Night Kiss

by E. T. Malinowski

  He whispered into one delicate furry ear, “Cum for me.”

  Hyun-jo tossed his head back, his fangs glistening with Soon-joon’s blood, so erotic, so intimate. He cried out, spilling between them, clamping around Soon-joon’s cock. He followed Hyun-jo. He held on tightly, burying his face against Hyun-jo’s neck as he came, filling that tight passage with his seed.

  They collapsed against the bed, falling to the side as Soon-joon turned them. He remembered Hyun-jo didn’t like lying on his tails. Yet he didn’t release him either. They snuggled together, heedless of the mess, and Hyun-jo’s little sigh sounded so content.

  “Aishiteimasu, Hyun-jo,” Soon-joon whispered. How long had it been since he last said those words? By the tears in Hyun-jo’s eyes, it had been too long.

  “Shitteiru.” Hyun-jo smiled even as he wiped the tears away.

  Jin-woo

  JIN-WOO STOOD by the door for several minutes after Soon-joon left. He wasn’t sure how to begin. A part of him wanted to rush over to Ki-tae. He looked around the sparse room. There was a platform bed with a thick, solid base along the far wall. He slowly moved closer, and as he did so, Jin-woo noticed there were eyebolts sticking out of the end of the platform. Were they… what he thought they were? Secure points for chains? When he was close enough to touch the bed, Jin-woo saw he was, indeed, correct. There were two more at the head of the bed. Soon-joon hadn’t been lying when he said this room wasn’t for comfort, but rather containment, and it hurt Jin-woo’s heart to think Ki-tae might have needed to be restrained so.

  Sitting down on the end of the bed, Jin-woo studied Ki-tae’s face. He could see the rapid movement of his eyes and knew Ki-tae was dreaming, but what was he dreaming of? He moved closer, climbing onto the bed and curling up next to Ki-tae, laying his head on Ki-tae’s chest. Jin-woo listened to the steady beat of his heart, and it soothed him. Ki-tae wasn’t dead, and that was all that mattered. Everything else they would deal with together. But he wanted Ki-tae to wake up. Jin-woo shifted until he straddled Ki-tae’s hips. Leaning forward, he brushed Ki-tae’s bangs off his forehead and then kissed him gently.

  “Come back to me,” he whispered against Ki-tae’s lips before sitting back up.

  Slowly Ki-tae’s eyelids fluttered and then opened. They were silver, and Jin-woo held perfectly still. The next thing he knew, Ki-tae was hugging him tightly, and his shoulders shook. Wetness splashed against his neck where Ki-tae’s face was buried, and Jin-woo’s heart broke. Silent tears, silent sobs. There was no need to tell Ki-tae what happened. He already knew.

  “Shhh,” Jin-woo murmured, resting his head against Ki-tae’s hair as he rubbed his back. “It’s going to be okay. Everything will be fine.”

  “I hurt Min-su-ya,” Ki-tae said. “I would… I would have…. HanYin.”

  “But you didn’t,” Jin-woo pointed out.

  “I lost myself again,” Ki-tae said. “There was nothing of me left but the need. It took over, that need, that insatiable need. If not for ChenBao-nim, I would have hurt anyone who got in my way. I would have… killed my brother.”

  “I can’t begin to understand what it’s like to live with such an addiction,” Jin-woo said. “And I have no words to make your pain go away, although I wish with all my heart I did. I can only be here with you, hold you, and love you, and hope that’s enough.”

  “I don’t deserve you,” Ki-tae whispered. “I don’t deserve any of them. I’m a danger to them always.”

  “You do deserve us. You deserve to be loved.” Jin-woo pulled Ki-tae’s face away from his neck and made Ki-tae look him in the eye. “They are your family, and they love you. I love you.”

  “I am a monster,” Ki-tae said. “You… you should….”

  “If you tell me to leave, I’m going to smack you,” Jin-woo growled. “I am never leaving you, Ki-tae.”

  “You’re human, Jin-woo,” Ki-tae said. “You will leave me eventually, whether you want to or not.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Jin-woo said softly. “Are you feeling up to getting out of this cage?”

  “I haven’t had to be in here for more than 180 years,” Ki-tae said. “It is the only room in this house I hate because it means I’ve failed to win against my addiction again.”

  “You may be a Vampire, Ki-tae, but you’re not perfect. There are going to be times when you succeed and times when you won’t, but as long as you never stop trying, you can never truly fail.”

  “Such wisdom out of one so young,” Ki-tae said, his chuckle lacking true warmth.

  “Wisdom isn’t exclusively the domain of the aged. It is a matter of experience and the things we’ve learned in the time we’ve been alive,” Jin-woo said. “Now Soon-joon-nim locked the door behind me, and I don’t know the code to get out. So how do we go about doing that? I’m not keen on the atmosphere in here.”

  “What….” Ki-tae paused and took a deep breath before trying again. “How badly… hurt was HanYin?”

  “Well, as it was explained to me, he’s been in that healing sleep you guys do, but because he refused to feed, the process is slow going. They tell me his scent is still in the air pretty heavily.”

  “Then I cannot leave just yet,” Ki-tae said, putting his head back down on Jin-woo’s shoulder.

  “Would you like me to take your mind off things?” Jin-woo said, shifting slowly.

  “I….” Ki-tae sighed. “Could we… could we just hold each other… for a little while?”

  Jin-woo’s heart clenched, and he hugged Ki-tae to him, kissing his hair. Then he pushed Ki-tae back down on the bed before shifting to lie on his back, and then he pulled Ki-tae to him, holding him as tightly as before. “Of course we can.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want you,” Ki-tae insisted, trying to lift his head from Jin-woo’s chest, but Jin-woo wasn’t having it.

  “I know that, Ki-tae,” Jin-woo said softly. “But right now you don’t need or want sex, and that’s fine. Right now you need me to be the strong one, and so I’m going to be whatever you need me to be.”

  HanYin

  BY THE next morning, HanYin was completely healed, mainly because Jong-in guilt-tripped him into feeding whenever he woke. He had to smile at how persistent Jong-in was. It seemed once his man made up his mind about something, he charged full speed ahead, and damn anyone who got in his way. Still, looking at him now, sleeping in his bed, HanYin couldn’t complain. He looked so sweet, so innocent, his dimples peeking out whenever his mouth shifted. They really were killer.

  He reached out and brushed Jong-in’s bangs. His little Fox was tired, and he would be hungry when he woke up. He had fed HanYin several times during the night. Now it was HanYin’s turn. He slid out of the bed, careful not to wake Jong-in, and pulled on a pair of sleep pants. He closed the door quietly behind him and padded to the kitchen.

  His mind still back in his bedroom, HanYin collided with a solid mass. Looking up, he caught the panicked look in Ki-tae’s eyes just before his little brother tried to dart away. Always the faster of the two, HanYin reached out, grabbing Ki-tae’s arm. He yanked hard, pulling Ki-tae to him, and hugged him tightly. Tears of relief streamed down his face as he held his baby brother. Ki-tae was stiff in his arms, but he could feel the fine trembling of his body.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay,” HanYin whispered. “I thought….”

  “How can you bear to touch me?” Ki-tae’s voice was so soft HanYin almost didn’t hear him. But he did hear him and only held him tighter. “If not for Cheongul, I would have…. I would have hurt you so bad, HanYin.”

  “You’re my brother. I will always look out for you. I will always protect you. I will always be willing and ready to give my last breath to keep you safe,” HanYin said, his voice strong, determined. “I love you. Nothing will change that—nothing.”

  Finally Ki-tae relaxed his entire body, and he wrapped his arms around HanYin’s waist, squeezing tight. Though there was no sound, HanYin could feel his tears, feel the sobs shaking him. Ha
nYin had never had an addiction, never knew the lengths the need would drive a person to, and he didn’t have to know it. He saw what it did to Ki-tae anytime he lost control, anytime he had to fight that need. This time it was much worse because there was no struggle beforehand. HanYin may not have been conscious, but he knew how hurt he’d been, knew how strongly the coppery sweet scent of his blood had hung in the air, both in the theater and here in the house.

  Finally they parted, and Ki-tae looked at him. HanYin smiled, and then, as he’d always done, reached out and brushed the tears from Ki-tae’s cheeks with his thumbs. He put his arm around Ki-tae’s shoulders, and they headed to the kitchen. Without a word, HanYin made Ki-tae sit in one of the island chairs and then began breakfast. He placed plate after plate in front of Ki-tae, smiling as he dug into the food. It was a common thing when Ki-tae first came to them to wait and wait and wait, a plate of food in front of him, but once he realized he didn’t have to wait for express permission to eat, Ki-tae ate with all the enthusiasm of a small boy.

  “If you weren’t a musician, you could be a world-class chef,” Ki-tae said after swallowing a bite of food.

  “Maybe,” HanYin said with a shrug. “But I prefer cooking for our family.”

  “I know. It’s how you show you love us, by feeding us until we’re all fat,” Ki-tae said, and HanYin wanted to cheer at the teasing note in his voice.

  “There isn’t an ounce of fat on any of us, and you know it,” HanYin said, tossing a biscuit at him. “We work it all off at dance practice.”

  “True,” Ki-tae said before taking a huge bite of eggs. “How is Jong-in-a?”

  “Still sleeping,” HanYin said softly.

  “He loves you, you know,” Ki-tae said.

  “I think you’re right, but he hasn’t said anything.” HanYin sighed as he pulled bao buns from the steamer and plated them.

  “He’s not much of a talker,” Ki-tae said. “Which is good because you talk a lot.”

  “I do not,” HanYin said with a frown.

  “Either way, I think he’s the type whose actions speak louder,” Ki-tae said, and then he paused, a bun halfway to his mouth. “Who the hell came up with that phrase, anyway? ‘Actions speak louder than words’? It makes no sense.”

  “It means words are easily said, but it’s harder to do something than it is to say you’ll do it,” HanYin said absently as he started some okonomiyaki. He knew how much Soon-joon loved it, and Hyun-jo had been known to steal a bite or two. “What about Jin-woo-ya? Still asleep?”

  “Yeah.” Ki-tae sighed. “It was… a rough night, I think. I feel as if I spent most of it restless.”

  “It was a hard time for all of us.”

  “How did you know?”

  “What?”

  “How did you know something was going to happen?” Ki-tae asked. “We were all so focused on the performance.”

  HanYin paused, thinking about the previous night for the first time since he’d woken up. There had been something, some niggling sense of dread.

  “I honestly don’t know. My gut kind of screamed ‘look up,’ and I did,” HanYin said. “I saw someone up there, and the truss moved, and looking at it, I knew it would hit you.”

  “You saw someone?” Ki-tae whispered. “Someone sabotaged it?”

  “Yes,” Soon-joon said as he came into the kitchen area. He joined Ki-tae at the island and wrapped his arms around him tightly for a few moments, resting his cheek against Ki-tae’s hair, eyes closed, as he had done earlier when he’d let Ki-tae out of the room. Then he took his own seat. HanYin placed a plate of okonomiyaki in front of him and a second one at the empty place next to him. Soon-joon raised an eyebrow.

  “For Hyun-jo-nim.” HanYin smiled. Soon-joon nodded before starting on his food.

  “Is there more going on?” Ki-tae asked softly. “Something seems, I don’t know, off.”

  “There is,” Soon-joon said. “But we will wait until everyone is awake and fed before we discuss what is going on and our next course of action.”

  It didn’t take long for the smell of food and, more importantly, coffee to draw the others from their slumber. HanYin moved the food from the island to the dining table, making sure everyone had everything they needed. He was trying not to think about the fact that Jong-in had yet to join them. Had he taken too much? Was he all right? Should he go check on him?

  “You’re thinking too much,” Jong-in grumbled as he walked into the kitchen, his eyes half-closed, rubbing his head. HanYin bit his lip as he roved his eyes over Jong-in’s state of dress… or undress. His sleep pants rode low on his hips, his chest and feet were bare, and his muscles rippled beneath his skin as he rubbed his head.

  “Not in my kitchen,” Soon-joon said without even looking up from his food, making HanYin jump guiltily.

  Jong-in looked at him, and the little bastard smirked. He knew exactly what HanYin had been thinking. HanYin growled softly. He was going to make him pay for that later. For now HanYin settled for handing Jong-in the mug of coffee he’d made.

  “You are a god,” Jong-in murmured as he took his first sip. He moaned, and HanYin had to grit his teeth. Then Jong-in was kissing him, and he couldn’t think of anything else.

  “Dammit, I am not properly caffeinated yet. Either get a room or knock it off,” Min-su grumbled from her spot next to Cheongul.

  “You people really don’t understand what it means to wake a Dragon before she’s ready, do you?” ChenBao grumbled as she walked in and took her place at the table.

  HanYin took a deep breath. Her power still intimidated him, but it was hard to maintain his fear of her when she sat at the table wearing adorable crimson pajamas with a big fluffy panda on them and a serious case of bedhead. He smothered a smile. Turning back to the counter, he picked up the small tea set and brought it over to the table. Without a word, he poured her a cup of tea, then set it before her just so. When HanYin turned to go to his seat, she grabbed his wrist. HanYin froze for a second and then turned to her.

  “Xièxiè, wŏ de sūnzi,” she said without looking up from the cup.

  “Bù kèqì…. Năi nai,” he answered. When HanYin looked up, his eyes zeroed in on Jong-in. The wink he received over the edge of Jong-in’s coffee mug made him smile.

  “Everyone eat up,” ChenBao said as she took a bao bun. “We have much to discuss after the meal. These attacks on our family, both blood and corporate, will not go unanswered… or unpunished.”

  HanYin sat down, smiling when Jong-in joined him. Before he realized it, he had filled Jong-in’s plate with a little of everything. The chuckling drew his attention, and HanYin looked up to find everyone staring at him. “What?”

  “You’re feeding him.” Min-su giggled. “And he’s letting you. It’s too freaking cute.”

  “This is something I have been missing,” ChenBao said softly as she looked around the table. “Perhaps isolating myself from the world for so long was not the best course of action.”

  “Okasan,” Soon-joon said softly, putting his hand on hers.

  “Why am I the last to know about food?” Jin-woo muttered. “Is there coffee left? Please tell me there’s coffee.”

  “I have yours here, Jin-woo,” Ki-tae said with a smile. He rose from his chair and guided the woefully undercaffeinated Jin-woo to the empty chair beside him.

  With everyone at the table, they resumed eating. Talk of other things would wait until later. For now it was peaceful and nice just to be together as a family. They needed this bonding time. Things were going to get worse before they got better, as the saying went. It would be harder on Jong-in and Jin-woo than on HanYin or Ki-tae. As idols they were aware of the effects of what might be considered negative press and the influence of netizens. Yet they really didn’t need their jobs. They had survived centuries in times much more physically challenging than this one.

  However, Jong-in and Jin-woo? This could end their academic careers. It was not unheard of for classmates to bully gay and lesbian
students to the point of dropping out or even taking their own lives. In fact, it probably happened more than people would like to think or acknowledge. Views were still conservative in Korea, and even if some progress was being made, it was a very slow process. In the meantime people lived in fear of their family and friends finding out, of being abandoned, bullied, or worse.

  “You’re thinking too hard again,” Jong-in said softly. “Just enjoy this time, leave the other stuff for later.”

  “How do you know what I’m thinking about?” HanYin said.

  “Well, you said it yourself: protecting your family is paramount to you. Someone has attacked them. You’re not going to sit back and let that go,” Jong-in said. “Plus you’re growling.”

  HanYin chuckled. “I didn’t realize it.”

  “I know.” Jong-in smirked at him. “It’s sexy as hell.”

  “Later,” HanYin purred before kissing his cheek.

  Unfortunately “later” was a long time coming.

  Jin-woo

  JIN-WOO CURLED up on one of the ottomans by the windows, staring out over the yard. He didn’t know what was going to happen now. Mei was still out there, and he knew she wasn’t going to give up. Crazy never gave up, which meant she was a continued danger to Ki-tae. He suspected she was behind the leaked video and photos too. Considering she felt he needed to be punished for not being even remotely into her and for the added “offense” of loving Ki-tae, it made sense. How was he going to protect the family he never thought he’d have again?