Bad Blood [NoRenMin] ✔

09

"You know about them?" Jaemin asks in surprise.

"You know about them?" Jisung's voice takes a lilt in surprise; his head whipped around to look at Jaemin who looked over at him, surprise matching the other's.

"It wasn't his first encounter," Taeyong noted, earning their attention again. Jisung tilts his head and Jaemin confirms it with a nod of his head.

"By the sounds of it , you don't just know about it," Jaemin notes aloud.

"And neither do you," Jisung murmurs. "Are you like us?" he asks, turning in his seat so he could fully face Jaemin.

He narrows his eyes before his lips part and he leans against the counter. His eyes flicker between the two before he makes eye contact with Jisung long enough to flash a smile as realization hits him. "Are you guys hunters?" His voice lowered involuntarily; a habit he seemed to pick up even when he was little and talking to his dad about this world (which was what he called it for anyone that were not just mundane norms.)

"So you know then," Taeyong confirms, refilling Jisung's glass. "How?"

"My dad. He told me about them when I was little. I didn't really believe him until my first encounter with one," he supplies. And then shoots a questioning look at Jisung. "If you're one, how come you never told me?"

"I thought you were a human. Though the fact that you were asking about the disappearances had me a little iffy."

"He's the one that asked Kun about sites? So, you were the one who was looking into the disappearances," Taeyong says and when Jaemin looked, the other male's eyes were wide but he couldn't figure out the reason behind them. Then Taeyong looks back at Jisung and his face scrunches up a little. "He's the one you weren't sure about?"

"Taeyong!"

"Wasn't sure about what?" Jaemin asks.

"He thought you might have been a vampire. He's been pining me since he met you to bring you here so I could tell him whether you were or not. I could tell you weren't from the moment you walked in," he says in confidence and the aura around him and his stance alone even carried the confidence and somehow he managed to look relaxed at the same time. "However, I did not expect you to be a hunter." There's a twinkle of a smile in his eye.

"My dad was one I think. He told me about them."

"Every hunter has a purpose. And training. Do you have either of those?"

"I have a purpose. I only have a little bit of training," he says and shrugs. "I don't have the ability my dad had. He could tell the difference between the humans and the vampires with just one look."

"It's a rare gift. Not all hunters have it," Taeyong says, "But there are quite a few. Most of them are the older generation of hunters." There's a pause as Jaemin sips from his drink, Jisung stayed silent and Taeyong seemed to be contemplating something. Then, as if deciding to say it, he says, "He was one of the best. Still considered to be."

Jaemin doesn't need to ask. "You knew him?"

"Yeah. He was called in to train some of the trainees. Is he still alive?"

"He is." Jaemin smiles.

"Awesome, awesome. He's a great guy. He deserves all the best so I'm glad that he is."

They fall into another silence before Jisung and Taeyong fall into a conversation where the younger asked him something regarding the vampires and the hunters (probably now that he knew Jaemin knew, he felt that he could speak freely) and Taeyong doing his best to answer, but Jaemin wasn't listening. For some reason, he felt odd.

It was unfair that this man in front of him knew his dad in a world he never really got to know his dad in; not even now because his dad had insisted he go to this college (it was his biggest dream throughout high school and even before then.) He couldn't even really say it was anyone's fault but his own. Had he believed his dad when he was younger, he'd probably be a much more prepared and way more experienced and well-taught hunter. Instead, only spending about four years training which was probably nothing compared to the other hunters in the world.

He lowers his head and takes another sip.

*

Not wanting to be out far too late, the two left when it started getting darker. When Jaemin zoned back in, Taeyong and Jisung were still talking but then Taeyong asked if Jaemin wanted to be trained. When Jaemin said yes, it was decided that they would schedule their training sessions during the weekend. Then Taeyong pointed out that they should leave before it got too late.

They were halfway back to the college when Jisung finally spoke. Until then, the car ride was exceptionally quiet and really it was for no particular reason.

"I'm glad you're not a vampire."

"I'm glad you're not one either," Jaemin replies easily. The rest of the car ride is silent but now the tension in the air; the unspoken words that were dangling in the air were no longer there.

When they get back to the dorms, Jisung and him part ways and then Jaemin finds himself tensely walking down the corridor as he walks to his room. Though Jisung offered to walk him up, Jaemin kindly declined. He didn't need Jisung walking up here with him and then walking back to his own room alone.

"Ah, you're here," he hears as he enters the room.

He closes the door behind him. "You're here," Jaemin notes. "Did you get your water bottle this time?" he asks and when glances sideways, Jaemin thinks he catches a sight of a hint of a smile across Renjun's face. His eyes are so much softer than they were the first time they met and so much softer than the evening before. It puts him a little at ease.

"Yeah, I did. Don't worry," the other assures. Jaemin nods as he hangs up his jacket and tugs his hoodie off before placing it in his cupboard and turning to face Renjun.

Cross-legged on Haechan's bed, he was surrounded by pages; all of them seeming to be colour coordinated. In that moment, Jaemin completely forgets the night they met; he forgets the intense eyes and the smirk and the flickering lights and the eerie scene as he stares at the male who in that moment, looked so stressed and so human. From his hands as he paged through a textbook to the soft breaths that seemed to flow through him. How soft his eyes were as they flickered between the pages and as he took in all the information. He bit his lip and his brows furrowed and he looked so fucking human in such a beautiful way that it made Jaemin curious.

"Do you have a big test or something?" he asks as he makes his way over to his bed. He asks it to pull himself out of whatever daze Renjun managed to pull him into. Even without knowing it.

"Yeah. I had a study session with some people from class but I wanted to go over some stuff. Thought I should wait for you to get back."

"You didn't even know if I was staying out the night," Jaemin says, unable to hide the surprise that slips into his voice. He's still looking at Renjun who looks up at him then and he shrugs.

"Not to be that person that seems to judge, but you don't seem like the type," Renjun says. "Especially if you know there's a high chance that there will be a stranger sleeping in your room."

For whatever reason that was beyond him, Jaemin finds himself smiling.