“So, have you guys seen it?” Donghyuk leaned back in his seat the second the teacher left the room.

“What?” Bobby asked distracted, he hadn't quite been himself since this morning. That guy was sounding more and more like a fantasy that he had dreamt up, probably still under the power of sleep's persuasion. Besides, nobody was that beautiful. It just didn't happen. People had flaws. It was impossible to walk around like a resurrected anime character, drawn to perfection.

“The vampire!?” Donghyuk exclaimed in frustration, annoyed about having to explain himself at a time like this.

“Didn't you guys wait for him at the entrance?” Bobby looked up surprised, his brain slowly putting two and two together.

“We did, but it never showed.” Jinhwan complained, utter disappointment lining his voice.

“Maybe we'll see it at lunch!” he added, his sweet smile returning as hope took root in his heart.

“What if there's garlic in the cafeteria food?” Chanwoo joined the conversation, followed by Yunhyeong.

“Babo! Vampires don't eat food... blood... hellooo?” Donghyuk knocked on Chanwoo's head as if to see whether there was someone home in there.

“Wait.. eww.. will they add a container with blood to the food counter, then? Maybe next to the fries.. and what if it splashes and spills over... blood fries... YUCK!” Yunhyeong's face was all curled up in disgust.

“I guess it'll just have to bring a packed lunch.” Jinhwan said, more to himself than anyone else. There was a hint of empathy in his tone, like he felt sorry for him that the cafeteria couldn't cater to his needs.

“Can we pleeease stop calling him 'it'?!” Bobby spat at them a little more harshly than he had intended. He was feeling a bit off, it was hard to concentrate. He stood up and stormed out before anyone had the chance to react.

“What's up with him?” he heard Donghyuk ask, and saw Jinhwan shrug his shoulders out the corner of his eye as he left the classroom. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get the image of the imaginary guy out of his head. It was haunting him. Taunting him. He tried to ignore the uncomfortable truth his gut was telling him. It had all been a dream. Just a random daydream. That had to be it.

Lost in thought, he paid no attention to where he was going, crashing straight into the wall. Except it was softer than he would have thought. Perhaps because it wasn't a wall at all. It was a warm, manly chest. Inadvertently, he had used his hand to soften the fall, which was still firmly placed over one of the guy's well defined pecs. He looked up, having a small heart attack when the blond hair caught his eyes. Junhoe's surprised eyes were staring straight at him.

Why, of all people, did it have to be Junhoe? He was not only the cutest guy in the whole school, but also the object of his obsession. He had the biggest crush on him, but Junhoe was pretty much the school's prince while he was the president of Dorkville, and under no circumstances did the prince ever visit Dorkville, nor did he have any reason to. He had been content admiring him from afar. But now that they were close enough for him to smell his alluring cologne, feeling his chest expand with every breath, Bobby got greedy. He wanted more time, he wanted more contact, he wanted him. He tried to ignore the fact that Junhoe's heart was beating steadily, calmly, not at all bothered by their impromptu encounter. But he couldn't suppress the truth, he didn't like him back. As his heart started sinking to the bottom of the abyss that had just appeared in his gut, he suddenly realized that his hand was still on Junhoe's chest.

“Oh!” his hand shot backwards as if it had been burnt, followed by a wave of awkward giggles. “Sss.. sssorry... heh...” he forced his lips to form a smile, not sure if he had been completely successful. Junhoe replied with the most beautiful smile, his eyes disappearing into two happy half moons as he aired his sparkling white teeth. Bobby could feel his face light on fire, unable to withstand the heat from standing too close to the smiling sun before him.

As if his feet had been glued to the floor, he stood frozen in his tracks, unable to move even though it had been a few minutes since Junhoe left. He hadn't moved a muscle. He had hardly even blinked. He was having a hard time processing what had just happened. Junhoe. Junhoe had smiled at him. His insides burst into a million little butterflies, fluttering about, tickling his heart, causing it to miss every other beat.

When the bulk of the shock had subsided, he got this weird feeling. Like he wasn't alone. He swiftly scanned his surroundings, coming up empty. Still, he felt as if the shadows had come alive and were out to get him. He even thought he had seen two red lasers flash in the far right corner, almost like the eyes of an angry monster lying in wait, but they had disappeared the moment he saw them, leaving him unsure of what he had really seen.

He swallowed a worry knot. Maybe they were. Maybe his hunch wasn't just a hunch, maybe the boy from before had actually been the vampire and now it was hunting him for his exceptionally juicy blood. He wasn't sure why, but he was convinced his blood was above average, extra tasty. Perhaps it was his subconscious telling him to watch out, or maybe he just had an overinflated ego. Whatever it was, he had to get out of here. In all likelihood he was just on edge, being overly paranoid. According to the guys, it hadn't even shown up today, so it was a stretch to think it was after him. But he wasn't taking any chances.

He took one step, then another and before he knew it, he was running down the corridor as if his life was in danger. He was deeply disappointed in himself. He was behaving like everyone else, letting the fear take over, letting it make stupid decisions. Yet he kept running.

Out of breath, he turned the corner, crashing into someone. No, not someone. Junhoe.

“Wow, twice in one day!” Junhoe chuckled, running his hand through his stylish, blond hair. Bobby loved that hair and the fact that he had gotten away with dyeing his hair without invoking the rage of his teachers. That was one cool dude.

“Yeah.. it's becoming a habit.” he giggled uncontrollably, mentally kicking himself for being such a dork.

“So, catch you next time then.” Junhoe winked at him as he passed him by, continuing to wherever he had been headed.

In a daze, Bobby wobbled to the cafeteria to meet the guys for lunch. He had almost forgotten completely about his unsettling encounter with the haunting master of shadows. The moment he entered the food hall, it all came crashing back to him. He could feel his presence take hold of him again, as if it possessed him somehow. He noticed him, sitting at a corner table at the other side of the hall, looking right at him. He got chills.

There he was. The flawlessly beautiful ice king, bathing in darkness and cold. He looked even lonelier than before. Not only was he sitting all alone at the table, but all the tables next to his were empty, and so were the tables next to those. Half the hall was empty, except for him. The other half overcrowded. People were avoiding him as if he would infect them with the plague if they came too close. He almost felt sorry for him, ignoring the urge to come to his rescue. For some inexplicaple reason, he wanted to show the world that there was nothing to be afraid of. Only, he couldn't even convince himself of that.

With a weird feeling lingering in his gut, he joined his friends at their usual table.