Chapter Text
Clubs for vampires were bizarre.
They were dark spaces, devoid of any form of electric light. Candles flickered lowly in sconces set into the walls and in chandeliers sparsely scattered across the low ceiling. There were small groups of people scattered about in areas set into the ground, sunken areas that, when Mark leaned over, he could spy were filled with couches and side tables and not much else.
No one was dancing. The only music Mark could hear was a single solitary piano, courtesy of a pianist in the far corner of the club. The pianist was crouched over his piano, the chandelier above was hanging low, nearly scraping its glossy black surface.
It wasn’t as though Mark had been in many clubs for humans. He hadn’t the time, between working in Johnny’s garage during daytime and staking out vampire haunts at night. But he figured this club was exceptional, given its clientele.
He still wasn’t convinced he had to wear the collar Donghyuck had given him, though.
Even as he was reminded of it, his hand rose to tug at it, to pry the leather off from his skin. He could breathe, of course, but it pressed fast to the back of his neck, flush against the goosebumps that raised as they walked past the lowered alcoves and the sound of whispered conversations and what might have been hushed moans crept into Mark’s ears. Mark knew from Donghyuck that there would be people like him in the alcoves, humans brought by the vampires.
The humans were called pets, and they were evening entertainment and nourishment in one.
Mark grimaced upon placing the hushed sounds. He begged his cheeks not to flush, and tugged futilely at the collar that was fastened around his neck.
“No.”
Donghyuck’s voice was calm, but there was a hint of satisfaction beneath the surface. Mark whipped his head to the side to glare at him. He was enjoying this. Donghyuck smiled, a flash of his sharp fangs visible in the flickering candlelight.
“Hands off your collar, pet. Don’t misbehave.”
Mark’s hopes of not flushing were dashed in an instant. Heat flooded his cheeks at Donghyuck’s words.
“No one’s watching us. You don’t have to call me… that.”
Donghyuck’s smile widened to a grin.
“But we might be overheard. Vampires have exceptional hearing, pet. Or did you forget?”
“No. I know,” Mark retorted, sour, but he drew his hand from the collar all the same.
Donghyuck gave him one last satisfied grin, before drawing ahead of him. Mark glared at the back of his head, as if his eyes could channel the power of the sun far off in the distance, and he could turn Donghyuck to ashes from sheer force of will alone.
“Dickhead,” he muttered, once Donghyuck had walked ahead a couple paces.
He gleaned some small satisfaction from the way Donghyuck paused in his steps. Donghyuck seemed to force himself to continue walking without turning around and hissing something else at Mark, though. Mark followed him, his mind already straying to the daunting task ahead of them.
Vampires came in all shapes and sizes. Donghyuck, with his golden skin and honey hued hair and warm eyes, was far from the monstrous end of the spectrum. He was deceptively human in appearance. The vampire that Donghyuck had witnessed Mark slay the first night they met, with his sallow skin and thinned out hair, cracked lips and teeth stained dark with blood, was on the opposite end.
The vampire sitting on the couch across from them couldn’t even be on the scale. Mark kept his head bowed, and tried not to stare at him. His eyes flicked up, and his breath caught in his throat as his gaze met the vampire’s. He was being surveyed, as absently as it was, Mark felt a prickle travel down his skin, a chill crawl down his spine, as the vampire’s eyes flicked over him.
Doyoung, that was the vampire’s name. Doyoung’s eyes were dark as pools of ink, and his skin a hue of cream devoid of any hint of warmth. His black hair fell in long curtains, grazing his sharp cheekbones. He was stunning, but he looked as though he was on the verge of catching cold, his skin so stark in contrast to his dark ensemble.
Mark quickly directed his gaze down upon realizing he’d been staring. He was even more annoyed to realize that sometime between when he’d looked up and glanced back down, Donghyuck had begun to speak, and he hadn’t even heard or realized it until he’d broken eye contact with the vampire Doyoung.
“...keeping up with the advancements you’ve made in blood extraction and preservation. You must be recruiting humans to help with the tech side of things. Their computers and electronics…”
“ – Confusing, right? Not humans, of course. Can you imagine me working alongside humans? I do consult the recently turned, though.”
Mark determinedly kept his eyes from shooting up again as Doyoung spoke. He sensed the vampire had turned his gaze from him at last, but he wasn’t going to take his chances.
“But, Donghyuck, my dear, talk of business bores me. I wanted to know what you’ve been up to… and why you’re here, now.”
Mark raised his head to glance at Donghyuck. Donghyuck didn’t give anything away, not from what Mark could tell. His face didn’t change. He lifted his glass of red wine to his lips, took a sip, then lowered it, the picture of nonchalance.
“Doyoung, what do you think of my pet?”
Mark stilled, his chest constricting. He cursed Donghyuck out internally as he felt Doyoung’s gaze pivot back to him.
He felt distinctly aware of the person sitting on Doyoung’s side, a human, like him in that aspect alone. A man, who looked to be about Mark’s age, twenty. His features were soft, though. Delicate and refined, his fingertips long and slender where they rested on his knee. He was beautiful, and was dressed in fine silk that was a shade of creamy white.
He was a pet and, accordingly, his neck was covered in a collar. His didn’t seem better suited for an animal than a person like Mark’s, though. The man wore a silk ribbon the same pale shade as his shirt. He also hadn’t spoken a word in the minutes Mark and Donghyuck had been sitting there. It was like he was a living ornament. Mark wondered if he was seen the same way, if he looked like an accessory too, with his lips pursed tight and his neck clad in a collar.
He was still stringing together colorful names for Donghyuck when Doyoung spoke.
“He’s curious.”
Mark glanced up again, perturbed at the description. He saw a corner of Doyoung’s mouth twitch in amusement, and realized his annoyance was apparent. He hadn’t time to devolve into panic about what the vampire might do to him, knowing that he understood he’d annoyed Mark.
“Isn’t he?” Donghyuck said, “I just found him, you see. He’s new to this – to us. I wanted to show him what it’s like.”
Mark eyed Doyoung as he reclined against the velvet couch across from Mark and Donghyuck’s own. He slipped his arm from the back of the couch, placing his hand on the nape of his pet’s neck. The man’s eyelids fluttered, and Mark fought back the surge of heated aggravation he felt, as Doyoung laid his thumb against the silk ribbon.
“It’s curious…” Doyoung said, in an undertone, thoughtful.
Donghyuck seemed not to take any mind of it. He continued, but Mark felt the urge to lunge for him and tell him to stop. Goosebumps rose on the back of his neck. Doyoung’s gaze remained assessing, his thumb started to press against the man’s ribbon.
“I wanted to take him to a ball, actually. One of those old fussy affairs, you know the ones.”
Doyoung hummed. Mark glanced at Donghyuck, who gestured with his wine glass, appearing completely unconcerned. Mark wanted to warn him – but for what? Against what? Doyoung wasn’t doing anything to cause his concern. It was just… gut instinct. Something was off.
“I’ll break him in, teach him how we do things, what’s expected of him. And then I was planning on taking him to one of the coven’s events. Sort of a reward, I suppose.”
Break him in… Mark knew Donghyuck was just acting according to plan. All they had to do was convince the vampire they were friendly, get an invitation to one of their events in one of their bases, and get slaying. That was the plan. Mark reminded himself of that, and clenched his hand into a fist at his side.
“It’s curious,” Doyoung repeated, in his soft tone, “He’s not your type.”
Mark felt more than saw Donghyuck tense beside him. He relaxed in an instant, but Mark saw a flash in Doyoung’s eyes that told him the damage was done.
He held his breath, unable to look at Doyoung, unable to look away. If the vampire found them out, unravelled their plan, would they be headed for a fight right then and there? Donghyuck had made Mark leave his stakes in his apartment. He had no way of inflicting harm on vampires. He’d been so stupid to let Donghyuck convince him of that.
“In fact, I remember your last pet well. More than a century ago, wasn’t it?” Doyoung’s voice was pleasant, his thumb continuing its steady back and forth on the man’s silk ribbon, “He was a pretty little thing. Was completely enamored with you too, as I recall.”
Donghyuck sniffed.
“Of course my tastes have changed a little after a hundred and twenty years.”
Mark chanced a glance at him. Undue, he felt a brief prick of something like grudging respect. Donghyuck had handled that with ease, though Mark got the feeling that Doyoung had been trying to provoke him.
“Pet.”
Mark was studying Donghyuck’s face, how relaxed his features were, how nonchalant he made himself appear with the lazy list of his body against the couch.
“Pet,” he heard again, and Donghyuck’s eyes flicked to him. Mark realized with a lick of annoyance that he was being addressed.
Mark turned to Doyoung.
He was grinning. He leaned forward, taking his hand from the man’s neck only to place it on his thigh, sliding it forward as he listed forward himself. His fangs were longer than Donghyuck’s, Mark realized. He set his jaw.
“Yeah?” he replied, gruff.
Mark could imagine Donghyuck’s annoyance at his tone of voice. Well, he thought, let him be annoyed for a change.
Doyoung’s grin went wide, crooked. It looked almost wicked.
“If you’ll forgive my impropriety, I’d like to see the extent of your affection towards your master.”
Ah, Mark thought, shit. He had to stop himself from glancing at Donghyuck to confirm that it was as bad as it sounded.
“Jungwoo,” Doyoung said, in a voice that was unexpectedly soft.
Mark wondered at first if he was losing his hearing, and then, if he was losing his mind. He let himself glance to Donghyuck, but Donghyuck simply appeared frozen in place. He didn’t glance back at Mark. His eyes were glassy, his gaze distant.
“Love, how should Donghyuck’s pet prove his feelings for his master?”
“His master should feed on him. He should let his master drink him dry.”
Mark’s blood ran cold. The man in the silk ribbon – Jungwoo, had broken his silence. Mark tried not to gawk at him, while his heart thudded heavy in his chest.
He wondered for a second time why he’d let Donghyuck convince him to leave his stakes at home. Was this all a trap? Had Donghyuck been planning this all along?
But Donghyuck looked just as shocked as him, if subtler about it. His lips had thinned, and the wine glass he was holding looked to be at risk of shattering from the strength of his grip on it.
Doyoung chuckled.
“That’s a bit more extreme than I was expecting, but that’s certainly a way to do it. Donghyuck, if you will – .”
“No.”
Donghyuck’s expression had cleared of any shock, hardened. Mark’s heart was still pounding in his chest. His hands were clenched into fists, and he was itching to punch – someone. Jungwoo. Doyoung. Donghyuck. Fucking Donghyuck. Even if this wasn’t some trick on his part, it was his fault, as far as Mark was concerned. He hadn’t warned Mark about any of this when he’d shared his brilliant plan.
“Pick something else,” Donghyuck continued, “I’m not feeding in front of a crowd just to satisfy your paranoia.”
There was a moment, a tense powderkeg of a span of seconds when Mark wasn’t sure if the night would end in a bloodbath or not, but then, Doyoung cracked a grin, collapsed back against the couch again, and the moment broke.
“We’re hardly a crowd. But fine,” Doyoung turned his grin to Jungwoo, “Something else, love.”
Jungwoo frowned. He looked annoyed that his plans had been foiled. Mark was reeling. He’d thought the vampires’ pets would be natural allies, friendly human faces among all the bloodsuckers, not another enemy to watch out for.
“They should kiss, then.”
Mark saw Donghyuck go unnaturally still out of the corner of his eye, but he hardly registered it. He could have laughed in relief. Kissing. He could do kissing.
“Fuck yeah,” he said without thinking. He caught Doyoung blink, caught off-guard for the first time that night, before he turned to Donghyuck.
“I’ll kiss Donghyuck – er. My master,” Mark corrected himself, belated.
Donghyuck’s lips parted, only to close again. A moment passed without anyone saying anything. When Mark was imagining what he’d have to face in a vampire club, he hadn’t thought he’d have to contend with awkward silences.
“Is that cool with you... master?”
Mark thought he saw Donghyuck’s eye twitch, but put it down to the flickering of the candlelight. Donghyuck cleared his throat, then primly set his glass of wine aside. By the time he straightened, his face had shuttered again, become impassable.
Mark wondered at Donghyuck’s odd reaction. He wondered if he was a prude, or if it was just the thought of kissing Mark in particular that was so distasteful for him.
“It’s fine, yes.”
“Well, get on with it,” Jungwoo ushered, impatient, haughty.
Mark spared a moment to internally shoot a few choice curses his direction, then directed his full attention to Donghyuck.
It was easy enough to shift over, to lean in, and to press a kiss to Donghyuck. Glancing contact, a brush of Mark’s lips against the corner of Donghyuck’s mouth, nothing more than a moment in which he gathered nothing more than an impression – his lips were cold, as though he’d spent a stretch of time in wintry weather, but unexpectedly soft – and then Mark drew back again. He hadn’t even seated when Jungwoo spoke out.
“Do you two even know each other?” he asked, his voice amused.
“Jesus,” Mark cursed under his breath.
Jungwoo wanted a show. Mark could give him one. He didn’t have his stakes, and he didn’t fancy his odds in a fight without them, so a show was his best bet of survival.
Mark slung his leg over Donghyuck’s lap, noting the widening of his eyes, the shock on his face, filing it away, then raising his hand, sliding it along Donghyuck’s jaw, tilting his chin up with his thumb. In a split second, he’d straddled Donghyuck and, in the next, he was kissing him.
Mark tried not to think about the fact that Donghyuck was a vampire – that he was kissing a disgusting, bloodsucking vampire. He cast back to the night they first met, before the slaying, the revelations, and the scuffle that followed. He imagined things were different, that Donghyuck was just a guy with a pretty face and a prettier smile, smiling at him across the bar.
It was that man that Mark was kissing.
Mark kissed Donghyuck slow and deliberate, compartmentalizing the fact that they were being watched, that Donghyuck’s lips were a touch too frigid, that just behind them lay a set of sharp fangs.
He tilted his head, inhaling deep before pressing in closer, dragging Donghyuck’s lower lip in between his own. He tugged it, as he felt an unexpected sensation, the slide of Donghyuck’s hand (cold, too cold, don’t think about it, don’t think about it) up his thigh. His touch was tentative as it slid over the tensed muscles of Mark’s leg – no. Not tentative. Careful, as though Mark was an animal that might be spooked if he made any movement too sudden.
Mark released Donghyuck’s lip, paused to take in a breath of air, then pressed back in, darting his tongue out. He didn’t bother teasing Donghyuck, toying with him. Donghyuck hadn’t kissed him back yet, not really, so Mark wasn’t going to do anything fancy on his account.
He licked into Donghyuck’s mouth, only for twin points of sharp, piercing pain to cause him to still. Donghyuck’s fangs. He’d forgotten he had them, just for a moment there, and he’d gone and cut his tongue on them.
There was a soft keening sound that didn’t register for Mark as he pulled back, smarting.
“Ow,” he muttered, and then couldn’t say anything more if he wanted to.
Donghyuck had surged forward, and recaptured his lips. As Donghyuck moved forward, the tips of his fingers pressed into Mark’s thighs, near painfully hard. He let out a sound, a soft, muffled sort of cry, and Mark was finally able to connect it to the sound from earlier.
“You’re bleeding,” Donghyuck murmured against Mark’s lips.
He sounded annoyed and betrayed, as though Mark had meant to do it, as though he wasn’t ravishing Mark’s mouth at that moment.
“Your fangs… fucking cut me,” Mark tried to accuse, but his voice sounded more breathless than angry and the effect was ruined.
A deep exhalation that sounded suspiciously like a moan filtered through Donghyuck’s lips. Mark left his lips parted, let Donghyuck slip his tongue past them. It slid along Mark’s tongue, wet and warm and Mark felt a not-unpleasant chill travel down his spine. Donghyuck tasted of red wine, dry and deep and rich.
“Excuse me…” someone said.
Donghyuck let out a frustrated groan. He detached from Mark’s mouth, only to press back in.
He rested his head in the crook of Mark’s neck, his nose pressed to the juncture of Mark’s jaw and his breath hot and damp on the side of Mark’s neck. He took his hand from Mark’s thigh and Mark almost cursed him, but he found himself choking when he felt Donghyuck’s chilled fingers brush against his neck. Donghyuck’s fingers started to work at the collar buckle that was fastened tight, and Mark, realizing it belatedly, opened his eyes.
He shoved Donghyuck back, dislodging his fingers from the collar. Donghyuck fell back against the couch, a stunned expression on his face before it quickly turned wry. Mark’s chest rose and fell as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Donghyuck had just tried to take off his collar. Mark hated the thing, but that thin strip of leather was all that lay between his neck and a vampire who’d mentioned his blood only moments before.
Donghyuck raised his hand again and Mark tracked it. He shot his hand up, grasping Donghyuck’s wrist, holding his hand in place only bare inches from the already loosened collar.
“Try doing that again, I dare you,” Mark warned. He was winded, but he tried not to let it show in his voice. If he had to fight Donghyuck – again, this time at an even bigger advantage – he probably wouldn’t win.
“I’m in control here,” Donghyuck replied, tone rough, “Don’t forget, pet.”
Mark didn’t know what Donghyuck was really referring to, if he meant the act they were putting on, or if he was saying something else. He stared at Donghyuck a moment, searching for a sign of insatiable hunger, that animalistic look that vampires got in their eyes right before they fed. He couldn’t see it. He could hardly see anything, though, in that dark club.
Mark sucked in a breath, and dropped his hand from Donghyuck’s wrist. He stilled, not even daring to draw breath, as Donghyuck’s fingers took to the collar buckle.
“Donghyuck,” came a voice, soft, nearly on the verge of laughter. Mark winced, jammed his eyes shut. He’d forgotten about their audience.
“You convinced me, really. How about you, love? Did they convince you?”
“I suppose they did.”
Donghyuck’s fingers never slowed their work. He finally got the collar off. Mark resisted the urge to curl in on himself, as the cold air hit his bare neck, damp with sweat. He cracked his eyes open and watched Donghyuck, wary.
Donghyuck set the collar aside and kept one hand on Mark’s neck. He dragged his touch towards himself, skating his fingertips over the surface of Mark’s skin, tickling. He hesitated a moment, his hand stilled in it’s path at the base of Mark’s neck. Mark wondered for a moment why, then grew gradually aware of his pulsebeat, slow and sluggish beneath the tips of Donghyuck’s fingers.
His breath hitched. He watched, transfixed, as Donghyuck’s eyelids fell low. Mark’s lips parted. He intended to ask Donghyuck exactly what he thought he was doing, why he feeling for Mark’s pulse, but just as the words came to his lips, Donghyuck’s hand dropped to the front of Mark’s shirt. Donghyuck tugged him forward and Mark, relieved, followed his pull.
Donghyuck angled in, bypassing Mark’s lips, sliding his hand back up Mark’s thigh. Mark shivered. His eyes fell closed as Donghyuck kissed his neck, an inch or so from the pulse point. Donghyuck’s kiss was hot, open mouthed. Mark heard more than felt himself make a soft, curious sound, as Donghyuck began to lathe at the sensitive skin, flicking his tongue over the surface, and kissing sloppy and hasty.
Donghyuck hesitated too long on a single spot where Mark realized he could feel his heartbeat in his throat, and Mark raised his hand to grip Donghyuck’s arm tightly: a warning. Donghyuck hummed, a tickling vibration against the skin, but heeded the warning and moved on, trailing open mouthed kisses up the length of Mark’s neck.
Mark didn’t trust Donghyuck. He was a vampire. Vampires operated on deception and trickery. They could never be held to their word. He didn’t trust Donghyuck, but he was still letting him get this close, letting him drag his sharp fangs over the surface of his skin.
Why? he wondered, lacking the mind to put more of his confusion into words. He shuddered. Donghyuck’s fangs had scraped by a jumping tendon. He exhaled a sharp hiss and arched his neck to allow Donghyuck easier access.
Just then, someone – Doyoung – cleared his throat. Just then, Donghyuck drew back.
Mark cracked his eyes open. He caught the sight of Donghyuck’s lips, shining and kiss swollen, before Donghyuck swiped the back of his hand across them.
His expression was difficult to read. His gaze was dark, his pupils so blown that all that remained was the slightest rim of brown around them. He seemed to hesitate a moment, his gaze on Mark. Then, a corner of his lip ticked downward, and his eyes flicked to the side. He looked beyond Mark, towards Doyoung.
“Thought you wanted us to kiss. Now you want us to stop?”
Mark watched Donghyuck’s lips as he spoke. He was transfixed by how they moved, thinking about how only moments before they had been pressed to the side of his neck.
Donghyuck had seemed to just flip a switch and snap back into the unaffected mask he’d worn when they first walked into the club. Mark, still trying to catch his breath, his lips still tingling and the skin of his neck still tender and overworked, couldn’t fathom it.
“I simply don’t want to be here all night,” Doyoung replied, nonplussed.
Mark almost twisted to look at him, only to realize that he was, in fact, still seated on Donghyuck’s lap. His breath caught in his throat, and he moved to quickly slide off, only to be stopped.
Donghyuck’s grip tightened to the verge of painful on Mark’s thigh, his eyes flicking over to him. Mark frowned at him, his post-make out haze quickly fading, being overtaken with annoyance at both himself and Donghyuck in turn. Donghyuck, for ordering him around and himself for just letting Donghyuck get away with it.
A current seemed to travel in the air as their eyes met, and Mark wondered idly if he’d have to shove Donghyuck from him again. But then, the moment passed. Donghyuck released his death grip on Mark’s thigh, his gaze flitted back to Doyoung. Mark was left wondering if he’d imagined it all, the brief possession, assertion, as he slipped unceremoniously off from Donghyuck’s lap and took the seat on the couch beside him.
Donghyuck listed back, catching the glass of wine from the side table and raising it to his lips. He surveyed Doyoung over it. Whatever was going on now, Mark realized, he and Jungwoo both weren’t part of it. They weren’t privy. The vampires stared at each other, and the humans watched.
“Has your opinion changed on my pet? Or do you still find him curious?”
Doyoung’s eyes flitted to Mark, bored, then swung back to Donghyuck. A small smile worked its way across his mouth. Long strands of hair had fallen in his face, and he pushed them back as he straightened.
“He’s curious, alright. He seems a little… rebellious, but it’s obvious that you two have a strong bond.”
Mark bit the inside of his mouth to keep from breaking out into laughter. Donghyuck just smiled, crooked, a flash of white teeth and sharp fangs. He took a sip from the wine glass.
“As I said, I’m still breaking him in.”
Doyoung’s gaze passed over to Mark again. He reached out, his hand landing on Jungwoo’s thigh. The touching, the constant points of contact between them, it all seemed to be unconscious on Doyoung’s part. Jungwoo was his, and he acted accordingly. Mark glanced to the side, for a split second, wondering for the first time about Jungwoo’s thoughts about all this. It was possible he was being compelled but, for some reason, given the haughty commentary from earlier, Mark doubted it.
Jungwoo’s head was ducked, his copper bangs fallen over, casting the top half of his face in shadow. But a smile, small and pleased, was just visible beneath the shadows. Mark forced his gaze from him, back to Doyoung.
Doyoung looked amused by Mark’s momentary distraction.
“You’ve got quite a task there, I think.”
Donghyuck hummed, noncommittal.
“But… maybe seeing how pets are meant to behave will teach him a lesson. I can see why you’re eager to take him to a ball.”
Mark’s ears perked up. A hot lick of shame uncurled in his belly. He’d forgotten all about their mission, the reason why they were there. He held his breath. He didn’t dare move. The fate of their mission rested on the next few seconds. Doyoung stared at him, surveying, for a moment longer, then turned his gaze back to Donghyuck.
“Do you remember where Ten’s mansion is located?”
“How could I forget?” Donghyuck muttered. He, too, seemed to be holding himself more carefully in anticipation.
Doyoung chuckled, light.
“He’s hosting the next one. It’ll be a week’s time from now, on the night of the new moon. When they ask, you can tell them I invited you.”
“How kind of you to extend us an invitation,” Donghyuck uttered.
On the surface, he continued to look nonchalant, but Mark sensed that he was feeling the same unexpected surge of accomplishment as Mark was in that moment. He was too wary to allow himself to revel in it, though, still in the thick of the vampire club, surrounded by bloodsuckers.
“How about it, love? Are you excited to see Donghyuck and his pet again?”
Mark glanced back to the couch across from them. Doyoung had lifted Jungwoo’s head up, by his chin. Jungwoo had a sickening expression on his face, too close to real affection, as he gazed back at his vampire.
“A little. They’re strange,” Jungwoo laughed, soft and light, “They’re won’t fit in at the ball, I think.”
Doyoung smiled back at him with a fondness that made Mark’s stomach churn.
Jesus, he thought, wondering if these two actually thought they loved each other. How could a person love a vampire? he wondered. How could a person allow himself to feel such things for a thing that’d sooner drink his blood than anything else?
“Oh, yes. No matter what, they’ll be entertaining.”
Donghyuck sighed. He set his glass aside. Doyoung and Jungwoo still hadn’t turned from each other.
“Well, it was… a pleasure seeing you again, Doyoung. Pleasure to meet you, Jungwoo.”
Mark felt a grip of panic start to recede, as he realized Donghyuck was starting to make their exit. Doyoung glanced to the side, his gaze flitting over Donghyuck and Mark, resting a moment longer on Mark.
“You too, Donghyuck… Donghyuck’s pet.”
Mark bristled. Doyoung had already turned his gaze from him, back to Jungwoo, but he couldn’t resist one last parting aside as they stood up and started for the alcove’s stairs.
“I have a name, vampire,” Mark could feel Donghyuck’s gaze turn to him, and hurried to say his words before Donghyuck found some way to silence him, “Mark. If we meet again, you’ll call me Mark. Not pet. Got that?”
“Mark…” Donghyuck’s voice was low in warning.
His hand gripped Mark’s bicep. Mark glanced down, and paused at the sight of slender fingers wrapped around his tattoo, numbers and letters, a reference to a Bible verse that Mark had gotten only days after his parents’ deaths. Mark narrowed his eyes.
He recalled the headlines that day, all those years ago – how they had attributed the attack on his parents to a roving pack of wild dogs. Mark had known better. Mark knew as well as anyone that vampires were vicious, bloodthirsty, nothing more than beasts. No vampire deserved an ounce of respect from him.
Mark shook Donghyuck from his arm, training his gaze back on Doyoung. At last, Doyoung looked to him, actually looked at him. Not just surveying him, but looking into his eyes. Mark suppressed the urge to shiver as Doyoung’s gaze, cool and dark, drilled into him.
“I’ll call you whatever I wish to call you,” Doyoung’s voice contained no trace of the amusement that had underpinned it throughout the night. He turned his cold gaze to Donghyuck, “Control your pet, Donghyuck.”
Mark felt the undercurrent of annoyance he’d felt throughout the night boil over, burning like a bed of burning embers in his chest. He clenched his hand into a fist at his side, his blunt nails digging into his palms. He wasn’t going to be spoken down to by a vampire. He’d rid the world of a dozen of Doyoung’s kind, two in the last month alone.
He opened his mouth to say just that when he felt the press of cool leather against his skin. He paused as he felt Donghyuck coax his fist open, as he felt him press the collar into his still stinging palm.
“ Mark, ” he repeated, his voice urgent, finally shifted from nonchalance, “We should be on our way.”
It was his tone of voice that reached Mark, the note of worry in it that caused Mark to finally rip his gaze from Doyoung’s. He looked at Donghyuck, wondering at the wideness of his eyes.
Mark hesitated. His anger still burned, but it wasn’t white-hot.
“Please,” Donghyuck said, after a long moment, as though the word pained him to say. Mark turned from Doyoung to face Donghyuck head-on.
“Jesus,” he exhaled, determinedly not thinking about the fact that something had scared Donghyuck. Something in the last few seconds had transpired that left the implacable vampire afraid, “Alright. Fine.”
“Thank god for small victories,” Donghyuck muttered, his face shifting from worry to a more familiar expression of annoyance.
He continued to dart wary glances Mark’s way as they ascended the stairs, and as they picked their way through the alcoves, piano tinkling in the distance. He didn’t stop shooting distrustful looks Mark’s way until they were a block from the club.
He remained tense and quiet the whole walk away from Doyoung and Jungwoo so, when he showed signs of relaxing, Mark took it upon himself to break the tension.
“So that Doyoung’s a piece of work, huh?”
No sooner had he spoken than he was being forcibly dragged into the mouth of a nearby shadowed alleyway. Features contorted in anger, Donghyuck pinned Mark against one of the alleyway walls. It took Mark moments to get over his surprise, his shock at Donghyuck’s sudden shift.
“Don’t ever do what you did in there again,” Donghyuck hissed, “Do you have a death wish or something? Are you actually insane?”
Finally breaking from his stunned spell, Mark knocked Donghyuck’s hand from his chest and stepped away from the wall, taking a step towards Donghyuck.
“Keep your hands off me, vampire.”
For a moment, Mark thought Donghyuck might explode. He thought he might really be attacked, Donghyuck looked so enraged. He shifted his stance, centering his bodyweight low, ready to be pounced upon, resigning himself.
Then, Donghyuck’s fury seemed to subside. His nostrils flared, but no other sign of his anger made itself known.
“You’re no use to me dead,” he said, gruff. Admitting that he needed Mark, even as no more than a tool, seemed to take the wind out of him, “After you take care of my enemies, you can go around insulting whoever you want. Until then, though, you’ll learn how to play pet.”
Mark blinked, unsure if he still needed to be poised to be on the receiving end of an attack, or if he was in the clear. He mulled over Donghyuck’s words. He didn’t mind being a tool. Their deal would end up with half a dozen more vampires slain. The prospect of playing a vampire’s pet was somehow even harder to stomach than just temporarily teaming up with a vampire, though.
“And, for the record,” Donghyuck’s eyes flicked down, only going so far as Mark’s neck before swinging back up, “You weren’t complaining about me having my hands on you earlier.”
At his words, Mark felt the phantom press of Donghyuck’s fingertips to his thigh. The ghost of exhalations across his skin.
His cheeks felt suspiciously warm despite the chill of the night air. He scowled.
“That was acting.”
Donghyuck’s lip curled into a joyless smile. A flash of one of his fangs glinted in the thin sliver of moonlight that penetrated the mouth of the alleyway.
“You were whimpering in my ear. No one’s that good an actor. Certainly not you.”
Mark froze. He cast back, wondering if he really had whimpered when Donghyuck had been kissing him, touching him. The fact that he couldn’t even remember if he had, or if Donghyuck was just making it up was bad enough.
Donghyuck’s curled lip widened to a crooked grin. He reached out towards Mark. Though his movements were telegraphed, and Mark could have stopped him if he’d tried, he didn’t. Donghyuck nudged Mark’s chin up.
“Listen to what I say and do as I tell you from now on. You won’t have to worry about any vampire touching you, save for me,” Donghyuck drew back, settling into familiar self-satisfaction that set Mark’s hackles rising, “And you won’t have to worry about me meaning it, either. Unlike you, I can act.”
Donghyuck took a step away, then another. He paused, then looked over his shoulder.
“I’ll come by your place the night of the new moon,” his eyes skated over Mark’s body, and Mark resisted the urge to draw in on himself, feeling overexposed, like the frayed end of a raw nerve all of a sudden.
“I’ll bring clothes for you. Can’t have a pet of mine showing up to a ball in greasy denim,” Donghyuck added, an afterthought, one last annoyance that rocked Mark from his feet and sent him stumbling after Donghyuck as he sauntered away from the alley.
Mark forced himself to stop. He watched Donghyuck go, his chest heaving, his mind reeling.
“Fucking… vampire,” he spat, long after Donghyuck had disappeared around a corner, “Wouldn’t want your hands on me, anyway.”
And then, having nowhere adequate to release his pent up frustration, he turned, shoved his hands in his pockets, and stalked in the opposite direction. The more distance he put between himself and Donghyuck, the stronger his resolve grew to do anything possible not to let Donghyuck make him into a pet. He’d go to the damn ball, but he wasn’t going to be wearing fucking silk when he did it.