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Chan isn’t sure how Bambam managed to convince him to come here.
Somewhere in the background, ‘Hooked on a feeling’ plays at a volume way too loud for Chan’s overly sensitive hearing, and colorful lights keep poking him in the eyes. Not literally, of course, but it feels that way. He can’t believe Bambam forced him out of his house for the first time in weeks, and for this? Complete bullshit.
He has to admit, though. The humans may have done a pretty bad job with literally everything else, but at least they made roller skates and nice tunes. He really likes their music, and the fashion isn’t too bad, either. When he can be bothered to keep up with the trends, that is.
Gosh, he sounds like those centuries-old vampires who always talk about how the times are changing. Damn. Chan didn’t realize he was turning into one of them.
“Aren’t you gonna skate?” Bambam’s voice asks from somewhere to his right. When Chan looks over at him, he sees that his friend is already wearing a pair of roller skates and is ready to get out on the rink.
Chan shakes his head slowly.
“Maybe later.” Probably not.
Bambam pouts at him, but at least it doesn’t seem like he’s going to push it.
“Well then, whatever. Suit yourself!”
With that said, he takes off. Chan watches his friend roll away, only feeling mildly guilty for letting Bambam drag him all the way here just to stand at the sideline, doing absolutely nothing. In his defense, he never agreed to come here. Bambam is the one who forced him. Roller skating isn’t really his thing, so why would he willingly visit a roller skate rink? That’s just madness.
He watches Bambam skate a few laps. It’s honestly not that boring, not while there’s music playing. Nothing is boring if you have music.
Before ’Hooked on a feeling’ has time to reach its last chorus, Chan suddenly finds himself being rammed into by something.
No, not something. Someone.
He stumbles to the side and looks up, startled at the sudden crash, only to find himself staring at the most beautiful man he’s ever seen. Fuck. Chan hasn’t showered in almost a week, he can’t believe this is the impression he’s about to make on the boy with cat eyes and flushed cheeks that’s standing right in front of him.
The boy in question turns his eyes to Chan.
“Shit, I’m sorry”, he says, before freezing as his eyes land on the vampire. Chan briefly wonders if he looks as bad as he feels, and regrets going out in a black hoodie and beanie today. “Damn. Maybe I’m not sorry, actually. Not if I’m going to fall into people as hot as you.”
The guy even has the audacity to add a wink after saying that, and Chan nearly chokes on his own spit. He’s definitely blushing. The stranger only laughs before taking off again, going for another lap around the rink without giving Chan a chance to respond.
Honestly, fuck Bambam for making him come here today. Chan is going to lay awake and think about this interaction all night, and he blames Bambam entirely.
Fuck Bambam.
-
Chan manages to only think about the strange man three times in the following two weeks, which is quite the achievement, if you ask him. He also cleans his entire apartment. That’s an even bigger achievement, considering the funk he’s been in for so long now.
He’s ready to get out of it now. Starting by finding some old friends to hang out with, catch up and all that. He’s heard that social interaction is good when you have depression. Might as well try it.
That’s why Chan finds himself at his local café for supernaturals a few days later, sitting opposite his demon friend Yugyeom. The other is talking about a dance studio he really wants to open up, and Chan nods along to what he’s saying with a small smile on his face.
Until something in the corner of his eye catches his attention. Chan is still listening to Yugyeom, but he turns his head toward the counter, and he almost chokes on his tea when he sees who’s standing there (he seriously has to stop choking whenever something mildly surprising happens).
Yugyeom, bless that man, notices where Chan’s attention is and gestures for him to go talk to the guy. Chan tries to apologize for letting his attention wander, but Yugyeom isn’t having it.
“No, go over there”, he says firmly. “Or I’ll drag you over there myself. You’re obviously distracted, so just go. I’ll still be here when you’re done.”
After a hesitant glance at Yugyeom’s face, he nods and stands. It’s like he’s drawn toward the strange man over by the counter by something he doesn’t know. Normally, Chan would be having second thoughts, but nothing like that crosses his mind now.
The man in front of the counter turns around, drink in hand, before his eyes drift up to Chan’s face and his mouth falls open in a surprised expression.
“Hello, stranger”, Chan says before the other has time to speak. For some reason, it’s important for him to get the first word in. Not sure why.
The stranger smirks.
“I saw you sitting in here earlier and considered spilling my drink over you to get your attention, but maybe your method of starting a conversation was better. But I do have a name. You don’t have to refer to me as stranger.”
Chan had almost forgotten that the man has a voice as attractive as his appearance, but he’s reminded of it now.
“Well, stranger, what’s your name?” Chan asks, adding a small smile to make sure he doesn’t come across as too harsh. He’s been told he can be a bit intimidating sometimes.
“Lee Minho. And you?”
“Bang Chan. Or Chris Bang, if you’d rather go by English names.”
Minho tilts his head curiously.
“Oh, so you’re not from around here? Or have you lived abroad?”
Chan is about to come up with an excuse, but then realizes that they’re standing inside a supernatural café right now. Obviously Minho knows about the supernatural, otherwise he wouldn’t be here.
“Yeah, I’m Australian. I lived there for, like, fifty years before I came here”, he replies.
Minho nods, not surprised at all by Chan’s age.
“I’ve lived in Korea for a few years now, but I grew up in the Fae Realm.”
“Oh, so you’re a fae.” Chan looks at him curiously. “I was wondering what you were doing in a supernatural café.”
Minho smirks at him, and Chan wonders if he’s about to wink again.
“Yup, I’m a fae, and I would love to talk to you some more, but I have other places to be, sadly. Next time I’ll invite you to my apartment.”
He actually winks after this. Chan is too busy sputtering to actually formulate a response, but Minho doesn’t seem to be expecting one. He walks away before Chan has a chance to collect himself.
From another part of the cafe, Chan hears Yugyeom laugh at him, and he holds a middle finger up in that direction, not even bothering to look at his friend. He’s enjoying Chan’s misery a bit too much right now.
All Chan wants is talk to the pretty fae that crashed into him at the roller skate rink. Is that really too much to ask?
-
The universe hates him. Chan is sure of it.
He’d looked out the window this morning and decided that the weather was too nice for him to waste the day indoors. That’s why he’s out right now, strolling around the streets without a specific goal in mind. The protective charm around his neck keeps his skin from getting burnt in the sun, being a vampire and all that. It’s nice to enjoy the sun.
Then, he comes across a man struggling with four (!!!) bags of groceries, and it looks like he must have dropped one of them, because he’s bent over in the middle of the street.
Chan, being Chan, can’t help himself.
“Do you need help with that?” he asks, hurrying up to the stranger.
When the man straightens up and turns to face him, Chan stops, his mouth falling open.
“Minho”, he says, as if that wasn’t obvious.
“Chan!” Minho replies, voice taking on a bright tone as he recognizes him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here. And yeah, I would love some help, please and thank you. I live right over there.”
Minho gestures to one of the apartment complexes on the side of the road, and Chan nods. Despite feeling a bit awkward about running into Minho again, he walks over to help the other with the bags. Together, they get all the way inside and up two flights of stairs. The only bits of conversation are instructions from Minho about where to go. Chan tries to play it cool. Minho doesn’t seem bothered. Why should he be?
Sure, he’s currently on his way into an attractive man’s apartment, while carrying said man’s groceries, but it’s not a big deal or anything. Definitely not. Chan is socially competent enough for this.
The second Minho pushes his apartment door open, Chan gives up on all of that. He’s not prepared to be inside with Minho, who’s essentially a stranger to him. A very attractive stranger at that. His panicked gay brain does not know how to deal.
“Welcome inside”, Minho grins. “You can put the bags on the counter over here.”
He walks first, and Chan follows him into a kitchen, where both of them drop their bags on the countertop. Once he no longer has anything to hold onto, Chan feels ten times more awkward about this.
Before he has time to entertain any of that awkwardness, Minho turns to him.
“Thank you so much!” He smiles brightly. “Do you want something to eat?”
Chan’s brain pauses for about half a second, which he thinks must be some sort of record, because an invitation like that would usually leave him speechless for just a bit longer. Something about Minho is comforting, almost familiar. He can’t put a finger on what it is.
“Uh, thanks, but I don’t need to eat”, he replies, hoping he won’t offend Minho by saying this. He doesn’t want to seem like he’s rejecting Minho’s offer to spend time together, because he’d love that.
“I know you don’t need to eat”, Minho says. “It’s a social thing. Come on, just have a bite! No pun intended.”
He grins at Chan, leading him to believe that the pun actually was intended. At least Chan is nice enough not to roll his eyes at it.
”Sure, yeah. Okay. Just make sure you never say that again.”
From the look on Minho’s face, he’s most definitely going to say that again.
-
So yeah, that’s how he ends up in Minho’s apartment, sitting next to the other man by the kitchen table. Things between them feel surprisingly causal, considering how little they know about each other. Surely it should be more awkward than this?
Minho has been quiet for a few minutes now, so Chan nudges his elbow gently, getting the other man’s attention.
“What are you thinking about?” he wonders.
Minho turns to look at Chan with a thoughtful expression.
“What would happen if you bit me?”
That’s certainly not what Chan had been expecting.
“Uuuh…” he starts dumbly, trying to figure out what Minho even means by that. He has to know at least something about how vampires work, right? “It’d sting a little…?”
“No, no.” Minho shakes his head. “I meant, because I’m a fae. Vampires gain power over those they feed on, but fae gain power over those who eat our food. If you ate me, I’m pretty sure that would count. So which one of us would have the most power?”
Chan thinks it over, but he can’t figure out the logistics of it. He hasn’t thought about this before.
“I honestly have no idea.”
Minho looks at him with something unreadable in his gaze.
“Do you wanna try it?”
Chan blanks.
“Sure”, his dumbass mouth decides to say.
Well, shit. He had not planned to say that. Apparently that’s what they’re doing now, and honestly? Chan is fine with that. This might as well happen.
Minho grins at Chan before pushing his chair closer, staring straight into his eyes as he does. Once he deems himself close enough for this activity, he tilts his head curiously, still looking at Chan.
“How do you do this?” Minho asks.
Chan puts a hand on Minho’s shoulder, leaning forward slightly. If he had any coherency left, his thoughts would probably be going crazy right now, but all the coherency is gone, so he feels pretty calm. That’s nice.
“You can close your eyes, or turn your head away”, Chan tells him. “I’ll just… bite, I guess.”
Minho nods before turning his head away. Chan feels slightly more relaxed now that Minho’s intense gaze isn’t fixed on him, but only slightly.
This is exactly the kind of thing he’s going to be overthinking when he’s writing music at 2 am tonight, but oh well. He’s committed to doing this. It’s not like he can back out now.
Chan lets his fangs out, baring his teeth before leaning into Minho’s neck and biting down. A small gasp escapes Minho as he does. Chan is too focused on making sure that he doesn’t accidentally hurt Minho to hear anything.
He doesn’t drink much. After all, this is just an experiment, so he doesn’t need much, and it’s easy to stop himself after only a few moments.
After pulling back, Chan wipes his mouth and watches as Minho tilts his head, testing how his neck feels. Then Minho turns to face him.
”So how do we decide who has the upper hand?”
Chan hasn’t thought that far, but to be fair, he hasn’t been thinking much abut anything since he entered this apartment.
”Do you feel like you’re willing to do pretty much anything I ask you right now?” Chan decides to ask, since that’s a pretty telltale sign that a vampire is controlling someone.
”Yeah. But I’ve felt that way since I first saw you.”
Minho is looking into Chan’s eyes as he says this, a smirk on his face, but he seems serious about it. Chan’s brain malfunctions. Again.
”Wait, what? You-…” Chan pauses. He blinks a few times. Minho doesn’t do anything but stare at him, and Chan shakes his head. ”Wait, what are you saying?”
The smirk on Minho’s face softens.
”I don’t know.” He taps his fingers against the table in front of them as he talks. ”I just find you attractive, I guess, and I’d like to get to know you better. I just thought you should know that. But I’ve been kind of obvious about it, haven’t I? I mean, I literally flirted with you the first time we met.”
For some reason, that thought has not crossed Chan’s mind. He knows he finds Minho attractive, but he hadn’t thought about it from the other’s perspective.
Some random surge of confidence overcomes him as he responds.
”Well, good”, Chan says. ”Because I think you’re attractive, too, and I’d like to take you on a date. If you want to, of course.”
Minho smiles.
“I’d love to.”
-
Despite Chan being the one to ask him out, Minho somehow manages to get the privilege of planning their date. Not only that, but he also manages to convince Chan to go back to the rollerskate rink where they first crashed into each other.
This time when they enter, ‘Lay all your love on me’ is playing over the speakers. Minho grins and grabs Chan’s hand as soon as he hears it.
“I love this song!” he exclaims, and it’s impossible for Chan not to be excited when he sees how Minho is almost bouncing on his heels.
With a laugh, he lets himself get pulled along to put on rollerskates.