[Tomorrow X Together Yeonjun/ Yeonjun Soobin] Red Nest

[Yeonsup] Red Comrade Episode 5

The place the raid had swept through was so quiet it felt hollow.

In the room thick with the smell of ash and blood, Yeonjun, their foreheads touching, let out a low breath.

Dark red blood was running from the torn wound on his shoulder, soaking his navy robe, but Yeonjun merely looked down at Subin as if he didn’t care.

Subin let go of the silver candlestick in his hand with a soft slip. Thud-with a sound, the candlestick rolled across the floor.

“...Your wound is bleeding a lot.”

Subin exhaled shakily and looked at Yeonjun’s shoulder.

Vampires were beings with excellent self-healing abilities, but perhaps silver or sorcery had been coated on the weapon the intruder swung, because the wound wouldn’t close easily and was blackening as it burned.

“You’re a hunter, and you’re worried about a vampire’s wound?”

Yeonjun snorted a laugh and took a step back. The swaying Yeonjun was unconsciously steadied by Subin.

The cool yet firm warmth of Yeonjun’s body was transmitted through the palm of his hand exactly as it was.

“It’s because you got hurt while shielding me.”

“Don’t misunderstand. I just didn’t like my prey getting blown apart by the teeth of some lower trash.”

Even as Yeonjun spat out those cruel words, he obediently leaned his body against Subin’s sturdy shoulder, which was supporting him.

After a while, the butler, having settled the commotion, came into the room carrying medicine and clean gauze.

The butler kept failing to hide his shocked expression as he looked back and forth between the remains of the lower trash turned to ash, the silver candlestick fallen on the floor, and Subin supporting Yeonjun.

“Young Master Yeonjun, I will treat your wound. As for this human, another room...”

“No need.”

Yeonjun cut the butler off short.

“Just leave the treatment supplies and go.”

“But...”

“I said go.”

At Yeonjun’s low command, the butler had no choice but to bow his head and step back.

Once the door closed and the two of them were alone again, Yeonjun plopped down on the edge of the bed and looked at Subin.

“Go on.”

“Pardon?”

“You guarded my back, so you finish the job too.”

Yeonjun gestured with his chin toward the tray holding the medicine bottles and gauze.

Subin looked dumbfounded, but when he saw that blood was still seeping from Yeonjun’s shoulder, he let out a sigh and came to sit beside him.

With careful hands, Subin began wiping around Yeonjun’s wound with antiseptic.

In the hunter family, what he had learned day after day through endless practice was wound care and first aid.

Even if his sensitivity and physical abilities had been called a failure, his dexterity was meticulous and careful.

“Tell me if it hurts.”

“You think a vampire would make a fuss over this much pain?”

Yeonjun let out a derisive snort, but when Subin applied the medicine to the charred flesh, he unconsciously stiffened the muscles in his shoulder.

Subin gently blew on the wound so it wouldn’t hurt Yeonjun, then wrapped the bandage around it.

Every time Subin’s warm, steady breath touched his shoulder, Yeonjun’s gaze drifted to Subin’s earnest face.

Long eyelashes, lips that parted slightly whenever he concentrated, and the harmless kindness felt in the tips of the hands treating him.

‘This kid is a hunter.’

Even if he had been cast out by his family, he was still the hunter who had just stabbed a vampire’s heart with a silver candlestick.

But now he was treating the wound of his enemy—and predator—with a care so meticulous it was as if he were sewing it shut.

It was a strange contradiction.

“All done.”

As Subin tied the knot and tried to let go, Yeonjun lightly caught Subin’s bandaged wrist.

“...Why did you do this?”

“Huh?”

“You could’ve run away and left me. When those lower trash swarmed me, if you’d just run without looking back, you might’ve gotten out of this mansion.”

Yeonjun’s red eyes pierced through Subin with a heavy sincerity. Subin fell silent for a moment.

The cold touch of Yeonjun’s hand on his wrist didn’t feel frightening or unpleasant like it had last night.

“...I don’t know.”

Subin murmured softly.

“I just... moved before I could think.

Even if it’s the family that abandoned me, I grew up as a hunter... and more than anything, I couldn’t just stand by and watch you get hurt because of me, Yeonjun.”

With that, Subin awkwardly turned his head away.

The reddened tips of his ears were once again betraying Subin’s honest feelings.

Yeonjun gave the wrist he was holding a slight squeeze, then slowly loosened his fingers and intertwined them with Subin’s hand.

Subin’s strong hand with its thick joints and Yeonjun’s long, cool fingers entwined.

“Subin.”

“Yes?”

“From now on, don’t die, and don’t get hurt, without my permission.”

His tone was still commanding, but the weight in it was different from the confinement and captivity of the night before.

Yeonjun pulled their joined hands toward him and lightly pressed his lips to the back of Subin’s hand. As the cold touch landed there, Subin’s heart gave a huge thump.

The raid that had broken into the mansion was over, but the boundary line dividing hunter and vampire between the two of them was quietly crumbling away.