Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Jungwon shifted restlessly under the weight of Heeseung and Sunoo. Staring out the window of the room had proven useless in helping him sleep and even the sounds of their heartbeats hadn’t been enough to calm him. Something was off.

He slipped out of bed quietly, carefully avoiding the mess of limbs that was Heeseung and Sunoo. They attached themselves to each other nearly immediately after Jungwon removed himself from in between them, but they didn’t stir otherwise. Jungwon grabbed a discarded sweatshirt off the floor, pulling it over his head as he slipped into the hallway.

It was dark, quiet, the only sounds being his own movements. He made his way to Jay’s room first, pushing open the door just enough to see in. Sunghoon and Jay were curled around each other, their faces peaceful. Jake lay on the far side, his limbs twisted in a way that, to Jungwon, looked uncomfortable. A knot in his chest loosened, they were safe, they were fine, everything was fine.

He paced down the hallway, not quite wanting to go back to bed yet but not willing to go downstairs and be further away from the others. 

A quiet sound broke through the downward spiral of his thoughts. It was a whisper, coated heavily with tears and Jungwon hesitated outside of the room Jay set up for Riki. Should he knock? Should he just walk in?

His hand hovered over the door knob, not quite ready to open it but something about the fear in Riki’s voice made it impossible for Jungwon to leave. 

Jungwon sighed “Shit.” He pushed open the door before he could change his mind. Riki was sitting up, positioned as far away from the door as the bed would allow him. 

“Konon?”

Jungwon tilted his head curiously, but Riki didn’t even seem to be looking at him. He moved closer, and Riki didn’t even acknowledge his presence, calling out the name again. Jungwon reached for him, pressing the back of his hand against the other's forehead. Riki flinched away from his touch, he was burning . Jungwon cursed, running to the bathroom to wet a towel with cool water. 

Riki was still mumbling to himself when Jungwon crawled onto the bed to lay the towel over his forehead. Riki seemed to lean into his touch this time, letting out a sigh when Jungwon pressed his hand against his cheek to gauge whether or not he should get Heeseung. 

“Riki?”

He didn’t respond.

“Riki, are you hungry?”

Still nothing. 

Jungwon chewed on the inside of his cheek, contemplating. On one hand, if Riki lost control he could seriously injure Jungwon, and if Jungwon had to defend himself he could seriously injure Riki. Jungwon shifted closer, trying to see if he could get behind Riki, that way if Riki lost control Jungwon could handle the situation. Riki tipped forward, giving Jungwon the perfect opportunity to slip behind him, caging the other in with his legs. Riki, again, had no reaction. 

Ever so slowly Jungwon brought the other boy to lean back against his chest. Riki made no resistance, mumbling the name over and over again under his breath. Jungwon brought his own arm up to his mouth, biting down then offering it to Riki. When Riki made no moves to grab it Jungwon pressed it to his mouth before the wound could heal over. 

Almost instantaneously he could feel the blood being pulled from his veins and he let his head fall back against the headboard behind him in relief. Jungwon watched the sun rise from behind the curtain, even with the darkest blackout shades he could still make out the fuzzy orange ball of light rising above their home. 

The quiet had settled again and all Jungwon could hear was his own thoughts. The card; it all circled back to the card. He dug in his pocket for his phone. For a moment he stared at the empty search engine, glancing down at Riki before typing in the full name that had been printed on the card. The screen was bright with answers, some useful, others not. He blinked, overwhelmed.

Riki, at some point, had nodded off, Jungwon’s arm long since fallen out of his mouth, completely oblivious to Jungwon's struggle. His thumb hovered over an instagram link, clicking as the screen lit up in a white hue. A video popped up; a boy dancing to a Michael Jackson song, an older girl dancing with him in the background. The boy couldn’t have been older than nine, his hair was long and light brown, reaching his shoulders. His skin was a matching golden. His smile was bright and he was laughing along with the girl. He looked happy. 

If Jungwon squinted he could see Riki in the boy. He looked down at Riki in his lap. They had the same eyes, but Riki’s hair was black now, curling against the edges of his face gently. His skin was paler, his features sharper, ethereal in a way. He skimmed the rest of the profile, photo after photo of the golden skinned boy, video after video. He was wrapped up in this mystery boy’s life, watching his smile through the years, how he seemed to be everywhere but at school at every point. 

“Hyung?”

Jungwon nearly dropped his phone, “No,” He cleared his throat, “It’s just me.”

Riki pulled away slightly, sitting across from Jungwon and playing with the damp towel that had fallen from his forehead, avoiding eye contact. 

“Who’s Konon?” Jungwon asked.

Riki froze, looking up at Jungwon, “Konon…Konon is my older sister.”

Jungwon hummed, “Where is she now?”

“Back home, in Okayama, with my parents and my little sister.”

They lapsed into silence and Riki began picking at the towel again. At the look on his face, Jungwon felt the absurd urge to connect, “I had an older sister.”

Riki’s head shot up, “You do?”

Jungwon shifted under Riki’s undivided attention, entirely unused to it, “I did. She was two years older than me, her name was Iseul.”

“Is she…?”

“No, she’s sixty-three now. I have nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.” He smiled, he’d never met them, but he watched them from a distance, all of them. “I haven’t spoken to her since 1992, I think, on my twenty-eigth birthday.”

“Do you miss her?”

Jungwon cursed the burning in the back of his throat and behind his eyes, “Every day.”

Riki was looking at him, but not with sympathy. More like recognition, like he could see his own pain reflected in Jungwon’s eyes. “I miss them too.” His breath hitched. “Will I—be able to see them again?”

Jungwon’s heart lurched, and before he could think about the words tumbling out of his mouth he blurted, “You will. I will make sure you see them again.” 

Riki’s shoulders dropped, relief rolling off of him, “Thank you.”

Jungwon nodded, he wanted to regret his words; seeing them would only be more painful for Riki. But he couldn’t, not with the way Riki was smiling. It was the first time Jungwon could describe his atmosphere as light. He was struck by his smile. Now, more than ever, he recognized the boy in the videos, his smile was blinding and Jungwon couldn’t help but feel that he wanted to see that smile more often. 

Very faintly the music coming from his phone flowed between them. Riki looked down at his phone and Jungwon flipped it over. Riki leaned over, catching a glance at the screen before groaning and covering his face with his hands. 

“Where did you even find that?”

Jungwon laughed, “I found it on the internet,” Riki groaned again, “You’re quite the dancer.”

Riki’s hands fell from his face, a small, pleased smile resting on his lips, “I loved to dance.”

“Loved?”

Riki shrugged, “It was the reason I came here, I was training at a company, trying to see if I could go somewhere with it. I can’t do that anymore.”

“Jay still plays his guitar, Heeseung, Jake and Sunoo still sing. Sunghoon skates, they still do the things they love. This,” He gestured around Riki hoping he would get the gist. “Doesn’t make you different, it doesn’t change you. It…amplifies you if anything. You don’t have to stop dancing.”

Riki gave him a doubtful look, “I could continue at the company?”

Jungwon winced, “Not exactly. But you can still dance. We can get you into dance schools, teams, whatever you want.”

“And when you have to leave?”

“We’ll find you another one.”

Riki looked at him with something Jungwon couldn’t decipher, “You’ll take me with you?”

Jungwon bit his tongue, he hadn’t meant to get that far ahead of himself. Did Riki even want to stay with them? “You are staying with us until you gain control. Once you have that, it’s up to you.”

Riki nodded, but Jungwon couldn’t help but feel like he had closed off a little. Then he asked, “What do you like?”

“What do you mean?”

Riki’s hands twisted together, “You said Heeseung, Jake and Sunoo like singing, Jay likes to play music on his guitar and Sunghoon likes to skate. What about you?”

Jungwon leaned against the backboard, “I like everything. I play the piano, I like to sing, dance–although, I don’t think I’m as good as you.”

“You play the piano?”

Jungwon hummed, “Yeah, a lot of us play instruments. Sunghoon and Heeseung also play the piano. Jake played the violin for a while and the bass, I think. And Jay with his guitars; his collection is huge, you have no idea. One time Heeseung-hyung knocked one over; you would have thought hyung had stabbed him.” Jungwon smiled at the memory before remembering where he was.

Riki smiled, “Tell me more? Please?”

Jungwon exhaled, eyes flickering to Riki before settling on a spot in the distance. He wasn’t sure why he was telling him all this—why he was letting his guard down. But something about Riki made it feel... natural.

“Sunoo-hyung’s a foodie,” he said after a beat, voice quieter now. “Tteokbokki’s his favorite. He’s also... really good with a flat iron. Hair, fashion—stuff like that.” Jungwon hesitated, then added, “He makes it look easy.”

He glanced at Riki, gauging his reaction before continuing. “Jay-hyung likes to cook. He does most of it here, actually—sometimes he even follows Gordon Ramsay’s recipes, like, exactly.” A short pause. “He’s into fashion too. He and Sunoo-hyung could probably talk about clothes for hours.”

Jungwon shifted, debating whether to keep going. But Riki was still listening, waiting.

“Heeseung-hyung likes movies. But only his favorites. Try to get him to watch something new, and he’ll just pretend he didn’t hear you,” Jungwon said, lips twitching slightly. “He plays basketball with Jake-hyung sometimes, but Jake’s more into soccer.” He hesitated again, then added, “Fishing too. Oh—and he has a barista certificate from Australia. Don’t ask me why.”

A small chuckle slipped out before he caught himself. He swallowed it down, forcing his expression neutral again.

“Sunghoon-hyung’s probably the best ice skater I’ve ever seen,” Jungwon admitted. “I swear, he moves better on the ice than on actual ground. He’s an incredible dancer too. Especially contemporary.”

He stopped there, feeling like he’d already said too much. Jungwon glanced at Riki again, something unspoken lingering in the air between them.  

“I can see that—Sunghoon-hyung on the ice.”

Jungwon let out a breath. “Yeah, he’s… beautiful.”

Silence settled between them again, comfortable yet heavy. Then, Riki spoke.

“I like amusement parks,” he said, his voice softer now. “When I was little, my family and I used to go all the time.” A small smile crossed his face. “I like photography too. And video games.”

Jungwon bit his lip, just barely stopping himself from saying, We can get you a camera.

Riki exhaled, gaze distant. “I like painting, though my little sister was always better at art than me. Fishing and soccer… those were things I used to do with my dad and Konon.” He let out a small, wistful laugh. “I did a lot of sports when I was in elementary school, but soccer was the one that stuck.”

“Maybe you could play with Jake someday.” Jungwon whispered, not even entirely sure he’d been the one to speak until Riki looked at him, some of his walls visibly crumbling.

“I’d like that.” He said, equally quiet.

He fidgeted, and Jungwon noticed him tonguing at his fangs that had elongated at some point. “Do you want more blood?”

Riki paused, eyeing Jungwon’s wrist. Jungwon laughed lightly, “Come here.”

He watched Riki crawl closer, before stopping completely, his eyes wide, scared. He clutched his stomach, a pained groan slipping past his lips. Then, completely out of nowhere, he toppled off the bed. Jungwon leaped up, “Riki!”

He laid there, crumpled, not breathing. 

“Riki?” Jungwon knelt beside him, reaching out to touch him. 

Riki’s eyes snapped open, but Jungwon couldn’t see the boy from before, talking about dance, and soccer. It was like he wasn’t there. His eyes were wild, “Riki?”

Then he launched himself at Jungwon, knocking them both back. Jungwon’s head cracked against the corner of the bed frame and his vision blackened momentarily. Riki snapped his teeth at Jungwon’s throat but Jungwon held him at arm's length. He threw Riki’s weight to the side, rolling out from underneath him. He pressed his hand to the back of his head, wincing lightly at the pain. His hand came back slick with blood. A low snarl ripped through the air. The hairs on Jungwon’s arms rose before his mind could catch up.

Then—Riki was on him again.

They hit the floor hard, the breath knocked out of Jungwon’s lungs. Sharp fingers dug into his arms, and when he looked up, he didn’t see Riki—he saw hunger. His eyes were blown wide, fangs bared, lips pulled back in something between pain and desperation. His jaws closed around Jungwon’s neck and he gasped at the burst of pain.

Jungwon twisted, trying to shove him off. “Riki—”

Riki froze. His breath hitched, and suddenly, his body convulsed. He jerked back, choking, something bubbling in his throat. Then, he wretched, collapsing onto his hands and knees, his body shuddering violently.

Jungwon sat up in a daze, blood pulsated down the side of his neck and the back of his head. “What the fuck?” Jungwon watched, helpless. This wasn’t normal.  

Riki didn’t respond, he didn’t even seem aware of Jungwon. He just began tearing at his forearms. Jungwon shouted, scrambling up to stop him. He was only three steps away, at most. But it wasn’t enough.

“Stop!” He held Riki’s arms away from his body. There wasn’t anything there and Jungwon wanted to throw up. Bone, just bone. There was so much blood, it clogged Jungwon’s throat. Chunks of skin and muscle lay scattered on the floor, strewn about like someone carelessly tossing laundry. Jungwon just stood there, unable to move, think, outside of what the fuck just happened.

“Oh my god.” He held both of Riki’s mutilated wrists in one hand. He bit into his own wrist to shove it in between Riki’s teeth. The moment Jungwon’s blood touched his tongue Riki ripped himself away, dry heaving like Jungwon’s blood was acid. 

Jungwon’s head was swimming, he was overwhelmed; he didn’t understand what was happening and that terrified him. He hesitated for a moment, he didn’t want to leave Riki like this, but he had to if he wanted to truly help him. He dropped his hold on Riki, rushing to his room. Heeseung and Sunoo stirred, and Jungwon shook Heeseung until he sat up groggily. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He rubbed at his face but as soon as his eyes landed on Jungwon all the sleep evaporated from his gaze. “Wonnie? What’s happening?”

Jungwon couldn’t think, “Riki–” Heeseung jumped from the bed, Sunoo had also woken, but whether it was from the scent of blood in the air or the fear shaking itself through Jungwon’s body he didn’t know. 

Riki seemed worse than when Jungwon had left and it couldn’t have been longer than two minutes. He could hear Sunoo and Heeseung’s breath stutter in their chests. “What happened?”

Jungwon tried to push past the panic clouding his thoughts, “I don’t know. He was fine and then he was like this. I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Have you given him blood?”

Jungwon nodded, “He threw it up.”

Sunoo’s eyebrows furrowed, “He threw it up?” He stepped closer to Riki who was still ripping at his skin, having moved onto his chest. 

“Sunoo…” Heeseung warned but Sunoo ignored him completely. He dug his fangs into his wrists, circling Riki, grabbing him by his hair and forcing it in between Riki’s teeth.

Riki had the same reaction to Sunoo as he did to Jungwon. He pushed Sunoo away, dry heaving in between sobs.

“Hyung, stop, you’re hurting him.”

Sunoo took a step back, turning to them, “Hyung, can you grab some human blood? I think we have some A-positive in the bottom drawer of the fridge.”  

Heeseung disappeared without a reply, returning seconds later with Sunoo’s requested bag. Sunoo took it, trying the same technique he did with his wrist. 

For the first time, Riki swallowed the blood and Jungwon held his breath. One beat. Two. Then Riki was leaning over and vomiting up the two sips of blood. Sunoo looked down at the bag in utter bewilderment.

“But it’s human?”

Jungwon resisted the urge to cry, it crawled up his throat. He beat it back down, “What now?”

Heeseung watched him carefully and Jungwon shifted uneasily under the weight of his gaze. He wasn’t entirely used to letting his emotions run away from him, especially not in front of the others. 

Sunoo looked unsure, “I don’t know?”

Jungwon curled in on himself slightly, “He’s going to die.” He whispered. “He’s going to die if he can’t feed.”

Heeseung turned to him, rubbing his hands up and down Jungwon’s arms, “He’s going to be fine. We will figure this out.”

Jungwon pulled away. He found himself in front of the fridge. Then he just started grabbing bags at random, bringing them up to the guest room. Riki was sobbing, convulsing on the floor, nearly screaming. Jungwon dropped beside him, holding a bag out in front of himself. Riki tried to push away, but Jungwon grabbed him, pulling the trembling boy closer.

“Please don’t. Hyung, it hurts.” 

Jungwon’s throat burned again, “I know, I know. I’m sorry. But we need to find something you can eat.”

“No. Please.”

Jungwon felt a tear fall down his face, “Riki, please, you need to live.”

Riki held his gaze, then slowly and deliberately opened his mouth and allowed Jungwon to feed him the contents of the bag. He managed to swallow it, and Jungwon found himself, again, holding his breath. One beat. Two…three…four. Jungwon blinked as Riki’s seizing ceased. He flipped over the bag. ‘SH’ written in sharpie labelled the front.  

“Sunghoon-hyung’s blood. He’s keeping it down.” He riffled through the pile of bags desperately searching for another bag labelled the same. He found one, offering it to Riki. Bag after bag Riki drained, and slowly his arms began to heal over. Riki was still shaking, his body spasming violently but Jungwon pillowed his head on his lap, desperate to do anything to offer comfort. He ran his hand through Riki’s hair, like he could erase the pain with his touch alone.

Heeseung knelt in front of him, his hand reaching out to touch Riki and before Jungwon could think he snapped his teeth at him, pulling Riki closer to his body. Heeseung pulled his hand back, sighing, “Jungwon…we might need to put him into bloodlock.”

Jungwon hesitated. Bloodlock was only ever used when someone became too dangerous, too unpredictable. A reinforced room with no windows, no access, no blood nearby. It was for vampires on the edge of madness. For the ones they couldn’t save. It was not somewhere Riki belonged. It was not somewhere Jungwon wanted Riki to be. He shook his head, refusing to look at Heeseung. Riki groaned, pushing himself closer to Jungwon as if he found his presence safe, comforting and Jungwon placed a hand on his shoulder. His refusal solidified. 

“We can contain his turning better in there.” Heeseung pressed, “What if he manages to get past us and attacks in Jay’s room? They’re asleep; they’re not prepared. We can help him better in bloodlock.”

Something in him cracked a bit. Every part of Jungwon said no. Told him that was not where Riki belonged but the fear of something happening to Jay, Jake or Sunghoon; something that he could prevent? That fear took precedent for the moment. 

He took a calming breath to ward off the instincts that raged against what he was allowing. He shifted Riki, who could barely be considered conscious anymore, sliding a hand under his shoulders and the back of his knees. Riki was tall and it killed some part of him that he tried to curl up so small against Jungwon’s chest. Heeseung watched him carefully but Jungwon shouldered past him until Sunoo stepped in front of him, blocking his path to the stairs. 

“Hyung—”

Sunoo held up a hand to silence him but didn’t move to touch Riki which Jungwon felt oddly relieved about. “I’ll take him.”

Immediately something screamed in Jungwon’s head, red blaring lights that flashed at him: danger. It was utterly ridiculous; this was Sunoo . Still, Jungwon backed up like Sunoo held a knife. “No—”

Sunoo cut him off again, his voice sharp, “I am taking him into bloodlock. He will be fine until you get there. He needs to be secure until we know he is stable.”

Jungwon felt desperation rise in his chest, “Hyung, please. I can’t.”

“He will be fine. I promise you.” Sunoo’s tone was softer now, but he still did not reach out to take Riki, not until Jungwon gave the boy to him. 

Jungwon, very unwillingly, handed Riki over. He watched them disappear down the stairs, every part of him demanding to go with them. The second they were out of sight, the weight hit.

He slid down to the floor, fists clenched so tight his knuckles ached. He should’ve fought harder. Should’ve carried Riki down himself. Should’ve—

“Jungwon…” Heeseung started, his voice was gentle, soft but Jungwon felt like it was going to break him .

Jungwon cleared his throat, desperately ignoring the burning behind his eyes that reappeared at Heeseung’s tone, “Hmm?”

“What hurts?”

Jungwon blinked, the pain in his neck and back of his skull pulling itself to the forefront of his mind. He must have been hit a lot harder than he thought. He gestured to his head and his neck. With careful, deft fingers, he surveyed Jungwon’s wounds. 

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, “These are pretty bad, Won.”

Jungwon hissed when Heeseung prodded at a particularly sensitive spot. Heeseung was quick to apologize, moving from that spot instantaneously. Jungwon turned when he felt Heeseung’s presence shift behind him. He handed Jungwon a bag, AB-negative. Jungwon took it gratefully, tearing the bag open and draining it. Heeseung handed him another and another, until the pounding in Jungwon’s head faded and he felt like he could organize his thoughts without much difficulty. 

“Thanks.”

Heeseung nodded, watching him with a look Jungwon couldn’t figure out. And he hated it. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Heeseung cocked his head, “Like what?”

Jungwon searched for the words to describe it but came up empty, “You know what I mean.”

Heeseung crouched in front of him. “Jungwon.”

“I’m fine.” Jungwon responded automatically. 

Heeseung pulled closer, enough so that Jungwon could feel the heat of his body through his clothes. “That’s not the point.”

That got Jungwon’s attention. He looked up sharply, eyes rimmed red, blinking too fast. “Then what is the point, hyung? That I let Riki get hurt? That I sent him down there like he was some threat we couldn’t handle?”

“No,” Heeseung said gently. “The point is that you’re not just the leader of this coven. You’re ours , too. And it’s okay if it hurts. It should hurt.”

Jungwon sucked in a breath, sharp and uneven. His chest felt tight—like something clawing at the inside of his ribs, desperate to escape. His fingers curled into fists at his sides, nails biting into his palms. Maybe if he just stood still, if he just focused on breathing, it would pass.

But then Heeseung’s hand cupped his jaw, gentle yet firm, his thumb swiping over his cheek. The warmth of his touch made something inside Jungwon crumble. A ragged sob tore out of him, unrestrained and shaking. He swayed forward, but Heeseung was already there, catching him, holding him together as if keeping him from shattering completely.

Jungwon didn’t know why he was reacting like this, couldn’t understand what was happening but it hurt. Everything hurt. 

Jungwon cried, his control fraying at the edges as he grasped at them desperately. Control was the only thing he had left and now he wasn’t even sure he still had that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Decidedly, sunlight directly in one’s eyes wasn’t the worst way to be forced up, but it wasn’t fantastic either. Sunghoon sat up groggily, the weight of sleep still holding his limbs to the bed. He carefully eased off the arm Jay had slung around his waist, drifting towards their curtains to shut them, letting darkness cover the room. Once he was satisfied with the lack of light, he rounded the bed to press a kiss to Jay’s forehead and push Jake further onto the bed because he wasn’t entirely sure how he hadn’t fallen off yet. Jake’s eyebrows were furrowed, in the same way they did when he was worried about something and without thinking Sunghoon rubbed his thumb in the center, smoothing out the lines. Jake let out a soft breath in his sleep and curled into Sunghoon’s hand. 

Sunghoon paused, waiting until Jake went still again to slowly get up, scrounging through Jay’s drawers to find some sweatpants. He pulled the first pair he grabbed over his legs and left the room as quietly as he could, shutting the door behind him.

Sunghoon followed the smell of food to the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time. The others weren’t difficult to find: Jungwon was leaning against the counter, occasionally popping a grape in his mouth. Heeseung was manning the stove at the moment and Sunoo was sitting by the island, scrolling on his phone, at random intervals reading out whatever he was looking at. At the sound of him they turned. 

“Good morning! Jaeyun and Jongseong still sleeping?” Heeseung smiled at him.

“Yeah, I think they’ll be out for a while,” Sunghoon said, making his way over to Sunoo and wrapping his arms around his waist from behind. Sunoo hummed, turning to him a bit.

“It’s actually like three in the afternoon.”

Heeseung plated some food and slid it in front of him, “Same thing.”

“It’s not at all actually,” Sunoo mumbled under his breath and Heeseung rolled his eyes, reaching over the counter to flick Sunoo’s forehead with his index finger. 

Jungwon looked at him, his gaze warm before he turned to Sunghoon. “You smell better now. Like us.”

Sunghoon rolled his eyes. “I’ve been hearing that all night. It really wasn’t that bad.”

The three exchanged a look, heavy enough that Sunghoon shifted under it. Jungwon gathered one of his hands, dragging it into his lap, tracing the veins on the inside of Sunghoon’s wrist like he was memorizing them.

Heeseung rounded the counter to stand behind Sunghoon, pressing his nose into the side of Sunghoon’s neck, inhaling deeply. “They’re all I can smell. Can’t even find you under them.” He nuzzled lower, his breath hot against Sunghoon’s pulse.

Jungwon was nodding along, fingers brushing Sunghoon’s wrist before drifting higher to his collarbone. “They were thorough.” He sounded almost thoughtful — like he was already plotting something.

Sunoo hummed, slipping closer from his other side. “Red and purple are good colors on you,” he teased, his fingers ghosting over one of the bruises. Then his tone dropped, soft but sharp: “But don’t forget who you belong to.”

Jungwon suddenly tugged at his t-shirt without warning, revealing the constellation of marks that spanned Sunghoon’s chest and vanished under his sweats.

Sunghoon flushed, shoving his hand away, but Sunoo just whistled low. “Those look like they hurt.”

“Shut up, I was mauled,” Sunghoon snapped.

Heeseung laughed, head thrown back, but when he leaned forward again, he pressed his lips right over a particularly dark bruise, holding there just long enough to make Sunghoon shiver. “And you loved every second of it,” Heeseung murmured, his teeth grazing lightly as though he might mark him too if given the chance.

Sunghoon glared at all of them. “I hate all of you.” But the words came out breathless, his skin tingling where they touched.

Sunoo huffed a small laugh, like he didn’t believe him and Jungwon had a small smile playing on his lips. Heeseung let go of him, turning instead to Jungwon, bending his head down to whisper in his ear, his hands rubbing Jungwon’s arms. Sunghoon blinked at them, head cocked. He could only pick up pieces of the conversation: do you want to check on him? And he needs to know . But Jungwon shook his head, his shoulders caving in slightly. 

“What do I need to know?” Sunghoon blurted.

Jungwon froze and Heeseung sighed, turning to face Sunghoon but still keeping a hand on Jungwon. “Riki…” He started. 

Sunghoon’s head snapped towards Jungwon, “Is he in pain?”

Jungwon winced, “I…” He looked at Heeseung, lost and somehow that was worse than any answer Sunghoon could have received. 

Even if he strained his ears, Sunghoon couldn’t hear any movement upstairs, it was silent aside from the sound of Jay and Jake’s calm heartbeats. He couldn’t hear a third and once that knowledge processed he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

“How bad?”

The answering silence was deafening. “Worse than Jake.” Heeseung finally whispered.

“ Worse? ” Sunghoon didn’t think he'd ever seen something worse than Jake’s turning and he’d been around a long time. There was no other way to describe it other than agony. Jake would scream, crying until his throat bled. The only thing that would act like a salve to his pain was Heeseung’s blood and even that did very little. “What do you mean worse?” 

Jungwon cleared his throat, straightening a bit, “I had to—”

“We, we had to.” Heeseung interrupted.  

“ We had to move him into bloodlock…and restrain him.”

“You did what?”

“I had no other choice, he was delirious and in pain. He was a danger not only to us but to himself–” Sunghoon didn’t hear the rest of that sentence, already tearing himself away from Sunoo and the others and heading straight towards the back of the house. 

“Hyung–”

“Hoon–”

Sunghoon refused to stop, ripping open the door to the basement but he didn’t even get one foot down the stairs before a scream tore at his eardrums. His heart felt paralyzed in his chest and he ignored the hands grabbing at his clothes, bolting down the rest of the stairs. 

He froze. Riki wasn’t tied to the bed, he was chained to it. The bed sat in the center of the room, blood dripping from the sheets onto the floor rhythmically. The sheets were no longer white, almost every inch stained red or some shade of pink and it was all Sunghoon could smell. Riki was pale, his face screwed up with pain Sunghoon could only imagine and his eyes almost looked crazed. Sunghoon took a step closer and Riki convulsed, straining against the chains like he was trying to launch himself at Sunghoon. But the feel of the chains on his skin must have made it worse because he began thrashing, screaming and sobbing that it hurt, please make it stop.

“Go get more blood.” He heard laboured breathing then someone darting up the stairs. “Riki, it’s just me, okay?” 

Riki only pulled at his restraints harder, screaming like something was burning him. Sunghoon stepped a little bit closer again and this time his eyes zeroed in on Riki’s wrists. Something caught on the light and for a moment Sunghoon thought Jungwon had used some sort of handcuffs but when he looked again it dawned on him that it was bone. 

“It was worse earlier.” Jungwon whispered, “There was nothing on his arm earlier, I had to force feed him to heal it but he just tore through it again.” 

Sunghoon finally reached Riki who didn’t even seem to register his presence. He placed the back of his hand against Riki’s sweaty forehead, cursing and snatching his hand back when his skin actually burned. Sunoo and Heeseung weren’t back yet and Sunghoon was running out of options so he brought his wrist to his own mouth but before he could dig his fangs in Jungwon grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing?”

“He will drain you. Don’t even think about it.”

“He’s in pain.”

Jungwon huffed, clearly frustrated, “I know that but draining yourself will not help him. He could kill you right now, wait.”

Sunghoon held his gaze and all he could see was pain that he was sure he reflected and fear. He dropped his wrist to his side and Jungwon let out a small breath. 

“How long has he been like this?”

Jungwon rubbed at his eyes, a gesture Sunghoon knew he did when he was tired. “A couple hours, maybe.” 

Guilt bubbled inside Sunghoon, “Why didn’t you get me?”

“He didn’t start out like this, so I thought we could handle it. The first time I went in to feed him he was hallucinating a bit, calling out for someone named ‘Konon’ so I fed him and stayed with him until he fell back asleep. The second time…I don’t even know what happened the second time. It started out fine, he seemed better, calmer, he recognized who I was and talked to me, but then it all went to shit.”

“What do you mean?” Sunghoon asked, resting a hand on Jungwon’s arm.

“He started vomiting. Violently. Then he turned to me, and–I couldn’t even recognize him. There was nothing in his eyes and he just pounced. He tried to drink from me but the moment he got any blood he jumped back off of me, screaming and tearing at his skin.” Jungwon shuddered and Sunghoon pulled him a little closer, “Yours is the only blood he’ll hold down.”

Sunghoon blinked, trying to let his brain catch up with the words leaving Jungwon’s mouth, “Not even human?” Even Jake hadn’t been that bad. He could keep down other blood, Heeseung’s was just the only one that numbed the pain a little.  

“You don’t think that was the first thing we tried?” Jungwon let out a humorless laugh, “Only yours.”

Heeseung and Sunoo returned then, with a couple of blood bags labelled: ‘SH’. They handed one to him and Sunghoon held it, feeling sort of at a loss. Jungwon grabbed one too, rounding the bed, near Riki’s head. He brought it to his mouth, tilting his head to the side and very carefully letting one fang pierce the bag. Sunghoon watched as he trapped Riki’s thrashing head between his arms and forced the blood bag between his teeth. 

Riki resisted for a minute, some blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth. Then all at once the tension drained from his body. The chains went slack for the first time since Sunghoon had been down there and within seconds the bag was empty. Jungwon pulled the bag away, moving as if Riki was a frightened animal. 

“You’re okay.” He ran his hand through Riki’s damp hair, “I got you.” 

Heeseung tugged on Sunghoon’s arm, “Jay’s up.” He said. “Jake too but Jay doesn't think it’s a good idea for Jaeyun to come down here.”

Sunghoon nodded absentmindedly, focused on the way almost none of Riki’s injuries were healing, even with the blood. Only the smallest scratches stitched themselves back together and Riki only seemed relatively calmer. 

“Jungwon,” Heeseung called, “Step back.”

Jungwon looked like he would rather do anything else but pulled his touch away from Riki nevertheless. Just as Sunghoon was about to voice his confusion Riki started screaming again, startling Sunghoon. It was like the blood did nothing. Sunghoon moved to stand opposite of Jungwon, copying his movements and trapping Riki’s head to force him to drink. He calmed quicker this time, and Sunghoon used that as an opportunity to sit Riki up in the bed a little so he was supported by the headboard. Before anyone else could protest or comprehend the situation he straddled Riki’s lap, holding his wrist over Riki’s mouth. 

Riki’s eyes were still clouded with pain but Sunghoon could see the recognition and that was all he needed to press his wrist fully against Riki’s mouth. Riki latched on immediately and surprisingly it didn’t hurt nearly as much as Sunghoon had thought it would. He heard Jungwon curse him out but it was faint, more like background noise than anything else. Only when Riki’s mouth went slack did Sunghoon even dare to pull his wrist back. Riki slumped forward against Sunghoon’s shoulder, no longer screaming, but rather crying quietly into the fabric of his shirt and somehow, to Sunghoon, that was worse. 

“ It hurts. Make it stop. I just want it to stop. ”

“I know, I know,” He pulled lightly at the hair at the nape of Riki’s neck, trying anything to soothe him, “I’m sorry.”

Riki pulled away from Sunghoon’s shoulder, locking eyes with Jungwon and immediately any progress Sunghoon had made to calm him was broken. His sobs were almost incoherent and all Sunghoon could make out was little, I’m sorry ’s, and I didn’t mean to ’s. 

Jungwon shushed him, reaching to undo the chains tying him to the bed. He heard Heeseung and Sunoo rushing to do the same. The chains hit the floor heavily and Sunghoon slid off Riki’s lap, only mildly paying attention to the gross squelch of the blood soaked mattress. Riki reached for Jungwon who immediately reciprocated, pulling him off the bed and sitting him down in a separate chair, murmuring to him that No, I’m not mad at you, and It’s okay, I’ve got you. Riki’s face was buried in the crook of Jungwon’s neck, his hands grasping at Jungwon’s shoulders.

“Don’t leave me alone. I’m sorry.” Riki’s voice cracked over his words and something inside Sunghoon broke a little. 

Jungwon’s arms came up to wrap around Riki’s waist, stilling his shaking, “I’m sorry I left you. I won’t leave again, okay? Hyung’s sorry.”

Sunghoon shifted towards them instinctively, hand inches from Riki’s head before Jungwon ripped him away, teeth bared. Sunghoon’s hands went up in surrender and Heeseung stepped in between them, “Jungwon.”

Jungwon’s growl puttered out and he looked at Sunghoon mournfully, “I’m sorry–I can’t—I don’t know what’s happening.”

Sunghoon stepped around Heeseung, ignoring his warnings. Jungwon tensed with every step closer and Sunghoon held his hands up the entire time. Riki shifted in Jungwon’s hold, eyes finding Sunghoon’s.

“Hyung–” 

Sunghoon looked past him, keeping eye contact with Jungwon, “I won’t hurt him, Wonnie. None of us will, he’s safe here.”

Jungwon cringed, “I know that. But I just can’t–” He looked near tears, his hold never wavering on Riki. 

There was a pause, a small breath between moments, then Sunoo shuffled forward. To Sunghoon’s surprise, Jungwon didn’t seem to shrink back, instead he let Riki go easily, watching as Sunoo helped the boy shift to lean against a chair, his breathing labored. Sunoo turned back to Jungwon, a small, almost sad smile on his lips and Jungwon collapsed into him, his face hidden in Sunoo’s shoulder. 

Sunghoon dipped his head to the side and Sunoo nodded at him, his arms tightening around their leader. Sunghoon crouched in front of Riki, placing one hand on his knee, “Riki? How are you feeling?”

“Great.” Riki managed through clenched teeth and behind him Heeseung failed to cover a snort. 

Sunghoon glared at him and Heeseung sauntered closer but his voice was soft, “Let’s go upstairs, hmm? Get you cleaned up a little, maybe change the sheets.” Heeseung hooked his arms around him, allowing Riki to lean against him and guided him towards the stairs. 

It happened too quickly.

One moment Heeseung was dragging Riki towards the stairs and in the next he had Heeseung pinned to the padded wall, fangs tearing at his throat. Heeseung screamed, blood soaking the front of his shirt as he struggled to dislodge the claws buried in his side. 

Then just as quickly as it started, Riki dropped to the floor, vomiting and crawling away from Heeseung as if he had been the one to attack. Then he just collapsed. Sunghoon blinked and Jungwon hovered above Riki’s crumpled form, fist raised, eyes wide. Sunghoon stared. Riki was still breathing, his chest rising and falling steadily, even as he lay in a puddle of Heeseung’s blood.

Heeseung hit the floor.

“Hyung!” 

Immediately they scrambled towards him, careful never to fully turn their backs to Riki. Heeseung groaned, one hand pressed to the side of his neck, the other to his ribs, blood seeping from in between his fingers when he moved. 

“What the fuck.”

Sunghoon turned. Jay stood in the middle of the room, Jake a little ways behind him holding several drinks. Jay scanned over them, like he was trying to process everything at once before he turned to Jake, “Can you go get more blood?”

Jake nodded, looking a little stricken and set all the drinks down as quickly as he could before rushing back up the staircase. Jay knelt next to them, carefully prying away Heeseung’s hands back to get a better look.

“Fuck, hyung, these are gonna scar.”

Heeseung laughed but it sounded weak, “Yeah—ow—I know.”

Jay’s eyebrows furrowed. “Sunoo, go grab the drinks Jake brought down please. Sunghoon, Jungwon, go restrain Riki.”

Sunghoon didn’t even think, just nodded, leaving Heeseung to Jay’s care as he moved to gather Riki from the floor. The bottom half of his face was stained red and there was already a purple bruise blooming high on his cheek bone. Sunghoon grazed a finger over it unconsciously. Then he glanced up.

Jungwon was frozen, his hands twitching at his side, staring at Riki’s limp body like it might lurch up again. His knuckles were bruised, a little red from the stain of Heeseung’s blood. His mouth was pressed into a tight line but Sunghoon could see how it trembled slightly at the edges. 

He was afraid. 

“Jungwon,” Sunghoon said gently, but he wasn’t sure if he was trying to call him forward or warn him back. 

Jay looked up.

Heeseung was breathing heavily in front of him, his hands pressed tightly, again, to his wounds that refused to stop bleeding. Jay paused with his hands on the gauze, then stood. He stepped toward Jungwon, slow and measured until he was close enough to lean their foreheads together.

“You’re okay,” Jay murmured, low enough that Sunghoon could barely catch it. “You did what you had to do. He’s still breathing. So are you.”

Jungwon’s eyes fluttered shut and his hands curled into the fabric of Jay’s shirt like he needed something concrete to hold onto. 

Jay wrapped his arms around him, hiding him in their circle. “I’ve got Heeseung. You go with Sunghoon; he needs you.”

Jungwon nodded, just once, and pulled away with a sharp inhale, rubbing his sleeves over his eyes like he could wipe away everything that had just happened. 

When he finally moved to join Sunghoon he didn’t make eye contact and Sunghoon nearly missed Jungwon’s almost imperceptible flinch when he saw the bruise. He slipped his hands under Riki’s shoulders and Sunghoon followed as he went to place him back on the bed–or the bloodied lump that used to resemble a bed. 

“Wait–”

Sunghoon paused with his hands on one of the chains. Jake stood at the bottom of stairs, a towel and plain white t-shirt slung over his shoulder, a basket held in his hands. “At least let me change the sheets.” 

He put the basket down, tossing the blood bags inside to Sunoo who brought them back to Jay. Then he moved towards the bed, stripping it and carefully laying out a new set that smelled distinctly like their favorite laundry detergent. Jake was quick, efficient, smoothing out wrinkles before gesturing for Jungwon to lay Riki down. 

Sunghoon rounded the bed, resting a hand on the small of Jake’s back once he was in reach, “What do you need?”

Jake glanced back at him, “I want to change his shirt,” he said quietly, “That one’s gross, he shouldn’t be resting in it.”

Sunghoon left out the fact that technically Riki wasn’t ’resting’ and Jungwon silently moved to sit Riki up, allowing Sunghoon to remove his shirt. They laid him back down carefully and Jake scrambled up onto the mattress to sit right next to him, ignoring anything Jungwon or Sunghoon had to say.

He reached for the large bowl he had brought down with him, dipping in the towel that had been slung over his shoulder before wringing it out. Sunghoon watched as Jake carefully wiped at Riki’s face, movements gentle, like he was handling something precious. He dipped the towel again, wringing it and continuing to wipe at Riki’s face until one could no longer tell Riki had attacked anyone at all. 

Jungwon pulled on his sleeve lightly, so lightly that Sunghoon wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t been intentionally keeping an eye on him. He turned.

“I—”Jungwon frowned, like he couldn’t decide how he wanted to end his thought. “Can I—?”

Sunghoon lifted his arm, wrapping it around Jungwon’s shoulders instead and pulling him into his side. Jungwon released a breath that sounded far too weighted for Sunghoon’s liking but melded himself into Sunghoon’s side as they watched Jake move on to Riki’s chest and arms, murmuring to the unconscious boy like he could hear him. 

When he was done Jake lifted Riki, just enough to slip something soft and familiar onto his body—Heeseung’s, Sunghoon recognized—then his cloth shifted to remove the dried blood that had crusted into Riki’s hair. “You’re okay.” He whispered even though Riki still lay silent.

Only after he had done another near full-body wipe down did he allow Sunghoon to coax him off the bed, protesting loudly when Jungwon grabbed the chains.

“It’s for his safety as much as it is ours, okay? They won’t be super tight, we won’t hurt him.” Sunghoon said, gently tying one of Riki’s wrists to the bed and away from his body. 

Jake’s protests died down but he made it his personal mission to double check every chain to ensure their comfortability, demanding it be fixed if it wasn’t to his liking, and of course they complied.

The sound of gauze tearing broke through the silence.

Sunghoon glanced over. Jay was still crouched in front of Heeseung, who had propped himself up against the wall, sipping on a blood bag like he hadn’t nearly bled out five minutes ago. His shirt was ruined, blood soaked the neckline and his wounds were still actively bleeding, but he was grinning.

Fucking idiot.

“You look like shit.” Jay muttered.

Heeseung blinked, before his chest shook with a laugh that caused blood to leak violently from his wounds. Sunoo made a distressed sound. 

“You say the most romantic things, Jongseong.”

Jay ignored him, reaching over with one hand to quickly soothe Sunoo who hovered nervously. He used his other hand to peel back the fabric of Heeseung’s shirt, assessing the damage. Sunghoon didn’t look long, the angle of the gashes made his stomach turn.

“You got lucky.” Jay said.

“Don’t feel lucky,” Heeseung mumbled. “Feels like I was used as a chew toy.” 

Jay didn’t laugh. He pressed the gauze to Heeseung’s neck and started wrapping, slowly and tightly. Heeseung winced but kept talking, his voice thin but stupidly amused.

“You know, you’re surprisingly gentle for someone who just threatened to kill me three minutes ago for not staying still.”

Still nothing from Jay. Then on the last loop Jay yanked the gauze tight .

“Ah—fuck!” Heeseung cursed, folding forward like he could hide the rest of his injuries from Jay’s wrath. “Jay, seriously?”

Jay only raised a single eyebrow, “Oops.” 

“You did that on purpose!”

Jay shrugged. “You were being an idiot.”

Sunghoon covered his mouth to hide a laugh, Sunoo was not so successful, receiving a glare from Heeseung. Jay kept working, bandaging until the blood stopped soaking through the material. Sunghoon grabbed the other shirt Jake had stashed in his basket, balling it up in his hands.

“Jay.” 

Jay glanced up in time to catch the shirt that was lobbed at his head and Sunoo assisted him with removing what was left of Heeseung’s current shirt. Heeseung cursed, and Sunoo whispered hushed apologies, squeezing Heeseung’s hand and peppering small kisses on his knuckles. He pulled Sunoo down once Jay was done and Sunoo went easily shifting in Heeseung’s lap enough to hide in his neck. 

Sunghoon’s eyes swept the room again once everything settled; Jay stayed where he was but his fingers were tangled in Heeseung’s, Jake sat perched by the headrest of the bed, his hand in Riki’s hair and Jungwon hovered by Sunghoon’s side, twisting the fabric of his shirt. They were alive. Tired, hungry and terrified but alive. 

Jungwon moved first, gathering discarded blood bags and passing them out, insisting when Heeseung tried to refuse. He had his back to Sunghoon when he spoke. “I’ve been trying to see if anyone has experienced anything similar; no one knows anything.”

Jay made a confused noise, “Who have you been talking to?” 

“The Dark Covet, the Broods, and the Midnight Company so far.” 

Sunoo untucked himself from Heeseung’s embrace, pulling his phone from his back pocket, “I’ve been trying to get any information on fledglings not taking anything other than one specific person’s blood but there’s nothing in the libraries or archives,” He mentioned, “Sunghoon-hyung’s not even his sire so it just makes the whole situation more confusing.” 

Sunghoon crossed his arms, absurdly feeling a little defensive. 

“Hoon, do you know anything about his turning? How long had he gone before you found him?” 

Sunghoon winced, Riki’s words echoing in his head. “He told me twelve days.”

The silence that followed was charged, “ Twelve days?”

 “How is he even alive?” Sunoo breathed.

“That’s not normal.” Heeseung said.

“I know–”

“No. That’s not normal. I’ve seen fledglings, I’ve made fledglings.” He eyed the bed with distrust, but Sunghoon saw a flicker of something else; fear. “None of them make it past four days if they refuse to feed. None of them.”

Jungwon placed a hand on his shoulder, calming, “We’ll check footage and cameras around the city. He could have fed before that and just not remember, okay?”

Heeseung still looked a little uneasy and Sunghoon didn’t miss how he had grabbed Sunoo, preventing him from being any nearer to Riki. Or how he held Jay’s wrist, keeping him in place. Jungwon’s phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket.

“It’s the Broods.”

Jay nodded to the stairs, “Take it. We’ll be fine.”

Jungwon nodded and headed towards the stairs, but paused with one foot on the bottom step. His phone was still ringing, vibrating in his hand but Jungwon turned back around, pointedly not making eye contact with any of them.

“I promised him I wouldn’t leave again.” He whispered. 

Sunoo offered his hand without a word and Jungwon handed him the phone, stepping aside to let him make his way up the stairs. The ringing cut off, replaced by Sunoo’s voice. “Hello? No, sorry, Jungwon is occupied–” 

The door shut behind him, cutting them off from his conversation. 

Sunghoon winced at the sound. “This is my fault.”

“Shut up.” Jay muttered, shaking off Heeseung’s grip to force Sunghoon into a chair, shoving another blood bag in his hands. “Drink. You didn’t have any last night.”

Sunghoon brought it to his mouth. Jay was already gathering the empty bags, handing them to Jake. “Can you rinse these out please? Then bring them back down?”

Jake took them from him with little protest, and Jay followed him up the stairs. Heeseung turned on them the moment the door was closed behind them. “I don’t want him feeding from you again.”

Sunghoon licked the blood from his fangs. “How is he supposed to eat then?”

“We’ll figure it out, but he’s not feeding from you again.”

Jay returned, arms full of supplies, and Sunghoon groaned at the sight of the small butterfly needle in his hands. Jay only raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to do this here or upstairs?”

Jake appeared behind him, holding the now-clean blood bags, each labeled in Sharpie with ‘SH’. Sunghoon rolled his eyes, resting his arm against the bed, leaning his head against Jake’s stomach as Jay slowly inserted the needle into his vein. He flexed his hand and Jay smacked him lightly on the shoulder, sitting in the chair slightly to his left, the bag attached to the tube in Sunghoon’s arm in his hands. 

“I thought I needed to keep drinking, you taking my blood kind of defeats the purpose, no?”

Jay scoffed, rocking the bag between his hands to keep the blood from clotting. “Well, we need more of your blood in bags because there’s no way he’s feeding from you directly again anytime soon.”

He heard Heeseung laugh but Sunghoon just settled back, still drinking until Jay switched out the now full bag for an empty one, handing Sunghoon a new bag as well. 

By the time Jay was on his fourth, Sunghoon wasn’t sure he could stand without falling right back over. Jay was rocking the bag with steady, practiced motions, but his eyes never strayed from Sunghoon’s face. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great…can this be the last one for now?”

Jay nodded, “Yeah.”

They waited a few more seconds for the bag to fill before Jay was removing the needle. Sunghoon snatched his arm back, rubbing roughly at the spot until Jay grabbed his wrist, bringing his arm closer to inspect the area, his thumb brushing gently over the forming bruise.

“For my birthday, I want a hemoflow scale.” He announced when he released Sunghoon, cleaning up the needle and various tubes spread across the bed. “I’m tired of rocking these things manually.”

“A hemoflow scale? Where would we even put that?” 

Jay turned to Sunoo with a slight pout, “I don’t know but I want the new one. The 500.”

Sunoo rolled his eyes affectionately. “Yes, fine we’ll get you the new model.” 

Jungwon cleared his throat, “What did they say?”

“Mostly that it’s nearly unheard of for a fledgling to have a one-blood source dependency and even more weird for it to be to a person who had nothing to do with their turning.”

Sunoo handed Jungwon his phone back, pulling out his own. “Honestly, I think Riki created some sort of temporary bond with Sunghoon-hyung. The way he reacts to his blood versus everyone elses’—it just doesn’t line up. Riki met Sunghoon when he had just killed his first victim, that’s a lot of emotions–it could have triggered something.”

Sunghoon blinked. “What?”

“A temporary bond, maybe. I don’t know many details—there isn’t a lot of information.”

“Sunoo, you can’t form a bond without a mark.” Heeseung interrupted gently.

Sunghoon nodded in agreement, startling when Jake nearly tore the collar of his shirt open. “What the–”

Jungwon shushed him, joining Jake on his inspection of Sunghoon’s neck, his chest, and his arms. Relief rolled off them in waves when they pulled back. “No mark besides ours.” 

Sunoo looked at them for a moment, then glanced back down at his phone.. “...okay. There might not be a physical mark but bonds without them are at least suggested to exist.”

“What would even prompt that? Do you know the amount of power someone would need to have to do that? It’s not natural.”

He began pacing, cheeks flushed with frustration. “ Nothing about this turning is natural. Why would the bond be any different?” 

Heeseung held his hands up in surrender. “Okay so what does this mean for Sunghoon?”

“I don’t know. There’s nothing concrete about this stuff, I don’t know how this will affect hyung or even Riki. I’m not even sure if I’m right.”

“You usually are.” Sunghoon murmured, warmth spreading through his veins when Sunoo stopped his pacing to smile at him. 

Jake pinched him. “So what do we do?”

Sunoo’s smile faltered and he turned to look at Riki, who was still laying almost peacefully on the bed. “We wait for him to wake up.”