Chapter V

Distractions of the Flesh

T he dark was cold and the world itself seemed to have disappeared. Not a single trace of light and life stirred within this sudden, yet tranquil whirlwind, but the dreadfulness experienced when this mastering initially gripped Min-jae faded just like the touch of cold. The moment his eyes adjusted to the colors forming around him, he found himself in a totally different area compared to the quiet apartment back in Seoul.

He'd visited old Buddhist temples around South Korea throughout his life, had marveled at their grandeur, and certainly wasn't a stranger to what it was like to be surrounded by historical architecture, but he'd never stepped foot in a place like this before.

As Min-jae's eyes drifted over the sparkling detail of the entire entryway, the awe experienced went noticed by Jeremiah who slowly freed his hands from Min-jae's now slack grip.

"You live here?" Min-jae asked, the quiet question echoing up into the high chamber overhead.

"Yeah, pretty much I've lived here my whole life," Jeremiah answered, and then he patted a hand at Min-jae's shoulder and stepped around him. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

Before the Korean dhampir could question where he was going, Jeremiah's form disappeared into his mastering. He materialized again in his bedroom, searched around for his wallet, and stuffed it into his back pocket. He wasn't all too sure what he had in mind for the night, but if Min-jae wasn't currently in the picture, he'd have made any excuse to step out on his own.

It wasn't that he didn't like being home with everyone, but he had to admit he'd fallen into a bit of a routine his senses often craved.

Checking his appearance in a tall mirror behind his door, Jeremiah fixed a couple of strands here and there and raked his hair into a loose bun.

"Jeremiah," Demiesius' voice sounded then, "Will you be leaving again?"

"Yes," Jeremiah answered, "I've brought Min-jae with me to show him around for a bit. Ha-yoon only asked that I return him once nightfall comes again."

"Alright," the elder acknowledged. "Do your best to stay out of trouble. Avery told me of the issue you dealt with earlier in the night, and although I am pleased you handled it, remain cautious of how watchful the city is."

Jeremiah winced at the admission but was glad the entire story couldn't be told. If his small encounter with that Public slayer got out, and he had to fess up, he was sure Demiesius would have taken certain matters into his own hands. As the woman had confessed to the present and continuous anger still felt toward himself, Dominick, and the elder, Demiesius more than likely wouldn't have hesitated to take even more frustrations to a faction of mortals known as The Directors of Humanity, i.e., those who currently oversee Public movements.

If anything, Jeremiah could bet struggling seams would surely burst if any further fiascos with the Public arose.

Only time would tell.

"I understand," Jeremiah said. "Don't wait up for me. After Min-jae and I are finished here, I'll be taking him back to Seoul and then meeting with Ha-yoon again."

"Be safe."

With that, Jeremiah was swallowed up by his mastering again and appeared down in the entryway. Min-jae wasn't quite where he'd left him, having instead migrated to one of the towering windows that framed the front doors. He was looking over the night-bathed drive, attached pathways, and floral vegetation sprouting from their barriers. Light fixtures glowing in various areas lit up the quality of the secluded property, allowing its splendor to showcase beautifully even during the night.

"How are you used to living like this?" Min-jae asked. "I grew used to the city when I went away for school back home, but I still had to get used to the change coming from a small tea village. To live like this…" Min-jae turned and met Jeremiah's eyes. "How do you stay humble?"

Jeremiah shrugged, "Do I come off as pretentious if I just say I'm used to it? Castles and olden day mansions aren't really something I've ever had to get used to. This is my childhood home, and I've traveled a lot in my life. "

Nodding his understanding, Min-jae crossed his arms over his chest, eyes still moving around the interior. "What now?" he asked.

Chewing his lip in thought, Jeremiah ran through different locations he figured he could take Min-jae to. There were still many businesses meant solely for immortals running smoothly around the city, some more lax than others, and since Min-jae didn't seem like someone who'd be too comfortable in a loud, party setting, Jeremiah plucked his favorite more laid back location from his mind.

"You say you don't know if you've ever had full-on blood before, right?"

Min-jae shook his head.

"Then why don't we give you a taste of it?"

Discomfort showed in the manner Min-jae's weight shifted, and he rubbed a hand at the back of his neck. "When you say blood, you mean human blood?"

"Well, yeah," Jeremiah shrugged. "Listen, I know it sounds taboo and there was a time when I refused to drink it after realizing what it was I was consuming on a day-to-day basis but trust me; it's not something you want to kick from your diet. Since it seems your parents still somehow made sure you were properly fed, your body has already grown used to consuming it, and stripping yourself from it will only lead to a struggle you don't want to face. Trust me."

Min-jae's gaze traveled across the floor and he sighed. "Trust you…" He said under his breath. "Sorry if I seem so reluctant, but I've never had to put my faith in so many people I don't know. I met Choi Ha-yoon only a few nights ago when my father finally introduced me to this world, your father promised me the efforts to find him won't let up until he's found, and…you seem nice, but I'm sure you can understand how difficult this is for me."

Keeping his eyes on Min-jae as the dhampir seemed to slip deeper into his own personal thoughts, Jeremiah was able to see a bit of his own struggles reflected at him. He didn't want to make comparisons where he shouldn't, but if there was anything he could see clear as day in Min-jae's quiet demeanor, it would be the weight of feeling alone stacking brick by brick on his shoulders.

"I get it," Jeremiah nodded. "Perhaps it feels selfish to step away from thinking about what's happening right now, but it's also not bad to lift yourself out of it before you drown. Let's get you something to drink, dip into a little distraction, and then we'll worry about things moving forward."

With only a nod of confirmation, Min-jae let his hands be taken again by Jeremiah, unable to help as his grip squeezed upon feeling the return of cold and darkness, the world and its colors mixing before forming around him.

This time, when Min-jae looked around as everything settled, the night-bathed skyline of London sat before him in all its glory. On top of the roof of a soaring building, neon blues and purples and soft glowing golds were encased by the dark sky, each building and their starry lights looking more like a stunning picture meant for a sightseeing calendar. The London Eye and the House of Parliament stood out, and when Min-jae blinked, he finally took a breath.

"You've lived here all your life?" Min-jae asked, finally stealing his gaze from the skyline, and when he met Jeremiah's, the nightly world looked so natural to him, as if it were nothing special to him but made for him all the same. The odd colors of his hair and eyes melded well with the London skyline.

"Yeah," Jeremiah stepped by and tugged Min-jae's sleeve. "You get used to it. Come on, let's get something to drink."

Having manifested on the rooftop of a vampire sanctuary known as ‘Nocturnal Heights', there was a bar situated at the peak of a five-star hotel. Owned by a human/vampire couple, it catered to everyday travelers on the lower floors and came off as any typical extravagant hotel. There was even a bar on the first floor meant for humans, but only those authorized were allowed access to the top two floors.

No stranger to using the rooftop to gain entry, familiar faces smiled in welcome to Jeremiah as he made his way with Min-jae through the staff corridors, and when they stepped out into the main room, usual patrons and servers looked his way as they always did.

Not quite unbeknownst to Jeremiah, fawning and lust filled eyes looked him over, and while the thoughts of a vampire couldn't be read by other immortals, the twinkle in their eyes could be deciphered by anyone at first glance.

Feigning ignorance of the staring, Jeremiah simply moved through the low-lit area of tables and leather lounge sofas to the bar at the opposite end. Soft crimson reds and violet bulbs provided additional warmth to the calming atmosphere, quiet jazz played from mounted speakers, and casual conversations carried all around. He heard whispers of his name from various blood spiced lips, but he tried to block them out by focusing on the music a bit more. While he often came here for those whispers, right now wasn't the time.

Taking a seat at the long, black marble-topped bar, Jeremiah glanced toward Min-jae who remained standing beside him as if it would be a crime to relax. More curious than put off by Min-jae's continued standoffishness, Jeremiah thought he was well-versed when it came to making the right people feel comfortable, but it seemed Min-jae needed a bit more convincing that he was at least surrounded by decent people.

"You said you went to uni over in Korea, right?" Jeremiah asked, back turned to the bar as he met Min-jae's dark eyes. "Mind if I ask what you studied?"

"I got a degree in agriculture," he explained. "After graduating, I took what I learned back home with me to expand on local farming." He looked a little embarrassed then, as if the topic weren't very interesting and he shrugged. "It doesn't seem to matter now. Besides, I don't think I necessarily needed a degree to convince everyone to grow other crops, but I went away since it was something my parents wanted me to do."

"I think it's interesting," Jeremiah admitted. "Growing up relatively normal is something I can't say for myself. Going through all proper stages of schooling, having an idea of what you want for your future sounds…nice."

Appearing to loosen up a little, Min-jae remained standing but leaned lazily with his hip to the bar counter. "You never went to school?"

"Not really, no," Jeremiah shrugged. "You can say I was a very sheltered child growing up. My elder brother was my teacher for decades and university never really felt like an option. I'm sure I can fit into a crowd of humans even now, but with how meticulous my brother was with my education growing up, he already taught me more than what any university ever could, any human professor, really. With how good he is at teaching; he's currently overseeing my brothers. "

"I see," Min-jae nodded, but there seemed to be dithering in his understanding. "Do you think it's useless to want to someday go back home when all this is over and tend to my village? Now that I know they are so different from me, they'll come to see I'm not one of them eventually, won't they?"

"Honestly…" Jeremiah let the word hang in the air.

Honestly, a part of him did feel like wanting to stick close to human attachments was useless. As he understood it, the only human attachments dhampirs were likely used to letting go of were the maternal connections felt between them and their birth parents. For himself, he'd had no choice but to say goodbye to what bond he'd have made with Hamilton through the years when he was small, and while they'd been given a second chance to recapture what had been taken from them, now that Hamilton had been raised into the night again some years after Lysander's birth, saying goodbye to Hamilton's life was inevitable.

Ordinary humans were typically strayed from if they weren't a lover or close acquaintance. At some point, there would need to be that moment of letting go, lest the true reason behind an immortal's continued youth be unveiled.

"Try not to focus on it too much," Jeremiah said, turning on the stool to face the bar then, and he kindly waved to the bartender down the way. "You already have a lot on your mind. Let's leave the focus on your father for now."

"Right…" Min-jae at last took a seat. He scoped the fullness of his surroundings as Jeremiah ordered something for them, and as Min-jae's eyes drifted about the interior of the bar, a discomfort began to creep up on his heart. It seemed to center around his chest as a tingle ran up the back of his spine and to the nape of his neck .

A shiver caused Min-jae's shoulders to tremble as the size of the fairly large room began to close in on him. He didn't know what was going on, but he wished more than anything for it to stop, as it was causing this discomfort to turn into anxiousness.

Eyes moving about the entire bar, Min-jae caught the eyes of strangers here and there looking his way. He didn't think they were necessarily looking at him, more like looking through him as if he were a curiosity or bothersome in some manner. The soft music was suddenly too loud, the conversations were on max, the sound of clinking glasses causing him to flinch.

Finally seeming to breathe out, Min-jae's shoulders dropped when his lungs emptied and he stood abruptly from his stool. "I need to get out of here," he said in Korean, shoving away from his seat.

"What?" Jeremiah turned abruptly and snagged Min-jae's sleeve, the material stretching but able to hold him back. "Wait, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," Min-jae's breathing picked up and he touched his hands to the side of his head as if trying to stop the pound of his temples. "It's too much," he said. "I need to leave."

From the dip in Min-jae's brow, Jeremiah could tell what this disturbance was. For himself when he was young, and even for his brothers when they were smaller, he'd come to learn that dhampirs who came into contact with other beings with a strong presence had to train themselves to essentially dull the strength of other auras. Given that Min-jae had likely only ever been in the presence of his father's vampiric aura all his life up until recently, his mind and body were complete strangers to the potential of so many others.

"Hey, hey," Jeremiah kept his voice to a whisper, guiding Min- jae's gaze with a gentle turn of his face so that their eyes met. "Look at me," he said. "Try to focus on my voice and keep your eyes on me, alright? Everyone here doesn't matter, the music doesn't matter, these voices don't matter. Now, focus on yourself. Can you do that?"

Min-jae's furrowed brow appeared to flinch but he nodded.

"Good," Jeremiah continued. "Take a deep breath. The air that fills your nose is cold, yeah? Relax your shoulders and breathe out and in a bit deeper, let it out from your mouth this time. Don't pay any mind to your surroundings or to anything or anyone that doesn't fit in your line of sight. It's good to be aware of what's going on around you, but I promise you're safe here. Let your guard down and breathe."

As his shoulders loosened and his breathing calmed, Min-jae nodded as if in thanks. "Focus," he said, "Focus on you."

Jeremiah couldn't help a smile. "Sure. Keep your focus on me for the time being. Feel better?"

"Yes…thank you."

Hesitating for a moment, Jeremiah touched a hand to Min-jae's back and guided him to the bar again where they took their seats. Waiting for them were two polished glasses filled nearly to the brim with a thick, red substance. As it was clearly a beverage, Min-jae couldn't recall a time he'd ever seen anything like it, and since it was supposed to be blood, he was positive nothing of the sort had ever been presented to him by either of his parents.

The smell, however, was quite welcoming and when Jeremiah took one of the glasses in hand, he held it between them, and said, "Type A, positive, to be specific. Get a whiff of that."

Thinking it was a bit strange, Min-jae leaned near to the crimson glass and breathed in the sweetness carried into the air. If there was anything he could compare it to, he had to say it smelled similar to maple syrup, a bit milder in its sugary spoor, but it was sweet still.

"I would think your parents hid blood in basic juices you drank growing up," Jeremiah said, "but I promise there's nothing like a good helping of pure blood." He then held the glass out further. "Go on. Give it a try."

Wavering in taking it, Min-jae pursed his lips and swallowed nervously. "And you're saying this is good for me?"

"You wouldn't be who you are without it. Trust me."

There it was again, that need for him to trust in this person who was all but known to him only some hours ago.

"Right," Min-jae took the glass in hand as he was attentively watched. "Here goes nothing…"

Another waver crossed Min-jae before finally giving in to the sweet smell and he tipped the glass against his lips, a small portion touching his tongue as it then spread over the surface. He let it cover his taste buds without swallowing, but the second he breathed in and the fullness of this new and all-around captivating flavor took over, he couldn't stop himself from downing the entire glass in one sitting.

It was as if a spark ignited a craving for the rest, so much that when the glass was emptied, Min-jae had to stop himself from tracing his finger against the inside to gather what was left. Not only was it one of the best things he'd ever tasted, but he wanted more. More and more.

"Good, eh?" Jeremiah said, and his voice seemed to steal Min-jae from the ache of desiring another helping. "What's served here and what blood is provided are called ‘ offerings'. They're essentially given by willing human participants, or collections redirected from donation centers unbeknownst to the human population. But don't worry, it's government regulated even if it is in secret."

Forcing himself to set the glass down, Min-jae licked his lips, eyes moving toward Jeremiah's untouched glass. With what composure he could muster, he merely turned in his stool as if removing it from his line of sight would dull this want for more.

"So," Jeremiah said, pushing his glass back and forth between his palms, "Do you actually mind if I ask what it was like growing up? I wouldn't say you and I can make full-on comparisons as to how our upbringings were, but—let's just say I kind of grew up with a bit of an absent parent, too."

Jeremiah almost figured he could fit Demiesius and Hamilton in that category but knew it might not be fair to. Neither of his parents could have expected what life Jeremiah would have been given before or after his birth, and with Hamilton's unexpected absence, and Demiesius' distant grief, Jeremiah couldn't see himself being angry anymore. Nothing had been fair for them back then.

"I don't know," Min-jae chewed his lip, eyes moving toward Jeremiah's full glass of blood. "Maybe I've been too hard on my father. It wasn't all bad, or…it wasn't bad at all. He was around most of the time when I was smaller, lied about business and about having something called hypersomnia which was used to explain his daytime sleeping. Despite the lies, I've never had to question who he was or if he loved me and my mom, and he always apologized when he'd miss big events in my life like graduation or my enlistment ceremony. He was good to both of us. When I turned ten, that was when he started to drift a lot mo re and would be gone for weeks or months at a time, only coming back for holidays, my birthday, or ‘when he could find the time'. I wish they'd have trusted me to understand to save me from feeling almost betrayed."

"I understand," Jeremiah said, keeping the rise of his own feelings to himself. "Who knows why parents do what they do. I guess it just makes sense at the time. I think, in your case, when we find your father again…and we will…it might do you some good to have a one on one with him and your mother. I'm sure they've explained what they could and even tried to reason with themselves as to why things had to be the way they were, but seeing things from their perspective may lessen your sense of betrayal."

At least you had both of them during the years that mattered…

"You're right," Min-jae agreed and then he quickly shifted the topic and pointed a finger at Jeremiah's drink. "Are you going to finish that?" he asked.

Completely understanding of the craving, Jeremiah moved the glass over. "Just this one and I'm cutting you off for the rest of the night."

Taking what he could get, Min-jae gladly received the serving of Type A and drank half of it down. It was so incredibly tasty and made him feel like a kid having their first ice cream, only this had to be a hundred times better.

"Got a girlfriend?" Jeremiah asked then, the question nearly causing Min-jae to choke on the last of the blood going down.

Min-jae coughed and shielded his mouth with his forearm, setting the empty glass down as he tried to catch his breath. Unsure why his face was suddenly warm, he caught a humored smirk as it crept onto Jeremiah's face. "No," he finally answered, passing his thumb over the corner of his mouth. "Not – um – what I'm looking for."

"Are you looking?"

It was just a question, an innocent question, but Min-jae's throat dried either way as he thought of the past and where his thoughts typically lay. "The area I'm from," he said, "It's not very big and neither was the school I went to along the coast. When I went away to university, maybe if I put my focus into that department, I'd have someone, but I usually pushed it away since all I wanted at the time was to focus and get home. And right now isn't an appropriate time to…look…either, so no…I guess."

A memory flitted through Min-jae then, and he envisioned himself twelve years ago when he was fifteen; it'd been one of the few times he'd found himself pondering what he wanted in life.

As he'd sat at his desk looking over the waters that seemed to go on forever, the open, sunny window had shown little to him, like what else could be out there couldn't be reached no matter how hard he tried to find it. It was strange how he could recall everything from that moment; the first time in his youth when he'd considered himself lost. You're only fifteen, he'd tried to remind himself, but still the blur of his future seemed both lonely and daunting.

Now Song Min-jae was twenty-seven years old, and while he couldn't say he'd found much of himself in the twelve years since he'd watched and listened to the waves roll in against the shoreline, Min-jae at least clung to the hope of all the things he needed someday finding their way to him.

"Are you?" Min-jae asked then. "Looking, I mean. "

The inquiry appeared to lift a discomfort onto Jeremiah, but he didn't indicate a ‘no', just a noticeable aversion to the question put forth. Min-jae decided not to press him on it.

An approaching presence crept up on Min-jae then and when he shifted his gaze behind Jeremiah, a young man was nearing before propping their chin atop Jeremiah's shoulder. Seeming to be in his mid-twenties at least, his skin was pale and his head of black hair was short and curly. He adorned a pair of denim jeans with a low waistline and a loose, cropped sweater that showed off his stomach, the neckline hanging a bit obnoxiously to display his collar bones and bare shoulder. Rather pretty in the face with a light voice, his evergreen eyes twinkled, and his arms slithered around Jeremiah's torso to wrap around him.

"Look who's finally decided to show his face," the young man said. "I was beginning to think I'd never see you again."

Fuck!

Jeremiah cursed in his mind before he turned abruptly, the familiar face wrapping him in a tight embrace as a smile beamed brightly up at him.

"Luca," Jeremiah said, placing his hands atop the young man's shoulders. His voice teetered between bewilderment and embarrassment. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"You don't have to lie in front of your new friend," Luca smiled slyly. "We both know you only come here for two things: a nice drink and a good time. I like to consider myself the latter in our case."

"Look," Jeremiah took a step back but Luca continued to cling and he was stopped by the bar counter anyways. "I'm sorry but I'm a little busy."

"Busy getting to know someone else?" Luca pouted and he finally unhanded Jeremiah, turning before the dhampir, his bottom grazing Jeremiah's groin as he faced Min-jae. "You're…cute, I guess," he dallied as his eyes moved about the Korean dhampir's exterior. "Not what I would have taken for Jeremiah's type as you can tell by looking at me."

Min-jae almost wondered if he should be offended by the comment, but before anymore words could be shared between them, Jeremiah directed Luca away, both of them distancing from Min-jae who stayed back to finish his drink; his hearing, on the other hand, wandered with them, and he heard every word of their whispered conversation. He didn't mean to listen, but he also didn't know how to turn it off.

"Not tonight," Jeremiah said, standing at the opening of the corridor that led toward the staff area. Luca's back was to the wall, a smile still present as his hands touched up Jeremiah's chest to wrap around the top of his shoulders. "I'm kind of looking after that guy right now and I can't be distracted. He's my responsibility."

"It's a bit funny hearing you talk about not wanting any distractions when that's exactly what you use me for," Luca claimed. He stood on the tips of his toes then, lips pecking along the curve of Jeremiah's Adam's apple. "It's not like this is anything serious even though I want it to be. Come on," he licked his tongue along the cut of Jeremiah's jaw toward his ear. "I was looking forward to the world's your very talented fingers always send me to."

It wasn't difficult in the slightest to resist Luca's push for intimacy. Their moments were a distraction, yes, but only one person ever reached the height of fulfillment in their moments together and it wasn't Jeremiah. "I said I'm busy," he reiterated, unweaving himself from Luca's clutches. "Maybe another time."

"Don't you turn your back on me," Luca shouted, and Jeremiah cringed from how loud the command was as he returned to Min-jae. "You impotent prick!"

Freezing in his tracks, Jeremiah's two-toned eyes blazed from the comment. A knife shoved its way through his pride, and he had to swallow down the urge to pit his fury fully against Luca's outrage. All he could say to the angry vampire was: "Consider this our last conversation," before he grabbed Min-jae by his forearm and they were gone again.