Chapter Text
Accompanying art by @kernno_art
At first, it was nothing but simple curiosity.
When Kim Dokja first saw the picture of Yoo Joonghyuk, he was intrigued. The human in the picture was handsome, his gaze trained outside of the camera lens. Dark, curly hair framed his face, and his severe gaze was somehow striking despite the awkward angle of the picture. A visible frown rested on his face as he stared off into the distance.
There were tired lines traced under his eyes that hinted to late nights and sleep deprived mornings. A close inspection of the lanyard hung around his neck revealed his current occupation as a medical resident of the nearby hospital, and Kim Dokja could picture him in a waiting room greeting patients while he was on rotation, the same deadpan look on his face.
Flipping the picture with a light hum, Kim Dokja read the message scrawled on the back of the printed photograph, his interest piquing as he read through the text. Ever since Kim Dokja had been disowned by his sire, he would often receive threatening messages to stay clear of the coven’s territory. But this message was different. The coven was now requesting Kim Dokja’s invaluable assistance in capturing a dangerous human with the promise that he would be welcomed back into the coven if he was successful.
The message spoke to the coven’s dire circumstances–no one would think to ask for Kim Dokja’s help unless it was a matter of life or death. Even so, Kim Dokja couldn’t help but laugh. He had been exiled from the coven for decades, and they still pleaded for his help.
“How interesting,” Kim Dokja murmured, tracing the image with a lone finger.
Over a hundred years as a vampire hadn’t lessened Kim Dokja’s innate sense of curiosity. In fact, time had only sharpened his senses and his ability to detect interesting cases and strange occurrences in the human world and supernatural world alike. He was a specialist in detection, curse breaking, and tracking. It was what made him somewhat of a legend in the supernatural circle as a famed hunter.
Ask for anything, and Kim Dokja could find it for you at the right price. Perhaps that is why his services were requested to locate Yoo Joonghyuk.
“But why now?” Kim Dokja questioned aloud. "And why Yoo Joonghyuk?"
Additional documents were spread across the table, all courtesy of Kim Dokja’s informant and the clan elder. Kim Dokja parsed through the documents, skimming through its contents with ease.
Yoo Joonghyuk was a resident at the nearby hospital. Yoo Joonghyuk had no connections to the supernatural world, nothing that would tie him to any lineage or supernatural heritage. He was only just starting his next rotation with cardiology, and his criminal record was spotless.
There was nothing remarkable about Yoo Joonghyuk. So then, what made this human so different?
Kim Dokja paused, watching the moonlight spill in through the open window. He then sighed, and with a flick of his wrist, a pen appeared in his waiting fingertips. Slowly, he penned his response refusing the coven’s request.
Kim Dokja wasn’t going to return to the pointless servitude of the coven and he refused to serve under their skewed interests. One lifetime was enough, and that was why Kim Dokja had taken the first opportunity he could to sever his bonds, suffering imaginable backlash to rid himself from the ties that bound him to his sire.
Yoo Joonghyuk was an ordinary human who was being hunted. In time, they would catch him, and whatever secrets he carried would eventually be revealed. There was no need for Kim Dokja to intervene in what seemed to be a manhunt, but Kim Dokja wanted to find out what made Yoo Joonghyuk special.
And so, Kim Dokja, after years of isolation, wandered outside his domain to conduct his own investigation.
Locating Yoo Joonghyuk was a simple affair. Kim Dokja expertly weaved the threads of his tracking spell in an intricate pattern, twisting his innate magic with the sample of Yoo Joonghyuk’s blood that was graciously offered to him. Then with a few drops of his own blood, Kim Dokja amplified the spell’s range of detection and followed the spell’s path.
Each casted thread of magic would search until all threads coalesced into one to reveal the location of the target. After a the thin golden threads wound through the air, lighting a sure path to the wayward human. Kim Dokja followed the path. His search led him to an abandoned neighbourhood that was cast in darkness, the surrounding tall, dilapidated buildings hiding away the moonlight.
And there Yoo Joonghyuk was. When Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes gazed at him past the looming shadows that filled the narrow alleyway, it was as if he already knew of his impending fate. His eyes were dull and empty, a deep abyss reflected in its depths where no light could reach, as if he were already dead.
Yoo Joonghyuk looked haggard, and he sported a bleeding gash on his cheek. He leaned heavily against the alleyway with a look of defeat, simply closed his eyes, and said tiredly, “What do you want from me? ”
Kim Dokja stepped forwards, lightly waving at the human with a friendly smile. “So harsh Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi, you haven’t even heard what I have to say.”
“I don’t have whatever you’re looking for,” Yoo Joonghyuk deadpanned, clenching his fists tightly at his sides. “Tell your people to leave me alone.”
“That wasn’t very convincing,” Kim Dokja teased with an inquisitive voice. “Are you feigning ignorance as to why you’re being chased? You know, the coven won’t stop until they pry away all of your hidden secrets. So why should I listen to you? What makes you so special?”
“I never asked to be hunted,” Yoo Joonghyuk said tonelessly. “And I don’t care what happens to me. Secrets or no secrets, I have nothing to hide.” The human took a moment to stare sightlessly at the sky as if he were miles away. “After all, even if I died, nothing would change.”
Kim Dokja suddenly recalled the recent passing of Yoo Joonghuk’s last living relative, Yoo Mia. Everyday he would leave red roses at her grave, and as the flowers wilted, so did Yoo Joonghyuk’s will to live. Yoo Joonghyuk had already spiralled into a depression that consumed his life with an emptiness that could never be filled.
He was already ready to die.
What a fated pair they made. Yoo Joonghyuk was a human who had given up on life, and Kim Dokja was a vampire who would do anything to become a human once more.
Yoo Joonghyuk was a human far too interesting for Kim Dokja to simply let die. If Yoo Joonghyuk wanted a reason to live, then Kim Dokja would give him one. And whatever secret he kept, Kim Dokja would shelter the burden with him.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, you are worth far more than what you think you are,” Kim Dokja replied, tilting his head ever so slightly with a smirk resting on his lips. The sound of approaching footsteps echoed in the narrow alleyway, yet Kim Dokja smiled as he extended a hand to Yoo Joonghyuk, allowing his eyes to glow scarlet. “Come with me. I won’t let you die so easily. After all, I haven’t uncovered all of your secrets yet.”
Yoo Joonghyuk frowned. He stared at the outstretched hand, his expression melting into cool indifference. “How can I trust you?”
“You have no other choice, unless you want to head to an early grave,” Kim Dokja stated lightly. He cast a glance towards the end of the alleyway where shadows seemed to stretch from the ground. “They’re almost here, and there’s nowhere left for you to run.”
Time seemed to stretch in the silence. Yoo Joonghyuk's stared at Kim Dokja, his gaze narrowed and electrifying. The spark that shone through the human’s eyes was fascinating, and when their hands touched, anticipation rushed through Kim Dokja's veins.
Kim Dokja smiled. Tendrils of darkness danced around them, the magic within Kim Dokja enclosing them in a protective dome. Then, in an instant, they were whisked away into the shadows, traveling unnoticed past the pursuers that chased after them.
After miles of running, they finally arrived at a riverbank far away from their pursuers.
Yoo Joonghyuk’s head lolled against his shoulder, his breathing shallow and faint as Kim Dokja dragged him out onto the riverbed. Their pursuers had long lost their trail, but they hadn’t escaped unscathed. After losing control of their stolen runaway vehicle due to some well-placed bullets, Kim Dokja veered into the riverbed, crashing into the deep and dark waters. The river’s current had done the rest of the work, masking their escape in the darkness and bringing them to safety.
Kim Dokja sighed, lowering Yoo Joonghyuk’s unconscious body to the ground. His chest heaved with the effort, and a hiss escaped his lips at the pain that shot through his exhausted body. He was out of practice to be worn out this quickly, but he supposed that being chased for hours on end would tire even the most veteran of vampires.
“Don’t die on me now, Yoo Joonghyuk, not after all the work I’ve done to save you,” Kim Dokja said under his breath, grimacing from the wound that pulled at his side. The gash in his shoulder bled sluggishly, but it would heal. Vampires, after all, couldn’t be killed so easily.
Humans, on the other hand, were fragile. Already bruises were beginning to form on Yoo Joonghyuk’s, his skin pale and white, a light shiver moving through his unconscious body. His breath was shallow and weak, his pulse a slow beat under his skin. Without medical assistance, he would certainly be dead come morning light.
Kim Dokja leaned in, brushing aside at the human’s wet bangs, his touch gentle as he pressed his fingers against the skin of the human’s neck. His skin was still warm, and the scent of his blood was an alluring sight against the darkened riverbed. Beyond the distant horizon and the rising sun, the faint rays of sunlight highlighted the slope of the human’s face.
Dark, curls of loose hair parted around his face, the human’s expression slack in his hands. Carefully, Kim Dokja drifted above his lips, parting it with his, and breathed life into him, the magic within him sending a spark of electricity through the unconscious human’s veins. The body underneath him shuddered and stilled, thrashing with the onset of a cough that rattled through Yoo Joonghyuk’s lungs, river water spilling through his lips.
Kim Dokja leaned back, unfastening the top buttons of Yoo Joonghyuk’s collared shirt, running his hands over Yoo Joonghyuk’s bare skin clinically as if in search of something. He let his eyes drift over well-defined muscles, and his fingers pushed aside at the wet fabric that clung to the human’s skin. Finally, his fingertips stopped upon a vein of dark tendrils right above Yoo Joonghyuk’s collarbone that were invisible to the naked eye.
This close, it was easy to see a hunter’s mark engraved on his skin with a trace of magic that allowed a vampire to track their targets. With a twist of his wrist, Kim Dokja sent a wisp of his own magic to encircle the tracking spell, allowing the magic to accumulate in a concentrated burst of white energy. The twisting tendrils coalesced to form a raven that flew off into the night sky, disappearing without a trace.
With a sigh of relief, Kim Dokja settled on his palms, watching the steady light of the moon with a contemplative gaze. Yoo Joonghyuk breathed steadily beside him, a jacket draped over his shoulders, his eyes closed in sleep.
They travelled at night when the moon was high in the sky, resting in abandoned buildings, only narrowly managing to avoid confrontation. Kim Dokja led him through dark alleyways, underground corridors, and hidden passageways that were nested in various cathedrals of the city. Despite Kim Dokja’s removal of the hunter’s tracking spell, monsters still lurked in the shadows, and with every heartbeat, the supernatural world breathed at their necks, somehow managing to follow their tracks.
Kim Dokja remained unflappable, his steps light and easy as he guided Yoo Joonghyuk through the supernatural world. He was ethereal in the moonlight, his scarlet eyes shining like precious gems. Yoo Joonghyuk wondered why such a creature would offer his assistance, but the vampire would always smile in reply, the teasing edge of his fingernails trailing at the skin of Yoo Joonghyuk’s neck.
“You’re the most fascinating human I’ve ever met,” was Kim Dokja’s candid response whenever Yoo Joonghyuk asked.
“Liar,” Yoo Joonghyuk said in response. He shivered as Kim Dokja skimmed over his pulse, his heartbeat a loud echo in his ears. Yet despite the implicit threat, Kim Dokja never drank blood in his presence, nor did he feed. Yoo Joonghyuk was almost impressed that the vampire was still standing after their various encounters with their pursuers.
Yoo Joonghyuk huffed, shoving Kim Dokja’s fingers aside. “Fine, keep your secrets.”
Kim Dokja was the most irritating vampire he had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was resourceful and quick-witted, easily able to outsmart their pursuers. At the same time, Kim Dokja was reckless and held no care for his own safety, often sustaining injuries that were baseless and meaningless. His wounds eventually healed, as they always did, but a sour taste was left on Yoo Joonghyuk’s tongue as he watched the vampire’s wounds bleed out.
“It’s only a bruise,” Kim Dokja would say lightly, but his hands would sometimes tremble into fists, his words slurred in pain.
Idiotic, sacrificial bastard, Yoo Joonghyuk wanted to scream, but all he could do was grit his teeth, wrap a bandage tightly around the wound, and continue walking.
Nothing about Kim Dokja was true. Lies would pass through his lips like water. Though the vampire was candid in his responses, offering light conversation throughout their journey, in the end, he would leave Yoo Joonghyuk’s questions answered.
Finally they reached a safehouse that was located on the edge of a deep forest. The safehouse was an elegant manor that was cleverly hidden behind dense wilderness, and here Yoo Joonghyuk was able to find a moment of solitude away from the whirlwind of events that had suddenly appeared in his mundane life.
“You’ll be safe here,” Kim Dokja said with grace as he approached the front entrance, casting various charms of concealment along their path to the mansion. His shoulders loosened, and a small smile graced his lips. His eyes were sparkling as he gestured for Yoo Joonghyuk to follow him into the large foyer. “This place has been a safe haven of mine for centuries.”
“And what of our pursuers?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked warily. After days of relentless pursuit, he was hesitant to follow the vampire into what seemed to be one of his many residences, but Kim Dokja smiled again, ushering the human through the various corridors of the mansion.
Yoo Joonghyuk hated his smile. No matter how dire their circumstances were, Kim Dokja never lost his enigmatic smile that seemed bladed at the edges. Even when Kim Dokja was bleeding in the dark after a sudden encounter, that damned smile never left his face, concealing all of the hurt and pain that the vampire surely felt. And still, Kim Dokja refused to feed, refused to eat, and refused Yoo Joonghyuk’s help.
Kim Dokja hummed, trailing his fingers over Yoo Joonghyuk’s back, the touch teasing and light. “This may be our only chance to rest and prepare. If they come, let them come. We’ll be ready for their arrival.”
In the manor, Kim Dokja poured over old texts and scoured through books with faded leather covers, the pages yellowed and worn. At times, ink stained his fingertips. Kim Dokja sat at a pristine desk, flipping idly through the pages in search of answers.
Why was Yoo Joonghyuk being hunted? What made him a target?
Even after their research sessions, the questions remained an unsolved mystery.
On most days, Yoo Joonghyuk could find the vampire resting peacefully in the manor’s small library, his eyes peacefully closed while cradling a book to his chest. In these moments, Kim Dokja was serene and quiet, and he looked so delicate in slumber, his long eyelashes glittering under the thin rays of sunlight that trickled in through the half-drawn curtains. The red lips that were prone to speaking in nonsensical riddles parted just slightly, lax with sleep.
Yoo Joonghyuk watched him silently, thoughts whirring through his mind. With the sun tracing shadows on the vampire’s pale skin, Kim Dokja almost seemed like a fragile human. He gently traced his finger over Kim Dokja’s raven hair, before he walked over to the drawn curtains, closing it with a sense of finality.
Then he turned his attention to his books on vampire physiology. By now Yoo Joonghyuk had learned how to kill various supernatural creatures, a silver bladed knife strapped to his chest. But he wanted to learn more. He wanted to keep Kim Dokja safe from the dangers of the supernatural world and his self-sacrificial nature.
That was what Yoo Joonghyuk intended as he carefully parsed over the medical textbooks describing a vampire’s physiology. But it wasn't until Kim Dokja nearly died that Yoo Joonghyuk’s patience finally ran short.
Kim Dokja didn’t remember much from when he was a fragile human, but he remembered the sun. In the short flashes of his memories as a human, he remembered the warmth of the sun, the wind that stirred pleasantly in his hair, and the crinkle of a well-accompanied novel in his hands.
Yoo Joonghyuk was so warm, just like the sunlight that he remembered many years ago before he was turned. He hadn’t realized how cold he was before Yoo Joonghyuk had pressed it into his skin and breathed it into his lungs. Yoo Joonghyuk pried his lips open, his tongue a teasing heat against the bottom of his lip. Kim Dokja shivered in response, and Yoo Joonghyuk titled his chin, deepening the kiss, the scent of blood heavy in the air.
“You’re the most irritating vampire I’ve ever known,” Yoo Joonghyuk said in between kisses. He dragged his hand through Kim Dokja’s hair, pulling it back to reveal the long line of his neck. A thumb pressed between his lips, gently pressing at the edge of a fang, before the scent of metallic blood flooded the air. The blood dripped from the same thumb, dripping into Kim Dokja’s waiting mouth.
“I won’t let you die here Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk continued ruthlessly, and his eyes were dark, his gaze fixed on Kim Dokja’s lips as they trembled around Yoo Joonghyuk’s thumb, watching as crimson blood spilled at the corner of his lips. The younger man hovered above him, his other hand wrapped around the thin of Kim Dokja’s neck, his weight pinning him in place.
It had been too long since Kim Dokja had last fed. Kim Dokja had spent decades surviving off of iron supplements, carefully avoiding even the slightest taste of human blood. But now he was weakened by the relentless pursuits of the vampires and werewolves alike, his magic exhausted, and his frail body reaching the edge of collapse.
“If you die here, Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk threatened, “I will never forgive you.”
His hands were shaking. Kim Dokja wanted to lean into his touch to reassure him that nothing was wrong, that he wasn’t bleeding out and on the verge of certain death. Instead, his voice was raspy, and his eyes lowered, faint exhaustion bleeding into his vision if only for a moment. “Don't worry, I won’t leave you here alone.”
And suddenly, the taste of blood was everywhere. Yoo Joonghyuk’s kiss was deep and hungry, barely allowing Kim Dokja space to breathe as if he were tasting the very depths of Kim Dokja’s soul. As a vampire, Kim Dokja didn’t need to breathe, but for some reason, he was stripped breathless, his lungs straining with a foreign heat.
Kim Dokja whimpered. The addictive taste of blood was overwhelming, flooding his senses with a heat that rushed through his veins as if Yoo Joonghyuk was covering every inch of his body with his essence. Yoo Joonghyuk’s thumb slowly stroked the skin of his palm, the touch slow and intimate.
It made Kim Dokja dizzy with want, a thrumming sensation like electricity pulling at him to succumb to his hidden desire to feed. A distant haze settled over Kim Dokja’s senses, the sweet nectar of blood settling in his skin like an aphrodisiac, his fangs lengthening in turn. Yoo Joonghyuk withdrew his thumb, moving his palm to grasp at Kim Dokja’s wrist.
Kim Dokja feared that he would spiral into a blood lust that he couldn’t control. He weakly protested, his hands moving to push him away. But Yoo Joonghyuk was unyielding, instantly pinning the trembling wrists in place with a gentleness that was foreign to him. One by one, the human laced their fingers together, settling their joined hands on either side of his face, watching the vampire’s reactions carefully. Then, his bare neck pressed against Kim Dokja’s lips, and he waited there, resting the beating pulse of his heartbeat against his elongated fang.
“Don’t be a fool, Kim Dokja.” Yoo Joonghyuk leaned back to observe the flush of Kim Dokja’s eyes that were wet with unshed tears, red peeking in through the irises. His hair cascaded down, stray strands of hair brushing against Kim Dokja’s forehead.
Yoo Joonghyuk was so close that Kim Dokja’s vision was flooded by him, every inch of his skin pressed against Yoo Joonghyuk’s body. His breath was warm against his cheek, and his lips brushed against his heated cheek in reassurance. Blood tinted his lips, staining it a deeper red, and if Kim Dokja concentrated, he could smell the blood on his tongue from where it was pierced by his fang.
Yoo Joonghyuk looked so handsome like this, willingly offering himself to Kim Dokja like a meal to be devoured. Still, Kim Dokja hesitated, turning his head away and squeezing his eyes shut to distract himself from the beating pulse. But Yoo Joonghyuk was there, his breath hot at the shell of his ear.
“Kim Dokja,” Yoo Joonghyuk murmured, and even with his eyes shut, Kim Dokja felt the scorching heat of his gaze. “Bite me.”