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Riki knew it was a lost cause.
Sunoo-hyung—the warmest, brightest person he’d ever met—was in love. And not with him. Heeseung had won the heart Riki once hoped to hold.
But Riki wasn’t bitter. Not really. You don’t hold a grudge when the person you love is happy. He just... quietly severed the feelings. Packed them up like an old sweater and tucked them away.
And then came Career Day.
It should’ve been boring.
It was boring—until he walked in.
A group from the city university stood at the front, all polished and professional. But Riki only saw one.
Tall. Fair-skinned. Sharp fangs peeking out when he smiled, which Riki swore had to be illegal. He looked like he just stepped out of a fantasy novel.
Vampire? Angel? Riki didn’t know. But he felt bitten.
“Sunghoon,” a classmate whispered loudly, reading the tag on his jacket. “Dang, even his name sounds handsome.”
And just like that, Riki decided: he was going to that university.
It didn’t matter that he had no idea what major he wanted.
It didn’t matter that he’d only caught a glimpse of the guy.
He’d follow those fangs anywhere.
Luckily, the university offered Physical Therapy—a course his parents were more than happy to support.
But Riki had his own curriculum in mind:
Sunghoon Studies 101: Observation, Infiltration, and Hopefully Kisses.
Sunghoon noticed him almost immediately. It was hard not to. Riki was absurdly tall for a freshman, all limbs and late teenage energy. And somehow—magically—he wormed his way into Sunghoon’s circle.
Friends through clubs, shared buildings, lunchtime overlaps.
Riki was charming like that: relentless, but in a puppy-with-sparkly-eyes kind of way.
Sunghoon wasn’t dumb. He saw the way Riki looked at him.
But he didn’t push. Not when there was such a clear difference in time and life stage.
Not when he was so close to graduation.
Then came the frat house party—loud music, cheap drinks, and a hundred too-warm bodies in too-small spaces.
And Riki. Tipsy, loose-limbed, and very brave.
“Hyung,” he said, grabbing Sunghoon’s wrist like it was the only thing tethering him to earth. “I like you.”
Sunghoon blinked.
“I mean—really like you,” Riki continued. “Like, chase-you-across-campuses kind of like.”
The vampire smile appeared, all fangs and fondness. He stepped closer, their lips nearly brushing.
Riki didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
But Sunghoon didn’t kiss him.
“I like that I’ll never have to lean down to kiss you,” he said softly.
Riki’s heart stuttered.
Then Sunghoon stepped back.
“But if we meet again,” he said, voice steadier, “and you still feel the same... I’ll be the one to chase you.”
It wasn’t a rejection. Not really.
It was a pause. A promise wrapped in caution.
Riki, ever the stubborn one, grinned.
“Then I’ll wait for my Sunghoon-hyung.”
And maybe—just maybe—someday the vampire will return,
for the tall boy who waited with a heart wide open.