Hyunjin managed to catch him by his locker.

"God, what do you want now?"

"Can we talk?"

"About?"

"Minho."

Jisung scanned the vampire a few times. An easy scowl settled on his features as he asked, "What about him?"

"I want to know what you'd been telling him," The vampire muttered. He leaned against the row of lockers, close enough to the other to ensure he was perfectly aware of the looming presence but far enough to not impose on his space as the human busied himself with rotating the contents of his locker with the contents of his bookbag. His arms folded over his chest, tightly tying his lungs off into an unbreakable knot before he murmured to the motionless  hallway enclosing them in, "He has a lot of faith in you."

"Why should it matter? I'm living a normal life," Jisung tossed him a look from the corner of his eye, sort of carless, rushed, as if he didn't mind who else saw the hurried press against the vampire's question. He pinned on to the end, "You and Seungmin are the ones sneaking around, stealing things, listening to private conversations." 

Hyunjin tongued at the back of his fangs, "Private, huh?"

"I warned you. Not my fault vampires are loud," The human snapped at him.

"Bite your tongue next time."

"Bite your own, and bleed to death."

The vampire raked his eyes over the human's smaller form. Smaller, lighter, weaker, breakable, vulnerable, so similar to the others, so familiarly different, so, so easily killed off with the wrong flinch in the wrong direction, or the right snap in the right location. Too hard of a bite, too hard of a press, too strong of a hit, he would fall in minutes. And despite that, despite knowing the mortality, a finality to his every word and threat, an impossible ending to his assembly line packed of provocations senselessly numbed to his own self preservation, all of the human from his head to his toes had been crammed with more venom than he could have ever wanted to bargain for. Hyunjin turned his own red eyes away from the slim cage of the human, another mumble on the edge of his up-turning lips, "Violent."

"Let me know when you're done fucking around. Otherwise, leave me the hell alone," Jisung responded, though the previous ichor in his tone drained long enough for the other to understand the comment wasn't as malicious as it seemed. The human slammed the locker door close, the metal rattling with the vicious hit as he sent one last semi-smirk, semi-scowl to the vampire before turning on his heel and trudging away from the locker.

Begrudgingly, Hyunjin watched him escape. He watched the brown in the humans hair curl and bounce as he walked, not entirely the same. He watched the pull of his shoulders, back, not the same, less confident with that twinge of aromatic suspicion hunching them into shifty eyes. He watched the sway of the human's steps, how they seemed unsure, too unsure to truly belong to his own progressing mind and get all the more trustful that they would carry him exactly where he was supposed to go. None of it was the same. He knew that. Hyunjin, leaning against the lockers, the cool metal seeping through the navy fabric of his blazer, observing the details of the smaller human until he had picked him apart more viciously than any vulture, he knew that it wouldn't be the same. They were both humans, sure, but there was an almost intoxicating quality to the one he compared Jisung to.

He released a hand from the impressive knot across his chest, coming to bring it to scratch at the back of his ear in an idle way.

A painful reminder to himself, to not wander too far down that winding and twisted train track of chugging thought, else he wished to wander lost along the iron ties longer than he could be rescued from the overgrown path. Overgrown, and overdone path. And yet, still, he lingered on the idea. He hesitated at the foot of the pathway. He waited, feeling the dumb grin on his lips as he thought of the arrogant human and how much he'd like to slug him in the face at any one given chance. Really just, sling a fist around and pop the human in the jaw. After all this time, Hyunjin couldn't decide if it was more tempting to hit the human or if it was more tempting to touch his hair. The curl of the brown, the subtle bounce as he tilted his chin up and walked, to learn how the strands felt to be brushed back underneath the comb of his fingertips.

Stop thinking about him like that.

He dropped the hand from behind his ear.

It's weird.

Hyunjin forced his expression back to it's usual neutrality, before someone caught him standing alone in the hallway and smiling wistfully to himself like some foolish school girl in love. If he was, he wasn't about to admit it. If he was, he definitely would not be caught dead as is. If he was, he, beyond all else, beyond the desperate begs to have a normal highschool life, beyond the hopeless pleas to get through the day without a major headache, beyond the wishful prayers to not be yanked into another mess, he for sure, definitely, without a doubt, would not be caught, thinking in any happy way of Seungmin. Anything he felt was purely from a theoretical standpoint; If the human was nicer. If he wasn't flat line addicted to the taste of his blood. If there wasn't a serial killer. If he wasn't vampire. If he wasn't human. If...

If he wasn't who he was.

Maybe then.

Maybe then, he could know what the deep brown strands felt like.

He groaned, immediately coming to roughly pummel the heels of his palm into his temple with firm hits as he lectured himself in whispers under his breath, "You're being creepy again. Stop it. Stop that. Stop being so obsessed with some hair. It's hair. There's hair everywhere. Literally just go, touch some hair. Touch hair. Stop being weird."

"Hyunjin, are you... Are you okay?"

His head snapped into the direction of the voice, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're standing alone in the hallway, hitting yourself, and whispering under your breath like some crazed lunatic," Jeongin recalled as he furrowed his eyebrows at the other vampire, a light terror stretching across his face as he could do nothing but recount the exactly events Hyunjin wanted no one else to see. Of course, life was never that easily. Nothing ever worked out the way one wanted it to, seeing as how the younger managed to catch him off guard while he held something in his hands, pinched carefully in his grip like the world's safety depended solely on the safety of the object he was carrying along for the wild ride.

"I'm fine. Just, frustrated with myself," Hyunjin explained. Purposefully, voiding details beyond that much. He was already called a crazed lunatic, who knows what else he would be called if he chose to divulge farther into the tunneling patterns of his mind; Touching hair? Seriously?  What kind of thought was that? Was he sick? Was he on the verge of mental breakdown? Who knows! He certainly didn't!

Not to mention the fact that the person who plagued his mind, wasn't exactly a perfect fit when it came to societal standards. A guy, a human guy? If anyone, anyone at all knew about whatever the fuck was going on with his mind, romantic or platonic, starstruck or disgusted, there was no way to deny that it wasn't exactly a healthy relationship with his thought process and he was about three seconds away from ripping his own brain from his skull.

He was too wrapped up arguing with himself to notice the younger coming to lean against the lockers with him. Up until the point he felt the soft shoulder bump into his, and the wrapped cylindrical object the younger was carrying entered his vision. Hyunjin hesitated as he stared down the bundled item in his hands, "What's this?"

"A cookie," Jeongin told, "I got it for you."

"Thanks," The older vampire plucked it from his hands without much thought. He pulled at the wrapper for a few beats, curling the paper-plastic wrapping back before he paused at the delicious scent of chocolate chips and cookie dough sending his nostrils into an unpleasant overdrive. Brutally, he was reminded;

I can't eat this.

And suddenly, he felt like breaking down into tears all over again.

"Sure. I got some for everyone else but I don't know where they are," Jeongin nodded, a dimpled smile on his face as he pulled back the plastic wrapping to his own chocolate chip cookie and began to devour the treat. Oblivious to the muted whimpers of the vampire next to him, forced to watch the consumption of a delicious sweet, forced to hold one of his own, forced to know of its existence, and completely immobilized to do more than hold the food in his hand and wait until the younger wasn't watching.

When that time came in the form of a sneeze blowing chunks of cookie out into the hallway, Hyunjin managed to slip the cookie into the pocket of his blazer and returned to his normal position.

Jeongin, still oblivious to the struggle, continued to eat his cookie as he told, "Everyone has been busy. Chan has been with Changbin and Felix, or he's been busy with theater and drama stuff. Minho is with Jisung. I don't have anyone to hang with."

Hyunjin quirked an eyebrow at him, "What about me?"

"You're always with Seungmin," The younger said, in a way that sounded vaguely argumentative. And...

Sad?

Jeongin turned his attention completely back to his half eaten cookie, the peeling of the plastic and the rate at which he devoured his favorite treat slowed down significantly from when he first arrived to talk with the older. As if every moment here, every motion he took, every bite, every peel back of the temporary wrapper, he needed to treasure it all in his memories. He needed to hold it, close to his chest, close to his ribs, close to his heart beating under, for the possible fear that one day he wouldn't be able to hold the memories as close as he once was able to keep them. He needed to keep them, he needed, he needed to remember every moment. Because the glitter in his eyes, the glimmer telling him to fight against the darkness laying somewhere out there, Hyunjin feared that it wouldn't always be shimmering in his eyes. He feared that kindness might not always be there.

Hyunjin lightly tapped their shoulders together, a gentle gesture which brought him closer to the younger. He dropped his voice, keeping his words quiet in the proximity as he offered the weak apology, "Sorry. I didn't realize you were feeling like this."

"It's okay. You're not the only one who hasn't noticed. No one has," Jeongin shifted. Each time he attempted to readjust his weight, or tried to find a more comfortable position against the row of lockers, his shoulder and side would bump against Hyunjin's. The older had half the mind to scoot back with every encroaching bump, but it seemed to do nothing. Jeongin, whether he was doing it on purpose or not, seemed to continuously wiggle closer. He sighed, chomping off the last few bits of the cookie with another grand vehemence, the chunks in his mouth clogging his speech as he covered his mouth with a hand,  "It doesn't bug me that much, but, everyone has these secrets that they didn't have before and I'm being left out because I don't have any."

"Come find me during break," The older reassured him, "You don't need a secret to talk with me."

"Thank you," Jeongin nodded towards him, more occupied with folding the plastic wrapping. He squared the paper-like container off, then folded it into triangles, bending the echoed crinkles however he asked as if it were his own dominion to play and bound around in without a care. He could fold it if he wanted. He could tear it. He could crease it, crinkle it, mold it, make it something new, and the only one to dictate what he did from there was himself. Him, and the solemn smile degrading his otherwise flowered features. Not bright or bubbly like Felix, not shifty or untrusting like Jisung, not arrogant or egotistical like Seungmin, not even the touching pride of Minho or Chan. An expression, uniquely Jeongin's. It reminded him of summer days, of flower fields, of firework shows, staying up until the world itself seemed like it would end at the turn of the day.

But it was downtrodden. His features, uniquely his, were turned melancholic.

Before he really knew what he was doing, Hyunjin outstretched a hand to the younger. His palm came to land on the umbral strands, an awkwardness to hid overall demeanor as he tried to reassure him the best he was able to do. Something, he didn't entirely realize he was doing until Jeongin managed to snap out of the light purrs melting into the connection long enough to ask, 

"What are you doing?"

"A head pat," Hyunjin answered him, afterward muttering, "I think."

Jeongin blinked at him. His expression was unreadable.

"Sorry, I know. It's weird," Hyunjin hurriedly apologized. He retracted his hand from the younger's head, three seconds away from combusting right then and there from sheer blunt force of intense embarrassment. Seungmin was easier to interact with than this. Scratch that, Seungmin was the whole reason he was internally monologuing his life away to firm heat rising in his cheeks, while he was left to clean up the aftermath. He could practically hear the teasing scorns in his eardrums as he continued to apologize with murmurs inching away, "Ignore me."

The younger stared at him for a little longer.

Sort of, spacing out at the other vampire.

A light shade of pink was dusting his cheeks as he asked, "Can... Can you do it again?"

Hyunjin's gaze snapped back to the younger, eyebrows furrowing together. He could practically feel the surprise oozing from his own face as his eyes tried to go wide underneath the covert shade of his scrunched forehead.

"I've been starved of Chan and Minho hugs lately, and this is the first time I've gotten anything remotely close to affection from you," Jeongin explained as he nudged a bit closer, "Two years, you haven't given me one hug."

"I'm not a huge fan of hugs."

"I'm aware. So, give me head pats then. It felt nice."

Hyunjin searched the room. Attempting, above all else, to avoid the expectant stare relentlessly boring holes into the side of his face until he gave into the request. Though, knowing him, knowing the younger, knowing the shy rose twinging Jeongin's cheeks and his ears with a friendly heat, knowing how brightly his eyes sparkled with an unadulterated wonder for all the stars in the sky, knowing that the only stars in the vision at the moment were Hyunjin himself, knowing it all, he was quick to give in to the hopeful that of sunshine standing by his side. He faltered, yielding to the silent happiness of the younger's warmth, to gently coddle the strands of raven hair the best he could, attempting to not pronounce the amount of awkward he felt in that moment. The amount of "Oh god what am I doing", he felt in that moment.

At least, Jeongin seemed to be enjoying it.

At least, he seemed to be happy. If only for a short amount of time.

The glee on his face, the dazed glimmer to his features when they finally had to separate at the end of their break, it stuck with Hyunjin. Not in the same kind of strange obsession with Seungmin, not the same kind of constant comparing, not the same kind of validating, approving, adjusting, not the same. It wasn't the same. Although the brightness of the younger, his wordless cheers,  untouched contentment with the world, and young blushed stayed in Hyunjin's mind, it didn't burden him. It didn't consume him. And somehow, he found himself hating the lightness of the memory more than the devouring consumption of the human's scent. At least, he could understand the gluttony. He could understand the want, the desire, for a necessity, something which wasn't entirely a sin.

But this?

He couldn't wrap his head around Jeongin.

Even as he sat on his bottom bunk, a scarce light from his phone illuminating the math work spread out on binders and textbooks arching around his form slumped against the back wall, ensuring the cover of the night wasn't too disrupted by the light so Chan could get a decent night's rest for once, he couldn't quite understand it. Though, it may have been partially because of the equations he was working with. One headache at a time. No need to be overburden.

The door of their room creeped open, before shutting quietly behind the person.

"You were out late," Hyunjin commented, not even bothering to look up from his math work.

Changbin trudged farther into the dorm room, already beginning to undo the last few buttons of the navy blazer and slip the coat off of his shoulders with an incredible ease. He tossed the blazer to the provided desk resting under the window, his usual spot for late all nighters and early morning wakeup, shooting back at the younger with a smile and the curious inquiry, "And you're still up?"

"Math work. Forgot to do it," Hyunjin tentatively informed him. He heard a hum of acknowledgement, the quiet noise hiding in the darkness of the room. Again, careful. Cautious, from both of them, not to disturb their roommate passed out against the fluffy pillow and welcoming mattress, the only hint they were given to his being alive existing as the occasionally snore stabbing the exhausted vampire deeper into the dreamland he wandered. After one particularly loud gurgle in the middle of his sleep, Hyunjin finally decided to throw a glance to Changbin attempting to navigate the dark room. The younger murmured, "Were you with someone?"

"Repeat that?"

"Were you with someone?"

"Felix," Changbin whispered back, "Why do you care?"

"I don't care. But, it would suck if I got in trouble because of you."

"I'll try not to stay out too late next time. Are you going to be up for a while?"

"For a little."

"Alright. I'm going to start shutting off for the night."

"Sure," Hyunjin tossed the agreement as watched the older scoot around the dorm room for a few beats, observing him grab a few clothes off the ground, one of which being the navy uniform blazer, immediately which he tossed to the discard pile of his own bunk bed mattress. The older began to unbutton his white collared shirt, lazily popping open the top few without much thought as he continued to wander around the room.

Underneath the white collar, Hyunjin caught the faintest glimpse of a circular arch imprinted on Changbin's collarbone and the golden chain necklace hiding below.

♢♢♢