In The Night
In The Night
Nichkhun/Wooyoung || AU || 3222 ||
for my lovely myrobotvoice because I love her so much I LOVE YOU OKCAT UNNIE || beta'd by the amazing so_much_kimchi ~ darling, you deserve all the love and rainbows and glitter in the world || I get the most random inspiration. I hope this isn't bad!fic D: it's been a work in progress since february, epp. ||
The sun is just setting and the sky is splashed red and orange, and Nichkhun watches as the man walks home.
He seems like an easy enough target. He's alone, he just left a bar, and night is starting to fall. All Nichkhun has to do is wait a few more minutes and then it will be dark enough for him to attack. He breathes in deeply, tasting the air and the faint scent of man masked by a strong smell of alcohol.
He carefully falls into step just behind himthe man, waiting for him to pass by an alley or anything like it when he sees the man's face for the first time, in the reflection of a window. He stumbles slightly (he's not sure why) and the targeted man hears him.
"Junho? Is that you?"
Nichkhun hisses at his own clumsiness, and grabsgrabbing the man roughly from behind, covering his mouth to stifle his attempted shouts. He drags him into the nearest dark doorway- out of sight -, as the young man tries feebly to break free from his grasp. Nichkhun can't help but laugh a little at this.
Then the young man does something so unexpected that Nichkhun almost lets him go right there. He begins to cry. Nichkhun can feel the young man's tears roll onto his hand, warm and wet. He may be a monster, but he, too, was once human and he isn't cruel and cold.
And then, the young man bites down hard on the hand that covers covering his mouth, and Nichkhun yelps out more in from shock rather than in pain, and reflectively lets go of the young man.
Nichkhun silently, he watches as he runs away.
***
Wooyoung doesn't sleep for the next forty-eight hours. He has the uncanny feeling that he's being watched. Or maybe not being watched, per say. It's more like, a compulsive need to glance over his own shoulder every few seconds just to make sure that no one is following him.
He decides to not leave his house. Ever.
***
Not leaving his house lasts a little less than week. And then, Wooyoung finally works up enough the courage to leave once again (it was more because there wasn't any more food in the kitchen and he hadn't eaten since morning), and he ventures out to the nearest store. It's just gotten dark and the streetlights are just coming on.
He walks down the street, trying to look casual while in reality he's scared shitless of getting attacked again. He passes by a dark doorway, and he cringinges slightly. And then he hears footsteps behind him.
Without looking back, he quickens his step and when he hears the footsteps behind speed up also, he breaks into a run, not bothering to hide his fear. As he comes directly underneath a streetlamp, he trips, and falls and immediately wishes he had called his mother today to say he loved her because he's surely going to die because this strange man chasing him was surely going to kill him.
The man creeps closer to him, coming into full view underneath the streetlight. He was, to put it quite simply, beautiful. He had a foreign quality about him, but was beautiful all the same. Wooyoung takes in a sharp breath, and moves away from him, some inner instinct telling him that this man was dangerous despite his beauty.
"I won't hurt you, I swear," he breathes out. His voice is soft and pleasant sounding, and it stops Wooyoung in his tracks.
"Please? Don't run away. I'm tired of chasing you."
The stranger's words, I'm tired of chasing you, reverberate around Wooyoung's head. So he was the same man from the other night, the cause of those uncanny feelings, the reason for looking over his shoulder all the time. But then he looks into the stranger's eyes and all notions of being murdered are suddenly thrown from his mind.
"Wooyoung, that's your name, right?" The man’s his eyes shine brightly in the dim streetlight. "Please, Wooyoung. I promise I won't hurt you."
Wooyoung's brain is urging at him to move, to shout, to do something, but his body won't obey. He doesn't know why, but something about the stranger's voice, his aura compels him to stay.
"My name is Nichkhun. Hello," the stranger, Nichkhun, says pleasantly.
After a breif moment of silence, Wooyoung manages to choke out a, "Hi" before clamping his mouth shut. He doesn't know why he responded at all.
"Are you going to stop running away from me now?"
A blink, a small nod of the head is all the answer he gets, all Wooyoung can manage. Nichkhun smiles widely.
This was easier than he thought it'd be.
***
Wooyoung doesn't see Nichkhun again for over a week.
He's not really sure if it was some horribly wonderful (or wonderfully horrible) dream, or if it actually happened. He's also not sure if he wants to see the man, Nichkhun, again or not.
However, the next time Wooyoung actually sees him, he feels completely at ease. Nichkhun approaches him at sunset when as he is sitting on a bench in a quiet little park. He sits beside him without a word and watches the sun set. Neither of them say a word as they sit together in the darkness for hours.
Wooyoung gets up suddenly, to go walk home, and as he walks, Nichkhun follows beside him silently. Wooyoung wonders what could possibly be going on in the other man's head, but then he shrugs it off. Regardless of the oddness of the situation, it feel comfortable enough to him.
***
They fall into a pattern quickly. Wooyoung wakes up alone sometime in the middle of the day and busies himself until sunset. Then he walks to the park. Nichkhun is there, waiting at the bench. They spend the evening together, and Nichkhun follows Wooyoung home. Wooyoung goes to sleep, and sees Nichkhun in his dreams.
Sometimes they talk. Wooyoung finds out that Nichkhun isn't exactly normal. He’s different - and that's the extent of information that he gathers. Most of the time it's Wooyoung doing the talking. He talks about random things; the weather, his dreams, a song he heard recently. Nothing important, but Nichkhun listens intently all the same.
It's only after a three months of walking him home each night that Nichkhun suggests that Wooyoung should invite him inside his house for the night.
Wooyoung doesn't know why he didn't think of that sooner.
***
When he's around Wooyoung, Nichkhun gets the strangest desire to kidnap him. To steal him from the world and keep him as his own. He's always been possessive, to say the least, but even this random desire surprises him. But he gets over it quickly, though, because it feels all-too-natural that he should keep Wooyoung all to himself.
It was his vulnerability, Nichkhun reasons with himself. It would be like kicking a puppy if he hurt him, or worse - fed on him. He was much too clumsy and weak to pose any kind of threat to him anyways, so what was the harm in keeping him close? Besides, Nichkhun loved the way he smelled, it was mouth-watering in the least appetizing way - if that even made sense. He couldn't get enough of the young man's scent, but it no longer made him hungry. He wanted to preserve the scent, bottle it and keep it for all eternity. Yes, that’s what he wanted.
***
"I thought people like you couldn't go out in the sunlight?" Wooyoung asks as Nichkhun puts on sunglasses. He had agreed (much to Wooyoung's amazement) to accompany him on his walk to the market.
"No, we can. It's just that our senses are so much stronger than yours," and suddenly he is behind Wooyoung, whispering in his ear, "And so the sun and noise hurts. But for you," and now Nichkhun is biting Wooyoung's ear softly and Wooyoung is shivering, "For you, I'll deal with it."
Wooyoung wonders what he did to deserve such good luck. Because after all, it is impossibly lucky that Nichkhun hadn't killed him and had fallen in love with him instead.
***
It was an unspoken agreement that Nichkhun would just move into Wooyoung's small house. It made sense, anyways. Nichkhun spent more time there than anywhere else. It was only a matter of time.
***
The first time Nichkhun calls Wooyoung "yeobo", Wooyoung's heart skips a beat. It's a word so familiar to him and yet so foreign as it rolls off Nichkhun's tongue. It's full of something exoctic and yet it’s comforting at the same time as it wraps around him. "Yeobo," he whispers again and Wooyoung melts into his words and his arms.
***
Wooyoung dreams of spilt blood and broken promises and wakes up gasping for breath with sweat rolling down his body. His hand trembles as he fumbles for the light switch, hurriedly trying to dispel the last of the demons in his mind. It's only Nichkhun's unnaturally cool hands on his face and his sickly-sweet breath on his lips that calm him down.
"What's wrong, yeobo?"
His breath sweeps over him and Wooyoung's heart skips a beat as he tries to remember how to breathe properly. "I-I don't remember."
"Then go back to sleep, yeobo."
***
It happens for the first time when Wooyoung accidently gives himself a papercut.
"Shit," he mutters, holding his finger gingerly. He presses down harder and watches as his blood pools at the tip of his finger.
He's about to search for a band-aid when Nichkhun grabs his hand suddenly - Wooyoung isn't really sure when Nichkhun even got into the same room - and gently brings it to his mouth, licking the tip of his finger. Wooyoung stares, slightly mesmerized by the way Nichkhun's tongue laps at his fingertip.
"I wouldn't want it to go to waste," he purrs, dropping Wooyoung's hand suddenly.
And then he's gone, and Wooyoung is alone in the room once again.
***
Wooyoung is laying peacefully on Nichkhun chest as he begins to doze off when a thought hits him. If he tried, could he hear Nichkhun's heart? He moves cautiously, placing his ear over where he thinks a heart should be and listens.
"You won't hear anything."
He melancholy voice startles Wooyoung and he looks up to him. "Why?"
"It stopped beating a long time ago."
"Then how are you breathing?"
"Yeobo," he laughs. "Breathing is just a habit for me."
Wooyoung frowns, "I don't believe you. Everybody has a beating heart. Everybody."
Nichkhun shakes his head and closes his eyes. He doesn't see Wooyoung's determined face as he continues to listen for a heartbeat. Nor does he see the look of pure delight once Wooyoung hears a faint beating when he intertwines their hands together.
***
Nichkhun does many things so unexpectedly, and Wooyoung has learned to always be on his guard around him.
But nothing prepares him for one day when Nichkhun suddenly spins around and throws him over his back and sprints off the park path and into the trees. Wooyoung closes his eyes tightly as he hears the landscape whoosh past them. It's an odd muffled sound, and reminds him of being on an airplane.
What feels like mere seconds later, Nichkhun abruptly stops and Wooyoung's hearing gradually goes back to normal. He keeps his eyes closed as he feels Nichkhun place him on the ground. It felt like...sand underneath his shoes. And there - in the distance, seagulls.
He cracks open one eye as Nichkhun's arm pulls him close. He had brought him to the beach that was about a half hour away from the park. Wooyoung opens his other eye and gazes excitedly around. He pulls away from Nichkhun's embrace and sprints towards the water, kicking his shoes off on the way.
Nichkhun smiles as he watches the other man frolic in the waves.
***
Wooyoung is in the kitchen chopping vegetables the second time it happens.
"Ow!" he yells, dropping the knife and cradling his hand. He had nearly chopped off his pinky, but had succeeded in only slicing it open. Blood flows freely and Wooyoung frantically looks around for a towel to wrap his hand in.
And then Nichkhun hands are on his face, cool and refreshing as he tells him to keep calm. He take his bleeding finger and licks it gently, making him shudder slightly. He then wraps it carefully in a bandage and kisses Wooyoung softly before walking back out of the room.
Wooyoung is left standing there with the taste of his own blood on his lips.
***
"I'm sorry, Junho, but I can't. Nichkhun wants me to stay home with him tonight."
"Nichkhun wants you to stay home with him every night. What about your other friends?"
"Maybe next week, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I've heard that one before. Whatever, when he breaks up with you - don't come running to me again."
Wooyoung sighs as the line goes dead. He defeatedly puts the phone back on the table, and then slides back underneath the blankets with Nichkhun.
"I didn't like his tone of voice with you," Nichkhun mutters into Wooyoung's neck.
"Yeah, well, I don't like you listening in to my phone calls."
"I'm not going to break up with you. Ever. I love you."
***
Sometimes Wooyoung wonders where Nichkhun came from.
"Tell me where you're from," he'll ask as Nichkhun nudges him with his nose. "Tell me something - anything."
"There's nothing to tell," Nichkhun mutters against Wooyoung's throat. "I was nothing before you."
Wooyoung shivers, but he doesn't back down. "Where are you from?" he insists.
"Some place else," Nichkhun whispers into his ear, "Thailand."
Wooyoung's mind goes blank as Nichkhun licks his ear, and it's almost as if Nichkhun hadn't said anything at all.
"Where are you from?"
"I'm a prince from Thailand," he laughs, pulling away from Wooyoung.
***
On rare occasion, such as when Nichkhun is kissing his neck, Wooyoung is overcome with an overwhelming desire to know exactly what it would feel like to have Nichkhun drink his blood, to feel his teeth pierce his neck. The desire is so consuming when it hits him, that his heart begins to race as he subconsciously exposes more of his neck to Nichkhun in hopes of enticing him to just bite him. Nichkhun never does.
And on one such occasion where he is kissing his neck, Wooyoung is incredibly tempted to just tell the man to bite him already. Nichkhun feels Wooyoung's breath catch in his throat underneath his lips, "Nichkhun, just do-"
"Shh, yeobo. Don't say anything."
"But-"
"You don't know what you want."
And it's true. Nichkhun knows this, but Wooyoung doesn't. Wooyoung only thinks he knows what he wants.
***
Nichkhun knows that he can't stay with Wooyoung forever. Or more, Wooyoung can't stay with him forever. Eventually Wooyoung will grow older and age and die. Nichkhun will remain as he is until the earth stops spinning, and even then he might remain the same.
But he knows that if he could, he would spend an eternity with him. If only Wooyoung could last that long.
***
"So," Nichkhun starts nonchalantly, "Who exactly is Junho?"
Wooyoung mumbles, "Nobody, he's just a friend," but Nichkhun can hear his erratically beating heart thump out a different story, and he doesn't like it. He frowns as he contemplates his options.
"Well, why don't you invite him over for dinner tomorrow? I want to meet your friends."
Wooyoung's eyes dart to Nichkhun's face quickly, then back to his book. "Sure, sure," he mumbles, trying to keep his cool. Nichkhun bites his lip in annoyance and frustration at Wooyoung's attempt to hide his emotions. Has he forgotten that Nichkhun can read him like a book? Obviously.
The next night Junho is sitting in the living room with Nichkhun as Wooyoung is making drinks in the kitchen. Junho's hands are trembling in his lap and he avoids Nichkhun's eyes while they awkwardly converse.
"So, you're Wooyoung's friend?" Nichkhun doesn't bother to hide his skepticism.
"Um, yeah. We've known each other for a while."
"I see," Nichkhun mutters, standing suddenly. "It's hot in here, isn't it? Let's wait for Wooyoung outside."
Junho mumbles something incoherent and follows Nichkhun into the backyard. "You know, I'm not scared of you," he mutters defiantly under his breath.
But Nichkhun can hear the his heart thumping frantically, and he almost smiles at Junho's attempt at bravery. He decides he'll make it quick and relatively painless. Wooyoung seemed fond of this man - whatever their actual relationship might be - so it was the least he could do for him.
***
Time has a different meaning to Nichkhun, it passes differently for him. He's not sure if it's faster or slower, really it depends on how he looks at it.
Time seems to flow slowly when he's away from Wooyoung. Which, he figures, is the case for all people away from their significant other. However, he can see the difference. He can see the people around him move slower, as if they were up to their knees in quicksand. He can feel the earth slowly rotate in small degrees beneath his feet.
He doesn't count the time in seconds or minutes, he counts the time in breaths - Wooyoung's breaths to be exact. Thirteen breaths per minute, which would result in eighteen thousand seven hundred and twenty breaths a day, and six million eight hundred thirty-two thousand and eight hundred a year, and twenty-two million two hundred thirty-seven thousand and eight hundred breaths since he first laid eyes on him three years and three months and three days ago.
Before that, Nichkhun isn't sure how he kept track of the time. He doesn't really remember.
***
Nichkhun can see the signs clearer than anyone else. He can see the one gray hair in the thousands growing on Wooyoung's head, he can feel the one miniscule winkle on his face that Wooyoung himself hasn't even noticed yet, and he can hear the slower tone that Wooyoung is beginning to use subconsciously.
But Nichkhun won't deny it any longer, he's isn't a martyr. His breed are designed to be selfish, and he's no different from the rest. He wants Wooyoung all to himself, and he wants this Wooyoung. No one else will do.
And so Nichkhun does the exact thing that he promised he would never do. As Wooyoung sleeps peacfully for the first time in months, Nichkhun slithers underneath the blankets next to him, and Nichkhun can feel the goosebumps that rise on Wooyoung's skin where their bodies touch. He presses closes, greedy for the warmth that Wooyoung's body gives off.
Wooyoung shifts, mumbles something in his sleep, and Nichkhun hisses. He carefully tugs his shirt away from Wooyoung’shis neck, and nuzzles his nose against his throat. He can feel the blood flowing inside and his mouth waters. He hasdn't realized before how much he had actually wanted to do this. He lets his teeth grazve over Wooyoung's throat, and he shivers.
"Ni-Nichkhun?"
And then he bites, teeth easily tearing through the thin flesh of Wooyoung's neck. He feels the other man stiffen, then begin to thrash about in pain.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, yeobo. But this is the only way."
Wooyoung continues to thrash about, but his movements get weaker and weaker with his loss of blood. The last thing Wooyoung hears as his vision fades to black is Nichkun's soft voice, "We'll be together forever now, yeobo."
Nichkhun/Wooyoung || AU || 3222 ||
for my lovely myrobotvoice because I love her so much I LOVE YOU OKCAT UNNIE || beta'd by the amazing so_much_kimchi ~ darling, you deserve all the love and rainbows and glitter in the world || I get the most random inspiration. I hope this isn't bad!fic D: it's been a work in progress since february, epp. ||
The sun is just setting and the sky is splashed red and orange, and Nichkhun watches as the man walks home.
He seems like an easy enough target. He's alone, he just left a bar, and night is starting to fall. All Nichkhun has to do is wait a few more minutes and then it will be dark enough for him to attack. He breathes in deeply, tasting the air and the faint scent of man masked by a strong smell of alcohol.
He carefully falls into step just behind himthe man, waiting for him to pass by an alley or anything like it when he sees the man's face for the first time, in the reflection of a window. He stumbles slightly (he's not sure why) and the targeted man hears him.
"Junho? Is that you?"
Nichkhun hisses at his own clumsiness, and grabsgrabbing the man roughly from behind, covering his mouth to stifle his attempted shouts. He drags him into the nearest dark doorway- out of sight -, as the young man tries feebly to break free from his grasp. Nichkhun can't help but laugh a little at this.
Then the young man does something so unexpected that Nichkhun almost lets him go right there. He begins to cry. Nichkhun can feel the young man's tears roll onto his hand, warm and wet. He may be a monster, but he, too, was once human and he isn't cruel and cold.
And then, the young man bites down hard on the hand that covers covering his mouth, and Nichkhun yelps out more in from shock rather than in pain, and reflectively lets go of the young man.
Nichkhun silently, he watches as he runs away.
***
Wooyoung doesn't sleep for the next forty-eight hours. He has the uncanny feeling that he's being watched. Or maybe not being watched, per say. It's more like, a compulsive need to glance over his own shoulder every few seconds just to make sure that no one is following him.
He decides to not leave his house. Ever.
***
Not leaving his house lasts a little less than week. And then, Wooyoung finally works up enough the courage to leave once again (it was more because there wasn't any more food in the kitchen and he hadn't eaten since morning), and he ventures out to the nearest store. It's just gotten dark and the streetlights are just coming on.
He walks down the street, trying to look casual while in reality he's scared shitless of getting attacked again. He passes by a dark doorway, and he cringinges slightly. And then he hears footsteps behind him.
Without looking back, he quickens his step and when he hears the footsteps behind speed up also, he breaks into a run, not bothering to hide his fear. As he comes directly underneath a streetlamp, he trips, and falls and immediately wishes he had called his mother today to say he loved her because he's surely going to die because this strange man chasing him was surely going to kill him.
The man creeps closer to him, coming into full view underneath the streetlight. He was, to put it quite simply, beautiful. He had a foreign quality about him, but was beautiful all the same. Wooyoung takes in a sharp breath, and moves away from him, some inner instinct telling him that this man was dangerous despite his beauty.
"I won't hurt you, I swear," he breathes out. His voice is soft and pleasant sounding, and it stops Wooyoung in his tracks.
"Please? Don't run away. I'm tired of chasing you."
The stranger's words, I'm tired of chasing you, reverberate around Wooyoung's head. So he was the same man from the other night, the cause of those uncanny feelings, the reason for looking over his shoulder all the time. But then he looks into the stranger's eyes and all notions of being murdered are suddenly thrown from his mind.
"Wooyoung, that's your name, right?" The man’s his eyes shine brightly in the dim streetlight. "Please, Wooyoung. I promise I won't hurt you."
Wooyoung's brain is urging at him to move, to shout, to do something, but his body won't obey. He doesn't know why, but something about the stranger's voice, his aura compels him to stay.
"My name is Nichkhun. Hello," the stranger, Nichkhun, says pleasantly.
After a breif moment of silence, Wooyoung manages to choke out a, "Hi" before clamping his mouth shut. He doesn't know why he responded at all.
"Are you going to stop running away from me now?"
A blink, a small nod of the head is all the answer he gets, all Wooyoung can manage. Nichkhun smiles widely.
This was easier than he thought it'd be.
***
Wooyoung doesn't see Nichkhun again for over a week.
He's not really sure if it was some horribly wonderful (or wonderfully horrible) dream, or if it actually happened. He's also not sure if he wants to see the man, Nichkhun, again or not.
However, the next time Wooyoung actually sees him, he feels completely at ease. Nichkhun approaches him at sunset when as he is sitting on a bench in a quiet little park. He sits beside him without a word and watches the sun set. Neither of them say a word as they sit together in the darkness for hours.
Wooyoung gets up suddenly, to go walk home, and as he walks, Nichkhun follows beside him silently. Wooyoung wonders what could possibly be going on in the other man's head, but then he shrugs it off. Regardless of the oddness of the situation, it feel comfortable enough to him.
***
They fall into a pattern quickly. Wooyoung wakes up alone sometime in the middle of the day and busies himself until sunset. Then he walks to the park. Nichkhun is there, waiting at the bench. They spend the evening together, and Nichkhun follows Wooyoung home. Wooyoung goes to sleep, and sees Nichkhun in his dreams.
Sometimes they talk. Wooyoung finds out that Nichkhun isn't exactly normal. He’s different - and that's the extent of information that he gathers. Most of the time it's Wooyoung doing the talking. He talks about random things; the weather, his dreams, a song he heard recently. Nothing important, but Nichkhun listens intently all the same.
It's only after a three months of walking him home each night that Nichkhun suggests that Wooyoung should invite him inside his house for the night.
Wooyoung doesn't know why he didn't think of that sooner.
***
When he's around Wooyoung, Nichkhun gets the strangest desire to kidnap him. To steal him from the world and keep him as his own. He's always been possessive, to say the least, but even this random desire surprises him. But he gets over it quickly, though, because it feels all-too-natural that he should keep Wooyoung all to himself.
It was his vulnerability, Nichkhun reasons with himself. It would be like kicking a puppy if he hurt him, or worse - fed on him. He was much too clumsy and weak to pose any kind of threat to him anyways, so what was the harm in keeping him close? Besides, Nichkhun loved the way he smelled, it was mouth-watering in the least appetizing way - if that even made sense. He couldn't get enough of the young man's scent, but it no longer made him hungry. He wanted to preserve the scent, bottle it and keep it for all eternity. Yes, that’s what he wanted.
***
"I thought people like you couldn't go out in the sunlight?" Wooyoung asks as Nichkhun puts on sunglasses. He had agreed (much to Wooyoung's amazement) to accompany him on his walk to the market.
"No, we can. It's just that our senses are so much stronger than yours," and suddenly he is behind Wooyoung, whispering in his ear, "And so the sun and noise hurts. But for you," and now Nichkhun is biting Wooyoung's ear softly and Wooyoung is shivering, "For you, I'll deal with it."
Wooyoung wonders what he did to deserve such good luck. Because after all, it is impossibly lucky that Nichkhun hadn't killed him and had fallen in love with him instead.
***
It was an unspoken agreement that Nichkhun would just move into Wooyoung's small house. It made sense, anyways. Nichkhun spent more time there than anywhere else. It was only a matter of time.
***
The first time Nichkhun calls Wooyoung "yeobo", Wooyoung's heart skips a beat. It's a word so familiar to him and yet so foreign as it rolls off Nichkhun's tongue. It's full of something exoctic and yet it’s comforting at the same time as it wraps around him. "Yeobo," he whispers again and Wooyoung melts into his words and his arms.
***
Wooyoung dreams of spilt blood and broken promises and wakes up gasping for breath with sweat rolling down his body. His hand trembles as he fumbles for the light switch, hurriedly trying to dispel the last of the demons in his mind. It's only Nichkhun's unnaturally cool hands on his face and his sickly-sweet breath on his lips that calm him down.
"What's wrong, yeobo?"
His breath sweeps over him and Wooyoung's heart skips a beat as he tries to remember how to breathe properly. "I-I don't remember."
"Then go back to sleep, yeobo."
***
It happens for the first time when Wooyoung accidently gives himself a papercut.
"Shit," he mutters, holding his finger gingerly. He presses down harder and watches as his blood pools at the tip of his finger.
He's about to search for a band-aid when Nichkhun grabs his hand suddenly - Wooyoung isn't really sure when Nichkhun even got into the same room - and gently brings it to his mouth, licking the tip of his finger. Wooyoung stares, slightly mesmerized by the way Nichkhun's tongue laps at his fingertip.
"I wouldn't want it to go to waste," he purrs, dropping Wooyoung's hand suddenly.
And then he's gone, and Wooyoung is alone in the room once again.
***
Wooyoung is laying peacefully on Nichkhun chest as he begins to doze off when a thought hits him. If he tried, could he hear Nichkhun's heart? He moves cautiously, placing his ear over where he thinks a heart should be and listens.
"You won't hear anything."
He melancholy voice startles Wooyoung and he looks up to him. "Why?"
"It stopped beating a long time ago."
"Then how are you breathing?"
"Yeobo," he laughs. "Breathing is just a habit for me."
Wooyoung frowns, "I don't believe you. Everybody has a beating heart. Everybody."
Nichkhun shakes his head and closes his eyes. He doesn't see Wooyoung's determined face as he continues to listen for a heartbeat. Nor does he see the look of pure delight once Wooyoung hears a faint beating when he intertwines their hands together.
***
Nichkhun does many things so unexpectedly, and Wooyoung has learned to always be on his guard around him.
But nothing prepares him for one day when Nichkhun suddenly spins around and throws him over his back and sprints off the park path and into the trees. Wooyoung closes his eyes tightly as he hears the landscape whoosh past them. It's an odd muffled sound, and reminds him of being on an airplane.
What feels like mere seconds later, Nichkhun abruptly stops and Wooyoung's hearing gradually goes back to normal. He keeps his eyes closed as he feels Nichkhun place him on the ground. It felt like...sand underneath his shoes. And there - in the distance, seagulls.
He cracks open one eye as Nichkhun's arm pulls him close. He had brought him to the beach that was about a half hour away from the park. Wooyoung opens his other eye and gazes excitedly around. He pulls away from Nichkhun's embrace and sprints towards the water, kicking his shoes off on the way.
Nichkhun smiles as he watches the other man frolic in the waves.
***
Wooyoung is in the kitchen chopping vegetables the second time it happens.
"Ow!" he yells, dropping the knife and cradling his hand. He had nearly chopped off his pinky, but had succeeded in only slicing it open. Blood flows freely and Wooyoung frantically looks around for a towel to wrap his hand in.
And then Nichkhun hands are on his face, cool and refreshing as he tells him to keep calm. He take his bleeding finger and licks it gently, making him shudder slightly. He then wraps it carefully in a bandage and kisses Wooyoung softly before walking back out of the room.
Wooyoung is left standing there with the taste of his own blood on his lips.
***
"I'm sorry, Junho, but I can't. Nichkhun wants me to stay home with him tonight."
"Nichkhun wants you to stay home with him every night. What about your other friends?"
"Maybe next week, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I've heard that one before. Whatever, when he breaks up with you - don't come running to me again."
Wooyoung sighs as the line goes dead. He defeatedly puts the phone back on the table, and then slides back underneath the blankets with Nichkhun.
"I didn't like his tone of voice with you," Nichkhun mutters into Wooyoung's neck.
"Yeah, well, I don't like you listening in to my phone calls."
"I'm not going to break up with you. Ever. I love you."
***
Sometimes Wooyoung wonders where Nichkhun came from.
"Tell me where you're from," he'll ask as Nichkhun nudges him with his nose. "Tell me something - anything."
"There's nothing to tell," Nichkhun mutters against Wooyoung's throat. "I was nothing before you."
Wooyoung shivers, but he doesn't back down. "Where are you from?" he insists.
"Some place else," Nichkhun whispers into his ear, "Thailand."
Wooyoung's mind goes blank as Nichkhun licks his ear, and it's almost as if Nichkhun hadn't said anything at all.
"Where are you from?"
"I'm a prince from Thailand," he laughs, pulling away from Wooyoung.
***
On rare occasion, such as when Nichkhun is kissing his neck, Wooyoung is overcome with an overwhelming desire to know exactly what it would feel like to have Nichkhun drink his blood, to feel his teeth pierce his neck. The desire is so consuming when it hits him, that his heart begins to race as he subconsciously exposes more of his neck to Nichkhun in hopes of enticing him to just bite him. Nichkhun never does.
And on one such occasion where he is kissing his neck, Wooyoung is incredibly tempted to just tell the man to bite him already. Nichkhun feels Wooyoung's breath catch in his throat underneath his lips, "Nichkhun, just do-"
"Shh, yeobo. Don't say anything."
"But-"
"You don't know what you want."
And it's true. Nichkhun knows this, but Wooyoung doesn't. Wooyoung only thinks he knows what he wants.
***
Nichkhun knows that he can't stay with Wooyoung forever. Or more, Wooyoung can't stay with him forever. Eventually Wooyoung will grow older and age and die. Nichkhun will remain as he is until the earth stops spinning, and even then he might remain the same.
But he knows that if he could, he would spend an eternity with him. If only Wooyoung could last that long.
***
"So," Nichkhun starts nonchalantly, "Who exactly is Junho?"
Wooyoung mumbles, "Nobody, he's just a friend," but Nichkhun can hear his erratically beating heart thump out a different story, and he doesn't like it. He frowns as he contemplates his options.
"Well, why don't you invite him over for dinner tomorrow? I want to meet your friends."
Wooyoung's eyes dart to Nichkhun's face quickly, then back to his book. "Sure, sure," he mumbles, trying to keep his cool. Nichkhun bites his lip in annoyance and frustration at Wooyoung's attempt to hide his emotions. Has he forgotten that Nichkhun can read him like a book? Obviously.
The next night Junho is sitting in the living room with Nichkhun as Wooyoung is making drinks in the kitchen. Junho's hands are trembling in his lap and he avoids Nichkhun's eyes while they awkwardly converse.
"So, you're Wooyoung's friend?" Nichkhun doesn't bother to hide his skepticism.
"Um, yeah. We've known each other for a while."
"I see," Nichkhun mutters, standing suddenly. "It's hot in here, isn't it? Let's wait for Wooyoung outside."
Junho mumbles something incoherent and follows Nichkhun into the backyard. "You know, I'm not scared of you," he mutters defiantly under his breath.
But Nichkhun can hear the his heart thumping frantically, and he almost smiles at Junho's attempt at bravery. He decides he'll make it quick and relatively painless. Wooyoung seemed fond of this man - whatever their actual relationship might be - so it was the least he could do for him.
***
Time has a different meaning to Nichkhun, it passes differently for him. He's not sure if it's faster or slower, really it depends on how he looks at it.
Time seems to flow slowly when he's away from Wooyoung. Which, he figures, is the case for all people away from their significant other. However, he can see the difference. He can see the people around him move slower, as if they were up to their knees in quicksand. He can feel the earth slowly rotate in small degrees beneath his feet.
He doesn't count the time in seconds or minutes, he counts the time in breaths - Wooyoung's breaths to be exact. Thirteen breaths per minute, which would result in eighteen thousand seven hundred and twenty breaths a day, and six million eight hundred thirty-two thousand and eight hundred a year, and twenty-two million two hundred thirty-seven thousand and eight hundred breaths since he first laid eyes on him three years and three months and three days ago.
Before that, Nichkhun isn't sure how he kept track of the time. He doesn't really remember.
***
Nichkhun can see the signs clearer than anyone else. He can see the one gray hair in the thousands growing on Wooyoung's head, he can feel the one miniscule winkle on his face that Wooyoung himself hasn't even noticed yet, and he can hear the slower tone that Wooyoung is beginning to use subconsciously.
But Nichkhun won't deny it any longer, he's isn't a martyr. His breed are designed to be selfish, and he's no different from the rest. He wants Wooyoung all to himself, and he wants this Wooyoung. No one else will do.
And so Nichkhun does the exact thing that he promised he would never do. As Wooyoung sleeps peacfully for the first time in months, Nichkhun slithers underneath the blankets next to him, and Nichkhun can feel the goosebumps that rise on Wooyoung's skin where their bodies touch. He presses closes, greedy for the warmth that Wooyoung's body gives off.
Wooyoung shifts, mumbles something in his sleep, and Nichkhun hisses. He carefully tugs his shirt away from Wooyoung’shis neck, and nuzzles his nose against his throat. He can feel the blood flowing inside and his mouth waters. He hasdn't realized before how much he had actually wanted to do this. He lets his teeth grazve over Wooyoung's throat, and he shivers.
"Ni-Nichkhun?"
And then he bites, teeth easily tearing through the thin flesh of Wooyoung's neck. He feels the other man stiffen, then begin to thrash about in pain.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, yeobo. But this is the only way."
Wooyoung continues to thrash about, but his movements get weaker and weaker with his loss of blood. The last thing Wooyoung hears as his vision fades to black is Nichkun's soft voice, "We'll be together forever now, yeobo."