#vampire!yeonjun

“Oh my gosh, I thought I’d never see you again. How have I gone this long without seeing you?” The guy went on. YoungMi looked at him puzzled, a pang of guilt rang through her chest. She genuinely didn't have a clue who the hell this guy was. 

“My apologies, have we met before?” YoungMi asks, using a way more polite tone than she usually would in this situation. If it weren't for how earnestly he was talking to her, she wouldn't have even let him hug her. Clearly, she had to be the one fucking up here. 

“Noona, don’t joke like that.” He smacked her shoulder playfully.

Okay, she was definitely fucking up here. His demeanor seemed so familiar but she was genuinely blanking. She looked at him hard, racking her brain for a name.

YoungMi’s lack of reaction made the guy’s demeanor drop. “Holy shit- you actually forgot about me. Your only son?!” He asked with an exaggeratedly shocked face.

It finally clicked. Her eyes widened to the size of golf balls, “Sunoo!” She practically screamed in the middle of the dining hall. It was a miracle that she didn't drop her plate as she gave him a tight hug with her free hand. Sunoo giggled, happy that his old friend finally remembered.

“I’m so sorry, study-abroad fried my brain. Did you eat already? Get a plate, we need to catch up.” YoungMi raves, walking over to an open table. Sunoo hurries and gets himself a plate and joins her shortly after. 

“Again, I’m so sorry for not recognizing you. Now that I’m looking at you, you haven't changed much but you looked so…different” YoungMi explains. 

Sunoo laughs a bit, “Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot lately.” 

The comment made YoungMi pout a bit, “Aw, my baby’s all grown up,” She says, wiping an imaginary tear from the corner of her eye. 

Sunoo rolled his eyes dramatically at her, letting out a soft laugh. They chatted some more as they enjoyed their dinner together. YoungMi shared some of her stories from her year doing the study-abroad program and Sunoo caught her up on everything she missed out during her time gone. Sunoo was a year behind YoungMi so she was going into her first year in college as he finished up high school. When it was his turn to join college, Sunoo kinda disappeared and was really hard to reach. They were just out of touch for a while so it was a pleasant surprise to find out that they were going to the same college. 

“Yeah, I even joined a fraternity while you were gone. It’s been pretty crazy. Our house lowkey throws the best parties.” Sunoo mentioned.

This makes YoungMi perk up, she’s always down for a good party. “Yeah, I’m going to need the details on the next one immediately,” She responds, motioning her hand in a “gimme” motion. 

Sunoo laughs once again at her antics, “Funny you say that because we’re going to be throwing a rager next week for halloween.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. Here, give me your phone so I can make sure you have my new number. I totally forgot to mention that I had to get a new one when I came back because my old phone got stolen…Parents were not the happiest about that so they said I have to get my own phone line. Thank the cosmos for scholarships.” YoungMi takes Sunoo’s phone, adding her number. 

They finally wrap things up, YoungMi having school work and other things to finish up. 

~~~~~

YoungMi must have not slept well enough because she was not on her A game today. Her day so far could be summarized by a series of dropping her stuff, stubbing her toes, and overall just being a huge clutz. 

“Yah, what the hell has gotten into you today? Can you go more than a few minutes without-” She’s cut off by her tripping on her own feet. 

She braced herself for impact but was surprised when nothing came. Strong hands caught her waist, keeping her from hitting the ground. YoungMi turned to look at the owner of said hands and was met with sharp eyes. She blinked, a bit dumbfounded. 

A blond man with cat-like features looked back at her, an amused expression on his face. His pale skin looked like porcelain even in the harsh artificial lighting they were in. 

“You okay? Sounds like you were in a heated argument there,” His comment brings her back to reality. Shit, was she staring? Way to seem like she’s got it together today.

“Uh, yeah…I was just talking to myself. I’ve just been off my rhythm today. Sorry,” YoungMi responds, her brows furrowed. She finally plants her feet.

“No issue, happens to the best of us.” He responds, the smug look on his face turning into a more genuine smile. “You new around here? I can’t say I’ve seen you around,” He asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

“Nah, I’m actually a third year. This is my first semester on campus in a year. Study abroad.” She explained, not wanting to run her mouth like she usually does. She figured the less she talked the more she could save what was left of her dignity.

“Oh, cool. No wonder I didn’t recognize that pretty face.” He looks at the door that YoungMi was about to head into, “You have musical history too?” He asked.

YoungMi blinked at the compliment but ultimately nodded. “Oh…thanks, but yeah, I wanted to get here early considering the day I’ve been having today.” 

“Then we should probably head in, class should be starting soon,” He says, opening the door for the both of them, letting YoungMi in first. She was about to take a seat near him since she assumed he was the only somewhat familiar person to her but she quickly noticed a distinct head of dark hair.

“Ah! Sunoo!” YoungMi exclaimed, rushing to get a seat next to her friend.

Her interaction with the blonde from earlier slipped to the back of her head as class went on. This class was a half semester class hence why there were some new faces to YoungMi. The professor quickly reviewed the syllabus and a short bit of the introductory chapter for the class. She finally finished the class with a roll call which reminded her of the guy she ran into.

“Choi Yeonjun,” 

“Present,” His voice echoed through the classroom. YoungMi turned to see that it was her savior from kissing the ground earlier. 

“Choi Yeonjun…didn’t you say something about him yesterday?” YoungMi asked as she tapped Sunoo on the shoulder. 

He nodded, “Yeah, he’s in that performance group with some of the other fourth years. He’s like the talk of the campus.”

“Yeah, yeah. I remember you saying something. What was it, fourth year it-boy?”

Sunoo nodded once again in response. Class finally closes out after rollcall but Choi Yeonjun was still on her mind. There was something alluring about him that YoungMi couldn’t quite shake. He was beautiful. She wasn’t surprised that he had quite the reputation as a heartthrob. He was charming. His cool-guy attitude was hard not to like. He radiates such a confident energy that comes to him so effortlessly, it’s hard to not find it alluring.

Sunoo dragged YoungMi out of class, “You still busy? You should drop by my dorm, we’re gonna have a kickback at the house later and pre-game at the dorms.”

YoungMi gnawed her bottom lip in consideration. It was tempting, she almost never denied a party but something was telling her not to. Considering the day she was having so far, it was likely a sign from the universe to take things easy today. 

“Fuck. As much as I would like to, I have assignments to catch up on. Stupid papers and shit to write.” YoungMi said with a roll of her eyes. 

“Aww,” Sunoo pouted, “Then I’ll have a shot in your honor. You def have to come by the house soon.” He replied, giving YoungMi a quick hug and scurrying off in the direction of his dorm.

Alternatively, YoungMi made way to the cafe on campus to grab a coffee and a snack for when she holes up in the library and knocks out these assignments. It was a short walk, ordering herself a caramel latte with extra espresso once she arrived. Waiting for her drink to be prepared, she walked over to the snack selection.

Her hand went to reach for a bag of hot fries but was stopped by the sensation of electricity running through her fingertips. Another hand had reached for the bag at the same time and there must have been some static shock that went off. YoungMi snatched her hand back, using her other hand to ease the buzzing still present on her fingers. She turned to look at the owner of the other hand.

A familiar pair of sharp eyes meet hers again. 

“Yeonjun?” YoungMi raises a brow at him.

”In the flesh,” He made a gesture of presenting himself, his signature smirk plastered on his face. “But I don’t remember introducing myself to you,” It was his turn to pop a brow at YoungMi.

”Heard it during rollcall.” YoungMi shrugged.

”Looks like someone is quite observant,” He responds, his tone amused.

”Something like that.” 

“You taking one of these?” He diverts the conversation to the hot fries.

”Yeah, figured it’d be a pick-me-up from this morning.” 

“You have good taste,” He says, grabbing two bags. 

“Nothing less than the best,” She replies.

Yeonjun paid for them and handed her a bag. She bowed slightly a small gesture of thanks. 

Before any more conversation continue, YoungMi’s name was called for her drink order. She grabbed it, making her way to the door.

”Well, I have to go be a student or whatever. Catch you around, yeah?” She says with a wave. Yeonjun mutters a quick yeah, waving as she walks away. 

Yeonjun was known for being cool and charismatic. He was also used to people being whipped over him. His vampiric nature was another big reason for that. That being said, he never felt the need to approach others first. Sure, he has been intrigued by people before but it was unlike him to go out of his way to interact with people like this. 

YoungMi had this magnetic force around her that drew him in. He couldn’t quite get to the bottom of it but he had all the intentions to. His super natural abilities gave him heightened senses but her presence was completely different from that of a normal person. There was something otherworldly about her. 

He had to fight the urge to follow behind her as she walked away. Make up any excuse to just stay in her presence but he knew better. It felt like his breath was being taken away until she was a good distance away. 

~~~~~

YoungMi stared at her computer screen, about halfway through her paper. She had been staring at it for the past 10 minutes. No more thoughts were coming to her head to write down. 

“Yah! I can’t take this anymore. I deserve a break,” She told herself.

She stood up and shaked the stiffness out of her legs. Working on school work for 3 hours straight did a number on her muscles. She wanted to get as much work done as possible as the month was coming to an end because nothing was going to get between her going to this halloween party. 

YoungMi sat down, feeling a bit rejuvenated by her stretch break. Maybe the yoga enthusiasts were onto something…besides the point. She pulled up some youtube, decompressing from the work overload she had just put herself through. 

She tried to keep her noise to a minimum as she watched some funny videos, snacking happily on the hot fries Yeonjun had bought her. The thought had her thinking about him again. It was odd how they kept bumping into each other today. Does he like that brand of hot fries too? That’d be a weird coincidence too.

YoungMi was in her own world at this point. She tried not to linger on the thought of him too much and went back to watching her video. She didn’t have time to be caught up on a hot guy she barely knew. 

Once it felt like her brain had cooled off from almost being fried, it was time to finish this last assignment and get the hell out of the library. She cracked her knuckles, ready to lock in. Fresh eyes met the screen of her unfinished paper and she got to work.

It took about another hour for her to finish her paper, at least this draft. She was going to review it again before submitting it but the brunt of the work was finally over. YoungMi let out an exaggerated sigh as she closed her laptop. 

YoungMi couldn’t shake how exhausted she felt. It was now dark out and there was a chilly breeze nipping at her skin. She thanked herself from this morning for being lazy, only wanting to wear a hoodie and sweats. She hurried to her dorm, the beckoning call of her bed getting louder by the second.

She couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, feeling eyes burning in the back of her head. She felt a bit paranoid because she kept feeling like she was being watched but couldn’t see anyone looking at her. A chill raised up her spine, the hair on the back of her neck standing at attention. She shook off the feeling and just focused on the warm sheets awaiting her. 

YoungMi breathed a sigh of relief when she made it to her door. The suspicion that she was being watched disappeared once she arrived at her student housing building. The feeling was odd, like prey being stalked, but she was glad that she didn’t feel as crazy anymore. Maybe it was just her imagination after all.

She was quick to peel off her clothes from the day and change into some cozy pajamas. Her body practically flew into bed, going through her phone one more time before letting the veil of slumber wash over her.

~~~~~

Five guys sat in a circle in their shared living room, Yeonjun included. 

“You hear that the ENHA house is throwing another one of their famous parties for halloween?” the youngest of the five asked. 

“Oh yeah, I did hear about that. I figured they were going to anyway, they always throw parties. You thinking of going, Kai?” The brunette asked. 

“Are you crazy? I’m not going into enemy territory alone. Would you go?” Kai asks back to asked him. 

“Is my name Choi Beomgyu? Hell yeah I’d go. It’s not like some of my best friends are in ENHA,” The brunette responded.

”Wow, really shows your loyalty. I thought we were your best friends.” The tall, platinum blonde interjected.

”Soobin, don’t start with your dramatics.” Beomgyu rolled his eyes. 

“It’s not dramatic to wonder where your loyalties really lie,” Soobin clarified, his tone dejected. He crossed his arms, turning his back away from Beomgyu. 

“There are more important things at hand here. There’s going to be a lot of people there and it’s supposed to be a blood moon. It’d be a perfect opportunity to increase their powers.” Kai redirects the conversation.

The boys were deliberating about what they should do in response to the ENHA house party. Beomgyu had connections to some of the guys as they were all friends before they even became vampires. Due to their bond, there was a mutual understanding to just stay out of each other’s business but the campus was slowly becoming a war zone. They have noticed the increasing number of thralls under ENHA and their numbers are only growing. This was a growing concern if things get out of hand, the secret of the supernatural would get out and that would be complete chaos. 

“Yeah, I was catching up with the guys earlier and Sunoo mentioned wanting to introduce his friend to the guys. He was kinda bummed since she couldn’t make it.”

Yeonjun perked up from checking his phone, looking over at the loudmouthed brunette. He’s heard that name before.

”Did he mention who the friend was?” Yeonjun asked cooly, not wanting to seem too curious.

”Yeah, some girl named Yomi or something…Maybe it was Yoonmi? Why? You know her?” Beomgyu asked.

”You could say that,” Yeonjun waved Beomgyu off, “But without a doubt we have to go. We can’t let them do any kind of ritual.” Yeonjun stated suddenly. 

He knew that Beomgyu was talking about YoungMi. 

It was Soobin’s turn to perk up, “Whoa, where is this coming from?”

“I just have this gut feeling,” Yeonjun didn’t have a clear answer, “There’s something special about her. I don’t know exactly quite yet but she isn’t some ordinary girl. If they are trying to make her part of the ritual, then there’s going to be a major problem. Trust me,” Yeonjun spoke with conviction.

”Okay…So how exactly are we going to do that? Our coven isn’t nearly as strong as theirs. Plus, we have a peace treaty with them.” Soobin argues, looking at the older as if he has lost his mind.

”We have to find some way to foil their plan. Make them look bad. Risk their reputation. Of course they care about getting stronger right now but there is nothing worse than messing up their image,”Yeonjun explained. His fingers laced together over his mouth as he combed over ideas. 

“Well in order to do that, we need to figure out how they intend to even do the ritual,” Kai jumped in. 

The pink haired one perked up from his card shuffling. “Probably would spike the drinks with vampire venom. Its effects are euphoric to humans making it easier to feed off of them that way. If everyone is drunk and dazed, they’re not going to notice if others go missing when they’re fed on.” Taehyun explained as if it was the most obvious answer.

The others exchanged glances with each other. They couldn’t argue with that logic. This got Yeonjun’s gears turning. 

“That’s honestly very likely. A halloween party created the perfect veil too.” He rubbed his temple as he thought,” Let’s say even if they aren’t going to spike the drinks, we can find some way to get antivenom. Feeding on someone with antivenom is going to hurt like hell meaning they can’t feed off of everyone. If they cant distinguish who is safe or not, they’re probably not going to risk it.”

This gained a handful of nods from all the others. 

“So how exactly are we going to get this antivenom?” asked Soobin.

”I have some people that can do some favors for me.” Yeonjun answered.

”This seems really risky, Hyung. You sure about this?” Kai asked, ultimately worried about the safety of his older friends.

”Of course. I know what I’m doing,” Yeonjun reassures the younger one.

~~~~~

The wait was finally over, the night that everyone was waiting for. YoungMi was getting ready, curling her hair. She was nearly done, the only thing left was to put on her plastic wings and she’d be ready to go. She was waiting for Sunoo to let her know he was there so they could go to the party together. Much to her dismay, she never got a chance to visit the ENHA house before the party so she had no idea where the hell to go.

She checked herself out in the mirror, her hair finally to her liking. Her dress was perfectly tattered, the painted vines down her arm going perfect with her vine boots. Her pointed ears were secured along with the plastic wings. 

“I’m gonna be the baddest fairy there. Let’s get this shit,” YoungMi peptalked herself, letting Sunoo know she was finally ready and making her way down.

Sunoo met YoungMi at the entrance of her dorm building.

”Holy shit girl! You look amazing,” Sunoo sang her praises, giving her a tight hug.

”You’re one to talk. Look at you! Edward Cullin has nothing on you, bitch,” YoungMi complimented back.

”Oh he could never,” Sunoo sassed back with a laugh, popping his shoulder as he posed.

Sunoo was dressed as a vampire for the night, looking the part perfectly. His suit blazer was covered in intricate embroidery, similar details on his dress slacks. His shirt jabot was made of delicate lace, it looked handmade. His shoes were premium Italian leather. His costume looked nothing short of a few thousand dollars. 

“C’mon. We wanna get there before it gets too crowded.” Sunoo took YoungMi’s hand. The walk was fast, a lot faster than YoungMi thought it would take considering Sunoo mentioned the house was basically on the entire other side of campus. It felt like a 5 minute walk compared to the nearly 20 minute walk it usually took her to get across campus.

There was already a large crowd outside, which went to say just how crowded it probably was inside. The two walked around the building, through some door on the side of the house behind some shrubbery.

Colorful lights flashed inside the house, the living room was nothing short of a night club. People crowded the dance floor, people already starting to get drunk. Sunoo stepped away to grab a drink for YoungMi and himself. YoungMi stayed put, absorbing the vibe of the party. The music was bumping and she was ready to have some fun.

She didn't even notice when another guy approached her. He was dressed similar to Sunoo, soft eyes with contrastingly striking features. “You must be YoungMi, Sunoo’s friend. I’m Jungwon, the leader of the ENHA house. Welcome,” He gave a polite bow. 

YoungMi was a bit shocked, Jungwon having come from what felt like nowhere. “That’s me, pleased to meet you.” She responded, giving her hand to shake it.

Jungwon took her hand into his own. While clasping onto her hand he noticed a scratch on her arm. He pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped a thin line of blood off of the scratch. He didn’t have to bring the cloth near his face to smell the ambrosial scent of her blood. 

YoungMi was too focused on making sure that her costume wasn’t already ruined to notice the way Jungwon was looking at her. Gears were already turning in his head to make sure he got a better taste of her at some point throughout the night. 

YoungMi thanked him for cleaning it up, holding the spot to make sure it didn’t bleed more. It wasn’t deep and was sure to scab up with a few seconds of pressure. Jungwon excused himself and was gone in a flash.

Sunoo returned shortly after, passing her a drink in hand. They touched their cups together in a toast and were going to take their first drink when someone bumped into YoungMi. She dropped her cup, spilling it on the floor.

”Are you fucking kidding me?” YoungMi whined. She whipped her head around to cuss out whoever the clutz was that ran into her but cut herself off.

”Yeonjun? What the hell man?”

Yeonjun gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, crowded room.”

YoungMi rolled her eyes, stealing Sunoo’s cup and taking a swig before Sunoo could stop her. Sunoo moved to stop her but it was already too late. When he went to make their drinks he was trying to ensure the cup that YoungMi had didn’t have any venom in it. Considering the venom didn’t do anything to him, his own cup was made from the communal punch bowl. Yeonjun obviously thought that YoungMi’s drink also had venom hence why he ran into her, his plan to knock the spiked from out of her hand ultimately backfiring. 

It did not take long for YoungMi to feel the effects of the drink. The temperature in the room began to rise, her heart was racing, and her knees began to go weak. 

“Yo, what is in this drink? " YoungMi asked, her words slurring a bit. She giggled as a wave of euphoria washed over her, twirling to the music. 

Yeonjun was about to talk when another well-suited man approached, practically dragging him away. YoungMi just waved and laughed, continuing to enjoy the music. Sunoo stayed close to her, making sure that she was okay. He watched with concern, the venom seeming to be having a harsher effect on YoungMi.   

“Come on! Dance with me!" YoungMi exclaimed, grabbing Sunoo by the hands and dancing with him. 

Her head rush was growing more intense as the minutes passed. The effects of the Venom getting stronger the longer it ran through her system. YoungMi stumbled when she turned around, having to hold on to Sunoo’s shoulders to keep herself from falling. 

“Yah, YoungMi-ssi, are you feeling okay?” Sunoo held onto her shoulders, having to hold her up at this rate. YoungMi was nearly out of it, the room felt like it was spinning around her. She looked pale, a thin sheen of sweat forming on her skin.

“Yah, let's splash some water on your face.” Sunoo suggests, knowing it was likely getting too hot for her. A common side effect of the venom. 

“But my makeup,” YoungMi whined, leaning further onto Sunoo, swaying as she struggled to keep her balance.

“I can fix it after. You're not doing well, let’s go.” Sunoo guided YoungMi through the crowd, taking her up the stairs to a bathroom. If it wasn’t for his superhuman strength, he likely wouldn’t have been able to get her up the steps.

Once in the safety of the bathroom, he helped her splash some water on her face, drying her face off. She swayed lazily on the toilet seat patiently waiting for her friend. He left to grab some water for her. She was feeling a little better, still dazed but not as out of it.

“YoungMi-ssi, get up. I have your water,” She heard Sunoo call. 

“Ya, the door’s unlocked.” She shouted back

“My hands are full, open the door,”

YoungMi sighed exaggeratedly, getting up to unlock the door. She was confused when she was met with an empty hallway. 

“What the hell, where did you go?” She leaned on the doorframe as she looked around. The hallway to the bathroom seemed a lot longer than earlier. 

“I’m over here,” She hears him call from down the hall. 

“Down the hall, the room at the end”

YoungMi stumbled a bit as she walked, her vision not straight. She braced herself on the wall as she stepped towards his voice. She finally reached a door near the end of the hall but was confused when she was met with a head of ash blonde hair.

“Oh, sorry. I must have gone to the wrong room.” YoungMi apologized, turning to walk out. 

“It’s okay. I don't mind some company,” Jungwon turned to look at her now. 

“Sunoo’s waiting for me. I should let him know where I am,” She moved to hold the doorknob.

Jungwon’s hand enveloped hers, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. 

“You don't look too well YoungMi, how about I help you. Yeah?” He spoke with a soft, velvet voice. 

He placed a hand under her chin making her look at him. YoungMi was completely enamored as she looked into his eyes. They glowed a deep ruby, their color hypnotizing. 

“You're very beautiful YoungMi, has anyone told you that?” He asked, a small tilt in his head. 

YoungMi nodded her head, completely lost for words. Too entranced to speak. He caressed her cheek, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. He held YoungMi by the waist, holding her close. She held onto his shoulders, mainly to keep from swaying. 

“It's a shame Sunoo kept you away from us. Did he plan on keeping you all to himself?” He pouted.

YoungMi shook her head, “He’s my friend. He’s not like that,”

“Well friends don't leave you stranded in a bathroom, now do they. They help you feel better.” He smiled sweetly at YoungMi. He moved to her ear, “You want me to make you feel better?” His voice just above a whisper. 

YoungMi nodded, looking at the other with heavy lids. Jungwon cupped her cheek, catching her lips in a kiss. Her eyes widened in surprise but quickly closed as she accepted the kiss. Her head rushed again, the same effects from when she took Sunoo’s drink earlier. 

YoungMi felt like her senses were amplified by 100. His hands on her waist felt electric, goosebumps running through her body in waves. Jungwon pulled back to let YoungMi catch her breath before pulling her back in for another kiss. She groaned into him, pleasure flowing through her veins. 

Jungwon pulls away again, now trailing kisses from her mouth, down her jaw and to her neck. He gave a lick over her pulse point making YoungMi gasp. 

“So sweet,” He said, giving the spot a small nibble. 

“Be gentle,” YoungMi whined, still under the sense heightening effects of the venom

“Don't worry, Sweetheart, I will,” Jungwon said, opening his mouth wide, fangs now in full display. 

Before Jungwon could sink his teeth into her, the door flew open, a figure in a fox mask tackling Jungwon. They nearly fly across the room, now in a heated wrestle on the ground. YoungMi was sent tumbling to the floor, nearly blacking out from the hard fall making her head spin. 

Jungwon and the masked figure fought furiously, exchanging a flurry of punches and kicks. A cacophony of hisses and growls erupted from the two, the sound overbearing to YoungMi. She tried to crawl away from the conflict but she was too weak. The sound of their fighting must have attracted the other ENHA house mates because more of them appeared. The masked figure was quickly out numbered.

The masked figure tried to evade the attacks from all the others, blitzing around their attacks but he could only evade them for so long. Finally, one managed to catch him by the arm, throwing him against the wall, across the room. He let out an agonizing yell, clearly hurt from the onslaught of attacks. 

YoungMi watched in confused horror, wanting to help but still too weak. Her arms shook like leaves as she tried to hold herself up. Cold hands grabbed her shoulders, another pressing firmly onto her mouth. 

She tried to fight off her abductor. She made a pitiful attempt to pry the hand from her mouth, clawing pathetically at their wrist and fingers. Her grip was feeble in comparison. 

“Hey, it's okay. I’m here to help you,” A doe-eyes man with pink hair spoke to her, “Here, drink this. You should feel better,” The man brought a small bottle to her lips, helping her drink it. It was bittersweet but went down easy. 

“Who are you? Why are you helping me? Where's Sunoo?” YoungMi asked, her confusion starting to fade a bit.

“I’m friends with Yeonjun, he had us help get you out of here.”

“Where is he? I need to thank him,” YoungMi said, looking around for him. 

“He’s the one that barged in to save you. You need to focus on getting out of here,”

The realization was sobering. It struck YoungMi like a chord. The last thing she saw was him getting trounced. She pushed herself on her feet, a sudden burst of energy surged through her. 

She ran through the door, absorbing the scene in the room in milliseconds. Others in masks were surrounded, held down by whom YoungMi assumed were the rest of the ENHA house members considering all their similar attire. Jungwon stood over who she can now tell is Yeonjun. Yeonjun was on the floor, struggling to stand. Battered and bleeding. Jungwon raised a fist to strike Yeonjun once more.

YoungMi sprinted at the two with all her might. She slid in front of Yeonjun, guarding him with her body. She shoved Jungwon away with all the force she could muster.

A blinding flare of light filled the room, a chorus of pained cries filled the room. Jungwon was sent tumbling by the force of the blow. YoungMi looked at her hand in awe, sparks still fizzling in her palms. The members of the ENHA house were left stunned, groveling on the floor in pain. 

YoungMi grabbed Yeonjun, the pink haired guy from earlier now helping her get him on his feet. 

“I don't know how long they’re going to be like this, we need to get the fuck out of here.” YoungMi looks over her shoulders and sees the others helping each other get up. 

They get down the steps with no mishaps, pushing themselves through the sea of drunken adults. 

“You get him out of here, I’ll get everyone evacuated,” The pinkette looks at YoungMi with a flash of concern in his eyes. He ultimately gave her a nod, taking Yeonjun out of the building. 

YoungMi turned to the other three, “Get all the exits open, it’s going to get chaotic,” She warned. The others gave her affirmative nods. 

The others disappeared into the crowd, YoungMi moved to the kitchen where it was a little less crowded. She looked for a visible power outlet. She rubbed her hands together, static forming in the palms over her hands. Fortunately, everyone around her was too fucked up or too preoccupied swallowing face to realize. The hairs on her arms started to stand as the charge in her hands grew in strength. Electrical ripples pulse through her. She finally slaps a palm over the outlet, focusing all the energy she could muster through it. 

The lights go out in an explosive flash, lightbulbs bursting as they go out. 

“We need to get out of here!” YoungMi yelled, creating a panic. She pulled people with her to one of the exits. 

People stumbled over each other as they scattered like rodents. YoungMi made it out, the cool autumn breeze a relief compared to the stuffy inside of the house. She ran a good bit away from the house, stopping to catch her breath. A frigid hand grabbed her shoulder. She turned around, grabbing their arm with one hand, her other raised and glowing with plasmic bolts.

“Yeonjun?! What the fuck?” Yeonjun’s aghast expression disarms her. 

YoungMi immediately dropped her hand moving to support him under his arms, “You’re bleeding bad. Where the hell is your friend?” YoungMi asked, looking around as she guided towards campus.

“I told him to leave me…I wasn’t going to leave without making sure you were okay.” Yeonjun spoke through gritted teeth.

“You’re insane. We have to get you patched up.” YoungMi huffed, picking up the pace. She carried him to her dorm through pure willpower and determination. 

The walk to her dorm felt a million miles long. She had no idea how Sunoo made the walk seem so fast. She had Yeonjun lean on the door frame as she tapped the keycode to her door. She walked in but Yeonjun didn’t follow. She turned to look at him, cocking a brow at him.

“Your legs suddenly break?” YoungMi looked at him.

“It’s rude to walk in uninvited,” He huffed, 

“Oh you’re right, how dare I be so casual,” YoungMi cleared her throat, putting on her best royal accent, “Please welcome yourself into my humble abode,” she finished with a curtsy.

Yeonjun gave a weak laugh and stumbled in. YoungMi guided him to her bed considering sheets are easier to replace than a whole couch if they were to get bloody. She made sure he was in a comfortable position. 

“Don’t close your eyes,” YoungMi commanded with a stern point, leaving for her bathroom to grab her first aid kit.

She returned to find him with his eyes closed. She flicked his forehead.

“Yah, eyes open,” She gave him a stern look.

“I was just reading my eyelids,” He teased but YoungMi was not nearly as amused.

“I have to cut away your costume,” YoungMi stated, hacking away at the fabric with no warning.

Yeonjun watched as she worked with intense focus. She tossed the bloody fabrics on the floor as she removed as much as she could. There were some scratches across his torso but the main thing was the deep gash on his side. Parts of the skin were connected as if the skin was trying to close itself. YoungMi looked at the gash horrified at the sight. 

“That doesn’t look good. You should seriously see a doctor for that,” YoungMi was about to move to find her phone and call the ambulance. Yeonjun caught her wrist before she could step away from him. 

“I’ll be fine. Just try to stitch me up,” He pleaded.

“I don’t think you’re getting it. This isn’t some papercut Yeonjun. You need to see a professional.” She went to move again,

“Ya! Listen to me!” Yeonjun shouted, startling YoungMi with the sudden noise, “A lot of unexplainable shit has gone on tonight. I’m probably going to faint before I can explain it all. So, do what you can and I can explain after. Please, just trust me.” Yeonjun’s voice softened, straining to explain himself.

YoungMi looked away. She knew he had a point. She sighed, “Fine,” 

She left to fill a bowl of water and got a towel. She wiped off whatever blood she could with the wet rag then grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol. 

“This is gonna suck,” She moved and grabbed a plush from the corner of her bed, “You can squeeze this for moral support,” she said, handing it to Yeonjun. As he was distracted looking at it, she poured some of the alcohol over the gash. 

“Agh! Fuck!” He winced harshly. YoungMi muttered apologies as she worked as fast as she could. Once the area was disinfected to her liking, she prepped a needle to stitch up the gash. 

“I saw this in a movie once. Breath when I tell you to, it'll hurt less that way.” YoungMi explained, readying herself for the first stitch.

“I’ll be fine,” Yeonjun waved her off, convinced that it wouldn’t hurt that bad. Being that he’s been a vampire for a few years now, he has forgotten what genuine pain actually feels like. The undead can experience pain under very specific circumstances and Yeonjun was reminded agonizingly what those circumstances are. On an ordinary day, a needle prick wouldn’t feel like anything but the damaged flesh was caused by another supernatural being hence why the area is still sensitive to something as small as a needle prick.

Yeonjun yelped as YoungMi stuck the needle through his skin, “...Count off next time,” he turned away from YoungMi’s gaze clearly telling him ‘I told you so’.

For the remainder of the procedure --if one could even call it that-- YoungMi queued Yeonjun when to breathe in and out in timing with her stitches, making the process go by a lot faster. She was done stitching him up in no time. The smaller scratches and stitches were fine on their own but YoungMi opted to bandage the larger gash on his side. 

Now finished with the brunt of the work, YoungMi slumped back to collect herself. Recollecting the events of the night was too overwhelming at the moment so she decided to make that a problem for her future self. She got up to discard the bloodied sheets and fabric that she discarded. She rummaged through a drawing, grabbing an oversized tee that he could wear instead of his tattered costume. 

Yeonjun tried to get up on his own but his knees buckled from the pain, the slow healing of his body taking up a lot more energy than usual. She helped him over into her desk chair, getting him to change his clothes. She replaced the sheets with a cover. 

“You owe me new sheets,” She sassed, turning around to throw the soiled linens into the trash. She didn’t have enough peroxide to reasonably clean off the amount of blood on those sheets. She came back to her room to find Yeonjun trying to get out of the chair and walk towards the door. YoungMi guided him back to her bed.

“Absolutely not, you are resting here until you can walk on your own. I don’t care what the hell you say,” YoungMi scolded the other. Yeonjun tried to protest but was immediately shot down by the fairy.

“Get some shut eye, I’m gonna wash off.” YoungMi moved to get up but stopped before completely walking away. She bent down to plant a kiss on Yeonjun’s cheek. He looked at her, eyes wide in shock, his lips in a cute pout.

“That was for saving me tonight, thank you,” YoungMi smiled, scurrying off to the bathroom to wash up.

YoungMi ruminated about the past few hours. It all felt like a fever dream but she had already pinched herself enough to determine that this was in fact very real. There was an entirely different world out there that she wasn’t privy to but obviously is a lot closer to it than she thought. 

She got dressed after drying herself off, a cozy hoodie to keep her warm. She could use any sense of comfort she could get at this point. She sat on her desk chair, trying her best to make herself comfortable. She’d usually choose to sleep on the couch but considering the events that transpired tonight, she would rather not be too far from Yeonjun. She sat there watching as Yeonjun rested peacefully on her bed. She leaned her head onto the bed, focused on the way his chest rose and fell. It didn’t take long for YoungMi to end up drifting into a slumber of her own, her hand grasping Yeonjun’s for an extra measure of safety.

Yeonjun had been odd since the first day I laid eyes on him. He was very striking, a lanky man with blond, almost neon hair, that caught everyone’s attention. Girls and guys alike fawned over his sly nature and multitude of hair colors. Blue, bubblegum pink, and most recently a deep red. The campus had gained a new heartthrob and I couldn’t help but be curious about him. Curious about how he always had some form of mask, hat, or sunglasses on. Curious about the way he could seemingly vanish into thin air leaving nothing but a trace of cheap cologne. Most would pass it off as fashion or speed but I’m not so sure. Something is going on with Yeonjun and when I saw the chance to figure it out, I took it. He needed a tutor, I needed extra credit and answers to quench my curiosity. Thus, I found myself freezing to death in a library on a Friday night.

“Oh, hey Y/n!” Yeonjun finally looked up, waving me over.

“Hey. Sorry if I’m late, I live on the other side of campus.”

“No, no, you’re fine. I came early just to look over my notes and stuff.”

“Oh, okay. So what is it you’re struggling with?”

He fumbled around with a notebook, flipping through the pages. “I was having some trouble with these problems.”

“Okay,” I looked over the sheet he had pulled out. “What is confusing you?”

“I just, don’t know how to solve them.”

“So, you need the formulas?”

“Mhm.”

“Well, then let’s get to it.”

The next hour was duller than I’d expected. A loop of trying my best to explain the solutions and Yeonjun barely picking it up. Every time I’d look over his work, he’d stare at me for an uncomfortably long time. Now, he sat for a few seconds looking across my work and his own before continuing with his problem-solving. In concentration, he bit his lip, teeth poking out. That’s when I noticed it.

“You have really sharp teeth. Like, unnaturally sharp.”

“Hm?”

“What? Oh, um, nothing. Are you finished?”

“Yeah. You wanna check it?”

As soon as Yeonjun passed me the paper I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my face. “It looks like you got everything right. Though, you got a little mixed up on this one. You wanna add these before doing anything else.”

“Got it.” His eyes caught mine and in that moment I felt my heart drop. They were red. A blood-red that wasn’t there before. An unsettling color ranging into unholy with how every sense in my body told me to run.

“That was actually the last question I needed help with.” His voice remained lax as if he was completely unaware of any issue.

“Oh, uh, really?”

“Yeah.”

“Um, well, let me know if you ever need any more help.” Deciding now was a good time to go, I stood to gather my things.

“Do you need me to walk with you? It’s late.”

“No, no. I’m okay. Thank you though.”

I really tried to ignore him and walk away. Every part of me yelled to get out of here as quickly as possible. Fear gripped my heart when slender fingers slithered onto my wrist. At the touch, my body went tense. It was like electricity surged from his fingers; The energy burned and pulsed underneath my skin. My heartbeat was in my ears as my sight fell black, the library suddenly replaced with red flashing against my eyelids. Crimson fangs, bloody alleys, beating hearts.

A gasp escaped me, white light beaming back in. I ripped my arm from the man to in turn look at him in horror.

“Whoa, you okay?”

“Did you-uh-what the-I…”

“I-I wanted to say thank you for all the help but,” His brows creased, “Are you sure you don't want me to help you get home?”

“No!” The shout was sudden. I hadn’t meant for it to slip out. “I mean, I just got a little light-headed is all. I’m all good. No need to worry.” It ended with an awkward chuckle only further increasing the worried expression Yeonjun carried.

“If you say so...get home safe then.”

“Yeah, you too.

Speed walking towards the entrance I still felt Yeonjun’s eyes on me. Whatever was going on with this man was a lot more complicated than I originally thought. Forget complicated, whatever was going on with him was much more dangerous than I thought. In the sea of my frazzled thoughts, nothing I could find gave any sort of explanation for what was happening. Why is he such an enigma? There is no way I’m giving up this easily. Despite my fear, despite all the logical parts of me screaming to just leave it be, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I’m going to figure out who or what Yeonjun really is and pray it won’t be something that gets me killed.

I started on google, the logical option for any unanswered question. As one could guess, I had to look through a lot of very disgusting diseases. Mutilated bloodshot eyes now filled my search history, but none of them looked like what I had seen. All of the ones that did were Pinterest edits or screenshots from Twilight. My brain stopped at the remembrance of the shitty vampire romance. I mean, vampires are said to have sharp teeth, and red eyes couldn’t be completely out of the question? Paired with the sudden vision, which I had concluded was a hallucination of some sort but in this context possibly something else, and its heavy inclusion of blood…

My palms dig into my eye sockets. What was I thinking? This was just sleep deprivation catching up to me. My brain was on overdrive and making things up, right? I was merely stuck in my overactive imagination, wasn’t I? But, what if I wasn’t? I mean, what logical conclusion could I come to when everything that I’d experienced felt so real. So terrifying.

“Fuck, I have work tomorrow.”

Sleep passed restlessly. Dreams, more so nightmares, heavy with an intense feeling of pain washing over me relentlessly. I remained limp, unable to move, to struggle against the force holding me down. More than once did I wake up to my own screams. It was like the events of Yeonjun’s tutor session had struck something deep within me, waking it up in fury. If only I could soon find out what it was and why this was happening.

“Hey, earth to Y/n.” At his voice, my brain registered Kai’s hand waving in front of my eyes. I look to the boy standing beside me with a mop.

“Hmm?”

“I was saying we’re done cleaning, so I’m gonna start closing up.” He eyed me cautiously, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Oh. Um, yeah, I’m good. Just lost in thought.”

“Got it. Hey, how was your study date with Yeonjun?”

“It wasn’t a date, and I, well, you’re friends with him right? Have you ever noticed anything…weird about him?”

“I guess. We’re on the dance team together but I wouldn’t go as far as to say we’re friends. And weird? I mean, one time I saw him eat an entire medium pepperoni pizza alone after practice at 2 am.” He held the small diner door open for you before turning back to lock up.

“No, well yes that’s odd, but like, I just. Listen, I know this is going to sound insane but, last night, I saw something.”

Kai stopped fiddling with the store key, looking at me wide-eyed. “Please don’t tell me it was his penis.”

“No! Kai, ew, no, what the fuck?!” I hit him on the arm for that.

“Okay, okay! Sorry!”

Rolling my eyes, I pushed aside his comment and instead continued on trying to explain what I'd seen. It came out a bit jumbled. Words flowed out of time with my brains racing. My hands waved and spun and flailed, yet Kai nodded along listening more attentively than I would’ve expected. And as the last bit fell out, he hummed. He didn’t laugh, didn’t seem to question me in the slightest, just nodded his head and thought hard.

“So…”

“Y’know, it kinda reminds me of these stories my grandma used to tell.”

“Huh?”

“When I was younger, she used to visit all the time and she’d always have this big book with her. It was filled with all these weird creatures and a bunch of words I couldn’t read, she always could though. But yeah she’d just let us mess with this thing and she would tell us all about the creatures in it. That’s all it was though. Listen, Y/n, I-”

“Kai! Kai, you have to believe me. I don’t know exactly what happened, and I’m not saying it was magic, but there's a gut instinct in me telling me that I have to at least look into it.”

Our eyes met and I could tell there was something he was fighting back, his fists clenched at his sides, eyebrows creased.

“I have something to show you.” Suddenly, with Kai’s hand on mine, he dragged me off into the night.

Being in Kai’s apartment was nothing new to me. Simple carpet, stacks of laundry, a massive dent from Beomgyu chucking a can of beans at the wall to see if it would explode. Though, I had never been yanked into the house and pulled directly into his room, simply to stare as he tore through a tiny closet space in the corner. He dug past bunches of sweatshirts and jeans and flung them back towards me. I had situated myself on the bed, feeling rather concerned watching my friend rip through the hangers and piles of clothes. He’d led me in here wordlessly and the silence continued now.

“Kai? What are you-”

“Found it!” He popped up out of the mess. “I forgot I shoved this in there a while ago.”

A thick book slammed into the mattress. It was bound in dark leather with intricate designs carved across the corners; Flowers swirling around in a border. Two gold clasps gripped the covers together, struggling against the massive contents held within the withering pages. Running down the middle, inlaid in the material, six jewels poked out. Each one highlighting a point on the golden star engraved there, their hues each a deep tone of the earth. Greens and blues, cool colors glittering in dim light. In the compelling urge to touch it, I reached out. Yet, Kai’s hand latched to mine and startled my eyes up to his.

“Don’t! I...I should explain some stuff first.”

“O-okay.”

He sat down beside me, gripping the book. “This is the book I was telling you about.”

“Your grandma’s?”

“Mhm. She gave it to me when I turned 15, for protection.”

“Protection? Did she expect you to chuck it at someone’s head or something?”

“No, it’s, uh, it’s a grimoire.”

“A what?”

“Like a spellbook,” he must’ve immediately noticed my confusion as he hurriedly began explaining. “So my, y’know my grandma and how told you about all those things in this book? The magical creatures and weird words and stuff? She was an enchantress and collected a bunch of magical artifacts and things, this book was one of them. Growing up we knew what she was and she would even teach us some spells. By the time I was 14, her health was in decline so I decided to learn as much as I could. Spells, potions, anything really, and then, on my birthday, she gave me this to continue my study.”

I didn’t know exactly what to say. With everything that happened in the last 24 hours, little doubt pooled in my head that he was lying. His eyebrows scrunched, eyes pleading with me to understand.

“I…okay. Why did you need to show me this?”

“Your details about the images or visions reminded me,” his hands sped through pages, suddenly landing on one with a painted palm alongside large text reading Psychometry. “What you described, it sounded like the experience of a Seer.”

“A what-now?”

“A Seer. Someone proficient in psychometry.”

“You’re losing me here.”

“It’s like when a Seer touches something supernatural they get glimpses or visions of things related to the object.”

“Okay, but I never learned magic or even knew it existed until now. And I’ve never gotten visions when touching you.”

“Psychometry isn’t necessarily a learned ability; some people are just born with an innate capacity for it. Also, I don’t technically count as ‘supernatural’, I was born with a disposition to do spells because of my grandma,” hi hands fell to my arms, trying to comfort the shocked face I held. “You’re a Seer, Y/n. That’s why I stopped you from touching the book. I wanted to explain first before you were just randomly subjected to more visions.”

My breaths felt ragged, thoughts racing just as fast. The world was rearranging itself right before my eyes and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The last day already weighed heavy enough on my conscience but as realization set in, everything came crashing down. I stood in shock.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on. Touching supernatural beings can evoke images too, right?”

“Yep.”

“Oh fuck! Then-then Yeonjun, he-he’s definitely not human.”

“…Yeah…that’s why I told you…”

“Holy shit! Kai, what do we do!? What if he’s dangerous?!” I stopped my pacing as last night’s research found its way back into my head. “Kai, d-do vampires actually exist?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, let me,” he began flipping through again, this time coming to a page headed with the word ‘Creatures of Night’. “Here.”

Detailed diagrams and descriptions filled the paper. Sketches of pin-point canines, disturbingly similar to what the visions had shown me. My eyes skimmed the actual words, it wouldn’t do much but increase my belief in the conclusion I had already come to.

“Oh god. Yeonjun’s…vampire.”

“It seems so.”

“Why are you so calm?! Did you know?!”

“Y/n,” our eyes met as he stood up, pushing his hands onto my shoulders. “I would’ve known before if something was up with him. Practices have been on break this week so I haven’t seen him since last Friday. This whole vampire thing, it had to have happened in that time period. Chances are he’s probably still a fledgling.”

“Huh?”

“A vampire who hasn’t drank human blood. That's why his eyes spiked red. A full vampire would’ve been able to control that.”

“Okay…well, what do we do? What if he starts hunting or something?”

“We have to stop him before he does. First, we have to get a better grasp on his exact situation.”

“How are we gonna do that?”

A smile found its way across his cheeks, eye to eye, something devilish glinting in the expression.

“No, I know that look. Whatever you’re thinking, no!”

“Come on! You’re telling me you're gonna say no to a few dates with The Choi Yeonjun?”

“Excuse me?!”

“Dates are a great way to get to know someone!”

“Kai!”

“Y/n!”

I sigh. Before, I would certainly not be opposed to a date with Yeonjun, but now? Why would I willingly spend time with a blood-thirsty vampire, alone nonetheless? Although I had to accept, the plan was worth a shot. “Are you forgetting this entire plan hinges on him actually agreeing to go out with me?”

“Trust me, he will.”

“That makes me trust you less.”

“I won’t spell him or anything, just trust me.”

“You are insufferable.”

“Thanks, it’s one of my charming points,” Kai smiled once again, finishing off our conversation without room for me to retort. He turns to dramatically wave his index finger and say, “We start tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is Sunday.”

“We start Monday.”

Early morning sunlight blasted its way through the lecture hall. Slanting across the room and falling directly into my eyes, but bathing my body in warmth-a welcomed solace from the frigid AC. Combined with the monotonous droning of my professor, I felt about ready to fall asleep. I dozed quietly like a cat on a window sill. Just awake enough to be aware of the background chatter, but dangling on the precipice of passing out. It had been a late-night closing up shop as Kai and I discussed a more in-depth plan for what exactly the goal was. As it stood now, I was going to try and catch up with him after this class, possibly attempting to get a better grasp of his exact situation before we would confront him. I’d come to the lone conclusion that I would not be calling these meetings “dates”. Mainly for the sake of my sanity as to not convince myself they were such; To remember Yeonjun was quite possibly dangerous and this was not the time for fantasies about the college pretty boy. Even so, my brain seemed to like them in its barely conscious state. Despite the disturbing images I’d received at his touch, I was very adamant in thinking about how his hugs would totally envelop me in his long arms and how warm they’d be if vampires weren’t supposedly cold. It was like my head decided to become a small cesspool of imaginings straight out of twilight; but wasn’t it every former teenager's dream to have a hot, sly, vampire boyfriend.

An eruption of shuffling shook my head awake. I shot up only to be met with my classmates moving themselves out and Choi Yeonjun standing above me.

“Jesus fuck!”

“Sorry! Sorry,” embarrassment flushed his cheeks, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay after Friday, with you running out and all.”

“Oh, no, I’m perfectly fine, Yeonjun. Thank you for worrying, though.”

“That’s good,” he smiles, still lingering in silence, waiting for something. I guess now is as good a time as ever.

“I, uh, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering if you, maybe possibly, want to go get some lunch? With me?”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, I would love to!”

“Um, great,” I stood to grab my things. “Let’s, uh, let’s go.”

“Ah.”

Awkward silence imbued itself through the walk. I was never the most talkative person, but it was safe to say I expected a bit more from Mr. Popular. We ended up in a small sandwich shop right off of campus and ordered our food with little conversation. Finding a table in the corner, we waited.

“So, um, how was your weekend?”

He looks up from the table, “Hm? It was good. Y’know, I … did things?”

I never thought I’d see him embarrassed; laughing, flushed, and awkward. Any semblance of overconfidence melting off to reveal a shyer young man than originally perceived. It made me smile.

“What ‘things’”

“Haha, uh, I kinda just hung around. My roommate and I finally cleaned the dishes.”

“Finally?”

“No, I mean, like, we’ve been putting it off for weeks but...we ran out of forks.”

“Oh my god!” I found myself laughing heartily.

“We don’t have a dishwasher, okay?!”

“Still! Just use dish soap!”

His lips stuck out, pouting, “But that requires work.”

“I have no words for you.”

“Whatever! Did you do things?”

“Yes, actually. Mainly work, but that’s a thing.”

“Oh, where do you work?”

“The little diner down by the docks.”

“Ah. Their milkshakes suck.”

“I know.”

Conversation flowed as we worked over the hump of uncomfortable quiet previously occupying the air. Somewhere in the middle, it was like I completely forgot why this was happening, instead, enjoying myself on what started to feel more and more like a date. The food came and went, and we kept talking. He passionately discussed his work with dance, how joining the school team encouraged him to choose it as his major back in sophomore year. Nothing about him screamed cold-blooded killer; I’d nearly forgotten about it until we were walking out. Our hands brushed, sending me reeling as darkness overtook everything. A man writhing in pain, glaring rays of sun picking at burning hands, and, last, a muddy blue liquid sloshing around in a beaker. Coming back was less of a shock, but Yeonjun saw my wide eyes.

“Are you all good?”

Right then, I wanted to deviate from the plan. Tell him what I know. Ask how I could help. Hueningkai may be pissed at not taking it slow like we said, but something told me I’d be better off doing this my way.

“Do you wanna come watch a movie at my place?”

“W-what?”

“I mean if you can…”

“I-yes.”

“Okay.” Panic flared in every bit of my heart. I had no plan, no backup, no idea what to do. I was just desperate to release the weight on my shoulders and prove to myself that he wasn’t evil. So, I led the way to my apartment.

The distance between us felt massive. Scenes played out across the TV but I couldn’t look at them. Yeonjun was relaxed on the couch arm, laid back and unaware of the turmoil brewing beside him. My head pounded with the rush of adrenaline. I’d taken an extreme risk and it had yet to bite me back, which was perfectly fine with me. Now, I simply needed to figure out how to bring up the topic. He’d deny it. Somehow, I had to explain and get him to understand. Everything was moving at 100 miles per hour and I was whisked into the speed. Was there any better option than to just go for it? Would he hurt me? No. I don’t know.

“Yeonjun,” my knuckles were white; Heart screaming in my ears.

“Yeah?”

“I-I…I know.”

“You know what?”

Our eyes met. I could see the recognition pass over his face at the glimpse of anxiety in my eyes.

“Y/n?”

“I just-Yeonjun, I know about the whole vampire thing. I figured it out after our tutor session and Hueningkai and I want to help if we can. We wanted to know exactly what happened and I took the chance to talk to you. And please don’t think that I just lead on the conversation to get information out of you. I genuinely enjoyed our lunch but in the end, I panicked and Kai will probably be upset with me and-”

“What?” Terror grew and red flashed in his eyes.

“I know.”

I could see his chest rising and sinking even faster, “H-how?”

“I see things. I mean, with the help of Kai, I’ve come to realize that I have the power to see visions when in contact with supernatural things. It first happened when you grabbed my wrist on Friday.”

“I-I,” tears filled the corners of his eyes.

“Wait, Jun, no-” I moved closer hoping to provide some form of comfort as the drops started to fall.

“You said you wanted to know what happened? I was attacked. It happened when I was coming back from a late night class on Tuesday. This person cornered me in an alley near my building and attacked me. I tried to fight back but they got me on my shoulder and I just didn’t know what to do. I’ve been trying to live normally but, I-I don’t think I can. I’m still able to go in the sun or hold over cravings but it’s hurting more each day.”

“O-okay. Maybe you can? Kai has this huge book, full of magical spells a-and creatures. I don’t know the full scale of his abilities, but I want to help you. From what I’ve seen the effects will get worse but we’ll fix this. I promise you.”

His arms tugged me forward into a hug. I landed on his chest rather surprised at the movement. Though, I embraced it, worming myself into a position to avoid skin-to-skin contact. It was reminiscent of the daydreaming my head got up to much earlier today. With how his long arm encompassed my torso, holding me firmly against his, and his nose tucking itself in my shoulder.

“Thank you.” he squeezed tighter.

“I cannot believe you told him.”

“Come on, Kai! I already apologized.”

“We had a plan!”

“Okay and? Mine still worked!”

“You could’ve been killed!”

“Jun wouldn’t have killed me.”

“Okay, well, you didn’t know that.”

I was once again standing in the middle of Hueningkai’s bedroom talking about the resident vampire. I’d confessed to him what happened and as I expected he was annoyed at best. Annoyance only heightened by my sudden ask for assistance

“Well, I do now. So, please let me see the book.”

“No.”

“You are a child.”

He huffed but did not move in any way. I came here to test a theory. The strange vial in the last image I’d seen when touching Yeonjun got me thinking. What if it was some sort of potion or something? Could it help him? So, I was hoping a look-through or maybe a vision from the spellbook would help. Yet, here Kai was, acting like a child and refusing to let me see it.

“This could help him. Now, please, Kai Kamal Huening.”

“Jesus, you sound like my mother.” Despite his words, he’d relented, reaching into a drawer and pulling out the book.

“Thank you.”

I made a move to grab it but he seemed cautious about handing it off.

“Kai, I’m not gonna do anything to it.”

“I know, just, what about the visions? What if they’re…a lot to handle?”

“But what if they’re not?”

“Well, can’t argue with that.”

The moment my fingers wrapped around the spine, the images began. It was different from the previous times. These came with a rush, flashing a million frames per second, overloading my senses until it paused on a single frame. A worn page, smudged and tattered, headlined with the words Non lamia. Coming back, I immediately saw the concern in Kai’s eyes.

“What the fuck.”

“What?”

“Your eyes got all misty.”

“Oh? Anyway, have you ever heard of something called a Non Lamia?”

“Hm? It sounds familiar. Why?”

“I just saw it.”

“Let me see the book.” Flipping closer towards the end, the page from my vision showed. The drawings scattered amongst it reminded me of the odd liquid I’d seen when brushing past Yeonjun a few days ago. I couldn’t make out the words perfectly, almost like it was written in a special script, but Kai furiously scanned the paragraphs.

“That’s…interesting.”

“What is it?”

“It looks like this ‘non lamia’ is a type of potion made to reverse the effects of a vampire bite.”

“Does that mean…it could cure him?”

“Not necessarily. If it were administered hours after the attack first happened, maybe, but it’s been almost a week so it'd more so slow the changing until we could get a more concrete reversal.”

“Well…what do we need for it?”

“A lot of weird ingredients. I might have to go dig around some of my grandma's old stuff again.”

“But, do you think we can do it?”

“Most definitely.”

A smile creased my eyes and I immediately went to text Yeonjun to meet up.

The wooden door flew up before I could even knock. Yeonjun stood to the side to let me come in, so I did. Running in, a stupid smile still plastered on my cheeks.

“What’s got you so happy?” he seemed just as stupidly smiley, closing the front door and walking into the hallway

“Yeonjun…it’s amazing!”

“What is?”

“We found something that’s gonna help you!”

He froze in place. Eyes bulging, mouth dropping, dead still and silent. “Y-you did?”

I nodded frantically, “It’s nothing permanent but it’s going to help with the effects you’re feeling until we do find the perfect fix.”