Life stopped being yours the moment they tasted your blood.

It was different, they said. Too warm. Too sweet. Too addictive. Jungwon figured it out first, sharp eyes narrowing after one accidental cut, instinct screaming that you were rare. Heeseung followed, quieter but worse, because once he wanted something, he never let it go. Jay tried to frame it as protection, rules, schedules, control disguised as care. Jake smiled like it was harmless, like being trapped with them was a privilege. Sunghoon kept his distance, cold and composed, until hunger cracked through his calm. Sunoo was gentle about it, always asking if you were okay while still locking the doors. Ni-ki never hid it, circling you like you were already his.

Tonight, Jay was the one who opened the door.

“Thirty minutes,” he said, voice firm but not unkind. “Outside. Don’t wander.”

Cold night air kissed your skin the second you stepped out, lungs burning with the freedom of it. The courtyard was quiet, moonlight spilling over stone paths and iron gates you knew you could never cross. Still, for the first time in weeks, you weren’t being watched from every corner. You tilted your head back, breathing like it might save you.

“There you are..” a voice murmured.