“milk and sugar?” i ask jongin and place the cups on the table. he is sitting in front of me. “always,” he responds with his eyes on the mantelpiece. he somehow seems captivated by the pictures on it. i carefully hand him the cup, warning him about the hot cup. jongin eagerly accepts it.

a silence fills the kitchen. only our nips can be heard and the ticking of my aunt’s old clock. i occasionally catch my eyes on jongin. “who are they?” jongin suddenly asks, looking at the frames on the mantelpiece. one’s a childhood picture of baekhyun and i, and the others are mostly of chanyeol and i.

“friends of mine,” i say, recalling the memories behind the pictures. my thoughts wander to those careless days with them. we hardly owned anything during our student time. only a small apartment and the fridge was always empty. yet those days could be described as the best ones.

jongin coughs, awaking me from the daydream. “you look close,” he tells me as if he’s amazed i have friends. i put my empty cup in the sink and jongin follows my lead. “let’s watch tv,” he suggest, a bit commanding. i shrug my shoulders and lead him to the living room. just now i notice the mess there. yet i don’t care.

i get an unopened sack of candy from under the pillow, i once clogged there. “eat this,” jongin nods and i start the tv. a scooby doo episode plays on the screen which makes us laugh every now and then. while our hands reach for the candy, our fingers touch every time. yet i seem the only noticing it, since jongin’s stare remains on the growling dog.

i’m not focused on the cartoon, more on the person leaning against me. jongin is dangerous in a good way. his dark eyes seem to carry a story. his smile is at once intoxicating and beautiful. i now suddenly realize what i have done.

how am i so stupid to let a stranger in my house? yet jongin knew who i was, a vampire.

“jongin?” his name slides over my tongue. “hm?” his short hum shows he’s only listening with half an ear. i sigh. “how did you know about,” i turn to him, to see he’s already looking at me. his lips curve into a smile. “you being a vampire?” he completes my question. i eagerly nod for whatever he has to say.

“i’ll tell you when the time is right.”

his answer disappoints me. jongin has the answers, but is simultaneously a distraction. “are you angry?” jongin mocks me. how could he? “is this a game to you?” i loudly say. “i don’t know what is going on and i’m slowly dying,” i swallow the tears. jongin looks at me. “you’re already dead, kyungsoo,” he dares to say. i take a deep breath and point to the door. “go away,” i spit out the two words.

jongin sighs, but isn’t convinced. “i told you to leave,” my voice is louder than ever, i almost scare myself. jongin manages to get up and blankly stares at me. “kyungsoo, i..” his words are interrupted by a doorbell. my heart pounds in my throat when i see yixing and junmyeon through the window.

why now, i think panicking. “jongin, you have to leave..” i turn around to notice jongin has disappeared. i can only witness the back door closing. the loud bell rings once again, and makes me move to the door. the two appear in front of me. “i didn’t think you’d come,” i murmur smiling. junmyeon and yixing enter the house.

“a vampire never breaks his promise.”