“I thought I’d told you to stay away.”

Stay away from what…?

“Byun Baekhyun!”

Oh, but that’s my voice.

What did I say?

Who am I talking to? Why can’t I see his face?

I can’t see him and yet I feel so connected to him...

Who is this man?

“You’re not the man I fell in love with.”

Why does this hurt so much?

Why does he keep pushing me away like this?

I want to be with you,

I want to be loved by you.

I don’t even know you.

“Just do me a favour and stay away from me.”

But I don’t want to -

“I don’t want to…”

“Minseok,” a soft voice cooed, “What don’t you want to do?”

Minseok stirred from his sleep and blinked up at a blurry Luhan who stood over him with a small smile and concern evident in his eyes. When did he get here…?

“What?” Minseok croaked, exhaustion evident in his voice.

“You fell asleep,” Luhan grinned, running his fingers affectionately through Minseok’s tousled hair, “You were mumbling things too.”

“I was?” Minseok flustered.

Minseok had been studying in the library with Luhan for the last few hours… Or maybe he had been sleeping for the last few hours. Either way, Minseok knew that his end of term paper was still sitting, unfinished, in a document on his laptop.

Luhan let out a soft laugh before tugging Minseok into a quick kiss, “I have class now,” he said and cupped Minseok’s face between his hands, “I’ll meet you back at the dorm later, okay?”

“H-Hey,” Minseok sputtered, pushing Luhan’s hands away from him - he was positive his cheeks were glowing red, “We’re in public!”

Luhan giggled, “Didn’t stop you from sleeping, did it?” he teased.

“Luhan,” Minseok whined in embarrassment and the latter laughed louder.

“Relax, there’s no one around. No one has to know.” Luhan reassured, pressing another kiss to Minseok’s forehead this time, “I’ll see you later, okay? Why don’t you go back and get some rest? You look like you could use it.”

Minseok sighed, running his fingers through his hair where Luhan had no doubt mused it up even more than it had been mused this morning when he rolled out of bed. He took a glance at the clock and realized that he had a few hours to kill before dark so he figured he’d take Luhan’s advice. He’d go back to the dorm, get a shower and brace himself for a long evening.

That seemed like a good idea.

Maybe he would even take a nap on his bed for once… Or, considering the recurrence of his strange nightmares, Minseok thought against the nap. He figured that instead, maybe he could go for a run to that nearby cafe again and pick up a cup of liquid energy to keep himself fueled. At least with all the coffee pumping through his veins, he’d be able to get somewhere in his caffeine induced high and maybe have, like, five pages written before he crashed.

That seemed to be a better option that running the risk of another one of those terrible dreams.

Those dreams… No, those nightmares. They were always so eerie with a nameless and faceless figure. There was something familiar about each one, something that made him uncomfortable, because of how real it felt. Haunted by the unusual dreams, Minseok sighed and trudged his way to the coffee shop with his bag hanging off of his shoulder. Coffee, yes, that was what he needed most right now. Anything to keep himself from falling asleep again.

Anything to keep him away from the nightmares.

***

The bell to the cafe jingled as Minseok entered through the grungy door. It creaked as he pushed it open and then he was greeted with the smell of freshly brewed coffee. He smiled to himself, exhaling the delicious scent, and sauntered over to the counter.

Inside the shop there was no one particular around, not a single customer. No employees either, for that matter. Minseok glanced around the cafe once more in search of anyone, before he gently tapped the small silver bell sitting on the countertop, the ring echoing in the emptiness. Almost immediately, a pair of red eyes met with his own, and Minseok nearly choked on the air in his lungs at the sudden entrance of the employee.

“Ah!” The employee exclaimed excitedly, “You’re back! Latte, right?”

Minseok blinked a few times and nodded solemnly… Had this employee been a vampire before...? The other night, Minseok only remembered one specific vampire. Was this a vampires-only cafe of some sort? He shook his head in confusion, it was too early for a vampires-only cafe to be open anyway… Wasn’t it?

“My name is Jongin,” the employee offered, “Remember me? From the other night?”

“Oh,” Minseok thought back on it and he realized that, yes, he did in fact remember this particular employee, but he really couldn’t remember those glowing, red eyes, “I remember.”

“Are you feeling alright?” Jongin asked, taking up a pristine, white mug from the racks hanging above, “You look nervous.”

Minseok shifted, “You’re a vampire,” he said slowly and Jongin laughed, nearly dropping the mug.

“Yup,” he agreed, “That I am. Is that a problem?” he asked then, flashing his fangs as he did.

“N-No,” Minseok assured, “Not at all. I just, hadn’t realized.”

Jongin snorted, “Hard to miss with the fangs and the red eyes and all, you know?” he teased and Minseok flustered, face turning red at an alarming rate.

“I must’ve been tired.” Minseok mumbled as an excuse, “It was pretty late.”

“It was,” Jongin agreed, finishing off Minseok’s latte, “Finish your paper afterwards?”

“No,” Minseok admitted and Jongin pouted.

“You’ll get there.” he said and handed over the latte, “Drink up, you’ll probably need it. You look exhausted to be honest.”

“I am.”

Jongin watched Minseok pick up the coffee, taking a sip before he slid over a few won. He accepted the cash, tossing it into his register before looking back at Minseok and watching him thoughtfully. For a moment, Minseok felt uncomfortable, as if he were being studied by the vampire. Perhaps a look of trembling fear has passed through his eyes, because Jongin straightened up his back and cleared his throat.

“I could help you with that,” Jongin blurted and Minseok furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Pardon?”

“I could help you with your exhaustion.” Jongin said, cheeks paling pink.

“How exactly?” Minseok asked, half curious and half amused, “Sleeping pills or something?”

“Better,” Jongin said shaking his head, “I could hypnotize you.”

“What?” Minseok asked startled and Jongin almost laughed at how absurd this conversation sounded as he spoke with possibly one of his closest, oldest friends and yet… someone who had no idea who he even was.

“Just think it over,” the vampire said finally, “If you’re interested, I can use hypnosis to help you get a better night’s rest. Works like a charm, so I’m told by friends.”

Minseok chewed his bottom lip for a second before shrugging, “I’ll think about it.” he decided before taking a seat somewhere in the empty cafe and unloading a few of his notebooks.

His mind was swamped with work, studies and simply everything in between. But, there was a nagging feeling so familiar to him as he thought about the vampire’s strange offer. Had he heard about this somewhere before - hypnosis as a sleeping method via vampire? Why wasn’t he terrified by the very thought of being hypnotized by a strange vampire, of all things? Worst of all, why was he even considering it?

Groaning, Minseok slammed his books closed, frightening Jongin who was falling asleep behind the counter, and left after chugging down the rest of his latte. Better off sleeping at home, he figured, than sitting around here any longer.

Jongin watched Minseok’s retreating frame and sighed, brushing his hair back up from his forehead before yawning again. It seemed to Jongin that Minseok, in this life at least, had a sligh