"Where the hell are you guys?" Suthee complained when Ming picked up his phone after he called for the seventh time. Ming cursed quietly after checking the time and apologized for being late, making sure Yo got dressed appropriately for the weather since it was beginning to rain.
"The place" was a place the four freshmen found during the Stars and Moon competition, a small gazebo just off campus where they could hide during breaks and just calm down from everything that was in the competition. (Or in Park's case: calm down from his boyfriend being flirted with 24/7) Ever since then, any important discussions would be there. The others knew where it was, but "family meetings" only ever happened between the four youngest. The oldest four had their own little family, and the two of them came together to make one big group that no one wanted to mess with.
No one except Joss apparently.
He was irrelevant right now. Ming was still pissed off but he really wanted to know why he could feel Wayo every step of the way. He loved it, but he was still curious as to why it was happening. Getting his sleepy, sad baby into his car was more of a task than he thought it would be. Wayo didn't want to let him go. He wanted to be held by Ming, wanted to hear the sluggish heartbeat of his boyfriend. He wanted to cuddle and fall sleep wrapped in the older boy's arms. Ming didn't give him a choice, but he did hold his hand during the entire drive. Wayo counted it as a slight win.
The clouds were dark, making the late afternoon haze feel gloomy. Wayo snorted at how it fit perfectly with his mood. They reached the gazebo in no time since Ming's dorm was so close to campus. The two lovers got out of the car, hands separating for a moment only to find each other again the second they reached each other.
"You guys are rarely separated, it's kind of gross," Park teased, sticking out his tongue to which Wayo did the same back.
"Yeah, coming from the guy with his hand is Sut's back pocket." Ming rolled his eyes and sat on one of the benches provided, pulling Yo into his lap as soon as he was comfortable. Suthee just flushed bright red
"Okay, so you mentioned that you felt Wayo's emotions?" Suthee got straight to the point, and Ming felt Wayo tense, felt him grow confused and shoot him a flabbergasted look. Ming just smiled sheepishly and nodded.
"So one thing I forgot to mention during the first talk is fated ones. They are quite common between birth vampires but changed vampires don't commonly have someone they were born to be with. It's rare, but it happens. With fated ones comes a mind link, and you feel whatever the other feels. You might even be able to talk telepathically later. I think that's what you guys are." Suthee spoke, ending the whole thing with a reluctant smile and Ming worried. Suthee never smiled when he didn't want to, but having him smile out of pity was something he never ever liked seeing. It never came with a good reason.
"You think?"
"Well, uh, you both have to be vampires to know for sure. So while you can feel everything, Yo can't. He'd have to be a vampire for that. And uh... You would have to be the one to change him. No one else's venom will work," The med student pursed his lips, worry taking over most of his facial features. Ming's undead heart stopped. He couldn't imagine making Yo go through the same thing he had gone through, the pain and the agony. He would never make his baby experience that.
Yet, he felt Wayo's intrigue peak. He felt the younger boy's happiness grow and he felt sick. Wayo wanted it, wanted to be changed. Ming felt sick again but for a different reason. He couldn't do what Wayo wanted. He wanted Yo happy, loved his smile more than anything in this world, but to make him experience some of the worst pain Ming has ever felt in his life, willingly, was just something he couldn't bring himself to do.
"We should go," Park muttered, quickly ushering Suthee away before he could play Mama bear, waving at both the engineering student and the science student. Ming waved slightly back, fear overtaking every thought in his head. Wayo however, he seemed to be fine. The younger boy quickly his body so he could straddle Ming's lap, arms crossed loosely behind the vampire's head, knees locked besides both thighs. His smile was prominent and Ming tried to smile back. Wayo saw how apprehensive he was and frowned, cocking his head to the side out of curiosity. Ming just sighed, hands moving up to grip Yo's waist and let his head drop.
"I can't change you," Ming confessed. He heard a hitch of breathing, felt the betrayal Yo was feeling, gripped at air when Yo slipped off his lap. "Baby, please you have you understand me. I can't hurt you like that."
"Ming, we could be together forever. Don't you get that? I could love you forever," Wayo spoke, tears of frustration pooling in his eyes and Ming has never hated himself more. He never meant to make Yo cry. He never meant to hurt him.
"Wayo, baby, please you have to understand. I can't- I can't put you through that." Ming pleaded, begged for Yo to not close him out like this. All he felt from his baby was waves of sadness, and he wanted to punch himself. "Baby, please."
"I want to go home."
