Chapter Text
The night that Hwang Hyunjin reenters Chan’s life, it’s raining.
He’s spent a majority of the evening outside, and perhaps he should stop doing that. Vampires usually run cold, and so there isn’t much of a need to keep the Clan heated. However, given that not only is Chan not wholly a vampire, but is also currently sopping wet, the cold air of the infirmary makes him shiver.
Minji, however, had told him that they’d needed his help right away, and so he hadn't had the chance to grab a towel.
“So,” Chan says, trailing closely behind Minji, “what am I supposed to do, exactly?”
“We just need you to talk him down,” Minji says, turning the key in the lock to one of the doors in the hallway. “He won’t listen to us, but maybe he’ll listen to you.”
“But why me?” Chan asks.
Minji smiles, and immediately Chan can tell it’s forced. “You’re one of the kids,” she explains, forcing a casual tone. “Plus, you spend a lot of time here anyway, right? You’re around .”
“And?” Chan asks, looking at her expectantly.
Minji sighs, her smile falling almost as quickly as it came.
“He reminds me of you,” she says, leaning in as if she’s confiding in him. “He’s just like you were when you arrived, so… scared. And we know that he’s scared, but we’re running out of options. If we can’t treat him like this, we’re going to have to restrain him. If anyone here can understand what he’s feeling right now, it’s you.”
Chan supposes he should’ve expected this at some point. He sighs. “I’ll see what I can do.”
He hates the seclusion rooms. Long after his own stay in one, he could never shake that horrible feeling that he got whenever he stepped foot in one of the seclusion rooms.
The decor of the room itself just puts him on edge, but he feels like it would do that to most anyone, even if they weren’t already in distress. For one, the wallpaper is abhorrent. When he’d first arrived, he thought a lot about simply tearing it off the wall himself.
As if that would’ve given him peace.
Secondly, the furniture all looks at least fifty years old, and it smells just as bad. That’s something about other vampires that Chan doesn’t quite understand; with all of their heightened senses, he doesn’t understand how more of them aren’t bothered by the smell of dust, of the age of a building. It’s absurd, he thinks.
Of course, perhaps not everyone associates that smell with the same horrific memories that Chan does.
It takes him a minute to find Hyunjin. Chan looks around, knowing that calling out will likely only startle him further. He hears a sound from behind him and quickly turns around.
“Oh,” Chan says. “There you are.”
And there he is. Trying to make a break for the door.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” Chan says, making sure to keep his hands where the younger can see them, to keep his movements small and slow. “They’ve been holding off on restraining you, and if you try to run, they’re going to have to. I know you probably don’t want that.”
“Who are you?” Hyunjin demands.
“I’m Chan. I’m a student here. Do you—”
“I’ve seen you before.”
Chan is surprised the younger remembers, if he’s honest.
“You have,” he says. “A long time ago.”
Hyunjin steps closer, cautious, as if he thinks Chan might disappear if he isn’t careful.
“How did you get out?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Same way you did, from what I understand,” Chan replies, glancing down at the stained bandages on Hyunjin’s forearms.
The younger’s expression shifts at that, eyes sad. “I’m sorry.”
His blood-scent reaches Chan’s nose, and it’s nostalgic in some of the worst ways. He tries not to think about it too hard.
He’s here to do a job. His job. Sort of.
“Bora-noona said you tried to bite her,” Chan says, struggling to keep his tone even. “Why?”
“I don’t know where I am,” Hyunjin says, looking away as if he’s embarrassed to even admit it. “No one’s told me anything, they just keep trying to… touch me.” He meets Chan’s eyes. “What are they going to do to me?”
Oh.
Chan feels… a lot, all at once. Horror, mostly. But under that, he feels that same fear he’d felt when he first left home to come here, that same panicked terror of not really knowing if this place would be any different from everything he’d barely managed to escape all those years ago.
“They’re just trying to make sure you’re okay,” Chan says. “You’re at a Clan, you know what those are, right?”
Hyunjin nods for a moment before tilting his head. “W-why would he bring me here?” he asks, almost to himself.
“You’re around the age for it, aren’t you?” Chan replies. “Eunsang-ssi still needs an heir, after all.”
“And he won’t have one,” Hyunjin says, expression contorting into anger. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Chan tries not to think about what Hyunjin’s implying. “Right, well, you’re safe here, and that’s the important thing. The staff here aren’t like any of the Council members.”
“How can you be so sure?” Hyunjin asks. “How do I know they don’t just favor you for whatever reason?”
“Because I’ve been here for three years and there have definitely been times where I’ve made it everyone else’s problem,” Chan says, shrugging. “If they’re giving me preferential treatment, I can’t imagine why.”
Hyunjin doesn’t say anything.
“Listen,” Chan continues. “I know it’s a lot. You woke up and everyone was trying to poke and prod at you, and that’s scary. I get that. But no one here wants to hurt you, and I wouldn’t lie to you about that. I know how that feels.”
There’s a short pause. Hyunjin stares at him, his eyes incredulous, as if part of him still isn’t convinced that Chan is even real.
“What do they want me to do?” Hyunjin asks at last.
Chan exhales. They’re getting somewhere. “They need to check your vitals, for one,” he says. “They might want to redress those wounds, make sure they’re healing well. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” Hyunjin echos, as if he’s still trying to process what Chan is saying.
“For right now,” Chan says, walking toward the door. “Is that okay with you?”
Hyunjin looks at him as if he wants to say something. He opens his mouth, but closes it a second later.
“Do you want me to stay here?” Chan asks. “Would that help?”
Tentatively, Hyunjin nods, the movement so small that it might look like a wince to anyone but Chan.
“Okay,” Chan says. “I can do that. That’s fine. I need to step out and let them know you’re ready. I’ll only be gone for a minute. Is that okay?”
Hyunjin nods again. Chan heads to the door and peeks his head outside.
“Minji-ssi?” he calls, getting the nurse’s attention.
“Is he okay?” she asks as she approaches.
Chan nods. “He’s a little nervous, but I told him you guys won’t hurt him. If Bora-ssi needs to do anything, she should do it now,” he says. “He wants me to stay, though, if that’s okay.”
Minji smiles. “You’re a natural, Channie,” she praises. “I’ll go find her.”
Once Bora arrives, everything flows easily from there. She’s able to examine Hyunjin without any issue, likely because he’s not even paying attention. The whole time, he keeps his eyes on Chan.
Chan feels weird under his gaze, as if he’s being scrutinized. He doesn’t move, though, and tries not to let his unease show.
This is the very least that he could do for someone like Hwang Hyunjin.