RE意識 (au contrant) | tvxq, au.
four of - ???
3011w.
ao3
changmin fingers the bracelet his father had given him as a child, twisting and turning it around his wrist nervously as he paces the length of the condo. his stomach knots, tangling more by the second.
“you’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t stop pacing, changmin.” yunho tells him from his spot at the table, eyes trained on the newspaper in his hands.
“easy for you to say,” changmin mutters. while they had not always been on well terms, yunho’s known his sister for her entire life, has witnessed her grow up, mate, and have a child. the last time changmin himself had seen her, he was being forced away-kicking, screaming, and biting-on a fiery night in the late nineteen hundreds without a word since. how is changmin to reconcile with her, now a mother and a mate, different?
“you’ll make seraphina sick,” yunho tries, still reading the paper.
changmin turns on his heel, snaps, teeth bared and canines prominent. “piss off. i haven’t seen jihye in forty-six years, over an entire fucking century in half blooded wolven time, over three in full. she’s mated, yunho. she has children. so you’ll be so kind as to forgive me if i find myself in a moment of panic.”
eyes bright at the outburst, yunho sets his paper down and walks up to changmin, cuts off his pacing path and rests his hands on his shoulders. he catches changmin’s murky blue glare with a hard look of his own, and opens his mouth.
“changmin.” yunho says his name in a firm, quiet, soothing tone that makes changmin tense and relax all at once, hackles up as he watches yunho’s pupils dialate, too late for an apology, and then,
“stop.”
a hellish burning sparks in changmin’s blood, runs up through the crevices of his muscles and seizes every inch of him. his body stills, abrupt and painful. his lungs catch. his heart skips.
rage encases him from scalp to foot.
yunho’s voice maintains its smoothness, and changmin wants to set fire to something.
“why are you nervous?”
“fuck you.” changmin manages to mumble out, throat closing around a deep set growl. his eyes are wide as he looks directly into yunho’s. he feels his own stare shrink, resize, flash, burn bright, and he sees ultraviolet. yunho narrows his eyes at him, and his hold becomes a little tighter.
“answer me.”
anger rolls off of changmin in waves, and if the tangy scent of it bothers yunho he doesn’t show it in the slightest. “different.” changmin utters around the force of being compelled. “nothing to keep us friends.”
“your relationship with boa is unchanged. seamless, even.” yunho points out.
“different.” changmin stresses, suddenly looking exhausted. yunho lets him free, and he nearly crumples with the shuddering gasp of breath he takes. changmin’s body coils, and despite the hot anger still skimming the surface of his skin, he ignores the ache in his bones to tip his head to the side when yunho opens his mouth, gives the tiniest flash of teeth in warning.
“sorry.”
“it has been amended,” yunho nods curtly, putting a step of distance between them. his stare sweeps changmin from head to toe, and he gestures towards the couches as he takes in the restraint and weariness riddling through him. “sit,” he says, going to the kitchen and returning with a glass of dark red. he heads it to changmin, who manages to crack an eye open. “drink.”
silence ticks by for a moment. “you didn’t have to do that,” changmin says around the rim of the glass, eyes closed again. “i’m not stupid enough to not know when i seem to cross one of your… lines.”
“no, you are not.” yunho’s voice comes softer still, but he does not apologize. changmin chuckles into his drink. he takes what he can get.
“as i said. i’m nervous because we are both different now, there is nothing to keep us as friends.” changmin sits his glass down and thinks of the ease of his relationship with yunho-despite its obvious oddities. it only serves to drive home how severely things have changed, how much jihye has probably changed.
“your relationship with boa stands as it was.” yunho points out, almost sagely.
“your sister is another case. i do not love her in the same way anymore and yet-”
“yet?”
“i fear it may be uncomfortable. what if it’s awkward, or what if her mate does not like me due to our past? what if-”
“jung changmin.”
“excuse me?”
“changmin, did you not speak with jihye and kiyiya over the phone, or was i making that up at three thirty seven in the morning when i was trying to sleep.”
“i will not be changing my name-”
“kiyiya and jihye expressed genuine joy that you’re here. kiyiya doesn’t covet his wife’s past with you and jihye has not changed much, trust me. also, it will only be needed for more legal purposes; i’ve issued you an id of state and i expect it to be kept on you.”
changmin sucks in a breath through his teeth, eyes boring into yunho’s. “you do realize that you are the absolute worst?” he says like a lament, and yunho chuckles as changmin stands and stretches. “it’s just hard to imagine jihye all grown up, with a family, responsible-”
yunho makes a strange noise in his throat, something between amusement and disdain, and changmin resists the urge to cackle.
“did she stop cursing, at least?”
“kiyiya saw to it.” yunho tells him, just as the doorbell rings.
the panic surges back up changmin’s spine immediately, and he pauses in a vague sense of shock when yunho grabs his hand, squeezes it gently before releasing it and making his way to the door. changmin’s vague shock sparks into the full thing the moment jihye walks in though, her hair in a single long braid down her back, puppy ears missing and holding the hand of a black haired little girl with shining yellow eyes. a step behind her, another, with sun kissed skin, black hair that fell by his waist and even blacker eyes. with him is another small child, a boy with the same yellow eyes, clinging to his hand.
“mama, this is him?” the little girl asks, words accented, eyes boring straight into changmin.
“that’s changmin, my best friend,” jihye says, voice strained.
“the man that helped you a lot when uncle yunho used to be mean?”
yunho gives a soft scoff at the remark, to which jihye ignores. “yes.”
the little girl pulls her hand from her mother’s and walks up to changmin, who sucks in a sharp breath. her yellow eyes look up at him with serious intent that seems out of place on her young face-changmin see’s parts of jihye in her, her sharp jawline and the way she holds it, her entire little body bespoken with pride despite the seriousness there.
“hello,” changmin has to force himself not to whisper with the awe coursing through his veins as he bends his knees until he is level with the little girl. he holds out his hand, waits patiently until she takes it, shakes it gently. “what’s your name?”
“min,” she says to him proudly, eyes bright. “just like you!”
“it’s very nice to meet you, min,” changmin says, throat constricting, eyes misting with tears he forces himself to not shed. his teeth hurt, and he lets them lengthen.
“changmin,” jihye greets him as he stands. changmin nods, dazed, world tilting dangerously when jihye moves forward in a blur and hugs him tightly, mumbles into his chest, “i’m so happy yunho found you.”
“it would’ve been hard to miss me, considering i was cursing at the sky at the top of my lungs,” changmin laughs lightly, easing the heaviness of the situation away in fear of a complete breakdown. seeing jihye-holding, touching, breathing the same air-opens a mental flood of memories, things he wants to say, good and bad, but changmin notes with inner relief that there is no regret in his system, no heat, not even a flicker of the monstrosity of feelings he once had. he hugs jihye back with an arm around her shoulder and brings her to his side, fingers playing at the loose strands of hair from her braid, and old gesture. “don’t be rude, jihye. introduce me to your mate.”
"it asn't even been five minutes," jihye narrows her eyes up at him, hums, “are you already telling me what to do?”
“someone’s got to,” yunho deadpans, to which kiyiya laughs, “if that’s not the truth.”
kiyiya comes forward and introduces his son first, “this is jin,” he says, and jin bows to changmin before carefully hiding himself behind kiyiya’s legs. “he’s still a little shy, unlike min.”
“hi there, jin, it's nice to meet you, too.” changmin takes in his features, short dark hair and sweet tan skin and yellow eyes and says, “you really, seriously look exactly like your sister.”
there’s a gurgle, one that sounds suspiciously like “nooooo” before jin pivots from behind kiyiya and zips away. changmin laughs, watching him go for only a moment before giving kiyiya his attention.
“it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” changmin grins, canines on display as he shakes kiyiya’s hand. if kiyiya notices, he says nothing, just grins right back.
“likewise. i’ve heard many a story about you.”
“oh, well then you probably know about what a pain i can be,” changmin laughs.
“hey, blue eyes, i’m not that mean,” jihye mutters, giving a strained thing of a yelp when jin finds his way into her lap and tugs at an errant lock of hair.
“she’s still childish in some ways,” kiyiya offers in a stage whisper, then, “but she’s definitely right about one thing.”
“uh,” changmin raises a brow in question. “and what might that be?”
“your eyes do look like outer space. do they really change color?”
chuckling low, jihye interrupts again, this time with a look that tells secrets. “only when he’s hungry.”
“oh, wow, jihye,” changmin widens his eyes, and suddenly everything feels a little more like normal. “shut up.”
“bad words!” min and jin chime in unison, not once looking up from what they’re doing to jihye’s hair.
changmin lifts both of his brows, and, cackling, kiyiya slaps him on the shoulder in a goodhearted manner, “welcome back to the family, changmin. we’ll find some time to talk among ourselves later.”
it takes hours of conversation, running around with min and jin, and takeout for dinner-courtesy of yunho for not being in the mood to cook after aforementioned running around with min and jin-but after jihye and kiyiya leave with twins for bed, changmin finally lets himself fall into an exhausted heap of limbs on the couch.
listening to stories about the last sixty something years-he refuses to acknowledge everyone’s less diluted blood line and use their way of aging because that would make jihye one hundred and eighty nine years old and gods be damned, he was born before her and therefor he is older-had been an emotional roller coaster, albeit a rewarding one. changmin rarely felt even the slightest bit awkward with them, his estranged family, and he’d even been more impressed by yunho’s willingness to play with the twins.
changmin has a sneaking suspicion that yunho didn’t go far from him through out the day so that he could remain as a support of sorts, in which changmin is grateful because he’ll be a liar if he says he didn’t need it at times. changmin adores jihye and kiyiya together, which only made him berate himself more for feeling that brief flicker of envy at their fortune and… normalcy. though kiyiya scolds jihye as much as he scolds min and jin-probably more-they’re both glaringly in love and happy with their family. nonetheless. it makes changmin smile. he can’t hope for more for jihye, not at all.
“you look tired,” yunho says, offering changmin a glass of wine. changmin accepts it with a grateful little sound and takes a light sip, the taste not even staying on his tongue.
“i had no clue that children take that much out of you. kiyiya mentioned that jihye’s pregnant again, and, really, i cannot see how they do it.” changmin says with a bemused smile. “i’d probably be a wreck.”
“you did well enough,” yunho chuckles. “you kept up with them all the while handling seeing jihye again. that alone is testament to your strengths.”
changmin slides his gaze to yunho. he knows subtly worded complements when he hears them; it’s an offer to share his feelings, and one he doesn’t think he’ll pass up. because he needs to, something he is sure that yunho probably senses.
“there were moments,” changmin admits, taking a longer sip of wine. “not many, and not because i miss being with jihye the way i used to be, but simply because it is strange, seeing her like this. i feel as if i fell behind somehow. i’m in college, and everyone has a family and a career, or is starting to settle. it’s just-it’s strange, yunho. i used to feel older with you and your family. in place. now i feel as if i’m-” changmin stops, unsure. a distant cousin being brought into the fold? an estranged kid brother and an outsider, someone that once belonged but does not quite fit well into the space they left behind anymore.
“it won’t always be this way. in time,” yunho offers quietly. “you’ll age differently than we will, and soon enough you’ll pursue marriage or a mate, and you’ll have an extended family to call your own.”
anticipation and fear slither down changmin’s spine at the idea of a family-a partner, kids of his own-it all seems so vast and far off, not to mention unlikely. even though he knows that the years will fly in less than a blink, he also knows that living day to day seems to take forever.
“one thing at a time,” changmin says finally, allowing a small smile. “school first, i want my degrees. maybe i’ll write a book, who knows,” he adds with a small laugh. “after the amount of work i put into to doing good in school, i won’t want to waste it.”
yunho eyes changmin for a moment, strangely, intently, and mutters, “odd little vampire,” before raising his glass of wine to him from his spot on the couch across the coffee table. changmin raises his glass in turn, tilts it just so before taking another sip.
“you’re an excellent uncle,” changmin says, purposely breaking the silence.
“they’re excellent children, despite their mother’s genetics.”
a hot bout of old, dormant anger hits changmin, sudden and at full force, an anger he hasn’t felt since the time he used to run the woods and help jihye hunt, from before, and he narrows his eyes at yunho. “are you seriously still going on about jihye being only half blooded-”
“you misunderstand, changmin. i am no longer two centuries old and unacceptably ignorant.” yunho gives a small laugh, mouth tilting into the ghost of a smirk. “i simply meant that my little sister is still a loud, hot headed, arrogant woman. the fact that she is half human has nothing to do with it.”
changmin stares for a solid four seconds, to which yunho states right back, and he simmers down, chips in from behind the rim of his glass. “i think the arrogance thing comes straight from your father. you’re both so full of sh-”
“careful.” yunho warns with a sly smile, eyes gleaming.
changmin raises an eyebrow, dares, “or what?” but steels up the second yunho arches his own brow in the way that changmin hates the most-the way that has a brick of anxiety settling in the pit of his stomach so instantly.
“no. no, you will not be showing up at my school again, no,” changmin says firmly, remembering the last time yunho even came close to his campus. it was raining that day, and yunho was kind enough to pick him up. it would’ve been a thoughtful gesture if not for-and this is a very huge if not for-if not for the fact that yunho had met him in the school, and now half of changmin’s professors are vying to get his number, if not a few of the students.
“i do believe i still owe you for hiding catnip in my room,” yunho sighs. it had been changmin’s childish response to the incident after a still unknown amount of girls from school had somehow acquired his phone number and called him at stupid hours of the night, looking for yunho.
“seraphina liked it,” changmin mumbles, sipping his wine.
“you ruined my bed.”
seraphina is rather sizeable when she shifts into her larger form, but changmin can’t seem to pass up this opportunity, gingerly examines his wineglass, says, “you wish it was me ruining your bed.”
yunho’s eyes widen by a fraction, bemused surprise, and if changmin wasn’t actually paying close attention, he would have missed it.
yunho leans forward, elbows to knees, and sets his glass down before fixing changmin with a stare he isn’t sure he wants to decipher.
“tell me,” yunho says slowly, absently fingering the stem of his wineglass, mouth turning up just a notch. “do your eyes really change color when you’re hungry?”
heat ricochets up changmin’s skin. from his scalp to his ears to his chest, he flushes, unbidden. his lips part, his heart skips, and he stammers, voice caught in a pitch too high, “w-what?”
yunho throws his head back and laughs, rises to a stand and starts his way toward and then up the stairs.
“two can play the game, changmin,” he says laugh dwindled down to a chuckle, then, just before closing the door to his room,
“don’t lose.”
.[ 03 | 05 ]
.comments are ♥
3011w.
ao3
changmin fingers the bracelet his father had given him as a child, twisting and turning it around his wrist nervously as he paces the length of the condo. his stomach knots, tangling more by the second.
“you’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t stop pacing, changmin.” yunho tells him from his spot at the table, eyes trained on the newspaper in his hands.
“easy for you to say,” changmin mutters. while they had not always been on well terms, yunho’s known his sister for her entire life, has witnessed her grow up, mate, and have a child. the last time changmin himself had seen her, he was being forced away-kicking, screaming, and biting-on a fiery night in the late nineteen hundreds without a word since. how is changmin to reconcile with her, now a mother and a mate, different?
“you’ll make seraphina sick,” yunho tries, still reading the paper.
changmin turns on his heel, snaps, teeth bared and canines prominent. “piss off. i haven’t seen jihye in forty-six years, over an entire fucking century in half blooded wolven time, over three in full. she’s mated, yunho. she has children. so you’ll be so kind as to forgive me if i find myself in a moment of panic.”
eyes bright at the outburst, yunho sets his paper down and walks up to changmin, cuts off his pacing path and rests his hands on his shoulders. he catches changmin’s murky blue glare with a hard look of his own, and opens his mouth.
“changmin.” yunho says his name in a firm, quiet, soothing tone that makes changmin tense and relax all at once, hackles up as he watches yunho’s pupils dialate, too late for an apology, and then,
“stop.”
a hellish burning sparks in changmin’s blood, runs up through the crevices of his muscles and seizes every inch of him. his body stills, abrupt and painful. his lungs catch. his heart skips.
rage encases him from scalp to foot.
yunho’s voice maintains its smoothness, and changmin wants to set fire to something.
“why are you nervous?”
“fuck you.” changmin manages to mumble out, throat closing around a deep set growl. his eyes are wide as he looks directly into yunho’s. he feels his own stare shrink, resize, flash, burn bright, and he sees ultraviolet. yunho narrows his eyes at him, and his hold becomes a little tighter.
“answer me.”
anger rolls off of changmin in waves, and if the tangy scent of it bothers yunho he doesn’t show it in the slightest. “different.” changmin utters around the force of being compelled. “nothing to keep us friends.”
“your relationship with boa is unchanged. seamless, even.” yunho points out.
“different.” changmin stresses, suddenly looking exhausted. yunho lets him free, and he nearly crumples with the shuddering gasp of breath he takes. changmin’s body coils, and despite the hot anger still skimming the surface of his skin, he ignores the ache in his bones to tip his head to the side when yunho opens his mouth, gives the tiniest flash of teeth in warning.
“sorry.”
“it has been amended,” yunho nods curtly, putting a step of distance between them. his stare sweeps changmin from head to toe, and he gestures towards the couches as he takes in the restraint and weariness riddling through him. “sit,” he says, going to the kitchen and returning with a glass of dark red. he heads it to changmin, who manages to crack an eye open. “drink.”
silence ticks by for a moment. “you didn’t have to do that,” changmin says around the rim of the glass, eyes closed again. “i’m not stupid enough to not know when i seem to cross one of your… lines.”
“no, you are not.” yunho’s voice comes softer still, but he does not apologize. changmin chuckles into his drink. he takes what he can get.
“as i said. i’m nervous because we are both different now, there is nothing to keep us as friends.” changmin sits his glass down and thinks of the ease of his relationship with yunho-despite its obvious oddities. it only serves to drive home how severely things have changed, how much jihye has probably changed.
“your relationship with boa stands as it was.” yunho points out, almost sagely.
“your sister is another case. i do not love her in the same way anymore and yet-”
“yet?”
“i fear it may be uncomfortable. what if it’s awkward, or what if her mate does not like me due to our past? what if-”
“jung changmin.”
“excuse me?”
“changmin, did you not speak with jihye and kiyiya over the phone, or was i making that up at three thirty seven in the morning when i was trying to sleep.”
“i will not be changing my name-”
“kiyiya and jihye expressed genuine joy that you’re here. kiyiya doesn’t covet his wife’s past with you and jihye has not changed much, trust me. also, it will only be needed for more legal purposes; i’ve issued you an id of state and i expect it to be kept on you.”
changmin sucks in a breath through his teeth, eyes boring into yunho’s. “you do realize that you are the absolute worst?” he says like a lament, and yunho chuckles as changmin stands and stretches. “it’s just hard to imagine jihye all grown up, with a family, responsible-”
yunho makes a strange noise in his throat, something between amusement and disdain, and changmin resists the urge to cackle.
“did she stop cursing, at least?”
“kiyiya saw to it.” yunho tells him, just as the doorbell rings.
the panic surges back up changmin’s spine immediately, and he pauses in a vague sense of shock when yunho grabs his hand, squeezes it gently before releasing it and making his way to the door. changmin’s vague shock sparks into the full thing the moment jihye walks in though, her hair in a single long braid down her back, puppy ears missing and holding the hand of a black haired little girl with shining yellow eyes. a step behind her, another, with sun kissed skin, black hair that fell by his waist and even blacker eyes. with him is another small child, a boy with the same yellow eyes, clinging to his hand.
“mama, this is him?” the little girl asks, words accented, eyes boring straight into changmin.
“that’s changmin, my best friend,” jihye says, voice strained.
“the man that helped you a lot when uncle yunho used to be mean?”
yunho gives a soft scoff at the remark, to which jihye ignores. “yes.”
the little girl pulls her hand from her mother’s and walks up to changmin, who sucks in a sharp breath. her yellow eyes look up at him with serious intent that seems out of place on her young face-changmin see’s parts of jihye in her, her sharp jawline and the way she holds it, her entire little body bespoken with pride despite the seriousness there.
“hello,” changmin has to force himself not to whisper with the awe coursing through his veins as he bends his knees until he is level with the little girl. he holds out his hand, waits patiently until she takes it, shakes it gently. “what’s your name?”
“min,” she says to him proudly, eyes bright. “just like you!”
“it’s very nice to meet you, min,” changmin says, throat constricting, eyes misting with tears he forces himself to not shed. his teeth hurt, and he lets them lengthen.
“changmin,” jihye greets him as he stands. changmin nods, dazed, world tilting dangerously when jihye moves forward in a blur and hugs him tightly, mumbles into his chest, “i’m so happy yunho found you.”
“it would’ve been hard to miss me, considering i was cursing at the sky at the top of my lungs,” changmin laughs lightly, easing the heaviness of the situation away in fear of a complete breakdown. seeing jihye-holding, touching, breathing the same air-opens a mental flood of memories, things he wants to say, good and bad, but changmin notes with inner relief that there is no regret in his system, no heat, not even a flicker of the monstrosity of feelings he once had. he hugs jihye back with an arm around her shoulder and brings her to his side, fingers playing at the loose strands of hair from her braid, and old gesture. “don’t be rude, jihye. introduce me to your mate.”
"it asn't even been five minutes," jihye narrows her eyes up at him, hums, “are you already telling me what to do?”
“someone’s got to,” yunho deadpans, to which kiyiya laughs, “if that’s not the truth.”
kiyiya comes forward and introduces his son first, “this is jin,” he says, and jin bows to changmin before carefully hiding himself behind kiyiya’s legs. “he’s still a little shy, unlike min.”
“hi there, jin, it's nice to meet you, too.” changmin takes in his features, short dark hair and sweet tan skin and yellow eyes and says, “you really, seriously look exactly like your sister.”
there’s a gurgle, one that sounds suspiciously like “nooooo” before jin pivots from behind kiyiya and zips away. changmin laughs, watching him go for only a moment before giving kiyiya his attention.
“it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” changmin grins, canines on display as he shakes kiyiya’s hand. if kiyiya notices, he says nothing, just grins right back.
“likewise. i’ve heard many a story about you.”
“oh, well then you probably know about what a pain i can be,” changmin laughs.
“hey, blue eyes, i’m not that mean,” jihye mutters, giving a strained thing of a yelp when jin finds his way into her lap and tugs at an errant lock of hair.
“she’s still childish in some ways,” kiyiya offers in a stage whisper, then, “but she’s definitely right about one thing.”
“uh,” changmin raises a brow in question. “and what might that be?”
“your eyes do look like outer space. do they really change color?”
chuckling low, jihye interrupts again, this time with a look that tells secrets. “only when he’s hungry.”
“oh, wow, jihye,” changmin widens his eyes, and suddenly everything feels a little more like normal. “shut up.”
“bad words!” min and jin chime in unison, not once looking up from what they’re doing to jihye’s hair.
changmin lifts both of his brows, and, cackling, kiyiya slaps him on the shoulder in a goodhearted manner, “welcome back to the family, changmin. we’ll find some time to talk among ourselves later.”
it takes hours of conversation, running around with min and jin, and takeout for dinner-courtesy of yunho for not being in the mood to cook after aforementioned running around with min and jin-but after jihye and kiyiya leave with twins for bed, changmin finally lets himself fall into an exhausted heap of limbs on the couch.
listening to stories about the last sixty something years-he refuses to acknowledge everyone’s less diluted blood line and use their way of aging because that would make jihye one hundred and eighty nine years old and gods be damned, he was born before her and therefor he is older-had been an emotional roller coaster, albeit a rewarding one. changmin rarely felt even the slightest bit awkward with them, his estranged family, and he’d even been more impressed by yunho’s willingness to play with the twins.
changmin has a sneaking suspicion that yunho didn’t go far from him through out the day so that he could remain as a support of sorts, in which changmin is grateful because he’ll be a liar if he says he didn’t need it at times. changmin adores jihye and kiyiya together, which only made him berate himself more for feeling that brief flicker of envy at their fortune and… normalcy. though kiyiya scolds jihye as much as he scolds min and jin-probably more-they’re both glaringly in love and happy with their family. nonetheless. it makes changmin smile. he can’t hope for more for jihye, not at all.
“you look tired,” yunho says, offering changmin a glass of wine. changmin accepts it with a grateful little sound and takes a light sip, the taste not even staying on his tongue.
“i had no clue that children take that much out of you. kiyiya mentioned that jihye’s pregnant again, and, really, i cannot see how they do it.” changmin says with a bemused smile. “i’d probably be a wreck.”
“you did well enough,” yunho chuckles. “you kept up with them all the while handling seeing jihye again. that alone is testament to your strengths.”
changmin slides his gaze to yunho. he knows subtly worded complements when he hears them; it’s an offer to share his feelings, and one he doesn’t think he’ll pass up. because he needs to, something he is sure that yunho probably senses.
“there were moments,” changmin admits, taking a longer sip of wine. “not many, and not because i miss being with jihye the way i used to be, but simply because it is strange, seeing her like this. i feel as if i fell behind somehow. i’m in college, and everyone has a family and a career, or is starting to settle. it’s just-it’s strange, yunho. i used to feel older with you and your family. in place. now i feel as if i’m-” changmin stops, unsure. a distant cousin being brought into the fold? an estranged kid brother and an outsider, someone that once belonged but does not quite fit well into the space they left behind anymore.
“it won’t always be this way. in time,” yunho offers quietly. “you’ll age differently than we will, and soon enough you’ll pursue marriage or a mate, and you’ll have an extended family to call your own.”
anticipation and fear slither down changmin’s spine at the idea of a family-a partner, kids of his own-it all seems so vast and far off, not to mention unlikely. even though he knows that the years will fly in less than a blink, he also knows that living day to day seems to take forever.
“one thing at a time,” changmin says finally, allowing a small smile. “school first, i want my degrees. maybe i’ll write a book, who knows,” he adds with a small laugh. “after the amount of work i put into to doing good in school, i won’t want to waste it.”
yunho eyes changmin for a moment, strangely, intently, and mutters, “odd little vampire,” before raising his glass of wine to him from his spot on the couch across the coffee table. changmin raises his glass in turn, tilts it just so before taking another sip.
“you’re an excellent uncle,” changmin says, purposely breaking the silence.
“they’re excellent children, despite their mother’s genetics.”
a hot bout of old, dormant anger hits changmin, sudden and at full force, an anger he hasn’t felt since the time he used to run the woods and help jihye hunt, from before, and he narrows his eyes at yunho. “are you seriously still going on about jihye being only half blooded-”
“you misunderstand, changmin. i am no longer two centuries old and unacceptably ignorant.” yunho gives a small laugh, mouth tilting into the ghost of a smirk. “i simply meant that my little sister is still a loud, hot headed, arrogant woman. the fact that she is half human has nothing to do with it.”
changmin stares for a solid four seconds, to which yunho states right back, and he simmers down, chips in from behind the rim of his glass. “i think the arrogance thing comes straight from your father. you’re both so full of sh-”
“careful.” yunho warns with a sly smile, eyes gleaming.
changmin raises an eyebrow, dares, “or what?” but steels up the second yunho arches his own brow in the way that changmin hates the most-the way that has a brick of anxiety settling in the pit of his stomach so instantly.
“no. no, you will not be showing up at my school again, no,” changmin says firmly, remembering the last time yunho even came close to his campus. it was raining that day, and yunho was kind enough to pick him up. it would’ve been a thoughtful gesture if not for-and this is a very huge if not for-if not for the fact that yunho had met him in the school, and now half of changmin’s professors are vying to get his number, if not a few of the students.
“i do believe i still owe you for hiding catnip in my room,” yunho sighs. it had been changmin’s childish response to the incident after a still unknown amount of girls from school had somehow acquired his phone number and called him at stupid hours of the night, looking for yunho.
“seraphina liked it,” changmin mumbles, sipping his wine.
“you ruined my bed.”
seraphina is rather sizeable when she shifts into her larger form, but changmin can’t seem to pass up this opportunity, gingerly examines his wineglass, says, “you wish it was me ruining your bed.”
yunho’s eyes widen by a fraction, bemused surprise, and if changmin wasn’t actually paying close attention, he would have missed it.
yunho leans forward, elbows to knees, and sets his glass down before fixing changmin with a stare he isn’t sure he wants to decipher.
“tell me,” yunho says slowly, absently fingering the stem of his wineglass, mouth turning up just a notch. “do your eyes really change color when you’re hungry?”
heat ricochets up changmin’s skin. from his scalp to his ears to his chest, he flushes, unbidden. his lips part, his heart skips, and he stammers, voice caught in a pitch too high, “w-what?”
yunho throws his head back and laughs, rises to a stand and starts his way toward and then up the stairs.
“two can play the game, changmin,” he says laugh dwindled down to a chuckle, then, just before closing the door to his room,
“don’t lose.”
.[ 03 | 05 ]
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