[1s] サダメの薄幸な恋人 - The star-crossed lovers of Sadame, part 4

[haru_ran]

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]



Albeit being very cautious during their secret meetings in general, JaeJoong grew a little inattentive with the giddiness his pregnancy spread throughout his figure. He felt the baby grow with each passing day, and knowing that his pregnancy would only last for six months, he was sure that soon, a bump would be visible together with a soft glow. But he did not think about that yet. His mind was solely focused on meeting YunHo, and so he did not notice that when he sneaked out of Timber Castle at night and vanished into the forest without any intention to return, a guard had caught a glimpse of him. Even though YunHo had been feasting in the human world, after the ban had been lifted from him again for his quite formidable behaviour, he still stayed at the latter's shack and lay sleeping in YunHo's bed upon the latter's return.

It was broad daytime when JaeJoong finally returned to Timber Castle, and he found himself greeted with a very enraged-looking queen upon entering the royal garden. He gulped notably, his eyes shortly snapping to HaMi, who only could mouth an apology before the queen drew back his attention towards her with a harsh, “Your quarters. Immediately.” He knew it would have been the easiest to escape with whatever breeze being around, but seeing how the guards were holding onto his foster mother let him ruefully drop his head when he followed the queen and guards inside Timber Castle towards his quarters.

By the time they reached JaeJoong's room, he found his chamber in a chaos. Every possible object lay scattered on the floor, his bed dishevelled and shelves torn. It seemed as though the queen had rummaged through everything that would lead her to his whereabouts in her rage that she didn't leave anything unharmed. He sighed heavily when he, as well, found his window locked completely to any sunlight. The same was for the secret window of HaMi.

“Where have you been last night? And don't you dare lie to me, JaeJoong, or I will have little mercy on the fate awaiting your traitorous foster mother,” the delicate fairy snarled, and a hiss resounded from HaMi when the guards held her arm not gently at all. It was then that he witnessed the bruises gracing her old, but normally soft, features.

“Do not hurt her, please. She has nothing to do with this,” JaeJoong begged her, and with a curt motion of her head, the guards threw HaMi onto JaeJoong's bed. The auburn haired rushed to her side, guilt and regret on his features, when he carefully lifted the older female into a sitting position.

“Well? Your whereabouts. Now,” the queen demanded to know, and JaeJoong contemplated how to tell the enraged fairy where he had been without telling her who YunHo actually was.

“I,” he started and passed a quick glance at his foster mother. Albeit she tried to hold him back with a mouthed 'don't,' he still continued, “I've been with my soulmate.”

Once the words had been registered, the queen ushered the guards to leave and wait in front of the door whilst assuring them that she would be fine by herself. When the door clicked shut, she turned towards JaeJoong with fury glistening in her eyes. “Soulmate, you say. Who is it?” she inquired, her arms crossed before her chest.

“None of your petty wooers, and I thank Primoris for that,” JaeJoong retorted and stared into the queen's furious eyes. “Who it is, however, is not for you to know.” He had risen from the bed by now and made his way over to his duvet mindlessly thrown across the chamber before.

“How dare you, you little,” the queen growled when she stepped closer to JaeJoong. The latter had his back turned towards her, which only fuelled her rage more. “Look at me when I talk to you!” she yelled and grasped for JaeJoong's arms to turn him around. She, however, only brushed through translucent air. Her eyes widened when the part of JaeJoong's back she had touched turned solid again.

“I'm afraid I have lost the will to trust you,” JaeJoong muttered when he turned to face the queen. Regret lay in his eyes, eyebrows furrowed in sympathy when he clutched the duvet he had fetched to his chest.

“You insolent,” the queen drew harshly through her teeth, her features contorting with anger whilst her balled fists were shaking. “Fine. We will see how long you can keep that soulmate of yours a secret,” she spat and turned soon after to leave JaeJoong's quarters. It resounded with a clank and the jingling of keys when the door was locked to keep JaeJoong and HaMi from escaping in any way.

HaMi watched her charge by rummaging around his quarters, trying to ease the chaos the queen had left behind during her first inquiry of JaeJoong's whereabouts. She knew that JaeJoong took her smaller injuries to his heart, otherwise he wouldn't still be here. “You shouldn't have stayed, JaeJoong-ah,” she voiced out her concern, fearing for her charge's life when the queen was to find out about his soulmate being a vampire. Death would await him, albeit the possibility of him being used as a mating object solely because of his elemental being was much higher. After all, the queen was obsessed with the idea to bring back the elementals to Sadame. Just her methods were quite worrisome.

“I could not possibly leave you here,” JaeJoong muttered and settled down next to his foster mother. “I already troubled you enough, and it is my turn to repay you for protecting me by now protecting you instead, who is so important to me,” he exclaimed with a soft smile when he gently cupped HaMi's face to examine the bruises on her left eye, cheek, and the cut on her lip.

“You shouldn't worry about an old woman like me, JaeJoong-ah,” HaMi remarked, hissing a little when JaeJoong applied a tincture on her bruises to soothe the pain. “There is a life growing inside of you that you must worry about,” she breathed and palmed JaeJoong's abdomen. The texture of his skin had become a little soft compared to the former taut muscles. By the time he would reach the first month, a bump would already be visible. She saw tears rolling down JaeJoong's cheeks upon her words.

JaeJoong buried his face in her shoulder when he felt the fear seeping through him overpowering his every nerve. “I'm so scared of what she will do to my baby when she finds out that its father is a vampire,” he whispered, his shoulders shaking with the sobs escaping his throat. HaMi drew soothing circles on his back, finding calming words whilst trying to keep her own sadness in check. She knew what would happen, but she couldn't bring it over herself to voice out what JaeJoong feared would happen.

A few nights had passed since YunHo had last seen JaeJoong. He neither was to be seen in the royal garden, nor did he appear at his shack. It worried him greatly that in the shelter of the deep night he had decided to search for JaeJoong inside of Timber Castle. He knew that it was a great risk, but the anxiety he felt was far too great to be ignored. Very cautiously, he slipped out of his general sleeping quarters at Vampire's Cave in Forbidden Forest, time and again cursing under his breath when a vampire stirred in their slumber.

Once he left the entrance of the cave, YunHo rushed through the stillness of Forbidden Forest and only slowed his steps when he reached the border to Timber Castle. His ears were very attentive, golden eyes scanning through the darkness always in search of a shadow that would reek of danger. Everything around YunHo was pitch-black, the lights of Timber Castle dimmed to an extent that made it easier for him to manoeuvre through the shadows on quiet feet past the few guards he might come across on their nightly patrol. He was lucky, though, to find the garden in utter silence. Only the sound of crickets reached his ears whilst he searched for a way to get inside Timber Castle without causing a commotion.

It was when he managed to reach the stairs leading into the hallways that a very faint scent of grass and lemon reached his nostrils. He turned his head from side to side in search of the source, but there was nothing in sight. The scent intensified just a little though when he lifted his eyes and let them glide along the thick bark of Timber Castle upwards. He scanned over every knothole, cautiously climbing upwards the bark with his fingers clutching onto every indention on his way in search of the knothole he was sure belonged to JaeJoong's quarters. He was close to the crown when he was sure he had found the source of JaeJoong's scent. The addicting flavour emanated from two knotholes, though, both of them being hidden behind a layer of wood. His nails were carefully grazing over the surface of the wider knothole in front of him. The other, smaller one, was to his right and not wide enough for him to fit into.

YunHo halted in his movement when he heard a faint voice from inside asking for who he was. He contemplated whether to answer or not, recognizing the voice to be not JaeJoong's, but a female one. It sounded familiar to him and he was pretty sure that it belonged to JaeJoong's foster mother. He was about to respond when the voice called silently for help. Fearing the worst for JaeJoong's well-being, YunHo called out a curt, “Move aside,” before he plunged his fist through the thickness of the board keeping the knothole locked. It didn't last long for the wooden barrier to crumble in defeat under YunHo's assault and to give way to the darkened chamber. He found JaeJoong's foster mother staring with wide eyes at him from across the now open knothole.

“Y-you,” she breathed, her voice hushed and trembling. With a respectful bow, YunHo entered the sleeping quarter and excused himself for the intrusion. Almost immediately his golden eyes shifted towards his right where JaeJoong was slumbering soundly in his bed. A breath of relief fell from his lips when the anxiety he had felt before vanished with just a passing glance onto the constant heaving chest of his elemental lover.

“Are you out of your mind? What are you doing here?” HaMi hissed, following after YunHo, who had silently approached JaeJoong's bed.

“I know it is insolent of me, but when I haven't heard of him in days, there was no way for me to get not worried about his .... their well-being,” YunHo muttered when he settled down onto the edge of the bed closest to JaeJoong's torso and extracted his hand to gently brush it over the sleeping one's cheek.

“You are far too kind for a vampire,” HaMi muttered when she watched YunHo handling JaeJoong with such care as if he were afraid to break him with the simplest of his touch.

YunHo smiled genuinely at her words when he watched JaeJoong's sleeping features. “One of my human habits, I suppose,” he breathed and couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows when he had the feeling that JaeJoong's cheeks looked a little slimmer. “Has he fallen sick? He looks quite worn out even in his sleep,” he voiced out his concern.

“Despite his approaching morning sickness, he suffers mental fatigue,” HaMi responded and settled down onto the other side of JaeJoong's bed. YunHo cocked his head at her in wonder. “Have you not wondered why the windows are locked or why I would call for help?” she whispered and YunHo's lips fell open when it dawned on him.

“They know of me. They emprisoned you because of me!” YunHo exclaimed and HaMi had to shush him when JaeJoong stirred a little in his recently rare sleep.

“They do, and yet, they do not. They do know of JaeJoong's soulmate, but until now, we both had been successful in keeping you still a secret. It, however, will get tricky soon with JaeJoong's pregnancy,” HaMi said and eyed her sleeping charge worriedly. “A little bump has already started to show, and it will not take long for it to glow,” she said and faced YunHo. “I fear the moment most when they will find out of the baby to be from you, a vampire, because once it would be born, it would be executed before it even managed to cry.”

Guilt and fear washed over YunHo's eyes at the words HaMi had uttered. With a deep breath he palmed JaeJoong's cheek gently, tears burning behind his eyes when he decided to fight. “I will not let them lay a hand on you or our baby, you hear me? No one's going to hurt my family,” he promised the sleeping JaeJoong and left HaMi speechless. She was startled when, after a short peck onto JaeJoong's forehead, YunHo rose from the bed and moved over to the knothole he had entered from.

HaMi had followed him curtly and meant to address YunHo, but the latter beat her to it, “You are the only one I can trust on this, so I ask of you to, please, take care of JaeJoong and our baby. I know it is too much to ask for, but you need to give me time before I will be able to free you from your confinements; until then, please tell him that I love him and yearn for the day to hold him in my arms again.” Without another thought and sure of YunHo's promise, HaMi agreed to his words, and after a curt goodbye, she watched YunHo leap back onto the ground before he dashed into the darkness of the forest. Yes, she was sure she could trust the brown-haired vampire and smiled a little when she eyed JaeJoong being oblivious to the happenings of this night.

“You sure found a very decent man, JaeJoong,” she muttered and cursed a little under her breath when she wondered what she was going to do now with the obviously broken window without letting anyone know about it being probably the only way out to their freedom. In the end, she decided on an unnecessary part of her bed and managed to nail it as quietly as possible against the knothole. Now their fate lay solely in YunHo's hands.

*****

As predicted, it didn't last long for JaeJoong's pregnancy to be revealed. With the next festivity approaching, his tummy had already grown a small but visible bump. He did not try to hide his condition when the queen had entered his confinement to keep an eye on him for the festivity. Her eyes had immediately caught sight of the greyish glow emanating from his protruding middle, and anger had washed over her in the split of a second.

“A vampire!” she screeched in such a volume it was impossible for the entire castle to not hear. That JaeJoong's tummy glowed in a soft grey could only agree to such a conclusion. Fairies, and above all, elementals, were creatures of light whilst vampires were creatures of the dark. “You had intercourse with a vampire and dare to carry a monster inside of you!” she spat with her features contorted more with disgust than anything else. By the time the festivity was officially about to start, the queen cancelled the entire event much to the complaint of her people and raised eyebrows of the vampires.

“I wish to speak with the head of the vampires,” she announced without any further explanation of why the annual mating festivities were called an end and waited for DaeHyun to approach her. The old vampire was followed by a small group of younger vampires. With furrowed eyebrows, she motioned the group to follow her inside and led the vampires into a room normally used for counselling. Inside were already the king, three guards, and an advocate.

“What is it the queen of fairies could possibly want to talk about with me?” DaeHyun snarled after settling down on one of the many chairs without any invitation to do so. The four vampires that had joined him lined up behind the old vampire. ChangMin stood to his right, followed by the oldest daughter of DaeHyun, and JunSu who had taken his fledgling YooChun with him. The platinum-blond haired felt a little uneasy. He knew what this meeting was about; after all, YunHo had entrusted him with his plan to free his lover, albeit knowing that JunSu could always betray him. But what kind of friend would he be if he couldn't protect something YunHo so obviously treasured a lot? He just hoped to not stumble over his own tongue when his nervousness got the better of him.

“One of your vampires had indecent contact with a fairy and impregnated them,” the queen announced and stared furiously into the red eyes across from her.

A dark chuckle resounded through the room before the old vampire responded, “What an insolent accusation. Do you have any proof that the one you are looking for is of our kind?” The other vampires were chuckling softly as well. Only JunSu stayed serious and waited for what else was to come.

“I do not have to give you proof of anything,” the queen snarled and rose to her feet. DaeHyun's red eyes narrowed in on her. “I hereby exercise the right of article four in the peace treaty from the 69th ear of reign of Lord MinSoo the first, the founder of Timber Castle. Hand over the accused vampire so that justice be bestowed upon him by death through our advocates,” she declared, and if JunSu weren't already pale ever since he became a vampire, he, by now, would be as white as a limestone wall.

Enraged, DaeHyun sprung to his feet. “Fine, but then I exercise the right of article four in the peace treaty from the 400th ear of reign of my father, Master SeHyun, to hand over the fairy that had indecent contact with a vampire.” Another fit of words were thrown at one another throughout a discussion lasting for over an hour. None was to give in to the other, and albeit the vampires did not know yet who the culprit had been, they did not want to lose against the fairies. Without any agreement, the two parties parted, both equally furious and strong-willed to win this case in any way.

An emergency gathering had been called out once the vampires were back in Vampire's Cave, and all were enraged about the outrageous things the fairies had accused one of them. Every single one of them asserted their innocence, YunHo included. He tried to play the card of an innocent vampire who had been accused of something as enraging as it possibly could be. It was, after all, part of his plan, and whilst combining his delinquent side with a much more complying one, he searched for a secure place in the human world neither fairies nor vampires would ever be able to find. He knew that he would need the few months JaeJoong's pregnancy was still going to last.

The gathering had been dismissed after no culprit had been found in the first inquiry, but more were to follow over the coming weeks with the order following their hierarchy, starting from the top until they reached the bottom. YunHo was lucky for now that he belonged to one of the lower classes, and he could only hope JunSu was able to keep quiet when it was his turn quite soon.

“Where are you going?” JunSu asked him softly when YunHo had sneaked out from the cave and followed him curtly.

“Feasting,” the brown haired muttered and tilted his head a little back. “You want to tag along?” His invitation was honest. After all, like this, he would have an alibi if someone wondered where he had been. And to his luck, JunSu agreed, albeit feeling a little uneasy.

“You do know when they find out that your only fate will be death, right?” the platinum-blond voiced out when he was sure that no one was around.

“I do not worry about that. I worry more about JaeJoong,” YunHo responded with a soft sigh when he looked up at the full moon lingering above the trees' crowns. “When I manage to finish my preparations in five months, then you do not have to worry about me at all, hyung.” JunSu blinked in surprise. That was probably the first time ever that YunHo had genuinely addressed him that way.

“You've changed,” he muttered absentmindedly and found himself soon faced with YunHo.

“You can thank JaeJoong for that when you meet him,” the brown haired responded with such affection it literally left JunSu speechless. They did not talk about YunHo's plan any further, mostly for JunSu to avoid awkward lies when it was time for his inquiry. But with each passing day, YunHo's plan formed to a complex maze only he would be able to understand. All he needed, in the end, was the help of JunSu as he was able to perform a kind of magic none of their fellow vampires ever recognized. But to him, it was perfect. He was about the only one who could free him of the vampire trace connecting him to his breed and it was everything he needed to build a peaceful new life with JaeJoong and their baby in the human world.

*****

The vampire's search after the culprit impregnating a fairy lasted over days and weeks until it reached a month and then two. By then, following the hierarchy, every vampire of pure blood had been deemed innocent even before the inquiry had started as it were those with red eyes who rather beheaded themselves or let themselves willingly burn in the sunlight before they came an arm's length near to a fairy. It was followed by the group of green-eyed vampires, which JunSu belonged to, who had been humans once, and were turned into vampires by a pure blood. Each of them had been deemed innocent of the accusation as well, although it was quite a close one for JunSu. Albeit being very cautious during the inquiry itself, he almost had slipped in his nervousness that he was glad he did a good job for his friend. He had bitten onto his tongue quite painfully, though, before the words accidentally slipped past his lips. Now, it was solely on YunHo to keep the vampires in the dark.

YunHo found it amusing to witness, though, that with the inquiry of the blue-eyed vampires, the headmasters picked, time and again, one out to be inquired further in the next round. Of course, ChangMin, as a child of DaeHyun's direct kin and a green-eyed vampire, did not belong to the suspicious ones. But that was to be expected. After them, it was followed by the group of vampires who once had been human and were turned into vampires by a green-eyed one. Such as YooChun. As one of the newest members in their group, he had to face the general suspicion, and, albeit JunSu vouched for his innocence, was picked for further inquiry.

This left only YunHo's group as the last to be inquired. As someone who had been turned into a vampire by a blue-eyed one, his eyes had turned golden, much to JaeJoong's liking, he knew, and his group was one of the rare ones. He did not really mind that, though. His inquiry went quite perfect, he had to admit. Even though the level of suspicion the headmasters already had just by hearing his name, none were suspicious with any of his answers. He had always been quite a good liar when it was really necessary. Now that he was deemed innocent of the accusation, he had more time to take care of his hideout in the human world. Every passing minute, he prayed that JaeJoong was still all right, and that he and their baby were well.

At the same time in Timber Castle, HaMi worried about the condition of her charge. JaeJoong lay with a fever in bed, the separation of him and YunHo slowly having an impact on his body, together with his advancing pregnancy. His protruding tummy had grown quite vividly over the passing first half, and each day, the greyish glow itensified. More than once, JaeJoong called out YunHo's name in his feverish dreams, and more than once, HaMi found herself wishing that the day soon would come in which YunHo would come to fetch them.

Each passing day, HaMi had to witness the same agonizing inquiry. The queen would come into JaeJoong's room and would assault him with questions he frequently denied to answer until she burst with anger and spat into his face what she would do to his child before it would even cry or have the chance to take its first breath. It was the only satisfaction she felt when JaeJoong's features turned from his usually blank facade to one marred with agony and fear. She found outrageous delight in his desperate tears. The only solace JaeJoong still felt in his confinement was HaMi's motherly warmth and the pulsing little heart under his own that kept him strong throughout protecting what was so important to him.

“Your father will come soon, my heart. I can feel it,” JaeJoong muttered whilst drawing soothing circles over his belly. A gentle smile lay on his features whenever he said it. “Yes, he will come soon.” It showed HaMi how strong the bond of JaeJoong and YunHo really was, and she promised herself to do whatever it took to protect her charge from any upcoming harm.

“We just have to hold out a little bit more,” she chimed in and drew the auburn haired into her arms with a soft smile.

“I know it will all be worth it,” JaeJoong breathed with an affectionate smile when he planted a chaste kiss to HaMi's temple before he snuggled against her figure. He was still quite exhausted, and with the current situation, he learned that he slept best with his foster mother by his side. They gained strength for the next coming months whilst the queen got more and more frustrated with every coming day. She was close on giving up on who the vampire was that JaeJoong had chosen as his soulmate. It didn't help much either that the breed of vampires refused to hand over the culprit and instead insisted that none of their people were in any way associated to a fairy after a very long and detailed inquiry. With the next passing weeks, the queen had lost her will to inquire JaeJoong any further. His punishment had been settled long ago, and either way, he would surely wish to face death than help restore the elemental race with whoever was willing to still mate with him.

Rumours had spread around the peoples of the fairylike race over the passing months, all demanding to know what was happening in Timber Castle. When word had spread about the heir expecting the bastard of a vampire by the slip of the tongue of a servant, the opinions of the people ran into different directions. Most were outraged and demanded for the punishment of death to be bestowed upon on his disgraceful behaviour, yet others were intrigued with the revelation of an elemental still being existent and wished to help restore this extraordinary breed. But the official decision made by the royal couple was still yet to be announced with the end of the indecent pregnancy. But this was just a mere passing of time and would not last forever. It didn't last long for the essential day to arrive at last.

It was a starry night when YunHo deemed it the day of his escape with JaeJoong, and hoped to whatever source out there to be on their lucky side. He was inside his shack together with JunSu, the platinum-blond haired staring at him with widened emerald eyes.

“You want me to do what?” the smaller shrieked when he registered the task his friend had bestowed upon him after his magic of lifting the vampire trace of YunHo had been performed successfully.

“Listen, you are the only one I can trust with this. I know it is tricky, but I am sure you can handle it. I just have to prepare the last few things for our escape, and I can't leave JaeJoong longer in this place. Please,” the brown haired begged with pleading eyes. JunSu just couldn't bring himself to say 'no' to the other. After a handful of thanks thrown his way together with hugs and wide smiles, YunHo explained to the platinum-blond haired how to reach JaeJoong's quarters the easiest and fastest way. They bid each other a curt goodbye before YunHo vanished into the human world whilst JunSu turned towards Timber Castle with his task in his mind. He was cautious when he manoeuvred around the fairy grounds as YunHo had described him.

“You douche, YunHo. There are far more guards than you predicted,” the chirpy vampire muttered when the royal garden of Timber Castle was already within his field of vision. He waited for another thirty minutes behind the secure hideout the trunk of a tree provided him with until the guards were patrolling around the front of the castle and deemed it the right moment to rush from the trees upwards Timber Castle's bark towards the highest knotholes he could find. It was YunHo's luck that JunSu was quite a formidable climber. Without another word, he thrust his fist through the wooden plank covering the wider of the two highest knotholes and thrashed the remains into tiny pieces before he climbed onto the windowsill.

An older fairy stood before him, eyes widened when she stared at him. “Who are you?” she asked, her voice latched with worry. A strangled cry soon caught her attention, though, and she rushed to another chamber connected to the one JunSu now climbed into.

“YunHo sent me to fetch you and JaeJoong,” JunSu remarked and stepped further into the dimly lit room. He caught sight of the older fairy rubbing soothing circles over the back of a very pregnant fairy. 'This must be JaeJoong then,' he thought to himself.

“It's time, JaeJoong. Do you think you can handle it until we reached a safer place?” HaMi asked her charge, the latter clutching the sheets like a vice when another wave of agony coursed through his figure in his labour. His protruding belly was glowing bright and had turned a little translucent. JaeJoong's eyes were glistening with a crystalline colour, his elemental soul peaked, which let him fall back into the ancient elemental language, “いいよ。心配しないでよ、ナナ.” A soft smile rested on his lips before he lifted himself from the mattress with help of HaMi. JunSu had to gulp when he had a better view on JaeJoong. The auburn haired was indeed extraordinarily beautiful, just like YunHo had described him. And before JunSu could even wonder how they were getting safely onto the ground, he felt a whist of fresh air carrying them towards YunHo's shack.

He blinked in wonder when he felt the solid ground under his feet again and was astonished when he found himself in front of YunHo's wooden hideout.

“How is that .... We were just at the castle,” he babbled and earned himself a soft chuckle.

“You have an elemental with you. Everything is possible with him,” HaMi remarked, amused, whilst guiding JaeJoong into the hut she had heard about from her charge. The translucency of JaeJoong's belly had already spread around his entire abdomen, and HaMi was already able to make out the grown baby. She turned curtly to JunSu when she had helped JaeJoong settle onto the mattress of YunHo's bed. “You better get YunHo here. Just tell him that he is about to be a father.” She ushered the platinum-blond haired out soon after and closed the door behind her. She really didn't need any observers for the task she was about to fulfill.

Taking a deep breath after washing her hands, she moved over to JaeJoong who was writhing and panting in agony on the bed. “Okay, JaeJoong. This will hurt quite a lot, now, but I need you to pull through this, okay?” she announced and with a curt nod, JaeJoong gave himself into her skilled hands. It had been her, after all, who, 200 years ago, had helped him to be born.

A piercing scream echoed through the stillness of the forest when HaMi forced her hands into the translucency of JaeJoong's belly and got hold of the baby inside to gently let it see the first light of its newborn life.

*****

Hurriedly, YunHo dashed into his shack, his eyes widened and sparkling when he found HaMi watching over JaeJoong resting on his bed. JunSu had followed after him.

“Shush, you'll wake them,” HaMi whispered and motioned for the two vampires to be quiet.

“I think he needs to wake soon either way. The fairies are out searching for you and they will reach this part of the forest soon,” JunSu announced, albeit feeling sorry for being the one bringing such news.

YunHo had not paid attention to their conversation, his focus solely lying on the sleeping figure on his bed. Carefully, he sat down beside JaeJoong, whose back was facing him, and traced his features gently with his fingers. A loving smile lay on his lips when he planted a soft kiss onto the auburn haired's temple. JaeJoong stirred upon the tender touch and slightly turned to face YunHo. The sheet had moved a little down in the process and revealed a sleeping baby. Its features resembled the ones of JaeJoong, the ears being a little spiky at their tip whilst the baby's lips and nose were, without doubt, his own. A gentle smile lay on JaeJoong's lips when YunHo traced his fingers over the soft skin of the baby's chubby cheeks.

“SooJi,” JaeJoong breathed, startling YunHo a little. “Her name is SooJi,” he explained and welcomed the tender kiss of YunHo gladly.

“I don't really like being the bearer of bad news, but there is a horde of furious fairies coming this way, and I don't think they would join us for a cup of tea,” JunSu voiced out, quite worried, and ushered the reunited pair to hurry a little up if they wanted to escape into the human world safely. Albeit being still a little wobbly on his legs, JaeJoong hurried with his sleeping daughter after JunSu and YunHo. Reaching the secure gate towards the human world their hideout was located in, JaeJoong and YunHo had not much time to bid their friend and foster mother an overly emotional goodbye, but they promised that some time in the future, they would meet again.

Once YunHo and JaeJoong stepped into the human world, a new life was waiting for them which they would spend peacefully with their daughter SooJi. And maybe more children to come.

おわり。