*𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕖

-나는 그들의 것, 그들은 내 꺼야-

it was an eventful night. they had just come off a mission and it was momentous because it was the first one they failed in years. the person they were supposed to capture had gotten away and some people had gotten injured during their mission.

it was cold and dark, there was a calm drizzle, the only light source was the lamp posts and the full moon. it created an eerie feeling with the darkness that enveloped everything.

"that was frustrating," seungcheol spoke, "mingyu messed up this time," myungho said just above a whisper with a heavy sigh, "he should have just pulled the trigger!" seungcheol said through gritted teeth, "can't believe he got away from us" he chuckled bitterly, "how are you going to explain this to the client?" myungho asked him.

seungcheol could feel the frustration growing in him as he thought about it.

they were walking near abandoned buildings, their clothes getting wet from the light rain that was falling and their shoes clicking against the hard ground as they took each step.

seungcheol was the leader of a group of skilled killers. vampires, that's what they were. they became hitmen to get money, not because they enjoyed the work; they believed that leaching off of the innocent and getting money from them was unethical, so they began working for the mafia and many different groups to only kill and hunt down the ones guilty of heinous crimes against the innocent people trying to live their lives.

the people seungcheol led were known as seventeen, there were thirteen of them, all specializing in something different ways of hunting down people. seungcheol was the leader of all of them, jihoon was another leader and so was soonyoung. the other members of the group were yoon jeonghan, hong joshua, moon junhui, jeon wonwoo, lee seokmin, kim mingyu, seo myungho, boo seungkwan, chwe vernon, and lee chan. all thirteen of them make up the elite killing men known throughout the entire mafia world.

"did you hear that?" seungcheol whispered as he stopped in his tracks, "listen," he pointed to his ear. myungho stopped walking and looked around.

there was a crying child somewhere.

"what is that?" seungcheol spoke with annoyance in his voice, "i'm going to check it out," myungho started walking in the direction of the child with caution, "make it quick," he ordered with a scowl on his face.

myungho walked off the sidewalk and went into the tall bushes next to the concrete, walking through the wet plants and eventually reaching a clearing that led to a ditch to where the crying child was.

it was a baby, it looked like a newborn. it was crying at the bottom of the ditch where all the water was falling, the child was in the mud, cold and wet.

myungho was stunned seeing the child in such an inhumane place, "what are you doing here all alone baby," he said as he looked around to see if he saw anybody around before he went into the ditch himself and picked up the baby, his clothes getting soiled in the process.

"here we go," he smiled at the child now in his arms, "i can't do much to warm you up, but i can at least comfort you," he cooed at the crying baby as he rocked it in his arms.

myungho has always loved children, even when he was human, he adored them. children with their wild imaginations and their innocent nature.

"i should get back to seungcheol," he whispered to himself but still stared at the baby.

he slowly walked back to where his older brother was waiting impatiently, myungho had to start walking slower because the baby in his arms had finally calmed down and fell asleep as it cuddle into his chest.

"what are you holding?" seungcheol asked, "a baby. it was alone in a ditch," he responded as he finally stepped into the sidewalk, "why do you have that look on your face?" he narrowed his eyes at the younger man, "i'm debating whether i should keep him," he responded as he looked at the sleeping babe in his arms.

"you're kidding, right?" "no, we should raise him," seungcheol groaned at the younger's naivety. "have you gone mad?! we can't raise the thing. we are bloodsuckers, jun could kill it!" he semi-yelled as he looked at myungho, "i know, but he has no one. we can save it," he pleaded.

"myungho, it isn't like getting a pet dog. that is a human child, that's eighteen years of responsibility! what happens when it sees what monsters we are. we won't age and it will grow old and die," he whisper yelled as he pointed at the baby in myungho's arms, as if it were an object and not a living, breathing child.

"seungcheol, i've never asked anything of you. please let me have this. this one thing is all i ask," he tried to convince his older brother.

he let out a deep sigh as he looked at the baby, contemplating if he should allow this to happen.

there was a long silence before he spoke, "fine, but you're taking care of it and nobody must know of its existence, except us that live in the mansion, are we clear?" he scowled, "yes, thank you," he looked back down at the sleeping baby.

"you hear that? i get to keep you. you'll be the happiest human child there is," he whispered and smiled at the baby.

myungho was usually known for his cold exterior and for being a ruthless and cold killer; it's ironic how this human child melted his cold heart in a matter of seconds.

myungho has had a hard time the last few decades, he has felt as though he has seen everything and done everything. as if he had nothing else to look forward to in his endless life. but in a mere few seconds, this baby has revived the dwindling fire in him. it excited him, wanting to know what the future holds for this baby he wants to raise with his brothers.

seungcheol on the other hand, dreaded what that child would become, believing it would be a hindrance and a source of sadness for him. he would have to watch the baby grow and have a family and then die a peaceful death with his loved ones surrounding it and that's something he yearned for, even though he didn't want to admit it to anyone, not even himself.

he wanted a family.

something he could never have.

🌷

they arrived at the mansion at the crack of dawn when everyone was starting to awaken from their slumber. by now the baby clothes and blanket that were covered in mud were dry and it was now awake and crying, "how are you going to tell the others?" seungcheol said as he covered his ears to try to get some silence, "just tell them to be in the living room, i'll be there with the baby," he said, but he walked to the kitchen instead.

seungcheol walked from room to room, knocking on each one and telling them to go to the living room on the first floor, most of them were sleeping but jihoon and mingyu were wide awake.

when everyone returned to where myungho was sitting in the living room, he was feeding the baby with a baby bottle, "where on earth did you get a baby bottle and formula so quickly?" seungcheol asked as he sat down on one of the couches.

"why is myungho holding a baby?" vernon sat down across from him with a confused look on his face, "i'm keeping him," he responded, "i found him in a ditch, and i want to raise him here and i would like your help," he spoke as he looked at all of them.

they all wore the same confused and concerned expression on their face, "why and how are you going to keep jun from killing it?" seokmin asked as he walked closer to look at the baby sucking on the baby bottle, "he's cute" he muttered underneath his breath.

"i'm going to need him to finally control his bloodlust," he eyed jun as he spoke.

jun has always had poor control over his bloodlust, it has more control over him than he has over it. it's led him into killing sprees and after he feels all the guilt of taking lives.

"someone, call a physician or something," seungcheol ordered them, and immediately joshua was on the phone with someone, "myungho, are you sure you want to do this," seungkwan asked with a concerned expression.

"yes," he simply responded, "i just don't want it to bother me too much," wonwoo spoke as he eyed the baby, "it'll make things a little more interesting, that's for sure," jeonghan chuckled.

🌷

within twenty minutes there was a knock at the door, signaling that the doctor was already there.

soonyoung was the first to stand up and go open the door for the man, the doctor was a man in his fifties, he had grey hair and a grey beard, (a/n just a stereotypical ahjussi) "where is the child i was sent to examine?" he asked at the door with a kind smile on his face, "right this way sir," soonyoung said pointing his hand in the direction of where the others were.

it only took about fifteen minutes for the exam was over. they had led the man to a guest bedroom where he could privately look at the baby, "how is he?" myungho was the first to ask when he stepped out of the bedroom, "she seems to be in good health, maybe a bit dehydrated but that's-" "it's a girl?"

🌷

"as i was saying, she seems to be in good health and is a little dehydrated, if anything," he said as he looked at the baby in his arms, "say, where did you find her? you didn't know she was a girl, so she mustn't be yours," he asked as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"i found her in a ditch near some abandoned buildings" myungho spoke as he tried to get the baby girl from the doctors, "then we must give her to a social worker, they can find her parents or if not, they can give her a more suitable home," the doctor said as he backed away from myungho.

"no, we're going to keep her," he said with anger in his voice as his eyes became red, "sir you can't keep a child you found at the side of the street" "i don't car. give her to me" myungho started into the physician's eyes and compelled him to give her the baby. the man no longer resisted myungho and gave the child willingly with no protest.

"we are keeping the baby and there is nothing wrong with that" he continued as he looked at the older man, the man seemed to be in a trance as he said the next few words, "you are keeping the baby and there's nothing wrong with that" he repeated myungho's words, myungho looked back at the child now in his eyes.

"what are we going to name you?" he asked himself as he looked down at the babe, "why don't we get the rest of the paperwork signed, and then we can give her a name, we just need to make you her legal guardian," the doctor said with a strange smile on his face, "hyung, can you take care of that?" he asked as he looked at the leader and he simply nodded as he looked at the others to see if any of them were in protest of this decision.

the older man walked to his bag and took out a few papers for seungcheol to sign and to look at, "here sir" he said.

the looked over the papers and started signing where he needed to and when he needed to look at her birth certificate he hesitated for a moment as he looked at the part that asked for her legal guardian, he ignored it and left it for last. "mother, unknown. father, also unknown" he said as he wrote, "place of birth, seoul, south korea. date of birth, doctor how old is she?" he raised his head and looked at the man, "she looks about a week old, i'd say" "alright then, she was born april 7th. name?" he looked at his younger brother, asking for her name.

"how about we name her jihyo?" mingyu said as he looked at the baby, "she looks like a jihyo" he continued, "no, name her aera, it means to love," seungkwan tried to take the baby from myungho's arms but he refused to give her up, "what about soo-ah?"

the suggestion kept coming but none of them seemed to fit her.

they suggested names from different cultures and different places, from chinese names to japanese to even some western names, but still, none of them fit her well enough.

until seungcheol spoke up, "let's name her areum," he said with a dreamy look in his eyes.

they all looked at him stunned except wonwoo. seungcheol was the one that was against keeping the child, he had no interest in her. or so it seemed.

he and wonwoo were the ones that have barely looked at the baby, wonwoo just looked at her with a cold stare and seungcheol looked at her with hate and a hint of fear in his eyes, fear of what she would become. it was a surprise to myungho that he even bothers to suggest something, but what shocked him more is that when he looked at her, he realized the name suited her perfectly.

"areum. her name is areum," myungho said with a small smile on his face.

all of them have taken a liking to the human child, even jihoon who was usually cold and detached seemed to like her. she managed to get twelve vampires to somewhat care for her.

"alright, her name is park areum," jeonghan said with a smile as myungho let him carry her for the first time.

jeonghan was another one of them that was a sucker for babies, he loved them.

"박 아름," seungcheol wrote on the birth certificate.

he looked back at the part that asked for areum's guardian and he thought for a moment before putting his name down. seungcheol was now her legal guardian.

he looked at his hand with a strange look, like he wasn't sure why he wrote his name instead of myungho or any of the others.

"hyung, why park?" seokmin spoke up as he walked behind his older brother, "do you want her to have the same last name as us?" he said with a scowl, "it wouldn't bother me if she had the same name as us," he said with a small shrug, "whatever, her name is park areum end of discussion," he turned around and looked at jeonghan who was holding her.

"doctor, keep this one on the down-low and don't show anyone these documents," seungcheol stood up and compelled the doctor to secrecy, "and after you get back to your home forget that you ever came to this place," he continued, handing the man the papers.

"we need to get her things. oh, and myungho, good luck with all the diapers," he walked to where he was and patted his shoulders.

"wonwoo, come here," jeonghan urged him to come closer to him as he gently rocked the sleeping baby, "i know you aren't too fond of children, but try and hold her," he encouraged him to hold areum.

wonwoo had an unsure look on his face. it's not that he hated children, it's just he doesn't know what to do with them. so, when jeonghan gave him the baby girl he was rather unsure of how to properly hold her.

-wonwoo's pov-

why does he want me to hold her? i scowled internally.

but when i looked down at her, the sleeping baby in my arms, i felt a strange sense of euphoria, i wore a surprised look on my face.

you remind me of someone, i thought as i walked to soonyoung and left jeonghan behind, "she reminds me of your sister" i mumbled to soonyoung, "yeah, a little" he chuckled lightly.

i miss her...

-나는 그들의 것, 그들은 내 꺼야-

eight months have passed without any of them realizing it.

she was growing up well under their care. at first, it was hard for them to get through sleepless nights, but they eventually got the handle of it. areum could now say a few words like mama and papa (a/n in korean of course). she also started crawling and trying to get away from them to do mischief.

all of them now deeply cared for her except seungcheol and wonwoo who were still more detached than the others.

"areum, come here," jeonghan tried to get her to crawl to him by softly clapping his hands at her. all she did was giggle as she tried to get to him, "mama," she said as jeonghan picked her up, "you really won't stop calling me that, will you?"

he looked at her with love in his eyes as she started to play with his long hair, "c'mon don't play with my hair," he tried to get her to stop but was unable to, so he just chuckled at her.

since she started crawling, they had to start babyproofing the entire mansion, and they went all out. there was now not a single place that wasn't babyproofed in the four walls of their home.

areum now held a place in their heart in one way or another.

"we need to give you a bath," jeonghan said to himself as he walked to his bathroom where the baby tub was.

jeonghan had now taken some time off their missions without meaning to, they had agreed that they would get a nanny for areum, but it was hard to trust anyone enough. they were part of the mafia meaning they were paranoid of everything and everyone. they can't put that trust in anyone but themselves.

so unknowingly jeonghan became her caretaker when the others went on missions without meaning to.

🌷

"jeonghan, where are you going?" seungcheol asked him as he saw him walking with a sleepy areum in his arms, "she needs to go take her nap" he held the baby closer, "why don't... you let me take her," he said with hesitations in his voice, "i thought you said you wouldn't care for her," he said with a smug look on his face.

"shut up and give me the baby," he ordered the younger with irritation in the tone of his voice, "fine, but take good care of her," jeonghan said as he gave the baby to his leader.

he was unsure if it was the best decision to give him the child, but he did it nonetheless because he trusted his older brother, (a/n again none of them are blood-related to each other, they've just lived seven hundred years together, so they have a close bond with each other).

seungcheol continued to walk to his room a sleeping areum in his arms, trying his best to not make his steps too loud as she was a light sleeper.

he gently opened the door to his chambers and entered, closing the door behind him and gently laying her on his bed, (a/n never leave a sleeping baby by itself without any type of borders because the baby will probably ✨fall✨).

he laid down next to her and looked at her sleeping features, "you truly are an adorable thing," he whispered as he caressed her cheeks with his thumb.

"i'm sorry i'm going to have to be cold towards you when you get older. i don't want to but it's what i must do so it'll be easier for me when you find out what monsters we are. it's for the best for me to not get too close with you even though i want to. what are we going to do when you finally gain consciousness and start asking questions, how are you going to react when you find out? and are you going to be afraid of me?" he whispered to her as he slowly fell asleep beside her.

🌷

five whole years have passed, and she was now a five-year-old little girl. areum still didn't know that she lived with bloodsuckers or what their job was.

up until this point she was homeschooled by a private professor who the guys trusted wholeheartedly, but she was now old enough to go to regular school with other children.

areum had been asking them for months to let her go-to real school but they still had their doubts about whether they should allow her to go. they didn't want to see their little princess get hurt by the other children, they didn't want her to have to go away for eight hours a day, five times a week. they didn't want her to go period.

"are you ready?" myungho crouched down to her level, he had an unsure look on his face. most of them had gathered around the front door to see her off to her first day of school, "yes!" areum smiled widely as she brought her hands up in celebration, "you know i don't want you to go," myungho said with a playful pout on his face, "but if you want this then i'm happy," he continued, "thank you," she hugged him with her tiny arms around his neck.

"okay then, let's go," soonyoung appeared behind myungho, he stood up from hugging areum, and soonyoung took her tiny hands in his massive ones and started walking to the driveway with chan following close behind him.

"are you excited?" he asked with a smile on his face, "yes!"

on the ride over to the private school, she started getting nervous by the thought of meeting new people, up until now she hasn't met that many people, just the boys, and a few other people. she had an extremely sheltered life and the only social skills she had gotten were from watching movies.

"do you... do you think they'll like me?" she whispered as she was sat on chan's lap, "what are you talking about, you're very likable, isn't that right hyung?" chan had a surprised look on his face as he looked down at her, "why wouldn't they like?" soonyoung responded.

"are you sure?" "one hundred percent sure. now stop thinking such bad things, okay?" he tried to reassure her.

"that uniform looks good on you," soonyoung complemented with a smile on his face, "thank you," she shyly whispered back as she buried her face in chan's chest.

a/n i'm in the process of editing older chapters so please disregard the two different writing styles. also, this chapter is chapters 1 and 2 put together. when you see the korean characters is when you know that you have started the next chapter :)

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