The night was still young and he ventured out onto the city streets, keeping his head down but his senses alive. In the far corner he heard two men getting into an argument and to his right somewhere he couldn’t see but he could smell the strong scent of drugs and alcohol. It stung his nostrils and made his eyes water. 

When he breathed he saw a stream of mist leaving through his parted lips. It was odd because he didn’t feel cold anymore. He didn’t feel anything except for the hunger burning in his throat and his fangs ever so eager to pop out from his gums. He was so hungry and he needed, no, he wanted desperately to satiate that hunger. 

He passed down a bricked alleyway, some place he didn’t recognize and he heard the light patter of footsteps that followed him there. He didn’t need to turn his head to know he was being followed, didn’t need to see the blade the stranger was hiding behind the fabric of his coat. 

Before the man had enough time to strike, Daehyun pounced on him first, burying his face and his fangs in the nape of the man’s neck, ripping open the skin and savoring the flowing red stream that collected in his mouth. He didn’t pull away as much as the man fought. He didn’t stop not even when the burning in his throat died down and he was full.

He wanted the blood most of all but he relished in the hunt. He heard the man’s choked screams as he tried to call for help. No one was coming to help him, and so Daehyun continued drinking. The stranger, so limp tried one final resort; that knife he’d been carrying on him, he stabbed it into Daehyun’s side and Daehyun leaned back a little bit and a snarl escaped his throat.

He didn’t pull away or stop to take it out as the man had hoped, that hope of having a few seconds to flee. Daehyun only pressed the sharp points of his teeth further into the man’s flesh, this time intentionally trying too cause him pain rather than satisfying his own needs. 

The man’s body was left standing, drooping down onto the concrete ground of the alleyway; what remaining blood he had in his system pooled out around him as Daehyun stepped away from the body that was now as cold as him. 

Only then did he notice the knife still sticking out, the blood only beginning to soak the fabric of his clothes. He gripped the handle and yanked it out with small difficulty. He let out a gasp, waiting for the wound to stitch itself closed again. He dropped the knife listening to the loud clank as it hit the floor.

Daehyun backed away out of the alleyway and back onto the darkening street, wiping his chin with the sleeve of his jacket. He returned home to a quiet apartment. he paused, listened and realized that she must have been asleep already due to the sound of light breathing in the next room.

He hovered in the doorway, watching her sleeping form and admiring the curve of her body as she slept on her side. He discreetly stepped into the bedroom, peeling off his jacket as he stepped into their shared bathroom. He ed his jeans and threw his shirt off, all while he twisted the tap and let the hot water run endlessly into the bathtub.

He sat down ignoring how the hot water singed his skin. He liked the feeling because he was so cold to the touch and it swiped the drying blood right off his face. He splashed water onto his face and let himself sink into the warmth.

Everything was peaceful. Being under the water. He felt his reality washing away with the rest of the dirt on his body. His mind drifted to her, the woman he loved in the next room and that one day he knew he had to tel her the truth or leave her. He heard footsteps and his head sprung up. 

Quickly he jumped out of the water and drained the basin dry of the red tinted water. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist while tossing his clothes into the basket in the corner. She opened the door, wiping the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"Daehyun?" she asked. Her voice was sweet and soft as she stood there staring at him. He felt completely under her gaze. He raked his fingers through his drenched hair dripping onto his shoulders. She crossed the space to get to him. For a split second he thought he had a spot of blood on him that he hand’t cleaned off by the way she was frowning at him.

"Daehyun, I have to use the bathroom" she said. Daehyun was more than willing to oblige and passed through the door and into their shared bedroom. He dried himself off and slipped on a pair of boxer briefs and slid underneath the covers, the mattress sinking under his weight. 

She joined him quickly, curled up next to him with her head resting against his chest. “Good night, Daehyun” she mumbled and sleep consumed her again. Daehyun wished it was so easy for him. He rested his chin on top of her head and tried closing his eyes. Sleep did not come; not for him. He wanted to be awake, especially when four hours later of drifting asleep and waking up he felt that same burning hunger consuming him again little by little.

He coughed, wishing he had a glass of cool water to ease his hot throat. He rolled over onto his side, the side facing her neck and his eyes glazed over her exposed shoulder, the skin so smooth and untouched by his fangs. He thought about changing that then and there but he couldn’t feed on her, she’d panic and leave him depending on if he didn’t kill her too.

Gently, Daehyun brushed his fingers over her shoulder and kissed her warm skin,m trailing closer to the nape of her neck. He was breathing heavily now, his hands dropping to her waist and he pulled her closer against his chest in a tight embrace, only so she couldn’t run. 

He felt his fangs urging him on and Daehyun bit down on her shoulder. He heard her wince at the pain; his eyes drifting from her shoulder to her face. He buried himself in the nape of her neck and the life out of her, feeling her flesh turn cold.

Only then did she press a hand against his chest in an attempt to push him away. He only held onto her even more. “Daehyun?” she sounded scared and he closed his eyes and blocked out the sound of her voice as he fed on her, feeling her attempts to get him off grow weak until eventually she was limp in his arms.

He left her, propping himself up on his elbows. His eyes flicked back to her. “Jagiya…” he said, feeling fear consume him now that the hunger was gone. Had he really just fed on her? Had he honestly exposed the monster that he is to her? 

He pulled her into his arms, cupping her face in his hands and calling out to her. Her heart was beating but it was so distant you could barely hear it, like a flickering light about to go out.

Daehyun feared losing her. He wasn’t ready to have her leave him alone like he had been for the last century. He was alone until he found her and he wasn’t going to lose her now.

He lifted her body close and he bit down on his wrist until he ripped open his own skin, and then he pressed his wrist into forcing his blood down . He hated that he had to do this; make her as he was and he saw her wounds healing and her strength returning as she became what he was; a monster. 

She pushed his wrist away and rolled off the bed. Pressing a hand to her heart she felt a sharp stabbing sensation. The pain lingered for a moment and then it stopped along with her heart. Daehyun scrambled after her, kneeling on the floor in front of her, her blood still splattered down his chin.

"Jagiya, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry". He said over and over again, cupping her face between his hands and kissing her lips. She didn’t respond to his kiss but she did press the tip of her tongue to his chin, lingering across her own blood and she his chin clean. 

"Jagiya…" he started to say. She’d pressed herself against him, kissing his lips at first and he had liked it, this new side of her. He didn’t understand why he was so nervous in the first place. That was until her kisses trailed to his cheek and down to his neck.

He hissed feeling her new fangs press down against the skin of his neck and then rip through the surface to his cold blood underneath. She gagged at the taste and the temperature but his was the only blood in sight. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her in his lap as she drained him slowly. 

"Easy, babe" Daehyun said, prying her hands off from around his neck and her away from his body. With his thumb he wiped his blood away from the corners of , and then his thumb clean. 

"Don’t kill me…" he joked lightly, smiling at the sight of her as she is. Maybe this could work out after all, her being like him. He would never leave her now. "…I’m already dead".