The Color Red: Red is the Color of Blood and Strawberries

The pain he felt was so immense, all his senses gave way. His vision blurred in seconds and the figure standing right before him slowly started to fade. Save the color red stayed clear in his eyes, after all, it was his own blood staining the man. He reached for support when his legs could hold him no longer, but his fingers found no surface to grab on to. He could feel the cold brick wall against his back as he slowly slid down to the ground. It hurt, was all he could think. It hurt so much.

When Donghae finally came to, he was confused. He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling and a neat room dimly lit by the light fixture just above him. Hoping the painful experience was all a dream, he tried to move, by which action he quickly proved himself wrong. The area between his neck and right shoulder ached with intensity. He touched his hand to the spot, only to find a bandage already in place. Before having any time to examine himself more, the door on the opposite side of the room opened and a young woman walked in carrying a tray.  Only with the presence of the girl did Donghae realize he was lying in someone’s white-walled room, between someone’s light blue sheets. Where was he, how did he get there and why was he there, were Donghae’s three main questions at that moment.

The girl had now come up to his side and so he opened his mouth to speak, but did not take into account the fact that his throat was dry and so his attempted words only came out as a croaking sound. He was surprised by his own inability to speak, but the girl seemed to know better. She set up the tray on to the nightstand beside the bed and handed him a glass of water. She even helped Donghae straighten out a little so he could drink without chocking. As soon as he had a chance, he asked where he was, but no answer came from the girl. Instead, she pulled Donghae to a better position so she could change his bandage.

“At least tell me your name” he pleaded, desperate to know any piece of information. Yet again, she didn’t answer, this time also shaking her head lightly as if telling him to just give up on asking questions. So all Donghae could do was observe the young woman. He noticed her long black hair, tied in the back, swayed as she moved. Her eyelashes were elegant, like butterfly wings rapidly fanning the air. Most importantly she had a warm, soft touch that Donghae appreciated, considering his injury.

The door across from the bed opened once more, this time startling Donghae. A man with a familiar face walked in, carrying a large plate of strawberries, stacked as though a mountain. The guy walked across the room without even acknowledging the presence of the other two. He set the plate by the table and slowly turned towards them. The girl neatly finished her job, quickly picked up what she had brought with her and before leaving through the door, turned to send a cold glare in the direction of the standing man.

Donghae’s body suddenly froze when he remembered where he had seen that stranger’s face. It was, in fact, the last thing he saw before he had passed out. The said man eyed Donghae, making him feel more nervous by each passing second. It was all much like a dream, the eyes glowing a blinding silver and the razor sharp teeth that pierced through his flesh, but the pain that followed was much too real to be faked by a mere dream. Donghae shook his head, trying to forget the events of last night, or was that even last night? It dawned on him then that he didn’t know what time it was, if it was the same day or a completely different one. There were windows to the right of the bed he was in, however, the blinds were shut so tightly it was impossible to tell what time of day or night it really was.

Donghae turned to look at the stranger, his hair was dark and only in the light did it reflect a brown red color, his skin looked pale and smooth, the eyes were no longer gleaming silver, but instead a glossy, dark brown. The man reached for a single strawberry, sinking his perfectly normal teeth into it. Donghae shook his head, realizing he had stared too long, but the fact that this man looked perfectly normal, as opposed to last time, made his head spin. He couldn’t hold his curiosity much longer and opened his mouth to question.

“Um…” he started, but paused as the other turned to look him straight in the eye. All of a sudden Donghae felt discouraged to speak, but pushed himself on, wanting to understand what situation he was in. “Wh…where am I?”

“My place” the other man simply answered.

“And…who are you?”

“Lee Hyukjae.”

“Why am I here—” Donghae’s words were cut short, with the other’s remark.

“You ask too many questions, Donghae.”

Donghae gaped, surprised that this complete stranger knew his name. While the one named Hyukjae ignored the expression made towards his comment and went to a dresser nearby him. However, he had predicted the reaction of using the man’s name would be that of surprise.

“Your wallet was in your pants pocket, your identification was there.”

Pants pocket? How he hadn’t noticed earlier, Donghae wasn’t sure. Of course he realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt long ago, but the fact that his pants weren’t present was new. Still tangled in the bed sheets, he uncovered his legs to find no pants and equally quickly covered them back up, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
“Here” Just then, a pair of sweat pants and a shirt were thrown in his direction, landing on the bed.

“In case you might actually want to get out of the bed” Hyukjae explained about the clothing he’d thrown. He walked back towards the plate of strawberries and picked up another one. “I can only offer these right now, but she should be done with your dinner soon, I’m assuming you’re hungry.”

As much as Donghae wanted to oppose that, because before then he didn’t even think about food, but as soon as that thought went about circling in his head, the empty feeling inside his stomach seemed to expand.

“You said dinner, what time is it now? And who exactly is she, you mean the girl from before? She didn’t say a single word to me…”

“It’s 9 in the evening, you’ve been out for about 20 hours now” Donghae’s eyes grew wide; he couldn’t believe he actually slept for almost a whole day. “Also, she’s my sister, she refuses to get involved with my business, but I needed her help. That’s why she won’t speak to you, because you are my business.”

“What exactly does that mean?”Donghae furrowed his brows, not sure if he even wanted to know the answer.

Hyukjae picked up another strawberry and walked towards the door.

“I’ll tell you later. When you’re done dressing come out, I’m sure the food will be ready. Oh, and the bathroom is to the right outside of this room.”

Just a few seconds later, Donghae was left alone in the room, feeling odd, as if in a weird haze, everything was completely surreal. What was he doing in this place anyway? He picked up the clothes given, perfectly lined creases showed how neatly folded they previously were. He put on the pants and the shirt, smelling the pleasant scent that came with it. It must be what Hyukjae smells like, Donghae briefly pondered before walking towards the door. Just outside it, was a small hallway, and as it was said, the door to the right was the bathroom. Donghae went there first, hoping to refresh a bit. When he saw his own reflection in the mirror he fell into mild shock. He looked much paler than ever, a strange tired look lingered in his eyes and the freshly place bandage, between his neck and shoulder, already had specs of red soaking through. It was surprisingly painful to lift his right arm; he noticed this while washing his face with cold water. Seeing himself in this state, Donghae felt upset for not being able to do anything about it.

For some time he didn’t dare to leave the bathroom, afraid to face the other man who waited for him in the next room. With hesitant steps, he slowly exited the small room and crept down the short hallway ahead of him. A living room opened up to his view on the left and a kitchen on the right, where Hyukjae was sat at the table. His eyes scanned up as Donghae entered the room and quickly he pointed at the seat where food was served. Donghae’s steps lacked courage, but he sat where he was told anyway. The delicious smell of food finally reached his nose and his stomach grumbled, showing its presence. Once more Donghae hesitated, but as Hyukjae’s eyebrow rose, questioning why he wasn’t eating, Donghae swiftly took hold of the chopsticks lying at his fingertips.

With each bite he took, he felt uneasy, a pair of dangerous eyes watching his every action. It was only after the meal that he noticed the other wasn’t eating with him, then again, it made perfect sense. Wasn’t he bitten by this man? Which got Donghae wondering was this what Hyukjae ate? Flesh? Blood? What exactly was he anyways?

“Go ahead and ask already.”

“You can read minds too?!” Donghae exclaimed with wide eyes.

“No. This isn’t Twilight, Donghae… You had a completely blank look on your face, staring at the table. It’s not that hard to figure out your thinking about the very obvious.”

It was strange how his name flowed out so easily out of the other’s mouth, it gave an almost comforting feeling to Donghae. However, not enough to actually feel relaxed.

“So, you’re not a vampire… or something like that?”

“Like I said… although, I guess I do fit into the ‘or something’ category.”

Hyukjae stood up from his seat and picked up the dishes in front of Donghae, going towards the sink to wash them. However, now, Donghae was the one watching him intently.

“So what are you?”He questioned again.

“I don’t know. I don’t even think my kind of people…err… creatures, have a name.” Hyukjae answered without turning around to face the other, still continuing with his cleaning. “Actually, I’ve only been like this for 2 years…I used to be normal…”

“But now, you’re a murderer.” Hyukjae paused and turned around at those words. “You kill. And you were going to kill me. So why am I alive?”

“Because you taste disgusting.”

Donghae made an unpleasant face, as thought he was actually offended by such a comment.

“I was told once there’s only a single person that could make me human again. When I asked how would I know who that person is, he said when the time came I would know.”

“You think I’m that person? That’s why you didn’t kill me?”

“That and I really felt no desire to feast off of you. I couldn’t just leave you to die out there. Someone could find you and your wound would rise suspicion.”

Donghae smiled somewhat bitterly at that thought, it really would be a horrible experience, a torturous one at that.

“I’m surprised you’re taking this all so well” Hyukjae said as he started moving towards the bedroom, motioning for Donghae to follow.

“It’s because I’m still mostly convinced this is a dream. Besides why are you telling me all of this information, aren’t you worried I’ll tell someone?”

A wide smile spread across Hyukjae’s face.

“You’re dreaming, remember? No one would believe even if you tried to tell.”

They went into the bedroom and Donghae was told to sleep, and that in the morning Hyukjae would drive him home. He laughed at that, saying he had already slept for 20 hours, but surely enough, just minutes after the other had left the room, he fell asleep. 

err, if you were expecting something else.......sorry? I'm not sure why people subscribed before I put an actual chapter, but I was just putting this story here for my own purposes. lol...thanks I guess. I'm confused.