˚｡⋆ pairing: vampire!song mingi x black!familiar!reader
˚｡⋆ ˚｡⋆ summary: gentle evenings with your newly bound master, how can it feel like an eternity when the nights feel like they could last forever?
˚｡⋆ warnings: none, just tooth rotting fluffy domesticity
The gentle touch of a hand lets you know evening is coming. Your dreams fade away as you slowly force yourself to sit up. You always wake up hours before your master. It is the duty of one of the maids of the estate, Mai, who smiles down at your sleepy gaze with her hands folded in front of her. She is close to your elder sisters age and was assigned to you — as a lady, a companion you still do not know. But you enjoy her company alongside chefs. You felt more like a lady of the house than a Familiar with her around you.
And at the same time it feels less like you are far from home.
"Good evening," she ties aside the drapery of the canopy. The sun is setting, golden rays bleed through the curtains of the windows. You’ve grown accustomed to sunsets, they are your sunrise since joining the academy. Training yourself to follow the sleeping patterns of the immortal ones.
And yet even now you find yourself still blinded by there beauty.
"Good evening," you yawn, a shiver crawls up your spine when your bare feet hit the cold marble floors. Your arms reach above and a delicious crack from your shoulders releases whatever tension is left over from the previous day.
The autumn chill lingers as the fire in your chambers fireplace are lit, fighting off the old manors draft.
Breakfast awaits for you by the settee and table as Mai moves on to secure the curtains and light the candles scattered about the room while you situate yourself with a warm blanket. A small bowl of porridge and cut fruts in various bowls spread across the table. A poercelain pot of tea with a matching tea cup sits before you as you knot the belt of your robe.
"Which tea is this, Mai?"
"Chef says it was a gift from your recent binding. The blend's name is translated as spring harvest." As she explains she carefully pours your cup while you pick up a spoonful of pomegranate seeds.
Your binding was only last week and gifts still arrive with each day since.
Gowns and jewels, perfumes and oils from all over the world. It was tradition to provide the Familiar with objects to please their newly bounded Master or Mistress. There were even delicate pieces of lingerie imported from France provided that left a blush when you removed them from their boxes. Your vanity and closets overflow with finery you dreamed of as a young girl.
When you take the first sip your eyes flutter shut as it warms your body, cinnamon wafts in your nose and you take another deep sip.
From your time in the academy until recent you and your fellow cohort have always followed a strict, clean diet. No alcohol, sweet treats or candies, breads and fatty meats were rare. Teas, fruits and clean cuts of fishes and meat were all you grew to know. Blood work was a part of your monthly assessment and you witnessed fellow cohort acquaintances demote from poor health. To even be considered for the Familiar required a clean bill of health going so far as providing family records.
Mingi hated your diet upon witnessed a barren plate filled with food he deemed for bunnies and hunting dogs. And chef was instructed to cook and prepare for you your hearts desires. And while you sometimes indulge in the sweet breads and treats provided, you try to maintain your health.
After a few more bites you find yourself full and stand once Mai steps out the washroom.
Your body goes through the motions after finishing your meal, leading you to the small washroom where you are quickly striped and bathed. Behind your dressing screen you dress yourself in one of your gifted skirts with a red blouse tucked in and Mai helps in lacing the corset.
At your vanity she quickly pulls your hair up and out of your face. And with your pearls fastened you find yourself ready for the evening ahead.
When you step out the room she walks with you to the masters wing, "the lord's schedule for the evening and correspondence from oversea are prepared in his study. A meeting with a highly esteemed buyer over a meal as well and and his partners in Rome await his response for the new stones unearthed to be displayed."
You sigh through your nose which you pinch, "you know how much he despises travelling."
"Which is why you will use your charm to sweeten his disposition and agree." Mai smirks when you look at her as you both come to a stop at the doors.
"I hate when you are right."
"Think of it as a small holiday. Until dawn, Familiar Song."
She leaves the moment you push the doors open. The room is shrouded in complete darkness that you navigate through with quiet ease. Making quick work of lighting the candleabras set up at the entrance then the vanity. Slowly you bring light into the chamber and make quick work of tying back the heavy curtains, allowing the moons gentle light to spill in.
Its silver glow perfectly illuminates the two coffins at the center of the room which you approach. You approach Yunho's coffin cracking it open, "Lord Yu, it is evening."
"Mmm," he grumbles rolling over on his side and you leave the lid cracked to make your way to Mingi.
"My Mingi" you hum after knocking three times and carefully lifting the lid. One arm is beneath his head, the other draped across his abdomen. His hair a wild mess and eyes slowly blinking open. He looks more childish than a man like this, soft and sleepy.
"Dove?"
"It is evening my lord." Your hand catches the arm that reaches up, and you gently guide him to sit upward, his eyes still shut from sleep as you let him clamp it beneath his hand.
"Morning Dove," Yunho drops a sluggish kiss to the crown of your head as he ties his robes shut, sluggishly shuffling to the washing room while you patiently wait beside Mingi who finally opens his eyes. Sleepy sparkling rubies take you in.
His eyes immediately settle on your pearls, how beautifully you bear his mark both in crest and in the faint marks upon your throat.
He's embarrassed at how his fangs begin to ache, and even though he tries his best to soothe his jaw in secrecy you catch the twitch of his tongue running over his descending fangs.
"Are you hungry my Mingi?"
He wants to bury himself back into the coffins cushions, but he finds no shame or exasperation in your eyes as you go to reach behind to remove them, his hand reaches to stop you in the middle. "Let me, Dove."
He uses the same hand to reach behind you and with careful hands unfastens and catches pearls in hand dropping them into the palm of his hand. He cradles them as he carries them to the vanity where he sets them down while you stand beside. You'd practiced feedings often in the academy.
It was easy in theory: proper posture, how to steady oneself, catching yourself should your Immortal take too much. Essentially, you learned to be the perfect Marionette. Allow them to position you, center yourself when they bite too hard. Care for them, caress them, you are providing them life. It is a gift to partake in the act of feeding. This was what you all learned.
But even now as Mingi holds his palm to guide you into his lap you still fluster at how gently he settles you upon his lap. How carefully he cradles your neck and looks deeply in your eyes for permission. And even when you say yes and lower your gaze he still watches you until he descends upon the bite marks waiting for any sign of your mind changing.
When your fingers twitch in your lap, longing to hold onto something he is there. His hand holding yours tightly as your eyes flutter shut and your sweet sounds make the most beautiful music.
When he has his fill he releases you with a wet smack, his cold tongue presses into the tender wound nearly eliciting a quiet groan. Then he kisses, once, twice and a third time.
Thus is how you get to wake him. His eyes shimmer in the candlelight and your hand cradles his cheek, thumb brushing over the beauty mark upon his cheek and cleaning the smear of blood in the corner of his mouth.
"Good evening my Mingi," you mumble.
"Good evening, Dove." He licks the drop from your thumb and takes in your flushed appearance.
This is how he gets to awaken every night.
You in his arms, in his veins.
And he will forever cherish this new routine for the rest of his and your days.
pairing :: song mingi x male reader, mingi x yunho crumbs
viewer rating :: varies per chapter (bc of the content of each one)
genres :: fantasy, romance, smut
au's :: vampire!mingi (very old vampire), faerie!reader, hybrid!yunho
content warnings :: most will be listed with each chapter, but the series will include the following:
vampires & fae, kissing, physical contact, blood, death, food, cursing, alcohol consumption, possessive mingi, mind games, hickeys, sadism, masochism, vampire porn :3 (ie: sexual content), and at one point mingi roofies the reader on a date (what a dick am i right)
summary ::
song mingi, the very first- and only- and last- vampire the byzantine empire ever saw, never in all his 1,045 years, 2 months, and 10 days of life, thought eh would ever do something as... human... as fall in love.
love...
what a trivial thing...
or maybe not?
and l/n m/n, the live and existing- and heavily triple-checked- faerie in all of seoul, south korea, falls in and out of love like a flying fish in and out of the summer sea.
until one seemingly normal spring day, that is...
will song mingi change m/n's views on love?
or will m/n just be another snack for this ancient, wise vampire?
masterlist & chapter viewer ratings ::
chapter 1 | 15+
chapter 2 | 15+
chapter 3 | 16+ (potentially sensitive content)
chapter 4 | 16+ (potentially sensitive content)
chapter 5 | finale 18+ (sexual content)
chapter 6 | epilogue 16+
author's notes below the cut! if you want to be added to the series taglist, pleasse go here! no dm's pls! i promise you i will lose track of dm's... divider credit to @cafekitsune !
+| please let me know if you'd like to be tagged in this series and any updates on it and its progress!
+| this story also happens to be one of the possible plotlines for mingi's interactive on the cryptids!ateez chatbot ive been working on for a good like... nine friggen months... hehe-
except that hes a werewolf in the chatbot system, not the legendary byzantine vampire hahahahahahaha
+| but yeh. this is the reason ive been so radio silent lately... (my apologies about that friends :<) ive been working hard on this for like the whole school year so far (three weeks...)
description: After a millennium of imprisonment for crimes, the dark, powerful, and vampiric Lord Song returns home and catches up with his life that passed him by.
word count: 4.5k
warnings: violence, murder, explicit mentions of a dead body, blood
author’s note: happy birthday mingi and welcome back from your hiatus!! I hope your day is amazing, special, and you enjoy it to the fullest <3 and now onto evil vampires.
For thousands of years, the Song mansion had withstood the test of time. Nestled in the dead-center of a lush forest, the mansion had proved itself to have incognito techniques as only few ever found it. Lucky travelers and explorers would get to experience the towering and magnificent architecture of the home, the addicting fragrances of the flowers that seemed to never die, and the unnaturally clear pool of water that looked to be the drink of the gods. All of this was available for them to drink in, and yet they were still thirsty, for if the outside was as glorious as it was, surely the inside would prove similar.
No sooner did these travelers step foot on the marble staircase leading to the doorway did the hidden arrows built into the bird feeders release and rob them of life. Wild bears and decomposers alike took delight in the delicacy of human flesh lying quite literally at their front door. When the mess was cleaned by the hungry animals, the stage would again be set for another unsuspecting victim to be drawn in by the beauty of the mansion. Because while the mansion had the looks and was clearly adept at drawing people in, the mansion was not to be entered by anyone other than the owner. And he hadn't stepped inside in over a thousand years.
The travelers were correct in assuming that the inside of the mansion was beautiful. Much like how the outside of the mansion lured in curious travelers to the front porch only to be transported to the doorstep of the afterlife, the inside swarmed with even more beauty. But this beauty was not soft and warm like the outside. It was as sharp as a blade, and just as piercing as an animal's teeth gnawing on meat.
There were over fifty vampires in this mansion, each adorned with fangs and priceless clothing. The vampires had been living inside the Song mansion since the days where it was new, and they worked hard to conserve its attractive looks. Though their hearts didn't beat, they moved with the swiftness of the most nimble humans and worked endlessly for the hope that one day, Lord Song would return.
Every golden piece of pottery was glimmering at all times, and the floors were like mirrors because of how reflective they always were. Cleaning in this household was no issue because of the sheer amount of vampires that were in this mansion, but there was also never anyone to mess up any of their work. The pillows were always too fluffed and the fireplace too kindled, and this was like that because of the hope that Lord Song would return. The mansion had to look spotless and perfect, to tell him that even after a thousand years, his servants were still as servile to him as they had been before he had been taken from them so unexpectedly.
But unbeknownst to the vampires, the anniversary of one millennium had passed and the prison sentence for a man was finally lifted. Black and buckled boots made their way through the forest, a cloak of the same color billowing behind the wearer. The traveler inhaled sharply when he saw the immortal beauty of the mansion, and increased his speed to the front porch. As usual, the sharp arrows shot out from their hiding places to pierce the newcomer, but the newcomer knew of this trick. After all, he was the one that had installed it.
A pale hand shot out and caught the sharp arrow. His eyes swiveled to the left to glance at the point of the arrow that was only inches from his face, inspecting it. Then, with a swift flick of his wrist, the arrow was snapped in two.
Mingi Song had arrived home at last.
His knock at the door sent reverberations across the entire mansion, and every vampire snapped their heads to the direction of the sudden noise. There hadn't been a knock at the door in a thousand years.
A small child with a mop of black hair and eyes as big as tennis balls clung to his mother's dress and stared at the door. His small fangs dug into his teeth and he huddled in close to his mother in fear. "Did the arrows-" he whispered, but his mother cut him off.
"The arrows never miss."
She said this with a shake in her voice, and all of the vampires could hear it. All eyes, red, black, yellow ones, were glued to the door and this mysterious visitor that had somehow bypassed their impenetrable security.
Finally, a vampire woman with long and silky black hair stepped forward towards the door in a move of bravery. Her hand shook as she grabbed the cold handle of the brass doorknob. She turned around and looked at her vampiric brethren. When Lord Song had been taken to jail because of his war crimes, none were given an estimate of when he would return. Many thought he had died. The majority held it within themselves that he would return someday. This person at the door, whoever they were, was not just some traveller. They could have been another vampire from the Song family taking ownership over them, or an entirely different vampire that wanted to kill them all or take them for their own.
But none of them truly expected Lord Song to be at the doorstep.
The all-familiar sight of his crimson red eyes caused most of the children vampires to burst into bloody tears. Mothers and fathers gathered them in a hug to soothe them, but couldn't close their mouths while they gaped at their Lord Song.
Prison had hardened him, but in the same way that polish on metal made the hard material shine even brighter. Despite being immortal, he looked older, but he had a new glint to his sharp, red eyes that suggested that the recklessness of his youth had subsided. His hair had been a tangy orange upon his arrest, and now it was a dark and jet black that rested over his forehead. He was tall as ever with a commanding presence that was frightful to enemies and comforting to friends.
His crimson eyes glanced over all of the vampires in his walkway. Some had been on the second floor and were frozen over the banister at his sight.
"Lord Song," a vampire finally said. "You've returned."
Mingi held out his arms and enveloped a child running towards him, smiling as he spun her around and she giggled with glee. "You all seem well," he said, and many of the vampires began to fan themselves to stop tears from running.
He placed the child back into the ground and walked forward. His knee connected with a small and wooden table by the entrance to the foyer, and the potted plant that had been placed on it tipped and shattered onto the floor.
Mingi's eyes were wide with shock, but this only caused even more tears and happiness within the crowd of vampires.
"Lord Song, I'll clean it up!" a woman cried.
"I will! It's my pleasure!" Another sobbed.
A millennium of meaningless dusting, sweeping, and wiping for anticipation of Lord Song now had meaning. And for the vampires of Lord Song, cleaning was the least they could do to show their admiration and loyalty to him.
A child pushed away from his mother and, disregarding a dust pan and broom another vampire had ran in with, began picking up the glass pieces with his bare hands. Blood prickled on his palms before spilling out onto the floor as he cleaned.
Mingi, surprised only moments ago, was grinning at the child. "Why, thank you," he said softly, then stepped over the child like he was a toy in the way of his steps. His long and black cloak brushed over the child's head without concern. Some of the vampires had fallen to their knees. Others averted their gaze to hide the tears of happiness in their eyes.
"Lord Song," a man sobbed. "I've missed you. You've returned."
"Tell us of your troubles that you faced while you were gone so that we might soothe you," another suggested, wiping away their bloody red tears with a white cloth.
Mingi surveyed all of them with his eyes, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants. "I'd like that," he said after a minute. "You all have kept this home in perfect condition. Let us have a drink while I tell my tales." He smiled with a glimmer in his eyes. "There's much to say. A millennium, however short that is in our lifetime of forever, is still long."
The beautiful and enormous dining hall, which had been bare and dull for a millennium, was waking back up with Lord Song's presence. The vampires cracked open aged blood and ushered Mingi into the hall with the grace of a palace servant. One pulled out his seat for him, while another was unfastening his traveling cloak and black gloves. The rest ogled at him like he was a magnificent piece of art in a museum.
Fancy glasses that hadn't seen light in so long were shining by the light of the chandeliers and candles. The cool, crimson liquid in the glasses swirled around as the vampires amused Lord Song with stories and tales that had been thousands of years in the making. A little boy excitedly told Mingi about the new species of bacteria that had spread around the mansion in the course of six months over three hundred years ago, and his mother told the story of the wild pack of bears that had nearly ransacked the house, stopped only by the mansion's poisonous and lethal breed of ants that lived in the lawn. But it all ceased when the binder of suitors was brought to the table.
A vampire with a monocle and poster straighter than a board dumped a six inch binder in front of Mingi with no preamble. He adjusted his tie while Mingi raised his eyebrows, and the rest of the vampires grinned at him with their fangs expectantly.
"Much time has passed during your absence," the monocled vampire began, and Mingi recognized him as one of the sparse British vampires in the mansion because of his accent. "We had grown bored of boredom during your absence. Days and years passed us by with a wink. Isolation can make you do many things," he said, and tapped the binder with his pointer finger.
"This is a matchmaker binder," he began, and Mingi's eyes widened as the vampire flipped it open and he was greeted with tens of faces on each page. There must have been thousands of pages. "We weren't sure if you liked men or women, or both, so we have everyone," he said casually, and flipped from a grouping of women to a section of men.
"My God," Mingi breathed. "Pray tell, why-"
"She's pretty, isn't she?" The vampire asked and pointed to a woman in the binder with dark hair down to her shoulders.
"Yes," Mingi began, but the vampires were too excited to let him speak.
"I like this one," cut another one, pointing to a man with blonde hair and a large smile. "He's also a Lord. I would marry him if I wasn't so low class."
"This one looks like he could kiss me until the sun rises," a girl sighed and pointed to a man in the binder. "And then we'd evaporate together. That's love, isn't-"
"Enough," Mingi said abruptly, pushing away the binder from himself and silencing the vampires. "Enough," he repeated, rubbing his brow.
"What's the matter?" The original vampire that had given him the binder asked. A hundred pairs of eyes leaned in closer for his response.
"Why did you do this?" Mingi sighed, looking at all of his vampires with contempt. He lifted the glass of blood to his lips and took a long drink. A hundred pairs of eyes watched every last drop dribble into his mouth, and then he set down the glass. "This is childish."
At that, many of the vampires sunk into each other in embarrassment. The monocled vampire coughed. "You are a fine man," he said simply. "We thought it would be a good idea to get you interested in the vampires available so you may extend the Song family for millennia to come. Many vampires of your class in recent years have found that marriage is a wonderful experience to behold in life."
"And as soon as I got back from my imprisonment was your best time to tell me about this?" Mingi snapped and the monocled vampire bowed his head in shame. "I was hoping to share my stories, not engage in some mindless and useless talks about love."
The vampires hung their heads. "I'm sorry, Lord Song," the monocled vampire lamented, sliding the enormous binder off the table and securing it in his arms. "We won't bring it up again."
A little vampire, a girl that looked no more than eight years old, appeared next to Mingi. "Lord Song," she spoke in a voice that was small but had hundreds of hidden years behind it, "tell us your stories now."
The room hushed and chairs squeaked across the floor as the vampires leaned towards Mingi. A thousand years was not even a twentieth of a vampire's lifetime, but it was still long. Eager ears awaited to hear the experience that Mingi had gone through during his time in jail.
Mingi cleared his throat and surveyed them all once again. Jail had been terrible and boring. It was the price he had paid for the crimes he had committed as a younger and reckless vampire, but he couldn't say that he regretted doing any of it. Mingi had taken himself and all two hundred of his servants to town after town, mowing through houses and draining the residents of their blood. The screaming of the townspeople had only made their own blood curl, and blood with adrenaline tasted richer. Despite being a dead being, Mingi had never felt so alive in that moment. It had been a display of power, a display of the awesome and terrible Song family that had roamed for eons.
But no one else had found it funny, especially the supernatural council that had reigned at the time. Mingi's name protected him from the worst of punishments, but not even he could squirrel himself out of an extended period behind bars. His servants had been sent back to his home and had been locked in with no idea of when Mingi would return, and Mingi had rotted in a cell for a thousand years. It wasn't all bad, though - there were vampires like him, burning with the desire to escape but burdened all the same with exhaustion and the cage that surrounded them. Mingi had lots of time to reflect on his actions, and he had come to the conclusion that if he was to do such an event again, he'd have to be much more discreet about it.
But now he was home. Mingi described the bad conditions of the jail to his enraptured crowd, preached about the terrible clothing he had to have on his back and vocalized the terrible treatment that the jail had given him. With every word, the shock on the vampires' faces melted into anger and sadness.
"Lord Song," many of them sobbed, "we are so sorry you had to go through that."
"What's done is done," Mingi murmured. "Stop crying. It's over now. Rejoice that I'm back."
And amongst the sudden cheers that yes, Lord Song had returned, Mingi smiled. A sliver of fear had baked inside of him when he had been released. He had been concerned over the thought that his brigade of vampires had deserted him. After all, a thousand years inside of a house with nothing to do was not an enjoyable time. But his stupidly obsequious servants had stayed locked in the house all the same.
The arrows at the front of the mansion only hurt those coming towards the mansion. They could have left any time they wanted to. But Mingi relished in the idea that they knew fully well of the arrows that were awaiting if they ever decided to come crawling back. His servants were locked in, and Mingi now knew with confidence that the leash he had on them was tighter than a double-knotted knot.
He raised his empty glass and savored the multiple vampires that tripped over chairs and table legs to reach his glass and refill it. He had them wrapped around his finger.
The next week allowed Mingi to be acclimated back into his home. The couches he rested on gave him peace and restfulness that he had forgotten he could feel during his time on the rock-hard floors of the prisons. The constant vampires that were begging to wait on him was also a complete change from before. But while his servants entertained him and kept him company, Mingi longed to talk to someone on his own caliber. So the next day, Jongho was on his back doorstep.
Only friends knew that the back door was the correct door to enter if they liked to keep their brains inside their head, and even then Lord Choi was smart. "Mingi," Lord Choi exclaimed when he was brought to the dining hall by Mingi's servants and saw him at the table. "It's wonderful to see you once again."
Like all vampires, Lord Choi hadn't aged a day since Mingi had last seen him. The only noticeable difference in his features was his now slicked back dark hair that gave him a more mature look, a look he never would have attempted thousands of years ago. He still had muscle on his arms, if not more, and his black and large eyes that seemed to catch every visual in Mingi's mansion had grown softer, more tempered. Something had tethered him down, and Mingi was curious to find out what it was.
The two of them circled one another in a hug, patting each others' backs as they laughed at their reunion. "How long has it been?" Jongho laughed when they broke apart. "A thousand years?"
"A thousand years," Mingi repeated. "What have you gotten yourself into?" He asked as Mingi's servants led the two of them to their seats at Mingi's long dinner table and sat them down. He expected Jongho to launch into a terrible and exciting story about a murder spree - he was famous for those when Mingi had last known seen him.
But Mingi was wrong. Jongho was more than happy to talk about his disciplined and mild travels he had done around the world. While a glass of red liquid was poured out for him and Mingi, he talked about his travels around Europe, Asia, and most recently, North America.
"I was most impressed by the humans' ability to be clean," he said as he took a long drink of his blood. "A bit of a shame because blood was so much easier to obtain when humans threw the carcasses of each other outside of doorsteps when plague raged. And I quite enjoyed the phase of blood-letting. But now, at least there's no more human feces for me to step upon when I stroll through the neighborhoods in London. I call that a win."
"You'll have to tell me about that," Mingi said and raised his eyebrows. Vampires didn't need to use the bathroom or sleep, but Jongho was glad to explain the modern wonder of indoor plumbing.
"And I think Ireland was my favorite place to visit," Jongho continued. "I was there about two-hundred years ago. Met some interesting humans, I had a book written after me as well. You may know of the book."
"Quite highly of you to think that I was allowed to read in prison," Mingi said, not unkindly, and Jongho laughed.
"Just a little book about vampires. Written by Bram Stoker."
"Never heard of it," Mingi said, and Jongho once again shook his head.
"We need to go on a trip together at some point," Jongho smiled. "To get you accustomed to the new world. You would be surprised how much human innovation has happened in the millennia you missed."
Jongho went on to continuing his life story that Mingi had missed, and Mingi was amazed to listen. Prison had been hard. It had been boring and harrowing, but he had survived, in the end. But he couldn't help but feel a pinprick of jealousy as Jongho described his tales and freedom he had, even if his adventures weren't as violent as he would have guessed. Jongho, like Mingi, had taken his vampire servants many times through towns for blood feasts. But Jongho had perfected the art of subtlety and remaining underneath the radars of watchful vampire councils that made sure none of them stepped out of line. He had found a way to let his innate vampire desires tear through himself and never subject himself to the horrors and pain of prison.
Mingi listened, but his ears turned greener as Jongho continued on about his life.
It wasn't until Mingi's servants arrived with that too-familiar courting binder of vampires did Jongho stop talking. Mingi opened his mouth to shoo them off, but the book was placed in front of Jongho and the vampire that had placed it cleared her throat.
"We hope you don't mind, Lord Choi, but we've come up with a few potential suitors, both male and female, that you may be interested in," she said, giving a bright smile to Jongho. Jongho's mouth twitched and he burst into laughter.
"Lord Choi?" The vampire asked, gasping. "Is something wrong?" Mingi looked at his servant and Jongho, equally as confused as she was.
"No, nothing," he said, "it's just that I'm married already."
"You're what?" Mingi choked and the vampire flushed with what little blood she had left in her body.
"Married, like I said, you missed a lot," Jongho said and reached in his coat pocket for a piece of paper. He threw it on the table, and it was a photo of a bright and smiling woman with blonde hair. "This is Analise, my beloved of almost seven-hundred years."
"Seven-hundred years?" Mingi gaped. The female vampire that had given Jongho the binder was already dragging it away from him, her face hidden by her hair.
"Yes, and she's wonderful," Jongho said casually, shrugging. "It's simply the way of life. I'm sure you'll find someone."
Mingi made a mental note to go back to his own binder later. "I never thought you'd get married," he said, and Jongho smiled.
"And neither did I. But sometimes, you just meet someone," he sighed, then looked at Mingi. "I haven't felt the need to go out and ravage towns or humans now that I have her. She keeps me occupied and happy."
Mingi's question as to why Jongho seemed more calm was finally answered, but it was accompanied by bubbling discomfort. "She must be truly amazing," he said through his teeth.
"She is," Jongho sighed, and then went into stories about her. The stories warped back into tales about his travels around the world, and soon night had fallen across the sky. Jongho couldn't have left the mansion earlier because of the sun and he hadn't brought a cloak, but now the moon could aid him in walking back into town.
"Be sure to come with me to Australia," Jongho said and hugged Mingi before he left. "It'll be lots of fun." And then he smiled, and Mingi's heart broke at how soft he had become.
"Of course," he said, giving a painful smile. Jongho grinned and left the mansion through the back door.
Mingi was back with his thoughts. He watched Jongho walking away through a window and retreated to his study. He sat down at his desk to write something on a piece of paper with a quill. When he realized all of his ink had dried up over the course of a thousand years, he begrudgingly took his glass of blood from earlier and wrote one phrase onto the paper using it: never to be sanguine.
It was a phrase that he and the rest of the vampires at the prison had learned and repeated to each other. Because while sanguine meant blood-red, it also meant that a person was blindingly optimistic and cheerful. And Mingi ached to never, ever, become like that. To be optimistic, to be sweet and kind and cheery, was to ignore the inhumanity of being a vampire. It was to align with humans more than vampires, their own kind. He had lost Jongho to the sanguine nature.
"Not like Jongho," he said, his hand shaking as he finished the end of the word sanguine. "Never like him." Because if prison had taught him anything, it was to be patient, it was to be quiet.
It was to be unassuming. Mingi rushed to his vampires. He must have seemed shocked, because the vampires nearly fell to the floor into a bow. "I need that matchmaker binder," he said. "My binder. The one you tried to give me a few days ago."
"But Lord Song," the vampire said, quivering, "you didn't even want-"
"I want it now," Mingi growled and the vampire shook. He left and came back a minute later with the book in his hands. Mingi yanked it from his arms and stormed back into his study.
Analise had made Jongho soft. The vampire council must have seen this, they must have known this. He flipped through the book until he found a page of attractive people.
A partner was exactly how Mingi could keep going with evil misdeeds and remain under the radar of the council that could reprimand him. The council must have had the impression that a partner would tame him, just like Analise had done with Jongho. And even if his partner ended up hating him for who he was and the actions he did, he could pay them a handsome sum to keep quiet. It was the perfect disguise.
"Marriage," Mingi murmured, and looked at his bare ring finger. A ring would allow his greatest diabolical plans that he had thought of in prison to come to life. He stood up and walked out of his study with the proposal of proposing in his mind. "The secret to staying hidden is to hide in plain sight."
Alright gang, more than 1 of you seemed interested in the idea of a The Mortal Instruments inspired Ateez AU, so I’m going to start working on it lol
So far, I know I want the story to be predominantly set in the Downworld as opposed to focusing on Shadowhunters.
Without further ado, let me introduce our first set of characters:
Part 1: The Vampires
Kim Hongjoong: Leader of one of the main vampire clans in Seoul. Sire to Mingi, Yunho, and Wooyoung. Feared by many due to his reputation of being one of the oldest and most powerful of the Night Children. Before the Accords were written, demanding peace between Shadowhunters and Downworlders, the Clave launched an attack on Hongjoong’s clan, as they feared his growing power. The clan dwindled from hundreds down to barely a handful, leaving Hongjoong with a strong hatred of the Nephilim.
Jeong Yunho: Widely known as Hongjoong’s right hand. Born a prince during the Joseon dynasty, Yunho fell in love with one of the King’s young soldiers - Song Mingi. During a particularly bloody battle, Mingi suffered a fatal wound. Hongjoong appeared to a devastated Yunho and offered him a deal: in exchange for Yunho’s eternal servitude, he would turn them both, saving Mingi’s life.
Song Mingi: Once a soldier of Joseon Dynasty, now a vampire and loyal follower of Kim Hongjoong. As he and Yunho were the first humans Hongjoong had ever turned, they formed a particularly strong bond. Because of his build and external demeanour, he also carries a fearsome reputation amongst other Downworlders, however, in truth, he is the softest of the three by miles.
Jung Wooyoung: as of our story beginning, he is the newest fledgling of Hongjoong’s clan, and a complete stranger to this world of magic and shadows. Wooyoung does not take well to his new reality and runs away from his Sire. But how will a newly turned vamp survive on his own?
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Note: I've made some amendments to this regarding the vampires' ages. Having looked at my source material again, I realised the first vampires were canonically created by Hecate in the 1400's, meaning I'd made them all way too old lol.
Part 2 to be released soon. I love and encourage feedback, please tell me what you think! Also if you want to follow along I’d recommend following the title tag
