Chapter 7 - Fiasco

Ben closed his eyes and moved his body toward where he could feel more. It was the first time he had dozed off thinking like this.

Intoxicated with pleasure, his body was shaking and he had a sense of shame. Miller was so sweet and didn’t stop whispering to him, so it made him forget how he was at the beginning.

When he knew it was morning, he didn’t want to wake up. Perhaps because of the chilly weather or that the overall air in the house felt cold, Ben pulled the blanket and covered his head.

Feeling the body temperature in his arms, Miller smiled softly. He felt warm because of Ben’s high body temperature. He felt selfish because he couldn’t give any of the warmth he was feeling.

Now that he thought Ben would trust him completely, the sunlight pouring through the curtain was not too bad. He couldn’t keep lying down like this, so he stroked the back of his head to get up.

Maybe Ben felt like he was rushing out, so Miller let out a short laugh as he seemed like a puppy when he lowered his head and complained quietly.

Ben reluctantly opened his eyes slowly at the sound of the laughter. The gray eyes that he had encountered, as Miller was already looking at him, were full of mellowness. In a flash, last night’s events passed quickly through Ben’s head. He was so embarrassed that he greeted him as if nothing had happened on purpose.

“Good morning-“

“I think it’s a little late to say morning.”

The voice lower than usual said smoothly above his head. Miller faced his forehead when Ben glanced at him as if he must argue and listen like that.

As the foreheads touched and each other’s nose tips brushed, the unique smell from him again stimulated Ben’s nose. Ben inhaled a great amount of the refreshing smell. Now Ben’s favorite smell was Miller’s scent.

“Do you still doubt me now?”

Miller asked quietly. Ben made a thorough eye contact with Miller. Miller was definitely very excited yesterday. If they were so excited, no matter how they tried to restrain themselves , they would have the urge to suck blood. If Miller were a vampire, he would have had hundreds of chances last night to bite Ben.

If Miller were, in fact, a vampire, he had been hiding well so far, and he had settled perfectly in human society, but he didn’t have the need to reveal his identity. It was Miller who suggested having sex. From his point of view, it would have been a high risk revealing the secret that he had hidden so far on impulse.

So, if he were a real vampire, he wouldn’t have had the need to take such risks to prove that he wasn’t a vampire.

Ben stared at Miller and swore to himself that he would never doubt him again. No one part of such an abhorrent race would be able to have such a loving touch.

Also, after work, he wanted to come back to the person who worried about him. He didn’t want to ruin their current good feeling because of distrust.

Feeling the tenderness deep in his eyes, Ben gently rubbed his nose back with his nose and smiled.

It was a more peaceful morning than any other day with a fluffy bed and someone to cherish.

After dragging his feet out, Ben slowly walked out of the living room in light clothes. Miller was sitting on one side of the couch in a neat outfit, checking the files he took yesterday.

Ben sat next to him and began to look into the file Miller was looking at. It was originally because of this that Miller suddenly asked to meet last night. Even though he was tired, it was his turn to work now.

“Hm, what is going on is this guy’s doing.”

“His name is Han Cheng. I’m sure.”

“The victims had the same bank, the same person in charge.”

Ben looked at the victim’s transactions and said.

“It’s really scary to think that he had a decent job as a stock investor.”

His job was being a stock investor. The victims were mostly investors in Hong Kong. Hong Kong had a time difference from Britain, so it was a clever move, as no one would have been particularly suspicious of him moving in the middle of the night.

He met customers for trading at night and dealt with them. As they wanted to make an investment in Hong Kong, customers who have now become victims would not have suspected meeting at a late hour.

It was clear that the police wouldn’t be able to catch even his tail easily because it wasn’t a crime committed by humans, and who was identified as the culprit of the incident was the one who Ben had been searching for. He didn’t even need to meet him and ask, Ben was sure just by looking at his blond hair and blue eyes. His mother was attacked by this man. Perhaps if he dealt with him, his mother would be so happy that she would pop out of her grave.

Ben stared at the picture he had already seen the other day for a long time. He felt really bad seeing him again.

“I can catch this guy, but the ultimate goal is McDowell Jonas.”

“Once we catch this guy, we can tear down their organization.”

“Why?”

“The banker must be the source of their funds. I think they smuggled in when he was around the country making deals, and I think he was particularly good.”

“That’s a smart vampire.”

“ They ’re evolving. They don’t just drink blood and sleep in a coffin like old novels and movies, but look for a way to enjoy eternal life.”

“ They ‘re willing to make humans their food for that evolution.”

When Ben was offended by the tone that seemed to side with them, Miller didn’t say anything and kept his mouth shut.

“They’re a human threat. My mother and I were victims of them. They ‘re not going to evolve like that again.”

“One of Aidan’s alumni was working at the bank.”

Miller turned to Ben, speaking in a cold tone, without answering specifically. Ben again confirmed that he didn’t do well when it came to work, although he couldn’t compare that to anything else as he didn’t know.

Embarrassed that he might have been too sulky, Ben put his feet on the couch, turned around and leaned on Miller. Miller giggled at the silent gesture that seemed to be a way to apologize if he was offended.

“It’s amazing that Aidan went to school.”

Ben mumbled quietly.

“For now, you’ll be able to see more about what he’s doing through that person.”

“So what do I do?”

“As before.”

Ben turned his head slightly and looked at Miller, who stopped talking. Miller paused for a moment with a subtle expression as if something was stuck in his throat and added.

“Be the bait.”

Since it was originally planned like that from the beginning, he wondered how Ben would react. Ben stared at Miller’s face and smiled. He couldn’t hide his feelings as he thought because he was worried about himself, unlike at first.

“Are you worried?”

“It’s hard to say no.”

He felt like his toes were tickling at the sight of his serious answer, so he asked again to be sure.

“What should I do if I find him?”

“It’s the one you have been looking for, so take care of it the way you want it and, if he dies, the organization will not collapse, but it will be quite difficult for them and they will be angry. They ‘re going to be desperate to catch and kill you.”

“That’s still the same.”

“But no matter how hard they run, they can’t make a scar on your body. You have a head, so you’re not going to show your tail easily.”

Ben nodded with his head to say “Keep talking” while flipping the file.

“If I’m right, they’re going to trap you. Then, just pretend you don’t know anything and go to their ‘shrine’.”

“I really have to risk my life.”

Ben swept his hair away and said.

Shrine, a place where vampires could kill Dhampirs. Ben had only heard of it by words, he had never actually been there and didn’t know where it was. It was just a story that sounded like a legend. A Dhamphir in the shrine was the same as a human being. It was said that a Dhampir would become a vampire if he got bitten.

“When you get there, the organization will completely reveal its tail, because it’s not easy to see a vampire kill a Dhampir, and when most of the members are revealed, the plan is to catch them all at once.”

“That’s not a bad plan, if only humans could beat them .”

“So you don’t trust MKV, either.”

At Miller’s words, Ben covered the file he was looking at with a faint smile and put it on the table. He laid on the couch putting his head on his thigh.

“I’ve never trusted anyone.”

Miller caressed Ben’s forehead. Ben winked slowly as if he was sleepy again feeling his soft touch.

“And I never thought I wanted to live long.”

A completely drowsy voice was heard silently in the living room.

“When I’m done with this, I want to get out of London and live in sunny cities, not see gloomy skies. Right, a place like California, where there’s the sandy beach, oranges, sea, it’s sunny all day. I want to live there. How is it? Isn’t it too much because you’re the director of MI6?”

Ben made the last remark a little playful, opened his eyes and looked up at Miller. Although he pretended to be joking, Ben was embarrassed for a moment because his eyes seemed so difficult to read.

Miller passed his hand over his hair with a soft touch as Ben’s blue eyes showed signs of anxiety, wondering if he had made a mistake.

“Yes, when it’s all done, let’s go somewhere else. California will definitely suit you.”

Miller swept Ben’s blonde hair over his fingertips and said. Ben raised the corners of his mouth and laughed as if he was relieved by the words.

“I’ve got to go to MI6.”

Miller, who finished talking, stood up and said.

“Ah, and I’ll take care of that file.”

It was useless data anyway, so Ben handed over the file given by Joseph without any doubt.

Miller took the file and scanned the contents once again. Then, he gently kissed Ben’s forehead in front of the front door as if he didn’t want to leave, and then he went back.

On his way back, Miller checked the file he had been given by Ben. He had been thoroughly investigated in an own way: Aidan, as well as his parents living in Romania. He seemed to have done as much research as possible.

If Ben had seen all this data, his doubt would have been even deeper.

The O’Donoughue family took root in Romania more than a thousand years ago, but if he noticed that there wasn’t a single grave there, it would be game over.

Romania was a beautiful place. All vampires naturally dream of an end there, and O’Donoughue, the core family that ruled Romania, was one of the few left. A pure blood vampire family, where vampires marry and make vampires, not hybrid vampires that occur in the process of sucking blood.

Miller was looking at the files and tore them up one by one by hand. There was nothing left.

As of today, he cleared step 2.5.

It was then time for the next step, though it bothered him a little. After all, Ben had now acknowledged Miller O’Donoughue. Now that he had gained his trust, it was time to act as realistic as he could.

In his head, he understood the situation was going in his favor, but strangely another part of him disagreed.

Miller cleared the thoughts in his head because he was distracted.

He didn’t want them running wild anymore. Now, if they just proceeded as planned, they could achieve both of their original goals. Although he was hungry, Miller turned to Aidan because he had something to deal with before that.

Miller, who stopped the car in front of Aidan’s flat, lightly pushed the door and entered the room without knocking or waiting.

“I told you to tell me in advance when you came.”

Ignoring Aidan, who said that as soon as he entered, Miller looked at Daniel, who was standing silently, and raised his eyebrows.

“You don’t even turn around quickly. You seem much more used than I thought.”

“What, I don’t want to get used to this. Especially to you-”

Miller began to smoothly turn the handle of the umbrella pointing to the floor without responding to Aidan.

“I guess it’s going as you want, seeing that you’re so happy?”

Daniel, who was standing on the doorstep, looked at Aidan with his eyes wide open.

‘Where on earth would he be feeling good?’

Daniel looked at him with a suspicious look on his face, but Aidan didn’t say anything in particular. Aidan observed his brother with a languid look as he had one arm on the couch armrest.

Miller, who felt his gaze, also stared at Aidan. There was a tense atmosphere between the two brothers, meaning ‘just say anything’ .

“How long are you going to do that? So how far did you go?”

In the end, Daniel, who couldn’t stand it, opened his mouth. He seemed nervous, but he still stood up and talked. Miller looked over Daniel from head to toe and urged him to keep talking.

“We went to the bank as you told us last week, and we got a murder case from a friend of Aidan’s.”

“That’s what Aidan will do if he wants to, and all I’m asking is to know about Han Cheng, who works at the bank.”

As soon as that name came out of Miller’s mouth, Daniel’s mouth shut. Now Daniel’s face was clear evidence that it wasn’t going the way he wanted.

Miller grimaced as he looked at Daniel, who looked as if he had heard a name he should not have heard. Aidan, who was whining, began to sneer at Miller.

“Are you really busy with that Dhampir these days? Han Cheng was murdered. That’s the murder case I got.”

“Who killed him?”

“I’m going to look into it from now on. I knew you didn’t leave home, but you still didn’t work at all? You must’ve been quite happy-”

“Why don’t you stop treating me like that?”

With a troubled look on his face, Miller looked at Daniel, not Aidan, and this time Daniel quickly realized the meaning of the word.

“You know, you’ve always hated things that didn’t go as planned, that’s how you have lived like fossils for so long.”

Miller stood up while staring at Aidan. This is not the time for this childish argument. If Han Cheng died, it would be difficult for Ben to be the bait. He needed to know who killed him, and he needed to tell Ben this.

Miller stood up from his seat. An unknown amount of impatience came in. The idea of finding the person who killed Han Cheng immediately flashed through his head. Until then, he had to keep it as a secret from Ben.

“You want to check it yourself?”

Aidan spoke to Miller, who seemed to leave at any moment to confirm the Han Cheng incident.

“If possible.”

Aidan’s eyes slightly rose as Miller answered in a quiet voice. It was clear that the Dhampir was the reason that Miller, who wouldn’t mind such a trivial incident, was trying to go.

Miller walked quietly and quickly out of Aidan’s flat.

“Why did you say that?”

As Miller left, Daniel, who was standing on one side, asked Aidan.

“What?”

Aidan answered lukewarmly with a scarf around his neck to go out.

Miller had to move quickly because he wouldn’t have time to intervene. Anyway, only when he knew exactly what was going on could he be prepared for the future.

“It annoyed Miller what you said about fossils and stuff.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m going to the scene where Han Cheng died. Are you coming with me or not?”

“I’m going. But he needed to know that.”

Aidan sighed quietly as he looked at Daniel speaking with a stubborn look on his face. That’s not usually the case, but he knew that when Daniel looked like that, he would never back down until he got what he wanted.

Daniel quickly asked when he shrugged and signaled to speak.

“Why didn’t you tell me Han Cheng was a vampire?”

“But it didn’t matter. What matters if it’s a vampire or a person? The important thing is who killed him and why.”

“You should have told me that it might not be a human that was killed.”

“Dan, again, that doesn’t matter at all.”

Daniel made his gaze sharp when Aidan mumbled.

“You don’t understand what I mean at all, don’t I have the right to know that much?”

“Now that I know, I’ll make sure to tell you if something like this happens again, ‘Dan, actually that body is from a vampire.'”

“I mean, if I had known Han Cheng was a vampire, I wouldn’t have let you investigate this case. Please, don’t get involved in Miller’s fight.”

As if he didn’t understand, Aidan sarcastically said, and Daniel responded with a lot of wrinkles on his forehead. Daniel was looking at Aidan, who pretended not to hear him even after finishing his speech, stood up to get his jacket and sighed a little.

“That’s impossible, Dan.”

Aiden mumbled to himself so that he could not hear it because it was clear who Miller had next to him.