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For the sixth time that night, Jisung checked his fangs in the bathroom mirror. He felt like they were crooked, like they might pop off his teeth at the worst possible time. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing? He swore it was the glue he chose to use. It was shit! Serves him right for buying the cheap stuff.
He forced himself to stop messing with them. They were only plastic after all; it’s not like they’re meant to be perfect. Instead, he busied himself with the pale foundation he’d caked on not too long ago. He wanted to look convincing. After all, Halloween was only once a year. And with it, there was always the distinct pressure to make everything look real.
Jisung went as a clown the year before, and he scared the shit out of some children. He’d felt bad about it and tried to comfort them with candy. Didn’t work. They just snatched his candy and ran away.
He thought a vampire would be a little less unsettling.
He fixed his red lipstick and then the shimmery eye shadow Hyunjin had helped him put on. Then he turned this way and that in the mirror, admiring his smooth black clothes and heavy cape.
Close to perfect.
He’ll take it.
There was just one last thing to do before the party started…
“Hyunjinie!” he called, leaving the bathroom, delighting in the way his cape flapped. “Where did I leave that letter?”
He slipped into the sitting room, finding Hyunjin – dressed as a mad scientist – standing precariously on a chair as he put up cobwebs.
He looked down at Jisung in exasperation. “Didn’t I just tell you?” His black hair was teased into spikes with copious amounts of hair gel.
“Uh, maybe?” Jisung huffed a laugh. “I might not have been listening.”
Hyunjin refrained from an eye roll, turning back to the cobwebs. “It’s on the baker’s stand. Be quick about it, Jisungie. I need help with the decorations, and the guys will be here in an hour.”
“The food is ready,” Jisung said, waving away Hyunjin’s concern. “So long as they’re fed, the guys won’t care that much.”
Hyunjin grunted. “That wasn’t nearly as helpful as you think.”
Jisung meandered in the kitchen, looking proudly over their island that was full of party food. Before he’d gotten dressed, Jisung spent hours in the kitchen preparing everything. Snacks with clever themes; bowls of candy; finger sandwiches; fried food; jello shots in fake syringes; spiked punch and soda. Anything a party could possibly need, Jisung had it.
He walked to the baker’s stand, searching through all of the haphazardly piled cookbooks before he finally found it.
His letter.
It was a key part of a mission Jisung had been trying to accomplish for the last three years. They lived on the edge of a forest, and a little way away from them was their neighbor. Jisung had stumbled across his house completely by accident. When he and Hyunjin first moved here, he went exploring, marveling at all the trees that had been a rainbow of colors at the time. There was a quaint, quiet cemetery basically in his and Hyunjin’s backyard. Hyunjin maintained that it was creepy, but Jisung found it comforting. There was something special in knowing you’re surrounded by rows and rows of history, of beautifully polished stones that were maintained with such love.
Jisung went wandering through it one day and found himself somewhere unrecognizable. The lawn was overgrown with wildlife, all of which was determinedly climbing up the sides of a dark blue house with a wrap-around porch. There was what might have been a vegetable garden sitting in the exact middle – empty, for now. Three small cats were meandering around it, jumping on each other or sleeping lazily in the sun.
“How does one have the audacity to stand so blatantly on private property?”
The smooth voice had scared Jisung, who had jumped back what felt like ten feet. A tall, lean man was leaning on the railing of the wrap-around porch, watching Jisung with eyes made of obsidian.
He was easily the most beautiful person Jisung had ever seen, and, for a moment, he was speechless.
Embarrassing.
Jisung was never speechless.
The man straightened, movements flowing into each other like water. “That’s your cue to leave.”
Jisung found his voice. “I, uh– I’m so sorry, sir. I didn’t– Well, I was just–”
The man winced. “This is just painful.”
Jisung’s face burned.
The man tsked, whistling for his cats before glancing at Jisung again, raising his brows. “Happy Halloween.”
Then, with three playful cats on his heels, the man disappeared inside.
From that moment on, Jisung was determined to get to know their mysterious neighbor. And, in three whole years, all he’s managed to learn is his neighbor’s name – Minho – and the names of his cats – Soonie, Doongie, Dori – of whom he was very fond.
This year, Jisung was inviting him to his Halloween party, and he would not take no for an answer.
Jisung snatched up the letter, which was a formal invitation, and bounded for the door. “See you in a bit, Hyunjinie!”
This time, Hyunjin did roll his eyes. “You’re a lost cause, Jisungie.”
“Impossible.”
“Get out of here.”
Grinning, he stepped outside, breathing in the crisp October air. The sun had long since dipped beneath the horizon, so Jisung turned on his phone’s flashlight and began his journey.
The road going past their house was narrow and could only fit one car at a time. It didn’t bother Jisung much, seeing as he never had to drive it, but their friends – Chris and Jeongin specifically – always complain about it whenever they visit.
Which meant that by the time Jisung returned, Hyunjin would have already had to withstand their ranting.
The cemetery thinned out, revealing the winding gravel drive that led up to Minho’s house. Jisung noticed, with a small thrill of delight, that Minho had pumpkins on his porch this year. The biggest one had an expertly carved face and was flanked by three pie pumpkins, respectively carved with cat faces.
Each pumpkin was illuminated with a couple of small candles, casting an orange glow over the wood of the porch.
Jisung bounded up the drive, wrapping cheerfully on the wood of the screen door.
A few minutes passed in silence, and, just when Jisung raised a fist to knock again, the main door swung open, revealing Minho in all his beautiful glory.
He simply took Jisung’s breath away.
He looked so comfortable in his baggy hoodie and sweatpants; Jisung had an unexplainable urge to spend the night cuddling with him. His hair was beautifully messy, and his eyes seemed to be endless pools of night, glimmering with the shining specks of stars. Jisung could spend all night getting lost in that gaze.
Minho held Dori close to his chest, who purred contentedly as he petted under his chin.
“Han Jisung,” Minho murmured softly. “Happy Halloween.” Then his brow wrinkled as he took in Jisung’s costume. “A… vampire?”
“Do you like?” Jisung asked, turning this way and that to give Minho the full effect. “Hyunjin and I also spent a lot of time on the make-up.”
Minho licked his bottom lip thoughtfully, throat working. “It’s really… cool. I didn’t know you were a fan of vampires.”
Jisung preened with his praise. “I thought a vampire would be more universally accepted than a clown.”
Amusement lit Minho’s gaze. “I told you the clown wasn’t a good idea.”
Jisung waved his words away. “I hope you have a costume lined up, Minho.” He handed Minho the invitation. “Hyunjin and I are throwing a party, and you are coming.”
He arched a brow, opening the letter. “Am I?”
“Mm-hm.” Doongie walked between Minho’s legs, meowing up at Jisung. “You… do celebrate Halloween, right?”
Minho’s lips twisted into a small smile. “Maybe not as much as I used to, but a party does sound fun.”
Jisung’s heart quickened. “You’ll come?”
His smile grew, and Jisung thought he saw a flash of something sharp. “I don’t have a costume, but so long as that doesn’t get me disinvited, I’ll be there.”
“You don’t have a costume?” Jisung couldn’t believe his ears. “Like at all?”
The amusement was back in Minho’s gaze. “No.”
“Well, come on, I have plenty of costumes for you at home!”
The only tell of Minho’s surprise was a slow blink.
“As much as I know you enjoy being nonchalant,” Jisung continued, as Minho gently set Dori down and put his shoes on, “there’s no way I’m letting you go to a Halloween party without a costume. That’s just silly!”
“Is it?” Minho murmured, stepping outside.
“Haven’t you been to a Halloween party before?” Jisung said as they began walking back to his house. “You’d stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, the whole point of Halloween is to have fun and be scary. I’ve been dying to get you to one of our parties for years, so you’re doing it all the way.”
And that’s how they continued the whole way back to Jisung’s house. Jisung talked on and on and on, eventually moving away from costumes and proudly telling Minho about all of the food he prepared for the party, bemoaning, at some point, his friends’ inclination to inhale everything within the first couple of hours.
“So it’s best to get your food right away,” Jisung told him seriously as they walked up to the front door. “At least before Jeongin can get to it. Last year, Hyunjin literally chased him away from the island because he ate a whole plate of chicken wings by himself.”
He stepped inside, puzzling a little when Minho did not follow. He looked over his shoulder, watching Minho study the outside decorations. Jisung and Hyunjin had spent a small fortune on them this year. Their entire front yard was transformed into a graveyard with plastic bones stuck into the ground, as if the corpses were trying to claw their way to the surface. Jisung had hung skeletons all over their front porch the day before, and they swung gently in a soft breeze. A large, green witch guarded their huge bowl of candy. It had a sensor that made her cackle maniacally whenever someone got too close.
Jisung smiled fondly when Minho met his gaze.
“Very impressive,” Minho said with a twinkle in his eyes. “You guys take Halloween very seriously.”
“Come on in!” Jisung said happily. “The boys will be here in a little bit.”
Minho’s shoulders relaxed as he stepped inside, looking around at all the decorations with wide eyes.
“Jinnie!” Jisung called. “Where are you?”
“Bedroom!”
Jisung briskly walked to Hyunjin’s bedroom, sticking his head inside and spotting his friend fixing his hair.
“Hey, where’s your Ghost Face costume from a couple of years ago?”
Hyunjin looked at him quizzically through the mirror. “Why?”
“Minho’s here. He needs a costume.”
Hyunjin’s brows shot up, and he whirled around, hand flying to his mouth. “Minho’s– Han Jisung. You actually–”
Jisung felt unexplainably smug. “Yeah, I did. Costume. Where is it?”
Hyunjin almost fell over his feet trying to get to his closet. He rifled through it for a few minutes before pulling out a long, ragged, black cloak and a Ghost Face mask. He shoved them into Jisung’s arms, pushing Jisung toward his bedroom door. “Don’t fuck this up,” he whispered urgently. “You’ve been obsessing over him for a long time; I will literally cry for you if you fumble.”
“I’m not obsessed–”
“Jisung, I know you better than you know yourself. Don’t you dare lie to me.”
Jisung gave a massive eye roll. “I feel like I would know if I had a crush on our neighbor,” he grumbled.
Hyunjin hummed doubtfully. “Would you?”
Jisung gawked at him, horribly offended.
Hyunjin winked. “Good luck,” he sang before promptly turning back to the mirror.
Jisung huffed, finding Minho waiting patiently in the living room, looking at the photos and decorations on the fireplace mantel. Hyunjin had placed ghosts around the fireplace and more cobwebs within the fireplace itself. They were really going to have a hell of a time finding all the cobwebs once Halloween was over.
Last year, Hyunjin’s little decoration quirk was rubber cockroaches. Jisung nearly had a stroke a couple of months ago when he discovered a couple of cockroaches that had been forgotten in their bathroom.
Jisung brandished the costume with a grin. “How do you feel about Ghost Face?”
Minho’s pretty eyebrows stitched together. “Ghost Face?”
“Yeah, like the serial killer? Scream?”
Minho blinked, clueless.
“You’ve never seen the movie?” Jisung was properly horrified. “If you’re not too wasted after tonight, we have to watch all of them. I can’t believe you haven’t–” Jisung cut himself off, shaking his head. “For shame.”
“I’m… sorry?” Minho said with a small smile.
“Don’t apologize, just watch the movies.” Jisung tucked the mask under his arm, flapping the cloak to show it off. “This will be the bulk of your costume. Dark and smooth, but it captures your essence as a nonchalant and unbothered mystery. Intriguing, one might say.”
Minho’s brows rose. “You think I’m intriguing?”
Jisung’s cheeks burned. “I think you’re a lot of things. Intriguing is only one of them.”
“Oh?” Something about his voice insinuated a challenge. “What else do you think I am?”
Jisung tossed the cloak at him. “Now you’re just fishing.”
Minho shrugged shamelessly, pulling the cloak on over his head. “I can’t help but be curious. I think a lot of things about you, too.”
Jisung’s heart slammed. “Like what?”
Minho grinned mischievously, revealing pointed canines. “Now who’s fishing?”
He found himself admiring Minho’s mouth, gaze lingering on his full pink lips and the way one of his canines caught on the flesh of his lower lip. Jisung forced his gaze up to Minho’s eyes, marvelling at the way they crinkled at the edges when he smiled.
“What?” Minho asked quietly, smile fading.
“Nothing, just…” Jisung handed him the Ghost Face mask. “I’m happy you’re here.”
Minho took the mask, blushing. “Yeah, well. I suppose this was bound to happen after three years of knowing you.” Then he placed the mask on, and his costume was complete. “How do I look?” His voice was slightly muffled.
Jisung clasped his hands proudly. “Terrifying.”
“Good.”
Jisung surprised himself by reaching for Minho’s hand, surprised by how cold he felt. He rubbed Minho’s fingers absent-mindedly, trying to warm them.
“Since you’re here early” – he smiled – “you can help me finish preparing.”
~~~
Two hours later, the party was in full swing. Music was pumping, vibrating through the walls; half of Jisung’s friends were already drunk; and there was an ear-achingly loud karaoke contest happening in the sitting room.
If Jisung has to suffer through another drunken version of “Let It Go,” he might join the graves in the cemetery.
Minho was reserved at first, sticking endearingly close to Jisung’s side, helping in the kitchen when he could. Before the boys arrived, he was the water to Hyunjin’s and Jisung’s fiery chaos. Both Hyunjin and Jisung freaked when the pizza in the oven started burning, shouting for each other to take the pizza out– no, no, turn off the oven first– oh God, the fire alarm is going off!
Minho calmly opened a window, told Hyunjin to turn the oven down, and then went to fan the alarm. Within a few minutes, the air was clearer and the incessant beeping was gone.
A godsend, that’s what Minho was. A blessing from something divine.
Now, Jisung leaned on the island, gleefully tipsy as he watched his friends sing. Karaoke had been Felix’s idea, because of course it was, and he had yet to sit out on a song. He naturally drew all of their friends into the chaos, singing ballads with Seungmin and Jeongin or popping, loud songs with Chris and Changbin. He even joined in on Hyunjin’s chaotic rendition of “Time Warp,” drunkenly dancing the choreography.
If Jisung hadn’t known what the dance was supposed to look like, he didn’t think he’d be able to recognize it at all.
Minho was perched on the edge of the couch, watching it all with a fond smile, with the Ghost Face mask pushed up.
Jisung, inexplicably, found himself watching Minho, his gaze drawn to him like a magnet. He wasn’t even doing anything! Just sitting there, and Jisung was so fond, so lost in the lines of Minho’s body, in the soft curves of his ears, his neck, his shoulders–
“Jisungie!” crowed Hyunjin, twirling through the kitchen with a tray of freshly baked cookies. “You wallflower. Are you just going to stand there gazing at him all night?”
“Hm?” Jisung was too distracted. Halfway turning to face his friend, he took another drink of punch, wincing as it hit the back of his throat.
“Ugh, you’re so pathetic.” Hyunjin set the cookies down. “Half of these are edibles. You want one?”
“No, thanks, save ‘em for Chris.”
Hyunjin broke one in half, popping one piece into his mouth. “Hm. I’ll save some for Chris. Here.” He carefully scooped up two regular cookies and handed them to Jisung. The buttery warmth seeped into his fingers. “Take one to Minho. He looks hungry.”
Jisung squinted his eyes suspiciously.
Hyunjin grinned.
“You’re loving being a matchmaker too much.”
“Well, if it gets you laid, hon.” He gave Jisung an encouraging push. “Go on. I’m sure he’s just begging for you to talk to him.”
“Okay, okay,” Jisung murmured, brimming with excitement as he gingerly held the cookies.
“Send Jeonginie over here while you’re at it!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
He sidled up to Minho’s side, briefly catching Jeonginie’s gaze to nod him over to Hyunjin. Then he turned a broad, happy grin onto Minho, who watched him carefully.
“Hyunjinie made cookies,” Jisung murmured. “I thought you might want one.”
Minho smiled widely. “You thought correctly.” He took the treat offered to him, moaning as the sweetness burst across his tongue. A bit of chocolate smeared across his lower lip; Jisung had to stifle the urge to kiss it away.
Vaguely, he wondered if the alcohol went to his head just a bit too fast.
A burst of laughter from his friends broke Jisung’s trance, and he blinked himself back into the present. Changbin was complaining – loudly – about Seungmin’s refusal to sing a song with him.
Jisung bit into his cookie, and the soft center crumbled away, smearing chocolate down his chin. He stifled a laugh, turning away from Minho’s warm gaze to wipe at his face with the back of his hand.
“Guess I should’ve waited for it to cool, huh?” he said with an embarrassed smile.
Minho said nothing, just reached out to wipe away the chocolate on Jisung’s lip with his thumb. Jisung then watched, wide-eyed, as Minho licked the chocolate off his thumb, gaze drifting back to Jisung’s friends as if he didn’t do the hottest thing ever.
“They’re good,” he said mildly with a semi-stifled smile.
“You’re flirting– that was flirting,” Jisung said with a disbelieving laugh.
Minho looked at him innocently. “Saying the cookies were good? Nah, that was just a fact.” He flashed a smile, canines showing.
Jisung was quickly becoming entranced with those canines.
“Oh, Lee Minho, you know exactly what you’re doing to me.” Jisung bit back a smile and shook his head. “And I am helpless to stop it.”
Minho’s innocent look didn’t change, but a certain smugness was filtering into his gaze.
Jisung took his hand, brow furrowing at the coolness of his fingers. “How can you be cold? It’s, like, a million degrees in here.”
“I don’t feel cold” was all Minho could say.
“Oh, God, you’re going numb!” Alarmed, Jisung tugged on his arm until Minho stood. “I’ve got a blanket in my room. Come on.”
He laced his fingers through Minho’s, leading him through the kitchen and away from the party. He ignored Hyunjin’s catcall even though his face felt like it was going to explode. He wasn’t going to fuck Minho; he was just making sure his guest was well and comfortable. That was all. Completely innocent. Nothing to see here!
“I stole this from Hyunjinie a couple of years ago,” Jisung said, retrieving a fluffy, blue blanket from the foot of his bed. “I’m hoping he’s forgotten about it.”
Minho took the blanket, looking unsure.
He licked his lips. “Really, Jisung, I’m fine.”
“But your hands are freezing.”
Minho sighed, taking the Ghost Face mask completely off. “I’m always cold, but I never feel it. That’s just how I’ve always been.”
Jisung’s brows furrowed as he struggled to think through the alcohol. “That… can’t be healthy, Minho. Do you need a doctor?”
“A doctor wouldn’t help.”
“What? Why?”
“Well…” Minho looked vaguely uncomfortable. “I’m not– like you. Or your friends. I’m not… human.”
Jisung blinked. Hard. The blanket lay forgotten on the floor.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Minho cautiously took a couple of steps back. “It’s more common than you realize. People like– like me are all over the country.”
Jisung shucked off his cloak, suddenly feeling too warm. The air against his arms was a welcome change. He didn’t know what to say. Hell, what was there to say?
Lee Minho wasn’t human.
“What are you?” Jisung asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer. He looked at Minho, a strange mixture of wary and curious.
Minho suddenly looked sheepish. “A vampire.”
Jisung’s jaw dropped.
The seclusion.
The canines.
The frigidness.
“What? How is that even possible?”
Minho choked on a self-deprecating laugh. “Same as how it always happens, of course. Wrong place, wrong time.” He pushed back the neckline of the cloak and his hoodie, and Jisung was just able to make out two pinpricks just at the crook of his neck. “First date gone bad.”
Jisung felt like his eyeballs were going to drop out of his skull. “Goddamn. Your bad luck is unmatched.”
Minho watched him carefully. “I’ve lived in seclusion ever since. It’s been… refreshing?”
“Refreshing?”
He nodded. “But lonely. That’s why I have Soonie, Doongie, and Dori.”
“And me.” The words were past Jisung’s lips before he could think better of them. He waited for the regret, for the fear that was sure to come. But… nothing. He felt nothing but excitement and curiosity, a strange fondness and warmth in his heart for this kind man. By all means and logic, he had no reason to believe Minho wouldn’t hurt him. He had nothing but a gut instinct and the magnetic tug in his heart every time Minho was near.
Clearly, Minho wasn’t so certain.
He looked dubious. “You’re drunk.”
“Tipsy.”
“But far from sober.”
Jisung pursed his lips. “Touché.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” Minho shook his head. “You are… someone dear, Jisung. I have– a hard time showing it, but… You brighten my day every time you come knocking. I never expected what you would bring into my life the day we met. But…”
“But?”
“I am not human. And I cannot possibly give you what you want.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“You don’t.” Jisung approached slowly, wary of scaring him away. When he was but a few inches away, Jisung gently cupped Minho’s face with his hands, staring deep into his eyes. His face was cool, even as a blush rose to the top of his cheeks. “You don’t get to decide,” he said quietly, thumb brushing his cheekbone mindlessly, “what I want. And it has come to my attention, increasingly, that what I’ve been wanting – for three years, Minho – is you.”
Minho’s hand rested on top of Jisung’s, thumb pressing over his fluttering pulse. “I am not human,” he said, as if this were reason enough for Jisung to walk away. “That should frighten you.”
“You are many things, Lee Minho,” Jisung said with a soft smile, “but frightening is not one of them. And it never will be.”
There it was again – that magnetic pull. It tugged at Jisung’s lips, and his head tilted closer to Minho. His gaze dipped, admiring the soft pink of Minho’s lips, the sharpness of his canines as his lips parted.
“Jisung,” Minho whispered, and it was said with reverence, like it belonged in a prayer.
“Shh…”
Jisung rose on his tiptoes, drawing Minho near. He could’ve pulled away; he had ample time. Jisung nearly sighed with relief when he didn’t, when Minho captured his lips in a kiss that was so encompassing, Jisung thought the world was spinning.
The brush of his canines against his tongue, his lips, was an unfamiliar but welcome sensation. Sharp and dragging, they anchored Jisung in the moment as Minho kissed him slowly.
Outside the bedroom, the party pumped on. Karaoke was sung; board games were started and inevitably abandoned. Food was hoarded, and punch was sloshed. Boisterous laughter shook the walls, rivalling the music.
Hyunjin, at some point, noticed that Jisung and Minho were still conspicuously gone. He merely stifled a smile, added more vodka to the punch, and turned the music up.
He declared a drinking game, challenging Chris first.
In a few hours, they would all be piled together, asleep. The mess forgotten; the lights still flickering; the candy half-eaten.
And still there would be two missing, too wrapped up in each other to notice when the music cut out or to care that the sun was rising.
There would be other holidays, after all.