Maybe he should’ve considered the classics, Jongin muses near the door. He’s only a couple steps inside and is overwhelmed with the sheer number of bodies and anonymity granted by costumes. Multitudes of vampires congregate underneath colorful streamers and bats and ghosts suspended from the ceiling, evidently the most popular Halloween costume choice this year.

From classic Counts to y fangbangers and even some rodent-like original movie tributes; Jongin even spies Vampirella. The prosthetic teeth—whether a mouthful of folded plastic or individual adhered teeth—is too much of a fuss for Jongin. He told himself to go simple but recognizable.

His sisters’ kids are still young enough to embrace the magic of children’s entertainment, and Jongin found a yellow long-sleeve T-shirt and a red short-sleeved one he cut in half among his clothes. It’s cool enough at the end of October to comfortably add yellow mittens. All he bought were some second-hand white jeans he dyed in his bathtub and a headband with little yellow bear ears. None of the shades of yellow completely match, but he rightly assumed the lights at the venue would not be all that bright and create atmosphere more than light to see by.

With a pocket of honey sticks and a little pig plush he’d won at a carnival some years ago, he calls it good. If no one gets it, that’s on them for having an uncultured childhood.

“Jongin, hi!” He turns fast, immediately smiling at a classmate. She’s dressed like a young witch, bewitching people with a daring amount of cleavage. Her smile drops into awe a moment before pulling up again. “Are you Winnie the Pooh?!”

“Yes,” he admits shyly. He happily accepts her proposal of a photo, brandishing his pig plush and giving her a honey stick afterwards. “Have you seen Sehun?”

She hums, tucking her phone into her dress. “I don’t think so, but some people are wearing full masks, so it’s hard to tell.” A friend calls to her, and she and Jongin say goodbye.

He feels a little lonely once she’s gone. Crowds have never been a favorite of his, and with everyone in costume, it’s difficult to pick out people he knows and can hang out with. Making plans to meet up with friends didn’t seem necessary, going to the same party, but it’s bigger than he expected, and absolutely crowded and cacophonous, like a living thing.

Someone has the bright idea to combine one of each of the drinks offered and instigates a modified game of hot potato. The potato is a plastic skull, and the person holding it at the end of their chant gets the honor of drinking the brew.

Jongin isn’t sure it’s entirely edible; the liquid shimmers suspiciously.

All the bodies overheat the area; Jongin slips to a table spread with drinks and snacks cleverly made up to mimic body parts and monsters. Elivira or Vampira—Jongin doesn’t know the difference—monitors the table and smiles when he settles for an unopened bottle of water. She giggles brightly when Jongin offers her a stick of honey, carefully biting the end off to not smudge her lipstick.

He passes some unmasked classmates and friends, chatting and sharing his honey to everyone’s delight. Happily, he isn’t the only cartoon character; a trio from his comics elective class brandish weapons and pizza, dressed as ninja turtles. They morn Donatello, who couldn’t make it due to a bad leg sprain.

Sehun, displaying dedication to his role as a prince of the undead with freshly dyed black hair, finds Jongin and promptly disappears after an upperclassman.

A cool breeze falls across his neck, and he shivers. Passing through the main room and another room where a group has starting moshing to music played from someone’s phone, Jongin thinks someone brought their dog, but it’s gone when he looks again.

Brushing off the disappointment, he finds a less noisy area down a flight of hazardous stairs. People loiter and sprawl across the steps like they’re lounging on a hill for a picnic, but Jongin doesn’t trip or kick anyone. He thinks he may nudge some sprawled people or costume weaponry, abandoned beneath the fog rolling across the floor.

He feels like someone’s watching him and ignores it. So a beloved children’s character is meandering a den of the blood- undead; it’s not like he’s dressed like Van Helsing or Buffy.

Or maybe that’s the fascination. The Hundred Acre Woods has been overrun by monsters worse than Heffalumps and Woozles. It’ll take more than courage and friendship to survive.

“Welcome to the haunted Hundred Acre Wood?” An upperclassman Jongin has seen in passing appears at his side. They may have shared an elective last semester, but Jongin