kept for seemingly no reason, you love listening to the stories. 

But. 

No. 

It can't be that simple. It can't be…….  

“I think I've figured it out." You keep your eyes on the terracotta sculpture as you turn to face Wonwoo. 

“That was quick." He says happily, like he's been waiting for you to finish making lunch or something. “What is it?" 

“Stories." 

“What?" 

“I like listening to his stories." 

“Well then let him read to you or something and blood bond with him." 

“Not stories in general idiot. I mean I like listening to his stories about where he's been and what he's seen. That artefact," you point to it, “do you know what it is?" 

“It's a Nok sculpture." 

“Neither do…..wait what? How do you know that?” 

"I did an African studies course at university because I was trying to impress a girl I liked. She turned out to be a lesbian,” he shakes his head at the sculpture like it's the sculptures fault, "but I learnt some stuff.” He shrugs. 

"I wonder why he has it.” You frown at it. 

"Me too. They weren't really for gifts. I think they're to do with shrines? But I think some were also for charms and things.” 

“Really?" You raise your brows and turn back to the sculpture, getting massively distracted.  

“So you think it's stories?" He tries to get your attention. 

"Yeah,” you nod, dragging your eyes away from the sculpture, "I think I do want to know everything I can about him. But I'd feel like I was being cheated to just know everything. I love how much he loves talking about everything he's done and I don't see why we need to blood bond just to share each other's stories. We've got eternity together, we have all the time in the world to find out all this stuff.” 

"Why didn't you just tell him that?!” 

"Because I've literally only just figured it out Wonwoo, don't shout at me!”

"Sorry, sorry,” he rushes to soothe you and awkwardly pat your shoulder because a tear is on the brink of falling and he cannot cope with crying. 

"Do you think he'll even listen to me?” You pout. 

"I'm certain he will. And. If he doesn't, I'll hit him.” 

"Yeah right.” You huff out a laugh. 

"I mean it. I hate seeing you cry, if he doesn't let you explain then he's fucking way out of line. I'll hit him.” 

It's at times like these you remember that not only is Wonwoo your best friend, but you're also his. He might be fucking annoying but he's got your back, he always has. 

"Thank you.” You nudge his shoulder with yours. 

"No problem. Just please, if you are going to cry, try to give me at least a business day's warning to fully prepare.” 

"I'll try.” You nod, finally managing a small smile. 

“Breakfast?" 

“Have you cooked it?" You narrow your eyes at him. 

“Seungkwan did. So at least we know it'll be good." 

He doesn't let you answer, just drags you along with him and doesn't even give you the opportunity to worry about Junhui coming back because he starts telling you about the girl who broke his heart. And by the end of it you're both cursing her for not telling him she was a lesbian sooner.

Wonwoo didn't try to stop you when you heard voices coming through the front door and shot out the villa at the speed of light. You'd both made sure you'd had your blood, ate the truly delicious breakfast Seungkwan had made and just as you took the final bite, you'd heard the dreaded sound of four vampires. 

But unlike normal people, you weren't afraid of these vampires for the obvious reasons. You were more worried that they'd all throw you out of the house and say that Junhui never wanted to see you again. 

So you’d decided to spend the day at the beach. Yes, if you'd have truly thought about it you'd have a book, a nice cold drink and some sun glasses. And you wouldn't just be sitting on the sand looking extremely sorry for yourself. But at least you didn't need to think about suncream anymore. Not now that you were a vampire. So it wasn’t all bad.

An hour passes by and you wonder whether they're actually going to just ignore you forever. You'll become part of the sand, people will think you're a statue or something because you never age and you'll just sit here forever. Thinking about how you lost the love of your life in the space of a few minutes. 

You did always love Greek tragedies, you just never thought you'd actually become one. 

A plane flies over, ruining the tranquility of your death spiral into depression. But as you look up to watch the little clouds it leaves behind, a shadow makes everything go dark. 

Turning, you find Junhui standing next to you. Holding out a glass of juice for you. 

“You need to drink something in this heat." 

“I'll get something later." You say softly and turn back to looking at the ocean. 

“Can we go for a walk?" He places the juice in the sand. 

“That depends." 

“On what?" 

“On whether you'll let me pack my bags before you throw me out or whether I'm going to need to wander round in this sundress. It's due to rain later." 

“I'm not throwing you out." He murmurs, shifting awkwardly. 

You look at him again. He doesn't look angry but he doesn't look like he's about to apologise for leaving you either. If anything, he looks completely emotionless. Which you think may worry you more. 

But Wonwoo said to be brave and just explain it to him. And it would cheer you up to see Wonwoo try to hit him if this all goes wrong and he doesn't listen to you. 

"Ok.” You sigh and rise to your feet. 

You're not a damsel in distress and you're not expecting anything from him really. But Junhui is nothing if not a gentleman and the fact he hasn't even offered you his hand to help you up, stings more than you thought it would. 

He doesn't take your hand. He doesn't even walk close to you. He just waits to make sure you're at his side and sets off down the beach. 

"Can I ask you something?” 

He watches you for a second out of the corner of his eye, like he's not sure if he wants you to ask him anything. But he nods after a few seconds anyway. 

"Is that sculpture in your living room a Nok sculpture?” 

"What? You want to ask me about fucking sculptures?” 

You've never had him speak to you like that, the snarl on his face is the cruelest you've ever seen him look. At least when he barred his fangs at you that time in his office, he was provoked into his true vampire ways. Now it's just Junhui, looking at you with utter contempt. 

He must notice how it shocks you because for the first time since last night, there's a glint of your caring Junhui in his eyes. 

“Yes it is." He grumbles bluntly as he turns to keep walking. 

“H-how did you get it?" You ask somewhat apprehensively now. 

“What does this have to do with the fact you don't trust me?" 

“I never said I didn't trust you!" You stop and pull his arm so he doesn't just walk away from you. 

“You said you didn't want to be blood bonded to me! Which is basically the same thing!" 

“No it isn't! And I never said that! I never said anything!" 

“You more or less said you didn't want to." 

“I don't want to." You admit. 

Your bluntness shocks him, it's one thing to assume that's what you mean. It's another to actually hear it. 

“But you didn't let me explain why. You never even gave me a chance to figure out why I didn't like the idea." 

“So this is my fault?!" 

“I'm not saying it's anyone's fault!!" You truly lose your temper and slam your foot on the ground. "Will you please just fucking listen to me Junhui!!” 

His eyes are wide in horror. He's seen you pissed off but this is a whole new level of anger he's not used to. 

"Fine.” He mumbles. 

"Seungkwan sprung this on me. On us. And I get why you're excited about it, I love that you're excited about it. And I don't have a problem with you seeing my life, not that there's much I haven't already told you.” 

"Then what's…." 

“Can you just stop? Please." 

"Sorry.” 

"When I came down earlier, Wonwoo sat with me whilst I thought about it. I knew I wasn't thrilled with the idea but I hadn't been able to figure out why. It wasn't you seeing everything about me, I'm not worried about seeing you at your worst, I'm not even particularly worried about the biting.” 

You take a deep breath, feeling like you need to ground yourself a little. 

"But when Wonwoo made me think about it. I was looking at everything in your villa and my eyes landed on that sculpture. Straight away my instinct was to ask you about it. I wanted to know what it was and why you had it.” 

"So?” 

"So. That's when I figured out why I don't want to do this whole blood bonding thing. Junhui,” you step closer to him, "I love hearing all your stories, I love asking you questions and how happy you look when you tell me about your old friends. If we blood bonded I'd already know it all. Which I want to,” you rush to add in, "but I want to hear it from you. That Saturday after I'd found out about you, I went home and replayed you telling me about Mary Shelley again and again because the way you laughed made butterflies swirl around my stomach like I’d never felt before. I love when I mention something in passing and you tell me some random fact about it that you learnt in Brazil or somewhere.” 

You take another step closer. He's finally within touching distance but you don't dare make a move just yet. 

“I want to know everything about you Junhui but I want to hear it from you. We've got all of eternity to find out everything about each other, it's one of the things I love most about you. Yes, I'd get to know everything if we were blood bonded but I'd miss your smile or your tears or your frown as I found it out. Which is the thing I enjoy most, it's seeing your reaction to it that makes everything so much more real, more personal. Like you’re sharing these secrets with only me because I’m your person, just like you’re mine.” 

“Why didn't you tell me that?" He asks softly, a stray tear running down his cheek that inch to wipe away. 

“Because nobody gave me chance to figure out what I was feeling. I've only been a vampire a few weeks and then Seungkwan appeared with some ancient ritual and you looked so excited. I couldn't be the reason you'd be so disappointed, not after you sacrificed so much. You'd think I didn't want this, you'd think it was a mistake," you sniffle, trying to stop your tears at the memory of that word last night, “but then you think it was now anyway." 

You can't look at him, not when he’s already regretting turning you. But if you did you'd see that his eyes are filled with remorse that's been festering there since the second he left the bedroom last night. He wanted to come back the second he'd left but he was just so hurt, so upset that you didn't want to blood bond with him. 

“I never meant that _____. I could never think it was a mistake." 

“You said it though." You sniff, tears now trickling and betraying you as you continue to look past him. 

“I know I did. And I promise to never say something so cruel again. Even if we fight worse than this, I swear I will never hurt you like that again. There's no excuse for it and I've no justification. All I can do is apologise and beg for your forgiveness." 

"You still want this?” 

"What I want isn't what's important. I hurt you with what I said and I can't take that back. I didn’t let you say what you needed to and I jumped to conclusions. If you say you still want me, then yes I still want this.” 

Is this what being a grown up feels like? Not that you've dated none grown ups, obviously. But whenever people you've dated have said something out of line it's always “well I'm sorry but" or “you upset me so I said this.". In all honesty when you've said something a little too far, you've probably always added a "but” in there too. It's human nature. 

Maybe that's what it is though. This isn't human nature anymore. This is a well adjusted vampire who's been through far worse than one argument and has seen what happens when people far more important than you two, don't just admit their mistakes. 

You're angry he said it. But you understand why he said it. You're sorry you hurt him too and he seems content to accept your feelings about blood bonding. What use is not forgiving him when he's proven again and again to you that he's the most kind, caring and generous man you've ever met. One mistake shouldn't be the reason you end this. Not when you've both been through so much and have shown each other how much you love each other. 

“I want this. I never stopped wanting this." 

He pulls you into him, his arms securing around you and proving once again that you were right that Saturday he knocked on your door to take you to his place. Junhui gives the best hugs. 

“I'm sorry I got carried away with the blood bonding." 

“I get why you wanted it." You mumble into his chest. 

"I just wanted something tying us to each other I think. Not that we aren't. I don't know……I think it was just because it's this ancient ritual, I got carried away with thinking it meant something more than just sharing memories.” 

"We’re already bonded Junhui.” You let your fingers wander up and down his shirt covered back. "Your DNA literally made me what I am. We promised ourselves to each other that night, promised we'd be together for eternity and face whatever the world threw at us. The second your teeth sunk into my skin, I was yours and you were mine." 

“How’d you get so wise when you've only been around a few decades?" He pulls back to look at you. 

“What can I say?" You shrug. “I was born with it.” 

That damn smile you love so much shines brighter than the morning sun and you feel your worries drifting off on the sea breeze. 

“I am annoyed with you about one thing." 

“What." You give him a concerned look. 

“Whatever magic you spun on Joshua and Jeonghan last night, both of them agreed with Seungkwan that whatever we argued about was definitely my fault." 

“Wonwoo threatened to hit you." You add. 

“Yeah right, I'd have him on his ass before he even swung his punch.” He says very seriously and makes you laugh. 

“So you don't want to blood bond?" You clarify. 

His eyes search yours, a soft smile now toying on his lips. 

“No. Like you say, I've got eternity to bore you." 

You laugh but once his lips touch yours you finally feel whole again. Like the missing piece of you has just slotted back into place. 

“Is it a Nok sculpture?" You ask as he takes your hand and you carry on your walk. 

“It is. I got it when I was in Nigeria." 

“I thought it might be then," you say excitedly, “and it was Wonwoo who told me what it was. Or what he thought it was.” 

"Really?” He looks surprised. 

"He wanted to impress a girl in university.” 

"Ah. Makes sense.” He hums. 

"How did you get it?" 

“About fifty years after I'd been turned, I was still struggling to come to terms with it. I didn't know what to do or where to go and then I just thought, why not go to where it all started." 

“You were turned in China though." You frown. 

“I mean where life started. Africa is the birthplace of humanity. If I couldn't find answers there then there was no hope." 

“And did you?" 

Junhui helps you over a stone wall to continue your walk into a nearby field with a footpath. 

“Sort of. I worked helping out a farmer and his son. He could tell I was lost, that I needed guidance. He didn't know my predicament but he knew something was going on. He told me that no one can choose who they are, but it's how you choose to behave in the circumstances you're given that separates the good from the bad. I still kept hurting, killing for a while after that but his words stuck with me and helped me on my path figuring out how to live like this." 

“What a wise man." You nod. 

“Exactly.” He smiles at the memory of him. "The day I was leaving, he gave me that sculpture. He said that he'd seen a change in me whilst I was there and promised that keeping that sculpture would remind me of what he'd told me, when life was getting hard again. They're meant for shrines or grave markers which I suppose means he unknowingly gave me just the right thing. Because whenever I look at it, I think of my old friend who died all those centuries ago and helped me more than he ever knew." 

“See." You make him stop and wipe a tear from your cheek. “If we'd have blood bonded, I’d know about the man. But I'd never have known about half of what you've just told me.” 

“I'm so lucky you're mine." He says like he always does and his hands grip your waist to bring you to him. 

“You always say that." You roll your eyes and look off into the distance behind him, trying to hide your smile. 

“Because." He softly holds your chin and makes you look at him. “I mean it." 

“I'm sorry." He says after a few seconds. 

“I'm sorry too." You kiss his nose and chuckle at how it makes his cheeks flush, never tiring of flustering an ancient vampire. 

“I think I'm actually more sorry than you." 

“It's not a competition Junhui." 

“No." He kisses your lips before he carries on, “Joshua has insisted on taking you to Olympia." 

“What's wrong with that?" You ask, both of you setting off back to the villa. 

"You'll see.”

“And another thing….” 

“Fucking hell.” You mumble, your head in your hand as you rest your arm on the car window. 

“Sorry.” Junhui mouths to you before he averts his eyes back to the road. 

“She has done more for children in her lifetime than most people manage in centuries. And does she get the credit for it she deserves? No she does not. People see her as an object, she’s still objectified by men even though she’s like a modern day saint. In fact Jeonghan make a note on your phone, next time we’re having tea at the Vatican, I want her to become a saint.” 

“You can’t just demand people be made saints.”

“I can.” Joshua declares, trying to look authoritative even though he’s sandwiched between Wonwoo and Jeonghan on the back seat, “That church owes vampires its life. They’d be ruined if it wasn’t for us.” 

“That’s bullshit.”

“It is not Wonwoo. On more than one occasion we’ve had to intervene when a rogue vampire has become a cardinal and somehow infiltrated the conclave.”

“Like who?” 

“Pope Norman.”

“There hasn’t been a Pope Norman.” You turn in your seat, not noticing how Junhui can’t help but smile at how you’ve fit in so well with his friends. 

“Exactly! Because we,” he gestures between him and Jeonghan, “stopped it. There’s an old rule, it’s been in place since the church started. They won’t hunt us or out of us even though they have ancient texts that prove we exist. And return, no vampire will hold any office in the church. Can you imagine trying to explain why the Pope wasn’t dying? Fuck knows what Norman would’ve gotten up to.” 

“So they don’t owe you a favour. You have a pact, you can’t just storm in there and demand someone be made a saint!” Wonwoo presses again. 

“I can. Because during the last conclave, the chimney was blocked. No human can enter conclave once it’s started but it says nothing about vampires. So we unblocked the chimney for them. They owe us.” 

“Who died and made you Dick Van Dyke?” 

Your heart flutters when Junhui throws his head back in a roar of laughter. 

“Very funny.” Joshua narrows his eyes at you. “But it changes nothing, I will have that diamond of humanity sainted if it's the last thing I do.” 

“Has anyone asked Dolly Parton if she actually wants to be sainted?” 

“No. And you know why? Because she’s so self deprecating that she’d say no. You know she set up her theme park because the local area had no jobs……..”

“And now she’s the biggest employer in the area.” You all say in unison, having heard this about four times since you got into the car. 

“I just think she’s done so much for the world and she does not get the credit she deserves. In fact,” he gets out his phone, “I’m going to ring them now, what was the Pope’s new mobile number?” 

“You can’t” Jeonghan drawls casually, obviously used to Joshua after thousands of years, “he’s on holiday. You know he hates being disturbed when he’s at Disney World, he’s probably shouting at some poor crying kid who got in the way of him using his fast pass.” 

You frown in confusion, you thought the Pope always went on holiday to some castle in Italy, not Disney World. But you really don’t want to send Joshua off on another tangent, not when he finally seems to be calming down about Dolly Parton. 

“Ten more minutes and we should be there.” 

“Thank god for that,” you murmur to Junhui, “I didn't think three hours could feel so long.” 

“Oh you’ve not seen anything yet. You think he’s passionate about Dolly Parton? There’s a reason Seungkwan made up a fake patient consultation to get out of this.”

You don’t answer him. You’re going to Ancient Olympia, just how can you not enjoy that when you have Joshua and Jeonghan with you who were actually there. 

“So this is where I stood, the cheers, the gifts, I was beloved by the people.” 

“And what year did you say this happened?”

“776 BC.” Joshua says proudly, mimicking waving to his adoring fans much to the dismay of the tourists exploring the ruins. 

You’re all standing around him, Junhui clearly very amused by the look of horror on yours and Wonwoo’s faces because none of this makes any sense. Jeonghan, however, looks irate. For two friends that seemingly have had each other’s backs for millenia, this specific topic seems to have riled him up so much you’re worried they’re actually going to start brawling. 

“It’s bullshit.” Jeonghan says bluntly to you and Wonwoo. 

“It is not! How dare you!”

“This is why I didn’t think we should come to Olympia this time,” he barks at Junhui, “he starts this shit every time and it’s just a lie. He thinks it makes him better than us.” 

“Because it does.” Joshua smiles at a little girl and waves to her regally from the plinth he’s placed himself on. 

“It’s nonsense Joshua and you know it. Now get down.” 

“No. I’m reliving my youth.” 

“If you won when you claimed you did, you were already 3273 years old. That’s not your youth.”

“It is when you’re as old as me.” He sighs. 

“You did not just happen to win the 192m sprint the day I just happened to have a cold.” Jeonghan booms at him, ignoring the confused look of one elderly explorer.

“I did.” He nods and takes in the ruins of Ancient Olympia like he owns the place. 

“You’re not Greek.” You challenge him. 

“Neither are you and yet you’re here.” He says with a fake smile like he’s some sort of messiah. 

“Yes, but how did you enter the Olympics in 776BC when you’re not Greek?” 

“Ha!” Jeonghan steps closer to his friend, “why did I never think of that?” 

“T-that doesn’t matter.” Joshua glances at you. 

“But you had to be Greek.” 

“They thought I was Greek.” 

“You don’t look very Greek.” 

“Well what does Greek even look like?” he grumbles, “You need to remember, the Ancient Greek Empire spread much further than modern day Greece.” 

“But it didn’t stretch to where you’re from.” Junhui smirks. 

“I said I was from the north of the Empire. What would now be Russia, I suppose.” 

“You still wouldn't be allowed to join. Only free born native born Greeks could enter, not just any old idiot  from parts of the world they just happened to occupy.” 

“They thought I was Greek.” He shrugs, not letting a little thing like historical facts stop him. “I obviously couldn’t use my full speed, they’d know something wasn’t right but I was pretty damn fast and……” 

“Come on,” Junhui pulls your arm, hoping you’d had enough of Joshua and his dramatics. 

You happily wander through the ruins with him, the sounds of Joshua declaring himself the holder of the world record for sprinting even now and the sounds of Wonwoo and Jeonghan both deciding to wrestle him off the plinth to shut him up, fading into the distance. 

“This is insane. It’s one thing to be here but it’s another thing to be here with people who lived here when it was all new.” 

“I’m sorry about Joshua,” he sighs, “he can be a lot.”

“Are you joking? I think he’s amazing! He’s seen so much!”

“Let's see if you’re still saying that in a hundred years time and he’s still trying to get Dolly Parton posthumously sainted.” He smirks at you skeptically. 

“Thank you for sharing all this with me.” You say softly, both of you coming to a stop to perch on a piece of old rock. 

“Where’s that coming from all of a sudden?” 

He takes your hand as you both sit and take in the view around you, the old pillars that were once the grandest of ancient buildings, the spoiled monuments that were made by people who walked these paths thousands of years before you were even thought of. 

“I know you’ve shown me a lot at home. People would probably think it’s odd that my idea of a dream date is picking a book at random from your shelves and asking you to tell me the tale behind how you got it. But this feels different, this a whole different part of your life and I just want you to know how thankful I am that you’ve shared it with me.” 

“I still can’t believe you want to share it all with me,” his arm wraps around you and he places a gentle kiss on your head, “I wish I’d been here to see all this.” 

“Oh my god I forgot you weren’t here either!” 

You always just presume because he’s so old and because he knows so much about literally everything, that he’s seen everything with his own eyes. 

“Oh I was centuries away from being born when Joshua and Jeonghan were cursing havoc here.” His fingers draw patterns on your hip as you both just enjoy the tranquility of the place. “Hey, I’ve got an idea.” 

“Oh no.” You sigh dramatically. 

“No this is a good one, it’s not like when I said I didn’t need help building the new TV unit.”

You chuckle at the memory of him telling you in no uncertain terms that he had contributed to the building of The Great Wall of China, he did not need help putting together a flat pack TV unit for the room Wonwoo was staying in (Wonwoo having broken the other one when he accidentally kicked it and again didn’t realise just how strong he was now he was a vampire). 

He looks around on the ground and rushes forward when he finds what he needs. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Neither of us were here but we could be here now, contribute to Olympia now and then come back in a thousand or even five thousand years time and see the part of us in the history of this place.”

“But how? No!” Your eyes widen in shock when he holds up a pointed rock, “You can’t just vandalise Ancient Olympia Junhui!” 

“Who’s going to stop us?” 

“I-I……well,” Your eyes flit around the ruins. 

No one is paying attention to you, they’re all lost in their own little worlds. Old men boring the heads off their families by telling them facts about the place that are just plainly wrong. Little kids getting their first taste of the ancient world and marvelling at the broken pieces of buildings that still stand when they’re told how old they are. 

“What do you want to do?” You whisper to him as he sits back down on your piece of rock.” 

“We get this,” he picks up the old piece of a tile that’s just been left in the grass by where you sit, “and we carve our names in it. When we’re done, we place it somewhere no one would question why it’s there. People tend to not even touch a pebble at ancient ruins, they’re too worried they’ll inadvertently destroy something.” 

“So then when we come back,” you watch as he scratches your initials into the tile, “we can see our little day in history.” 

“Exactly.” He smiles to himself as he carves a heart around your initials. 

He takes a good five minutes to finish his carving, making sure it’s deep enough to stand the tests of time and then holds the tile in front of him then you can both admire his work of art.

“Well?” 

You get the sudden urge to grab him and smother him in so many kisses he’ll try to run away from you. Because it’s one thing to carve your initials into a tile and leave it at the ancient ruins of Olympia. But it’s another thing to say so casually that you’d come back here in five thousand years time and find that same tile together. It's the intent behind it, the promise, that makes you want to never stop kissing the beautiful vampire sitting beside you. He is so wholly and entirely dedicated to you that it never crosses his mind that you would ever lose him. 

“I love it.” You settle on. Because smothering him in kisses isn’t the most appropriate thing to do right now. 

“Shall we place it together?” He asks hopefully, still a little wary after what happened last night. 

“I’d like that.” 

“Come on then,” He holds the tile under his arm and holds his hand out for you. 

You walk down a winding path until you reach a patch of grass surrounded by ruined walls and pillars.

“I think it would be perfect here.” He says proudly. 

“What is this place?” You walk a little ahead of him but still hold his hand, staring in wonder at this new batch of ruins. 

“It’s the Temple Of Hera.” He smiles as he watches you take everything in. 

“The Goddess of child birth? Why here?” 

“She was said to protect women in childbirth,” he nods, “but she also was the Goddess of women in general. She was the queen amongst the olympians and this is where the olympic flame is still lit. So when we watch it on the TV, we can say "oh our tile is there” and be very smug.” 

“Why the temple for the Goddess of women though?” You frown at him. 

“She’s the queen of the olympians, why not place the tile here when you’re the queen of my entire universe.”

“Junhui,” you whisper. 

“And,” he smiles, “She was said to be very aggressive and sassy to those who wronged her and I’ve seen the way you’ve put Wonwoo in a headlock when he annoys you.” 

“Well thanks,” you smile, wiping the happy tears that are brimming in your eyes. 

“If you want to put it somewhere…..”

“Here is perfect.” You interrupt him. 

“Great.” He smiles and places a gentle kiss on the back of your hand. “I think over there?” He gestures to a non descript corner, the perfect place to put something so mundane so hopefully no one will notice it.

You nod happily and both wander over, making sure not to make it too obvious you’re adding the fragment of a ruined tile that wasn’t already here. 

“Togther?” 

“Togther.” You agree and take a corner of the tile. 

You both crouch down to place the fragment on the ground. It looks like nothing, just another piece of an ancient floor or building that’s lost in the midst of time. But to you and Junhui it’s like a shining beacon of your promise to each other, something you can come back to and have your own slice of your history together in this ancient place. 

“I am truly sorry about last night.” 

“I know you are,” You smile at the initials he’s carved, “I am too.” 

“______! Junhui! Jeonghan has pushed Joshua off his plinth and he says he’s broken his leg!” 

Wonwoo’s shouting cuts through one of the most romantic moments in your life like only Wonwoo can. 

“Now he really is being dramatic.” Junhui sighs before kissing your shoulder and standing up. 

“I didn’t think we could  break our legs.” 

“We can’t.” He says bluntly before he grabs your hand and pulls you off with him, hell bent on giving Joshua a piece of his mind for ruining your little moment.

“Dude, this pod is even fancier than the last one!” Wonwoo moves himself up and down in the first class seat. 

“Will you stop!” You plead through gritted teeth, sending the airhostess a fake smile when she gives you a strange look. 

The rest of your holiday could only be described as idyllic. Although maybe chaotic would also be a good word. Joshua and Jeonghan took you round every art gallery they could, thoroughly enjoying pointing out just how many art works that people revere are fake. 

Junhui had let you drag him back down to the basement every evening whilst Seungkwan cooked, Wonwoo even joined you sometimes and some of the pieces even shut him up. You’ve seen Aztec statues that were gifted to him during his time in South America, old carvings of ancient Chinese scriptures, and he even had part of the Berlin Wall.

You’d spent your fair share of time at a place he’d never shown anyone before. 

The whole holiday wasn’t entirely spent learning more about where Junhui had been.

Although that is to say most of your holiday was spent learning about where Junhui had been. 

Down by the beach, not far from his villa, is a cave that he owns as part of the land around the villa. You’d thought he’d shown it to you because it was interesting that he literally owned a cave. But once you’d stood there for a couple of minutes and realised it was just a boring old cave, Junhui’s true intentions were made clear. 

Before you’d woken up, he’d brought piles and piles of blankets and pillows down to the cave and laid them out so the cave was more like your own little cosy den, than a normal beach cave. He’d set lanterns in the corners so the lighting was dimmed but there was some light so you didn’t bang your heads. 

It was cute. 

Or so you thought. But Junhui’s intentions were not cute. 

You’re certain he’d fucked you in every position that’s ever been invented and more besides. You’d held each other, worshipped each other until you were both breathless and ready to sleep for days. 

The memory of him very smugly saying that he knew his cave would come in handy one day will live with you forever. And so will the sounds of your mixed laughter echoing around the chamber because that’s what you’ll treasure most. The way that simple act of laughing amplified the joy you were both feeling at being able to do as please with no interruptions or needing to be quiet. That sound of being so happy together, exactly how it should be, especially after that first night, is something you hope stays with you forever more. 

“Could I interest you in a trip into my pod?” Junhui repeats the same gesture from your flight here, his head popping over the back of his pod. 

“And what for?” You raise your brow at him.

“I want to make you cry in pleasure until you’re totally broken and you’ve cum three times on my tongue.” 

“OH GOOD FUCKING GOD,” Wonwoo closes his pod dramatically, really not wanting to hear that. 

“Now he’s gone,” he beams down at you, “they have Toy Story 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Let's cuddle and shout at Woody for being an arrogant prick.” 

“You could’ve said that in front of Wonwoo.” You challenge him but get up from your pod anyway to join him. 

“Yeah but then he’d want to come in my pod too and I don’t want to need to spoon both of you.” 

“I thought you liked being my big spoon?” 

“I do, just not to him. Last time he mumbled something about being his good girl.” He grimaces, “I was nearly sick _____. It’s not funny.” He scolds you as you laugh at him. 

“Be a good boy and put the film on.” You chuckle as you more or less lie on him in his pod. 

“Do you think we’ve got time for all of them?” 

“Skip three and four, they’re trash anyway.”

“What would I do without you?” He kisses your temple as you both settle in and the titles start to roll for the opening of your favourite childhood film. 

“You’d be lost without me.” You mumble happily, eyes fixed on the screen. 

“I was lost until I found you.” He smiles to himself as he feels you snuggle more into him, the more lost you get in the movie, paying no attention to Junhui.  

He knows you think it’s him that found you, that it’s him that showed you all the wonders of the world and gave you the gift of eternity with the man you love. But Junhui knows the reality of the situation. Before you, he was just treading water, going through the motions in life without being able to share the things he loved with anyone because he always needed to protect himself. 

He was alone. 

Yes, he had friends, but there’s only so many times you can recount the same old stories before you start getting bored of each other. And you can’t spend your whole life with them because they have their own lives to live.

But then you blew into his life like an almost serene whirlwind and turned everything upside down. You accepted him, accepted everything about him and if anything he felt like you loved him more because of it. He could share his life with you, his whole life and not be scared of what you’d think because you loved him. And showed you loved him, just how he hopes he shows you. 

Junhui knows you were joking when you said “You’d be lost without me.” But he wasn’t when he said he was lost. 

He’d been lost for centuries until you found him. And now he never needs to feel lost again. Because he has the woman he loves by his side, ready to fight for this relationship even when he spirals and panics about rituals that really do not matter. 

You said during the holiday that you were his person and he was yours. 

And Junhui doesn’t disagree with that. 

But he would correct it. Because you’re not his person. You’re his whole world.

🏷️@rutheaflowers @haokanie @bramos91 @fzenn @blueyedqtpie1186 @coupsv @vwintershire @toohyperactiveforyou12 @cheolwoo @jaja-salute @sejeonggggg @shhib0l @epelletart @eskoupe @wonwooslefttiddie @fwairychlo3 @mixuicecream @joongtime @4kwp @ninigyuuu @whatisthis04 @sami4jeonghani @ashlinxloves @cardi-bre91 @adoreuzi