It all started one Friday night when Jongdae was heading home after drinks with friends, just like any other Friday night.  Only this time, his reality would never be the same. 

He’d waved goodbye to his best friends Baekhyun and Chanyeol and set off; along the way his thoughts wandered to the accounting paper due on Monday, which TV show to stream next, and the mysterious (good-looking!) man he’d caught staring at him at the bar.  Coincidentally, a few hundred metres into his walk, he sensed an eerie presence, as though he were being watched.

Jongdae had stopped abruptly mid-stride and turned to look behind him.  As far as he could see in the dimly-lit alley, no one was there.  As he scanned his surroundings, it occurred to him that he was the only one on the street, and fear settled inside him, only exacerbated by the persistent sensation of someone watching him. 

Fear became paranoia and Jongdae started running, wanting to get home as soon as possible.  But the presence only seemed to get nearer and nearer, and Jongdae’s heart only beat faster and louder in his ears. 

It all happened too fast – one moment a violent force was barreling into his side and then he was pinned on the pavement by a crushing weight on top of him.  He squirmed and strained as he tried to get his assailant off of him, but it was futile; the attacker was too heavy and held Jongdae’s wrists in a bruising grip.

Jongdae was able to look at his attacker properly: his hair was unruly and his irises glowed bright red, but his pupils were so far blown that they were only encircled by thin red rings.  A maniacal grin, full of too-sharp teeth (and fangs?), was plastered across his face, and he began to chuckle throatily as he swiped his tongue across his teeth.

Realisation and horror dawned upon Jongdae, and in sheer panic he thrashed more frantically in the bloodthirsty vampire’s vice-like grip, knowing it was pointless.  “NO!” he shrieked, “get OFF me, let me GO!  Please, let-”

He was cut off by the vampire’s jaws clamping down on his neck, the fangs sinking into his skin.  Jongdae screamed in pain, the vampire was biting him so hard it felt like he was trying to rip his throat out.  He felt the bite loosen as the vampire started blood out of the incision he’d made, and he wailed in despair.  He couldn’t die, not now, not like this.  He thought of his friends, his family – how would they cope without him?  His brother Jongin, whom he’d cared for and guarded with his heart, wouldn’t have a brother; and he didn’t want that to be the last time he saw Baekhyun and Chanyeol.  Yet here he was, his life literally being out of him by some rabid beast, and there was nothing he could do.

Suddenly, as Jongdae was about to accept his fate, the vampire yanked himself off of him abruptly and collapsed on the ground.  High on adrenaline, Jongdae scrambled to his feet and jumped back to see the vampire choking and spluttering, before he started shrieking and writhing on the pavement in agony.  Jongdae could only watch in wide-eyed horror as the vampire’s body began to contort and shrink, morphing into something that wasn’t human.  His body continued to shrivel and get smaller and smaller until he – it – stopped shrinking.  What was left of the vampire was only the length of Jongdae’s forearm; it looked like a flower with a long stem.

Jongdae blinked and tentatively stepped towards the flower to see if his eyes weren’t lying to him.  Indeed, it was a rose, with bright red petals, green leaves and a thorny stem.

The vampire had become a rose.

What the  had just happened?

That was when Jongdae started to feel the same unnerving presence that he’d felt right before he was ambushed, and he froze.  No, not again, please.  He slowly turned around to be faced with the man who’d been watching him back at the bar.

“So it’s true,” the man said.

“You,” Jongdae exclaimed.  “What the are you doing here?”

The man tilted his head backwards to the side as he gazed at Jongdae with intrigue.  He had bleached hair pushed back away from his forehead, and an inverted-cross earring dangled from one of his ears.  He had a heart-shaped face and small yet plump-looking lips.  He was around his height, and happened to be Jongdae’s exact type.  In any other situation he would have found him attractive but right now he was just scared and confused.

When he looked more carefully into the man’s feline-shaped eyes, he saw that his irises too, were red.

“You’re a vampire too.” Jongdae said.

This new vampire laughed breathily, his fangs briefly flashing in the streetlights.  “Well of course I am!  But I am not here to hurt you, my dear.  In fact, it’s actually you whom I should be more afraid of.”

Jongdae was only getting more bewildered by the minute.  “Then why are you here?” he snapped.

“Because I know exactly what you are,” replied the vampire.  “I had an inkling when I saw you at the bar earlier.  Now, as we’ve both seen what’s happened tonight, it pretty much confirmed my thoughts.”

“W-what do you mean?” asked Jongdae. “I- I’m just a guy, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

More hearty laughter from the vampire.  “You have a lot to learn, my dear,” he said, shaking his head.  “If you were merely human, we wouldn’t be talking right now, and that vampire certainly wouldn’t have turned into a rose after drinking your blood.”

A chill ran down Jongdae’s spine as he processed the vampire’s words.  “Who are you?” he demanded.

“My name is Minseok,” the vampire smirked and he held out a hand towards Jongdae.  “Come with me, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

So, what do you think? Is Jongdae a magical being? Is his blood enchanted? And how does Minseok know about him? Should Jongdae trust Minseok? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Hope you guys enjoyed this!