It didn’t take long for the doctors to pronounce the verdict. They couldn’t find any pulse, breath or movement. It was an open-and-shut case so far as they were concerned. The worst thing that happened was knowing what was going on around him. Minseok wished he had asked Jongdae for a potion that would knock him out. Hearing his dad’s broken sobs and his mum screaming for him to come back, he just couldn’t bear it. Friends and family began arriving a couple of hours later, the cue for more sobs and moans. Minseok would love to avoid this, he would have given anything to avoid this. He would have run away in the middle of the night, wholeheartedly with Jongdae but the latter refused it. He said that there would be posters and fliers out everywhere and that they’d come looking for Minseok someday.

“We would know no peace,” Jongdae said. “Faking your death is better because nobody looks for a dead person.” Yeah, like this was peace, Minseok thought, still looking at the bright side. If they thought that he was dead, they’d mourn for a while and get over it because they’d try and accept the fact that he was happy and in peace wherever he was. If he ran away instead they’d probably live in misery forever. They might have live the rest of their lives, hoping that he would come back, searching and believing that he would someday return.

There was a lot of things that happened later on that day. A coffin was brought in and Minseok was laid inside. A priest came and sat with the rest of the family and friends. People streamed in and out of the room, his mum and dad would not stop crying. He wished he could just get out and shout “Boo!!” to them.  What a surprise that would be.

Finally, after all the hours of torment and torture, the lid of the coffin was screwed on. Minseok was lifted off the table and out to the hearse. They drove him slowly to the church, the mass dragged on. He could hear everything that was happening. It was like he was there with them. When the mass was over, they carried him to the graveyard. He could hear every word of the priest’s speech and the sobs and wails of the mourners. He couldn’t bear the pain he was causing them. He thought of killing himself then and there.

And then, they buried him.

That is how Minseok came to enter a miserable phase of his life.

Life after death.

Minseok should have felt afraid that he was several feet under the Earth, but he didn’t. It actually felt peaceful there. Just as promised his senses were returning rapidly and they were a million times better and more defined than his human ones. After a while, it felt like several countries stacked upon one another – there was a sound. Someone was digging his grave.  He knew it was Jongdae – he dug quicker than any other human. Jongdae reached his coffin in what seemed like a second. Jongdae just pushed the lid open like it was made out of polystyrene. He grinned at Minseok, somewhat seemed happy to see his best friend again.

“How are you feeling hyung?” Minseok couldn’t answer. He just threw his arms around Jongdae and cried. The scent coming off Jongdae’s skin was lovely. He knew Jongdae didn’t take a shower – vampires didn’t have to and he was wearing the same clothes he did the day Minseok was “killed”. Jongdae hugged Minseok back, apologizing over and over again. Minseok felt like he was hugging an ice sculpture, Jongdae was a hard as stone and colder than ice. Minseok guessed that the cold is a result of blood not pulsing in a vampire, although there was no theory explaining why they were as hard as stone.

Minseok stayed like that for a few minutes and then he realized that sitting here in a coffin, hugging a vampire and wailing his heart out was not exactly the best idea to begin with. “Um… I’m getting your shirt wet,” he managed to say it through his broken sobs. Jongdae just chuckled. “It’s okay to cry once in a while when you really need to,” he replied, tickling Minseok until he grinned.

“There,” Jongdae said, quite impressed with himself. “That’s better.” Minseok smiled and nodded. “I think we better get out of here.” He stood up and leaped from the coffin to the Earth. He never realized that he was that deep under the Earth. Minseok followed after Jongdae, leaping the distance, it felt like jumping on a skipping rope. Jongdae was already shoveling the dirt back into the hole, and handed him a shovel. Jongdae’s smile comforted him. He smiled back and nodded. He was stiff from staying still all the time, he had to do something.

In seconds, we were smoothing the dirt over the grave. “Okay, I guess we’re done here,” Jongdae said. “By the way, you looked wonderful. I thought you’d look the same – you were beautiful as human, but now you’re a million times better than before.” Jongdae reached into his jacket and pulled out a compact mirror. Minseok opened it and stared, his eyes almost popped out of his sockets. The guy in the mirror is beautiful. In a way, he looked like the real him – his hair was the same colour as the real him, even the shape of his face resembled himself in real life only they were more perfect. The only thing that’s lacking was his eyes – they were bright red.

“Like yourself?” Jongdae asked, grinning. “Heck yeah,” he replied while laughing. It sounded like a wind chime. “Although, just out of curiosity, will the eyes….” Minseok trailed off because Jongdae was laughing. “You’re always curious and yes they’ll turn back to your normal shade in time if you feed yourself properly. This is why we’re off to dinner after this.”

“We’re going to be drinking blood, aren’t we?” Minseok’s mouth went dry and at the word “blood”. Jongdae, taking in his expression quickly said, “Shall we hyung? I’m starving and I need to teach you how to eat. His arm was extended towards Minseok, his smile was bloodthirsty.

“Sure.” Minseok took Jongdae’s hand. He was pretty hungry too and he knew Jongdae was going to teach him how to hunt for food. They turned away from the graves and began running. It was exhilarating. The speed would have able to turn the trees pitch-black walls as the night was but his new senses, everything was crisp and clear.

This is how the new chapter of MInseok’s life began. A miserable phase, namely death. This is how it began, the new born vampire and his best friend running side by side…

Into the night.