bar

@◆ ﹕ lilith. sungjae tastes blood.

earlier that night he had chewed his bottom lip until it bled, courtesy of the men that frequented their supposedly quiet spot off in the corner. yuanbin had been hunched over at the very end of the bar, lazily swirling the remaining liquid in his glass. sungjae had lost count of how many drinks the younger's had in the past two hours, nor did he take any interest in trying the liquor his charge was currently trying to drown himself in. it's not like he could taste the alcohol anyway.

instead he'd been preoccupied with staring down the bar's drunkest patrons, watching them stumble around where they weren't supposed to. he'd watch them approach yuanbin with drinks in hand and their chins held up high, sounding too proud for their own good, thinking they could win the pretty boy over with money and empty promises. the more sungjae listened, the more he wished he could shove the arrogance back into their throat and watch them choke on it. he'd pull yuanbin's barstool closer then, wrapping an arm around his waist in an attempt to make the younger look like he was taken.

but the heavens were testing him.

for the past few days they've been here, sungjae had come to memorize the faces of a particular group of men that frequented the bar at slightly different time periods during the night. he didn't care who they were or what they did until they'd come into contact with yuanbin way too many times that night, their hands wandered where they shouldn't, squeezing at the younger's waist, caressing his neck—leaning in for a kiss, even—and sungjae saw red. those men were lucky yuanbin was so forgiving even in his state, because he'd quickly urged sungjae to sit back down once he felt the older's mood spike dangerously. "it's okay, puppy. he didn't hurt me."

sungjae didn't care. he was going to kill them.

he'd had his eye on them all night, the urge to hunt them ever present. he'd led yuanbin to a seat closer to one of the exits, and after politely asking one of the staff to keep an eye on him for a while, sungjae slipped out into the night after the group had quickly scrambled for the door in pursuit of god knows what. his steps were silent as he stalked behind them like a predator, hood pulled over his head as he followed their scents into some alleyway behind the bar.

when they were far enough from the streets, sungjae had lunged for the closest one, every muscle in his body fueled by anger and spite. they surrounded him then, and sungjae couldn't help the mildly unhinged laugh that fell from his lips as they noticed the blood dripping from his lips, having torn off the man's arm first for even daring to touch what was his. sungjae had gone delirious with anger that he'd made a bloody mess of them in that alleyway, crimson pooled beneath him, stained his entire front, poured where he had dug his claws into soft flesh. sungjae almost startles when he feels hunger claw at his gut, and he crouches over the bodies, lifting one of them onto his arm as if they weighed nothing.

but before he could take a bite, the slightest sound from somewhere else in the alley caught his attention. he had slowly craned his head to look up, swallowing hard and tasting sweet blood in his throat. much to his surprise, he makes eye contact—there was a woman who'd been standing there for god knows how long. and like a deer in headlights, sungjae simply stares at her, more confused than anything, all red-eyed and bloody and unmoving. waiting for her to move first.