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Sunoo was a tearful little thing when they brought him home. Delirious with fear, flinching away at the notion of a touch, reeking of panic, and growing pains, and hunger.
He didn't know what kind of danger he was saved from, and Jungwon wouldn't tell him, not for a long time. For Sunoo, he probably looked like the bad guy, breaking into the home of these nice people who took him in, killing everyone, dragging him away.
He didn't have the chance to find out, preoccupied with pain and dizziness, that the people were traders, ready to sell a sweet little fledgling for a hefty price. That the chains they put on him for his own good, so he doesn't hurt himself weren't coming off anytime soon, not before he's purchased, and that the skin under them would start to itch and burn as soon as his nature settles.
All he knew was that some monster had violated him, poisoned him, that sunlight hurt like hell, and he was dying, but death wouldn't claim him. That people who found him hiding in the shadows, weak as a newborn kitten, were nice enough to take him with them and give him a bed in a dark basement, away from the painful sunlight.
And then another monster appeared, just like the one who turned him. Hurt all the nice people, broke his chains, and snatched him away.
Of course he cried a lot - frankly, it would be surprising if he didn't, scared, confused, hungry, his body changing, his mind a mess. For a while he was barely lucid - they couldn't really talk to him, but they kept trying, slow and patient, like trying to gain the trust of a frightened animal.
It didn't help that they had to force-feed him, since he wouldn't drink blood willingly, or take any food from them at all. So Jungwon had to compel him, nice and gentle, as Jay and Heeseung took turns feeding him from their wrists, tearing the skin themselves, since the fledgling didn't have sharp enough teeth to pierce vampire skin yet.
Those feedings were some of the more peaceful moments, since Sunoo's head was filled with cotton clouds of Jungwoo's compelling. He looked so sweet - eyes half-hooded, still shiny with unshed tears, cheeks getting redder the more he drank. It was tempting to keep him under for longer periods of time, but Jungwon knew it wasn't healthy, the fledgling had to settle among them on his own accord.
Once Sunoo seemed to realize that they weren't going to hurt him, he became more daring. As much as it was a step in the right direction, that meant they had to keep a closer eye on him, since his fear was now mostly replaced with anger and a longing for what he considered freedom.
The first time he tried to run Jay caught him climbing out of the window and took him back to his room, but only gave him a scolding - they knew it was coming, and it was hard not to feel sympathy.
The second time was largely the same, only this time Sunoo nearly made it past the porch, when Jungwon called for him, in no hurry whatsoever. He wasn't worried that Sunoo could get away - that wouldn't happen, the scent of a fledgeling was strong enough for any of them to pick up his trace in no time, - but he didn't want Sunoo, still weak with his presentation, hurting himself or attracting some wild thing, crazy enough to wander into their part of the woods. He told Sunoo as much when he took him back to his room and then fed him from his wrist, no compelling needed, since Sunoo was too hungry after all the running to refuse fresh blood.
He tried running the third time laughably soon - maybe that's why even Jungwon, who was determined to take things extra slow with their newfound fledgeling, agreed to take discipline up a notch. Figuring out that going at night wasn't going to work out, since the whole house was awake, Sunoo tried to escape during the day, using makeshift gear to protect himself from the sunlight: a bedsheet with holes for eyes, held in place by a belt. He looked like a child pretending to be a ghost for Halloween, when Heeseung brought him back, and it didn't even work the way he intended - the sheet rode up, the sides didn't quite line up, and he ended up with burns on his calves, and hands, and cheeks - basically everywhere his regular clothes didn't cover.
The poor fledgeling must have already felt pretty miserable, but he brought it on himself after disobeying a pretty simple rule for the third time already. So Jungwon gave Heeseung a short nod, and took a seat at the closest armchair.
He never liked giving out punishments. He rarely had to, honestly - Heeseung and Jay barely gave him any trouble back when they were fledgelings, and most of Jake's misbehavior came from overexcitement or forgetfulness, not from actual ill intent. He needed a good push every now and again, and Jungwon learned to give it to him, but for the most part a quiet time out or some kneeling was enough for him to come back to his senses.
And when Sunghoon - and later Niki, - came around, Heeseung and Jay were mature enough to take care of the punishments themselves, leaving Jungwon with the pleasant duty of collecting a sorry, tearful fledgeling into his lap afterwards and ensuring him that all is forgiven.
Heeseung probably had the most practice out of them all, with Niki being an absolute whirlwind, getting into trouble about five times a day. Jungwon trusted him with delivering Sunoo's first punishment way more than he trusted himself.
Jay stayed with the other fledgelings, making sure they were busy and not actively eavesdropping on the cries coming from the other wing of the house, as Heeseung put a fidgety Sunoo over his lap, tugged his pants down, and gave him a quick, harsh spanking, lips pursed in mild annoyance with the way Sunoo kept trying to wiggle and scoot away. The other fledgelings had learned some basic rules after their nth trip over Heeseung's lap, but Sunoo was still new to this - and he was crying again, angry and humiliated at first, and then quieter, hurt and defeated.
"Now, why are you getting punished, Sunoo?" Heeseung asked, when Sunoo's bottom was thoroughly red.
"...-I ran," he managed after a short sniffle.
"You did, didn't you? Now tell me, why is that a bad thing?"
Sunoo wiggled a little, clearly not happy about having a conversation with his face down and his bare ass up, but Heeseung was still holding him in place firmly.
"I'm not supposed to leave."
"That's right, baby. What else?"
"Uhm... You... Told me not to?"
"Exactly. And when we tell you not to do something, you're supposed to listen . Now, what's the last thing? The most important one?"
He rubbed some of the sting out of Sunoo's sore ass with the tips of his fingers as Sunoo thought, brows knitted.
"I don't know," he admitted softly after a while.
Heeseung sighed.
"How many times do we need to tell you? No, seriously, how many? Because we'll keep telling until you remember. Outside you can get hurt. And not like this," he gave Sunoo's butt another light spank, " Seriously hurt. And we don't want that, do we?"
"We don't," Sunoo murmured.
"Exactly," Heeseung shot Jungwon a glance, "Alright, that's enough for now."
He tugged Sunoo's pants back up and made him stand between his knees as he zippered and buttoned them, nonchalant, despite Sunoo's uncomfortable squirming.
The last thing he did was reach for the belt, still tangled up with the ruined sheet.
"Next time it won't just be my hand," he said, as he put the belt through the hoops on Sunoo's pants and secured it in place, "There you go. Hyungnim will take care of you now."
Sunoo sneaked a shy glance at Jungwon - he must have forgotten he was even in the room with them, since Jungwon didn't intervene at all during the punishment. He was blushing brightly with the blood from his last feeding, even the tips of his ears red, absolutely adorable .
It was still too early for Sunoo to run to him for comfort, the way other boys did when they were sad, or hurt, or both, but he let Jungwon take care of his burns, and didn't even try to argue or move away, except for some pained hissing, when the healing salve had to be spread over his ankles. But even then he seemed to realize that it was actually for his own good, since the places the salve covered cooled off quickly and didn't itch or burn anymore.
Thank god it was still morning, the sun wasn't as high up in the sky, and he'd barely been outside for ten minutes before he had been found, or it could have ended much, much worse. Jungwoo had to hold his scolding comments back as he took care of a nasty burn on his hand, and remind himself that Sunoo had already been punished, so all should be forgiven and forgotten.
And that they would be locking all the windows in this wing along with the door into the main part of the house for the foreseeable future.
"Let me get you a new sheet," he said, once all the burns were taken care of properly, and put the jar with the salve on Sunoo's nightstand, "If there's anything else you'd like to take care of - please do. I'll be back in a few minutes, and then you're going straight to bed."
Sunoo looked like he wanted to argue, but his eyes were dropping. As much as he fought it, he was already settling into a proper routine, going to bed at dawn, and waking up about the time for sunset. Fledgelings needed a lot of rest, their changing bodies using up loads of energy, and they didn't have thick enough skin to walk in sunlight yet, so it was generally better for them to just sleep the day away.
When Jungwon was back with a new sheet, Sunoo was already out like a light, the punishment draining him of the last of his energy. He fell asleep just where Jungwon left him - clothed, on top of his comforter, curled around a pillow he clutched when Jungwon was working on his hand, the jar on the bedside table untouched.
Jungwon smiled to himself and sat down by Sunoo's side to run a hand through his hair.
Maybe it was for the best. Maybe Sunoo would wake up with a sore ass in the evening and remember the lesson he learned.
When Heesung, who was still nearby, figuring out which windows to put the locks on, and which just to bolt shut for the time being, looked into the room, Jungwon beckoned him closer.
"I'll pick him up, and you do the bed, okay? I think baby bat is out for good."
"Sure seems like it," Heeseung said, his gaze soft, "Go ahead, I'll be quick."
"No rush," Jungwoo said and scooped Sunoo into his arms.
The fledgeling didn't seem to mind, too deep already to be woken up that easily. He looked so peaceful, so innocent like this - squishy cheeks, still a little pink, delicate little ears, surprisingly long eyelashes. Jungwon found himself awe-struck looking at him closely.
It was a miracle Sunoo managed to live that long as a human. He smelled delicious even now, as a fledgeling, but he must have been agonizingly sweet as a human, a tasty little treat, something you should savor and cherish, take apart slowly, lovingly. Not ravage and throw away without a care in the world.
"We have to kill his sire, Sungie," Jungwon said softly, "It will make things easier."
"You're right," Heeseung finished making the bed and moved the blanket out of the way, so Jungwon could put Sunoo down, "I'm just not sure how to find him without... You know..."
"There's no need for that," Jungwon put Sunoo on the bed gently and started unbuttoning his shirt, "A sire-fledgeling bond can be traced without either of them knowing, we just need a powerful enough seer to help us with it."
"Well, we do know a couple."
"That we do... But it's not something we can ask just anyone to do for us, you know? A task like that can weight down on a seer's consiousness."
"Right... Not Shua then."
"Not him, no," he took Sunoo's shirt off and began working on the pants, "But maybe ask Taehyun if he'd be down to help? He doesn't seem to mind making a bit of a mess for a good cause."
"Oh, he doesn't give a shit. But he'll tell the others, they really don't keep secrets from each other over at Soobin's."
"We can live with that," the pants came off too, and took their place on a nearby chair. Jungwon put a blanket over Sunoo and tucked him in, making sure he wouldn't get cold, "Not that we keep too many secrets from them either. And I doubt Soobin, or Yeonjun in that case, will be too opposed to... What has to be done."
"Yeah... I'll ask them. Now, can you stay here for a bit, and make sure he doesn't wake up? I need to hammer some windows shut."
"Of course. Go ahead, I'll stay here until you're done."
Heesung left, and Jungwon sat down on the edge of the bed slowly, carefully.
Sunoo slept, exhausted, unmoving under his covers. Awake he still breathed, a habit that would take years to break out of, but as soon as he fell asleep his body must have remembered that there was no need for it anymore.
His hair was fluffy, multicolored - dark at the roots, bleached in the middle, remnants of reddish-orange still clinging to the ends.
We should get him some bleach, once he settles, Jungwon thought. And a hair dye.
Little things like that usually helped the unwillingly turned fledgelings to gain back some sense of normalcy. Jungwon remembered asking a hyung to look after his fledglings for a day, while he scouted the city to find the exact type of pastry Heeseung used to like before the series of unfortunate events that lead to his turning.
It wasn't a good idea, generally, to let a fledgling cling to the past, but small occasional comforts helped smooth the transition period.
The sooner Sunoo would open up to them, the sooner they could make things easier for him.
Jungwon put his hands over Sunoo's ears when he heard the sounds of hammering from the corridor and held him in a protective embrace until the noise stopped.