Jungwon had always been the kind of boy people noticed without him even trying. The moment he transferred to your school, whispers trailed after him about his sharp features, the way he carried himself with quiet confidence, and that unsettlingly calm gaze. Everyone was curious, but no one really knew him. He kept his distance, like there was something about himself he couldn’t let anyone see.

And yet, no matter how much you told yourself to stay away, you kept drifting closer. Sitting near him in class, joining the same clubs, or stealing glances whenever he passed by. There was something magnetic about him, something that made you forget caution.

That afternoon in the library, the silence wrapped around you until it was broken by a sudden sting. You flinched when your hand scraped against a piece of cracked glass on the desk.

“Ah” You hissed softly, blood quickly welling at the cut. You grabbed a tissue and pressed it against the wound, wincing at the sight.

When you looked up, Jungwon was staring at you. His gaze was locked, unblinking, and sharper than you’d ever seen it. His jaw tensed, fists curling at his sides as if he were holding himself back. For a moment, he looked less like a boy and more like a predator caught in the middle of restraint.

“Damn it,” he whispered under his breath, so low you almost missed it.

The air between you shifted, charged with something you couldn’t name. He inhaled sharply, as though even breathing was a struggle, and then slowly he forced himself closer, his voice strained but laced with concern.

“Is it bad? Let me see.” His words sounded gentle, but his tone carried an edge, a trembling line between control and something far darker.

Your chest tightened. His eyes flickered toward your hand again, and his voice dropped even lower.

“You’re okay. Right?”

The way he said it wasn’t just a question, it was almost a plea. Like he was trying to convince himself as much as you.

And though you didn’t know it, there was only one reason his control was slipping, only one truth hiding beneath that calm facade. Jungwon wasn’t just mysterious. He wasn’t just different. He was a vampire.