A/n: Thanks to Tixxana, YaoiKitty, and fujipuri for correcting me on Yi-Che's name.
DREAM OF FOREVER
soumanyon
Chapter 6
It was getting towards morning when I finally pulled enough of my wits about me to realize that I needed to find someplace to hide, quickly. I didn't want to head back to the apartment yet and face Sho's questioning. It wasn't often that we went on missions alone and whenever I came back from a solo, Sho's questioning was worse than a worried mom after a late prom night and I really didn't think I could face him yet.
It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that I had fed and that always caused awkwardness, mainly from me. My self-esteem was always so low after feeding that Sho would infallibly try to cheer me up. Then I'd push him away and he would get mad at me for thinking so little of myself. I really didn't want to deal with that.
So I decided to head over to the art gallery, hoping to catch a sneak preview of Yi-Che's artworks so that I'd have at least a mental image of what Sho would moon over for the next couple of weeks.
It turns out the Yi-Che is secretly a procrastinator and the walls of the gallery were completely blank. Snorting, I headed back to the backroom that I'd broken in through but I guess I had spent longer getting here than I'd thought and the sky was beginning to lighten. There was no way that I could get back to the apartment in time to escape some scorched flesh which I happened to also not want to deal with.
So, with a frustrated sigh, I wedged myself into a corner of the backroom between two crates and decided to catch some shut-eye. I planned to sleep through the day and browse the paintings before I could head back home after sunset.
Fate just doesn't seem to like vampires.
I woke promptly at ten in the morning with the blazing midmorning sun streaming in through the crack in the door that led to the gallery. I heard crisply the tinkle of bells that seemed to be coming from the door into the gallery from the street and, overlaying it, Sho's voice.
When I could forget the reason why, enhanced senses after feeding were a godsend.
I heard a second voice, Son. Sho and Son were bickering again. It seemed they were arguing over who was carrying the heavier painting. Then they suddenly went silent, both of them. So, Yi-Che was there, too.
When Sho spoke again, his voice was a lot closer, he'd obviously made him way to the back of the gallery. I let my eyes slide close again briefly as I concentrated on what they were saying. Chinese has never been my strong suit. I can speak a little but it's often so accented and terrible that I have to repeat myself multiple times to understand.
My listening is only slightly better. I can understand it if it's said slowly and Japanese-accented Chinese is easier to understand for me but when Sho and Son start to chatter, I get lost, like now. Sho's Chinese is good enough that it's hard for me to understand. It has a Taiwan tinge to it that I've only started getting used to through being around Son so much. Usually when I was around, Sho spoke more slowly on purpose but he didn't know I was here and their chattering was hard to follow.
After a few minutes, I realized that he was adjusting a painting while Son was calling out directions. Left, right, left again
I snorted softly, getting up to peek through the crack in the door. Since the wall was just to the left of the storeroom, I couldn't see Sho. But even though I couldn't see him, I knew there was no way the painting could be as low as where Son's eyes were going.
The fucking pervert was using the painting as an excuse to stare at Sho's ass!
I was considering how difficult it'd be to explain why I was hiding out in the backroom of the gallery if I jumped out at Son when he disappeared from my range of sight, towards Sho. Son had lowered his voice so I chanced pushing the door open a little more to better hear them but all I ended up hearing was a very low groan from Sho and a whispered, eager "please!" from Son.
Please what?
They were quiet for a little longer. All I could hear was breathing and the occasional rustling of clothes. What the hell were they doing?
Then Sho acquiesced in a frustrated growl, "This is the last--" and the door that I'd been leaning against was wretched open, flooding the small backroom with blinding light.
I ducked my head to avoid it but quickly looked up to see exactly what I'd thought.
Son's arms were around Sho's neck, his fingers tangling in some of Sho's braids while Sho's arms were loosely around Son, his hands lost somewhere up the back of the man's shirt.
"K-Kei!" Sho seemed stuck between hiding his red hands under Son's shirt and pulling away. His face flushed bright red as he just stood there, as shocked as I was with no idea what to do or say. Son, meanwhile, stood, arms still casually around Sho's neck with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Forget it." I muttered, saving Sho the embarrassment that anything he said would have caused. I shoved past the two of them, maybe brushing by Son a little harder than necessary. After passing by the lovely couple, I was stuck on what to do. It was brilliant daylight outside so I couldn't really leave the gallery, much as I wanted to. But I was seriously contemplating it when I felt a small tug on my elbow.
I turned around, annoyed to be stopped but saw that it was just Yi-Che in a flowery yellow sundress. She smiled at me, to tell me that she was happy to see me, and motioned with her arm, as if inviting me to look around then ducked her head shyly. Although I really wasn't interested in her, she looked cute.
I am a fucking cold-hearted son of a bitch and what I did then completely proved it. Without bothering to glance back at the storeroom where I could hear Sho and Son speedily arguing, presumably about me, I slowly followed Yi-Che to a painting returning her smile. Sho and Son's voices faded away and I was sure that Son was watching.
Yi-Che and I stared at her painting and she pointed out a few details that must have been some key points. Not like I understood any of the silent commentary. I was more interested in her bare shoulder. When she paused to give me another one of her little smiles, I dropped my hand casually on her shoulder.
Her eyes went to my hand, then to my face. I smiled disarmingly, gently turning her around to face me. She solemnly stared at me as I tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear for her then slid my fingers light as a feather down her graceful jaw line. The pretense wasn't that hard to carry on, she really was a very pretty girl.
My fingers having reached her chin, I slowly lifted it with very little resistance from her and leaned forward to kiss her. Her eyes slid closed and she leaned forward too without any other prompting from me. I guess Sho's fears were head-on. The girl must really see something in me. That realization was moving, and I was intent on kissing her when she was roughly pulled from me and before I really knew what was happening, I was down on the ground with an exploding white light blinding my vision.
The pain stunned a gasp from me which was choked out as I felt a hard boot hitting me right in my stomach making me curl up in pain. Then the assault was over. I heard some signs of a struggle, a furious yell from Sho and an equally furious yell from Son but my vision had yet to clear. I blinked a few times, realizing I was still curled protectively around my middle on the ground and pushed myself up.
Having just fed the night before, I healed before the bruises could even form but god, that hurt! Concussions take a little longer to heal that bruises so I was a little dizzy as I got up and could feel the nausea building up; the kick to the stomach sure hadn't helped things. I felt like I was going to throw up.
Then a strong arm steadied me, sliding around my waist and pulling me to a warm body. Sho. I almost pushed him away but I was too dizzy on my feet to stay standing if I didn't have his support. Son's punch must have sent my head into the wall.
I absently looked behind to check and winced. Red blood stained the corner of the wall where the doorway to the backroom met the gallery's wall. God, not just any wall but a corner. With a sigh, I patted the back of my head, feeling a wet spot and wincing in pain. My stomach recoiled again in nausea after I touched the spot but Sho noticed and swatted my hand away.
He and Son were fighting now. I guess Sho was defending me from Son's protective spiel. They were again talking too quickly for me to understand, even if I could hear them over the pounding in my head. God, concussions suck. I slumped against Sho a little and apparently that only fueled his anger and I stumbled as he started to drag me out of the gallery.
I have no idea what happened, my attention was focused on one foot after the other, trying not to trip over my own feet or trip Sho as we left. He had the car outside and opened the front passenger door, stuffing me inside and grabbing a black blanket from under the seat that he threw over me. He slammed the door, going over to his own side and got in, again slamming the door.
"Do you mind?" I murmured, still sensitive to loud noises even though my vision was clearing.
He only spared me one look, a glare, as he started the ignition and took off again.
I settled for pulling the blanket up over my head and gingerly leaning back against the headrest. What was it with Sho, cars, and driving away in a huff?
tbc...
Yup, Kei was being a bastard in this chapter. Poor Yi-Che, but what can you expect when you fall in love with a vampire? Silly girl, he's a vampire, a vampire. Kei'll do some things he's not proud of and he now has some justification for beating himself up over being a monster all the time.
And besides, jealousy will do that to a person...;)
TheTrueSilver, fujipuri, YaoiKitty, Tixxana, Essenity