You paced your kitchen, nervously chewing a hangnail. Chances were, Yongguk wasn't even going to come. To be honest, you expected him not to, and part of you knew never seeing him again would be for the best. That being said, your heart jumped when you heard a soft knock at your door. You rushed to the foyer, then stopped, hand on the doorknob. Sudden nerves made you open the door slowly and peer shyly out at him. The scene that greeted you stopped your breath.

Yongguk stood, backlit by the moon with his hands tucked in the pockets of the same light brown jacket he had been wearing this morning, the collar turned up against the light autumn breeze. You briefly noticed he wore a new dark t-shirt as the breeze swept his dark hair into his eyes. Your fingers itched to fix it and you clenched them into a ball in the pocket of your sweatshirt.

The flash of red in his eyes when he looked up hesitantly smiled at you brought you back to the present. "Hi," he said, his deep voice quiet.

"Hi," you said, opening the door farther, stepping aside to allow him in. "Come in."

Yongguk thanked you as he slipped his shoes off and you led him into the kitchen, offering him a chair, then settling in your own.

You stared at each other, unsure where to begin.

"You got a new shirt." You said just before the silence became awkward. Yongguk looked down in surprise.

"Oh, yeah. I have a friend I ran into who had a spare."

"Is he also...?"

"A vampire?" Yongguk asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes."

You couldn't help the weird giggle that escaped your lips. Yongguk's confusion made you laugh harder. "Sorry... It's just. I'd been avoiding thinking or saying "vampire" this whole time. It's just so... /Twilight./"

He snorted, muttering something that sounded like /God, I hate those books/. "Rest assured, we don't sparkle, and you're not my 'personal brand of heroin.'"

"Oh good," you chuckled. You sobered again when his grin gave you a clear view of his fangs. "So, why were you... Where you were when I found you?"

He sighed. "When we're newborn vampires, it's scary and disorienting and we can't control ourselves. If you're lucky, you don't kill anyone you loved as a human, and you keep a hold of your sanity once you get yourself under control. Newborns are aggressive and highly territorial, and one attacked me last night."

"I didn't see anyone else near you," you said.

"Well... We didn't fight there. I killed him and tried to get somewhere safe."

"You had a gaping hole in your chest that would have killed anyone else, but you weren't dead. What is and isn't safe for you?" You asked, getting up to pour yourself a glass if water. "Do you...?" You asked, gesturing to the pitcher.

Yongguk shook his head. "Nothing but blood. In terms of what's safe and what isn't, if I could have gotten to somewhere with shelter like a shed or a barn before the sun came up, I would have been miserable all day, but I would have survived, and very very slowly regenerated, but I wasn't getting any farther this morning. Sun is deadly. I would have caught fire and burned to ash."

"So definitely no sparkling." You said, hiding a smile. He glowered at you. "Oh, that reminds me!" You cried, jumping back up. Yongguk watched you disappear into another room and return a moment later with something wrapped in a towel.

"This was in your hands when I found you. I remembered it this afternoon and went back out there to get it."

Yongguk's eyes widened when you unwrapped the small silver castle and he ripped it from your fingers, fangs bared in a near-snarl. You recoiled, suddenly very aware of how inhuman he was.

Your whimper stopped him cold and his snarl disappeared, replaced with immediate regret. "Sorry. I'm sorry," he said, standing and backing away. He turned as if to leave.

"Wait!" You cried. He stopped but didn't turn around, shoulders tense. Your mind raced to find a reason to make him stay.

“T… Tell me about that.” You requested quietly, pointing at the object he clutched so protectively to his chest.

He slowly turned to face you. “Why?”

You shrugged. “I’m a writer. I’m always curious about the stories of objects important to people.”

Yongguk considered you, the tension slowly releasing from his body. “You were very quick to accept all this,” he said, gesturing to himself.

“Active imagination all my life,” you said with a wry grin. “There was a part of me that always wanted the supernatural to be real.”

The man before you sighed, carefully sitting back in his chair again and placing the castle on the table, running his finger over the details. “And is it everything you dreamed? Scary men showing up nearly dead in your woods, bruised bitemarks and the fear of dying? I know you’re scared, I can smell it on you.”

You blinked, absently rubbing the small puncture wounds on your neck that had been the only thing that had convinced you that that morning hadn't been a dream, and thinking about your answer. “It’s not what I imagined, no. But it’s not all bad. You’re the most interesting thing that’s happened to me in weeks. I don’t see too many people out here on my own,” You hesitated before adding, “and I’d like to think maybe I’ve made a friend.”

Yongguk looked stunned, then a tiny smile quirked the corners of his mouth. “I… I’d like that.”

You beamed.

"As for the castle... It's all I have left from when I was human. It keeps me grounded, helps me retain my... Humanity." He said with a dry chuckle, picking it up again and passing it back and forth between his hands. A shadow crossed his face, and you decided not to pry, though your curiosity was itching to ask more about the castle.

"When were you alive?" You asked.

“I was born in 1889, and I died in 1912.”

“So young...” you breathed, quickly doing the math in your head. He had died at 23. The thought made you incredibly sad, leaving you speechless.

“Well,” he chuckled, “I think I made up for that in the last hundred years. What about you?”

You let him change the subject, telling him about yourself. You chatted until you began to yawn. Yongguk stood. “I should go.”

“No, no,” you said, stifling another yawn. “It’s only-- 3:30?!” you sputtered, looking at your clock. Where had the time gone?

“You should sleep. And the sun will start rising soon. I need to go meet up with my friend again.”

You hesitated, but when a cavernous yawn surprised you, you had to agree, and walked him to the door.

“You’ve already helped me so much, but I have one more thing to ask of you,” Yongguk said, pausing on the doorstep. “Don’t… don’t tell anyone about us. I can’t guarantee your safety if you do.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped you. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. I’m a reclusive author, living alone in the middle of the woods, remember? I don’t talk to too many people. And they would just think I was crazy if I did tell them. Your secret’s safe with me.”

He relaxed visibly. “Thank you.”

As he turned up his collar and began to leave, a thought struck you. “Yongguk!” He stopped and turned back. “If you ever don’t have a place to stay during the day, you can crash here.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

You watched him disappear once again into the treeline, then closed the door, leaning against it. Suddenly the hours of wakefulness caught up with you all at once and you shuffled toward your room. Your writing desk caught your eye as you pulled your shirt over your head and you laughed tiredly as inspiration to write hit you. Promising yourself you’d write first thing in the morning, you considered your new muse as you quickly dropped off to sleep.