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Daehyun stands at the mouth of an alleyway, his muscles tense as his mind screams at him to run. He can’t bring himself to move. His breaths come out shallow enough to be gasps. He stares at the ghoul curled over a limp corpse. He almost wretches at the sound of ripping flesh and cracking bones.
“The fuck you staring at?”
Daehyun’s heart nearly stops. He tries to take a step back.
The man––no, ghoul––stares directly at Daehyun, his pupils shining red in the low light. He wipes the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand as he walks towards Daehyun.
“I asked you a question,” he asks. Daehyun tries to calm down enough to run away, but he can’t. “What the fuck are you staring at?”
Daehyun blinks back tears. He feels like a mouse and he’s about to be eaten. Knowing his luck, it’s a feasible possibility.
The ghoul’s arm shoots out to grip Daehyun’s neck. He can feel the slick blood on his neck from the ghoul’s hand. He claws at the arm. He can feel his breath slowly escaping him.
And as soon as it appeared, it disappears. Daehyun falls to his knees, coughing. He looks up. Someone is standing in front of him, but the ghoul is howling in pain and cradling his arm in front of them. Blood spurts out from the stub where his hand used to be. The hand lays limply in front of Daehyun.
“What’s your fucking problem?!” the ghoul shouts.
“You don’t get to touch my things.”
Daehyun recognizes that voice. His eyes focus on the platinum blond hair. “Youngjae?”
Youngjae turns his head and he’s smirking.
Daehyun’s breath hitches when he sees the same shining red pupils in Youngjae’s eyes.
//
Daehyun met Youngjae at one in the morning. They lived on the same floor of the same apartment building. It was bound to happen.
Daehyun looked down at the text on his phone, sighing.
Hey, can you maybe not come into the room tonight? I’m gonna have a girl over. Sorry.
He should have known this would happen eventually. He glared at his door, making a disgusted face as he heard his roommate laugh from behind it. He just hoped they stayed off his bed. He turned around, and was a little surprised when he saw someone else walking down the hall.
Daehyun tried to remember the guy’s name.
Young-something. Jaeyoung? Young… Youngjae.
“Hey,” Youngjae greeted. Daehyun noticed the dark circles under Youngjae’s eyes.
“Hi,” Daehyun replied.
Youngjae opened his door. He barely got inside before he stepped back out, cringing as someone inside shouted at him.
“A text would have been nice,” Youngjae muttered as he slammed the door shut.
“You too?” Daehyun asked as he walked up to Youngjae.
Youngjae looked up at Daehyun, his eyes wide. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What?”
“Is your roommate screwing someone, too?” Daehyun asked in a knowing tone.
Youngjae nodded. “I bet the asshole set it up to try and make me jealous.”
“Are you?” Daehyun asked.
Youngjae laughed, harsh and humorless in the quiet hallway. “Hell no.”
“Hey, I think the student union is open all night. We can go there if you don’t have anything going on,” Daehyun said.
Youngjae didn’t say anything. Daehyun wondered if he should have even asked in the first place, but Youngjae shrugged.
“Sure.”
//
“Last night, a young man was found dead in an alleyway between the Seoul Performing Arts Center and the Samsung building. Investigators suspect that it was the work of a ghoul. However, a large pool of ghoul blood was also found near the body.”
Daehyun stares at his TV, tempted to change the channel.
“Another one?” Himchan asks.
Daehyun hums in response.
“Hey, Daehyun,” Himchan says. He leans on the back of the couch, placing his elbows a couple inches from Daehyun’s head. Daehyun looks up at Himchan as the anchorwoman drones on. “If you ever turned into a ghoul, who would you eat first?”
Daehyun scoffs. “People don’t just turn into ghouls.”
Himchan nudges Daehyun’s head. “I know that, idiot. It’s just a question. God, can’t you humor me just once in your life?”
“Still, you can’t just ask me who I’d eat!” Daehyun protests.
“Would you eat me?” Himchan asks, completely ignoring Daehyun.
Daehyun stares at Himchan with a look of disgust. “You’re my friend. I’d never eat you.”
Himchan shrugs. He meets Daehyun’s eyes with a grin. “I don’t know if I can say the same thing about you honestly.”
Daehyun’s mouth falls open. “That really hurts my self-esteem.”
Himchan laughs and pats Daehyun’s shoulder. “It was a joke. I wouldn’t eat you either. You probably won’t even taste good with all that junk food you eat. Ugh.”
“I wish I could be more offended by that,” Daehyun says. “But the fact that you considered eating me is almost offensive enough.”
Himchan shrugs. “I’ll take that ‘almost’.”
Daehyun thinks back to last night. He thinks back to Youngjae. He thinks back to the ghoul who shouted at Youngjae. He thinks back to Youngjae pulling him up to his feet and dragging him out of the alleyway.
“You know you shouldn’t be out here so late at night. Especially with all the ghoul activity going on lately,” Youngjae had said.
“You okay?” Himchan asks. “You look a little pale.”
Daehyun looks up again. He blinks at Himchan’s concerned face. “Yeah… Yeah, I’m good.”
Himchan doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t persist. He turns around and heads into the kitchen.
Daehyun hasn’t heard from Youngjae since last night. Daehyun pulls out his phone and opens up his messages, staring at Youngjae’s name.
Hey, can I talk to you? he asks.
//
Somehow, Youngjae managed to wriggle his way into Daehyun’s life. Or, maybe it was the other way around. First, it was a night spent in the student union, then lunch in the quad, then they exchanged numbers, then they were texting each other. Daehyun liked the company. He didn’t know if Youngjae felt the same way, but Youngjae didn’t seem to hate it.
Daehyun noticed Youngjae always smelled like coffee.
“Hey, how come I never see you eat a lot?” Daehyun asked.
Youngjae glanced down at the sandwich and shrugged. “I’m a broke college student. What did you expect?”
Daehyun frowned. “If you’re ever having trouble, you know you can always come to me, right?”
Youngjae smiled. “Yeah. Thanks.”
Daehyun didn’t know if he could hold Youngjae to his word, but he meant it when he offered.
//
Daehyun sits in Youngjae’s apartment, his stomach twisting itself into knots.
Youngjae is a ghoul.
Daehyun is a little surprised that he hasn’t been eaten yet.
Youngjae walks out of his kitchen, holding two mugs of coffee. He places them on the table. He sits across from Daehyun.
Daehyun takes a deep breath. The steam from his mug curls just slightly towards him. “Um…”
“I’m sorry you had to find out like that,” Youngjae says. “You’re welcome to report me. I won’t mind.”
He says it so nonchalantly, like he never really cared, like this isn’t the first time it’s happened to him.
Daehyun stares at Youngjae, suddenly not sure what to say. He can’t get those red eyes out of his mind, but he can’t bring himself to feel scared. Nervous, sure, but not scared.
“You’re…my friend,” Daehyun says. “I don’t think you’d eat me.”
Youngjae raises an eyebrow, the subtlest sign of surprise. “You’re sure about that?”
“I trust you,” Daehyun simply replies.
Youngjae takes a sip of coffee, but Daehyun can see the faintest smile on his lips. Youngjae places the cup back down on the table with a quiet clink. “What were you doing there last night?”
“I…heard someone screaming for help,” Daehyun says. He takes the mug and turns it in his fingers. He can’t look Youngjae in the eye without thinking about last night.
Youngjae sighs. “And you tried playing the hero. Daehyun, you need to be more careful now. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but more ghouls are beginning to act out.”
Daehyun bites his bottom lip. He thinks back to the news reports about people disappearing, only to be found mangled and devoured in dark alleys or abandoned warehouses. “I know, It’s just…”
“Just what?” Youngjae asks.
“Why were you out there last night?” Daehyun asks, trying to change the subject. He feels like he knows the answer, but he wants to be sure.
Youngjae takes another careful sip of coffee before replying. “I was hunting.”
Daehyun doesn’t say anything. Youngjae puts the cup down. The silence stretches on until Daehyun speaks again. “You… You don’t feel bad? For killing people?”
Youngjae purses his lips. “What kind of answer are you looking for?”
“What?” Daehyun asks, blinking.
“What kind of answer are you looking for?” Youngjae repeats.
Daehyun furrows his eyebrows. He doesn’t like this side of Youngjae. “I… I don’t know.”
Youngjae places his chin in his palm. “Who do you think are the real monsters in this hellhole? Humans or ghouls?”
Daehyun draws in a deep breath, unable to find his voice. Who are the real monsters?
“Well, I mean, there are good and bad from both sides, right?” Daehyun says slowly. He doesn’t know where this is going. “You can’t go around thinking someone is strictly good or bad.”
Youngjae smiles, but it doesn’t seem to reach his eyes like it usually does. “You should tell that to the ghoul investigators.”
“What?”
“Ghouls are constantly hunted, but it’s not our fault we can only eat human flesh to survive,” Youngjae says. His tone changes, taking on a hint of something sadder. “It’s not our fault…”
Daehyun gets up from his seat with a clatter, and wraps his arms around Youngjae. He feels Youngjae tense, but he doesn’t let go. He wants Youngjae to know that he cares.
Youngjae says something, but Daehyun can’t hear it. Youngjae’s voice is too muffled to be heard clearly.
“Don’t touch me,” Youngjae manages to say moments later. “I-I haven’t…”
When Daehyun looks at Youngjae, he nearly jumps back when he sees Youngjae’s eyes. He can feel his heart pounding in his throat, painful and thick, threatening to choke him completely.
Youngjae pushes Daehyun back and covers his mouth. “I haven’t eaten anything since last month.”
Daehyun stares at Youngjae, stares at the pain behind Youngjae’s red eyes. They look so tired.
“Youngjae,” Daehyun whispers. He slips his coat off, keeping his gaze locked on Youngjae’s glowing eyes. “Here.”
Youngjae’s eyes widen, flashing with something in between lust and hunger, and Daehyun gulps. He isn’t entirely sure if he should be doing this, but he trusts Youngjae.
“Are you sure?” Youngjae asks. He pushes out of his chair, taking slow steps towards Daehyun. “There’s no turning back once I do this.”
“I trust you,” Daehyun says again. He pulls on the collar of his shirt, revealing part of his nape to Youngjae. “It’s okay.”
Youngjae grabs onto Daehyun’s shoulders, his hands gripping hard enough to bruise. He leans into Daehyun’s shoulder, taking a deep breath. Daehyun suppresses a shiver when he feels teeth brush against his bare skin.
“I can’t,” Youngjae whispers.
Daehyun leans back, half-relieved and half-bewildered.
“I can’t do it,” Youngjae repeats. He shakes, releases Daehyun’s shoulders, and takes a deep breath. “I won’t be able to stop myself.”
Daehyun frowns. “But I––“
“How the fuck can you trust me when I can’t even trust myself?!” Youngjae shouts. His curled fists shake at his sides. He takes several steps away from Daehyun.
Daehyun stares at Youngjae, suddenly scared of him again.
“I’m sorry, you should go,” Youngjae whispers. He looks down at the ground, his eyes squeezed shut tight. “I’ll be fine next week.”
Daehyun isn’t entirely sure if he wants to leave just yet, but he knows he can’t leave Youngjae like this. “Are you––“
“I can’t have you here while I’m like this, okay?” Youngjae says. “Please.”
Daehyun considers insisting, but he turns to the door instead. His hand rests on the doorknob, and he glances back. Youngjae still stands at the table, motionless except for the minuscule tremors that wrack through his body.
He opens the door, letting it slide shut behind him.