Fall

"Here." A steaming cup of coffee slammed down on the table where Sunwoo sat. He looked up to find Chanhee standing over him, holding a cup of his own. "You look like shit."

Sunwoo narrowed his eyes. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now drink that because as your good friend I spent six fucking dollars on that coffee. Twelve if you count mine."

Sunwoo did not count his.

"So," Chanhee started, sitting across from him. "Why haven't I seen you in like, two weeks? I was fairly sure our nine years of friendship meant you loved me and wouldn't avoid me."

Sunwoo flared his nostrils in mock disgust. "As if I ever liked you." When he was met with a snide grin, he couldn't stop a smile of his own from growing. "No, but for real, I've just been super busy. I've been trying to meet with Professor Jung for the past like...three days, but he's apparently MIA as soon as class ends."

His companion nodded along, sipping his drink every once in a while. Choi Chanhee had been Sunwoo's best friend since middle school. He was probably the bitchiest "nice guy" in the world, with a heart made of gold and a glare made of the souls of the damned. Sunwoo trusted him with everything and also nothing because Chanhee had enough blackmail on him to last a millennium.

"See, this is why you should have been an Anthropology Major like me," Chanhee said with all the ego required. Sunwoo didn't satisfy him with a response, opting to roll his eyes and sip his coffee instead. "I mean it 'Woo, you're miserable in those political science lectures– hanging around borderline incels and stuff."

Sunwoo scoffed into his cup. "Trust me, there's nothing borderline about it. I think university is the first time they're seeing daylight, much less AFABs." He received a knowing smile that was soon hidden by the rim of a coffee cup. Chanhee always did like to be mysterious.

"Fair enough. Anyways, what are you working on?"

"I might have skin cancer."

"What?"

Sunwoo, whose laptop had been open this entire time, turned it around so his screen was facing Chanhee. "Well, according to WebMD at least."

Chanhee took a moment to read what was on the computer before sighing. "No one trusts WebMD. That's like, one of the few real laws of the internet." Sunwoo shrugged. "And why are you searching for skin cancer anyway?"

"Not skin cancer, but I've had this bite for like...a month now. I went to the doctor but they said that the only semi-abnormal thing about me was a low red-blood-cell count."

Chanhee raised a brow and took a long drink from his coffee before responding. "Show me."

"Show you....?"

"The bite."

"Oh." Sunwoo pulled down his collar and turned his head a bit, letting his friend take a close look. He heard a few hums here and there, and after about 30 seconds Chanhee pulled away, sitting back in his seat.

"I can assure you it's not skin cancer."

"I figured that much."

His remark was met with a glare but Chanhee kept talking. "If anything, it looks like..." he trailed off. "Nevermind. You said a low red blood cell count?"

Sunwoo nodded. "Yeah, that and just general exhaustion. My doctor gave me some iron vitamins and said to just sleep more hours. But I'm tired even with like, 12 hours of sleep on the weekends." He leaned back, resting one leg across the other thigh and finishing the rest of his coffee.

Chanhee didn't say anything, instead pulling out his phone and typing vigorously onto it. Sunwoo knew better than to ask him what he was doing before he was done, so he got up to throw his coffee cup away and closed a few tabs on his computer.

"When in doubt," his friend said as soon as he sat back down. "Check Reddit."

"Ah yes, the world's greatest doctors," Sunwoo said, lacking no sarcasm in his tone.

"Shut up you skeptic and look at what I found." Chanhee turned his phone around, nearly shoving it in Sunwoo's face.

A silence hung between them as Sunwoo scanned over the users' comments. Chanhee had been looking in r/tropes, which should have been a red flag on its own. But what the user said made sense, which was even more concerning.

He looked up with caution. "A vampire? Really?"

"You're going to look at me and tell me that it doesn't make sense? HM?" Chanhee prodded him on, taking his phone back in the process. "Look, you have the bite marks so unless you've had a snake bite you then what else is it gonna be? Plus, exhaustion? Low blood flow? You should just change your name to Edward Cullen now and save yourself the trouble, 'Woo."

"Har har, you're sooooo funny Chanhee. Hilarious, even."

He was met with a shrug. "Look, I'm just telling you what I think. It makes sense to me, and like I said: you're just a skeptic. Now give me my six bucks buddy-boy."

💊

Sunwoo had told himself Chanhee was full of shit– because 90% of the time, he was. But, well, he didn't have any other explanation for his iron pills not working and his continuous lack of energy. But that didn't mean he'd been bitten by a vampire. Honestly, if Chanhee kept his head in the clouds any longer he'd lose the damn thing.

Or so Sunwoo said to himself. Until, of course, he saw the figure.

It was early in the morning –why Sunwoo chose to have a morning lecture on a Thursday was beyond even himself– so his brain was foggy and without his contacts, everything in sight was out of focus and hazy; not enough that he was completely stumbling about, but enough to give him a headache if he didn't put his contacts in for a long enough period of time.

And it was on one Thursday morning that he saw it. Wearing a simple black T-shirt with sleeves rolled to the shoulders and slightly swept-back black hair; standing in the shimmering morning light was a man. He didn't look to be much older than Sunwoo himself, but there was something in the way he stood that sent autumn winds down Sunwoo's spine.

He was standing in the middle of the hallway (Sunwoo's bedroom door had been ajar all night to keep the air flowing), looking down towards the kitchen, away from the bedroom. His hands were on his hips and though he seemed relaxed, there was obvious confusion in the furrow of his brow.

Sunwoo rubbed his eyes, certain that he was either seeing things or still asleep. "What the fuck..." The figure turned at his voice and they locked eyes. So he wasn't dreaming.

The man had a face so handsome it seemed timeless. A strong, pointed nose that complimented his narrow eyes and thin mouth. High cheekbones rested against his smooth skin and the way his lips parted made him seem innocent; naive almost.

Sunwoo, finally getting his bearings, immediately demanded who the person was, but he was met with no response. Instead the man simply...disappeared. There was no flash of light or puff of smoke, no obvious cut like in the movies; one moment he was there, and the next he wasn't.

Sunwoo clambered out of bed, ignoring the way that the morning chill clung to his bare skin, raising goosebumps. He rushed into the hall, looking left and right to see if the figure was still there, but he was nowhere to be found. Not a single trace of him was left except for the fact that there was a patch of strangely warm air left from where he stood. The opposite of those 'cold spots' that ghosts are supposed to make.

"Who the hell was that..." Sunwoo muttered to himself. The man's face kept flashing through his head, and he couldn't focus for the rest of the day. The autumn winds from that night never went away and even his seatmate (and sort-of friend) in his Foreign Policies class, Kevin Moon had asked what was wrong with him.

💊

The next time Sunwoo saw the figure was only a week later, this time sitting at the kitchen counter as Sunwoo was making himself dinner. He turned around to grab a paper towel and was met with the man sitting on one of the bar stools, chin resting in his palm as he observed Sunwoo. The college student immediately screamed bloody murder, startling the man as well.

"What the fuck?! Again??" He had nearly dropped the knife he was holding onto his bare foot. The man (Sunwoo should really find a nickname for this guy) seemed surprised as well as if he hadn't been expecting to get caught staring right at Sunwoo– which made no sense because he was making himself very obvious.

But just like before, the figure disappeared. He took the warmth with him.

Sunwoo went to the eye doctor the next week to get an updated prescription and opted to just wear glasses instead of contacts.

💊

The third time he encountered the stranger was when he was watching TV. Finals week was coming up and though Sunwoo knew he should have been studying, taking a mental break to watch some fake royal family fuck each other over with passive-aggressive remarks seemed like a much better idea. He had been watching the show for the last –he took a glance at his phone– three hours and was hoping to make it to four before Chanhee came knocking to drag his sorry ass to the library to study.

It felt like dry leaves were stacking in his lungs and a cold breeze from one side of the room made Sunwoo turn his head. Sitting there, on the other end of the couch, was the stranger. Watching the TV with meager interest. He was the cold breeze.

Though thoroughly startled, Sunwoo didn't have it in himself to scream this time, instead asking, "You know, if you're going to just start showing up here– I would at least like to know who you are. This is my apartment after all." The man turned his head towards Sunwoo, tilting it like a cat. He blinked at him slowly, as if processing what was happening.

He continued to stare at Sunwoo, dark eyes piercing into his skin like nails. It was then that Sunwoo realized his neck was hurting. He broke eye contact to look down at himself, noticing that blood was flowing onto his collarbone and shirt– oh fuck. He raised his hand to his neck, and right where those two bites were, was blood. It was gushing out of the scabs (well, open wounds now) and he could smell iron filling the air.

This entire time....Chanhee was right?

Sunwoo looked up at the stranger– no, the vampire, and to his surprise, instead of the dark obsidian iris' that he was used to, he saw a glowing red. With his chest filled with mushrooms and moss, Sunwoo screamed.

💊

When he awoke (he fell asleep?), Sunwoo was laying in his bed, the top sheet pulled up to his chest and folded neatly under his arms. The sun was dipping down past the horizon, meaning he'd been out for at least 30 minutes. Not as long as it felt, considering his entire body was more well-rested than it'd been in months. The leaves were gone now too, which was nice.

"Can you still see me?" a voice asked. It was deep and smooth, like a calm ocean at the first ray of sun. It came from Sunwoo's right, making him turn his head away from his window. Standing at the other end of his bedside was the vampire, eyes back to normal and looking oddly apologetic.

Sunwoo wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Should I not?"

"Uhm, no? You usually can't."

This made the college student sit up, now leaning most of his weight on his elbows. "What? Wait, wait, wait– backup. You mean to tell me you're here all the time?" Oh dear god, this thing has seen him at his worst, hasn't it? The drunk calls to his ex-girlfriend, the absolute batshit rampage when he lost his progress in Breath of the Wild, and so much worse.

"Sort of. Not– it's not that easy to explain." The vampire let out a sigh, deflating his imposing figure. He took a tentative seat on the edge of Sunwoo's bed and pursed his lips. "It–"

"Are you a vampire?" Sunwoo couldn't hold it in anymore; he could feel the moss sprouting again over his bones.

The creature blinked at him, looking slightly offended for being interrupted. "Uhm, yes."

"That's what I thought."

The vampire raised a brow and waited for a second to see if he would keep talking, but that seemed to be all that Sunwoo wanted to know. "Aren't you going to say anything else? Ask about garlic or something?"

Sunwoo looked at him. "Uh– I mean, not really? Should I?"

"I don't know. Isn't that what you humans believe? That and steaks to the heart and stuff?"

"Is it not true, then?" Sunwoo asked.

The vampire shook its head. "No. None of it is– well, except the doorway and mirror things. Those are true."

"But I never gave you permission to enter my apartment."

"I've been here longer than you. This building is on the same lot where my home used to be; centuries ago. I've never had to ask for permission."

Sunwoo fully sat up now, deciding to ignore the fact that he was having a full-on conversation with some random vampire who thoroughly enjoyed watching him and sucking his blood. Was it sucking? Or just... telepathically taking his blood? "You don't look centuries old."

The vampire gave him a flat look. "Yeah, that's kind of the point."

"No, I mean...You're wearing modern clothes and don't speak in some sort of ancient dialect. Like if I saw you in one of my university lectures, you wouldn't stand out."

The vampire tilted its head, nearly cat-like. "How curious. You are a very interesting human," it said after a moment, smiling softly. "Much nicer than your last tenant." His voice sounded like a ray of gold bursting from his throat when he said that. Like the sun shining on a misty hill.

"So you just show yourself to every person who lives here?"

"No. Like I said, normally you shouldn't be able to see me. I mostly live in the shadows and can't be noticed without letting someone."

"So you're invisible?"

"No," it shook its head. "More like I'm a minor character. I can leave this place for short periods of time, enough to get some clothes or to keep up with the world around me. I'm never truly noticed by anyone when I do it, just a blob in the background. People overlook me; well, except you. I don't know how you can see me, or the marks on your neck."

Sunwoo instinctively lifted his hand to his neck and looked toward the mirror on his wall. What he assumed to be caked with dried blood, was clean and barely noticeable. His fingers ghosted over the wounds with astonishment. "How...long have you been taking my blood?"

The vampire looked off in thought for a moment before answering, "Almost half a year?"

"Since I moved in?!" Sunwoo said incredulously. That would explain the constant dead branches and winds that broke through Sunwoo's bones.

"Yeah." It nodded.

"Holy shit..." He turned back to the vampire. "Who are you anyway?"

"A vampire."

He sighed. "No shit. I mean, you gotta have a name or something right? What's your name?"

The vampire blinked at him in surprise. "You want to know my name?"

"Well, I mean...you don't have to tell me, I just assumed that you're kind of stuck here so me asking you to leave is pointless. 'Specially since this was technically your place before mine. Might as well get acquainted."

"...You are very interesting indeed. My name is Lee Juyeon. Are you telling me that even though you now know what I am and that I use you as a source of nutrition, you're staying?"

Sunwoo rolled his eyes. "Look Juyeon, dude, I'm a college student with more debt to my name than actual money, I don't really have a choice but to stay unless I want to be on the streets. I don't have any options at the moment," he said with a shrug. "Kim Sunwoo, by the way."

Juyeon smiled in disbelief. "Very well, Kim Sunwoo." The winds grew warmer when he smiled.