Sehun looked around the crowded club, nervously tugging on the silver skull-and-crossbones bracelet on his wrist.
“Are you sure this is the right place? Are you positive he’ll be here?”
He glanced over at his best friend, Jungmin, noting that he was also looking nervous as he surveyed the club but for entirely different reasons he was sure.
“I don’t know but it’s the only place that I haven’t looked,” he replied, once again sweeping the room with his eyes.
“For good reason! I can’t believe that I let you talk me into this,” Jungmin muttered. “I must be just as crazy as you are.”
“If memory serves, I didn’t do any talking at all,” Sehun reminded him, bringing a flush to his friend’s pale cheeks.
Two months, three weeks and six days. That was exactly how long it had been since Sehun had last seen Luhan, since the only time he’d seen him actually. They’d shared so much that one night: passion and lust, certainly, but so much more, he’d thought. They’d talked into the wee hours of the morning, in between their lovemaking, and he’d been fascinated by the things he’d learned about Luhan. It had helped him to see him as not just the creature he was now but the person that he was deep down inside; the human he’d once been before his life had changed irrevocably and the label of vampire had come to define his existence.
He’d eventually fallen asleep close to dawn and when he’d woken up, Luhan was gone. He was sad and disappointed but once he’d reminded himself that Luhan needed cover during the day, he’d bounced back. Mine, Luhan had called him and he bore the mark to prove it. Surely Luhan would come back. Right?
But as the weeks went by with no sign of his moonlight lover, he’d been forced to face reality: Luhan was gone. He’d been depressed for a month after that realization and Jungmin, fed up of his moping, had finally confronted him about it. In as little detail as possible, and because he’d really needed to talk, he told Jungmin that his dream of meeting a vampire had finally come true, that he’d befriended one and was now worried about him after not hearing from him in a while. He didn’t tell him everything about their encounter – Jungmin still didn’t know that he was gay and admitting that he’d let a vampire screw him every which way until the sun came up certainly wasn’t the way to go about it – but he had told him enough that Jungmin picked up on his care and concern for the vampire.
“Why don’t you go look for him then?”
He was positive that Jungmin had been joking, at least partly, but as soon as the words left his mouth, Sehun became a man with a mission. From that night onwards, he’d begun frequenting known vampire hangouts. He’d gone to the less threatening places at first, establishments with vampires who were into mainstreaming, openly mingling with humans and acting like the thick, red liquid in their glasses was not blood. When he’d had no luck in the relatively safe outer circles, he’d been forced to go deeper into the vampire culture. Little by little, he’d started exposing himself to groups that, had he been in his right mind, he should have been running in the opposite direction from. He’d had a couple of close calls but so far had managed to escape unscathed. Jungmin had not accompanied him on his previous adventures, as he thought of them, but after his last, near-fatal scrape, he’d insisted on joining him tonight. His conviction had lasted until they’d reached the parking lot. Once Jungmin had gotten a look at the place and its clientele, both dark and foreboding, he’d immediately wanted to turn tail and run.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Jungmin scolded them both. “You may be my best friend but I don’t want to die for you.”
Sehun rolled his eyes and started towards the bar.
