The bar’s packed. A beautiful moon reigns over the skies tonight, and yet, people still choose to come inside, all to hear her sing along the nice, heavy beat of her band, her one and only chosen family. And even though there’s tens of heads watching them play, the one face that stands out is the same one that is always there. Always watching. This time, however, her glance feels different. Her gaze looks more intense than ever. The woman’s stoic face was hard to forget — she was as cold-looking as she was beautiful. The most beautiful woman Seungwan had ever seen, if anything, but she creeped her out. Always watching, always distant, like she was looking at Seungwan from behind a window, tapping on glass like a ghastly figure.

With a final, dramatic hand running over her sweaty bangs, Seungwan finishes Bloodsplatter’s last song of the night, heaving frantically as their loyal crowd erupts into lively cheers. They’re the bar’s main attraction every Friday night.

Only a few people remain silent, cheerless, as if the show didn’t matter one bit. She can count them with a single hand’s fingers. That woman is one of them. She stares, still. Silent and mute behind her sleek black hair, behind lips painted a dark shade of red.

Her bandmate’s hand on her shoulder makes her blink back to reality. She turns back to look at her with a small smile, shaking her head to the woman’s silent question. Sooyoung has been her anchor for as long as she remembers. They look out for each other, all of them, but Sooyoung became sort of a sister to her. She was there for her when she had no one else. It was like she was the first person she ever got to know – and, in a way, she kind of was.

At the backstage, when all of them are cooling off and packing their equipment, Sooyoung approaches her with a damp towel around her shoulders and furrowed eyebrows.

“She was here again, wasn’t she?” The tall woman plops onto the old, trusty red sofa right beside where Seungwan is sitting. The fake leather is covered in cracks, prickly against their skin.

Seungwan sighs. “Yeah. The usual, just staring at me, completely stoic.”

“ing creep,” Sooyoung scrunches up her nose in a grimace of distaste. She crosses her arms and legs impatiently. “You know, if she wants you so bad, she should take a hint that staring at you like a goddamn psychopath won’t work as a seduction technique.”

She rolls her eyes, chuckling.

“I doubt she wants anything like that to do with me.”

“Well… If she isn’t a crazy fan in love, then I don’t know what she is. But you can count on me to beat her up if you want to. The boys will help too, right?” Sooyoung ends on a louder note, calling the other members’ attention.

“We won’t let anyone hurt you, Wan,” Changkyun reassures her with a small, friendly smile while polishing his bass guitar. Their other two bandmembers nod along.

“If you need us to, we’ll teach that weirdo a lesson!” Beomgyu balls his fists and puts them in a fighting position, acting ready.

“You’re not teaching anyone with that,” Yeonjun rolls his eyes, hitting him in the arm. His friend mouths an ouch, rubbing where he hit him. “You should stick to the video game lessons.”

“Thanks, buddies, it all means a lot to me,” she puts a hand to her heart dramatically, chuckling. Then, she takes a deep breath, patting her clothed thighs in resolution before she stands up. Her fingers fish for the small box inside her jeans’ pocket. “Well, I think I’m heading out for a smoke. Anybody wants to join me?”

“You haven’t quit that stuff yet?” Sooyoung glares.

“I’ll quit any day, I just need a little something tonight,” she shrugs, turning towards the backdoor. The younger woman can’t see her smirk as she adds, “you haven’t quit doing ugly men yet, either!”

A light chuckle of amusement passes Seungwan’s lips as she hears a faint oh, off before she leaves the building.

Anything left of that smile fades as soon as she takes a better look around. Though the backdoor of the bar leads her to a street just beside the one where the main entrance is, something feels eerie.

It’s a strange night. The streets are devoid of any living presence, and the night’s thick silence muffles every lively sound from inside the building. A dense fog arose during their show and now has taken over the streets in a white, ghastly glow. Seungwan shrugs away a shiver down her spine as she looks around, reaches for the pack and picks up a cigarette. She huffs a puff of cold air before putting the white cylinder between her lips, the fingers of her free hand fishing for the lighter in her pocket. Its light becomes a faint orange glow amidst the foggy darkness, like a specter, a haunting from the past.

She puffs out a whisp of smoke and her mind can’t help but wonder.

Did she use to smoke before? There are still so many things she can’t place. It would all be so incredibly overwhelming if she paid it any attention. The years she spent trying to remember were painful and depressing; they left her scars she probably won’t ever be able to heal. At least she’s got a new life now. A family of carefully chosen familiar faces. A job with the only thing that remained; knowing she loved singing more than she loved anything else. Or anyone else, she thinks.

Seungwan shifts uncomfortably with her back against the wall as a face comes to her mind. That woman. That strange, mysterious, obsessed woman who follows her every performance. A beautiful face without a name. Not that she’s really that curious to know. Her intentions, however, will always have a strong hold on her curiosity. Why act that way? Why bother coming to every show?

As she thinks and thinks, she suddenly feels the sharp pain of a headache. It’s like tendrils of ice have slithered their way into her brain, piercing it all around. Seungwan clutches the side of her head in agony, grimacing at the feeling. She throws the rest of her still-very-long cigarette to the ground and stomps over it with her black boot, fishes for the phone in her pocket. Her thumb presses the voice record button as she opens the chat with her band members.

“Hey, I think I’m going to head home already. I’m not feeling too good. Can anyone bring me my backpack later? Thanks.”

Biting her lip, she gives another unsure look around the empty, haunting streets, veiled in that thickening fog. She curses under her breath, but goes ahead anyway, hiding her hands from the cold in the pocket of her jeans. Her fingers find the pocketknife closed inside it and curl around it. If anything happens, at least she has something she can use to defend herself. It’s not much, by any means, but it will have to do.

She jogs through the empty streets with cautious steps and alert eyes, making her way back home almost involuntarily as she took the same path she always did.

Suddenly, Seungwan stops. She’s already a few streets away from the bar when she encounters a strange silhouette ahead. The person was bulky and tall, their figure rendered to a solid shadow under the dark side of the street, where the light of the lamppost from the other side couldn’t reach. They’re standing still, hands at the sides of their body. Her breath catches in as she notices how the tips of the silhouette’s fingers turn frightfully pointy at the end, like claws. Seungwan tries to take a step back, trembling as she notices how their gaze seems to shine in the dark, like an animal’s eyes, but as soon as her foot touches the ground, the figure growls in a violent warning.

It lunges forward in Seungwan’s direction, its arms dropping low to the ground and acting like front legs. Beneath the light, she can finally see the way its skin is covered in a dark fur, like a wolf, but its shape was surely more human than anything else, save for its face, which was unmistakably wolf-like. With her heart drumming in her ears desperately, she tries to run away, venturing almost blindly through the foggy streets, but it’s to no avail — the creature is already catching up to her in an insanely fast speed, and it launches itself over her.

Seungwan screams, but the streets are as empty as a ghost town’s would be. She hits the ground on her back with a loud thump, feeling the huge hand-paws pinning her against the concrete forcefully, its nails piercing the fake leather of her jacket. The wolf thing bares her teeth at her, and she closes her eyes with great force as it opens its mouth violently, ready to bite.

Then, a shot echoes at the distance, turning every sound around her into thin white noise.

The pressure over her pining her down lightens considerably, and she opens her eyes as she feels its weight falling to the side.

She can see the faint wisp of smoke coming out of a gun, its nuzzle still pointed to where the head of the body was when it was looming over hers. The creature lies headless on the pavement beside her, but there’s no blood around it, only thin red strips that glisten against the light, like long strings of shiny confetti.

“Listen to me, are you alright?”

Seungwan looks back to where she can hear a faint voice calling, her ears still hurting with that high-pitched sound from the blaring shot and her heart pounding violently in her chest. Though she’s breathing heavily from the scare, she holds her breath as she meets a pair of beautifully shaped eyes peering at her, scanning her figure with doctor-like attentiveness. Her jaw drops a little as she realizes who it is, dark colored outfit giving her in.

The woman who watches her every show is now crouched beside her, looking worried. And a little furious.

“Seungwan, we need to go!” She screams, wrapping an arm around Seungwan’s back with surprising familiarity as she pulls her up. The singer’s mind feels like it’s still loading back to its normal state, and she barely registers anything but the touch of the woman’s fingers on her arm. “We don’t know if anyone’s still around! It could be an ambush!”

“I, uh- A-Alright,” Seungwan gives in to her orders, moving forward along her savior.

Their walk back seems endless to her, though as they make their way back to the bar, she hears nothing but her stalker’s heavy breathing. She’s straining herself a bit to keep up carrying Seungwan around, and she can see it. So, she unwraps her body from the beautiful woman’s arms calmly, slowing her steps. The streets around her are still empty and as ghastly as they were before, and she can see the worry on the woman’s eyes as she looks around, but the bar isn’t too far from them now. She recognizes the street too clearly. They can sprint if they need to.

“Is everything okay? I can-” She asks breathlessly but is interrupted by Seungwan.

“I’m feeling better now, I can walk on my own,” her voice is reassuring, if not a bit perplexed, too, at this stranger’s protective attitude towards her. “We’re getting closer to the bar. It will be faster if I go on my own two legs. You seem tired.”

The woman furrows her eyebrows as she thinks for a moment, but nods at Seungwan, even if reluctantly. She turns to look at her with those big, beautiful eyes. Seungwan can now see that they’re slightly glossy with tears.

“I almost… I thought I’d lost you there for a second.”

 “You… sure are a very… emotionally invested fan,” her eyebrows knit in the middle as she stammers her answer, unsure of what to tell this stranger who has been stalking her for some time now.

“I… I’m sorry, Seungwan, I-” The woman turns her head to the side for a few seconds, blinking away tears. A bitter chuckle escapes her lips. She looks up to meet Seungwan’s eyes once more. “This is not how it was supposed to be, but I guess that’s done. It is what it is. And I don’t think it’s fair for you not to know. Well, I-” She closes her eyes, biting her lips in frustration, as if she needs to remind herself to slow down, to order things better. Her gaze is intense as it meets her eyes once more. “It’s Joohyun. My name is Joohyun.”

“…Joohyun,” Seungwan feels the sharp edge of a headache pricking at her brain once more. There’s something odd to the woman’s name, something she cannot place. Something hollow. “It’s, uh… It’s a pretty name. But… how do you know my name? My real name. I highly doubt any of us gave that information away before.”

Joohyun’s pale skin seems to turn even whiter at the questioning. 

“I… I’m-”

“Of course she does. You’re part of our band!” A voice echoes behind them, opposing and threatening.

Seungwan would recognize that voice anywhere.

“Sooyoung!” Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

The tall woman launches herself against Joohyun with violence, pushing her against the nearest wall. She’s got both of her arms pinned down against the dirty concrete, fingers tightening around her wrists carelessly. Joohyun grunts with the pain, but her gaze is defiant. Anyone could easily tell she wasn’t scared. If anything, she looks bothered and angry.

“The are you doing with her, you creep?!”

“Sooyoung! Hey! It’s okay! She didn’t do anything wrong! She helped me!” Seungwan is fast to reach out of for her bandmate’s arms, pulling her away. Sooyoung looks positively pissed as she lets go, staring at Seungwan like she’s insane.

“Much appreciated,” Joohyun answers coldly, rubbing at her wrists, and Seungwan just nods with a frown in return. There are nail marks around her skin now, but it doesn’t seem to hurt as much as it seems to bother her.

“What are you even doing here?” She keeps her hand on her tall friend’s upper arm as if to soothe her, but her gaze lingers on Joohyun, on the marks along her wrist left by Sooyoung. Though she was a stranger, she did save her. For that, she thought the woman deserved a chance to redeem herself in their point of view. Maybe she wasn’t a creep after all.

“You were taking too long, and I got worried. It’s a strange night. I sent you a message asking for you to write us when you got home but you never did, and I knew you probably hadn’t fallen asleep because I know you’re a hardcore insomniac,” they notice Joohyun’s eyebrows crease with worry at the information. “So, I followed the same path you go to get home and I saw your goddamn stalker cornering you up,” Sooyoung spits her words venomously toward the mysterious woman, eyes shooting daggers at her.

“Not a stalker,” Joohyun cooly declares. She keeps her chin high as she speaks, holds Sooyoung’s gaze in; she’s not scared. Whatever intimidation Sooyoung uses, Seungwan can tell that it won’t work on Joohyun — and she’s got a hunch that she didn’t fight back on purpose. “I’ve been taking care of things. Making sure Seungwan’s been safe from harm. But you are right, tonight is a strange night.”

 “That all sounds like some shady bull. How do you even know that name? Most fans just know her by Wendy. Only someone who has stalked her a lot would know that.”

“I don’t own any explanations to you. You, on the other hand… Does she know?”

Seungwan’s eyebrows furrow together into a frown. “Do I know what?”

“About what?” Sooyoung asks, her voice lacking more and more patience by the sentence.

“… What you are.”

Suddenly, the tall woman’s face pales. Her bandmate’s frown deepens beside her, her touch against Sooyoung’s arm growing slightly tighter.

“You’re not gonna do this. Oh, you’re so not gonna do this!” Anger coats her words as a snarl grows on her lips. She stomps a foot towards Joohyun, visibly shaking, though Seungwan tries to hold her back.

Joohyun’s posture remains unfazed and imposing, her body framed fiercely and impenetrably by that big, black jacket, but her voice resonates with outrage. “She was almost attacked by a werewolf today, you know!”

Sooyoung freezes. “What?! Seungwan, are you alright?” She turns towards her friend, grabbing her face between her hands and examining every bit of her body to ensure that she’s not hurt.

Something flickers in Joohyun’s eyes, but Seungwan can’t tell as her bandmate squeezes her cheeks in deep, preoccupied affection. Then, the word finally dawns on her.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait! A what?!”

“She… needs to know. She’s seen it now,” the mysterious woman averts her eyes for a few seconds, but when she looks back, her eyes are full of conviction, even though pained. “I wanted to prevent it for as long as I could, but I knew I… wouldn’t be able to hold everything back forever.”

“You can’t just… tell her,” Sooyoung’s arms fall to the side of her body, her eyes gleaming with tears. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Seungwan had never seen her look as scared as she does. “Why would you tell her?!”

“Tell me what?” She frowns. Her hands ball into fists, frustration eating at her. “What the are you guys talking about? What the hell, werewolf? That doesn’t… It isn’t…”

“You saw it. It almost bit your neck in half,” the wrinkles around Joohyun’s eyes deepen, mouth contorting as if the words tasted bitter. She feared that possibility — that much was clear. Obvious, even. But why? Why her? “I’m just glad I was there. But now that you know… it’s time for you to understand. And to get prepared.”



 

A/N: It's been some time since last I posted a new chaptered story in here! This is a relatively old plot, thought out during the pandemic. This story is very dear to me, and I hope I can do it justice. I'll try to write a new chapter as fast as I can! Any theories on what is to come? What happened to Seungwan's memories? Why does Joohyun already seem to know her, and why does Seungwan's head hurts when she thinks of her too much? What is Sooyoung? What are they hiding from her? You'll get some answers on the next chapter hehe. Hope to see you all soon <3 

- Lui



(and yes, I am on red velvet X monsta x X txt agenda, and what about it?)