Yeosang and Jongho

A week after the attack on Lloth

A certain pink haired faery had his brows furrowed in concentration as he lifted the hold mop he held loosely in his hand, out of a wooden bucket filled with water. He bends over to squeeze most of the water out with his hands then he plops it on the ground and begins mopping, moving the long stick back and forth on the ground.

Guards walk back and forth through the corridors and over the areas he'd mopped and each time it happened he felt a scowl tug at the corners of his lips. But he stayed quiet and continued one of his many daily chores in the slave quarters.

Everyone had been uneasy. Ever since news of Jaejoong's senseless raid on Lloth, taking countless lives and for no justifiably reason whatsoever, interacting with the vampires was like walking on egg shells. They lashed out at the slaves in the quarters over damn near anything. Mostly due to the fact that many of the other nations also caught wind of it and have been demanding reparations not just on behalf of Lloth but many of the surrounding races. They'd had enough of the tyranny vampires had enforced for years.

Yeosang found it almost somewhat amusing that they were all ok with living under the mercy of vampires for centuries and even sat back as those monster wiped out an entire race (druids) in a single night. But now that Jaejoong, the main reason why everything had been going to shit, is finally out of the picture they suddenly had the confidence and gall to make demands of Naex. It didn't help that the next line to the throne Prince Hongjoong was viewed as too soft spined to lead Naex by many of the vampires.

Yeosang had over heard many conversations between the guards tearing the young heir down and calling him incompetent among many other things whilst uplifting Jaejoong and saying the reason Naex has risen to the powerhouse they are is because of said war-mongering maniac. Yeosang referred to these vampires at Jaejoong supporters. And as Hongjoong made plans to slowly tear down the current broken system these supporters strongly opposed it and even despised him for it. And he hadn't even been technically crowned yet.

It all didn't matter much to Yeosang anyways. He'd admit that the prince was definitely a gargantuan improvement from Jaejoong but he was still a vampire. And all vampires could rot in hell for all he cared.

"You there" A gruff voice snaps Yeosang back to attention and he looks up from his diligent mopping of the floors to meet the narrowed grey eyes of a guard. "Come with me," he demands and turns to walk off without even waiting to see if Yeosang was following him.

Yeosang simply scowls and shuffles after him. The man leads him to a different corridor on the first floor of the quarters and he was surprised to see a few other slaves lined up shoulder to shoulder along with some guards who appeared to be waiting for his arrival. 3 other faeries, a woodland nymph and a pixie. Immediately he began thinking of the worst. Am I in trouble? Shit, what the hell did I do wrong? He couldn't help the panic that bubbles up in his chest.

The guard pulls him to stand in the line next to one of the other faeries who didn't seem nervous at all. The head guard begins walking down the line, taking in each of their faces. The sound of his boots meeting the floors echoes around the space in such a menacing way.

Yeosang had his head dipped and eye fixed the ground. And when the vampire was in front of him he could practically hear his own erratic heart beat in his ears. The man darkly chuckles out of amusement as he stood in front of the faery.

"Relax. I could hear your heart racing before you even walked in. You're not in trouble" His voice was laced with very obvious layers of mockery. That annoyed Yeosang but he bit his inner cheek and kept his eyes trained on the concrete floors as he worked to calm his nerves.

"Look me in the eyes when I'm speaking to you, pretty boy. Or would you rather look at my shoes" A couple layers of the playfulness in his voice drops. Yeosang immediately shifted his gaze up to meet cold grey ones. He couldn't help the way his skin crawled at the nickname "pretty boy". He doesn't say anything though and just stayed still when the man taps his cheek twice in warning with a smirk still playing on his lips. Then finally he turns and walks back to the center to address all the confused slaves.

Yeosang's cheeks still stung from where the vampire slapped him a little too hard.

"All 6 of you will be moved to the castle. Each guard will lead you to your assigned rooms and primary duties for as long as you stay there. One step out of line and you don't have to worry about being sent back to the quarters. Instead you'll be killed on the spot, do I make myself clear?"

The other 5 slaves reply with "Yes sir" in a soft unison.

Yeosang just stood with slightly widened eyes. He was being moved to the castle? He'd been held here in Naex for as long as he could remember and had been in the quarters since. He figured that if he couldn't make it home before he died he at least wanted to be moved to the castle due in part to the much better treatment slaves got. The food was better. They had their own rooms and bathrooms. Access to clean uniforms and other clothing. And now here it was.

The head guard nods to the other men and before he could gather himself and his thoughts, a guard yanks the back of his shirt signifying he should follow him. And in a single file line, the slaves followed the vampires in complete silence.

Yeosang looks himself in the mirror one last time, taking in his neatly brushed baby pink hair. He was clad in a black and dark grey uniform signature to castle slaves. The grey button up paired with a black sleeveless vest and black slacks made him look well groomed. He hadn't looked this good in years.

He swallows the saliva pooling in his mouth and takes in a deep shaky breath. Because lo and behold his primary duty was to attend to one of the prince's needs. Prince Jongho specifically.

He'd admit that Prince Jongho was probably the prince he knew the least about out of all 3 brothers. Which probably made him more anxious.

He finally leaves his room with a heavy heart even though all he wanted to do was go crawl back in his new extremely comfortable bed.

He still had a bit of getting used to when it came to traversing the confusing halls of the castle. He walked by a few guards and again he walked by two vampire maids who were dressed in a long white and grey dress. A uniform signature to vampire maids. He begrudgingly bowed to both of the guards and the maids as they walked by.

Even though guards, maids and slaves all worked under the king and the royal family there was still a hierarchy between all 3. Guards being at the top, followed by maids and finally slaves. It was impossible for a non-vampire to be a maid or for a vampire to be a slave. That was just how it was.

It didnt matter to him that much anyways. All Yeosang planned to do was survive. And if it meant bowing however times a day to some nobody vampire guard, he'd gladly do it.

Eventually he finds Jongho's room. He takes in a deep breath then knocks softly on the large wooden doors.

Jongho lays in the quiet and darkness of his bedroom. His covers were well over his shoulders and his dark hair scattered in his white pillows. His expression was blank as he stared off at nothing.

His grey eyes were half lidded and void of life. His skin was pasty and had tracks of dried tears down his cheeks as well as down the sides of his face. His lips were parted slightly but were extremely dry and chapped. All in all he looked a mess and felt worse. He felt numb.

He'd cried so much in the last week, he didn't have anymore tears to shed. He never left his bedroom and rarely left the bed. Only to use the bathroom when he felt like peeing. Otherwise he really hadn't showered or properly cleaned himself in week. He hadn't had any blood to drink in a week.

He just felt so empty and all he could think about was Junkyu. His eyes prick with tears again and his breathing picks up a little as memories of the merman's sweet smiling face flashes in his head again. A smile so beautiful it caused put every single beautiful flower in the world to shame. A smile he would never be able to see again.

A singular tear slides down the side if his face and toward his ear as he remained still. Even with Jaejoong now subdued and kept under lock and key in a remote facility away from the big city he wasn't satisfied. The man responsible for Junkyu's death was still alive and he was so bitter. And angry. And sad. He wanted nothing but to kill Jaejoong with his own hands. But he knew even that wouldn't fill the emptiness in his heart.

His bottom lip twitched and he grits his teeth as more tears come sliding down the sides of his face and towards his ears. I should've done a better job protecting you...

A few more minutes he calms down again. His mind drifts to an old memory which is where he'd been living in these days and for hours at a time.

Suddenly a soft knock pulls him out of it and he blinks a few times toward the door. When he doesn't say anything for a few long seconds the person knock again. He knew it couldn't be Nari because she often knocked just once then lets herself in. Perhaps a guard then? Either way he didn't feel like speaking to anyone at the moment so he remains quiet hoping they'd just leave him alone.

The door slowly begins creaking indicating it was being opened. Jongho sighs to himself in slight annoyance. He turns and meets the somewhat intense eyes of a male faery. The male's light brown gaze were calm and watchful.

The second their eyes meet, Yeosang immediately bows in greeting. "Good afternoon, Your Highness. I've been assigned as your attending slave. If you have any thing you need done I'd be more than glad to assist you" He recites the line from the small booklet of formal greetings he found sitting on his desk back in his room. He stands up straight, eyes trained to the ground.

Jongho just watches him quietly. The way his gruff voice continued tickling his ear drums even after he'd stopped talking. His slightly glossy lips were pressed in a tense line, his lashes fluttering a little each time he blinked. His pink hair brushed back neatly and exposing his smooth forehead.

Yeosang grew more and more tense the longer the silence stretched out and the prince just simply stared. Why won't he say anything? Ugh, this is so annoying. He snaps his eyes back up when he hears the shifting of Jongho in his sheets and he sees that the prince had turned his back to him.

Yeosang just stood there in disbelief not entirely sure what to say or do now. Should I just go back to my room then?

On the prince's bed side table, Yeosang noticed an untouched pitcher of most likely stale blood. As well as a clean glass cup meaning he hasn't had a drop of blood from the pitcher. He figured he'd probably start by getting rid of that before it started to really go bad. Even though he was pretty sure it had been sitting there for a couple days at least. "Would you like me to get you some fresh blood?"

"No" Jongho's voice was harsh. It cut through the air like a whip.

Yeosang simply goes to take the tray of a medium sized pitcher and a glass cup, then he turns to leave quietly.

Once the door to Jongho's door clicks shut and he finds himself in the hallway again, he lets out the deepest of breaths. Then he draws oxygen back in his lungs like he'd been holding his breath back in there.

The hallway was empty thankfully, but he made his way to the kitchen to dispose of the blood. There were many different kitchens all over ths castle, some bigger than other. But Yeosang went to the farthest one from Jongho's room if only to give himself more time before he'd inevitably return to the vampire.

The kitchen was large and sadly wasn't empty. There were a couple other slaves that silently worked, other chatted amongst themselves. At his entrance they all turn to look at him, different shades of eyes raging from blue to green to dark brown coming from the different races of slaves.

He flashes an awkward smile. Most of them smile back.

After he'd cleaned the pitcher he turns to leave but paused for a moment. Even if Jongho had said he wasn't hungry he still figured it probably wouldn't hurt to bring him some fresh blood.

Jongho stays completely still on his bed at the sound of door opening. Then the smell of blood hits his olfactory senses. He turns to see that Yeosang had returned with a fresh jar of blood and a clean, stemless, wine glass cup.

"I told you I wasn't hungry" Jongho says with a flat voice.

"You haven't had fed in days. You should drink" Yeosang responds after somewhat of a long silence. He places the jar on the same space on the bed side table where the last tray of blood had stayed untouched for who knew how long.

This time though, Yeosang poured some of the thick dark red liquid into the glass cup and lifted it towards Jongho who just layed in bed and was watching him silently. Observing his features.

Yeosang felt himself break a sweat and he had to fight to stop his hands from shaking as he held the cup out to the prince.

"Leave it in the tray, I'll drink later" Jongho comments off-handedly whilst he continues to lay comfortably in his bed.

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on with you, Your Highness, but I really don't think starving yourself is going to do anything for anyone nor is it going to make it better. You'll only feel so much worse-" As soon as those words left Yeosang's mouth and he sees a shift in Jongho's expression, his eyes widen ever so slightly at his unusual boldness. His mouth dries up and stomach flips forward. Shit!

He immediately places the cup on the tray then hastily fell to his knees, palms flat on the ground in front of him, and bowing his head deeply. "I- I apologize, Your H-highness. I overstepped my boundaries. It was not my intention to offend-"

"It's ok" Jongho cuts him off. "You should get up" His voice was calm. Gentle. Yeosang wasn't sure how he was even still alive. If he'd spoken to any of the guards like that they probably would've slapped him so hard his ears would be ringing for minutes after. Yet, here's the prince himself who didn't seem offended... at all.

"I said get up. It's ok, really" Jongho says reassuringly.

At that Yeosang meekly looks up then gathers his dignity and pulls himself up to his feet but keep his eyes trained to the ground, hands behind him, back straight. The perfect posture.

The next thing Yeosang hears is the sound of the sheets rustling as Jongho slowly sat up and threw his legs over the sides of the bed. Yet Yeosang still refused to bring his eyes up to meet the prince's. Just in case he changes his mind and decides to hit me. Or even worse, feed from me. Yeosang shivers with horror at the thought.

Jongho picks up the glass cup half filled with blood from his bed side table, then he brings it up to his lips and takes a small sip.

"What's your name?" Jongho's voice cuts through the silence again.

"Yeosang" He was curt.

"Thank you, Yeosang, for the blood" His voice was warm and the faery was fully taken back by it. He hesitantly looks up to see that Jongho was looking at him with genuine gratitude. He wasn't smiling but there was a certain benevolence to his expression. "You may leave. I'll call for you when I need your assistance" He adds.

Yeosang nods, bows once again then quickly turns around and walks out with his breath lodged and stuck in the middle of his throat. It felt like there was a stiff cardboard taped from the base of his neck down to his tailbone.

Once in the hallways again he lets out the deepest of breaths and rubs his forehead.

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This pic is so cute 😫 pretty sure the thing on Yeo's head is supposed to be a bunny ear but it just looks like a dick :']