Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Having an older sister is a mixed bag. Sometimes, like when Jieun buys him a new flatscreen for his birthday, it’s a good thing. Other times, it’s not so great. Like when Jieun’s friend Sojin drops said flatscreen on Sunggyu’s foot, breaking his toe and prompting an unplanned hospital visit.

To alleviate her guilt, Sojin gives Sunggyu a (gross) drink that’s supposed to make him feel better. He downs it to appease her, but his toe does stop throbbing as painfully, so maybe she’s onto something.

The rest of the birthday celebration goes off without a hitch; Jieun and Sojin maneuver the TV into Sunggyu’s living room with no further injuries, Sunggyu’s parents give him some birthday cash in a singing card (which he would complain about, but he’s not about to turn down money), and Sunggyu stuffs himself full of cake. All in all, a good way to celebrate.

It’s late when everyone finally files out of Sunggyu’s apartment, but despite how tired he is, he still offers to drive everyone to the train station; even if it is his birthday, he doesn’t feel entitled to act like a complete asshole (most of the time).

The roads aren’t empty, persay—they never are in the city—but they’re significantly less congested than usual. The car’s quiet; it’s been a long day, and Sunggyu’s pretty sure Jieun’s falling asleep on her friend’s shoulder while their parents sit quietly, tired from a day of travel, festivities, and a surprise hospital visit. Sunggyu would probably be tired himself if not for the ridiculous amount of cake he’d eaten earlier. Still, he yawns as he pulls up to a red light.

The light changes to green and he pulls forward, only to be blinded by the glare of headlights to his left. The next thing he registers is a horn blaring and then—

Six people were caught in a motor vehicle accident this past Sunday night.

The accident occurred around 10:30 p.m. a short distance away from the Ua-dong station, according to officials.

Four of the passengers were announced dead at the scene, three of whom were passengers in one car and one of whom was the sole passenger and driver of the second car.

The remaining two people involved sustained light injuries.

A lone driver ran a red light at the intersection, police said. The driver was likely intoxicated.

No further information was immediately available.

Chapter Text

A bell jingles jarringly as Woohyun pushes open the door of the convenience store. It’s empty, apart from the bored-looking clerk. Woohyun makes his way to the snack aisle, itching for something to fuel his sleep-deprived mind enough for him to finish writing this paper that’s due in—a cursory glance towards his phone—less than five hours.

His eyes are drawn to the chips, so he grabs a bag and heads back to the clerk.

“Twelve hundred won.”

Woohyun fumbles to take the cash out of his wallet and hands a couple of bills to the cashier, who reaches across the counter to take the money. Their fingers brush at the exchange, and Woohyun spares a moment to take note of just how damn cold this guy’s fingers are—it’s not even fall yet, what the hell? But the exhaustion overwhelms him again, and he focuses his limited attention on transferring the change to his wallet.

“Thanks,” he mumbles, grabbing his chips.

“Have a good night.”

The thing about the convenience store is that it’s both closer to Woohyun’s apartment and cheaper than the nearest grocery store. Also, it’s open twenty-four hours every day.

So when Woohyun finds himself with a half-finished draft at two in the morning for the second time in the semester, he’s back at the same store for another late night snack. One of these days he’ll have to go on a proper grocery trip to stock up the apartment, but for now, chips will suffice.

He shuffles through the aisles and contemplates his chip selection sleepily, gaze sliding back and forth across the brightly colored bags. There’s really an absurd amount of flavors available, he thinks, especially when they all taste more or less the same. Will he even be able to tell the difference with how tired he is? Maybe it would be better to just choose the bag with the best design and put his somewhat meager funds towards promoting the career of whoever it is that designed the best chip bag—

The bell sounds from the entrance, signaling another customer in the store. Woohyun’s about to ignore it and keep stewing in indecision, but a raised voice catches his attention. He peeks over the aisle.

There’s a man at the counter pointing a gun at the cashier.

Pointing a gun at the—

Woohyun ducks back down and sinks to the floor, chips forgotten. Did the guy see him? He couldn’t have known Woohyun was there, otherwise he wouldn’t have come in, right?

“Okay, I’m going to open the register now.”

Woohyun can just make out the cashier’s voice. He’s pretty sure it’s the same guy who was here last time he came by in the middle of the night, and he wonders if the night shift workers are trained for this sort of thing; he sounds surprisingly calm.

The cash register slides open, but Woohyun’s breathing too loudly to hear anything else that’s going on. That is, until the distant sound of sirens catches his attention, and evidently the attention of the guy with the gun as well.

“You called the cops?” the man yells.

“No, they’re probably just passing by for something else, I—”

“Fuck—”

A shot rings out and Woohyun covers his ears and squeezes his eyes shut. He moves his hands away, but there’s still a ringing in his ears and he can’t comprehend what’s happening, what if the cashier is dead, what if he just witnessed a fucking murder—

The bell rings violently as, Woohyun assumes, the robber exits the store. Meanwhile, the sound of the sirens hasn’t abated; if anything, it’s gotten louder, so loud that they sound like they’re coming from right outside.

“Put your hands up!”

Oh, thank god.

Woohyun’s body sags against the aisle, knocking some of the snacks off onto the floor. He can’t hear any more gunshots, so presumably the danger has passed. But then he remembers the cashier.

The cashier who got shot.

Fuck.

He hauls himself to his feet and peers over the aisle, this time to see the cashier slumped over the counter. While he appears to still be alive, it’s obvious that he’s in pain. Woohyun hurries over.

“Hey, you’re gonna be alright, the police are here, everything's gonna be fine—”

“I’m good, don’t worry about me.”

Woohyun stops blabbering, eyes falling to the man’s chest. There’s obviously a wound there, and the hands he has over it are covered in blood; nothing about him says “good”.

“You’ve been shot; you need medical attention—”

“I’m fine,” the guy insists, and Woohyun’s really confused and maybe worried for the guy’s mental health now if he doesn’t think a fucking bullet wound is a big deal.

“You will be fine, but we should really get you on a stretcher or something—”

“Look at me!”

Woohyun’s not really sure what he means, since his eyes have been glued to the guy’s blood-soaked hands this whole time.

“I am looking at you, and I may not be a doctor, but even I know that bullet wounds are serious business—”

It’s the bell that cuts Woohyun off this time, along with the entrance of some uniformed men. They take in the situation and immediately start signaling for medical assistance, but the guy’s waving them off again.

Is this guy crazy?

Except, the police guys actually seem to believe him; the cashier talks to every damn officer that comes into the store, and each one just nods like it makes complete sense to leave a heavily bleeding man to his own devices. Woohyun’s pretty sure he’s the only thing standing in between this guy and an early funeral now, so he marches up to him again.

“Listen—”

“No, you listen.” And Woohyun finally looks the guy in the eyes, and he looks calm, if a little annoyed. “I am fine,” he repeats, “There was a gunshot, but the bullet didn’t hit me.”

For a moment, Woohyun considers this possibility. There definitely was a gunshot, and the guy does seem surprisingly coherent, so—

Wait. No, he definitely got shot. There was blood. There is blood. It happened.

“Bullshit,” Woohyun says.

The cashier’s eyes widen, and he looks a little panicked. Finally, an understandable reaction. He tries again, voice going frantic.

“No, it’s true, I didn’t get shot.”

“Then where did all that blood come from? I don’t know what’s wrong with all these—”

An officer interrupts him and pulls him aside, and he takes the chance to try and set someone’s head straight.

“Sir, that man needs medical attention, he’s been shot.”

The officer looks confused before replying, “A shot was fired, but as far as we know, no one was hit. Are you alright?”

Woohyun gapes. “No one was hit? Did you not see the blood?”

“Sir, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but he’s not!”

“There was no one injured,” the officer repeats, and Woohyun gives up. If the universe is conspiring to let some random cashier bleed to death, that’s not Woohyun’s problem. He’s done all he can.

Despite their obliviousness when it comes to the bullet wound, the officers do a very thorough job of piecing together what happened. It’s at least another hour before Woohyun is allowed to return to his apartment, and he didn’t even get his chips.

His laptop is still sitting at his desk, and he remembers the paper that got him involved in all of this in the first place.

He decides if anything were to warrant an extension, this would be it.

Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred in the 7-Eleven on 11th Street on Sunday night.

At around 2:00 a.m., police responded to a distress call sent out by an employee at the store. The robber was apprehended leaving the premises with a gun and the contents of the store’s register.

Although there was a shot fired, no one in the vicinity was injured.

Dear Professor Lee,

This is Nam Woohyun from your Music Aesthetics class. I just wanted to let you know that I will be taking a few days off from classes following a traumatic event.

Thank you for your understanding,

Nam Woohyun

He does finish the paper a couple of days later; it would be surprisingly easy to think of his self-prescribed time off as a surprise vacation if not for the times where he’s repeatedly struck by the realization that he witnessed an armed robbery, nevermind everything else that happened with the cashier.

Woohyun wonders how the guy’s doing.

Which makes it totally reasonable for him to hit up the convenience store a little past midnight about a week later. He’s not even really expecting the cashier to be there; he figures he’ll be lucky just to talk to someone else working there who might have more information that he does, but when he walks in, the guy is there.

It’s like nothing had happened.

He still looks bored, but, more surprisingly, completely uninjured. He’s just sitting at the counter, tapping at something on his phone. Until he looks up to see who’s come into the store, and his eyes fall on Woohyun. They widen, and ha—Woohyun knew he wasn’t crazy; there was something suspicious about the whole thing, otherwise cashier man wouldn’t be looking so freaked out.

“How’s the bullet wound?” Woohyun asks.

“Dude, I told you—”

“And I told you, that you can’t fool me. So what the fuck was that? How are you alive?”

Cashier man sighs and seems to argue with himself before responding, “No one will believe you, anyway.”

Finally, we’re getting somewhere, Woohyun thinks. Still, that wasn’t quite what he wanted to hear. “So you admit that you got shot.”

He shrugs. “I already told you my side of the story.”

So much for getting somewhere.

“Anyway,” he continues, “Are you here for more chips?”

“You remember me?” Woohyun asks, surprised and momentarily distracted from getting to the bottom of the case of the bulletproof cashier.

“I don’t get many other regulars at two in the morning, pal. And you always stumble in like a zombie to stare at the chips for like, an hour, before buying the same flavor that you get every other time.”

“A zombie, then, is that what you are?” Woohyun’s back on the case, but also fuck this guy for criticizing his chip decisions.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, if you’re already dead, then you wouldn’t need to worry about dying. I wouldn’t have expected so much blood, though.”

“I’m not a fucking zombie.”

“You know,” muses Woohyun, “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to swear at your customers.”

The cashier rolls his eyes. “Are you gonna buy your chips or not?”

Woohyun huffs and turns to go buy his chips, because even if not-a-zombie cashier guy is an asshole for calling him out, the shame is not enough for him to deny himself the chips that he was planning to buy anyway. He chooses a different flavor, though.

(Cashier guy still gives him a knowing look, and the new flavor isn’t even as good.)

“Werewolf.”

That’s what Woohyun opens with the next time he visits the store a few days later. He’s glad he checked to make sure the same guy was working the register before barging in with his ridiculous hypothesis, since it’s not the sort of thing he’d want to explain to a random night shift convenience store worker. Other than this one who he’s already somewhat familiar with, of course.

“Excuse me?”

Woohyun sighs. Sure, it may be past midnight, but this is the guy’s job; isn’t he used to being awake and functioning at this hour? “My next guess. Are you a bulletproof werewolf?”

“Am I a—” he cuts himself off. “No. I am not a bulletproof werewolf, nor am I any other kind of werewolf. The hell, dude?”

“Woohyun,” says Woohyun, if only to avoid answering the question. “My name is Woohyun, not dude.”

“Okay.” A pause. “The hell, Woohyun?”

“Are you not going to tell me your name? It’s only polite.”

“I’m wearing a nametag. Also, when have you ever been polite?”

Woohyun huffs. He can be plenty polite, just not when he’s dealing with bulletproof assholes like—he peers at the nametag—Sunggyu. “I am the fucking pinnacle of politeness, you...you not-werewolf...person.” Not his best comeback.

Sunggyu seems to agree. “Go buy your chips, Woohyun.”

(He does, but he also grabs a bottle of water just to mess with Sunggyu and his preconceived notions of what Woohyun buys. It doesn’t seem like that great of a comeback, either, especially when Sunggyu smirks like he knows exactly what Woohyun’s trying to do.)

Woohyun starts going to classes again. He honestly didn’t feel particularly traumatized in the first place, but he couldn’t have just gone to class the next day; the relative monotony of his day-to-day life would probably have convinced him that the whole ordeal hadn’t happened at all. In fact, even after a week, the ease with which he fits himself back into school life is shocking. It’s like nothing has changed.

But he knows something is different, because he goes back to the convenience store that night, and Sunggyu is still there.

“What’ve you got for me today?”

“Hm, demon?”

Sunggyu narrows his eyes.

“Nah, I can’t see it either. Not evil enough.”

“Wow, that’s high praise, coming from you.”

Woohyun laughs. “I’m a nice guy.”

“Debatable.”

“Aw, come on,” Woohyun says with a pout. “You like me at least a little bit.”

Sunggyu thinks for a moment before replying. What he finally settles on saying is, “I value all paying customers.”

“Fucker,” Woohyun mumbles in response. Sunggyu’s laugh follows him to the chip aisle.

The thing is, despite the fact that their relationship is born out of an armed robbery and Sunggyu’s still unsolved immunity to bullets, they get along well. Probably because they’re both assholes to each other, but hey, whatever works.

That’s why, the next time Woohyun stops by, he says, “Hey, angel, what time do you get off?”

Sunggyu looks confused for a moment before registering who’s speaking to him, but as soon as he realizes, he relaxes. “Not an angel.”

Woohyun shrugs. “Figured it was a long shot.” Sunggyu looks like he wants to argue, but Woohyun ignores him and continues. “My question still stands, though—when do you not work? We should hang out sometime that doesn’t involve me giving you money.”

“Are you telling me to buy you food instead of you buying it for yourself?”

“Well, since you brought it up…”

“My shift starts at ten if you want to get something to eat before then.”

Well, that was surprisingly easy. Woohyun thought he’d put up more of a fight. “Great! Do you know that chicken place across the street?”

Sunggyu nods.

“Want to meet there at seven on Thursday?” Seven seems like a reasonable time for dinner, Woohyun thinks, although apparently Sunggyu’s not entirely onboard.

“Uh, would you be able to do 8:30 instead?”

“Are you allergic to sunlight or something?” Woohyun jokes, but Sunggyu bristles.

“I just have—it’s a skin condition. If the time’s an issue you could just say so instead of fucking—”

“No, it’s fine! Sorry. We can do 8:30.” It’s the first time Woohyun’s pushed at one of Sunggyu’s boundaries; he’d known, logically, that there must be some reason behind him working when he does, but he’d kind of forgotten about it and the fact that that reason might be a sensitive topic.

He leaves that night feeling both residually guilty about his overstep and excited about having a chance to pester Sunggyu outside the of store.

Even though they’ve got plans for Thursday, Woohyun still comes in the day before. He’s earlier though; now that he knows when Sunggyu’s shift starts, he doesn’t have to wait until midnight anymore. Maybe he can still salvage his sleep schedule.

At 10:03, Woohyun walks in and sees Sunggyu sitting at the counter, as promised. He seems to be drinking something, which, as Woohyun gets closer, turns out to be coconut water.

“Coconut? This definitely proves you’re not human; who the hell drinks coconut water?”

“It’s got a lot of health benefits,” grumbles Sunggyu, screwing the cap back on the bottle with more force than is probably necessary. “You’re early.”

“Not many people would call ten o’clock early.”

“Everything’s relative. Seriously, though, what gives?”

Woohyun doesn’t really have an answer for that, actually. He’d just wanted to see Sunggyu and make sure everything was still okay between them after their last awkward encounter, but since that seems to have been confirmed, Woohyun’s not really sure what to do. So he resorts to sass.

“I thought you prided yourself on your knowledge of my chip buying tendencies.”

“You’re really here for chips again? That can’t be healthy; what else do you eat?”

What is he, some kind of health guru? Woohyun wonders. Then again, that might explain the coconut water. “I’ll be eating chicken tomorrow.”

Sunggyu narrows his eyes. “Do you buy anything for yourself to eat besides chips or do you rely on other people for all your nutritional needs?”

“My nutritional needs? You make food sound so weird.”

“You are much more annoying when you are fully awake.”

Woohyun grins and takes the statement as the compliment he thinks it might be. “Thanks.”

“Wait, I got it. You are definitely a vampire.”

A pause. “You guessed that like, two weeks ago.”

It’s the next night, and they’re finally meeting outside the store. While the interior of the chicken restaurant is a little cramped and noisy, it’s warm and smells delicious. Also, Woohyun doesn’t have to spend any of his own money this time.

“Yes, but now I’ve got, like, actual evidence,” he argues, “Hear me out.”

Sunggyu grabs another piece of chicken and chews noisily. Woohyun ignores him and starts his explanation.

“So, for starters, I assume vampires are bulletproof. That’s the big prerequisite. But then there’s the other stuff, like your sensitive skin. Since you can’t go out in the sun, you have to work the night shift like some nocturnal weirdo.”

Sunggyu makes a face but doesn’t interrupt, so Woohyun’s pretty sure the statement is okay.

“There’s also the whole coconut water thing, which I’m sure must be connected somehow,” he adds. Another thought occurs to him. “Wait, aren’t vampires immortal? How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-six.”

“Yeah, okay, so physically you’re twenty-six, but how long have you lived for?”

“Twenty-six years, Woohyun. I’m not a vampire.”

Woohyun slumps back in his seat. “Then I give up. I’ve run out of bulletproof mythical creatures. What are you?”

“A nocturnal weirdo, apparently.”

Woohyun cringes, but Sunggyu doesn’t appear to actually be mad; he’s grinning at Woohyun across the table, hands reaching towards another piece of chicken. He hasn’t even finished what’s in his mouth, though, so his cheeks puff out as he chomps down. It’s kind of funny.

“So,” Sunggyu starts once he’s finished chewing, “What do you do besides eat chips and read fantasy novels?”

“Fantasy novels?”

“Yeah, where else could you come up with all those creatures?”

“Popular media, man,” huffs Woohyun. “And I’m a college student; I’m studying music composition.”

“Really?” Sunggyu straightens in his seat, intrigued. “That’s so cool! I dabbled with composition in high school and a bit in college, but I never really did anything concrete. It’s great that you’re doing something you enjoy.”

“Yeah, although there’s honestly a lot more writing than I expected.”

He segues into explaining his most recent paper (excluding the fact that he got an extension for his last one because of the robbery), but his explanation quickly devolves into a series of complaints.

“I mean, the class is pretty interesting, but it seems more like a philosophy class than a music class, which is not really what I was looking for.”

Sunggyu hums. “Still, if you find it interesting then it’s gotta be worth something.”

“Sure, it’s kind of interesting, but I don’t actually have any strong feelings about how Stravinsky exemplifies the modernist idea of musical autonomy, and yet I had to write a paper on it.”

“I don’t think I understood half of those words.”

“I can explain it, if you want.”

A moment of consideration. “Sure.”

So he does.

They stumble out of the restaurant an hour later, warm and stuffed full of chicken. Woohyun thinks his stomach might burst, but it was definitely worth it.

“I can walk you back to your apartment, if you want,” Sunggyu offers, “My shift doesn’t start for a bit, and I assume you live fairly close.”

“That’s kind of creepy,” replies Woohyun, but he’s already leading the way towards his building.

“It’s just common sense. And anyway, between the two of us, your tendency of stalking me at work is definitely more creepy.”

“But is it really stalking if you tell me your hours?”

“It’s been months, Woohyun, and I told you my hours, like, two days ago.”

“But,” Woohyun counters, “You recognized me before we even started talking.”

“That was just good customer service,” says Sunggyu primly.

Woohyun doesn’t really have anything else to contribute to their pointless argument, so he settles for hurrying Sunggyu along as they cross the street. They eventually stop in front of Woohyun’s apartment building.

“You live here?” asks Sunggyu, sounding surprised.

“Yeah, but that question’s not really helping your not-a-stalker cred.”

“Ah, shut up, that’s not it. I live across the street.” He turns and points to the adjacent building, a similar apartment complex wedged in between a hair salon and a tea shop.

“Huh, small world.”

It’s the start of a routine; Woohyun still makes frequent visits to the convenience store, still buys the same flavor of chips, and still gets judged by Sunggyu for doing so, but now the two of them also try different local restaurants every couple of weeks. Much to Woohyun’s dismay, Sunggyu does not pay for every meal.

(“You owe me at least five meals, Woohyun.”

“But I buy chips all the time!”

“You do realize that the money you spend on chips doesn’t actually go to me, don’t you?”)

But their routine is thrown into ruin when Woohyun opens the door to the convenience store a little after eleven and is surprised to find someone he doesn’t recognize sitting at the counter. He approaches with caution.

“Hi, uh, excuse me,” he starts, “Is Sunggyu not here?”

New cashier—a woman with an eyebrow piercing and poorly dyed hair—looks at him for a moment before responding. “He called in sick.”

“Oh.”

It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise; it’s normal for people to get sick, after all, but it’s still shocking to see someone other than Sunggyu behind the counter. Maybe he should consider coming to the store when it’s light out just for the experience, but at this point he comes for Sunggyu more than he comes for chips. In fact, he isn’t all that hungry now, so his visit is rendered somewhat pointless by Sunggyu’s absence. Maybe he can still make something out of it, though; he wanders over to where the drinks are and grabs a bottle of coconut water. It’s the only thing he’s seen Sunggyu eat or drink from the store, and he’d said there were health benefits. Hopefully those help benefits go towards colds, too. He pays the pierced cashier lady and leaves, making his way to the building across the street from his own apartment.

Woohyun’s never actually visited Sunggyu’s apartment before, so he wonders if maybe this is crossing a line. But he’s already bought the damn coconut water and entered Sunggyu’s building, so he might as well go through with whatever it is his plan is. He presses the buzzer labeled Kim Sunggyu, 2b.

Someone, presumably Sunggyu, buzzes him in almost immediately. He climbs up the flight of stairs to get to the second floor and stops in front of what he’s pretty sure is Sunggyu’s door before knocking three times. The door swings open with a surprising amount of force.

“Woohyun?”

Sunggyu is standing inside, barefoot and clad in sweats and a t-shirt. He looks a little worse for wear, and he’s definitely surprised to see Woohyun. Who did he think he was letting into his apartment?

“Hey! I heard you were sick, so I—”

He’s cut off by a loud groan from Sunggyu. “You shouldn’t be here, Woohyun, really, this is—” He stops talking to exhale loudly, squeezing his eyes shut. Woohyun’s not really sure what’s wrong, but doesn’t want to just leave Sunggyu like this; he’s obviously struggling with something.

“Sunggyu, are you okay?” Woohyun reaches out a hand to put on his shoulder, but Sunggyu’s hand grabs onto his wrist in a heartbeat, his grip tight enough to bruise. “Ow, fuck, when did you get so strong?”

There’s no response, but Sunggyu starts to drag his thumb across the pulse point of Woohyun’s wrist distractedly. He seems more focused on that than what Woohyun’s saying.

“Sunggyu?” he tries again, more hesitant this time.

Suddenly there’s a flash of pain in his arm and then Sunggyu’s several feet away from him, his mouth—and eyes, of all things—red; his normally brown irises are now a deep shade of crimson, and his mouth in covered in—is that blood?

Woohyun looks down to see his wrist is bleeding. “Did you just bite me?”

“Uh—”

“You just bit me, what the fuck—”

“I’m sorry—”

“—and after I was nice enough to bring you coconut water, really this is the thanks I get for—”

“Coconut water?”

Woohyun blinks and looks up from his bloody wrist. “Really? That’s what you choose to comment on?”

“Well, the only reason I bit you,” Sunggyu grinds out, “Is because I haven’t had enough blood, but if I had known that you had a substitute, we could’ve avoided all this.”

“Coconut water is a substitute for blood?”

Sunggyu groans, and before Woohyun can process what’s happening, the bottle of coconut water has been wrenched out his hands and uncapped by Sunggyu, who takes one big gulp before sitting down on his couch. Woohyun’s about to say something, but then Sunggyu brings the bottle back to his lips and doesn’t stop drinking until it’s empty. When he’s finished, he leans back against the cushions, chest heaving.

“So,” Woohyun starts, “Want to talk about what just happened?”

A tired smile ghosts across Sunggyu’s face. “No one will believe you, anyway,” he says, echoing their conversation from forever ago. The statement seems heavier now.

Woohyun considers the best way to respond. “I’m a little upset, you know,” he says. Sunggyu tenses, and Woohyun hurries to continue before he gets the wrong idea. “It’s just—I guessed vampire twice, and both times you told me I was wrong.”

“Sorry about that,” Sunggyu replies, a hoarse laugh forcing its way out of his throat. He does sound genuinely sincere, but Woohyun guesses he’s not just talking about the guessing game. He’s not actually that bothered by it though, and he wants to make sure Sunggyu understands that he doesn’t actually have anything to be sorry for.

“I’m not actually mad, you know?”

Sunggyu looks at him as if he’s crazy; it probably would make more sense for Woohyun to be upset about being bitten by a vampire—and isn’t that a fun piece of information he’s going to have to process at a later time—but Sunggyu’s a friend, and he does seem genuinely apologetic.

“I mean, I can understand why you’d want to keep this a secret, uh. And from what I know about vampires, not drinking enough blood is—it’s bad? So, uh, I assume the whole biting me thing was not on purpose, unless it was in which case not cool, dude—” Sunggyu’s mouth twitches up into a small smile, so Woohyun plows on. “But, like, if it makes you feel any better, the whole blood and fangs look is kinda hot.”

What.

Woohyun’s eyes widen as he realizes what he’s said. He’d just been trying to make Sunggyu feel better, but he hadn’t intended to do so by telling him he was attractive; that wasn’t the kind of consolation he’d been aiming for at all. He considers backtracking, but it’s probably too late, and, well—

It is kind of hot, honestly. He wasn’t lying.

“Maybe you should leave the motivational speeches to the professionals,” says Sunggyu dryly, getting up from the couch. Woohyun can’t see his face anymore, but from his voice, he sounds like he might be smiling—proof enough that Woohyun’s little speech had actually been effective, despite Sunggyu’s comment.

“I usually deal with music, not words,” replies Woohyun airily, before becoming more serious. “But are you okay?”

The silence stretches for a while, but Sunggyu finally lets out a sigh and turns around. His mouth is mostly clean now, and his eyes are back to their original color; he looks pretty much the same as he looks any other day. “I’m better now. Sorry about—”

“Nope,” Woohyun interrupts. “You don’t need to apologize. Although I would really like to hear about everything vampire-related because now that I know this is real I’m super curious.”

“I’ll tell you about it,” Sunggyu promises, ”But not tonight. You can come over some time later this week and I’ll answer some of your questions.”

“Alright, I’ll leave you for now, then, I guess.” Woohyun makes his way back to the door, which they never did get around to closing. Hopefully the neighbors didn’t notice anything. “But can I ask one question before I go?”

“Make it quick.”

“How old are you?”

“I already told you; I’m twenty-six—”

“But how old are you really—”

Sunggyu slams the door in his face.

Woohyun wonders as he pushes the door to the convenience store if he should have given Sunggyu more space before confronting him, but it’s already too late; the bells have jangled and Sunggyu has noticed his entrance.

“Hey, Woohyun.”

“Can you turn into a bat?”

Sunggyu groans and lowers his head onto the counter with a thunk. He mumbles something against the—probably disgusting—surface, but Woohyun can’t make it out.

“What did you say?”

“I said,” says Sunggyu, lifting his head, “That this is infinitely worse than your last set of questions. No, I don’t turn into a fucking bat. And before you ask, under no circumstances do I sparkle.”

Woohyun had not actually been planning to ask that, but he’s surprised Sunggyu knows about the sparkling. “Big fan of Twilight, are you?”

“Popular media, man,” Sunggyu says, voice pitched strangely in what’s probably meant to be an imitation of Woohyun’s. His voice returns to normal as he continues, “But you’re obviously Team Edward, mister fang fetish.”

Woohyun feels his face heat and struggles with how to respond. “I mean, you look hot without the fangs, too,” is what he settles on, but he thinks his default flattery response is only digging his hole deeper, if Sunggyu’s smug expression is anything to go by. “I’m gonna go—I’m gonna buy some chips, I’ll just—”

He shuffles over to the chip aisle with red ears, but he gets his revenge in the form of a new chip flavor: garlic. He returns to the counter with his weapon. Sunggyu scans it for him without much fanfare, not even commenting on the change. Unperturbed, Woohyun takes the bag and rips it open, crunching on one of the crips while maintaining eye contact with an unamused Sunggyu.

(It doesn’t taste as good as his usual flavor, but whatever. He’s on a mission.)

“So,” he says after he’s swallowed. “How about—”

“Garlic’s not a problem.”

“Dammit!” yells Woohyun. He stuffs another chip in his mouth angrily and turns to leave the store. “You ruin all my fun!”

They do eventually schedule a time to meet and talk out some of Woohyun’s less ridiculous questions, carefully planning around the hours during which Sunggyu would apparently be the victim of some sort of super sunburn.

(“Technically I can go out in the sun, but it’s super painful, and I will probably die if I’m out there too long.”

“Have you considered investing in a parasol?”

“No, but Sojin’s trying to get me something that will stop me from burning.”)

Sojin, as it turns out, is the girl who is responsible for Sunggyu’s vampirism in the first place. They’re back in Sunggyu’s apartment, sitting on his couch; they’re sharing takeout, which is a whole other conversation about food and vampire diets that Woohyun will have to ask about later.

“It was an accident,” Sunggyu says.

“How can you turn someone into a vampire by accident?”

“Well, it’s a bit of a process, and dying is part of that process. The me dying part was an accident.”

Woohyun’s eyes go wide. “You died?”

“Um.” Sunggyu seems unsure of how to respond. “It was temporary?”

“Well, obviously, but—do you mind me asking how it happened?”

“Car accident,” Sunggyu replies, but there seems to be more to the story. Woohyun knows better than to push at this point, though.

“So if you died and came back to life, you’re kind of a zombie, right?”

“Does that make you a necrophile?”

“Are you always this much of an asshole when people tell you you’re attractive? Or are you just not used to it? Because that’s totally understandable—”

“Usually,” Sunggyu interrupts, “People who say I’m attractive don’t think it’s because I look like Count fucking Dracula. Maybe it’s just a you thing, though? Like, have your past girlfriends all been weirdly pale and sort of creepy—”

“I don’t—” Woohyun pauses. “I don’t have any, uh, past girlfriends.”

“Really?” Sunggyu sounds genuinely surprised. “What about Nicole?”

“No, we’ve never been anything other than friends.” Woohyun’s secretly pleased that Sunggyu remembers the friends he mentions, even if the conclusions he comes to about them aren’t entirely accurate.

“Huh. Wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Wow, that’s nice of you.”

“I mean, you would probably flirt with a door if you were having a bad day, so it’s—”

“Moving on!” Woohyun interrupts. “Next question: can you turn the fangs and red eyes on and off?”

Sunggyu nods but doesn’t demonstrate.

“What, no show?”

“I don’t really like doing it if I don’t have to,” Sunggyu says, scowling, but Woohyun’s not discouraged; he’s come to better understand Sunggyu’s boundaries, and he’s pretty sure this isn’t one he has to avoid.

“Come on,” he wheedles, ”For me?”

Sunggyu rolls his eyes but obliges, much to Woohyun’s relief. His irises shift from dark brown to a deep red, and a set of sharp teeth extend from his gums; it’s actually pretty freaky to witness, but at the same time Woohyun can’t look away. Absentmindedly he reaches out, tracing his fingers lightly along the sharp edges as if to make sure that they’re real, solid. It’s even more surreal when he feels the fangs start to slide back up, retreating into Sunggyu’s gums. Woohyun removes his hand and shifts his gaze upward to meet Sunggyu’s eyes; the last of the red is fading, and his pupils seem slightly larger than before. Woohyun wonders if it’s part of the transformation.

“Happy?” says Sunggyu with a huff, pulling away slightly.

Woohyun responds with a grin. “Very.”

They start meeting at the store less and at Sunggyu’s apartment more. Sometimes they end up at Woohyun’s place, but it’s not as often; Sunggyu always feels more comfortable when in close proximity to his coconut water.

(Woohyun had thought, upon seeing Sunggyu’s fridge stock-full of the stuff, that it was perhaps a weirder experience than getting bitten by a vampire. Because, seriously, coconut water?)

Eventually Woohyun annoys Sunggyu into a vampire movie marathon. They start with Twilight because it’s a classic, settling down on Sunggyu’s couch with some popcorn. Halfway through, Woohyun realizes that he may know the movie a little better than he’s proud to admit, because he can quote the forest scene almost word for word.

“I know what you are,” he intones.

Sunggyu does not fill in Edward’s lines, but Woohyun keeps going.

“Vampire.”

The music picks up and Woohyun looks to his side for some sign of enthusiasm from Sunggyu—who is chewing on his popcorn, looking pretty bored.

“Really? Nothing?”

Sunggyu shrugs. “What you want me to say? This is nothing like how it was for us.”

“Are you saying we’re like Bella and Edward?” Woohyun wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“I just said that we weren’t. Do you even listen to me?”

“Only when you’re talking about something interesting. Speaking of which,” he continues, mind going back to the movie, “How much of that vampire spiel was true? I mean, I know sunlight is a problem and that your eyes change, but do you have super strength and super speed?”

Sunggyu sighs. “Yeah, I guess. Obviously I can eat, though. I guess I’m colder than usual? I’m not really sure.”

“Hm,” Woohyun says, grabbing Sunggyu’s fingers. They are a little colder than might be expected (and greasier—the popcorn is pretty buttery), but not unnaturally so. “You could probably pass it off as bad circulation,” he says.

Sunggyu doesn’t respond with anything other a soft hum of acknowledgement. His eyes are cast downward, watching Woohyun’s fingers fiddle with his own.

“Maybe I can warm them up for you?” Woohyun asks. Sunggyu still doesn’t say anything, but he also doesn’t pull his hand away. Woohyun takes that as permission, and they both turn their attention back to the screen. They watch the rest of the movie in silence, fingers lightly intertwined. Sunggyu’s never do warm up, but it’s alright; there’s something refreshing about their coolness, what with the heating cranked up and the warmth of microwave popcorn sitting in their bellies. As the movie ends and the prom lights on the screen fade out into credits, Woohyun speaks up again. “Is that how the transformation works?” he asks.

There’s no answer, and when Woohyun looks over, he realizes that it’s because Sunggyu is asleep. Something else the movie got wrong, he thinks, followed by, he didn’t even make it through one movie.

He removes his hand from Sunggyu’s and gets up from the couch, looking around for a blanket. There’s one messily flung over the back of the couch, so he grabs it and drapes it across Sunggyu as delicately as he can. He puts his shoes on and leaves the apartment, closing the door with a soft click behind him.

The next night Woohyun returns to the apartment and pulls up New Moon, and Sunggyu groans.

“Do we really need to watch all of them? Isn’t one enough? Have you even seen any vampire movies other than these?”

“You didn’t even make it through the first one,” Woohyun argues, ignoring Sunggyu’s very valid point about his lack of a decent vampire movie repertoire; why he thought this marathon was a good idea he doesn’t know.

Regardless, they do end up starting the movie. It’s a lot more convoluted than the first one, and honestly it’s also pretty depressing. As Bella gets on a motorcycle and angsts over Edward, Woohyun lets his mind wander, and of course what he lands on is—

“What do you think fangs feel like if you’re making out with someone?”

Sunggyu coughs beside him, and he croaks out a confused “What?”

“I mean,” Woohyun goes on, “Would they get in the way, or, like, stab you? Or would it be totally normal?”

“I don’t know, Woohyun. Maybe you can go buy some of those fake fangs and try making out with someone with them on.”

“But why bother with those when you’ve got the real thing?”

Sunggyu’s mouth drops open. “You’re kidding, right?” he says, incredulous. “You don’t want to make out with me.”

“I mean, I’d be willing to try it. Would you?”

“You don’t—” Sunggyu seems stricken. “I’m not going to do—that. No.”

Woohyun shrugs and tries to pretend rejection doesn’t sting like a bitch, turning his attention back to the movie instead. Maybe he should try motorcycling or cliff-diving or whatever else Bella seems to be doing; if it works for her, maybe it’ll work for him, too. (Although, as the movie goes on, it becomes apparent that it doesn’t really work for her, so maybe it’s not a great idea).

Eventually the awkward silence that stretches between them becomes too much for Woohyun, but he’s not quite ready to talk about anything serious. “Do you have any issues with religious imagery?” he asks.

“I don’t think so,” Sunggyu replies, seeming equally eager to get past the awkward moment, “But I haven’t really run into any that I can think of. Do you have a cross on you?”

“No, we’ll have to test that out some other time. How about stake to the heart? A bullet didn’t do it, but would a wooden stake?”

“I also do not know that, and I have no desire to find out.”

Woohyun sighs dramatically. “I guess I’ll never know then.”

“Thanks for valuing my life over your curiosity,” Sunggyu says wryly, and Woohyun thinks maybe they’ll be okay.

Except—

Except Woohyun doesn’t understand why Sunggyu turned him down in the first place; his previous advances (if they can be called that) had been received fairly well, and even after their awkward movie night, Sunggyu still seems to like him. And Woohyun’s pretty sure it’s not just his ego talking. Sunggyu’s biting remarks still sound sarcastic, but there’s an air of fondness about them, and the fact that he entertains Woohyun’s weird questions or requests (at least, most of them) is pretty telling as well. So he’s confused.

He walks into the store sometime after three—which is much later than he’s visited in awhile—with the intention of confronting Sunggyu. When he walks in, though, he’s momentarily distracted by Sunggyu’s good mood.

“Guess what I figured out how to do?”

He doesn’t even say hello, just dives right in. Woohyun wonders what he’s so enthusiastic about. “What?”

Sunggyu’s eyes turn red, but when he smiles his teeth are flat. The color fades moments after, but the grin stays on his face. He looks proud of himself. “I can separate them, now! I think it means I have better control? Which is great, since that means I can keep it from happening when I don’t want it to, which is pretty much all the—”

“You don’t want it to happen?”

“Yes, I’ve told you this.”

“But it’s so cool.”

Sunggyu rolls his eyes. “Yes, Woohyun, I’m well aware of your kink—”

“You make it sound weird! I’m just appreciating the novelty of the supernatural. Don’t you find it at least a little neat?”

The smile drops from Sunggyu’s face. “No.”

Woohyun feels like the conversation has soured somehow, but he’s not sure how it did or how to fix it. He resorts, as usual, to flattery. “Do I have to appreciate it for you, then? I mean, I already told you the fangs were hot, but you never struck me as the kind of guy who needs constant validation. And red’s a good color on you, so honestly you could’ve ended up with a much worse—”

He stops talking when he notices that Sunggyu’s eyes are red again. At first he thinks that maybe he’s inspired him to embrace the color, but if anything, Sunggyu seems angrier.

“You have no idea—”

“I know what you’ve told me!” responds Woohyun, raising his voice slightly. “Just because it’s not perfect doesn’t mean it’s all bad—”

Sunggyu snaps. “Dammit, Woohyun, just forget about it—”

Woohyun finds himself a couple streets away from his apartment, not entirely sure as to how he came to be there. He pulls his phone out to check the time and is rather surprised to see that it’s almost four in the morning. Did I sleepwalk out here or something? he wonders. That’s never been a habit of his as far as he knows, though, so it doesn’t seem too likely.

Although he’s not sure why he’s outside in the cold before dawn, Woohyun figures it could be worse; he’s had weirder hallucinations from sleep-deprivation, and he feels pretty coherent at the moment. Coherent enough to consider grabbing some chips from the 24/7 convenience store on the corner, but he decides that getting back to his apartment should probably be his priority at this point. He turns and heads home.

Chapter Text

Woohyun swipes his thumb back and forth across his phone screen, hoping maybe the repetitive movement will provide some kind of mental stimulation; he’s already scrolled through all the social media he has, so this is his last resort before he has no choice but to keep doing homework. Once his eyes start to glaze over from staring at the same few pages of apps, he opens his contacts list and scrolls through that instead. He’s not really expecting to see anything exciting, although some of the names he skims remind him of old friends he hasn’t contacted in a while. One name does seem out of place to him, though.

Kim Sunggyu?

He doesn’t remember putting the name in his phone. It could be a number Nicole or Kibum plugged in for him, but even that seems unlikely considering he just changed his passcode last week.

[ 22:09 ] Who is this?

There’s no immediate reply, so Woohyun closes his phone and sighs, resigning himself to the inevitability of productivity. He grabs a textbook and gets to work. About halfway through the chapter, though, as his glasses are beginning to slide far enough down his nose to be distracting, he takes a break and caves, checking his phone. To his surprise, there’s been a reply.

[ 22:23 ] Sunggyu

It’s not a very helpful reply. Woohyun types back, confused.

[ 22:39 ] I don’t remember putting your number in my phone, do we know each other?

He puts his phone down and tries to focus back on the chapter, but he’s distracted by his phone buzzing again. He really should have put it on silent before trying to get any work done, but it’s too late for that now.

[ 22:44 ] I think a friend of yours put it in

Huh, so maybe the new passcode hadn’t been as effective as he’d thought. He’ll have to have a word with Kibum and Nicole about invasion of privacy. Also, who the hell is this guy, anyway?

[ 22:44 ] Seems like something they would do. Are you a student?

The reply is almost immediate.

[ 22:44 ] no

[ 22:45 ] Okay?

[ 22:47 ] I’m not a student but I live near the university

[ 22:48 ] How old are you?

[ 22:56 ] 26

[ 22:57 ] That took awhile. Did you have to count?

[ 22:57 ] fuck off dude

[ 22:57 ] I’m at work

Woohyun does not fuck off.

[ 22:58 ] How do you know if I’m a dude? That’s kind of creepy

[ 22:59 ] am I wrong?

[ 23:00 ] No. Still creepy though

[ 23:00 ] suit yourself man

Unsure of how to respond and figuring he’s wasted enough time anyway, Woohyun leaves the conversation at that.

Strangely enough, neither Kibum nor Nicole fess up to having put the number in his phone, and he’s pretty sure neither of them are lying—Nicole’s left eye doesn’t twitch and Kibum doesn’t start playing with his hair—so Woohyun’s not entirely sure how he got this guy’s number. It couldn’t have been some group project that he’d forgotten about, and Woohyun’s pretty sure he hasn’t talked to anyone outside of the university other than his family in a long time (probably too long, honestly).

[ 12:49 ] Where do you work?

The text goes unanswered for most of the day; it isn’t until several hours later that he finally gets a reply.

[ 21:13 ] convenience store

[ 21:14 ] Night shift?

[ 21:14 ] yeah

The guy’s not very talkative, but Woohyun’s curiosity runs deep enough to warrant further questioning. After all, his number ended up in Woohyun’s phone somehow.

[ 21:16 ] Do you know who I am?

[ 21:17 ] with that attitude? some kind of celebrity obviously

[ 21:17 ] I didn’t mean it like that

[ 21:18 ] Have we met?

[ 21:19 ] do you usually not remember the names of people you meet?

Woohyun’s about to type out an angry reply asking Sunggyu to stop avoiding the damn question, but another text comes in before he can type his own.

[ 21:19 ] you come into the store where I work sometimes

Oh. Woohyun knows, logically, that there’s a cashier at the corner store he frequents for snacks, but he can’t really picture what the guy looks like. As far as he knows, they’ve never even spoken. He looks at the open book on his desk; he’s not really getting much done, anyway, and he is kind of hungry. Maybe a trip to the store is a good idea. He pockets his phone and grabs his jacket, wallet, and keys, pausing to lock his apartment before exiting the building and going out onto the cold street. The store’s not far at all, so barely ten minutes have passed before he’s pushing the front door open, disturbing the entry bells.

“Sunggyu?”

The man at the counter looks up. He’s a little pale, with short, wavy brown hair and small, dark eyes widened in surprise. Somehow, he doesn’t look at all familiar. Which is strange, since Woohyun definitely comes to this store fairly often; he’s spent way too much money on junk food here, especially during the past couple months.

“Yes?”

Man, this guy makes him do all the work. “I’m Woohyun. We were texting?”

“Ah, yes. We were.”

There’s an awkward pause. Woohyun’s not really sure where to go from here; he thought maybe seeing the guy whose number he doesn’t remember putting in his phone might answer some of his questions, but if anything, it’s just inspired more. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I don’t really remember you.”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” he says with a strange lack of emotion.

“Do you recognize me, or—”

“Yeah,” Sunggyu answers, “You come into the store a lot.”

“So you’ve noticed me.”

“I guess?”

“Hm, do you notice all your customers?’

“Only the short ones.” It’s said with such a straight face that it takes Woohyun a moment to realize he’s being made fun of.

“Wow, rude.” He’s actually kind of surprised; Sunggyu seems pretty subdued in person, but the personality from the few texts they’ve exchanged finally makes sense now, especially since Sunggyu’s expression is starting to look more like a smirk than anything else. “So, do you know why your number is in my phone?”

Sunggyu shrugs. “Not sure what to tell you. If it bothers you that much you can just delete it, though.”

“That’s not really what I’m worried about,” Woohyun grumbles, but he doesn’t ask any more questions; it’s obvious that Sunggyu’s not going to give him any satisfying answers. Instead he sighs and walks to the chip aisle, figuring he might as well get a snack now that he’s here.

He returns to the register, passes some bills to Sunggyu, and leaves the store with his chips. He feels like he’s forgotten something though, and he checks his pockets to confirm that his wallet and keys are on him. When he finds them where they should be, he shrugs and chalks the odd feeling up to the late hour.

For the first time in a long while, Woohyun invites Kibum and Nicole to his apartment. Usually they just hang out at Nicole’s place because she has the biggest apartment (and the biggest TV). Still, it’s good to switch things up occasionally, and Woohyun feels as though some quality time with friends is overdue.

“Hey, you wanna order some pizza?”

Woohyun rolls his eyes. He’d forgotten that with hosting came being responsible for food. Normally he’d be up for pizza, but he’d actually bought some for himself a few days ago, and he’s been eating the leftovers since; he’s kind of tired of pizza. So he offers an alternative.

“I could cook something instead. I’d need to buy a couple things, but I think I can get everything from the 7-Eleven instead of the grocery store.”

Nicole nods, and Kibum lets out a whoop. “Cook for us, Ratatouille!”

“What did you just call me?”

“The best friend a man could ever have?”

“Hm, sure. I hope you know that if I’m cooking, you’re paying.”

Kibum shrugs. “Fine by me,” he says, leading the way out of the apartment. Woohyun follows behind him with Nicole, making sure to lock the apartment on his way out. When they make their way out onto the street, Woohyun takes the lead. It’s still pretty cold out, but the weather’s starting to get warmer. About a month earlier and he probably wouldn’t have been willing to make such a walk so late at night, when the winter cold was at its worst.

As it is though, the walk is only a little bit chilly, and the three stumble into the heated store without too many complaints. Woohyun sees Sunggyu at the counter and sends him a smile.

“Hey, Sunggyu!”

Sunggyu returns his smile, but just barely; the guy looks weirdly nervous. “Hey, Woohyun,” he replies.

Figuring that whatever’s got Sunggyu acting weird is probably none of his business, Woohyun continues on his way to a different aisle from where he usually finds himself. He’s sort of limited in what he can make considering what he has at home and what’s on the store’s shelves, so it doesn’t take long to pick out what he needs. He brings everything to the counter and gestures to Kibum to pay. Kibum sighs but takes out his wallet and passes some bills to Sunggyu, who takes them before returning the change. Woohyun thinks they’re ready to leave, but then Kibum speaks up.

“So, are you friends with Woohyun?”

“Um.”

“You two are on a first name basis and everything. Woohyun hasn’t mentioned a Sunggyu, although there was that guy—”

“Oh my god, Kibum, leave him alone. He’s the guy whose number I didn’t know.”

“Huh.” Please be satisfied— “So how’d you end up with Woohyun’s number, Sunggyu?”

“He, uh—he texted me.” Sunggyu seems concerned by the sudden interrogation.

Kibum squints. “And you didn’t have his number before he texted you?”

“No.”

“Anyway!” Woohyun nearly yells, “I think we’ve spent enough time harassing Sunggyu—” for some reason Sunggyu frowns slightly at this, “—and I, for one, am pretty hungry. Let’s go.”

He half-drags his two friends out of the store, managing a half wave at Sunggyu with the arm he’s using to drag Nicole. He lets go once they’re back out on the street. Luckily, they don’t run back inside, instead following Woohyun back to his apartment.

The relief doesn’t last long, though.

“He’s totally into you,” says Kibum, out of nowhere.

“Excuse me?”

“Absolutely,” agrees Nicole. “Dude’s got a thing for you. For some reason.”

Ignoring the jab, Woohyun gapes. “We barely know each other, what the hell?”

“Not knowing each other doesn’t seem to be stopping him, dude. He’s got the hots for our Woohyun.”

Nicole coos. “Ah, young love.”

“I’m not even that much younger than you guys,” Woohyun argues, although really that’s not the part that he should be disputing. “Also, we don’t know each other.”

“Yet!” Kibum says gleefully, and Woohyun groans.

“Remember who’s making your dinner!”

The threat goes unheeded; Kibum and Nicole continue laughing as they walk down the street. Luckily, though the subject drops for the rest of the night.

Woohyun foolishly thinks that’ll be the last of it.

It comes back to haunt him a couple weeks later when he and Kibum meet up at the library after classes to get some work done.

(Sure, he could try and work back in his apartment, but there are less distractions in a library, especially when it’s as late as it is.)

Woohyun makes it about halfway through an assignment before deciding he deserves a break, and he reaches onto the table for his phone, only to find that it’s not where he left it. He shuffles some papers around, wondering if maybe it’s gotten lost in the mess, before looking up to see Kibum typing away on it.

“Fucker—” he whispers, swiping it out of his hands. Kibum pouts, but otherwise looks unapologetic. Woohyun really needs to reconsider who he lets access his phone, because at this rate he’s going to run out of new password combinations. A text comes in.

[ 22:07 ] you alright there?

It’s from Sunggyu. Woohyun scrolls back through the previous messages and pales, hurrying to type a response.

[ 22:08 ] Sorry! That was Kibum, please forget everything that he said!

[ 22:08 ] will do

“So, what’d he say?”

Woohyun glares. “Nothing. Please stop being creepy towards people you don’t know. Actually, if you could stop being creepy in general—”

“Pfft,” Kibum dismisses him. “You wouldn’t have made a move otherwise.”

“And who says I wanted to make a move?” Woohyun hisses, trying to be mindful of where they are. “I still don’t believe all that crap about him liking me.”

“But you want him to like you?” Kibum surmises, and—no. That is absolutely not what he was trying to get at, where did Kibum even find these weird psychoanalytic skills— “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“We are not getting somewhere! There’s nowhere to get! The end!”

Kibum sighs knowingly and shakes his head with a small smile. “Denial is just the first step in a process.”

“Fuck off,” Woohyun groans (at a library-approved volume), taking his headphones out of his bag. He should’ve know that Kibum would be more distracting than anything his apartment had to offer.

[ 22:02 ] Hey hot stuff ;)

[ 22:03 ] ??

[ 22:03 ] what are you doing

[ 22:03 ] Nothing much haha what r u up to cutie ;)

[ 22:04 ] are you drunk

[ 22:05 ] No I’m Woohyun!

[ 22:06 ] those are not mutually exclusive

[ 22:06 ] I’d like to get mutually exlcksjhy

Nicole’s not much better; when Woohyun tries to talk to her about how weird Kibum is being, she just laughs.

“I’m serious! I don’t know why he’s making such a big deal out of it.”

Nicole sobers a bit and looks at him. “It’s not a big deal if you don’t make it one.”

“But he’s the one that—”

“So why do you keep talking about it? If it’s not a big deal, you can just move on.”

Woohyun opens his mouth to respond but closes it fairly quickly. He wants to keep arguing that he’s not the one who keeps talking about it, but then he would be talking about it more, proving Nicole’s point. Damn logic. He settles for a sigh.

“Your life’s hard, I know,” Nicole consoles, sounding more condescending than anything.

“You could at least be a little sympathetic,” he grumbles.

She just laughs at him again.

It’s not like Woohyun can just ignore Sunggyu; he needs his chips, and his go-to store just happens to be where Sunggyu works. Really, it would be immature to try and avoid him just because Nicole and Kibum are being weird over nothing.

The next time he visits to store, he nods to Sunggyu and grabs his usual bag. Back at the counter, while Sunggyu scans his purchase for him, he says, “Sorry about my friends.”

Sunggyu hands over the chips. “No worries. Beggars can’t be choosers.”

Woohyun’s already put his change in his wallet and started opening the bag by the time Sunggyu’s words register, but when they do, he’s floored.

“You—”

“Have a nice evening.” Sunggyu smiles wanly.

Too dumbfounded to conceive of a comeback, Woohyun leaves.

“Beggars can’t be choosers, he says, like I’m some kind of loser—”

Nicole’s the one eating chips now, chewing thoughtfully as she watches Woohyun rant. Kibum’s sitting beside her, looking slightly more enthused about the whole situation than Woohyun thinks he has any right to be.

“I mean who says that, seriously?”

“Ah, pigtail pulling, the classic childhood courting ritual,” sighs Kibum.

Nicole nods sagely.

“Not this again, guys.”

“You brought this upon yourself,” says Nicole through a mouthful of chips. Gross.

“I mean, you are kind of a loser—” adds Kibum, but Woohyun’s not having any of it.

“Okay first of all, you’re not doing yourself any favors by calling one of the people you’re friends with a loser, and second, I’m pretty sure Sunggyu’s just an asshole.”

“I don’t know,” muses Nicole, “He seemed pretty polite when he was talking to Kibum?”

“Well he doesn’t know Kibum—”

“But he knows you! And I bet he’d like to know you even better.”

“Only so he can insult me more accurately. Seriously, I’m pretty sure he’s judging me every time I’m in there buying chips.”

“Does he give you a look?”

“I guess?”

Nicole and Kibum turn to each other. “The look,” Kibum gushes, and they both sigh dreamily like everything’s a romantic drama. Woohyun figures he might as well stop arguing for now; at this point, anything he says will just be twisted beyond recognition.

Even though he knows going back to the store will only give Sunggyu more ammo with which to insult him—thus giving Nicole and Kibum more ammo with which to annoy him—Woohyun returns. He’s not going to let Sunggyu’s insults or his friends’ overinvestment in his nonexistent love life stop him from buying chips at the most convenient place available to him.

When he enters, there’s someone else in the store, a woman at the counter talking to Sunggyu. They seem close. Woohyun approaches with caution.

Sunggyu’s eyes widen when he sees him, which seems to catch the attention of who Woohyun assumes must be his friend—or maybe girlfriend? The atmosphere is oddly tense, or at least Sunggyu is; the woman seems calm and collected.

“Are you Woohyun?”

“Uh, yes,” he replies, wondering what Sunggyu’s told her about him. He can’t gauge her reaction; she’s weirdly unreadable.

“I’m Sojin, Sunggyu’s friend,” she says, mysterious as ever. “Nice to meet you.”

“You as well.” He actually doesn’t know if he’s happy to have met her. He’s more intimidated than anything.

Luckily the tension breaks when Sojin says, “Well, I’d better be going. Have a nice night, you two,” before breezing out the door. It’s a surprisingly dramatic exit to have taken place in a convenience store, but maybe that’s just how she is, Woohyun supposes.

There’s an awkward silence following Sojin’s departure. Sunggyu lets out a breath.

“She seemed...nice,” Woohyun says, hesitantly.

Sunggyu makes a face. “Did she really?”

“Well she wasn’t not nice,” he hedges.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Sorry if she made you uncomfortable.”

Woohyun’s about to say it’s not a problem considering what his own friends have subjected Sunggyu to, but then he remembers Sunggyu’s comment from the other day.

“She was pretty weird, yeah,” he says. “But I guess beggars can’t be choosers.”

Sunggyu’s surprisingly unaffected; it’s like Woohyun’s attitude doesn’t even phase him. “It doesn’t have the same effect if you just repeat what I say,” he says.

“Well I think we can agree that we’re both lacking in quality. In terms of quantity, however, I appear to be winning.”

“Are you saying that you only have two friends?”

“Only two that you’ve met. And I’ve only met one of yours, so...”

Sunggyu grimaces. “Go buy your chips, Woohyun.”

Woohyun thinks maybe he’s come out on top for once.

He doesn’t tell Kibum or Nicole about his last visit; it’s partly because they’d just tease him more, but it’s also because there are some things he likes to keep to himself. Still, Woohyun’s silence seems to indicate to Nicole that it’s been far too long since his last visit to the 7-Eleven (when really it’s been less than a week), so he ends up going back.

With Nicole.

(What could go wrong?)

She’s the one to push the door open confidently, which makes sense considering she’s not the one with her dignity at stake. Woohyun shuffles in behind her, wondering why he gives in so easily to his friend’s demands.

“Good evening, Sunggyu!” she says cheerily. Sunggyu seems confused by her enthusiasm but returns the sentiment with a polite nod, which Woohyun is still frustrated by; why does his mean streak only seem to come out around Woohyun?

“Anyway,” continues Nicole, “I’m just going to grab a couple things, but I’ll leave Woohyun here to keep you company.” Then she skips off into the aisles, leaving the two relatively alone.

“I don’t actually know what she’s planning to buy,” admits Woohyun.

Sunggyu hums. “Do you even know what we stock besides your chips?”

“Hey! I buy other stuff, sometimes.”

“Only when your friends are with you.”

Woohyun squints at him in suspicion. “How closely do you monitor my shopping habits?”

“There’s not much else to do during the night shift,” Sunggyu says. He sounds kind of frustrated, but his ears seem a little red, which— huh .

Maybe Nicole and Kibum are onto something after all.

“It’s not because I’m special?” he says, deciding to tease Sunggyu a bit, but Sunggyu’s face just morphs itself into a confused look.

“What are you doing?”

“He’s flirting with you,” answers Nicole, returning from the aisles carrying—are those pickles?

“Why?”

It takes Woohyun a moment to realize Sunggyu’s not talking about the pickles (of all, things, Nicole, why pickles?) but then he’s not sure what to say. Why is he, as Nicole said, flirting with Sunggyu?

“Why not?” he says.

“That’s not really a reason,” Sunggyu argues.

“Ugh, boys are dumb,” sighs Nicole, putting her jar of pickles on the counter for Sunggyu to scan. He does so silently, eyebrows furrowed in a way that suggests he’s thinking about something slightly more complex than scanning a jar of pickles; it can’t be that hard of a task, can it?

“Is that all?”

Nicole looks to Woohyun even though she was the one purchasing something.

“Yeah, we’re all set,” he says. “Bye, Sunggyu.”

They leave the store, and Woohyun’s pretty sure he can hear Nicole mutter under her breath.

“Seriously, so dumb.”

Woohyun thinks about his question from earlier—not the pickle one, but the one about why he was flirting with Sunggyu. If he puts aside the snarky comments for a moment, he can admit that Sunggyu’s a pretty decent guy; he’s cute, funny, and (probably) interested. And Woohyun may be a little interested himself, at least enough to consider doing something about it.

It takes him a few tries to decide on what to say.

[ 23:01 ] I know the whole thing with Nicole was kinda awkward but

[ 23:01 ] Do you wanna grab dinner sometime?

[ 23:04 ] I don’t think that’s a good idea

Huh, Woohyun thinks, Maybe Nicole and Kibum were wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time, but it’s kind of disappointing when he was maybe hoping that this time, they were right.

He goes back and forth on whether or not visiting the store would be a good idea. On one hand, it might be a good idea to give Sunggyu (and himself, honestly) some space; on the other hand, Woohyun’s never been very good at giving people, including himself, a reasonable amount of space. He eventually convinces himself that it would be better to clear the air sooner rather than later, awkwardness be damned.

He goes into the store with the intention of buying some stuff for dinner—to make an actual meal, not just chips—and apologizing, except Sunggyu’s not at the counter. Instead there’s a woman with several piercings and faded pink hair. She looks vaguely familiar, so Woohyun’s probably run into her at the store before, but it seems like too much of a coincidence for her to be here instead of Sunggyu considering it’s always been Sunggyu on shift these past several weeks—months?—and considering what their last interaction had been.

Still, Woohyun came to the store for a reason other than apologizing to Sunggyu, so he grabs what he needs and checks out. He has to ask, though—

“Sunggyu not here?”

“Yeah, he’s sick again,” the cashier says, chewing loudly on some gum.

“Again?”

“Weren’t you the guy who asked about him last time he called in sick?”

“Uh, no, that wasn’t me.” When had Sunggyu been sick before? And how many people visit him at the store?

“Oh.” She looks confused. “My bad. Anyway, he asked someone to cover for him tonight.”

“I see. Well, hope he feels better!”

The cashier pops a bubble and continues chewing in lieu of responding, so Woohyun figures the conversation is over. He leaves the store, but he’s still not sure about how real Sunggyu’s apparent sickness is.

[ 22:12 ] Hey I heard you were sick

[ 22:12 ] If that’s the case then I hope you feel better

[ 22:13 ] But if you needed an excuse to avoid work because you thought I would come into the store then I’m sorry

[ 22:13 ] I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable

[ 22:14 ] I don’t want to mess with your job, I can stop coming into the store during your shift if it makes you feel better

[ 22:15 ] yeah right you would probably die without your chips

Woohyun looks at Sunggyu’s reply. Is it permission, he wonders?

[ 22:16 ] Maybe but I can buy in bulk from the grocery store. Probably cheaper that way anyway

[ 22:19 ] you don’t have to stop coming to the store

[ 22:20 ] Okay

Woohyun realizes he never figured out if Sunggyu was really sick or not.

They don’t see each other for a while; despite the go-ahead, Woohyun tries to time his visits to the store earlier so that he doesn’t show up when Sunggyu’s on shift, and they haven’t texted any more since the last time. He’s surprised by how off-kilter everything feels now; he didn’t expect the loss of contact to have such a big effect on him.

Kibum and Nicole seem to have developed some tact, as they stop bringing it up. Eventually everything seems to go back to normal, except for a residual discomfort that Woohyun can’t justify.

Until he sees Sojin. At first he thinks it’s not her, and then he thinks it’s a coincidence, that she’s sitting on a bench outside of the fine arts building when he gets out of class, but then she looks up and makes eye contact, and yeah, she’s here for him.

He doesn’t know why, but he’s sure she’ll tell him; she strides towards him with purposeful steps, cutting through the surge of students exiting the building. She smiles when she reaches him, but she still somehow manages to be intimidating.

“Hi, Woohyun. We met a few weeks ago; I’m Sojin.”

“Yes, Sunggyu’s friend, right?”

Sojin nods. “When did you two meet?”

“Uh,” Woohyun ponders, “A couple months ago? I mean, I saw him at the store before then I guess, but—”

“You don’t remember him?”

“Yeah.”

Sojin hums and doesn’t say anything for awhile. Although she seems perfectly comfortable with the silence, Woohyun feels uneasy; he’s not sure if it’s just something about Sojin or about how the exchange feels strange somehow, like Sojin knows something he doesn’t, but he’d really like to either find out what’s going on or find a way to end the conversation. Eventually though, Sojin speaks up again.

“You’ve both made some mistakes,” she says, “But I want to give you a chance to fix them.”

Woohyun thinks he might have made a mistake in being too forward, but what had Sunggyu done?

“Both?” he asks.

Sojin levels him with a look. “You don’t know what Sunggyu did?” She seems to already know the answer.

“No.”

“Well, then,” she says, and her eyes seem to be—wait, they’re red, why are they—

“Remember.”

“You remember me?”

“I don’t get many other regulars at two in the morning, pal. And you always stumble in like a zombie to stare at the chips for like, an hour, before buying the same flavor that you get every other time.”

“A zombie, then, is that what you are?”

“Coconut? This definitely proves you’re not human; who the hell drinks coconut water?”

“Wait, I got it. You are definitely a vampire.”

“You guessed that like, two weeks ago.”

“No one will believe you, anyway,”

“If it makes you feel any better, the whole blood and fangs look is kinda hot.”

“Happy?”

“Very.”

“Do you even listen to me?”

“Only when you’re talking about something interesting.”

“You don’t—I’m not going to do—that. No.”

“You have no idea—”

“I know what you’ve told me! Just because it’s not perfect doesn’t mean it’s all bad—”

“Dammit, Woohyun, just—”

When the campus comes back into focus, Woohyun notices that Sojin is nowhere to be seen. He feels a tear slide down his face and moves his sleeve to rub it away, only to find that his cheeks are already covered in tracks—when did he start crying?

He rubs away the wetness and gets moving; he’s owes a visit to a certain coconut water drinking moron.

One of the hardest parts about the whole turning into a vampire debacle, apart from the loss of his family and initially insatiable bloodlust, was changing his sleep schedule. Sure, Sunggyu was never much of an early to bed, early to rise kind of guy, but it’s one thing to have poor sleeping habits and another to actually be nocturnal.

It’s been long enough that he’s adjusted, but it’s still strange to be woken by a loud buzzing noise at seven in the evening, especially since he usually doesn’t wake up until nine, when the sky is well and truly dark all year round. Unfortunately, though, the buzzing does not cease, so Sunggyu drags himself out of bed to see what’s going on. Sojin’s the only person who really visits his apartment, and if she’s being this persistent then it’s probably something important. He buzzes her in.

After another minute, there’s a forceful knock on the door, which also seems out of character for Sojin. He wonders if he should be worried as he pulls the door open.

It’s not Sojin.

A couple of months ago, Sunggyu wouldn’t have been surprised to see Woohyun standing on his doorstep. Actually, it would have been more common for him to be there than Sojin. Now, though, Woohyun’s presence here can only mean one thing.

He remembers.

“You fucker,” Woohyun hisses, stomping through the door and shoving his finger against Sunggyu’s chest. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m sorry—”

“Sorry for what?” he spits. “Sorry that I remembered? Well I’m sorry that I spoiled all your fun; it must have been hilarious to watch me fall for you and then erase my memories just so I could do it all over again, right?”

Sunggyu gapes. “That’s not—”

“Oh, that’s not it? Then explain, dammit, because even with my memories back, I’m lost.”

Sunggyu takes a deep breath. “The first time, Woohyun? You didn’t fall for me, or at least not the right way—”

“What the hell does—”

“Let me finish!” he snaps. “It wasn’t me you were interested in, it was the ‘novelty of the supernatural’. You do realize that you never showed any interest until you found out?”

Woohyun opens his mouth to retort but closes it again. Sunggyu keeps going before he can think of something to say.

“The only part of me that you cared about was the part of myself that I hated. And I told you, several times, that it made me uncomfortable, but that didn’t stop you.” He pauses, but Woohyun’s still silent, so he carries on, “And I’m sorry that I made you forget, but I couldn’t reverse it right after, and you didn’t come back, so—”

“I didn’t come back because I didn’t remember you!”

Sunggyu flinches. “I didn’t know that at the time,” he admits, “You just left and didn’t come back here or to the store for a couple weeks, and then I get a text asking me who I was—”

It still stings to think about; after all, he’d originally assumed that Woohyun had just lost interest after forgetting the important (vampire) part, but realizing that he didn’t remember Sunggyu at all? That was one hell of an unpleasant surprise.

“Then why didn’t you give me back my memories once you knew?” Woohyun asks.

“I thought it would be better that way,” Sunggyu replies softly. He thinks the conversation was easier when it was fueled by anger, but now that it’s given way to insecurities he’s finding it harder to continue.

Woohyun seems to be having the same problem, if his silence is anything to go by.

“And the second time?” he says, finally.

Sunggyu tilts his head. “What second time?”

“The second time you, uh, rejected me.”

“Oh.” He’d thought that one was fairly obvious. “I mean, it felt like I would’ve been taking advantage of you; it didn’t really seem fair…”

“So it was fair before that? Why did you decide to draw the line there?” Woohyun seems to be regaining some of his anger, and even though Sunggyu thought he had exhausted his own, Woohyun’s resurgence manages to bring it back.

“I had to draw it somewhere, Woohyun! I shouldn’t have even responded to your text in the first place—”

“So why did you?”

Sunggyu’s surprised at how quickly his anger has built up again; he feels like he’s about to explode. “You know why!” he yells.

“I—”

Woohyun cuts himself off, and a charged silence stretches between them. It feels like a wire about to snap, and Sunggyu’s scared of what that might mean, but the snap doesn’t come. Instead, Woohyun’s shoulders sag, and all the tension seems to drain out of the room. He opens his mouth once, but nothing comes out. Shaking his head, Woohyun turns around and leaves the apartment.

They never got around to closing the door.

“Hey, man,” says Kibum, poking his shoulder, “You okay?”

Woohyun sighs. It’s been a week since he remembered and confronted Sunggyu, and he thought he’d been doing okay. Apparently his friends are not as convinced. He can’t explain the situation to them though; he didn’t tell them about Sunggyu the first time because, well, vampire, but what they know about the two now isn’t enough to warrant his current reaction. And, as far as they know, he’s been avoiding Sunggyu for almost a month now anyway.

Still, they deserve some explanation. “Sunggyu is dumb,” is what he gives them.

Nicole seems surprised. “Did something happen between you two?”

More than you know, Woohyun thinks, but it’s not like he can tell her that he’s mad at Sunggyu for taking his memories and mad at himself for not paying more attention to Sunggyu’s obvious discomfort with his fascination.

“We both did some stuff,” he says, keeping it vague.

“You did some stuff?” repeats Kibum, unable to look past the innuendo.

“We both made some mistakes,” Woohyun amends, because that’s more information that he can give. “We’re kind of at a stalemate now, but—”

“When did all this happen?’ asks Nicole.

Woohyun shrugs. The argument wasn’t too long ago, but everything else happened before he even mentioned Sunggyu to them, and at this point he thinks he’s been mopey enough to get away with a non answer.

He’s right; they don’t push him for any more information. Instead, Nicole ruffles his hair.

“You should talk to him,” she says.

He knows she’s right, but he’s not quite ready to admit it yet.

Woohyun caves eventually and finds himself outside Sunggyu’s building after another week of feeling sad and sorry for himself. When he presses the buzzer this time, the response is not immediate. It’s a first; Sunggyu doesn’t really have many visitors, so it’s not like he usually has any reason to be hesitant, but—well. Woohyun’s presence may or may not be a surprise.

Still, he does get let in, and he makes his way up the familiar stairs to stand in front of Sunggyu’s familiar apartment door. It’s still weird to be so used to the building after so much time spent not knowing. He knocks.

As with the buzzer, it takes Sunggyu a little longer to open the door. When he does, though, they just stand there observing each other for a while.

“Can I come in?” Woohyun croaks.

Sunggyu nods and steps back a little, but Woohyun doesn’t go around him; he leans all his weight against Sunggyu, throwing his arms around his back and shoving his head against his shoulder. Sunggyu stiffens momentarily but relaxes after a moment, wrapping his own arms lightly around Woohyun’s waist. They stay like that for a few minutes, not speaking. Eventually Woohyun breaks the silence.

“I miss you,” he mumbles into Sunggyu’s shoulder. He’s not sure if Sunggyu was able to understand him until he hears a soft hum.

“I missed you, too.”

Woohyun lifts his face to look at Sunggyu properly. “I’m sorry,” he says, “For making you think I was only interested in you because of—um, you being a vampire, but I.” A deep breath. “I don’t really care about that, I mean, I obviously find it interesting, but it doesn’t really matter to me what you are or aren’t. Which I guess you probably figured out after everything that happened, but I just wanted to tell you that. I like you, for you.”

“I wanted to apologize, too,” says Sunggyu after a moment. He seems to struggle a bit with continuing. “For putting you through all of this and for rejecting you, uh, both times.” He grimaces. “It wasn’t because I didn’t want to; it was—I mean. I liked you too. I still do.”

A smile slowly makes its way onto Woohyun’s face. His heart feels like it swells a few sizes.

“So, with that settled,” he says, “Do you want to go on a date?”

“What, like, right now?”

Woohyun groans. “No, not right now! All I want to do right now is keep hugging you because you’re a surprisingly good hugger for someone with such a low body temperature.”

“Mm, okay,” Sunggyu replies, but he lets go of Woohyun and moves past him. Woohyun pouts until he realizes that Sunggyu’s just closing the door, which, yeah. He should probably stop leaving the door open, all things considered.

“Do you wanna watch something?”

“Don’t you have work soon?” Woohyun asks.

Sunggyu shakes his head. “I quit.”

“You quit?” Woohyun pales. “Don’t tell me it was because of—”

“No!” Sunggyu interjects. “I just, it seemed like it was time for something a little more ambitious?”

“Oh, okay.” Well, that’s a relief. “So, what do you want to watch?”

Woohyun ends up trapped under a lightly snoring Sunggyu as an episode of some drama plays on the screen. He finds he doesn’t mind the weight or the noise all that much.

He minds slightly more when he wakes up in the same position several hours later. Sunggyu’s still asleep, and some of his drool seems to have dried on Woohyun’s shirt. Ew.

Woohyun nudges him slightly. “Get up,” he mumbles. Sunggyu doesn’t respond, and Woohyun contemplates just going back to sleep himself, but then the rays of sunlight streaming in through the window register. His eyes widen, and he nudges with a new urgency. “Sunggyu, c’mon, get up—”

“What,” Sunggyu grumbles, voice rough from sleep and hair sticking up funnily as he lifts his head off of Woohyun’s chest. Woohyun can’t tell if his eyes are open or not. “Why’re we awake?”

“The sun’s up, you have to move—”

Sunggyu groans dramatically and drops his head back onto Woohyun’s chest. He mumbles something against Woohyun’s shirt that sounds vaguely like a “Go back to sleep,” but really, it could be anything.

Not to be swayed, Woohyun shoves Sunggyu off of him, pushing him onto the floor. Sunggyu lets out a yelp.

“The hell was that for?”

“The sun’s up,” Woohyun repeats, “You should close the curtains, right?”

Sunggyu doesn’t answer; he just sighs and rubs at his eyes. “Do you wanna get breakfast?” he says after a few seconds.

“But the sun—”

“I’m gonna go brush my teeth,” Sunggyu announces, ignoring Woohyun’s warning. “I’ll put an extra toothbrush out for you, let me know if you need a change of clothes.” Then he disappears into the bathroom, leaving Woohyun alone on the couch. He figures he might as well go with it.

A while later they’re both ready to leave, and Sunggyu leads the way out of the apartment. Woohyun’s apprehensive as Sunggyu pushes against the door to the street, but he doesn’t even pause, walking right out onto the sidewalk—and right out into the sun—without missing a step. Woohyun follows, confused.

“Please explain,” he says.

In lieu of answering, Sunggyu holds up his right hand and wiggles his fingers. There’s a silver band around his thumb. When Woohyun doesn’t immediately understand why Sunggyu’s showing off a ring, he explains.

“Sojin gave it to me. It stops me from burning in the sun.”

“Oh," he says. "Neat.”

It’s strange to think that this is his first time seeing Sunggyu in the sunlight. His hair seems lighter, and his eyes do as well; reflecting the sun, their warm brown color is more apparent. And he’s still paler than Woohyun, but not unnaturally so. He doesn’t look like a vampire; he just looks—

Well, he looks good.

“Can I kiss you?” Woohyun asks.

Sunggyu’s ears turn red. “We’re in the middle of the street—”

“It’s still early; there’s barely anyone around. Would you rather we went into one of these dark alleyways?”

Sunggyu huffs but doesn’t reply. Instead, he grabs Woohyun’s wrist and drags him back into the apartment building. Woohyun’s about to ask why they’re going back, but then Sunggyu stops and leans in. Woohyun realizes what’s happening and closes his eyes.

It’s soft, when they kiss, a light, hesitant touch. It lasts for a few seconds before Sunggyu pulls away, and Woohyun politely ignores how red he looks. After all, he’s probably no better.

Sunggyu lets out a breath and heads back out onto the street, leaving Woohyun inside, smiling to himself.

He joins Sunggyu outside after a very manly victory dance.

They end up at a kimbap place that they’d gone to for dinner once several months ago. It’s not crowded; like Woohyun pointed out, there’s not many people up this early, and the ones that are have other things to do.

They eat in a comfortable silence for a while, their feet knocking together under the table, until Woohyun finally speaks up.

“I think we should talk,” he says.

“Isn’t it a bit early for that?” Sunggyu asks. He says it jokingly, but he does seem a little nervous. Maybe Woohyun could have phrased that better.

“I just—I think we should talk about boundaries. I obviously, uh, crossed some last time, and I would like to—not do that again. Yeah.”

Sunggyu finishes chewing and swallows. “Oh. I mean, you can still ask me questions. But, uh, you can also ask me questions about unrelated things. Just—stuff, I guess.”

Woohyun nods. “Okay. And if I ever fuck up again, please tell me, because I’m not always great at realizing when I do.”

They both nod awkwardly before going back to their food.

“We should probably thank Sojin,” Woohyun says, a while later.

“Hm? For what, the ring?”

“That too, but more for giving me my memories back.”

“That was her?”

Woohyun squints at him. “How did you think it happened?”

“I don’t know,” Sunggyu mutters, “I thought maybe I’d fucked up when I got rid of them.”

“Well, you did, but not that way.” He wonders if it’s still too soon to talk about it so casually and quickly changes the subject. “But actually, why did she give you a ring? Why not, like, socks?”

“Would you really want me to go around wearing the same pair of socks all the time?” asks Sunggyu, looking unimpressed and mildly repulsed at the thought.

“No, but why a ring of all things? Should I be jealous?”

Sunggyu makes a face. “Please don’t be jealous. Sojin’s way too old for me.”

“Really?” She hadn’t seemed that much older than them, but she is a vampire. Wait—

“Sunggyu, how old is Sojin?”

“It’s considered rude to ask a woman’s age,” says Sunggyu primly, but there’s a smirk on his face.

“I’m not asking a woman; I’m asking you,” Woohyun retorts, “Is she over a hundred? Fuck, Sunggyu, how old is she—”