Hunting For A Husband In A Vampire Apocalypse

"They are gone already?" Kai mutters under his breath. When did they leave? Did he fall asleep? He stands up and walks to the bed. He presses his two fingers under Jin"s jaw. 

"Still weak." Kai sighs. "That woman was aiming to kill him."

"You are not supposed to talk about her like this." Jin opens his eyes and stares at him. "She"s our queen."

"Is she?" The corner of Kai"s lips curls up. "You are quite sure that she would come back to her senses."

Jin presses his hand on his chest and takes a breath. His chest still hurts when he takes long breathes. It will take some time before he is completely healed. He closes his eyes. "Yes, she would."

"Do you still want to find your true mate?" Kai asks him. When he hears no reply, he pats Jin"s head. "Fine, I will work on a device since you won"t be able to go out for a while."

When he hears a noise, Kai gets up from his seat. He runs toward the scent of blood. Aiken and Izo are laying Noah on the bed. Noah"s body is covered with bites. A large chunk of his shoulder is missing. Though the bleeding has stopped, his body isn"t in good condition.  Kai furrows his brows. "What happened to him?"

"We found him in the forest," Izo replies with a strained voice. "Why did he go there alone?"

"The king asked him to find you." Kai lets out a sigh. "Why is he also healing slowly?"

"Those creatures have gotten stronger," Aiken tells him. "Where is the King? Did he come back because of Lady Huang?"

Kai nods. "He left with her. Fu Mian is also with them. The King commanded us to go to Sung NMi. I will tell you the rest on the way, Brother Aiken."

"I can"t leave without Noah," Izo shakes his head with moist eyes. "How could we leave him alone here? Jin is also not well."

"Stay here then." Aiken pats Izo"s shoulder. He"s sure that the King would have done the same. "Kai will go with me. Take care of them while we are gone, Izo."

After Kai and Aiken are gone, Izo cleans Noah"s body with a wet cloth and changes his clothes. He stares at the man for a long time with distress in his eyes. 

"Why wouldn"t you care about yourself?" Izo asks him, irritated with Noah"s silence. "You should have kept yourself safe. First, it was Jin. Now, it"s you. Who would bother me if you stay quiet like this? Stop this act and wake up. Don"t sleep like Jin. I would be bored without you." 

Noah is so quiet and still that Izo feels like something is cracking in his chest. He bites his wrist and puts his hand over the wound on Noah"s shoulder. A few drops of blood fall on the wound, but there is a little effect. Izo"s blood isn"t as powerful as Aiken"s blood or the King"s blood. 

"Fool!" Izo glares at Noah"s sleeping face. "If you aren"t strong enough to fight, you shouldn"t put yourself in dangerous situations."

No matter how much he scolds him, Noah is not answering him. Izo holds his head. This idiot has been following him with a happy smile. Noah has always been watching his back. This is the first time when he is seeing Noah in this state. 

The bright sky turns dark. Izo listens to the sound of his slow heartbeats. It"s the only sign that Noah is alive. 

"Izo…" 

Izo widens his eyes. Noah mumbles something with a pained voice. 

"Does it hurt?" Izo moves his head close to Noah"s lips. "If it is painful, tell me. If you need blood, tell me."

"Izo…"

Izo says to him with concern in his eyes, "Noah, I am here."

"I am sorry." Noah murmurs. "Don"t hate me."

"Fool, why would I hate you?" Izo frowns at him. Is he even awake? "Are you dreaming something bad?"

"Izo, forgive me," Noah whimpers. Two streams of tears roll down on his cheek. "Don"t be disgusted, please. I will die if you despise me."

"This fool is apologizing when he"s not even awake." Izo wipes Noah"s cheeks. "Can"t I scold you a little? It"s not your fault that you got hurt. Stop thinking about crazy things. Take rest and get better. Don"t be like Jin who sleeps all the time."

"You don"t hate me?" Noah stares at him with half-opened eyes, blinking his eyes slowly. The pain is making his nauseous. This feels like a dream. 

Irritated, Izo clicks his tongue. "Why would I hate you?"

"Would you hate me if I tell you that I love you?" Noah says with a quivering voice, "I shouldn"t feel this way, but I can"t stop feeling like this. I know that you don"t feel this way about me."

What is he saying? Izo stares at him with a dumbfounded expression. Did he mean what he said? "Noah, are you serious?"

"Would you hate me?" Noah cups Izo"s face. "If I tell you, would you hate me?"

Didn"t he just tell me? Izo blinks his eyes. How should he respond? He didn"t expect to hear this from Noah. They are like brothers. They have always been together. Since when Noah had started feeling this way toward him? 

"Even if it"s a dream, can"t you answer me?" Noah pulls him closer to him. "Isn"t it cruel? I have been watching you for so long. I have been hiding these feelings from you. Even if it"s a dream, I am afraid to say. What if you are disgusted by me? Izo, can"t you hold me in this dream?"

"Noah, I think that…" Izo grabs his hands with a complicated feeling in his eyes. Maybe Noah is not in the right state of his mind. "You should take rest."

"Cruel to me…" Noah sniffles. "Even in a dream…"

Is he going to cry? Izo knits his brows. This man is always smiling or laughing. Sometimes, he shows a little anger. But he has never shown this type of expression to anyone. "Noah, don"t cry. Close your eyes and sleep." 

And Noah should let go of him. Their faces are too close to Izo"s liking. Izo can"t help but notice things that he wouldn"t have noticed otherwise. The rims of Noah"s eyes are red. His chest tightens when he sees the pain and longing in Noah"s eyes. But what can he do? He has no idea about the matters of love. He has never felt this way for anyone and he can"t understand Noah"s feelings either. He cares for Noah, but it"s the same way that he feels for Jin or Kai. Perhaps, he cares for Noah more than he cares for others. However, he doesn"t have this sort of love for him.

"Is this a dream?" Noah questions him with a quiet voice.

It"s better if this is a dream. He can still pretend that he didn"t hear this. Izo sighs. "This is a dream."

"Then, forgive me." Noah smiles at him. "I am sorry for having these feelings for you."

He"s apologizing again. "You don"t have to be sorry for something like this."

"But this is a dream." Noah caresses his face. "My heart still skips a beat when I look at you."

His heart skips a beat? For real? Did Noah get affected by Jin"s ramblings? Izo purses his lips hard and he wonders what he should say to Noah. Jin is better at these things. That boy is sleeping like a log. Now, he wishes for Noah to sleep. Then, he can figure out how to act when Noah wakes up for real. "Noah, go to sleep."

"Since this is a dream…" Noah raises his head and presses his lips on Izo"s lips. It last barely for less than a second. Noah falls back to slumber, leaving behind a man who has forgotten how to breathe. After a moment, Izo gasps and jumps away from Noah.

He covers his mouth and stands at the corner of the room and stares hard at Noah. What just happened? What did Noah do to his lips? His heart is beating too fast. Is he sick? While he"s contemplating why his body felt a surge of electricity, Noah is sleeping peacefully.