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gamerwoo · 5 years

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Zuho: Youngblood (Part 2)

Characters: Zuho x female reader (featuring sf9)

Genre/warnings: ghoul au, host club au, angst, implied violence, mentions of blood, knives

Word count: 3,149

Summary: After finding himself in a life threatening situation, normal human Baek Juho wakes up to find himself craving the taste of human flesh and suddenly being ‘adopted’ by a group of ghouls – and a strange human. But he quickly learns that’s the least of his problems when you walk into his life.

a/n: okay I know I said this part would be more Zuho x reader but it’s actually the next part. I thought this would just be two parts but it’s gonna be three or four lmao sorry

Part One | Part Three | Welcome to the Host Club Masterlist

Even though Zuho said he would accept their help, he refused to eat what was offered to him. He knew exactly what it was, and he wasn’t going to do it. It didn’t matter how good it smelled or how his mouth watered. He would slap a hand over his mouth and nose before leaving the room whenever meat was offered to him.

“He’s going to get himself into a lot of trouble if he doesn’t eat soon,” Dawon said when the group had gathered in the club room before it opened to the public. “If he just eats, he’ll be set for the next month or two. It’s not that bad.”

“But he was a human only a week ago,” Youngbin reminded them. “To him, eating a person is the worst thing he could do. We just have to be patient for now.”

“Until he snaps and eats somebody?” Chani asked, glancing at the older boy out of the corner of his eye.

Jaeyoon studied Chani for a moment before saying, “I’m very surprised that little girlfriend of yours has stuck around for all these years.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Chani groaned for the umpteenth time.

“Still, how can she stand to be around somebody that’s so pessimistic?” Jaeyoon wondered.

“I’m realistic,” he corrected.

“Stop bickering,” Inseong said, “Taeyang and Zuho are coming.”

Sure enough, the group of ghouls could hear footsteps coming down the hallway, getting slowly louder as they mingled with the sound of Taeyang’s voice as he spoke happily to Zuho. He was saying something about going to a cat cafe over the weekend, but Zuho was staying quiet. None of them had seen him all weekend, and they were sure he probably wasn’t doing too great since he wasn’t eating.

The door opened with Taeyang entering first, still chattering away. Zuho followed behind him, looking absolutely unamused and like he was holding himself back from something -- though they were all well aware of what that something was.

“Oh! Dawon!” Taeyang’s attention was suddenly off of what he was talking about before, to the ghoul that was fixing his jacket. “You’ve obviously seen _____.”

Dawon turned away from the mirror and shrugged, “Of course. What about her?”

Zuho just rolled his eyes when Taeyang brought you up. When he’d gone to meet up with Taeyang to go to the club together, Taeyang was talking to you. He could see the two of you smiling and laughing, and he could hear you faintly talking about the host club together. After his previous talk with you, Zuho was aware that you apparently enjoyed going there, he just wasn’t sure who it was you went to see.

Apparently, it was Dawon.

“Are you going to come today?” Taeyang had asked you.

You shook your head, “Can’t. I have a test I have to cram for.”

“Next time then?”

“Absolutely, next time!”

Taeyang was asking you about your classes when Zuho had strolled over. Though, judging from the look on his face and the way his eyes locked on you, Zuho definitely was in no shape to be around you. So instead of forcing the two of you to interact like he normally would’ve since he knew Zuho had a massive crush on you -- and he always thought the two of you would make the cutest couple -- Taeyang quickly excused him and Zuho, claiming they had to get to the host club ASAP.

“I didn’t know you were in the host club,” you smiled a bit, your head cocking to one side.

“He’s new,” Taeyang explained, a hand on Zuho’s back as he gripped his shirt. He knew he couldn’t actually hold him back if he did do anything, but he would do everything he could to make sure nothing happened, “so I have to get him to the club for training before we open. I’ll see you later, _____!”

But as the two boys walked off toward the building for the club room, Taeyang began talking about you.

“If you’re not going to eat, you can’t be around her,” he informed him. “You know that, right?”

“I know,” Zuho sighed. “Do you know how awful being around anybody is? The last week has been hell.”

“You know there’s a way to fix it.”

“I’m not doing it,” Zuho stated, a tone of finality in his voice. “Can we just talk about something else? Literally anything?”

Which brought Taeyang to his weekend at the cat cafe, and now to him bringing you up to Dawon.

“She’d make a cute couple with Zuho, right?” Taeyang asked with a giggle.

Dawon’s eyebrows raised, “Really? _____ with Zuho?”

Zuho’s eyes landed on Dawon as he closed the club door behind him, “What’s wrong with me?”

“She’s like sparkles and rainbows. You’re like rain clouds and stale bread. Oh, and you’d eat her if you were left alone together for two seconds.”

“No, Zuho’s really sweet!” Taeyang insisted. “You just met him at a bad time.”

“Zuho!” Inseong’s voice was full of excitement when he spoke, changing the subject. He held up an outfit that was perfectly arranged on a set of hangers to properly show off the simple black suit and white button up shirt. “Your uniform arrived just in time!”

“Do I have to wear that?” Zuho asked as he eyed the outfit shown to him.

Chani sighed as he rolled his eyes, “Seriously? It’s just a black suit and a white shirt. What could possibly be wrong with this?”

“Calm down,” Youngbin told him before turning to Zuho, putting a hand on his shoulder, “It’s our uniform for the host club, so yes, you have to wear it.”

“Why do you have uniforms anyway?” he grumbled.

Taeyang leaned away from Zuho and whispered, “He’s just grumpy ‘cause he’s hungry.”

“You know I can still hear you,” Zuho frowned.

“Go try it on! It’ll look really nice on you, I promise,” Jaeyoon encouraged with a warm smile.

Begrudgingly, Zuho took the outfit and walked to what they called their ‘dressing room’ to change. Once the door was closed, Youngbin lowered his voice so he was sure Zuho wouldn’t hear.

“Keep a close eye on him today,” he instructed. “If anything goes wrong, you all know what to do.”

“Who’s the new guy, Hwiyoungie?” one of the girls asked.

Hwiyoung glanced behind him over the back of the couch, looking to where Zuho was standing between Taeyang and Rowoon. He still looked stiff, but he hadn’t made any moves to eat anybody yet. That was definitely something.

“Oh, Zuho?” he asked as he turned back to the small group of girls he was attending to. Most of them were usuals that he already knew. Only one was somebody he’d seen maybe once. “He’s one of Taeyang’s friends.”

“Where do you find all these handsome boys for the host club?” another giggled. “Of course, nobody beats you.”

Hwiyoung smirked, “I’m glad you think that. If Zuho stole you away from me on his first day, I’d be very upset.”

While the girls got all flustered over Hwiyoung’s statement, he looked back at Zuho again. He wouldn’t admit it or show it, but he was really nervous about having him be in the host club when he could snap at any second.

Internally, Zuho felt like a rubber band waiting to break. Everything in him was screaming to eat. He was starving himself, and he wanted nothing more than to pounce on the nearest person. It was bearable around Taeyang because he was just one person. But with so many people and in such close proximity to him? If he was unsure how he dealt with school, he was even more unsure how he was dealing now.

The two assigned to help him through his first day -- not just in case he broke, but to teach him how to be a host -- were keeping a close eye on him even if it didn’t seem like it. They were definitely paying attention to the girls and seeming like they were just showing Zuho around, but they were aware of every move he made. They had to be extra careful.

“Zuho’s always been more of a quiet kind of guy,” Taeyang explained. “I think he’ll be kind of a mix between Chani and Hwiyoung.”

“He is just as handsome,” Rowoon winked.

Zuho could barely even focus on their words since he was trying his hardest to stay in control of himself. He refused to eat people, and he definitely wasn’t going to start in the middle of a host club.

One of the girls was trying to be encouraging, lightly touching Zuho’s upper arm and saying, “You’ll accumulate your own admirers really quickly!”

Zuho flinched slightly at the touch, but the girl didn’t seem to notice. Somehow somebody touching him made his instincts to devour her grow even stronger, and his hands balled into fists in the pocket of his pants.

“Thank you,” his voice was quiet and strained when he spoke.

“He’s shy,” Taeyang quickly said to cover for him, “especially with physical touches.”

“He really is like Chani,” another girl giggled.

Everyone was so focused on Zuho and the humans around him that nobody was paying attention to the refreshment table where Jaeyoon was standing with one of his girls while she got herself a snack. She was trying to cut a scone in half, but accidentally pushed a little too hard.

She let out a gasp and quickly dropped the scone as Jaeyoon took the knife and set it down before taking her hand in his, examining her palm.

“Ah, I guess I don’t know my own strength,” she joked. “Jaeyoon, it’s not deep -- don’t worry.”

But that wasn’t what he was worried about.

A little blood was seen in the cut that only broke a few layers of skin, but Jaeyoon knew that was all it took. With their heightened senses, all the ghouls could instantly smell the blood, and seven pairs of eyes looked to Zuho.

Rowoon reacted before Zuho could, clamping a hand over his mouth and nose while his other arm wrapped around his torso. He started bringing him backwards toward the dressing room as quickly as he could, letting Taeyang come up with an excuse for him.

“Oh, uh…” Taeyang trailed off, not completely sure what had happened until Youngbin was excusing himself to follow after Rowoon. That was when he noticed Jaeyoon holding one of his girls close to him while he examined her hand. “Zuho must’ve seen Jina cut her hand. He doesn’t do well with blood.”

Thankfully, they bought his lie.

Unfortunately, the lie wasn’t their biggest problem. The band inside Zuho finally snapped, and there was no way to fix it -- Youngbin knew that. There was only one solution, but Zuho wouldn’t like it. However, they knew it was the only option.

Youngbin knew that the other boys were working on clearing the club out. If Zuho went berserk, they planned on saying he had gotten sick and they’d have to take care of him and get him home -- which would also make them all swoon because they’d seem so kind and caring, but that wasn’t the point. But they couldn’t have innocent humans around when Zuho was on a rampage.

Looking at Zuho, Youngbin knew there was no talking to reason with him anymore. One eye turned completely black and red, Zuho was completely consumed by his ghoul instincts now. All Youngbin could do was try to subdue him until the club cleared out, and then get him fed. But the first part would definitely be hard considering the half-ghoul managed to shove Rowoon off of him and was booking it to the door when Youngbin entered.

The older boy sharply shoved at Zuho’s shoulders, pushing him back into the room before shutting the door behind him.

“Juho, you really don’t want to do this,” Youngbin warned, at least attempting to reason with him even though he knew there wasn’t much point to it.

Not only would Zuho just never win against Youngbin, but attacking an innocent person would only make Zuho upset when he was back in his normal mindset. There were so many reasons he shouldn’t be doing what he was doing, but it also wasn’t something he could control now.

“Move or I’ll make you move,” he growled.

Youngbin didn’t want to fight Zuho, but he’d do anything to keep the club goers safe. So he braced himself with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

As Inseong said goodbye to the last few clients before shutting the door, a loud slam was heard, along with one of the walls shaking. The group looked back to where the sound had come from.

“If they break that wall, we’re fucked,” Chani stated, but then shrugged. “Guess it’s not my problem if I don’t have to pay for it.”

Dawon laughed, nudging Chani’s side with his elbow, “Exactly!”

“But it’ll definitely be questionable,” Inseong said before he led them to go see what was going on. But then he paused and turned around. “Taeyong, it might be safer for you to go home.”

“But Juho--”

“We’ll take care of him, don’t worry,” Jaeyoon reassured him with a smile. “He won’t get hurt.”

“I’ll bring your stuff by your dorm later,” Hwiyoung promised.

So reluctantly, Taeyong left the club room and went home.

The rest of the group made their way to the dressing room, already tensed and ready for anything. They figured Zuho was going to put up a fight, and they couldn’t just assume Youngbin and Rowoon could take him. They had to be prepared to help if--

“Nice of you to join us,” Rowoon grinned when the door opened and they all looked inside.

Rowoon and Younbin both had blood on their clothes, their jackets and shirts were torn, and their hair was disheveled, but they seemed unscathed other than that. Zuho, on the other hand, was passed out on the ground with cuts going through his clothing, the edges soaked in blood.

“That was taken care of rather quickly…” Hwiyoung mused.

“What happened…?” Chani asked, sounding slightly concerned.

“He doesn’t know how to fight yet,” Youngbin explained, “or how to use his kagune.”

Inseong groaned as he crouched down to examine Zuho, “That means he’ll take longer to heal.”

“We didn’t do any real damage,” Rowoon insisted with a soft whine to his voice. “Just enough to subdue him, and then Youngbin could knock him out.”

Dawon stepped forward and nudged the unconscious body with his foot, “So what do we do with him?”

Youngbin sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair, “First thing’s first...we’ll have to feed him.”

To say Zuho was upset when he woke up would be an understatement. When he came to and felt his hunger had passed and realized what that meant, he couldn’t stop crying. He wanted to throw it all up, but he couldn’t. He didn’t like how much better he felt after eating. He felt like a monster now. It was official.

Taeyang did his best to make him feel better, but nothing he said could help. Zuho saw it this way: Taeyang was a human, and he wasn’t. Taeyang would never understand what Zuho was going through, so any words of reassurance didn’t matter to him. It didn’t matter how many times his friend insisted he wasn’t a monster -- Taeyang didn’t know how it felt to have to eat humans to survive.

“You can’t hide in here forever, you know.”

The sudden voice from Zuho’s window made him jump. He wasn’t paying attention to anything except his own pity party, so he was unaware that Chani had made his way up to his dorm and was now climbing in through the window he’d left open. Even in total darkness though, Chani could still easily see Zuho where he was sitting.

“Go away,” Zuho grumbled.

Chani sighed, though he looked slightly amused as he walked toward the older boy, “Didn’t we have this whole talk already? Me relating to you being a half-ghoul and everything?”

“But you were born like this,” Zuho spat. “You didn’t have to figure this all out late -- you grew up like this. It’s different.”

“Didn’t stop me from feeling like a cannibal,” Chani stated as he sat down beside Zuho. “I’m half-human, and eating other humans makes me a cannibal. But at the same time, I’m half-ghoul, so I’m not a cannibal. You don’t know which side you’re on, so then you just feel like you don’t belong anywhere. I’m not my mom, and I’m not my dad; I’m just...some weird in between creature.”

“It’s not that!” he groaned as he dropped his head into his hands. “I don’t care about being half-ghoul and half-human. I ate a person, Chani! I’m a ghoul and that means I eat people and I hate it! I don’t want this!”

“Well it’s what you’re stuck with,” the younger boy shrugged. “You can’t change anything about it, so you may as well just go with it and learn to adjust.”

Zuho stayed quiet because he didn’t know what to say. He knew Chani was right, but how was he supposed to adjust to eating people? How could that ever become normal to him? He felt...stuck. Stuck was probably the best way to describe it.

“Look on the bright side,” Chani sighed lightly.

Zuho lifted his head to narrow his eyes at Chani, “What possible bright side could there be?”

“You can talk to that girl you like now,” he shrugged. “What was her name? _____ or something, right?”

“What difference does that make? I’m a ghoul and she’s a human.”

Chani only shrugged again, “My best friend is a human. Rowoon’s girlfriend is a human. I told you, you just have to learn how to deal with your new instincts and then everything will be alright.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“Well yeah, that’s what we’re here for.”

Zuho studied Chani for a moment. The younger boy offered a soft smile to assure him that his words were true, and it actually made Zuho feel a little better. He had to come to terms at some point with the fact that this was his life now, and he needed to rely on other people to help him through it. It was definitely easier said than done, but he had to start putting effort in either way.

“I’m still not willingly eating anybody,” Zuho stated.

Chani let out a short, dry laugh, “Well, that’s gonna be hard to work around, but whatever. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it again.”

And they both knew that, unfortunately, they would have to cross that bridge again.

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pocket-scenarios · 6 years

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Caring - Zuho

(Admin: JeroForConduct, we have 17 sf9 scenarios and none of them are Zuho and that just makes me sad)

“Why don’t you act this nice to other people,” you say with a small laugh most of your weight being supported by Juho, “they wouldn’t misunderstand you so much if you were,” you mumble.

“Don’t you get tired from acting so nice?” He mumbles, “it’s easier if I’m just nice to you, I don’t care about everyone else's opinion of me,” he says with a sigh, “it’ll be easier if you just get on my back,” Juho says softly before taking your arm off from around his shoulder and crouching down so you can get onto his back.

“I didn’t agree to this,” you mumble but hop over and grab his shoulders anyway, “thank you, for taking care of me,” you say wrapping your arms around his neck.

“I always take care of you,” he mutters letting out a small laugh smiling to himself.

|| Masterlist || Submit A Request ||

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fantasy-library · 4 years

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Summer Breeze Writing Challenge

Theme 1 (July 13th - 14th) - Summer School

You can find the details again here and don’t forget to tag your writing with #fantasylibrary in the first 5 tags! Feel free to participate even if you’re not a network member!!

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hwitaebrightensmylife · 4 years

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in case anyone wants to read, i have a sf9 imagines book on wattpad. you can check it out and also request is open :)

and here’s cute youngkyun asking you to request ;)

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zoroland · 5 years

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by zungiara

I can take requests!! BTS and SF9 are my ULT groups and sometimes I need to let my anxieties and ideas out so I'll put them in the form on 1 or 2 part short stories. I might put other groups occasionally.

*NSFW Warning on some* *ANGST Ahead*

Words: 862, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS, SF9 (Band)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M, M/M

Additional Tags: Oneshot, AUs, Scenarios, bts - Freeform, SF9 - Freeform, kpop, Sad, angsty

#taegi vsuga

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gamerwoo · 4 years

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[SF9 Imprinted] Zuho: Scary

Anonymous asked: Zuho, something fluff ig but i cant think of something specific 😅

Anonymous asked: Can I request an imprinted thing for Zuho? Preferably fluffy ending but with angst at the beginning? Maybe with the mate being terrified of him when they find out he’s a werewolf, but they’re trying to be okay with if? Then something happens where the mate is in danger and he saves them and then they start to trust him more? Is that too specific? 😬

Characters: Zuho x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, college au, angst, fluff, small mention of homophobia at the beginning, alcohol, drugs, idk just a lot of like stereotypical partying stuff and sad shit

Word count: 5,589

Summary: Juho knew that imprinting wouldn’t necessarily be easy since nobody believed in werewolves, but he didn’t expect it to be this difficult. It wasn’t that you didn’t believe in them -- you very much did -- you were just terrified of getting close to him. He assumed you were afraid of him because he was a werewolf, but it was much more than that.

a/n: i’ve written the “mate is afraid of werewolves” trope like, way too much, so i did edit the idea quite a bit. there is angst and fluff, and reader is kinda scared in a way, but it’s not exactly what was requested but i hope it’s still fine lmao (and if the storyline seems familiar it’s because i kinda yoinked what i had done for minho before bc i thought that would fit pretty well)

Previous | Next | Imprinted Masterlist

“What are you doing?” Juho demanded. He was damn near ready to rip Chani’s head off when he saw you lean over and peek out from behind the younger boy. His expression softened for a moment as he saw how wide your eyes got, but he had to focus on Chani. The pup was the reason he was sent out, anyway. “You have school today, you idiot.”

“Juho--”

“You can’t just run away whenever you feel like it, y’know.” Juho continued, scolding the younger boy like a parent would. He stopped when he was in front of Chani, but his attention was mostly on you in his peripherals. He could see the way you played with your fingers and seemed like you wanted to sneak away while he was distracted. “Your grades will slip, your parents will start suspecting things, and--”

“Calm down,” you mumbled, wanting to stick up for Chani but also worried about drawing attention to yourself. You had never been afraid of anyone or anything, but you were afraid of Juho -- just not for the reason one might expect. “The kid needed a break.”

Chani frowned, mumbling, “Don’t call me that.”

Juho’s eyes flickered between you and the younger boy, “A break from what?”

“Some kid was giving him and Hansol shit,” you explained as Chani’s cheeks heated up from embarrassment, “and Chani almost shifted on him for picking on his mate. He came to me because I’m the only one that actually listens to his problems.”

“We listen!” Juho insisted. “And...since when are you and _____ friends anyway, huh?”

You gave Juho a look like you weren’t buying that statement, “You were just accusing him for ‘skipping school for no reason’.”

It was times like this when Juho realized you definitely weren’t the bad person everyone seemed to think you were -- as if you being afraid wasn’t a giveaway that you actually had feelings. You were a good person with – from what he could tell – good intentions, that made poor choices. He still didn’t know why you made those choices, but he wasn’t giving up on his mission to find out. But that would have to wait until after he got you to trust him.

Juho sat in the grass across from the two of you, letting his backpack fall from his shoulders, “What was he picking on the two of you for?”

“For the exact reason you think: we’re dating,” he mumbled, staring at his lap. “And I’m not embarrassed by him or that we’re dating, I just don’t get why people have to be so...I dunno.”

“I know, people can be really ignorant,” the older wolf sighed after Chani sat down beside him in the grass -- you stayed standing. “I’m glad you don’t feel anything negative about imprinting on Hansol. Love is love no matter what, and there’s nothing wrong with you and Hansol being together. Did he say anything back?”

“I left before he could say anything,” Chani sighed, toying with his fingers. “If I stayed any longer, I would’ve shifted. I was shaking so much…”

“Well, I’m not happy you ditched school, but I’m glad you made it here and calmed down,” Juho nodded, reaching over to place a hand on Chani’s shoulder. Then he looked at you, his brown eyes giving you a grateful look. “Thanks, _____.”

You just shrugged, “Don’t thank me, I do this all the time.”

Juho turned back to Chani, “I’ll bring you home when I’m done with classes, okay?”

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” you promised.

“No, you’re going to class,” he stated, giving you a hard look so you knew he wasn’t backing down. “Inseong’s tutoring in the library until 4pm, so Chani can go sit with him.”

You scoffed, crossing your arms over your chest, “Since when do you think you’re the boss of me, Baek Juho?”

After the whole car incident, Juho was surprised that you’d stand up to him like that. He’d always known you were typically snarky and stubborn with a bad attitude, but he also knew you were afraid of him. You avoided him like the plague, and especially after punching Inseong’s car right in front of you, he hadn’t seen you even on campus for two weeks. So...maybe you weren’t afraid of him? Or maybe Chani had helped him out and put in a good word?

He still was’t even sure when Chani befriended you.

“She sure told you,” Chani chuckled, making you smirk.

Juho frowed, grabbing the back of Chani’s neck and beginning to push him back toward campus, “Just get to class!”

After bringing Chani home, Juho went home to take a quick nap before he started his homework. Well, “quick nap” ended up lasting five hours. When he woke up, he just felt something…off. It was a typical feeling he got with you as a mate, but it never failed to make his heart race as he was always worrying that you were in danger.

You were a “bad girl” type. You drove a motorcycle, you skipped class, you smoked and drank and you were rumored to do drugs -- which Juho found out was true but it was never anything hard. Actually, the first time Juho met you, he thought you were trying to sell drugs to Hyunggu from Hui’s pack. And that day, after the two of you made eye contact, you turned and booked it in the other direction. He knew you knew what he was, and he knew you were afraid.

“Going out to to find _____?” Dawon guessed as Juho rushed to put his shoes on by the door.

“Don’t wait up.” he joked lightly as he left the house.

He followed the pull as he drove, leading him to some frat house that was clearly having a party. He should’ve known you’d go out on a Friday night, but he ended up sleeping for too long and couldn’t stop you from going. Now, he’d have to find you in the party and fight you to go home.

He went inside, trying to keep to himself, as he just wanted to get you and get out. The crowd was bigger than it usually was, but he knew he could find you just from the pull – normally, he could also just track you with your scent, but it was difficult to pick out over the alcohol and drugs, though it was still faintly in his nose.

After a few minutes of searching, he finally found you in the middle of the sweaty bodies that were gathered to dance in the living room. You smelled strongly of weed and alcohol, but he was just glad you weren’t passed out or something.

It made him kind of sad he only ever saw you smiling and carefree at parties. He wished he could have fun with you and make you smile like this, but it was hard when you actively avoided him and seemed to have fear in your eyes whenever you saw him.

He frowned as he grabbed your wrist and started bringing you to the exit, feeling a bit bad that he was going to be the cause of the smile being wiped from your face.

“Hey!” you whined when you felt yourself being dragged away from your “friends”. You looked up and saw it was Juho, and you tried your best to pull away. “Hey! Juho! Let me go!”

“You know you shouldn’t be here,” he sighed, knowing he sounded more like a parent than anything else. “I’m bringing you home, _____.”

You figured a werewolf would be more fun; more daring. Why was Juho being such a killjoy?

“Whyyyyy?” you groaned, dragging out the last letter until Juho had to turn around and put a hand over your mouth.

It was high time Juho worked this out with you. How long had he been chasing after you and trying to get you to like him? And he was still nowhere near getting closer to you. He wanted to know why you did bad things like party an unhealthy amount and rely on getting high to feel happy. He knew you weren’t a bad person, so why would you do bad things?

“When I get you home, we’re having a talk,” he stated, indicating he’d have no backtalk about it. He turned back around, this time holding your waist firmly as he guided you out, supporting most of your weight as you wobbled. “I’ll have somebody come pick up your motorcycle.”

“No, I wanna--”

Before you could finish your slurred protest, Juho had turned around, and easily held you over his shoulder, carrying you to his car. You didn’t even bother saying anything, your body hanging limply as he walked. Part of you actually enjoyed the closeness, and you found yourself pouting when he put you down.

“What?” he asked at your expression as he opened the car. “Is this about your bike?”

“No,” you huffed, crossing your arms over your chest.

“So what’s the problem?”

“You let me go!”

He blinked a few times as he processed your words, and then the corners of his mouth tugged up in a smile, his inner wolf rumbling with joy, “I’m sorry. Get in the car, okay?”

You complied, letting him help you just because you liked the tingles his skin left on yours before he buckled you up and closed the door. Once he got in on his own side, he started up the car. You shifted in your seat, pulling your knees to your chest while you stared at him. Maybe if you knew how good it felt to have him touch you, you wouldn’t be so afraid.

No, you’d be even more afraid. You were just too drunk to remember why you avoided Juho.

“Yes?” he chuckled as he pulled away from the side of the road and started toward your apartment.

“How do you always find me?” you wondered.

He reached over to pat your knee, “We’ve already had this conversation, _____.”

Before he could take his hand back, you grabbed it and held in in your own. While Juho’s eyes widened, and he let out a soft, involuntary purr, you didn’t see the big deal in your sloppy mindset.

“What’s this for?” he wondered, his cheeks staining pink.

“I like when you’re close to me,” you admitted with a hiccup at the end that made Juho smile. “Don’t laugh at me.”

“I’m not,” he promised, though he was laughing when he spoke, “I just think you’re being cute.”

“I’m cute?” you repeated, to which he nodded. “Nobody’s ever called me that… Huh…”

Juho glanced over at you, and saw you were smiling to yourself. He just left the conversation there, wanting to get you home as quickly as possible, and it was better if you were in a good mood.

Once at your apartment building, Juho parked his car where he usually did, and called Youngbin to pick up your motorcycle as he carried you on his back up to your floor. He unlocked the door for you as you softly played with his hair, the smile never leaving his face. Finally inside, he carefully set you down on the floor.

Your apartment was extremely small. It was a tiny studio apartment, so your bedroom, living room, and kitchen were all one room. You were thankful you at least had a bathroom, but you didn’t even have a tub – just a very small shower that didn’t even have hot water half the time. You worked one job that wasn’t very good – if you didn’t count the dealing you did on the side – and you were also trying to go to college in an attempt to turn your life around. You were lucky enough to even get this place. You were just happy you weren’t homeless.

“Youngbin’s getting your bike, and he’ll park it in the parking garage.” he told you as you stumbled your way toward your small dresser. “Where’re you going?”

You yanked open one of the drawers before tossing your tight crop top off of your body, letting it drop haphazardly to the floor. Juho just watched, shaking his head as you somehow almost fell over trying to get a over-sized t-shirt out of the drawer.

He walked up to you in only a few steps, taking the shirt from you and turning it right-side-out, “Arms up.”

You complied willingly, enjoying the feeling of having someone care for you. Juho smiled fondly at you as you just stood in front of him in your shorts, and a black bra. He figured he would’ve felt sort of weird being around you while you were half-naked, but he didn’t really care. He just saw it as him taking care of you.

He pulled the shirt over your head before he went into the bathroom in search of something to clean your makeup off your face. While he did that, you took your shorts off and sat down on the mattress, waiting patiently for him.

As soon as Juho sat down across from you, you closed your eyes so he could take off your makeup for you, “Why are you being nice to me? Don’t you hate me like everyone else?”

“I don’t hate you, _____.” he replied, softly wiping off your foundation when you released his wrist. “Don’t you hate me? You always seem so...afraid of me. Is it because I’m a werewolf?”

“No,” you mumbled, closing your eyes so he could clear off the eye makeup, “it’s not that you’re a werewolf. I’m afraid of how I feel.”

“How you feel?” he chuckled. “What does that mean?”

“I think I love you.”

Juho paused, pulling his hand away to look at you. You opened your eyes when you realized he wasn’t putting the wipe to your face again, but you didn’t understand the surprise and confusion on his face. You just stared back at him neutrally.

“You’re afraid that you love me?” he wondered quietly, his voice soft like a faint breeze in the middle of the night. “Why?”

You shrugged like a child, but your response was much less playful. “I've never felt the way I do about you toward anyone else. You make me feel...all weird. But a good weird, so that makes it bad. And you’re a werewolf which is supposed to be strong and cool and badass and like, that makes it even worse because I’m even more attracted to you because of it. I don’t wanna love anybody.”

“_____, why don’t you want to be in love?”

Instead of answering his question, you let out a huff. “Juho, you should go home.”

“I’m staying the whole night to make sure you’re okay in the morning,” he replied, taking the hint that you didn’t want to talk about it, and finishing wiping off your face instead. “Youngbin has to come get your motorcycle keys anyway.”

“But Juho--”

“No ‘but Juho’,” he said, cutting you off. “I don’t hate you, and I don’t care if you're afraid of your feelings for me. I can help you be better if you’ll let me.”

“If you get closer to me, you’ll just get your life ruined,” you blabbered, tripping over your own words as your emotions got the best of you – it didn’t help that you weren’t sober yet, either. “Why won’t you just listen to me?”

“Why don’t you?” he chuckled despite the fact you were clearly upset. “_____, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I know you know how imprinting works; I love you no matter what, and I always will. I just don’t like the things you do, but that can be changed.”

“What if it’s too late for me?” you asked, sniffling from the tears that started to fill your eyes.

“It’s not, I promise,” he told you as he stood up to throw the makeup wipe away. “Now lay down, okay?”

You sighed but did as he said, curling up like usual.

Juho was surprised you opened up, even if it was just a little bit. He was getting somewhere, so that was good. Not a lot of it made much sense to him, but it was still something. It also didn’t explain why you were always partying and getting high, but he was sure that would fall into place somewhere. He just had to be patient.

He walked over to the couch, figuring he could sit there until you fell asleep. However you waved him over despite the fact you didn’t even seem to want him to stay to begin with. You just couldn’t resist that feeling of having someone want you around. It was new for you, and you weren’t sober yet. Your mind wasn’t thinking right, so you just went with what your heart felt.

He sat on the mattress, leaning his back against the wall. You pulled him to lay down before laying your head on his shoulder and closing your eyes, deciding your mate was much more comfortable than the cheap pillows you slept on.

As Juho listened to your breathing, you listened to his heartbeat that lulled you to sleep. Juho looked down at your sleeping face, brushing some hair from it.

“I just want to help you, _____…” he sighed, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.

It was too early for Juho to be having bad feelings. It was the middle of the day on a Thursday, why was he having bad feelings? He had to find out, so he left the campus to go to your apartment and check up on you.

Thankfully, your motorcycle was in it’s usual space, and he sensed your presence when he got to your door. He knocked, calling your name, but he got no answer. He could hear your heartbeat, but he still panicked, knowing you could’ve passed out or something.

He managed to get the door open without using his strength to break it -- your apartment wasn’t really the best or safest place -- and almost cried when he saw you standing in the kitchen with a bowl in one hand, and a lighter in the other. The room was full of smoke, and completely smelled like weed, but fuck, you were okay.

“_____,” he sighed in relief as he closed the door and walked over to you quickly, “why aren’t you at work?”

You just shrugged, putting the bowl back to your lips. Juho quickly pulled it away from you, noticing your bloodshot eyes, and the way they didn’t completely focus on him when you looked at him. There was no doubt in his mind you were completely baked, but he’d never seen you this high, even at a party.

“Don’t shrug at me, give me answers!” he demanded, gripping your shoulders, looking at you with worry. “What happened?”

“I got fired, okay!” you burst, shoving him away angrily. “I had to sell at work because I have no fucking money, and somebody got mad at me because I wouldn’t sell their shit to Chani. They snitched on me to my boss, so I got fired. And now…”

As you spoke, your anger dissipated to fear and sadness. You shook your head, covering your face while you squeezed your eyes shut to keep the tears that filled your eyes from spilling over. This one time, you couldn’t keep your tough front up, and it both frightened and worried Juho. He’d never seen you really cry until now, and he’d never heard your voice break like it had. He’d seen you afraid before, but never this kind of scared or upset.

“I’m going to be homeless, Juho.” you laughed weakly, rubbing your glassy eyes before you looked at up at him. “I’m broke. I fucked up again, and for the second time in my life, I’ll be homeless.”

Second? Juho shook his head, realizing that wasn’t the big issue here. The issue was getting you to come down, and calm down. He took your hand, bringing you to the couch with him to sit. You continued to wipe under your eyes to keep tears from falling, but you’d swipe away the ones that managed to escape, hoping Juho didn’t notice.

But he did notice. He noticed how your lower lip quivered, and your hands shook, and your expression tried to play it off like it was some kind of dumb joke but your eyes were full of fear and uncertainty. It scared him to see you so vulnerable, but he knew this was a step in the right direction.

“_____, listen to me,” he said softly, cupping your face in his hands, forcing you to look into his eyes, “everything will be okay.”

You scoffed, shaking your head as you continued to play it off like everything was okay – something you wouldn’t have been able to manage if you weren’t on drugs that always made you feel giggly, “No it won’t. I know I fucked up, and I know this is a sign that I’ll always be how I am.”

“That’s not true. You can change, you just need help,” he insisted.

You just snorted, pushing his arms away, “I wanna do it on my own. I’ll drag you down with me.”

He sighed deeply, realizing he had to just have this talk with you, “_____, you have to tell me where all of this is coming from. Why do you think so lowly of yourself?”

So you broke and told him, giggling through the whole thing because you found it all funny in a sick, twisted way. You and your life was just one giant shit show, and that was why you didn’t want to fall in love with anyone. You knew you’d ruin that poor person’s life because you were a walking train wreck that couldn’t be fixed. Your parents were killed in a car crash, but none of your family wanted to take you in. Your grandparents were too old to care for you, and your aunt and uncle had kids of their own. They planned on putting you up for adoption, so you ran away before they could. You were on your own at fifteen, going to different women and children shelters until you’d overstayed your welcome. You graduated high school at seventeen, somehow managing to pass your classes. You got accepted to a university because you managed to keep your grades up, but you didn’t have the money to support yourself. That was when you started selling drugs for a girl that stayed at the shelter you were staying in at the time.

From there, you built a name for yourself, and eventually stemmed away from her to do your own thing. You managed to get an apartment – a shitty one, but still your own place – before you landed the job taking orders and answering the phone at a rundown pizzeria nearby. And that was where you were up until the very moment you were fired. After that, everything you slowly built up, while it was very small things to anybody else, came crashing down.

Juho listened to your story without interruptions, though he didn’t like the way you kept laughing and crying at the same time. He almost thought you were hysterical, but you still kept your cool and never panicked.

At the end, he shook his head, missing one thing, “So…why do you go party and get high all the time?”

“Coping,” you shrugged, like it was no big deal. “When I do that, I don’t have to think about…this.” you said, gesturing around you. “My life’s completely fucked, Juho. Who would want this?”

While you giggled about your joke of a life, Juho chewed on his lip, trying to think of the best actions to take. He’d definitely have to bring you to his place, though he knew that the alpha wouldn’t be the happiest about it since Ellie was living with them now. But where did he go from there? There was hardly room for his pack of nine plus Inseong’s mate. How would they fit another person?

“I’ll fix this,” Juho nodded, speaking to both you and himself.

“Stop trying to fix things for me,” you muttered, reaching for the bowl he had put on the coffee table. “I told you that I don’t want to fall in love, and you hanging around isn’t helping that. I’m a lost cause anyway.”

“You,” he began sharply, taking your hand reaching for the drugs, and forcing you to look at him again so you’d know he was serious, his eyes turning a bright red that almost hypnotized you, “are far from a lost cause. I will help you, even if it’s the last thing I ever do. And I don’t care if you don’t want to fall in love because you’re afraid that you’ll sabotage yourself. I’m not going anywhere. In fact, the first thing I’m doing is bringing you to my place.”

So he picked you up on his back, and brought you to his car. He figured your bike would be safe in the garage until somebody came back for it, so he left with the few clothes you had, and whatever small number of other belongings you had.

You were still completely baked when you got to Youngbin’s, and the wolves’ noses scrunched up before you even entered. When they saw you, they finally understood where the smell was coming from.

“Why would you bring her here like that?” Inseong demanded. “Ellie’s upstairs, and--”

Juho told you to go to the only bedroom in the apartment before he explained the situation to his pack. They had to admit, they felt bad previously judging you, so they let Juho do whatever he had to do.

After Juho got you a bottle of water, he went to check on you. You were staring at the bed like you were staring at buried treasure. He just stood beside you, watching you until you finally noticed his presence.

“Do you see this?!” you gasped, gesturing to the bed. “You have a bed frame! Holy shit, you guys are like, loaded!”

He chuckled, opening the water bottle for you, “Sure, _____. Drink some water, please.”

You took the bottle without complaint since you were starting to get cotton mouth. You drank almost half the bottle before handing it back and flopping down on the bed. Juho screwed the cap back on as he sat beside you, trying to think about what to say next.

“I know I’ll regret this when I’m sober,” you said out of nowhere, staring at the floor like you were spaced out. Juho just looked at you, waiting for you to continue. You looked over at him, your eyes still bloodshot and glossy. “Please don’t make fun of me for it later.”

“I never would,” he swore, placing a warm hand over one of yours. “But you need to stop running away from me to try to save me or yourself or whoever. I’m going to love you no matter what, and I want to help you get better.”

“It’s not the help,” you shook your head, “it’s the getting close to people. If my family didn’t want me…I can’t see why you would.”

“Well, I do,” he stated surely, moving his hand off of yours in favor of putting an arm around your shoulders and pulling you to his side. “You’re always taking gambles; doing things you shouldn’t do. Consider this a gamble.”

“My biggest one yet,” you giggled, back to your drug-induced self.

“Alright, you need to sleep this off,” he decided, gently guiding you to lay down. “I’ll check up on you soon, okay?”

You were almost giddy from getting to sleep in a bed that was off the floor. Juho tucked you in before pressing a kiss to your forehead, “Come find me if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Juho.”

“Anything for you.”

Juho opened the door as soon as you sat up, looking around the room. Unfortunately, you remembered everything, and you were immediately embarrassed as soon as he entered the room. Your face heated up as you cast your eyes downward, but he was able to tell how you were feeling.

“We don’t have to talk about it, you know,” he told you, slipping into the room and closing the door behind him.

“So what, we just move on from it like it didn’t happen?” you asked with a scoff. “I know we have to talk about it.”

“I promise I won’t ever leave you,” he declared, sitting on the edge of the bed beside where you were laying. “I know it’s still scary for you, but you have to trust me. I’ll help you find a new job, I’ll help you find a place to live, and I’ll help you get sober.”

“What if I ruin your life too?” you asked quietly, staring at your lap that was still covered with a blanket.

“The only way my life can be ruined is if you leave it,” he said, giving you a warm half-smile. “You know, when you were drunk, you told me you liked being around me.”

Your cheeks blushed a deeper red, refusing to meet his gaze, “Well, drunk _____ also doesn’t make the best decisions. She’s not to be trusted.”

“I know you meant it. You feel the pull, _____. Don’t resist the puuuuull,” he sang playfully, leaning in as he tried to look at your blushing face.

You laughed, shoving him away lightly, “Dude, quit it!”

“I know you love the affection, _____. You fell asleep on me, you held my hand, and you complained when I didn’t carry you. Just…stop trying to keep me away. If I didn’t mean what I said, I would’ve given up already. I love you now, and I always will. I won’t go anywhere.”

You finally glanced up at him after a few moments of not saying anything, and just mulling over his words. He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“You better not tell anyone I was clingy,” was all you said.

“Are,” he corrected, brushing some hair from your face, and smirking when you leaned into his touch. “You are clingy. But I love it.”

A few months later, everything was different. You not only worked at a cute little boutique near campus, but you snagged a side job tutoring a few underclassmen since you were great with math after dealing drugs for those few years – and boy, did some of these kids pay well.

You were able to buy a nicer studio apartment in a better neighborhood – you still didn’t have a bed frame, but you had a decent mattress to sleep on – which made both you and Juho feel better about you living alone. You kept insisting on him moving in, but he refused until he managed to get a job to help pay rent.

“And where do you think you’re going, _____?” Juho smirked as he walked in on you checking yourself out in the mirror hung on your wall.

You spun around, raising an eyebrow as you slowly walked toward him hands on your hips, “Are you in charge of me?”

“Considering I can pick you up well over my head,” he hummed, shutting the door behind him as he entered, “I’d say I can. You promised to quit parties, _____.”

“I also promised to let Dawon borrow my motorcycle, yet that never happened either,” you pointed out. “It won’t be as bad if you come with me, right?”

Your mate made a face, his nose scrunching up at the mere thought of the scents that would attack his nostrils, “Still bad.”

Juho was not at all what you thought werewolves would be. He wasn’t dangerous or badass. He was a cat dad -- which was ironic since he was basically a giant dog -- who liked staying in and cuddling. He purred when you played with his hair, and his want for kisses never seemed to run out -- even if you did have a reputation to keep up. Juho was a soft and clingy werewolf, and you absolutely loved him more for it.

“I won’t bite this time!” you promised.

“Look, since you’re all dressed up,” he began with a smile creeping onto his face, “how about we go out tonight? We haven’t been on a date in a while.”

You couldn’t be happier with the way things were going with Juho. You wished you’d let him into your life properly a long time ago.

“Like where?” you quizzed.

“Where do you feel like going.”

“Party.”

He sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose, “You’re impossible.”

“We already knew this, yes,” you nodded with a laugh. “C’mon, Juho, please?”

He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands, “For three hours, and you’re only allowed three drinks; no drugs.”

You grinned, grabbing his hand as you raced for the door, “Can we take my bike?”

“Can I drive?” he wondered.

You snorted as you dragged him to the stairs, thinking the elevator wasn’t fast enough for your liking, “No.”

He rolled his eyes playfully, matching his tone, “You love that bike more than me.”

“I love you way more, I swear,” you laughed.

Because you did, and you both thanked whatever greater power was out there that fate brought you two together.

104 notes · View notes

gamerwoo · 5 years

Text

Zuho: Youngblood

Characters: Zuho x female reader (featuring sf9)

Genre/warnings: ghoul au, host club au, angst, a little bit of fluff at the beginning, mentions of violence and cannibalism, blood

Word count: 3,566

a/n: I know this part doesn’t include reader a whole bunch but just bear with me ok

Part Two | Part Three | Welcome to the Host Club Masterlist

“Alright, I should go get ready for the club tonight,” Taeyang sighed as he stood up from his chair at the table in the library.

Juho looked up at him with a frown, “Already? Do you really have to go? It’s just a weird host club.”

Taeyang smiled with a shrug. Juho was at least half right. There was more to the club that made Taeyang stick with it, though. He had a promise he was going to keep, and staying in the host club was what helped him do so.

He slung his backpack on his shoulders, gripping the straps as he looked down at his friend, “I know you think it’s silly, but--”

“I’m not like, making fun of you for it or anything,” Juho quickly clarified. “I just wouldn’t personally ever join a host club. I can’t really picture you in one, either. Isn’t that all kinda fake? You’re too soft to be fake about it.”

“It’s not fake,” Taeyang chuckled. “I genuinely like everybody who comes to see me. Our job is to be nice to them, and I’m genuine about that.”

“And to flirt,” Juho quickly added.

The younger boy just shrugged, “A host is supposed to make all of their clients feel special, okay? They all know this. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow -- I don’t wanna be late.”

“See ya,” Juho nodded to Taeyang’s retreating back before he stood and decided to call it quits on studying.

Juho stood up and packed his things into his backpack before heading out of the library and starting his walk home. He gripped his bag in one hand and had his phone in the other, looking at his texts as he walked. That was why he didn’t see the person he was walking right into.

You were distracted by your book, needing to catch up on your homework. So when you bumped into something and stumbled backwards, tripping over your own feet, you let out a gasp. But before you could actually fall back, you felt a hand wrap around your wrist and lightly tug you forward to help you regain your balance. Your eyes glanced up from your book to see a pair of brown eyes looking back at you. You didn’t recognize the boy who had helped you, but he was definitely handsome.

Juho was stunned seeing that it was you he’d run into. As soon as he realized he’d bumped into somebody, he’d let go of his backpack to make sure the person didn’t fall, but when he realized it was your wrist he had his fingers wrapped around, he was frozen in place. He just hoped you didn’t see the shock on his face or hear his heart pounding in his chest. He’d always had the biggest crush on you ever since he first laid eyes on you, and this was the closest he’d ever gotten to you.

“I’m sorry,” you smiled apologetically, assuming you were the one to bump into him. “I should’ve been watching where I was going.”

Your voice snapped him out of his love-struck trance he was in, quickly shaking his head, “No it was my fault. I was on my phone.”

“Then I guess we can both take the blame and call it even,” you laughed softly.

Juho smiled hearing your laugh. How could somebody be so beautiful and also have a laugh that made him feel happy?

Wow, he really had it bad for you.

“I’m _____, by the way,” you told him as he finally released your wrist after realizing he was still holding it -- you didn’t mind it, though. “I haven’t seen you around before.”

Juho shrugged, completely forgetting that he was supposed to introduce himself too, “The campus is pretty big. But I shouldn’t keep you from wherever you were going.”

“Don’t worry,” you waved the concern away, “I was just going to meet my friends. They wanted to visit the host club tonight, and I tag along every once in a while.”

You went to the host club? Huh, maybe he should consider joining then. Taeyang apparently has the right idea.

“One of my friends is in that club,” he chuckled. “Do you know Yoo Taeyang?”

“Of course I do!” you chirped, a grin spreading across your face. “He’s always so nice to everybody -- I mean, they all are, but Taeyang’s… Well, you know how he is, you’re friends with him.”

You let out an awkward, nervous laugh as you looked down at the sidewalk. Why was it so hard to talk normally to him? Sure, he was handsome, but you didn’t even know him.

“Tell him I said hi for me, okay?” Juho smiled before he started to walk passed you. “I’ll see you around maybe?”

You nodded as you turned to wave to him, “Yeah, definitely!”

As the two of you parted ways, Youngbin tapped Taeyang on the shoulder from where he was watching the interaction from the window of the club room.

“What’re you looking at?” Youngbin wondered. “You have to go get ready.”

Taeyang was smiling seeing the two of you talk to each other. He’d known Juho had his giant crush on you, but he knew that you were usually too busy with studying and homework to really notice most people on campus. He’d been trying to figure out a way to get the two of you together for almost a year now, but it seemed like fate had brought the two of you together today of all days.

“Yeah, I’m on it,” Taeyang assured him, letting his eyes linger a little longer before he stepped away from the window.

But fate also had other plans for Juho today.

Everything hurt. Juho felt like his body was in a block of ice -- freezing but burning at the same time. At first, it was just parts his body that hurt, but the white hot pain he was feeling started spreading throughout his body.

“Don’t let him close his eyes,” he heard a male voice warn. “He won’t wake up if he does.”

“Got it,” another voice -- this one closer -- replied.

Juho was vaguely aware of the fact that there were people with him, but he wasn’t sure who they were. There were three of them: a tall one with dark hair and tanned skin that knelt down beside him, one with a slender face that looked over him with piercing, analyzing eyes, and one that stood above both of them with blue-ish black hair with his arms folded over his chest. He wasn’t sure who any of them were, but he knew they weren’t the ones who caused this. In fact, they saved him.

Not wanting to be late getting home after he decided to stop by the bookstore and then grab some food with friends, Juho cut through a part of the city that he shouldn’t have this late at night. He was suddenly yanked down a dark alleyway before a ghoul just started feeding on him, causing the poor boy to cry out and alert the attention of the three that were looking down at him.

But considering how much blood he’d lost and how much pain he was in, Juho was barely even conscious now. He could hardly pay attention to the three boys, but he did his best to concentrate so he could stay awake. Even he knew what would happen if he let himself close his eyes.

“Inseong,” the one standing over the other two spoke up again, “how’s it looking?”

“If the paramedics get here in time, he might have a chance,” the one with the analyzing gaze spoke up, his eyes never leaving Juho. “They’ll have to do some pretty intense surgery to save him, though.”

“It’s creepy that you know that,” the tan one said, giving Inseong a wary look.

Inseong only shrugged.

“I think they’ll be here soon,” the one standing said as he looked up the alley to the street. “We should move him so they can find him better. Then we need to get out of here.”

One of them had made an ‘anonymous’ call so Juho wouldn’t end up dying alone in the alley. They hoped paramedics could save his life -- according to Inseong, they could -- but they knew it would definitely be a slim chance. But Inseong did know one way they could save him, and he knew that was probably how they would save him. But he also knew the consequences of that, and he had already warned his leader when they found him.

“I know,” Youngbin had sighed as Juho lay groaning on the ground, “but he’s Taeyang’s friend. We have to.”

So Rowoon made the call before hanging up the phone.

“Alright, then we should move that body too,” Inseong stated, pointing over to the ghoul that the three of them had ganged up on to save Juho. “He’s barely alive now, so he won’t hurt anybody.”

“Rowoon, pick him up,” the shortest one said before he nodded his head toward the body of the ghoul.

Inseong stood and walked over to help.

As Rowoon carried Juho to the entrance to the alley, Youngbin and Inseong dragged the ghoul’s limp body behind him. Rowoon placed Juho carefully on the ground while Youngbin carelessly dropped the body down a few feet away by a dumpster.

The sirens were getting louder.

“Youngbin, we should stay nearby,” Inseong said. “We need to make sure that--”

“I know, I know,” Youngbin sighed as he nodded to the nearest fire escape. “Get to the roof and we can watch from up there.”

So the three ghouls climbed the fire escape to watch over Juho. They certainly didn’t have to since none of them knew Juho, but they knew he was friends with Taeyang, and Youngbin owed it to the younger boy. So he would watch over Juho the whole time -- even after he had turned into the same monster he was.

When Juho had woken up, he was still sore but not nearly as sore as he should’ve been. When he realized he was in the hospital, he assumed it was probably some sort of drugs they’d given him to ease the pain. However, that wasn’t the only thing he’d realized.

“God, you’re awake!” Taeyang sighed in relief, sitting beside Juho’s bed.

In the room were seven other boys that Juho didn’t recognize -- save for three that he recognized vaguely, as if seeing them in a dream. His mind wandered back to that dream, only to conclude that it was reality. Those were the three who saved him.

“What happened?” he groaned, only remembering little bits and pieces.

“You almost died,” the one he vaguely recalled was named Inseong stated with a smile that would’ve seemed calming had he not smiled after telling him that he almost lost his life.

“You were attacked by a ghoul,” the one who seemed like the leader explained -- he couldn’t remember his name, but he remembered his face and the aura he gave off. “You were lucky I happened to be nearby with Inseong and Rowoon.”

“The doctors were able to save your life!” Taeyang grinned.

But Juho’s eyes were scanning the room of unfamiliar faces. Most of them seemed bored and uninterested, while others were looking at him curiously like they were waiting for something to happen.

“There is just one slight difference…” Inseong trailed off, scrunching up his face.

Juho’s eyes flashed to Inseong, “What is it?”

“No, no,” Taeyang turned to look at the older boy and shook his head, “I should tell him. It’ll probably be a little easier.”

“Tell me what?” Juho asked, his heart racing. He wasn’t sure what they weren’t telling him, and he didn’t like it. It was scaring him.

Taeyang turned back to Juho, taking a deep breath and letting it out, “The doctors had to perform a heart transplant to save your life. But since they needed a heart quickly, they had to use… Inseong, what did you say it was?”

Juho only caught half of what Inseong said, as he was saying a lot of words and sentences that didn’t seem to make any sense to him. But what he caught onto was that the doctors had to use a lot of components from the ghoul that had attacked him to keep him alive -- such as blood, and a few of the ghoul’s organs. The doctors were just unaware to the fact that the ghoul was a ghoul.

“B-but,” Juho began after one of the other boys told Inseong that Juho clearly had no idea what all this medical speak was, “that won’t affect me, right? Like...I’m still...human...right…?”

Taeyang made a face that was somewhere between worried and apologetic, “Well...that’s where it gets complicated…”

Juho’s heart sunk.

“Listen,” the leader spoke up before Juho could start panicking -- at least out loud, “we’re here to help you. Every single one of us except Taeyang are--”

“You’re all a--”

Taeyang slapped a hand over Juho’s mouth, not wanting the last word to slip out so loudly, “We’re still in a hospital, and they still have a cover to not blow.”

“And now you do too,” the boy who looked similar to their leader said, an annoyed expression on his face. “So maybe don’t go screaming the ‘g’ word.”

“The point is, Youngbin and us are going to help you,” Taeyang grinned reassuringly as he slowly moved his hand away from Juho’s mouth. “They can help you learn how to live like this.”

“I don’t want to live like this!” Juho shouted, tears forming in his eyes as the reality of the situation sunk in. “I’d rather be dead!”

“He’s yelling,” one of the boys stated quietly, his eyes glancing from Juho who was now having a meltdown in his hospital bed over to Inseong who was striding over to the cabinets.

“Taeyang, could you try to calm him down for a minute?” Inseong requested.

But instead of doing that, one of them panicked and just forcibly covered Juho’s mouth with his hand. When Juho started thrashing around to yell for help, two more of them held down his wrists and feet.

“Here it is!” Inseong smiled to himself as he walked over to Juho like nothing was wrong. He had a little vile of liquid in one hand, and a syringe with a needle on the end in the other. “This should help.”

Juho’s eyes widened as he watched Inseong suck medicine into the syringe. Then Inseong was injecting the liquid into the IV as if he were a doctor.

“I really think you know too much sometimes,” one of the boys commented as Juho’s eyelids started to get heavier and his body started going limp.

“It’s fine,” Youngbin sighed as Juho passed out from whatever it was Inseong gave him -- but he trusted Inseong enough to know he wouldn’t kill him or something, “we’ll just deal with it later. Taeyang--”

“I’ll convince him,” Taeyang nodded, already knowing what Youngbin was going to say.

Youngbin nodded, patting the younger boy’s shoulder, “I’m glad he’s okay.”

“Thanks for saving him,” Taeyang offered a sincere smile. “I know you didn’t have to, but--”

“I did have to,” he insisted.

Juho was Taeyang’s friend, after all. And after everything Youngbin had put the poor kid through, it was the least he could do to repay him.

After Juho was released from the hospital, Taeyang wouldn’t stop visiting him and trying to convince him that being a ghoul was okay. But the longer Juho put off getting help, the more dangerous it was for the human boy to go visit his friend. He desperately needed to eat, but human food just made him throw up. He could drink water, and coffee seemed to make him feel a little better, but that was it. He needed to eat but he refused to eat the thing he knew would satisfy him. He didn’t want to do that. He wanted to believe he was still a human.

So they decided to send Rowoon and Chani.

“What do you want?” Juho grumbled when he answered the door -- though he was a little relieved to see it wasn’t Taeyang because being around him was getting too hard.

“To talk,” Rowoon offered with a soft smile, holding out a togo cup full of coffee.

Juho reluctantly let him in after taking the coffee, gesturing for the two to go to the living room. The two sat down on the couch together with Juho sipping the coffee, and Rowoon and Chani trying to gather their thoughts. They knew why they were the ones sent to talk to Juho, but they also knew their situations were vastly different from his. They’d both been ghouls their whole lives. Plus, Juho was just half-ghoul.

But at least one of them could relate to that.

“So what do you want to talk about?” Juho asked after he’d set his coffee down on the coffee table. “I still don’t want any part of that weird gang of yours. I’m not--”

“We know,” Chani sighed, rolling his eyes, “but you’re gonna die without us, and your situation isn’t even that special.”

Juho was surprised to hear that, “I-it’s not…?”

“You’re afraid to eat people, right?” Rowoon asked with a smile that comforted Juho. “You’re afraid of hurting the ones you care about, like Taeyang. You think everything will be different now. I know eating people is something that’s hard to get over, but with our help, we can teach you how to still be what you consider normal. I’ve been in a relationship for a year with a human girl, and she knows what I am. But we make it work because I know how to survive but still be normal. It’s just a different form of normal.”

Juho was surprised to hear that a ghoul was able to date a human without trying to eat them. Was it really possible to be able to be around humans without wanting to consume all of them? Was it possible to even pretend to be normal?

He just looked at Chani who wasn’t looking at anybody and was staying silent, “So then why are you here?”

The younger boy sighed deeply before glancing over at Juho. He hated admitting this because he still sometimes felt how Juho felt now: like he didn’t belong. Taeyang told him how Juho felt like he wasn’t a human or a ghoul, and it was scary. He didn’t think anybody could relate to that, but they knew Chani could. Just in a different way.

“My mom’s a ghoul, and my dad’s a human,” Chani explained. “I’m half-ghoul, too.”

It seemed like everyday, Juho was learning knew things that seemed to confuse him more and more.

“What?” he asked quietly. “There’s… There are other half-ghouls?”

Chani nodded, “I learned they’re rare, but they exist. Not a lot of humans will even go near ghouls, much less marry them and have kids.”

“Our point is that you’re not alone, and we don’t want you to be alone,” Rowoon continued, the look he gave Juho being warm and inviting. “We want to help you, Juho.”

Juho looked between the two of them, thinking over everything before he let out a sigh.

Youngbin turned when he heard the door to the club room open. Chani was leading the way with his hands stuffed in his pockets as Rowoon was gently pushing Juho inside while the half-ghoul just looked around like he couldn’t believe where he was.

The host club was made up of ghouls?

Youngbin let out an amused laugh, “Surprised?”

“Do you eat the girls?!” Juho asked, his eyes going straight to the leader.

“No,” he scoffed. “That would be dumb of us. Nobody would suspect some nice boys in a host club to be ghouls, though, so…”

He just shrugged, letting his sentence trail off.

When Juho continued to just stand there with a blank expression, blinking as he tried to process everything, Youngbin continued.

“I’m Youngbin. I kinda formed this group to help other ghouls,” he explained. Then he turned and began pointing out the others. “That’s Inseong, Dawon, Hwiyoung, and Jaeyoon. You already know Taeyang, our resident human, and you’ve gotten acquainted with Rowoon and Chani.”

Juho couldn’t believe that the host club Taeyang had been in was all completely made up of ghouls this whole time. And he never even said anything! And the club was popular with girls coming here all the time!

You came here!

“I’m assuming because you let Rowoon and Chani bring you here, that means you’ve decided to join?” Jaeyoon guessed with a dimpled smile.

Juho just silently nodded his head.

“Some of us come up with aliases -- makes us feel safer,” Dawon shrugged. “My real name isn’t even Dawon. But hey, if I ever get into trouble, everybody will be asking for Dawon instead of Sanghyuk!”

“What do you want us to call you?” Youngbin asked.

Juho stared back at Youngbin for a moment. He wasn’t sure the expression he wore, but it almost seemed a little...happy?

“Zuho,” Juho decided.

Youngbin nodded before holding his hand out for Zuho to shake, “Welcome to the host club, Zuho.”

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