“Oo…oh my..god. Hwanuk.. Hwan…” she cried, frozen beside the sprawled young man. 

Instinctively, she cupped the stabbed area with her pale fingers, apologising endlessly as if she was singing a prayer. Hwanuk was muted by the excruciating pain, wordlessly, he allowed her to pull his body closer. But then, with his jaws clamped shut, the young man pushed Hawol away and crawled into a shadowed corner. 

“Sta..stay back.” he pleaded. 

“No! Oh god Hwanuk, we have to get you to the hospital. You’re bleeding.” Hawol crept closer, comforting persuasion lacing her tone. 

“NO!” he screamed, his voice trembling but foreign. 

It sounded ghastly, demonic rather and it scared her to the bones. Then slowly, as if her nightmare had a sequel, she saw the ‘monster’. His glowing red eyes, filling every gap between his lashes and the ghoulish purple-green veins bulging on his skin, those growing set of fangs and his long, fatal nails. The perfect monster. 

Hawol lost it the moment she saw him tearing the knife out of his flesh like plucking a splinter. 

Hwanuk sighed deeply, seeing her kneeling on the ground, barely holding on. The faint sound of her fearful chokes and scared little snorts broke his heart as he covered his face with his long, monstrous fingers. 

“Please.. you have to stay here. These… awful things are going to fade soon and after a few minutes, i’ll look normal again.” he explained, his voice still sounding quite eerie. 

“But not those dogs out there. They’re hungry and they’ll wait for you.” he spoke gently, slowly returning back to his deep, warm voice. 

“You’ll die.” He added as he took a clean tissue and wiped the trace of blood on his neck, which was clear of any wounds. Not a single scratch. 

But Hawol was so afraid, she dragged he