Last Breath - Part 39
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As Onew was pulling the door shut behind him, he kept his eyes tightly closed. He waited until he heard the door's click before he carefully squinted them open. It was a bit like The Council building, the narrow wooden hallway that smelled old. Other than that, it was surprisingly unfamiliar. Onew walked slowly through the small hall, eyes grazing over the walls and boarded up windows.
It still felt like home. But he'd never seen the place before.
So, where was the bathroom?
He walked to one door, slipping the door open and leaning a head in. It seemed like some kind of dusty office space that hadn't been used in forever. He shut the door and moved onto the next, through which he found what seemed to be another small and underfurnished bedroom like that Minho had been in. The third door, however, lead into a large den area.
Which felt.. wrong. Too open, and, as if it was part of another house. It was all... modern. A bright red couch was next to a glass end table covered in magazines. Magazines which may have belonged to Key, Onew thought, who was lounging on the couch and flipping through one himself.
Before Onew spoke, Key did, asking with a smirk, "Did you just get shut down by your bonded?"
Onew wrinkled his nose, and decided to ignore that Key had just heard all of that, changing the subject. "Did Heechul change this house a lot?"
"Mmhmm. For his bonded, I think." Key answered. "That human stays here when Heechul leaves the country, or something like that."
"I didn't know Heechul was bonded." Onew said, and sighed. "He changed it too much. I don't remember anything."
"Hm." Key said, and sat up on the couch, shutting the magazine in his hands. "Would it help if I called you Lee Jinki?"
Like a bullet shot through his head, a memory crashed into him. He clutched his head as if it would stop it from exploding, as it felt very much like it might do. He dropped onto his knees then, and the pain was fast to melt away, but the memory whirled around his mind like a hurricane.
***
Onew laid his head on his folded arms, stomach down against the huge comfortable bed. He stretched his legs as far as they could go, toes pointing, and still had so much room to spare before they'd reach the foot. He sighed and smiled, asking, "Can I stay in your room every night now?"
Noh moved on top of him, like a cool shadow interupting the sunlight, lying down on his back and tracing fingers over the back of his neck to watch him cringe at the stimulation. "Not every night, Onew. It isn't as special if you do."
"How often?" Onew asked, voice suddenly very small.
Noh smirked and moved his fingers away, leaning in close to speak into Onew's ear. "Why does that make you sad?"
"It's not that I can't stay every night," Onew answered in a quiet voice, "It's that I want to."
"It's natural to miss your old life, as a human. Humans will always have to deal with such emotional burdens. When you become a vampire, you'll forget it." Noh hesitated, and then said, "You'll forget this too."
"I don't want to forget it." Onew said in a sigh. "I don't want to forget you."
The thumping of Onew's heart seemed especially loud. Boom. Boom. Boom. like a giant taking a slow walk. More than he heard it, he felt it, a throbbing in his chest against the mattress. Noh rested his mouth against the back of Onew's neck then, and he could feel his bonded's smile as he spoke. "You're very special. Maybe you won't forget."
Onew felt oddly warm for having someone so cold be over top of him. It was especially comfortable, and he closed his eyes. He said, just under his breath, "I love--"
***
Onew brushed tears out of his eyes as he stood back on his feet.
"What the fuck just happened?" Key asked, standing up himself.
"Come here." Onew said in an exasperated voice, "I need help standing up."
Key frowned, but obediently walked over, just starting to put his hand on Onew's shoulder when Onew slammed a fist into his jaw, once, twice, and then with the third, Key's neck twisted and he fell back on the glass coffee table, shattering it. "I'm not doing this." Onew hurriedly said to the likely unconscious vampire before he stomped back the way he came, his vision hazy as he looked for the door that would lead to Minho.
Minho met him in the doorway, looking concerned. "Onew.."
"Put your shoes, your coat on." Onew said in a rush, "We're leaving."
"Did you remember..?"
"We're going to save Taemin. I won't remember."
"Tell me what happened, Onew." Minho demanded, biting his lip. Usually, he thought, he really wouldn't want to know what seemed to be disturbing Onew so much, but after the extremely good mood his vampire had been in just moments ago, Minho couldn't help but be concerned something was especially, horribly wrong. And that was the kind of 'wrong' he felt he needed to know about.
Onew shut his eyes and his mind went over the memory again. Not the memory itself, but the feeling with it. The living heart that had been inside of his very own body, beating for a person he'd slaughtered without, until now, any hint of regret.
"I just want to go, Minho."
Minho frowned, but nodded, and walked back into the room to get his shoes, and coat. He didn't know where the hell he was going, but he had to lead Onew - who refused to open his eyes - through the house, based on very unhelpful directions from the vampire. When he entered the living room and saw Key laying unconscious amongst broken glass, Onew announced "That was me", and Minho opted to walk as far away from the unmoving vampire as possible.
Somehow, they made it out into the cold, and Minho lead his vampire out of the gate and to Key's car. Only then did Onew open his eyes, rushing to the driver's side to check that Key had left the keys in the ignition. In the middle of the country, of course he had, and Onew sighed in relief.
Minho, somehow, didn't feel as relieved. He was more like building up nerves for what he remembered as a car drive so long it was sleep inducing - but with Onew at the wheel.
He walked around the car and got in the passenger's seat, looking across at Onew as he slipped in behind the wheel.
"Where are we going with you all bloody like that?" Minho asked.
"We'll figure it out." Onew said, slamming the car's door. Minho promptly buckled up.
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