"Hongjoong, Mingi wants to see you."

Even though his heart didn't beat anymore, he could still feel something thumping in his chest, let it be all his pulsing nerves. Hongjoong got up from the furniture, his eyes landing on the mocha-haired boy, who sat at the other end of the room, smirking at him with his glinting eyes.

"Good luck, soldier," Yeosang said, reaching a stiff hand up to the side of his head and making a move down again. He made the act alone seem so natural like he had done it a million times before, and Hongjoong already knew why.

The young vampire gulped nervously as he made eye contact with Jongho when he neared the room that Mingi supposedly was resting in. The other man didn't show any visible emotions which in Hongjoong's case wasn't to any help regarding the lack of hint about Mingi's condition. This felt like he was walking the plank, straight down into his own death.

For a fact, living a couple of days in this household, made Hongjoong discover a lot more about the world he had become a part of, as well as the other vampires in the house. Yeosang had taken care of that.

It started with small secrets the mocha-haired vampire seemed to have a huge stocking of. He had silently sneaked up behind Hongjoong and sweetly whispered the small random information pieces into his ear, eventually starting off by telling him about his own life. Surprisingly for the boy, was Yeosang the oldest and perhaps also most experienced one of them all, based on his more than 1000 years of being alive on this planet. If Hongjoong was being honest, it had taken him some time to get this fact straight, because it sounded too unrealistic to be the truth. Yeosang had only been thirteen years old when he started training his physical strength and technique of handling weapons for war. In the autumn of the year he turned sixteen, their town was attacked and before he knew of it, he was going to war, not knowing he wouldn't see his family any time again. Standing alone on the battlefield, blood seeping from a deep wound in his leg, Yeosang thought he had survived, that he had won this battle. He was ready to return home again, carrying the pride on his shoulders as the warrior he was, but in the second the thought had got the better of him, something dark made him a painful death upon the ground painted in his enemy's blood. Days later he awoke with the most sinful bloodthirst he had ever felt, and from there on; he killed for the living. Yeosang never returned to his hometown again and left the scenery he had grown so used to as a kid. By the time his bloodthirst finally came under control, he started searching for a meaning of living. Before had Yeosang used centuries of living as a traveller, learning about the world's different cultures, languages, but for the first time, he decided to sit down by a kingdom in mid-Europe. Here he made his appearance as a well-talented knight, quickly being noticed and placed indoors of the castle as one of the king's most trusted men. He went into war, several times and always returned in better condition than ever. No one knew about his invincible way to kill. When the king died a late death, his serve ceased and he left for new journeys around the world, soon Yeosang's name was written all over the history books, though only with a heroic view and not as the deathly killer he actually was. Later he came back to Asia, bringing his experience with him, and setting for serving the royalty again. Not once, he thought about marrying, as Yeosang knew he was cursed with the life of living alone forever. His small love interests died just like everyone else around him did, and that was why the warrior never found his significant other; weighting his practical life more than his feelings.

Hongjoong was at a loss for words when Yeosang had finished off the small bits of his long life. He felt like he had just been told a lifelong fairy tale, then left to decide whether the ending was a happy one or not. Yeosang had told everything with details like the events that had happened just some days ago, and it made Hongjoong change his way of judging the flirtatious other vampire.

Eventually, Hongjoong also ended up knowing both Mingi's and some of Jongho's background story as well and now he was about to talk to Mingi again after almost killing, he didn't quite know if he was happy to know the extra facts about him or not. Yeosang had told him that it was another vampire, named San, who had saved Mingi from suicide about 150 years ago. Before that happened, he had lived as a child in an abusive home, with mad parents, who had tried to kill him multiple times for not doing good enough. A day had Mingi snapped, and killed both his parents, three siblings, and the two remaining ran away. He had gone crazy and soon after he tried killing himself and that was where he was found, bleeding out all his sins and sorrows. Mingi never felt the same delightness for still living, as Yeosang did, and the oldest had told Hongjoong how lucky he should feel for being taken in by Mingi, as the latter never had lived with others since he became stable in his new life.

Mingi was always on the edge of fighting for life or letting it all go.

Hongjoong was not at all ready for the confrontation with the older vampire, but here he was: standing in front of the chair Mingi right now was situated on. Jongho didn't close the door behind him when he left the two to talk, and Hongjoong felt relieved, even though he surely would feel calmer if Jongho had stayed with them. Mingi was staring down into his lap, but when Hongjoong entered the room, he slowly raised his eyes up at the one who had been so close to killing him, just a few days ago. Hongjoong had almost forgotten how deep the other's voice actually was, feeling a chill wander down his spine when the vibrations hit him.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you."

Hongjoong swallowed harshly and nodded firmly. While his fingers nervously played with the ends of his green-colored sleeves, he couldn't stop the pinch of embarrassment/ tinting his cheeks. He had tried to kill the man in front of him out of complete misunderstandings. His bottom lip started wobbling the further his thoughts went to Mingi's background story that Yeosang had told him about, and now he couldn't stop the regrettings kicking harshly in. Suddenly the boy's train of thoughts caught the memory of Seonghwa, and now his knees buckled as he fell to the floor with a thud and an apology across his lips.

"I'm so sorry, Mingi," Hongjoong said as tears threatened to fall.

He shouldn't cry before someone who had tried to kill himself before.

"Jongho told me about the blood sample. That you say it isn't yours."

Hongjoong stared up at Mingi. Did he tell them? Did he say anything about Seonghwa? Seonghwa, Seonghwa-

"I don't know where you got it from, neither what your basis of it is. But you have to know that this is a critical topic, and the situation is even worse. Vampires are not meant to be discovered by humans," Mingi said, looking right into Hongjoong's glassy eyes.

"It would destroy Earth if the government suddenly found out about another species ruling the world in secrets. They would start to hunt us down, and vampires would start killing for survival, do you understand?" the older vampire continued as he tried to clarify how important this was.

Hongjoong nodded his head instantly, "I do."

The older vampire let out a sigh and let his hand through his dark hair, tired, "Good."

The younger let his eyes rest at Mingi's silhouette for a bit while wondering whether or not he should leave. Hongjoong had a million questions still running around his head, and even after all there had happened in the last couple of days, he still felt most safe talking to Mingi. But seeing Mingi in this state; tired, deprived, pale, and definitely down and depressed, he let go of them again, deciding it wasn't the right time for that.

"Mingi?"

"Yes?"

"Can I meet San?"

Mingi snapped his eyes up at Hongjoong, squinting them a bit.

"How do you know about him?" he asked carefully.

Hongjoong gulped in fear when it hit on him, that he managed to find a topic there could go wrong. The situation felt like an odd deja-vu.

"Yeosang told me, but I just.." he glanced to the side while trying to figure out if this was acceptable.

Hongjoong sighed and directed his eyes up at Mingi again, "I'm just fascinated, and uhm... thankful, and I want to meet San."

His dead heart would be pacing around at this moment, but nothing else than silence was painting the walls in this room.

The older vampire's stare suddenly fell soft, and he closed his eyes with an expression Hongjoong wasn't able to read.

"I don't think you want to meet him... He's... quite not your type if I must say."

The mood changed drastically, and the blonde vampire lifted an eyebrow in confusion, "But he saved your life back then! "

Mingi shook disappointed at his head and mumbled something barely a whisper, that Hongjoong not even with his improved hearing could hear.

"Please, Mingi. I don't care if I like him or not, I just want to meet him."

The older vampire facepalmed in further disappointment and sank back into his chair, "Fine, fine, I'll call him sometime and ask if he got time to come over anytime soon. I won't be promising anything, though."

†