[Tomorrow X Together Yeonjun/ Yeonjun Soobin] Red Nest

[Yeonsup] Red Nest Episode 7

The few days spent in Yeonjun's bedroom were strangely peaceful.

Even after the wound on his shoulder had healed, Yeonjun still didn't let Soobin out of his side.

During the day, he would make Soobin bring him tea for no reason while he looked through documents in the study, and at night he would lie on the sofa with his head on Soobin's lap as Soobin read a book, closing his eyes.

The bizarrely incompatible relationship between hunter and vampire was, in the mansion's deep silence, solidifying into a perfect world for just the two of them.

But that peace didn't last long.

Crash-!

On a dark night, the huge floor-to-ceiling glass window of the bedroom shattered to pieces in an instant with a deafening roar.

What flew through the magical barrier was not a weapon of the red vampire.

It was three ‘holy water daggers’ dazzlingly gleaming in silver.

“Hng...!”

Yeonjun, who had been lying on Soobin's lap, sprang to his feet at lightning speed and moved to protect Soobin.

The daggers were embedded in the floor all around Yeonjun, and the room filled with the dreadful stench of silver and holy water along with the sound of the flooring burning away.

Yeonjun's brow twisted at once in pain.

Silver energy that even a pure-blood vampire's skin couldn't withstand. And the weapon was none other than

“...A Hunter family's cursed dagger?”

Soobin's eyes wavered.

A unique silver weapon used only by the Hunter family, and even then only by the elite of the Choi clan Soobin belonged to.

Three pitch-black shadows leapt in like lightning through the broken window and landed on the bedroom floor.

Men in dark Hunter uniforms, their faces hidden by masks.

On their chests was a crest far too familiar to Soobin, carved there with painful clarity.

“Found you, Choi Soobin.”

The Hunter at the front muttered in a cold voice.

A voice Soobin could recognize instantly—his cousin, the family's best fighter, who always treated Soobin like ‘a bug.’

“Word's been going around that the family's disgrace isn't dead in District 3 and is trapped in a vampire's mansion... So it was true.”

“Hyung...?”

“Don't call me hyung. You're a failure not worth sharing blood with.”

The Hunter snapped at Soobin coldly, then pointed a longsword filled with holy water at Yeonjun.

“We're not here to save some discarded trash. We've come to cut off the head of the ruler of the night in District 3, pure-blood Choi Yeonjun.

We laid the failed piece out as bait, and you walked right into the trap.”

It had all been planned. The family had not come to rescue Soobin.

Using the fact that Soobin was being held captive in Yeonjun's mansion, they had used him as live bait to infiltrate deep into the mansion while Yeonjun's guard was down.

“Bait...?”

Yeonjun murmured lowly, his blood-red eyes flashing as if they would pierce through someone.

Even though the holy water stench was burning through his wounds and the pain must have been severe, the corner of Yeonjun's mouth twisted upward dangerously.

“Don't call my Soobin bait with that filthy mouth of yours.”

“Yeonjun, no! That sword has a barrier that even paralyzes pure-bloods...!”

Soobin reached out to stop Yeonjun, but Yeonjun was already charging toward the Hunters, leaving only an afterimage behind.

Boom!

Silver sword energy and the red vampire's magic collided in the air.

The furniture in the room was smashed to pieces, and the walls split apart.

Two Hunters were immediately thrown back by Yeonjun's overwhelming power and slammed into the wall, but the cousin in the leader's role was no pushover. The silver talisman he flung into the air drew a red magic circle and momentarily bound Yeonjun's body.

“Now! Cut off the pure-blood's head!”

“Yeonjun!”

In that brief instant while Yeonjun's feet were bound by the talisman's power, the cousin's longsword drove straight toward Yeonjun's heart.

Even a pure-blood couldn't survive if a silver sword coated with holy water pierced the heart.

A fleeting crack appeared in Yeonjun's red eyes.

In that moment, the one who blocked Yeonjun's view and got thrown forward was a human with a massive frame.

Thud-!

“...Urgh!”

The cold silver sword did not pierce Yeonjun's heart, but the shoulder of Soobin, who had thrown his whole body around Yeonjun, and it drove deep in.

Blood burst out and soaked Yeonjun's cheek. The Hunter's longsword left a fatal wound even on the human Soobin.

Warm red blood dripped down Yeonjun's chest along with Soobin's ragged breaths.

“...Soobin?”

Yeonjun's voice came out trembling uncontrollably, a rare sight.

“Y-You crazy failure! You threw yourself in front of it for a vampire?!”

The cousin panicked and tried to pull back his sword, but it was already too late.

The moment Soobin's blood touched Yeonjun's face and lips, something inside Yeonjun snapped completely.

Every bit of restraint, every shred of reason and magic exploded out of him. The air in the entire bedroom dyed red, and the silver talisman binding Yeonjun instantly turned to ash and flew apart.

“How dare you... put a blade to someone's body?”

It was the moment the true ruler of the night awoke.Yeonjun's eyes turned a color deeper than blood, and every light in the room went out as an overwhelming scene of hell unfolded.