bloodlust
PAIRING ▸ park sunghoon x fem!reader (ft. yang jungwon)
GENRES ▸ horror, supernatural (vampires), kinda friends to lovers
WARNINGS ▸ profanity, mentions of death, missing people, mild depictions of gore, unrequited love
SUMMARY ▸ all you wanted to do was confess your feelings to park sunghoon. what you didn’t expect was to see him standing next to a bleeding-out sim jaeyun.
WORD COUNT ▸ 6720 words
PLAYLIST ▸ outro : cross the line by enhypen • somebody’s watching me by rockwell • thriller by michael jackson
UNCUTS ▸ visual teaser • netflix trailer • sunoo’s poster • missing persons
AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ spooky szn has come to an end and it was my month so i couldn’t just ?? not post a fic ?? i hope you guys enjoy !! ♡ also the ending is open-ended so bring forth your theories :’)
13:34:02
OCTOBER 28, 2021
HALLOWEEN WAS RUINED BEFORE IT EVEN BEGAN.
There was a time when your city was dull. There was no thrill. No excitement. The closest thing you could get to a scare was being pulled over for speeding.
Until the missing persons cases started coming up.
At first, they went over everyone’s heads. As twisted as it sounded, a disappearance or two was of no concern. A couple of people crying couldn’t be heard over the masses.
Then it snowballed. Cases surged. People were going missing left and right. The mayor declared a citywide curfew, enforcing that people had to be in their homes before dark or they’d be fined. Mass panic arose, and people demanded answers from the police, who had nothing to say on the matter. It wasn’t that they were slacking on the case; rather, they had no idea what the hell was going on. People vanishing without a trace wasn’t exactly easy to get leads on.
Life had taken a turn for the worse, and it got to the point where everyone knew someone who had disappeared, but people stayed quiet. If they opened their mouths, they feared they would be next. When your best friend, Park Jongseong, went missing, only Sim Jaeyun looked out for you, squeezing your shoulder on his way to his desk to make sure you were alright. He sent you a tight-lipped smile, and you forced yourself to muster one back at him.
The disappearances gained traction. The Office of Education debated on closing school until investigators found answers to this tragedy, but the mayor decided against it, proposing different measures.
As a result, Halloween was cancelled. No parties. No trick-or-treating. No fun. You couldn’t even walk a block to your friend’s house without fear bubbling up in your throat.
Normally, on Halloween, you would go to a party—probably one thrown by Shin Yuna. People would doll up in their skimpy costumes and parade around during the one night they could be anyone but themselves. You had intended to do the same; your friend, Kim Sunoo, called your black cat costume “basic,” but you saw the cheap ears and eyeliner-drawn whiskers as a money-saving opportunity.
Now, however, you only had one plan in mind: confess to Park Sunghoon.
That was all you had intended to do on the day before Halloween. Given the circumstances, you supposed it was an inappropriate time to confess, but you had prepared yourself for this moment for a long time. Every time you looked at the list of missing people, you realized that you could be up there eventually, so you wanted to have no regrets before something terrible happened.
You and Sunghoon were only acquaintances, but you harbored a crush on him for a while now. Ever since your best friend, Yang Jungwon, pointed him out, you had been infatuated.
Later on, Sunghoon paid more attention to you. He would stop to talk to you in the hallway, ask you if you wanted to drive off campus to get food, and even tuck your hair behind your ear thoughtlessly. Even if you were being led on, you still wanted to convey your feelings. Bottling your emotions up never worked out well for you.
You wanted to major in aerospace engineering. Sunghoon called you the smartest girl he’d ever met. He asked you about your dreams. Asked you if you wanted to touch the sky. Who wouldn’t fall for such empty words?
“Two more days,” you announced cheerfully to a tired-looking Yang Jungwon. He was sitting on one of the benches in the school courtyard, a book pried open with one hand. After taking a deep breath, you explained, “I’m gonna ask Sunghoon out.”
“Don’t.”
You frowned at your best friend’s irritable expression and curt tone. “What?”
"Park Sunghoon is bad news," Jungwon said, and you scoffed because Sunghoon was the school's Golden Boy. It made no sense for Jungwon to be so dismissive, especially when he was friends with the guy. "Stay away from him, okay?"
"And you're not even gonna tell me why?" you pressed. "You're the one who pointed him out to me. It's not my fault I like him."
Jungwon sighed heavily. "You're right. It's my fault."
"Jungwon—"
"It's my fault, so now I'm telling you to stay away. Got it?"
This was out-of-character for Jungwon. Normally, your best friend was very supportive of you and your choices (unless you were making a stupid decision, of course). You didn’t see any harm in professing your feelings and being open about how you felt, and being told not to without any proper reasoning wasn’t helping you understand.
Jungwon and you went way back. You knew each other since you were in diapers, your first conversation with each other consisting of coos and babbles. Your parents were friends from high school, so it was inevitable that you would spend your childhood growing up with Yang Jungwon.
Of course, you weren’t complaining. You enjoyed his company, and you both cared about each other on a deeper level than any other friendship you’ve ever had. He was the only person you knew you could always let your guard down around, the only person who understood you, the only person who you loved enough to get mad at.
(Reasonably—most of the time).
Now, you had a proper reason to be mad at Jungwon. His vagueness about shooting you down was getting on your last nerve.
“Don’t you at least owe me an explanation?” you asked, the frustration set deep in your brows.
Jungwon’s next words certainly weren’t what you were expecting, but they left you even more confused.
“If I tell you, then you’re as good as dead.”
16:03:56
OCTOBER 28, 2021
It was almost routine to go running to Sunoo after you argued with Jungwon.
This time, however, you felt worse than usual. Your brain tried to reason that it was probably the murky weather. It felt like that strange in-between where the sky threatened to rain down on you, but it never came.
Sunoo and you walked home in silence for a few moments before he asked about Jungwon. You typically shut the conversation down, brought it up a few minutes later, spoke a few words, gained some traction, and then went into a huge discourse about it. This time, however, the words were caught in your throat when you saw the board.
The missing persons board with God knows how many posters. All the faces were starting to blur together, the names submerging into nothingness. They were names that were chanted to reinforce that those missing people were once people, once living beings that walked on the streets like everyone else. People like you who had their regular lives taken from them in an instant.
Sunoo rolled his neck at the sight. “Man.”
Man was right. No matter how many times you tossed and turned the topic around in your head, there was no clear pattern among the victims. Rich or poor, young or old, strong or weak, they all seemed to disappear without a trace.
A few crows cawed in the distance. Settled on utility pole wire. Watched.
They probably know, you realized. Those birds just sat there all day and observed the chaos below. They probably saw people winking out of existence. Saw people getting grabbed at random.
“You think they’re still alive?” you asked, eyes flitting from Hajoon, to Eunmi, to Jiwan, to Kyungmin—all people who were just like you, people who were gone.
You were certainly not an optimist, but you wanted to hold onto hope for these victims. Maybe, just maybe, if you believed in their existence, they were breathing somewhere in the distance.
Sunoo blew out your candle just as soon as you lit it.
“Not a chance,” he replied, “and if they are alive, they’re probably wishing they weren’t.”
The laugh that rang from behind you was chilling. The crows stopped cawing. At first, you suspected it was Sunoo, so you kept your gaze forward with stiffened shoulders. When your brain registered a new voice, however, your face started to heat up.
Park Sunghoon.
“That was probably the most depressing thing I’ve heard today,” he said, grinning sheepishly at Sunoo. As always, Park Sunghoon’s presence was like a breath of fresh air. “You two are gonna psyche yourselves out if you keep staring at this board.”
“Then why are you here?” Sunoo asked.
Sunghoon’s smile turned grim. “To make sure I don’t see a name I know.”
There was silence hanging in the air for a moment. You felt the same way, though; you couldn’t bear the thought of coming all this way to recognize one of the faces pinned up on the board. It picked at you, like chipping paint off an old surface.
Sunghoon placed a hand on your shoulder, and you felt like all your nerves were exposed wire, crackling at the ends. You looked up to see him smiling warmly at you, and you prayed he couldn’t see how flustered you felt.
“You two should go home,” Sunghoon continued. “It’ll be dark soon.”
“I live around the corner.” After a few seconds, you frowned. “Don’t you have someone to walk with? You shouldn’t be alone this late.”
This time, when Sunghoon spoke, he sounded almost humorous. You wondered how someone could possibly sound like that in this situation. Mere amusement seemed to be scarce these days—almost mocking.
“I don’t mind being alone,” he said, “but my place is just down the street over there.”
Sunoo hummed. “I’ll walk with you. I’m sort of close.”
They walked off after saying their goodbyes. There was a dreadful finality to it—something that felt off, but not clear enough for you to place your finger on it.
Whatever. As Sunghoon said, you were just psyching yourself out.
You shrugged off the feeling and walked back home.
23:51:16
OCTOBER 28, 2021
You’re weak, you thought when you saw your phone ring, Jungwon’s caller ID flashing on the screen. You’re supposed to make him wait.
The rational thing to do would be to let your best friend apologize and talk things out with you. However, you wanted to have him to have a taste of his own medicine, have him feel the same way he made you feel. To do so, you would need to leave your ringing phone alone, but your finger kept hovering over the call button.
Part of you would always care about Jungwon too deeply. It was that sick part that crept up your ribcage and twisted around your heart, binding each artery in place. That part that knew that Jungwon could do something unforgivable, but you’d still go running back to him.
Screw it. You picked up the phone.
“I’m sorry,” he started immediately.
“Do you remember what you said to me? That last part?” You scoffed a little. “Yeah, way to freak me out.”
Jungwon’s voice was hollow like bird bones. “I’m scared of losing you.”
You frowned. “Why would you lose me? I’m right here, Jungwon.” After a few moments of silence, you asked, “Is this about the disappearances?”
“It’s nothing,” he said, and you sighed. Lately, it felt like Jungwon was always out of your reach. Felt like he was in another dimension. Like he was a layer away. Always. “Let’s drop it. I just wanted to apologize for how I overreacted.”
“It’s okay—”
“But, Y/N,” Jungwon started, “I have something to tell you.”
You couldn’t explain it at the moment, but Jungwon’s words left an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of your stomach. It was like the premonition of something dark, something cursed. You wanted to shake off the feeling, thinking it was just some cloud over your head, but it stuck.
“You can tell me anything,” you said.
He sucked in a sharp breath. Paused. “Halloween is coming up, and I have a bad feeling about this year, so listen closely,” he started. “I’m outside your house right now—”
“What?!” you exclaimed, cutting him off as you practically jumped to your feet. You couldn’t understand what was possibly going through Jungwon’s mind to convince himself that it was safe to be outside at this hour. He had to have been breaking about a dozen rules right now. “Are you crazy, Jungwon? What are you doing outside?”
“Y/N, listen to me,” Jungwon said calmly. “I’m leaving a note under your door. Wait ten minutes after you hang up to go retrieve it. Do not try to open the door or look through the window. Just take the letter and walk back to your room.”
You swallowed hard and nodded, though he wouldn’t be able to see. You supposed he could take your silence as your answer.
“Will you be okay?” you asked. “It’s late outside.”
There was silence before Jungwon mumbled, “I’m already home.”
24:01:14
OCTOBER 29, 2021
As Jungwon said, there was an envelope at your door. It was tucked neatly through the slit at the bottom. The ends were protected neatly, and it looked as if Jungwon used some force to get all of it inside.
The ten minutes you waited were the longest ten minutes of your life. More than the anticipation about the letter, you were more concerned about Jungwon being at your house when he called you and then being home a minute later. You and Jungwon lived close to each other, but even if he ran, he wouldn’t have been able to make it home that fast.
Despite the heavy dread hanging in your chest, you opened the note.
How To Survive Halloween:
Do not associate with Park Sunghoon
Do not look at Park Sunghoon
Do not TALK to Park Sunghoon
Stay away from Park Sunghoon at all costs
- Yang Jungwon
08:36:22
OCTOBER 29, 2021
Two days until Halloween.
Jungwon’s letter racked your brain with each ticking second, but now, something else was eating at you. Scratching at you from the inside. Crawling up your throat. Digging its claws into your organs.
Seeing your best friend at school the next day was strange. The lightheartedness of your conversation felt as if nothing had happened last night, like Jungwon didn’t drop a bomb on you. You were standing at his locker, hugging your notebook to your chest as you waited for him to fumble through his binder to find his homework.
“I walked home with Sunghoon today,” you confessed. “Not the whole way. Just to the board.”
Jungwon grumbled something inaudible. Surprisingly, his tone was calm. “Did you read the note?”
“You said it’s for Halloween,” you defended, shrinking back a little when you saw the exasperated look on Jungwon’s face. “I’ve been waiting to confess to him for so long, Jungwon. I wrote a letter last night. Could I just give it to him?”
You were well aware of Jungwon’s warning, albeit vague and unclear. However, you had been anticipating this moment for ages, and this was finally your chance. All you had to do was hand him your letter, and then you would be able to find your closure.
Your best friend frowned a bit. You could tell he was unsettled by the way his fingers were twitching, by the way the corners of his lips were fighting the urge to turn down. Jungwon had always been shy—kind of a wallflower—but never to you.
He sounded reluctant, but he caved. “Go ahead. It’s your life.”
That was a phrase you heard hundreds of times. This time, though, it sounded ominous.
08:42:22
OCTOBER 29, 2021
You didn’t think you were supposed to see Sim Jaeyun bleeding out on the floor of the boys’ locker room.
You knew waiting a good ten minutes after morning practice would be enough to get Sunghoon alone. The players were always in a rush to scramble out of the locker room and get on with their day. You had to seize the window of opportunity that was propped open for you in that timeframe.
So, with your heart on your sleeve and a love letter held tightly behind your back, you went to the gym to catch Sunghoon after baseball practice.
What you didn’t expect to see, however, was a pool of blood coming from the closed locker room door.
If this were a slasher film, you would’ve probably been the stupid side character that died first. That, or the stupid main character with incredible luck. Whatever you heard about curiosity killing the cat had completely drowned out when you placed your hand on the handle and opened the door. You couldn’t help but take a look; after all, someone could’ve been seriously injured in there.
You were half-right, though, because you couldn’t tell if Jaeyun was seriously injured or dead. His body was slumped against a locker, blood staining his pretty lips as his head lolled to the side. His mouth was ajar and his eyes were closed, but what led you to believe he was a lost cause was the blood gushing from his carotid artery.
That wasn’t even the worst part. What made you mentally check out was seeing Park Sunghoon standing over Jaeyun, blood running in rivulets down his chin, dripping from sharp canines.
Fangs.
“You… you’re…” you started, blood turning cold when Sunghoon’s dark gaze zeroed in on you. Your stammering had already made you typical horror movie prey, doubled with the fact that you were still frozen in place. “J-Jaeyun…”
This was Sim Jaeyun. Sim Jaeyun who would ask you if you wanted a piece of gum before class. Sim Jaeyun who would smile sheepishly when the teacher announced his score as the highest. Sim Jaeyun who offered to carry your books if you were struggling with your backpack.
Sim Jaeyun who was currently nothing more than a corpse on the floor.
Sunghoon stared at you blankly while you tried to regain your ability to control your muscles again. You were still rooted to the ground, but when the corner of Sunghoon’s lips picked up, you found yourself backing up.
Someone was screaming.
You didn’t realize until you had bolted all the way out of the school building that it was you.
08:46:07
OCTOBER 29, 2021
Your voice was breathless. “H-hello? Officer? I think I just witnessed a murder.”
“What’s the address?”
“Daein High School. In the boys’ locker room.”
The officer paused. “You were… in the boys’ locker room?”
“Yes, um… I know how it sounds, but—”
“Who was the victim?”
“A student,” you replied. You couldn’t bring yourself to mention Jaeyun’s name; if you said his name, then this would become real. “By another student?”
“Do you know the attacker?”
You let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know.”
“Okay, we’ll try to get someone out there as soon as we can.”
“Thank you.”
“Can I get your name?”
You balked and hung up.
15:54:01
OCTOBER 30, 2021
You were supposed to tell someone about what you saw, weren’t you? But who would believe that you saw Park Sunghoon with fangs?
When the police arrived at the scene, you watched from afar, anticipating a bloodied body to be carried out of the locker room. Instead, the police scratched the back of their heads and deemed the report as a prank call. The flooring was cleaned of however much blood was there before, and there were absolutely no signs of Jaeyun.
He was marked down as another missing person, but you had another worry hanging heavy in your chest.
Sunoo wasn’t in class.
On the way to school, you made sure to check the board. Sunoo’s face wasn’t up there. There were no signs of his existence among the flyers. Of course, this filled you with relief, but you couldn’t shake off the feeling that something terrible had happened.
Granted, there were quite a lot of people missing from your math class. The few of them were victims—reduced to faces on the missing persons board—and the others were plagued by the common cold. Your teacher stopped announcing which was which, for every empty seat left a bitter taste in people’s mouths.
That made you even more restless. Knee bouncing. Pencil repeatedly tapping against your desk. You were positive your heart would explode in your chest cavity if you didn’t get a text back from your friend.
y/n: hey sunoo
y/n: you good?
y/n: are you sick today?
y/n: you’re just sleeping right??
All unread.
Throat restrained in a shackle-like hold, you forced yourself to swallow down the heavy lump in your throat. Your classmates could tell you were a jittery mess at this point, but no one dared tell you to stop drumming your pencil against the table. It was like everyone came to a conclusion about Sunoo’s fate, and that made you sick to your stomach.
That, coupled with the fact that you were certain that Sim Jaeyun was dead.
“Psst.” You knew Sunghoon’s voice better than anyone else, but you willed yourself to keep looking forward. His voice sent chills down your spine. “Y/N.”
For a while, he didn’t engage. However, when you kept your eyes trained on the whiteboard ahead, listening to your teacher drone on about integrals, Sunghoon tapped your shoulder with his pencil. You gave up and looked back at him, which he smiled at.
It all came back in that split second. Jaeyun’s body on the floor. His blood dripping from Sunghoon’s chin. His glazed-over eyes and head lolled to the side.
“You have someone to walk back with?” he asked.
You frowned, remembering when you ran into him with Sunoo yesterday. As you recalled, Sunghoon was the last one you saw with Sunoo. If anyone knew anything about his whereabouts after, it would be him.
“Do you know where Sunoo went after you walked him back home?” you asked.
You always thought Sunghoon had the prettiest smiles. This time, however, it was wide and unhinged, like someone had carved it in with a blade.
“I’ll tell you if you walk back with me.”
15:54:01
OCTOBER 30, 2021
Jungwon was going to kill you.
You knew better than to walk back with Park Sunghoon, but you folded at the mention of Sunoo. You knew what you saw, although you were hoping you saw it wrong, and whatever happened, Sunghoon definitely had something to do with Jaeyun’s disappearance. The fangs, however, had to have been your eyes playing tricks on you.
Really, deep down, you felt like you were going along with this because you had already given up.
On one hand, this could have very well been some scheme to just get you to walk home with Sunghoon. He often played pranks on people and had roundabout ways of asking for things, so this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
On the other hand, this would have been a really messed up prank. Your restlessness bled into your antics and mannerisms. During your gym period, you kept fumbling with the balls; during your English class, you ended up crossing out entire sentences by mistake; and during your lunch break, you found yourself wandering to Sunoo’s locker and staring at it blankly, as if he would come running any minute.
There had to be a logical explanation. Sunoo often got sick this time around, sending emails to his teachers in a frenzy with weak hands, apologizing profusely for being absent. He was probably scolded by his mother for being on his phone, and eventually had it taken away so he could rest. He was probably moping about not being able to tell his friends he was ill while spooning hot soup into his mouth.
You could feel your panic rising like a kettle boiling. With each step closer to the board, its whistling got louder.
You were being irrational. Sunoo wasn’t on the board. You checked this morning. He was probably at home, whining about coughing and sneezing.
“What happened yesterday?” you asked and clarified, “To Sunoo. You walked him back, right?”
Sunghoon shrugged. “I just walked in the direction of my house and told him to be careful when we parted ways. I think he must have gotten sick or something. It was pretty chilly yesterday.” After a few seconds of silence, he added, “People can’t just… disappear like that, can they?”
“No,” you replied, though the words felt strange on your lips, like you didn’t believe them yourself. “No, they don’t.”
Fear had gripped your insides like a vice, working its way around your heart like a thorned vine. It dared to beat out of its cage as you neared the board.
The kettle started rattling. Steam hissed from the spout.
Your senses heightened. The birds sang. Mocking. Ugly. Loud.
There was something Sunghoon said once—something about checking the board to make sure he didn’t see a face he knew. You knew you felt the same way, but you didn’t register the level of grief you’d feel until this very moment.
MISSING PERSON
HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
KIM SUNOO
BIRTH YEAR: 2003
HEIGHT: 177 CM
SUNOO WAS LAST SEEN LEAVING DAEIN HIGH SCHOOL ON OCTOBER 28, 2021. AUTHORITIES SUSPECT HE WENT MISSING WHILE HE WAS WALKING HOME.
IF ANYONE HAS INFORMATION REGARDING SUNOO’S WHEREABOUTS, PLEASE CONTACT THE SEOUL METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY IMMEDIATELY
You felt like throwing up.
“Shit,” Sunghoon said. Concern was pulled taut in the curve of his eyebrow, and his voice sounded waterlogged in your ears. “I’m so sorry, Y/N.”
“Don’t say that,” you croaked out. “He’s not gone. He can’t be.”
“Y/N—”
“He’s not gone!” you yelled. Your voice cracked, falling apart at the edges. “He’s not… he wouldn’t just disappear.”
You blanched, trying to make sense of the words on Sunoo’s poster. They started to blend together, dancing on the page, turning into streams of running ink.
This couldn’t be the last time you saw Kim Sunoo. Your last memory of him couldn’t be a fucking school picture on a piece of paper posted on a bulletin board. The feeling in your gut convoluted and turned into a monster, eviscerating you from the inside-out.
And, when you became aware of your surroundings for a split second, you noticed the birds had stopped chirping. The sound was replaced by the scream that ripped from your throat.
22:27:49
OCTOBER 30, 2021
“Sunoo’s gone,” you announced that night, voice hoarse and shot while you were on the phone with Jungwon. “His poster’s up on the board. Disappeared yesterday, apparently.”
You knew Jungwon was frozen on the other end, judging from the long seconds he took to process your words. “Fuck,” was all he could say.
You decided to change the subject. Even thinking about Sunoo made you cry, so you knew you couldn’t last a conversation about him without breaking down.
“Jaeyun’s dead.”
The line was silent for a moment, and, for a second, you thought Jungwon had hung up on you. It was only when Jungwon’s breath hitched that you realized you were crying. Fat, salty tears trickling down your cheek and falling onto your thighs. You couldn’t be loud because of your parents, but Jungwon heard it coming as soon as you started sniffling.
“Sunoo’s probably dead too,” you sobbed. “I should’ve listened to you and stayed away from Sunghoon.”
“Hold on—Sunghoon?” Jungwon asked. You could almost visualize the frown he was probably wearing on his face. “Y/N, what do you mean?”
“J-Jungwon, this is gonna sound stupid,” you said after sucking in a sharp breath, “but when I was in the locker room—when I saw Jaeyun—he was… he was on the floor. I think I saw… fangs. There was blood on Sunghoon’s chin.” Your mind collapsed into self-doubt, thinking about all the other things you might’ve seen instead. “Or… or maybe, um… I don’t know what I saw. Maybe I was just deluded, or—”
“No, you’re right.”
Jungwon’s confirmation made the dread settle deeper in your stomach. You weren’t going crazy, but that made you feel even worse. You wanted to be crazy. You wanted this all to just be some nightmare that you would wake up from in a cold sweat.
“I’m right?” you asked, voice dropping to barely a whisper.
“You’re right. Sunghoon’s a vampire,” he said. “That’s why I wanted you to stay away from him.”
“A vampire,” you echoed.
“Yes.”
You laughed bitterly. Sure, you had your suspicions, but this had to be a sick joke, right?
“A vampire? Like Edward Cullen?” you clarified, almost wanting to snort at the thought of a Park Sunghoon who sparkled under the sunlight.
“Y/N,” Jungwon warned.
“Sorry,” you murmured, trying to pull yourself together, “but you didn’t think I should’ve known about this before?”
Jungwon scoffed a little. “If you didn’t see him drinking Jaeyun’s blood, would you believe me? Not even the cops believed me when I walked in on him killing Jongseong.”
The blood under your skin went cold. You felt your vision blacking out. Head going dizzy. Brain rattling.
“Sunghoon… killed Jongseong? He didn’t go missing… he—”
“He was killed,” Jungwon finished grimly. “You’re lucky Sunghoon didn’t see you. If he did, you would’ve been dead by now.”
Your hands nearly fumbled with your phone. You remembered Sunghoon’s glowing eyes vividly, piercing into you like he could see every vein and artery lining your body.
You spoke quietly when you asked, “A-and what if he did see me?”
“Then I’d be talking to a corpse right now.”
You shuddered. You didn’t want to worry Jungwon more than you had, so you left out the little detail that Sunghoon had definitely seen you. Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe it was all in your head.
At least, that was what you wanted to believe until you saw those same glowing eyes at your window.
The scream was trapped in your throat, held in by the sharp glare Sunghoon sent you and the silencing finger in front of his lips. He eyed you carefully, and you realized he was waiting for you to get off the phone with Jungwon.
Holy fuck. This was it. This was where you were going to die.
However, the look in Sunghoon’s eyes wasn’t ravenous or bloodthirsty. Rather, he looked as if he wanted to talk to you, and you wanted to be impressed by how easily manipulated you were by him. His eyes were simply too trusting.
“Jungwon, I’ll call you back,” you said and hung up before your friend could object.
You didn’t want to open your window, but you knew Sunghoon wouldn’t go away if you just pretended he wasn’t there. In retrospect, he could very well break your glass and intrude if he wanted to. You settled for letting him in because some stupid, lovesick part of you wanted to believe that he wouldn’t hurt you.
Your eyes darted to the blood near his mouth.
“Heeseung got a little mouthy with me,” Sunghoon explained when you opened your window. He stayed where he was, not crossing the frame into your room. “What a shame. He was fun to be around for a while.”
You stayed silent.
“So you found out,” he said. “I knew you would eventually.”
Perhaps if you played dumb, then Sunghoon wouldn’t need to get rid of you, so you asked, “Found out what?”
He bared his teeth, a sick grin displaying two fangs. You laughed once, breathless and incredulous. You were absolutely screwed. Sunghoon’s face morphed from bored, to entertained, and then he chuckled.
“Relax,” Sunghoon drawled. “I’m not gonna kill you. If I wanted to, I already would’ve.”
You didn’t respond, so Sunghoon continued, “You probably already figured out I’m behind all the disappearances, but I’m done after Halloween.”
“H-Halloween?” you asked, frowning. As you recalled, the missing persons cases started up in the beginning of October. Sunghoon must have been going around to hunt his prey every night. “You’re done? What do you mean by that?”
“The taste of fear—it’s in their blood.” Sunghoon’s eyes darkened, his grin widening. “That’s why vampires hunt during October, and Halloween’s the final meal.” He looked more curious this time, studying your expression closely. “I’ll admit, I was interested in your blood, but you don’t seem to be all that scared of me.” Sunghoon leaned in closer, so close that you could feel his breath tickling your jaw. You could feel your hands starting to shake. “I think it’s because you’re still in love with me.”
Vampire. The word was strange in your head, foreign—probably even more so if it was on your tongue. You heard of them plenty in stories and movies, but you had never once expected to actually see the creature in the flesh. Your heartbeat was rapid, and you could hear it drumming in your ears.
“I’ve figured it out,” you whispered, voice barely audible despite your close proximity to the vampire.
Sunghoon’s tongue swiped across the fresh blood staining his bottom lip—Heeseung’s blood, you realized. He looked haunting under the pale glow from the moon, casting shadows on his face.
“Figured what out?”
“Why the birds stop singing when you’re around.”
Like you noticed before, the birds saw everything. This time, Sunghoon’s hands started to shake. It definitely wasn’t out of fear or nerves, and you wondered if it was either adrenaline or excitement.
Your voice was halfway between strangled and breathless when you continued, “They know what you are.”
A monster.
Sunghoon stared at you, something between peculiarity and amusement flickering in his eyes. You had no time to react when he grabbed your wrist, tugging you forward in an instant and pressing the sharp tip of a blade to your finger.
“Sunghoon!” you exclaimed, but your pointer finger was already between his lips, his tongue lapping at the incision he created.
“Just as I thought,” he mumbled, letting go of your hand with a sigh. “Your blood doesn’t taste that good.”
You felt strangely offended.
“Why are you telling me all this?” you asked, suddenly charged up with angry determination. “Why are you telling me about your kills and you being a vampire?” You choked up at the thought of Sunoo’s beaming face being splattered with blood. “Why… why would you kill my best friend?”
Sunghoon frowned. “If this is about your friend, then let me let you in on a secret.” He leaned close so that his lips were by your ear, and your mouth went dry when he said, “I didn’t lay a finger on Kim Sunoo.”
00:00:00
OCTOBER 31, 2021
You felt numb for the past hour.
Of course, Sunghoon could very well be lying, but you couldn’t see any reason for him to do so. He already confessed to killing tens and hundreds of people. There was no reason for him to keep you alive and to deny that he hurt Sunoo.
Speaking of Sunghoon, you weren’t sure what to do with the vampire stationed at your window.
He had been sitting at the windowsill for an hour, gazing up at the sky like he had no other cares in the world. The situation was bone-chilling, but your range of emotions couldn’t fully process the severity of your situation. You wanted to ask what in the world he was doing at your window, but part of you didn’t want to know—or, rather, you were too scared to find out.
You pulled out your laptop, typing ‘Vampire’ in the search bar. Just as you thought, countless websites about vampiric lore popped up. You snorted at the word revenants—something about vampires being human corpses that have risen from the dead to torment the living. It was all silly on screen, but seeing someone like Sunghoon in the flesh was terrifying.
Your gaze flickered to Sunghoon. He was still wordlessly sitting in the same spot, and you couldn’t tell if you felt like you were being guarded or stalked.
You finally mustered up the courage to approach the window, to approach the vampire. Before you could knock, however, Sunghoon’s head whirled around to face you, and his eyes were red.
“Sunghoon,” you started slowly, “are you okay?”
Your breathing stilled because now, he looked like a predator eyeing his prey, sizing it up. You took a step backward, and the situation felt like a time bomb ticking down. A low growl erupted from Sunghoon’s throat, and he banged on the window with his first. You shrieked at the sound of glass splintering and ran to your door.
That was when you realized that Sunghoon wasn’t looking at you at all.
He was looking at the person behind you.
“Jungwon?” you whispered harshly. “W-what are you doing here? How did you even get in?”
“Front door.”
Something was different about your best friend. He was abnormally pale under the moonlight and the bags under his eyes were darker than usual. His eyes were pitch black with flecks of gold swimming inside, but what made the hairs on the back of your neck rise was the blood dripping from his fist.
You paled. “Jungwon…”
Your best friend flexed his wrist and worked a crick out of his neck. “I’m fine. I just hurt my hand coming in.” You winced at his words, not wanting to know what they entailed. His gaze turned to Sunghoon, who was pressed up against the window and glaring daggers at Jungwon. Your best friend’s voice pitched low when he asked, “Did he hurt you?”
You couldn’t speak. Not when you had no idea who the person in front of you was.
Jungwon continued, “I lied to you, Y/N, and I’m sorry,” he apologized, and you couldn’t quite tell if he was actually sincere, but you were a fool for your best friend’s words—empty or not. “I did know Sunghoon was a vampire, but Jongseong wasn’t the reason why.” He paused. You knew what was coming, but it hurt all the same. “I knew because I’m one too.”
“Jungwon—”
“I got rid of Jongseong and Sunoo, but you’re still running back to Sunghoon.” Jungwon ran a hand through his hair and tousled it with a groan. “I don’t understand you at all, Y/N.”
Another pound against the window. Glass crinkling.
Your best friend pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sunghoon must be upset because I got to you first,” he said, “or, maybe your feelings really were reciprocated.”
You felt yourself getting lightheaded. “Wait—you… you’re the one who killed Jongseong and Sunoo?”
Jungwon scoffed, an amused look on his face. Something inside you broke, and you felt yourself giving up, so you just stared up at your best friend as he came closer. Jungwon kneeled down in front of you, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear.
He smiled. You always thought those smiles of his were so pretty, but now you were horrified. “I did it for you,” he said, “but you’ve broken too many rules, and they were so simple.”
In some sick and twisted way, you were able to recognize this as a blotched confession. Jungwon’s feelings for you were a messy root in his chest, a manifestation of shadows branching out under his skin.
Maybe if the circumstances were different. Maybe if this wasn’t the dark reality of the situation.
More pounding.
More glass.
“Did Sunghoon tell you? About how blood tastes better when you’re scared?” Jungwon asked, and all you could do was stare at him in dismay. Hands shaking—an adrenaline rush. He chuckled, moving your hair off your shoulder so that your bare neck was exposed. “Y/N, I’ve never seen you more terrified in my life.”
You could see Sunghoon’s enraged face as he broke through the glass, and then you could see the stars glimmering outside. They were twinkling against the inky sky, and you could only think about how beautiful they were.
And then you couldn’t think about anything at all as Jungwon’s sharp fangs sank into the flesh of your neck.
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