You stretch and grimace slightly as you make your way to your bed. Moving into a new apartment had taken its toll on you; your aching muscles protesting with every movement. With a not-so-graceful plop you land on the bed, burrowing yourself under the blankets. One last stretch and you close your eyes to the silver moonlight streaming through the bare windows.

You aren’t sure what woke you up, but you are now blinking slowly at the ceiling above you. You keep still trying to come out of a dreamy haze when you hear a soft scuffle come from under your bed. As you process whether or not you were imagining the noise, it comes again, this time a low rumble, followed by what sounds like a sigh. Your heart begins to race. No cockroach or mouse you’ve ever heard of can sigh. Holding your breath, you slowly push back the covers and peer over the edge of the bed. Nothing. Realizing that you need a better angle to see fully under the bed, you swing your leg over the side and carefully place your foot on the cold floorboards. You do the same with your other leg and slowly lower yourself to the floor. Now on all fours, you take a deep breath before ducking your head down to take a peek at what is causing the strange noises. The moonlight throws distorted shadows across the floor, making it difficult to determine if anything is actually there or just a trick of the velvety darkness. You drop your body flat on the floor, the cold seeping through your thin pajamas and causing a shiver to run through you. You strain your eyes to make out any shape, yet there’s still no sign of anything that could have made those sounds. Letting out a sigh, you shake your head, concluding that being in an unfamiliar place was playing tricks on your senses. You prop yourself back up on your forearms when flash of red catches your attention. Freezing, you hold your breath as you take another peek. Every muscle is tense, ready to jump away at any sign of movement. Your eyes scan over the darkened space once again when you discover a pair of crimson eyes staring right back at you.

You gasp and push yourself back away from the bed until you are stopped by the wall. You watch in horror as a hand slides out into the pale moonlight followed by another hand and the crown of a head. Carefully, the man pulls the rest of himself out into the open. You’re frozen in place, only able to dart your eyes over his features. The air around him is heavy, dark, and other-worldly. He is of average height, though still taller than you, with a well-built frame. Your eyes roam from his heavy black boots up his ripped jeans, afraid to look at him directly. A leather jacket drapes his shoulders and the black tee he wears underneath clings to him nicely. You chance a look at his face. His features are handsome, with soft cheeks and full lips. His ears, sporting black studs, are slightly visible poking through his raven hair. His hair is slightly disheveled, sticking out in places with a few rouge strands hanging over his eyes.

His eyes. Deep glowing red, they stare right into you making you feel as if he is seeing your soul. You’re captivated. Sparking in the moonlight, his eyes trail lazily over your curled up form. One corner of his lips tugs up into a smile and he lets out a low chuckle. The sound snaps you out of your daze and your voice bubbles in your throat.

“Wh-who are you?” you squeak.

This earns another chuckle. It’s an ominous sound, but there’s something underneath that you can’t quite place your finger on.

“A more accurate question would be ‘what am I?’” he replies coolly. His voice is deep and smooth, not entirely unpleasant.

Your breath catches in your chest. What does he mean?

“What…what are you?” It comes out as a whisper.

A smirk is your only answer. He takes a step towards you and you curl up tighter in response, squeezing your knees closer to your chest. This doesn’t deter his movements and soon he is standing above you. You stare up at him, eyes wide with fear. With the smirk still lingering on his lips he crouches down in front of you. He is mere inches away from your face, his eyes never leaving yours. They still glow softly, a light playfully dancing to the rhythm of your pounding heart.

“What should I do with you?” He hums in thought as he searches your eyes.

You have no answer, your body completely frozen in fear. He lets out a heavy sigh and reaches a hand up towards your face. You flinch and turn your head as far away from him as possible.

“Get the hell out of my apartment!” It’s meant to be a threat, but your words come out trembling and weak.

He pauses and stares at you in surprise. His surprise is quickly overtaken by anger, his eyes hardening and glaring at you.

“No,” he states coldly.

He reaches for you again but this time you slap his hand away and push him hard in the chest. He loses his balance and tumbles backwards, giving you an opportunity to dart away from the wall. However, you aren’t quick enough as he throws his arm out and grabs your ankle. With the sudden stop in your momentum, you fall to the floor, your knees and elbows hitting the wood painfully. He yanks your ankle again, flattening you out against the floor and you flip onto your back to try to kick him away with your free foot. He deftly dodges your attack and moves up to pin you down. He sits on your hips and grabs your wrists with both of his hands, pushing your arms down to lie on either side of your head. Breathing heavily, he wears a triumphant grin as he lowers his lips to your ear. His breath is warm against your neck but that doesn’t stop the chill that runs down your spine.

“Now, now,” he breathes “play nicely and I’ll let you live.”

He moves your arms above your head and holds both of your wrists in one of his hands. With his now free hand, he begins to reach for your face again, his fiery eyes still centimeters from yours. Just as he is about to your cheek, a sudden noise stops him in his tracks. His eyes widen and you stare at him in curiosity. It was similar to the sound you heard earlier. You both are holding your breath when the sound comes again, this time louder and you can tell exactly where it came from. You watch in amazement as a blush washes over his cheeks and he ducks his head in embarrassment.

“Was that your stomach?” you ask incredulously. His face reddens even more and a laugh bursts from your lips. He slides off of you and buries his face in his hands. Your giggles are uncontrollable now.

“Are you hungry?” you ask gently to the man now trying to crawl back under the bed in humiliation. “I can make you some food if you want.”

At your offer he pauses and looks back at you, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

“Really?” he asks, his lips parting into a dazzling smile.

You nod your head yes and stand up. He mimics your motion and pops up like a small child would when being told dinner is ready. You turn to head towards the kitchen, motioning for him to follow. You can’t believe you’re about to feed this…whatever he is who was just under your bed and tried to kill you a few minutes ago, but as you hear his light footsteps behind you and the beginning of a song being hummed, you figure he can’t be all that bad.

Thirty minutes later, Daehyun, as he so cheerfully told you, was slurping down his third bowl of ramen. He was humming a tune you did not recognize in between mouthfuls. You sat across from him at the dining table, your chin resting in your hands as you watched him in amazement. He was nothing like he had been earlier. He looked pale in the moonlight, but with the warmth of the kitchen light you could see his skin was a golden tan. With his jacket removed you noticed the strong cords of muscles in his arms, flexing and dancing under his skin with every movement. Trailing your eyes up, you noticed the laugh lines at the around his mouth and at the corners of his eyes. Eyes which were now glowing a soft toffee and staring warmly back at you. His hair wasn’t the black you imagined earlier, but instead was a rich chocolate. You also discovered a few minutes before, when nudging him in the side away from the boiling pot of ramen, that he was ticklish, as he had let out a tinkling laugh at your touch. How could this be the same man?

“Daehyun?”

“Hmm?”

“So what exactly are you and what the hell were you doing under my bed?” you questioned.

He sputtered through the noodles in his mouth and let out a cough. Catching his breath, he rubbed the back of his head shyly.

“I uhh…well I’m just your regular, run-of-the-mill nighttime monster that lives under the bed,” he admitted brightly.

“What, so you’re like the boogie-man?” you asked. This seemed to offend him as he let out a scoff.

“No way!” he shouted, “I’m way better looking than that guy!” he huffed.

You mulled this information over in your head.

“Why were you under my bed? I’m not exactly a little child that still believes in things that go bump in the night.”

At this, the corners of his lips tugged down into a frown.

“Well, I used to live under the neighbors bed. The little girl there used to be really afraid of me but soon we became friends. Yesterday they moved out while I was sleeping.” His frown grew deeper and his brows furrowed. “I was really confused when I woke up last night to find the place empty. I was so lonely last night and upset that I couldn’t sleep during the day today. That’s when I heard you moving in and snuck in when you left the door open. I don’t want to be alone…” he trailed off and became silent.

Your heart ached at seeing him so sad. How could anyone be afraid of this soft creature? You reached out and placed your hand on top of his, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

“You can stay here if you want; as long as you don’t try to scare me again.”

Daehyun snapped his head up, his eyes wide and glowing intensely now.

“Really?!” he nearly shouted. A full grin widened across his face, revealing his sharp canines.

For a brief moment you reconsidered your offer if he was going to be this loud. Shaking the thought from your head, you smiled back at him, “Of course.”

With a delighted shout he picked up his chopsticks and popped a piece of pork belly you had also provided into his mouth. You watched with a smile as the happy little monster continued to eat to his heart’s content.