Her eyes focused onto the dark and narrow alley before her. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead and onto her neck. Her heart raced quickly as her mind rushed to find a quick solution.

Should she head into the alley or should she turn around?

There was no other way for her to go to, as all others led to a dead end. Seulgi could only wish that her instincts will turn fruitful.

Her boots clucked amidst the bricked pavement, walking straight into the unknown of the dark alleyway. She walked hurriedly, restless to get home as soon as possible. Something in her head ticked off, as though she could sense the eyes of a watchful predator.

It was as though she was being preyed upon and it wasn’t something pleasant to experience, especially since it was in the wee hours of a dark morning.

Seulgi grabbed onto her coat tighter as she made her way across the alleyway with the dim lights. The bars at the other side of the alleys must have already finished their hours for no sounds of drunken merriment could be heard. It only made things much worse.

“Seulgi.”

The girl paused as her name echoed through the small alley. She turned around, and yet she found nothing.

She found no one.

The hairs on the back of her neck began to stand and she quickly made her way past the alley again. The only reason she was able to walk this darn road was because she was familiar with it having walked the road almost every day of her life.

Seulgi knew the crooks and corners of the alley like she would the features on her face. If worse comes to worse, she took solace in the fact that she’ll be able to find her way around this dark, scary place.

“Seulgi!”

This time the voice was louder and she found herself frozen on the spot. It was the voice of a man, silky – almost velvety – that it made her sick to her very core. Could a predator sound this sickeningly sweet?

Seulgi guessed it was probably a cruel joke of a drunken man, probably too drunk to even realise that he’d call Seulgi out on this dark night.

Friend or not, there was no way she was going to have a conversation with a drunken man in a narrow alleyway. She’d always heard of stories of the females that were preyed upon, and there was definitely no way was Kang Seulgi allowing herself to be one of those victims.

She walked – no, brisk walked – again, all this while still grabbing tightly onto her coat that seemed as though it wanted to tear from the pressure.

“Seulgi…”

She heard the voice again, though this time it seemed familiar.

She didn’t know if the familiarity was because of the many times he called her, or because he was a person that she’d known from somewhere.

Seulgi didn’t care.

She just wanted to go home.

“Round and round the mulberry bush,” The voice started singing.

It seemed to be getting nearer, even though she swears she’d been walking faster. Her luck must have been bad, for it also seemed the bright lights at the end of the alley seemed so far away.

“The monkey chased the weasel.”

The girl recognised it to be a rhyme of some sorts. Had it originated from America? Seulgi didn’t know the answer, and neither did she have the time to think about it. All she could afford right now was to get away.

Something was going to happen, something terrible, but there was no way she was going to be a part of it.

No absolutely, freaking way.

“The monkey thought it was all in good fun,” The voice sang again.

Monkey? Was the monkey the person who was following her? Does that mean she’s the weasel? Is it true he was chasing her?

Many questions raced through her panicked mind but she didn’t care.

To hell with these questions, for Seulgi just wanted to go home.

She wanted to reach home.

She wanted to run.

And she did, her boots clucking noisily amidst the bricked pavements. This time she didn’t clutched onto her coat. There was no way she could for she used the energy to run instead.

She wanted to run from whoever it was that was trailing after her.

Run and run and run until she reached the safety of her home.

And so she continued running, though her mind now seemed a curse.

Seulgi paused, her instincts kicking in at the wrong timing. The watchful feeling was gone; there was no suspense, no danger.

She felt almost normal.

Her heart still thumped quickly, though it’s probably from the awkward running. She didn’t know how it happened, though.

It was as though she was no longer being watched, but a deep part inside her screamed that it was a mistake.

It was a temporary bliss, and she should run again.

Run and run and run, for her instincts were wrong.

They always had been in the first place!

And Seulgi had wanted to scream at her darn luck, for she knew better than to trust her instincts. She knew she shouldn’t have stopped, but by now, her legs had already given way.

It buckled under pressure, and the girl fell to her knees, her eyes darting around the dark alleyway once more.

Somebody was coming.

He was coming and she knew he was coming for her.

She knew he knew that she would buckle under pressure.

He had wanted a chase and she gave him just that. Now, he must be more excited than ever. Almost as if it was an uncanny timing, her mind then decided to recall the words of the little rhyme that he sang just now.

“Round and round the mulberry bush.” Seulgi sang, closing her eyes from the fear of seeing something frightful.

“The monkey chased the weasel.” She knew now that she was the weasel who had given the excited monkey even more excitement.

“The monkey thought it was all in good fun,” She mumbled softly, knowing the end of the song was coming.

“Pop goes the weasel.”

This time it wasn’t her soft mumbles, but a loud voice. With her eyes still closed, she sensed that he was probably somewhere in front.

Seulgi contemplated into running in the opposite direction, though she knew they will be dead ends either way. She also knew she was dead if she ran forward.

“Pop!” This time she wished she could hear his voice from the front, and she did.

But this time, she also felt his warm breath upon her nose and her heart almost leaped out of her chest.

Seulgi opened her eyes and soon came to face with a handsome stranger.

He had the kindest eyes, though she now know it must be a lie since her instincts were always wrong.

He also bore a slight smirk, and she couldn’t help but noticed he crouched too close to her.

“Hello, Seulgi.” It was the same silky and velvety voice that made her sick to her core. “Did you enjoy your run?”

The girl couldn’t move, amazed at how handsome he was, really. His beauty was indescribable but there was something off about him at the same time.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that he had been chasing her just before.

“Did you enjoy our little song?” He asked her again and still she seemed lost in his beautiful eyes.

When she made no answer, the man chuckled, before patting her head adoringly.

“I see.” He muttered softly. “How rude of me to not introduce myself.”

It seemed as though the man had her silence confused with disrespect.

“My name is Jinyoung.” He continued her head. “You’ve seen me before.”

Has she really? Seulgi frowned, knowing that they hadn’t met before. Was this guy a psycho? She then frowned harder.

He was definitely a psycho, and she was absolutely defenceless against him.

“And you’ll definitely see me again.” The man stopped patting her head as he placed both of his hands on her shoulders.

Seulgi wondered when she’ll be able to see him again.

A part of her that had wanted to run away now numbed, for she was entranced by his existence instead. All sense of reason has left her and she knew it did, but she also knew that she could do nothing about it.

He brought his face closer and she could see how clear his skin actually was. It was marble like, perfect and his lips seemed a tint redder than before.

Wait.

Red?

Her focus snapped back onto his face and she finally realised what had been off about him.

His skin was grey, it definitely wasn’t perfect. In fact, it seemed old.

His touch on her shoulders and head had been cold.

And his speed – from the end of the alleyway to the front of her face – had been impossibly fast.

Seulgi realised she could only looked on in horror as his face came closer.

Seeing the fear in her face, Jinyoung chuckled harder.

“Ah, you’ve realised.” The same sickening voice said again.

Her breathing got faster, her heart thumped harder and Seulgi cursed her stupid instincts amidst all the troubles she went through tonight.

Lastly, she looked into his eyes, now seeing the amusement that is laced underneath it.

And then, red.

a/n it's incredibly short, but needed to be penned down because i feel like i will regret it forever.

p.s yes's he's an old crinkly vampire. thank you for reading!