#f:jat(st)

[hungline]

just a taste (showing teeth)

pairing: showho  genre: angst, horror, light fluff, supernatural au, soulmate au, rated m  warnings: blood drinking, murder, attempted sexual assault, violence, dubious morality, vampire!hoseok, half-siren!hyunwoo  a/n: written for @silent-terrorx​ as part of the mx music muse exchange hosted by @mxficx​!  words: 2840 

summary: Hoseok has lived for many years and never thought he would meet someone who could keep up with him stride for stride, not at least until he locked gazes with Son Hyunwoo for the first time. 

The place is crowded with plenty of people out on a Friday night. Soft music that he doesn't immediately recognize is playing from the speakers hung up in every corner of the bar and the patrons are an eclectic collection indeed.

Nothing much seems to be happening at first glance, but he knows better than to believe that after what just happened. Still, it's better to act like any other person normally would if they were unaware of the current situation about to take place.

Hoseok takes a sip of his drink and makes an effort to not let his mouth screw up in distaste when he sets his cup back down behind him on the counter. Alcohol doesn't usually warrant such a reaction from him, but someone slipped a drug into his drink when they thought he wasn't looking and he drank it anyway so that when they finally approached him, he could bleed them dry in retaliation with the would-be attacker being none the wiser. A perfectly exceptional plan if you ask him.

A man a few seats down from him gets up from his stool and begins to walk over to him. Hoseok smiles and grabs his cup once more, leaning further back into the counter of the bar as the man continues to approach him. He feints another drink and stares over the top of his glass at the man who stops in front of him.

He is stocky and fairly handsome. Hoseok hates him already.

He smiles flirtatiously at the man anyway and beckons him forward with one pale finger, a racing feeling tingling in his gut when the man smirks at him and steps forward. He wraps his arm around Hoseok's waist and forcibly tugs him forward, leading the way towards the door after throwing cash on the counter to pay for their drinks. Hoseok allows him to lead, smiling dumbly and pretending to stumble as they walk out the door.

The man turns to the left immediately once they have stepped onto the street and leads them towards the alley next to the bar. Hoseok knows what the man is planning to do next, but it doesn't give rise for concern for him. He continues to act like he is inebriated and smiles stupidly when the man walks further and further into the darkness of the alley until they stop behind a dumpster.

Hoseok finds himself slammed into the brick wall behind him then and cackles maniacally as the man makes a grab for his zipper. His fangs drop down and Hoseok turns them around until he has smashed the man's head into the wall and digs his teeth into the man's throat.

He tastes awful, but blood is blood and this will at least keep his appetite sated for a while yet and save the future victims this man might have had his eyes set on. Hoseok is doing this both for himself and for the sake of humanity and that's all there is to it. Truly.

That is what he convinces himself of anyway when he throws the man into the dumpster and sets it on fire before disappearing back into the dead of the night.

Hoseok finds himself in an eerily similar bar in a town by the seaside almost a month and a half later.

It is a Saturday night and the locals greet each other with enough familiarity for Hoseok to easily pick and choose who the tourists are. Messing with a local would bring too much attention for such a small town, so Hoseok has deemed the tourists as fair game and he is waiting for one of them to show their true colors. Generally, it wouldn't take long because tourists are never really careful away from home, but he has been at this bar for over an hour now and has not gotten any results just yet.

There have been a few musical acts up on the tiny stage in one corner of the bar and Hoseok thinks it might be for some kind of talent show but he isn't too sure of that. There is a tiny crowd forming as the newest act is introduced and Hoseok looks through it, searching to see if anybody will be able to catch his eye.

A man with skin like honey and dark hair steps on stage. The MC loudly announces him as Son Hyunwoo and it is like a spell has been cast over the place because the entire bar is immediately entranced by the man. Hoseok is, surprisedly, no exception and once the man begins to sing, he finds that he has no words to describe the feeling building up in his chest.

His body is alight like a flame has kissed his skin and the thirst always lying dormant in the back of his throat flares up, making him freeze as he tries to reign it back into his own breadth of control. The man on stage is only singing, his voice golden and light, but something about him is throwing Hoseok for a loop.

The man's eyes are closed and it is clear that he is not paying attention to anybody in the room, but Hoseok is completely entranced anyway.

It takes an embarrassingly amount of time before Hoseok realizes why this is the case.

The man's very blood is singing to him. It is not his voice or appearance that is drawing Hoseok in; it's his blood.

Hoseok slumps against the bar, turning his head to tell the bartender he wants another drink. When he looks back to the stage, Hyunwoo meets his gaze and instantly, a shiver of complete want rolls over him. His thirst flares up until it is roaring in the back of his throat, setting everything ablaze as his hands start to shake and his skin tingles with some kind of electric feeling he has never felt before.

Slowly, he watches Hyunwoo's colorless eyes turn a warm chocolate brown right before him and the crowd gasps, fingers pointing directly at the singer. His own eyes tingle for a brief moment before his entire vision sharpens and, at that moment, Hoseok knows he has found the one.

Hyunwoo is still staring at him, his voice steady despite what has just happened and Hoseok only looks away once the bartender sets his new drink down on the bar. Hoseok turns and takes it, looking up with a polite smile on his face as he begins to thank her but stops when she freezes in place. Her heartbeat picks up speed until it sounds like a hummingbird flapping its wings, her mouth open in shock. She points at his face and utters one single sentence that will change the course of Hoseok's life.

"Y-Your eyes are r-red," she stutters, her hand now over her heart as her eyes widen in fear.

On top of finding his soulmate, now Hoseok has to skip out on a meal tonight too. Great.

Hoseok downs his drink quickly, throws a few bills beside the empty glass and keeps his head down as he pushes his way out of the bar. Hyunwoo's still singing and Hoseok can practically feel his eyes burning holes into him, but Hoseok needs to get out and calm down quickly before he goes on an utter rampage.

The fresh air of outside hits him once he steps past the bar's door. There's a salty bite to it with the ocean nearby and Hoseok doesn't technically need to breathe and all, but it helps. He gulps down the air and staggers to the side of the bar, leaning against the wall as he tries to center himself.

There are two people behind the dumpster and Hoseok inches closer, not wanting to dismiss it as two people getting frisky in case it is something more. He peers around the edge of the dumpster, ignoring the disgusting smell it emits and feels his fangs elongate when he sees a woman pinning a man to the wall, a dazed look on his face. The man is completely unresponsive, but the woman either doesn't notice or doesn't care.

Hoseok doesn't know whether to interfere or not until a glimpse of metal flickers across his line of sight and the smell of the man's blood rises in the air.

He doesn't think as he flies forward and grabs the woman by the neck, crushing her windpipe as he slams her into the ground. Her colorless eyes are wide and Hoseok leans down, biting into her neck until she stills underneath him, her skin ashen and pale. Hoseok throws her into the dumpster once she has been bled dry and turns around to find the man from before has slid down the wall, crumpled in on himself.

There's a distinct heartbeat Hoseok can make out, so he knows that the man isn't dead. At least, not yet, so he approaches slowly and tilts his head up until he can get a clear look at his face.

His eyes are green, a startling, bright green that shocks Hoseok into overdrive as he checks the man over. The man's pulse is steady, his temperature is normal and he groans in pain when Hoseok finds the cut on his arm that the woman gave him earlier. Hoseok leans forward and sniffs at the cut, trying to pick up on smells that shouldn't be in the man's blood.

Soon, he smells the familiar stench of Rohypnol and winces when he realizes that the woman used too much of it on the man. If Hoseok doesn't do anything soon, the man will likely die of an overdose.

Hoseok inhales deeply once and nods to himself, lifting the man's arm as he leans down even more. His fangs drop down again and Hoseok does not hesitate to drink then, carefully keeping track of the taste of the man's blood. Once his blood tastes clean enough, Hoseok wrenches himself away with the last of his willpower and licks over the cut, watching as it closes up and leaves a very faint scar that the man probably won't remember how he got once morning comes.

He sits back then and studies the man, listening to his heartbeat again and relaxing when it sounds just as strong as ever.

Hoseok gets up, dusts himself off and sets the dumpster on fire with the dead woman in it before he scoops the man up and sniffs the air to pick up on his scent in town. He finds it soon enough, taking dark paths and alleyways to follow it until he reaches the man's home. Scaling the wall and climbing through his bedroom window isn't too difficult even while holding someone with one arm.

He lays the man down in his bed, checks his heartbeat and temperature one more time, then disappears into the night once he knows for sure that the man will be fine.

Hoseok finds himself walking along the beach afterward, watching the waves obey the pull of the moon as they slap against the shore.

He can feel the moon too, every tortured soul like his can, but he has learned to ignore it after almost two centuries of loneliness and thirst. He can't remember much of his time as a human, but his transformation was painful.

For the first few years, he was wild and unhinged. Nothing could stop him from wiping out entire villages in one night if he wanted to, but eventually, the guilt began to choke him up. He tried animals as a first alternative and when it did nothing to quench his thirst, he decided to only go for those humans who had no humanity left in them.

This decision has kept him well fed. Many humans have turned out to be horrible and disgusting, so Hoseok feeds on them and hopes that he has saved some poor, unsuspecting human from the fate of those he was too late to save.

Yet still, he feels that it won't ever be enough to make up for what he did in his youth.

He pauses as footsteps approach him, inhaling through his nose and pushing past the salty scent of the sea around him until he focuses on the human coming towards him.

It's Hyunwoo.

Vaguely, he wonders how his soulmate knew where to find him, but Hoseok pushes that thought away and turns to face Hyunwoo when he stops walking.

Their eyes meet and Hyunwoo doesn't stagger, his heartbeat does not change, but a tiny smile graces his lips and Hoseok has no idea what to say ー if he should say anything at all anyway. Hyunwoo starts walking again, pausing only when he is directly beside Hoseok.

"Would you like some company?" Hyunwoo asks, his voice melodious.

Hoseok shrugs and Hyunwoo takes that as his sign to sit. Hoseok sits as well when Hyunwoo pats the ground beside him as an invitation. Their knees brush together once they have both settled, but instead of putting a large chunk of space between them like Hoseok usually would with any other human, he stays put.

"You ran off before I could catch you after the show," Hyunwoo breaks the silence, an underlying question in his statement.

Hoseok only shrugs again, biting his bottom lip when his fangs drop down. Hyunwoo's blood isn't singing to him anymore like it was earlier, but just his scent and proximity alone is enough to have Hoseok on edge.

They sit in silence for a few moments more, both of them looking out over the vast expanse of the ocean before them. Hyunwoo reaches out and places his hand on Hoseok's knee, gaze kept firmly in front of him even when Hoseok turns to stare at him in question.

Hyunwoo offers nothing else except for, "I know what you are."

"Then tell me what you are," Hoseok mumbles, smirking when Hyunwoo startles. "Your blood sang to me when you were singing and you had that entire crowd in the palm of your hand. You can't lie to me and say you're one hundred percent human."

"I'm not," Hyunwoo says, shrugging when Hoseok raises an unimpressed brow at him. "I'm half human. Half siren, from my dad's side."

"Ah," Hoseok responds with a nod. "Have you everー?"

Hyunwoo interrupts him, a quiet smile spread across his lips. "Killed someone? No. My singing isn't that powerful, but it is strong enough for me to make a decent living on it."

Hoseok tilts his head in thought. "A vampire and a siren. Who would have thought?"

A tinkling laugh meets his ears and Hoseok startles, his thirst flaring up momentarily until Hyunwoo's laugh peters out. "You were responsible for the fire at the bar earlier, weren't you?"

"She was going to kill this man, so I intervened and took him home," Hoseok explains briefly, not really feeling like giving more than that.

"How noble," Hyunwoo whispers, laughing when Hoseok scoffs and rolls his eyes.

Hyunwoo stands then, kicking his shoes off and rolling up the cuffs of his pants before stepping into the surf. Hoseok watches him walk steadily into the ocean, his clothes quickly becoming drenched as he ventures further out. His soulmate turns once he is waist deep in the water and offers a hand out to him, smiling like Hoseok's past and way of life mean nothing to him.

Considering what Hyunwoo is, it might not after all.

Either way, Hoseok doesn't hesitate to take Hyunwoo's hand after kicking his own shoes off. Hyunwoo's palm is warm and his blood is singing again, but Hoseok doesn't care about what that means anymore.

His soulmate treads further into the sea and Hoseok follows him.