Switchblade - 26
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"I didn't know it would be such a long walk," Taemin's fingers fiddle with the vials of blood that hang from his necklace. He's beginning to think of having a sip, and now that he's thinking of it, it's hitting him how bad he needs one. His throat feels thicker, dry and throbbing.
Taeil agrees with a mumble as he follows along behind Taemin. Their bag of cookies is long gone - they finished that a good twenty minutes ago. The city of Seoul is big, after all. Taemin doubts it's possible to get a cab at this time, though.
"I'm getting hungry," Taeil's soft voice becomes a bit louder, and the short vampire moves up to Taemin's side, looking at him. "There's still blood on you, isn't there?"
"I'm sure it's dry," Taemin answers, pausing on the sidewalk in order to check his previously injured elbows. There's not much blood there, but Taeil grabs his arm in a heartbeat and licks at the small portion. The lick makes Taemin feel all tingly, and before he knows what he's saying, the words are out there. "Are you gay?"
"Gay?" Taeil releases Taemin's arm, straightening up to look at him. "Do you mean.. do I like other men? Is that what you mean?"
"I don't mean anything," Taemin laughs a little, walking forward, "Don't answer that."
Taeil quickly walks by his side, grinning when he asks, "Are you gay?"
"It's weird," Taemin answers sincerely, "I never really thought about it. I must be. I liked having sex with Noodle."
Taeil's grin disappears, his eyes bulging with surprise. "With Noodle? The one that started all this, that Noodle? You left that part out."
"That was a recent thing. I don't know..." Taemin turns around, walking backwards to face Taeil. "Are you attracted to men?"
"I don't know," The vampire actually looks pretty embarrassed, his eyes turning to the sidewalk and an awkward smirk on his face, "Not usually, I guess."
Taemin laughs, "Are you attracted to me?"
Taeil looks up and their eyes meet for a split second before the vampire rushes forward and Taemin is wrapped in his arms. Taemin freezes mid-step and looks down into Taeil's hair, so surprised he can only form a few syllables. Then, Taemin's foot slowly finds the ground - several inches below where the thought it should be. "O-oh.."
Taeil lets go of him, laughing a little, "You almost fell."
"I should watch where I'm going," Taemin turns forward now before he walks again, thoroughly embarrassed. Taeil laughs behind him, saying, "And the answer is no."
"No, you're not attracted to me?"
"No," Taeil says again, snickering when he adds, "But I get that you liked when I licked you."
Taemin whines, "It felt good!"
After his words, a scream shreds through the air within the near area. More than a person in need, it sounds to Taemin like a clue of what to do next. He reaches into his pocket, inside finding the tiny knife stuck in a safety pouch that he took from a store a day ago. It's not his switchblade, it's not even silver. It's just something to use until something else comes his way.
Switchblades aren't easy to find, anyway, being as they're illegal in Korea.
"I guess we're running towards that," Taeil says, watching patiently as Taemin pulls the knife out of it's safety pouch.
"That's the plan," Taemin looks at Taeil, "Run ahead so I can follow you."
"I'll try not to fall."
The vampire does run ahead, but Taemin finds soon that he didn't need a guide. They come into a better lit area that's familiar to Taemin. He's stayed at a hotel on this street before. In fact, it's where he met Lee Joon.
They don't need to look far for the trouble, either. Both of them stop running as they move in front of a store where a bloodied girl lays under a broken window, stuck with shards of glass. She's stiff as the corpse that she's probably seconds from becoming. There's movement inside the place though.
Taemin and his vampire look through the window as they hear heavy footsteps coming over. It's three vampires who come in their direction while one of them drags along a man's body.
Taemin steps back from the bloody scene for a moment, flipping open a top on one of his vials and lifting it to his lips. As he has a sip of blood, the vampires from the building reach the window, slamming the bloodied man onto the sill. They spot Taeil and Taemin immediately.
"Who do we have here?" One vampire questions, leaning partially out of the window to look at them. Taemin stays back and keeps his head down, hoping that Taeil also has the idea to try talking first. He doesn't try talking at all, though. Another vampire answers for him.
"Some no one vampire and his bonded," one of the vampires says, and Taemin watches him shove the man's body until it falls out the window on top of the girl's. "Your bonded is new, huh? I can hear it's scared little heartbeat."
"Him?" Taeil looks shocked at Taemin. "You're not scared, are you?"
"Nope," Taemin gives a simple response and doesn't raise his head. Ask them about--
Taeil asks, "Are you guys with The Council?"
"What kind of question is that?" One of the skinnier men kicks glass out of his way and then sits in the window, "Are you with The Council?"
"I'm a newborn," Taeil answers.
The first vampire to speak rolls his eyes and speaks again, "Well then you're not supposed to have a bonded, are you?"
"I wouldn't know. Why don't you tell me about The Council so I can figure stuff like that out?"
"Like who The Council is, exactly," Taemin chimes in helpfully.
"Hold on," the third vampire, who didn't speak until now, leans out of the window, "I know that voice."
Taemin lifts his head finally, grinning at Taeil. "See? I'm really famous. "
"It's Lee Taemin," that third vampire looks pissed, and the other two's expressions change similarly.
The one sitting on the window jumps out, landing just next to the dead bodies. "Who's the sucker that bonded with him?"
"None ya," Taeil answers.
Taemin holds up his knife, "So, are we gonna fight?"
"Sure you want to?" The vampire nods his head, looking at something behind the two. Taemin and Taeil turn to see four more vampires moving in behind them, all of them splattered in blood like they just got out of a horror movie.
"Oh snap," one says, "It's Lee Taemin."
"Okay, I officially got it," Taeil says with a sigh, "You're famous."
"We're really outnumbered," Taemin notices, looking around at the group of vampires.
A gun shot goes off, and one vampire falls to the ground.
"Or not?" Taemin says.
Another gun shot and another vampire falls. Taemin finds Jaehyo and his gun walking closer to him, and so do all the vampires. The group disperses, some moving towards Jaehyo, others moving towards Taeil, and some moving towards Taemin as well.
Taemin is perfectly prepared and even excited to fight, a grin on his face and his knife in hand. However, bullet holes continuously appear in heads and he's only barely slashed across a vampire's chest before all of them are down.
"That was easy," a new voice says as a man steps out next to Jaehyo with a pistol in his hand. He has asymmetrical hair and wears a colorful jacket, looking contrasted with the pretentiously styled Jaehyo.
Next to Taemin, Taeil is cringing, putting a hand to his forehead with another one of those familiar migraines. This time, it spreads to Taemin more than before, pounding heavily on his brain.
Another man joins them, carrying a big gun over his shoulder. He's tall with a red jacket, blond hair, and chains on his pants. Taemin has clear sight of him for just a moment before he says the word "Cho", and the pounding drives so hard into Taemin's head that it feels it's been split into two pieces. He coughs, seeing red hit the sidewalk beneath him before he sees nothing at all.
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