HangMox: An Audience of One
Warning: This is a very erratic essay about a feud that means a lot to me, personally. Posting to a sideblog because I’m trying to keep it clean and separate.
Word Count: 8.6k. A doozy. Please understand that I speak on Hangman and Moxley from their first moments in AEW, and I even provide a bit of background from before. Their feud did not start, for me, at the end of September 2022. This is a story that starts from the very first PPV.
Writer’s Note: This has not been revised. If you are a newer fan of AEW, this will help you to understand both mens’ journeys up until this point, and it also helps to express and tie in some ideas and concepts I have for them about blood, beer, and speaking their truths. I hope it makes sense!
After five years of watching weekly WWE television and Pay-Per-Views, my husband and I could not take it any longer. We were looking for an alternative. On May 25th, 2019, we found it, in the form of All Elite Wrestling: Double or Nothing.
It wasn’t the flashiest show we’d ever seen - there were a couple lulls in the show where it felt like the timing was off, the crowd wasn’t as energetic - but we knew why. This was a brand new product, the start of something new for a set of independent wrestlers that we’d heard about very rarely, but enough to maybe know some of their names. In the summer of 2018, I had took it upon myself in the wee hours of the morning, after my grueling 10-hr night shifts at the local chicken plant, to experience life outside of WWE for the first time in the form of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax. This is where I learned that wrestling could be quick, energetic, and still somehow feel like every fist, every high spot, could hurt viscerally. And it is here where I saw Hangman Adam Page on my screen for the very first time.
I was deep into my Red Dead Redemption era in 2018, and this guy hit all the boxes. He was handsome, he was funny, he could actually fucking wrestle, he was a cowboy, and most importantly, he was telling me a story. The known muscle of the Bullet Club and member of the Elite, this was the guy who was looking to prove he was more than just the guy who took the pins so his comrades wouldn’t. He was looking to win the damn thing. But that wasn’t all it was about - no, he had found a way to weave another thread into this tournament: he was going to pull the REAL Kazuchika Okada out of whatever hole he’d been hiding in. He was going to pull the Rainmaker out.
You see, Okada had just lost his IWGP world heavyweight title to Hangman’s friend and Bullet Club leader, Kenny Omega, and his life had taken somewhat of a comically downward spiral. He dyed his hair clown red, he walked out to his entrance music with shapeable balloons. At the time, we took to calling him the “Balloonmaker.” He walked out with a smile on his face, to hide the sorrow of his failure. But this wasn’t the guy Hangman was expecting to wrestle in his block of the round-robin tournament. No, he was going to make sure that if he beat Okada, one of the most legendary wrestlers in the history of the company, he was going to beat the BEST version of him. And if he lost? Well, at least he gave it his all against the best. The problem with New Japan, however, was the unbelievable amount of hours we would have to dedicate to the product. I think I ended up watching five full days of the G1 Climax, out of a possible 20 or so.
Around the time that Hangman took on the grueling month-long tournament against some of New Japan’s finest, another wrestler was making his re-debut on WWE television. After an elbow injury and a terrifying staph infection that nearly killed him, Dean Ambrose was back on Monday Night Raw, alongside his friend and enemy, Seth freakin’ Rollins. But this wasn’t the same Dean Ambrose we had witnessed for the past couple years, the hyperactive little shit that wouldn’t stay down, no, this was prison-break Ambrose. He came back swole and with a mean mugging look that would make a bulldog cry. This was it, everyone thought, we’re gonna get the heel turn of a lifetime.
Only, it wasn’t exactly what we expected. First off, it was late, and at the heels of an announcement that turned WWE on its head - Roman Reigns was taking time off for his 2nd battle with leukemia, and Ambrose chose now to turn on Seth Rollins. Maybe if the motive had made a little more sense, it would’ve been enough. After all, Rollins and Ambrose had a long, storied history together - if Ambrose could just explain why now, maybe I could be on his side. I wanted to be on his side. The WWE put out one of those documentaries for Dean that followed him for months, throughout his time out on injury, and then his subsequent return. We got backstage moments with him where he divulged his feelings, seemingly telling us what was going on in his head. And yet - nothing. It never truly felt like he had told us WHY. Now, years later, I’ve read Mox’s book, and I know how he felt about the whole thing, so I know he was just as frustrated as I was, if not more (definitely more, actually).
So Ambrose left the company, and my husband and I dropped the WWE. I don’t know if it was coincidence or fate, but there’s going to be a lot of that comin’ around in this story. Ambrose wasn’t even my favorite - Sami Zayn is my WWE favorite. But something about the way it all went down with Ambrose, and also largely in part the way that WWE treated Sami Zayn, is what finally made us break our ties.
Almost immediately after Dean Ambrose left WWE and cashed in his chips, a video dropped on his largely unused twitter account: a video of Jon Moxley breaking out of jail, with a shot of the numbers 5 & 25 found in the video - which just so happened to be the month and day of the first Double or Nothing AEW Pay-Per-View.
I would love to say that I was anticipating that day, but to be honest, I completely forgot about it until the day of, when my husband dragged me downstairs to the living room to figure out how to buy our very first pay-per-view on cable television, about five minutes before the buy-in aired.
But once I saw that precious cowboy come out as the Joker in the first ever Casino Battle Royal, I was hooked. I turned to my husband, pointing at Hangman on my screen. “That’s the guy we saw in the G1 last year! He’s in the Bullet Club!”
He smiled at the screen, knowing it was too late. I had found my favorite.
Hangman won the battle royal, earning him the first shot at the inugural AEW world championship at the next Pay-Per-View. Who he was slated to go up against, though, depended on the outcome of the Double or Nothing main event: the Alpha, Chris Jericho, versus Kenny Omega.
“Do you think Mox will show up?” I asked my partner, my entire body tense with anticipation.
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up. If he doesn’t show up, it’ll ruin it for you.”
“He’s showing up,” I insisted, “I’m like 99% certain he will.” I’ve never been one to make guarantees, but this was as close to one as I could manage. I could feel it in my soul, and I was dying to see Mox live up to his potential.
I was bouncing off the couch when I saw Mox stalking through the crowd and into the ring. My adrenaline was pumping and I thought it was the best way to end their first PPV. My husband and I turned to look at each other - yep, this was enough. This was definitely enough to intrigue us.
I would spend the summer of 2019 watching everything I could about AEW - I finally got into Being the Elite, I watched the summer events, and I searched Hangman’s name on youtube as much as I could to get more of a semblance of his character. He was now important to me, and I was determined to understand him as best as I could. Through this, I met and connected with brand new friends, as well as dragged my WWE friends into it as much as I could.
One friend in particular was an EXTREMELY avid Mox fan. Even in his Ambrose days, they spoke about the old CZW Moxley often, and so I had an idea of what this new and improved version would probably be like. I also found myself a friend that had been following Hangman Page for the past few years and knew substantially more about him than I ever could. With them and a couple other new friends I found that also adored Hangman, we became a tiny little stable of our own.
And so, the brainstorming began.
Before All Out 2019 even happened, I had posed the question to my friends: “What do we think about Hangman and Mox? Wouldn’t that be a badass combination?”
The noted Mox fan and the seasoned Hangman vet were the first ones to perk up. The Mox fan agreed immediately, and the Hangman vet said they had already started working on an idea to bring them together a couple days after Double or Nothing, when Mox had done his interview with Chris Jericho on his Talk is Jericho podcast.
“Hold on a minute - a podcast?” I asked, curious.
Enthusiastically, they told me that Jericho had asked Mox who he’d like to get in the ring with now that he was in a new promotion. Hangman’s name had been the first out of his mouth, said nonchalantly, very much like it wasn’t a big deal and Mox was just naming names to name them. But it was too late - this was now my obsession.
Three episodes into AEW Dynamite, we got our very first chance to see them in action together. The two loners, Pac and Moxley, were taking on the team of Hangman and Kenny. This team was brand new at the time, both having suffered major losses at All Out - Kenny had submitted to Pac, and Hangman had lost his shot at the inaugural title to Chris Jericho in the main event. The tag match made sense - for the most part. Mox had gone for the biggest fish in AEW at the end of Double or Nothing, giving Kenny Omega a Paradigm Shift that got the entire wrestling world talking. Pac and Hangman had beef that started in the early days of the promotion, the story told almost entirely through Being the Elite at the time. Kenny had just lost to Pac. And yet…there was no motivation here for Hangman and Mox to be across the ring from each other. The lack of a story between them was louder than all the other storytelling here combined. Perhaps, I told myself, this was a story in itself.
No worries, though. We were about to see just how much chemistry these two had. This would be the first step in gauging what a potential feud or even partnership could be like. We were absolutely shivering with anticipation.
Hangman spent most of his own time in the match trying to get the drop on Pac. The first moment he was in the ring with Mox, he practically paid him no mind until he had Pac dead on the floor. Before the match was done, they’d interacted maybe twice as legal men in the ring, and once when everyone was on the outside. At one point, Mox had Hangman in a gorgeous Texas cloverleaf submission, which was quickly stopped by Kenny. Another point in the match, Hangman tried to give Mox a buckshot lariat that Mox ducked. Almost immediately, Mox ate a clothesline from Hangman akin to an Okada Rainmaker finisher, and it was fucking beautiful.
It was clear to me, from the grand total of about two and a half minutes that they spent in the ring together, that they were an elegant match.
Four months passed by.
Hangman went on a downward spiral, leaving the Elite but choosing still to tag with Kenny. He started to drink, courtesy of those silly little guys, Private Party. This ain’t water, indeed. By the time Revolution 2020 came around, Hangman was on a trajectory to meet his former best friends, the Young Bucks, in a tag team championship match, and Jon Moxley was slated as contender to Chris Jericho’s AEW world championship in the main event.
And well, let’s just say, the better story won the night, even if Jon Moxley closed the show.
Hangman walked out of his match a winner, his tag title still in one hand and a beer in the other, with Kenny Omega at his side.
Jon Moxley, newly won championship belt on his shoulder, excitement still pumping blood in his ears, would go on to say it felt like it was “beer o’clock.”
An awkward pause.
What? I thought.
The camera panned to the crowd.
Mox was smiling, tongue sticking out like a panting dog, looking somewhat towards the go-position.
No, could he be…? There was no way. I couldn’t believe it. Was Hangman Page about to show up right now?
Whoever was in production scrambled to put a stop to this. Mox’s music hit.
“Hey, what the fuck?” said the newly crowned world heavyweight champion.
Hold on. Were they…Oscaring him off the stage? Is that what was happening in this moment? Say ‘sike’ right now.
My hands were on my mouth.
Let’s just say that for the rest of the five hours that I stayed awake after this show, unable to sleep due to the sheer adrenaline running through my veins, me and the gang were viciously wondering what the fuck that was about. Maybe Hangman was supposed to come out? But how does that make sense when he and Kenny just retained their titles? Why would he go for the championship again so soon? But it makes sense for him to want it. That’s the title that he promised he would win on day one of the company.
But we didn’t get an answer.
Whether that was because of the pandemic that shut down the entire world for the foreseeable future a week and half later, or because that was just genuinely something that meant absolutely nothing, we’ll never know. Truly, we will NEVER know. Unless one of us ever has the guts to ask Mox about it. Until then, “beer o’clock” + awkward pause + staring at the go-position + Mox theme + “hey what the fuck” will likely haunt me for the rest of my life. Thanks, Jonathan.
Lots of things changed during this time. Hangman’s rocky relationship with the Bucks came back to a head again before All Out 2020, during a tag gauntlet match that would reveal the first contenders for Hangman and Kenny’s championships at the Pay-Per-View. It was down to the Young Bucks and FTR. See, FTR had come in at the beginning of the summer, and they ended up making friends with Hangman. Hangman was there when they signed their contracts, with a brand new bottle of whiskey in hand. They bonded over drinks. But they weren’t so friendly with the Bucks and Kenny, which obviously caused a lot of problems. By the time that gauntlet came around, FTR had Hangman convinced that if the Bucks won the gauntlet, Hangman would regret it. They worked him with his own insecurities. They just wanted a friendly bout with him, they said. He’d already had one with the Bucks, so wouldn’t it be fun to have a match with FTR this time?
So Hangman cheated, costing the Bucks the match. A few moments later, Hangman brooding over what he’d done in the Daily’s Place bar, the Bucks kicked him officially out of the Elite, throwing a drink in his face.
He and Kenny would go on to lose the tag titles at All Out to FTR. He would lose his tag partner in the process. He would fight him at the next PPV in singles competition for contendership of Moxley’s heavyweight championship. He would drop to the ground, land flat on his face, losing this first opportunity to fight Moxley to his own partner.
A microphone blast to the head. Blood gushing from the middle of Jon’s forehead (a sight well known to the AEW fans). V-Trigger. V-Trigger. V-Trigger. V-Trigger. Pull him in. One Winged Angel.
One. Two. Three.
That was how Jon Moxley lost his AEW world heavyweight championship to Kenny Omega. An absolute steal. A few weeks prior, at Full Gear, the Young Bucks beat FTR for the tag team championships.
Months and months go by. Hangman finds solace in the Dark Order, and the Dark Order finds solace in him in return. They bring each other back up, from sorrows greater than we could even imagine. The loss of their leader, their friend, their Exalted One. Our Brodie Lee. Though Hangman would deny them on separate occasions, eventually he would understand that friends don’t let friends do battle alone. And whether he joined them as a group or not, it wouldn’t matter. They would keep Brodie Lee’s offer and promise that he made to Hangman the year before, when he left the Elite. They would never leave him alone.
Mox would continue his quest to retrieve the title, challenging Kenny at Revolution 2021 in an exploding barbed wire deathmatch that would end…not precisely as intended. However, much like Hangman, he would find that he was not alone. He would find someone to watch his back, in the form of an old friend and foe, Eddie Kingston. They would challenge the Bucks - now firmly planted once again at Kenny’s side - for the tag team championships at Double or Nothing 2021. This, much like his shot at the world title, would be for naught.
In the summer of 2021, the Dark Order would prove worthy allies in the ring to Hangman, when they challenged Kenny and the Young Bucks to a multi-man tag, with the stipulation that if they were able to eliminate each member of the Elite, Hangman would get his shot at Kenny’s title, and they would receive a shot at the Young Bucks.
Now, I’ll be honest - I don’t remember what Mox was doing at the time, so I had to look this up. Uhh, he spent a lot of time on AEW Dark. But the match that stood out the most to me during this time was a Texas Deathmatch with Lance Archer…which he lost. And with it, his IWGP US championship.
So Hangman and the Dark Order are unsuccessful. They beg him to keep trying, but at around this time, Hangman decides that he needs some space. He comes up to the ring at Daily’s Place, the first Homecoming show since AEW’s two month long tour away (when the entire world decided that the pandemic was finally over). Tony Schiavone is with him, and it seems like maybe Hangman is going to tell the crowd that he’s gonna take some time to himself or let some things off his chest, when the Elite show up. At one point he tells Hangman that perhaps maybe he would consider allowing Hangman to come back to the Elite - upon which a young woman in the crowd in a cowboy hat and a teal bandana yells, “Never!” (me). Yes, I got to watch live as the Elite beat Hangman down and the Dark Order could only stand back and watch.
…This would be the last time we see Hangman for two months.
While he’s gone, though, Jon Moxley brings up his name, in a backstage promo where he calls out the newcomers. At this time, AEW was seeing a surge of new talent entering its ranks - people like Daniel Garcia, Malakai Black, CM Punk. Mox questions whether this talent thinks that it’s easy to be at the top here - Kenny has an entire entourage surrounding him at all times just to keep the title around his waist, and Hangman can’t “get over his high school drama, BTE emo bullcrap long enough to get the job done.” He says that Hangman “ain’t no cowboy,” and he could “drink his ass under the table.”
Oh, I think. You mean like beer o’clock?
Mox was pulling wins around this time every week, and it was clear he was due for a push. This was the man who put the world title and the company on his back during an unprecedented time not just for the promotion, but for the world as a whole. And it was clear that he was due his flowers.
But very odd, to me, that he would bring up Hangman. Especially when they had nothing to do with each other.
Fast forward to October 6th, 2021. A fucked up time in my life. Probably the worst I’ve ever felt.
It was only fitting, then, that my favorite cowboy would show up and give me a small glimmer of hope. The roar of the crowd that night touched my soul more than I can ever say.
The last time he was the Joker of a casino match, he won. This time would be no different.
Except that Mox was in this match. And Mox was the one in the ring waiting for him. The moment they collided with each other, I was screaming. I was crying. My heart was thumping out of my chest. After two years, they were finally back in a ring together. Almost two years to the day.
One of the funniest moments in this casino ladder match is seeing Hangman drop Pac from the top of a ladder with a deadeye, pull himself up onto the ropes to celebrate with the crowd, only to turn around and get spiked on his head with a Paradigm Shift from Jon Moxley, receiving the double birds.
But it didn’t matter. The path was clear - Hangman was going to win this ladder match, setting up his final encounter with his old friend, Kenny Omega, for the AEW world heavyweight championship. And there wasn’t a damn thing Mox, Pac, Andrade, or Lance Archer could do to stop him.
Hangman, at the top of a ladder, guzzling a beer, closed out the show. The casino chip lay ominously on the mat, forgotten.
The next couple of weeks would see Hangman in the most confident state he’d ever been in, relaxed and sure of himself, breathing deeply and opening his heart to the fans. He was - in a word - beautiful.
Mox, however, was absolutely despicable. Ten days later, he would have his first bout with Wheeler Yuta, dropping him in less than two minutes and storming back out of the ring. He would continue his rampage all the way into the eliminator tournament, which would come to a head at Full Gear. All the booking made it clear: this man was aiming for the world title…and Hangman Page was going to be the one wearing it.
That would all change, however, when Jon Moxley decided to put his health first. His fight with alcoholism had finally resonated enough within him that he said enough was enough, and he pulled himself out of the tournament. In an odd way, his real life story and Hangman’s story on the screen were more similar than we could have expected.
And once again, like ships in the night…they would pass each other by, never knowing how close they had come.
I won’t go on a long tangent about how much Hangman winning the title meant to me, so I’ll just say this: Hangman Page winning the world title meant a lot to me.
Another similarity - both Hangman and Mox bled in the match where they won their world championship.
From here, we arrive in 2022.
“Nobody, no matter who you are, should be afraid to stand up in front of the whole world and bare it all, everything that makes you who you are, scars and all, and say ‘hey, this is me!’” - words Jon Moxley spoke when he made his return from rehabilitation.
I love these words. Because they’re very much in line with something that Hangman himself said in the post-Full Gear scrum two months before: “Fuck it, I’ll just say what I feel. I’ll just be me. And if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, I came by it honest.”
As the champion Hangman Adam Page bled and bled and bled his way through his title matches, Jon Moxley found himself in the Blackpool Combat Club - a group consisting of himself, Bryan Danielson, and William Regal, as well as (eventually) Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli. This was a group that prided itself in one thing - bloody violence.
The alcohol would be replaced, in both the champ and the former champ’s minds, by blood.
A sidenote: Hangman would have a Texas Deathmatch with the very same Lance Archer. Unlike Moxley, though, he would go on to win the match and retain his championship. And boy, was it a bloody scene. Two months later, Hangman would challenge Adam Cole to a Texas Deathmatch as well - and win.
We arrive at Double or Nothing.
A good friend of mine would meet Hangman Page at a meet and greet the day before the show. The limited edition print Hangman signed for her was a graphic of him, surrounded by a border that resembled a playing card. His sign - the Ace of Diamonds. Curious, I looked up the meaning of the card. Now, this could all be bullshit, but at the time, it meant something to me. It specified a message that was soon to come, or in a broader sense, a new perspective. I felt like this fit Hangman perfectly, and it solidified something in my own head about him - he was, in fact, an Ace in the company. At a time when I heard often that Jon Moxley was the top guy, when there were whispers that Jon might fight Tanahashi soon at Forbidden Door, I was dead set on maintaining Hangman as the One. And this, this was a sign. For me.
All those hopes and dreams would come crashing down though, obviously, when Hangman lost the title to CM Punk. After 198 days of being overshadowed by the explosive feud that was Maxwell versus Punk, Hangman’s reign would come to an end.
But as luck would have it, Punk would be injured about four days later, leaving the title picture up in the air.
“This is mine,” Hangman had declared, that night at Double or Nothing. “You will NEVER have it. This. Is. Mine!”
Those words, it seemed, rang nearly true enough.
The month of June would become a month so confusing, so convoluted, that even now I cannot remember what exactly the fuck happened. There was a battle royal to pick an opponent for the number one contender to the interim title, Jon Moxley, but the problem was that Hangman already had a match set for the night. I thought, surely he can pull a double. He’s the former world champ. Surely, they’ll let him do it. The only problem was, that double was actually pulling a triple, because the match between the winner of the battle royal would face Mox on Rampage, which was taped the same night.
I, and the rivalry I so desperately held to my chest, would have to wait once more. Another near-crossing. But I could feel it: the lines were drawing closer.
Mox would face Tanahashi and win the interim world title. Hangman would follow a confusing path to the IWGP heavyweight championship and lose against three other men. Hangman had another opportunity at a title shot in another battle royal, but he got dunked out of the ring before he could win it. By the middle of July, I was getting antsy. I wanted to know what the future held for my favorite guy in AEW, and by god, I was going to get some answers.
Comicpalooza - Houston, TX. July 16th and 17th, 2022. Hangman Page and Adam Cole were set to appear. They were going to have panels, autographs, and professional photos with fans.
And I, resident Hangman girlie, was going to be there.
Here’s where the shit gets interesting.
Cole ended up having to cancel, I’m assuming due to not being medically cleared after the concussion he suffered at Forbidden Door. Which meant that both days became wide open to meeting Hangman not once, not twice - but four times. Twice for photos and twice for autographs. And of course, the panel.
As a girl who’s never once met a celebrity that she actually cared about, this was a big fucking deal, and I was - hoo boy, was I nervous. The first chance I got was the first autograph signing, right before the photo and about twenty minutes before the panel. I could hardly look him in the eye. I was about as skittish as a horse, and super quiet. He tried to get light conversation out of me (complimenting my pearlsnap - which matched his own, mine was cream and his was brown - shirt, my belt, and my boots), and I ended up mentioning that I would see him again in a few minutes for the photo and then the panel. It was going to be a busy couple hours for him. After that was over, I saw him at the photo. I was the first in line.
“Hello again,” I said. He replied with a smile, and he seemed much more awake and excited than he had a few minutes prior. I noted that he must like taking photos with everyone. His cheery aura calmed me down significantly, and I was much more comfortable speaking with him. I asked for a hug, and he obliged me. He asked me what kind of pose I’d like to do, and I told him I wanted to do finger guns. In my head, I was imagining us back to back, like a movie poster, but he suggested we whirl into it, like we’re about to shoot at the camera. He asked if this was okay. I was so starry-eyed that I said yes immediately.
Once the camera flashed, he pulled me over to the photographer’s screen of the image. He said he wanted to make sure it looked good, and asked if I liked it. It was an amazing photo. I know it was amazing, because I actually thought I looked good in it.
Now, I debated on mentioning this part but I figure I may as well - at this point in time, I asked him if I handed him a letter, would he read it. He said, “yes, of course!” I handed it to him, and he quickly asked me if he should read it now, to which I yelled, “no! Nuh uh! Not right now!”
“You sure?” he asked playfully. I shook my head. It was too long a letter for him to read at the moment, and he had a line to get through and then a panel to get to. I was not about to hold him up. Plus, I had tapped out all my remaining courage for this particular moment. I was not about to watch his face as he read the feelings I bore on those pages. Knowing I was strong enough to put the letter in his hands was enough for me. He said okay. I thanked him as I left, saying I would see him at the panel.
The audience at the panel was small, way too small for the ballroom they had set up in. But it didn’t matter, because I was in the front row anyway. I brought a little sign that said “Hangman Gang,” which was the name of my group of wrestling friends. The mediator of the panel pointed it out to him when he sat down at the table in the front of the room.
I had never attended a panel before, but I knew the basics of what it was like from a couple of panels I had watched on youtube. At some point, there would be a Q&A where fans could go up to a microphone setup and ask him a question.
I had thought about what I would ask him for weeks. But by the time the day came around, none of the questions I’d thought about were sticking in my mind as The One. I had questions about the meaning behind some of his gear, questions about the Elite, questions about Adam Cole. But none of them felt…right. When I finally got out of my seat to take my spot in line for the microphone, I was in “fuck it” mode. I knew what I was going to ask, even if I wasn’t sure how I was going to ask it. Plus, I needed to tell him happy early birthday.
“Hi,” I said shyly. He responded with a quiet “hello.”
And so it began. I wished him a happy birthday, barely stopping to acknowledge his thanks before continuing on with what I was there for. I prefaced my question by saying that I knew him and Mox had only fought twice in the past two years, but never in singles. And I believe, if my memory is correct, that I said: “Is that on purpose? Or like, are you dodging Mox? Or is Mox dodgin’ you?”
A chuckle from the mediator. The absolute audacity of my asking my favorite wrestler in the world whether he was afraid of another wrestler must have really gotten to him.
Hangman replied, as I recall, very eloquently. He remembered that first match at the beginning of Dynamite’s run, and he remembered the casino ladder match. But as for why they hadn’t met again, he could only chalk it up to…”fate.” Fate was what kept them apart. Fate took Mox out of the tournament, fate took the belt off Hangman, fate kept him from these opportunities all summer long. It was out of his control, but he would love to fight Mox. He certainly wasn’t dodging him on purpose. He would love to do a match with him.
At this, the mediator prompted. “...Texas Deathmatch?”
Hangman’s eyes looked out into the ether, weighing those words. “Yeah. Yeah, Mox likes deathmatches, right?”
My entire body started vibrating at those words. I thanked him and sat back in my seat.
I would not stop thinking about those words until the end of September, when Hangman won the battle royal at Rampage Grand Slam. The newly crowned NOT-interim world heavyweight champion, Jon Moxley, was set to do battle against Hangman Adam Page.
This was an important match for Hangman, as it would be his first major shot at the world title since losing it a few months back. From the moment Hangman walked out to meet Mox face to face in the front of the ring, I was hooked on every expression, every set of their jaws, every word from their mouths.
“Three years of AEW Dynamite…three years of watching you, three years of studying you because I knew this was comin’...three years of us circlin’ each other…”
The camera cuts to a wide shot of the two in the ring, dancing around each other.
The image in my head is of Raymond Holt from Brooklyn Nine Nine shouting, “VINDICATION!!”
“You know, between the two of us, we’ve probably beaten everyone there is to beat…except each other…on October 18th, there will be one Last Man Standing here in AEW.”
The first pearl of foreshadowing dropped. Texas Deathmatches, at their core, were considered ‘last man standing.’ Mox goes on to say here that he was going to choke Hangman out, because Hangman was in the way. In the way of Mox being, once and for all, the Top Guy in AEW. Just like I had been told. He goes on to say that he respects Hangman as a competitor and as a person. At one point, after Hangman goes too far, he calls him a ‘sweet kid.’ But at the end of the day, he was going to put him down, no matter what.
The next week in the ring, Mox mentions that being world champion means having a target on your back. Many “crumble under the pressure…some faster than others.” This is, very clearly, a knock on Hangman and his reign. Though Hangman bled, and bled…and bled to keep his title, the story of his reign was a tough one. Having finally beaten the man whose shadow Hangman felt trapped under, there was nothing now to fight but the weight of being the champ. Keeping the gold that symbolized his worth had been, as Mox points out, too much to handle.
And now, he had to get his worth back.
When Hangman walks out to meet Mox here, he begins by telling Mox that whatever he has to say to Hangman, he can “say it to his face.” This would be the first, of many times, where he says this to Moxley in the months to come. He goes on to say, “but actually, you said it all last week.” He mentions how Mox said he respected him in the ring and as a person, and “[he] would be lying if [he didn’t say] coming from [Mox], that meant the world to [him].” He says that Mox was a damn good father, husband, champion, and that he looked up to Mox and wanted to be like him. But the moment that Mox called him a kid last week, all of those things vanished, in Hangman’s eyes.
“Is that what you think of me?” He demands. Mox takes the mic and says it’s exactly right. Because the Hangman standing before him now is not the same guy who knocked him off the top of a ladder a year ago to cash in his shot at the title. The Hangman of now, broken and aimless, won’t be able to pull the trigger if given the chance.
Mox’s observation here was sound - Hangman had many opportunities as champion to end someone in the most brutal way possible. During the Texas Deathmatch with Adam Cole, there’s a wonderful shot of Cole tied to the ropes while Hangman debates hitting him with a steel chair. A similar shot was shown the night he lost the title to CM Punk - where he holds the title in his hands while no one is looking, and debates whether he should use it to knock Punk out. He had a similar choice the day he won the title, but he chose not to and won.
In every instance, he has a shot at ending it. He refuses every time, out of some sense of nobility. It’s clear here that Mox disapproves.
Hangman agrees. He’s not the same person. Hesitation cost him the title. Hesitation cost him the trios titles, as well, in September. His old friends were gone and his new ones were dropping like flies. “I’m angry, I’m depressed! The medicine is not working but I am STILL HERE because I am a man!”
Here’s where he ties in to Mox’s words. How could he be a sweet kid if he was a man? An adult? Someone who has been through hell and back? He’s lowered family into the ground, he’s helped bring life into this world, he’s been choked until he turns blue but he keeps getting back up!
At this point, Hangman gets so worked up that he beats his fist into his eyebrow so badly that it breaks the skin. And here’s the part that I love the most - “I have my shot, and I have my word. Tuesday, I take my shot, and tonight I give you my word.” He palms at the blood staining his brow, wipes it on Mox’s white shirt. “...That is my word.”
The week before Hangman won the title off Kenny, there was a contract signing. At this contract signing, Kenny Omega and Don Callis conspired to rough Hangman up to give him a disadvantage going into the match that Sunday. Hangman broke wide open, over the same. Fucking. Eyebrow. And what did Kenny do? He signed his signature to the contract in Hangman’s blood. And then he lost.
I guess you could say Hangman’s blood holds a lot of promise.
“And unlike him,” Hangman said, pointing to a lurking Maxwell in the rafters of the arena, “I wanted to make sure to say this to you face-to-face…man-to-man.”
Of course, Hangman would go on to lose the first bout, as he suffered a very real, very scary concussion, but my god, was that match a work of art before the finish. It’d been a while since Hangman fans saw him pull an orihara moonsault from high up on a barricade, but he pulled it out for Mox.
At this point, I sat and wondered. Would I get to see him again? How soon? They were set to have three shows in Texas come December, and I wondered if we would finally get the Texas Deathmatch that seemed all but a promise. Because I didn’t think he would be cleared, I didn’t go to any of them. I just watched, anxious and a little bit heated, as Hangman showed up to answer Moxley’s call at the beginning of the first winter month.
Moxley’s first reaction to this was to make a tone-deaf joke about how Hangman probably didn’t remember what happened the last time they had met, instead of waiting to hear what Hangman might’ve had to say. He was met with a sock to the jaw.
This would go on for weeks, with Hangman saying that this wasn’t how he wanted it to go at all, but Mox just HAD to goad him. Say something stupid. Meanwhile, Mox held firm in his belief that he didn’t know what the fuck Hangman was talking about, and he could fight him any day of the week, no problem. Hangman would go into a brawl with him nearly every week, not being cleared to wrestle in the ring on account of his concussion. In a segment with Renee, he would reveal to her that the night of their first bout, when he got injured, he forgot his own son’s name. So Mox making light of his memory loss was, of course, not at all funny.
By January 2023, a date was set between the two in California. All three Texas shows went by and not one mention of a Texas Deathmatch, which had me very confused. But no matter, because there were two more Texas shows now slated for February, and I was going to one of them. I hoped, even if it wasn’t the match I was hoping for, that at the very least the feud would continue.
Before this rematch, though, they had one last face-to-face. Mox would tell Hangman that all this whining about get knocked out made him absolutely sick. And Hangman, of course, would have to point Mox in the right direction. “You think that I’m mad at you because you knocked me out? Is that really what you think?”
See, Hangman was well aware that being knocked out was part of the job. That was never the problem. Condescendingly, Hangman continues. “You don’t seem like a guy for nuance, so I’ll put it to you simple…”
The night of Hangman’s return, Mox didn’t let him get one word in before he made a joke. He believed in that moment that Mox saw him as a threat. But Hangman had not walked out to Mox that night for a fight, though it was what he was here for now.
That part was so interesting to me, because I wanted so badly to know why Hangman showed up that night to face Mox in the ring originally. This goes back to Hangman’s need to say things to Mox’s face and wanting the same in return.
Hangman won the second bout in a great match. Mox suffered what looked to be an injury, with the way he asked, “What happened?” repeatedly. Almost as if he had suffered a concussion of his own. Hangman would leave the ring, concerned and most of all, ashamed. Mox had been right in October. He was much softer than was expected to be of a champion.
So now they were tied, 1 to 1. At this point, Renee conducted a couple of interviews with Hangman, one of which was very interesting.
Renee started by asking how he was doing, and then she told him something that Mox told her. Apparently, Mox believed that Hangman made him better. That he both “despises” and “cherishes” him.
The HangMox girlie in me was bouncing off the walls. Knowing that even after two fights, Mox still had a nice word to say about Hangman was everything to me. It was beyond anything I could have ever expected, and he turned visibly awkward here. This would be one of three times in the interview where his body language changed.
He answers by saying that if Mox wanted to say something to his face, he could say it to him, and Hangman would gladly knock him out again if need be. Again, bringing up speaking to his face.
Three days before this segment, someone asked me what I thought was next for Hangman, and although I didn’t have a clear answer, I knew that it would have to do with something from the past. “The only way he can move forward is by looking back.”
Renee asked Hangman the same question, and he responded with, “the more I look forward, I can’t help but see back.”
I yelped. This was insane. There was no way we were this in tune. Basically, he wanted one final match. To prove that his win wasn’t a fluke, to prove that at the end of the day, he was the better of the two. To put this feud to bed. He also says that something Renee said earlier (calling him and Mox “elite” level performers) reminded him of some friendships that needed mending. This is another time he visibly changes his body language.
Once the interview is done, Hangman asks how Mox is, truly. Renee says that he’ll dust himself off again soon. Here is the final time where he seems to become visibly awkward - he begins to ask Renee, “could you tell him -” before stopping himself. “Never mind, it’s stupid.”
He holds himself here to the standard he holds Mox by. He wants Mox to say things to his face, so he knows that he shouldn’t relay anything back to him through Renee either.
Their third match, while just as fun as the first two, ends in an anti-climactic finish. After getting his ass handed to him by Hangman for about eight or so minutes, Mox pulls him in for a deep cover and gets the roll-up win. Hangman is, understandably, pissed. He ends up getting in Mox’s face, with Wheeler and Claudio having to keep them apart. They exchange flips of the bird. Mox lays down and makes a snow angel, much like Punk did to him in September. Hangman responds with a burpee.
They are absolutely little fucking kids about it. And it’s great.
It’s clear that the dick measuring contest isn’t over.
Still pissed off, Hangman comes back the next week in an interview with Renee and he is positively livid. He is so livid that he almost, almost tells Renee to relay a message to Moxley, but he’s interrupted by Kip Sabian before he can finish his thought.
The next week, Hangman wrestles Kip Sabian. I’m in the front row, cheering my ass off. He wins, as expected. He leans onto the ropes, frustration over another match crystal clear in his eyes. I raise my poster up so he can see. “Cowboy, you stole my yee-heart,” it reads. (It was the day after Valentine’s Day.)
He sends me a little kiss, keeps his eyebrows angry and his lips pouting. He does it like he’s mad about it, and it’s oh-so-fucking funny.
Behind him, Mox and his friends pull up into the ring. My heart is pounding out of my chest. I am seeing Hangman and Mox in the ring together with my own two eyes, and it’s amazing.
Mox tells Hangman that it’s over between them, he won fair and square. But Hangman refuses. He takes the mic, saying that there’s no way either of them could be happy with the finish of that match. That it’s not how their story should end. Their story ends at Revolution, when they go back in that cold, dark alley and only one man is left standing.
There it is, I thought. Those words again. Last man standing.
Mox seems glad of Hangman’s pushy nature at this point. He admits he’s kinda glad that Hangman has no friends to talk him into a smarter decision.
It’s at this point that the Dark Order makes itself known. Evil Uno, mic in hand, asks if he heard Mox correctly. “Did you say that this man has no friends?”
This moment was insane. Absolutely astonishing, to see Uno walk into the ring, square up to Mox and tell his own friend, Hangman, to get out of his face. Uno even goes so far as to pie-face Moxley to get his attention, something very few people have ever done and gotten away with, if ever.
Refusing to see Uno as a threat, Mox looks past him to the upset cowboy. “Cowboy…Texas Death.”
That girl in the front row went absolutely insane (me).
After missing four separate shows in Texas, I still managed to witness the announcement of the Texas Deathmatch between Hangman and Moxley. It was like the entire segment, the entire feud, up to this moment, was waiting on me to become a part of it once more. To be their lone partner, standing witness to the wonderful feud that was unfolding in front of my very eyes. Because not only were Hangman and Mox going head to head with the stipulation I’d been expecting since it came out of that mediation’s mouth, springing from my own completely odd and batshit question, but now the Dark Order was involved with the now merciless Blackpool Combat Club. Which means that this is likely far from truly over.
I left that show an elated woman. I was finally getting what I wanted.
And now, two and a half weeks later, the match is here. After watching the Countdown to Revolution, I can say without a doubt that they’ve satiated me well enough with this build. This idea that Mox is an animal without mercy that craves violence, completely and totally juxtaposing the man that needs to put down this rabid dog even if he doesn’t want to, but is going to have to by any means necessary. He said that Mox would never be the same, but I think the opposite is true. I think Hangman’s going to reach a point that he hasn’t been brought to yet in AEW. I think this time, despite all other evidence to the contrary, he’s finally going to snap. That heavy heart that Mox couldn’t take from him, that heart that Mox couldn’t carry, might turn to stone, if only for a moment.
A few weeks before Bryan and Mox had their bloody match at Revolution 2022, Mox uttered these words: “I don’t stand side by side with nobody…till I bleed with him first.”
It’s very clear that this Sunday, these men are going to bleed together. But I wonder…will they end up standing side by side? Will they share non-alcoholic beers together? Will Hangman ever tell Mox how he really feels, or will he keep it to himself, as he’s so often done before?
I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
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my damnation | psh
— member. park sunghoon
— genre(s). fluff, angst, suggestive, alternative universe!au, vampire!au
— warnings. blood, violence, mention of death, kidnapping, suggestive content
— words. 17,8k
— summary. if judgement awaits you two at death, perhaps you will both have a lot to repent for. but, you’ll deal with that when it comes. for you, damnation was being without him.
— parts. one
— a/n. this actually used to be an old fic i planned for other boy group in my other blog. but losing idea and motivation made me unpublish it for good. now, after months sitting in my draft without any further plan on finishing it, this fic has finally sees the light again with some revision. this fic is also inspired by an old game i used to play, so some of you might find it familiar. please note that this fic hasn't been proofread yet, therefore if you find any grammatical errors or typos, please inform me.
i.
You always hate the summer for some reasons, since it either means the weather becomes hotter than you can handle or more assignments from college to finish. Overall, summer sucked. However, just for today you might reconsider it for once. Special thanks to the history project that allowed you to run away from other stressful assignments that might have locked you up all summer in your dorm—that's right, you didn't go back to your hometown for this summer break.
After taking a 2 hours trip by Uber, you have finally arrived at The Musee Pavillion, the well known museum for its historic background and building in the town. You couldn't stop looking at the grand museum beauty in awe —sparkling in dappled light reflected from the calm river around it—as you took pictures around for documentation. It was breathtaking.
No wonder many people recommend this museum as one of the tourist attractions you must go to in Warlington.
Going around the museum, you’re looking around for a while and accidentally clash with a person. After apologising and smiling to each other, you continue to one of your main highlights - rent a historical dress. It somehow looks much prettier than what you imagined.
“Um… excuse me,” A sudden clear voice makes you turn your direction towards the source, realising that a gentleman in a tuxedo stands next to you. From the language he used and the accent, you know he is a local. He somewhat gives an aura of a noble within a picture though the clothes he wears aren't in accordance with the place. “I think you dropped this earlier.”
Then the man uncurls his hand, showing a familiar [colour] hairpin. You touch your hair and find your hairpin indeed missing.
“I knew it. This hairpin belongs to you.”
“Oh, when did I lose it…?”
“I believe it was when that woman bumped into you.” He smiles before adding, “I happened to spot it as it fell. I was looking for a chance to return it to you.”
“Thank you very much.”
The man offers to help you wear your hairpin back, despite you feeling shy and trying to refuse, you accept it at last since the man assures her that he’s doing that to avoid the hairpin from dropping back.
When the man brings you close to your face to help you with the hairpin, you can’t help but be surprised and charmed by the man’s brown eyes. He brushes some of your hair with fingers that could have belonged to one of the graceful sculptures in the historical museum. Then you hear what the man says at your ear.
“… You have a sweet scent.”
“Thank you. I got that perfume from my hometown.” You mindlessly thanked him. Failed to catch the hidden meaning from those words.
“Oh… But I wasn’t referring to your perfume.” His voice was soft and rich, yet you couldn’t place his accent. It was like a mix of a hundred different lands.
He stepped away with a perfectly natural smile before saying his farewell. Whatever the spell you imagined yourself under is finally broken. You think of him somewhat strange, like an inhuman being from the movies you watched, especially with how fair his skin was. Though it’s impossible.
You then realize it’s only 30 minutes left before you need to visit the next exhibition.
Going in the man’s direction, you notice a big old rustic door. From the slightly open door, you can see some antique furnishings, thinking those are part of the exhibition. You’re somewhat feeling a weird attraction to the door and things behind it, and decide to have around them before leaving.
Going ahead to the far narrow hall with antiques placed inside, your feet just move forward as if invited. Before you arrive at the end of the hall, suddenly a white light hits your eyes. You shut them close as they are too dazzling. However, when you open them back, you’re somehow at an unfamiliar place.
Bedroom door on one side, windows on the other. It doesn’t look like a part of the museum you saw just now. It looks more like a private mansion that doesn’t make sense.
“What the… hell?”
You’re shocked to see that it’s night already outside while your cell phone shows it’s still 14:30.
Cooling yourself down who’s starting to get anxious, you give a light slap to both of your cheeks and go back to the door from where you came. But as you’re just turning around, everything was white. Your arms are being grabbed and caught into a shadow. You’re trying to escape but to no avail. Fingertips of someone you cannot see grab your hair and slides them into your nape.
“Quietly, submit to me.”
“Stop!”
Suddenly, you regain your consciousness, and nudge this person in the stomach and run away with all the strength you have. The anxiety is gradually getting into you again and you rush to find the door back.
You place your hand upon the cold handle and pull, but nothing happens. No matter how hard you try, the door won’t budge and—
“What are you doing there?”
Turning back your head, a tall man is standing nearby. Something about this man reminded you of your nightmare. But there wasn’t anything frightening about him.
“Uh, how do you open this door? It won’t open no matter how much strength I use.”
“No way, don’t tell me you came here through this door?”
“That’s exactly what I did. I come toward the museum behind this door, the one with many antiques.” He seems surprised before turns severe.
“Who are yo-”
Before he could finish asking, footsteps could be heard coming toward them, making you feel kinda relieved. You’re trying to raise your voice but he closes your mouth with powerful force and brings you behind a curtain on a grand scale, and glues your bodies together to hide your shadows. That sudden act makes your body stiffen.
Softly putting his hand on your shoulder, he whispers in low, “Don’t be alert. I won’t do anything for you… So, let’s keep silent for now.”
While being close together, you analyse your saviour as it illuminates by moonlight. Glossy and beautiful brown hair as if wet and well-featured look, along with large eyes that stares at you seriously.
He does not seem to be lying or else he won’t do straight-up things like this.
Nodding to him, he slowly releases his hand from your mouth. Your mind is wondering the reasons for such action. While deep in thought, he slowly murmurs that the footsteps sound has gone already.
There are so many questions you want to ask him. But, before you can open your mouth, he beats you to it first.
“Save the minor details for later, You need to leave this place before you are being found by other guys.” Gripping your hand strongly once again, you two quickly increase your pace in the corridor.
Even he says to leave…where can you go actually? What kind of things are bad if you’re being found out? You would be lying if you say that you aren’t anxious, but the heat transmitted through your connected hands somehow gives you a sense of relief.
However, the sound of the door opening could be heard, announcing the appearance of a brown haired guy with a sheepish smile. Small clicking tongue sound from your saviour reaches your ears.
“I don’t understand why there’s a girl inside this mansion. But somehow, looking at the situation, it seems like you’re trying to help her escape, right Sunghoon?”
“It’s none of your business, Jake.”
The mysterious man smoothly blocked off your exit. His eyes fastened on you with obvious fascination.
“Such a waste, then. She looks delicious tho!” Jake's eyes now full of glee as he approaches you and seems like wanting to make fun of you. He seizes your face. “I don’t know about anyone else, but this kind of grim face looks cute too, right?”
Sunghoon, the name of your saviour who you just learned, immediately put you behind him protectively.
“I have an idea! Why don’t you invite her to the dinner party? It’s just around the corner.” Jake happily suggests.
“That’s not for you to decide as you please.”
Feeling more confused with the terms like 'mansion' and 'dinner party' being thrown off to you, suddenly a girl with a maid appearance walks towards all of you.
“It’s time for the assembly, please go to the dining hall.”
Looking at you, she adds “Of course, you too.”
At first, you hesitate and want to refuse, but the maid tells you the owner of the mansion is waiting to meet you and you must have lots of questions to ask yourself. Plus, you enter here without permission. You walk ahead and come downstairs with the others following behind, and someone unexpectedly awaits them down there, shocking you.
“You are…!”
Looking ahead after going downstairs is a familiar brown-eyed man who you meet at the museum.
The moment your eyes meet, he smiles at you.
“Oh, Heeseung hyung, you know her?” Jake asks.
“We happened to meet this morning.” After Heeseung clarifies he remembers you, you feel so glad as he might be the mansion’s owner and could lead you to the way out. Before you could ask further, someone interrupts you.
“She told me she came in through the door you used…did you bring her along?” Sunghoon asks.
“No no, I could swear it’s not me who brought her in. I'm even surprised by her presence here.”
Listening to those unknown exchanges, you feel even more uncomfortable. You tried to ask him to tell you how to go back, but he could only give you a troubled smile. He invites you to the dinner party, and promises to explain everything after it’s done to avoid your further confusion.
As you arrive at the dining hall, the maid opens up the door for all of you. Warmly lit with chandeliers and candlebars. High-backed wooden chairs framing the massive table. A man was already seated there, raising his head noticing your arrival.
“Guest?”
He got the briefest look at me before returning to the table in front of him. He spoke, but you weren’t sure if it was to you, as he wouldn’t meet your eyes.
“Whoever you are, have you considered sitting down? There’s a queue behind you waiting to get in.” He seems to not care and tells you to take seats already, as it’s troublesome to do nothing.
“Jay, you do care!” tease Jake.
To rebuke further argument, Heeseung claps his hand and smiles towards all of the people who've been attending, asking for a toast. After the champagne toast and dishes are brought one by one, you still could not bring yourself to eat. Too many thoughts in your mind. You then indulge yourself with all delicious dishes, you feel the tense out from your shoulder a bit, and less wary.
It should be at quarter past three, and you should be at The Musee Pavillion now. But it’s nighttime and you’re seated at dinner. You couldn’t solve the puzzle right now, so you turn your head to your companions.
As Heeseung is glad you’re liking them, he greets the whole room, leading everyone’s gaze to him.
‘Who are all these men?’
“Since we have this opportunity, how about we introduced ourselves to the young lady?” Just like reading your mind, Heesung smiles as he introduces himself first followed by the others. “My name is Lee Heeseung. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“The pleasure’s all mine.” You stiffen, realising belatedly you could’ve been making a better impression of yourself. “I’m… [Name].”
“That’s such a pretty name for a pretty girl.” Says the dark brown haired flirt from before, gaining your attention. Don't forget to wink at you. “The name is Jake Sim and you don't need to be formal with me, just Jake is fine as long as I get to call you [Name].”
“I think that’s enough, Jake. You make her uncomfortable,” warns Heeseung.
You look to the next in line. Sitting to the right of Heeseung is Jay. You haven’t met Jay’s eyes for a moment before he looks away from you again. ‘What? Does he hate me or something?’
“… I’m Jay, Jay Park.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I believe that leave you.” Heeseung’s voice arrests your fantasies.
Only one man left.
Your saviour.
He wanted you to get out of this place, and promised to answer your questions as soon as you two were gone. For some reason, you’d instantly trusted him, more than anyone else. He looks at you with those eyes that hide nothing and says, “Sunghoon. Park Sunghoon.”
After the dinner party ends without you still not knowing and understanding anything, you go to Heeseung’s room to seek explanations. You ask him ways to return since the door does not budge at all, is there switches or keys needed to open. However, his answers kinda disappoint you
“The door isn’t locked. Opening it is easy, however, it only opens under very specific conditions.”
“What’s the condition?”
“The specifics are difficult to explain.” Heeseung gets up from his chair and stops in front of an oversized hourglass. The top half is full of sand. “It will open when all the sand in this hourglass has fallen. It’s quite precise, and I rely on its timing myself.”
“I see. Approximately how long does that hourglass run for?”
“It takes a month, on average,” he says calmly. ‘A month!? On average?’
“We're still in Warlington, right?” If you are still in Warlington, that means there’s no need to fixate on that strange door. You could just go back using the front door. You don’t know how it became night without you knowing, but you still can return to your dorm.
“We are indeed still in Warlington, but in a different world. What you see here isn't the town you know.”
Heeseung sadly smiles as he tells Miyoung, the maid, to open the curtain and let you look over the city from his window’s room. Like in the set of a movie, a carriage runs along the old street and ladies put on a dress, other than that, the city still looks the same. You even change direction over and over, still see the same view and reality gradually hits.
“No… way.”
He explains that the mansion’s door has the power to connect between two different worlds. No matter if it's him or anyone, it still takes around one month to open the door. Once it’s close, it would take around that much time to open again.
“By the way, other residents are also gathered here through that door. So, people from different times and countries, including you, are meeting each other in this mansion. ”
Trying to clear more of your head, you ask further about the mansion and real identity of the Heeseung, but he tells you to rest for tonight since you seem tired already as he prepares a room for you to stay for the month. He also promises to answer more of your questions tomorrow and would tell the other residents about your stay in the mansion.
Alone in your prepared room, you’re thinking back about all the occurrences that happen the whole day. Hoping all of these are only dreams, you’re remembering back all the men you met, still not believing much in this whole different world story. You couldn’t picture he’s lying about it and your instincts told you he was telling the truth.
Besides, what would Heeseung gain from lying to you? You’re not rich or influential. There’s no benefit to it. Then it’s all real? As real as this place is.
Exhaustion overwhelming you. You immediately fell asleep as your head hit the pillow. But then, you wake up to the soft crumple of the thick duvet, followed by the creak of the bed-frame. There is a stranger in your room.
“Who is that?”
Before you could escape, a strong force pulls you back to bed. They were on top of you, holding you down. As your body falls to the bed, strong hands pinned yours to the sheets. Your legs are trapped under theirs.
“Don’t move.”
You feel the figure’s heat close to you, body tensed as their breath is on your ear. Sharp teeth sink into your neck. It stung for only a moment. No, not even that long. What you feel can’t be described as pain. Feverish heat starts running to your nape of the neck, your vision is shaking and you feel low in power. Each warm breath billowing over your neck fills you with insatiable longing.
You groan in a voice laden with ecstasy. Does that voice even belong to you?
As you’re surprised by your sweet voice unlike yourself, your reason is slowly melting. Your sight follows a circular red stain on the white sheet.
As your consciousness fades, the figure says something.
“I want it all. Your body, your heart… and your destiny.”
You scramble out of the bed, clutching your neck. There’s no puncture wound nor pain, and there’s no one when you’re looking around the room. The dream was unusual but yet familiar, you recall the mysterious daydream you had when you first set foot in the mansion, like a warning.
What do you put yourself into?
Trying to calm yourself, you decided to take a walk at the hall for a bit. Wan moonlight streamed in through the hallway like a ghostly ribbon. It was beautiful, yet unnerving in the dead of night.
You still couldn’t believe that you are stuck here, in another version of Warlington—the town you visit for study—with four men. Even if they could have world-travelled, why would they leave their own world? Why stay here when they have a life to live? Shouldn’t they be just as eager to return as you are?
It didn’t make sense.
Looks like you need to find out the truth from Heeseung tomorrow. For now, you need to get back to your room and hopefully back to sleep.
That’s when you saw him, standing at the border of the light and shadow, looking as if he embodied both. Sunghoon stood with his back to the wall, arms folded, but not in a peaceful way. His eyes were fixed on the window as if it were the bars of an old familiar cage.
“Sunghoon?”
The moment he heard your voice, his eyes left the crescent moon and looked at you. You were suddenly overcome with a familiar sensation. Your vision shrank to pinholes.
“I want it all. Your body, your heart… and your destiny.”
It was your dream. It came fresh to your mind, along with all the sensations you’d felt. You took a steadying breath, only to realise Sunghoon had left the wall and was now onto your side.
“Are you all right?” He worriedly asks which you answer with a nod. He sighs before continuing, “You shouldn’t be out and about. I heard you’re going to stay here until the door opens.”
It seemed like Heeseung had told them about it like he said he would. You confirmed what Sunghoon had heard.
“Then you’ll want to stay in your room at night. Especially if you’re going to be alone.”
“Why? Is there something here I should worry about?”
“…It’s not my place to tell you. But, please, just take the advice.”
There was a finality to his answer. Whatever the unspoken deal you’d had before, your agreement to stay here changed it. With that, you return to your room and shut the door.
Once more, you slip into the bed and find yourself surrounded by its soft sheets. Thankfully, there were no more dreams. You couldn’t have known at the time how important that night would become to you.
The next morning, not a moment after you’d freshened up, Heeseung had you seated in his supercar. He was taking you out for a tour around the unfamiliar Warlington. It took a quarter-of-an-hour to arrive in the city.
It’s a completely different view when you’re on the street. The vestiges of the past that you couldn’t find in the museum can still be seen in this world. The buildings and scenery look the same, but it holds a different vibe. The way people dressed here showed a classical and yet trendy feel. There are also not many cars on the road—Heeseung said only people with high status or money can afford it in this world.
Heeseung gives a little nod toward the driver and smiles, as indicating you two should go.
He offers you his arm and you take it, only to find yourself suddenly close to him. You were surprised, but then found it was a common thing here since the other ladies around you were being escorted the same way.
“Now that the last of your doubts have been quelled, let me welcome you again to this world.” He shows you his eye smile before continuing. “First, we need to go shopping. You’ll need a variety of things.”
“Shopping? But I don’t ha—”
He wouldn’t listen to your protest and so you shopped. He led the way, and you could go along, wide-eyed.
This tour of the city lasted until evening.
As soon the two of you arrived at the mansion, Heeseung excused himself as Miyoung appeared to help you with carrying box after box of dresses, perfumes, and more into the mansion.
In the end, you didn’t get the chance to ask your questions. But, you’ve learned something about him: his status here was high, though you don’t know what it was yet. Everything he has told you so far is true.
“Oh, isn’t it [Name]?”
That voice. You recognized him before turning around.
“Jake.”
“You remembered my name. Fantastic!” Jaemin takes an insouciant stance and grinned. “Out larking about, are we?”
“Heeseung was showing me the town.”
“How do you fancy Warlington? Still find it unbelievable?” You could only nod. Though you finally saw it yourself you still can’t believe the whole different world travel concept.
Something then caught your attention. A red stain on Jake's shirt, too dark to be just any beverage.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to stare, but I think you spilled something on your shirt.”
“Ah, that?” Jake glanced at the stain right below his collar and gave it a tug, “I suppose I did spill my beverage.”
However, it doesn't seem like a normal beverage—the colour, the consistency—that was unmistakably like… blood.
Your head was clanging like an old-fashioned alarm bell. ‘Did he just say ‘beverage’? There’s an explanation for this, there has to be.’
"W-what kind of beverage?"
“Came from that pretty neck I fed off just now, I suspect. Nothing stains like blood. A real bother to get out, too.” Jake spoke up, preternaturally seizing upon the exact moment reality was slipping through your fingers. He was talking about it as if it might have been lipstick, or wine, or coffee.
You've experienced many strange phenomena since you arrived. Haunting dreams. Visions. But, this was the most shocking thing that ever happened to you. Jake could see the colour of your face drained at the realisation.
“I see now. You didn’t know we were vampires, did you?”
“That’s… unbelievable!”
“What a load of rubbish, right? You’re a sceptic. Fair enough. But it’s all true.” Your eyes locked at his, feet frozen in place due to fear. You couldn’t run. “Do you want to know what a true vampire is like, [Name]? I’ll let in on a secret.”
“What.. do you mean by that?”
“It only takes a little bite.”
“Cease that, Jake. You’ve gone too far.” Just when Jake is about to come close, someone interposes between Jake and you like a shadow manifesting from a sudden stream light.
Sunghoon glared at Jake as he pushed you behind him. He was trying to protect you from the older man for a few months.
“Don’t give me that sour face, Hoonie! We’re just having a bit of fun.”
“We? I doubt it.” Jake put his hand on the heart, pretending to be hurt by Sunghoon's harsh words. Sunghoon sighs and turns to face you.
“This is why you shouldn’t be alone at night. Come with me.”
You are unable to let out any protest as he took your hand away from Jake. Though you don’t know if you could trust him anymore or not, it’s better than being alone with Jake after what is about to happen. Yet, looking at Sunghoon did nothing to release the knots in your stomach.
Now that you realise, Sunghoon was going to get you out of here because he knew. He knew there were vampires here. He was a part of them.
“Sunghoon.”
“What is it?”
“Let go of my hand, please.”
He did so. Immediately. You stepped away, measuring the distance from the gardens back to the mansion. Jake said they were all vampires. Did that mean Sunghoon is one of them too?
“I know what you want to ask me. Go on, ask.” In his eyes, you saw that he wanted you to know.
Daring, you take a step closer. “You’re one of them, right? You’re a vampire.”
Silence. It is strange. You couldn’t shake the feeling you’d somehow said the wrong thing.
He suddenly moves forward like a shadow, then falls upon you like the inexorable morning light. You feel his chest rise and fall, feel his breath against your face. He is breathing. Alive. But when you looked into his eyes that had been so honest with you, you saw fear. Your fear. He wants you to answer your own question.
“Look at me,” He cups your hair. Telling you, begging you, not to turn away yet. “I’m not like the others. I’m just like you. Please, stop looking at me like I’m going to bite you.”
No monster out of fiction, you thought, could stir your heart the way his voice did.
ii.
You finally found a chance to talk with Heeseung. First thing in the morning, you went to see him. He would not evade your question again. Or so you thought. He insisted on breakfast. You sat in the garden, at a table laden with sandwiches, eggs, and a plate of mandarin oranges.
“Miss, your tea.” Miyoung pours the hot tea. You thank her before taking a sip of it. Judging by the aroma and the taste, it is black tea with an infusion of milk. It tastes just like a milk tea, maybe with a little bit bitter at the after taste.
Heeseung smiles, his eyes fastening on you as you enjoy the silence and peace breakfast. But it doesn’t last for long.
“You must have many questions about this mansion and the other residents here. And there are things I must explain to you. That’s why I asked Miyoung to prepare breakfast in the garden.”
You clear your throat and put down the teacup on your hand, “Yes. Though I will only stay here for a month, I still need to know the truth. At least to protect myself.”
“What would you like to ask first?”
You have so many questions, but you know which of them is the most important.
“Is it true that all your residents are vampires?”
“What made you think that?” He asked back calmly.
“I ran into Jake after you went inside yesterday. We got talking and—”
You shuddered at the flash of yesterday's event. When Jaemin told you the secret of the residents. When he walked closer and looked at you like a meal. If it is not because of Sunghoon, you might not be able to enjoy a breakfast like this anymore.
“…Jake. How I’m not surprised anymore.” Your sudden silence made him understand where this went.
“Anyway, I’m curious, why was that alone enough to convince you? You seem so sceptical about travelling through the world and of the residence here.”
To be honest, two days ago you would’ve been more sceptical about the blood too. However, there comes a time where rationality is stretched too thin. Past that point, the fantasy must be true.
“Seeing is believing. I don’t doubt what I see with my own eyes. Moreover, I’ve experienced a number of inexplicable things since I opened that door. At this point, I’m ready to listen.”
No more scepticism. You’d decided. Whatever Heeseung or Miyoung told you now, you would accept. Experienced one near death experience was enough for you.
“Let’s start from the beginning.”
Apparently, you’re the only person that comes here through that door. The moment the other residents woke up, they were already here—it was his doing. Everyone who Heeesung brought here has agreed to a certain condition of his, and it was a taste of eternity. They all were human until they arrived at this mansion, died with regrets, or left with something unfinished.
They were offered a second chance. They might have died in their world, but they are alive here. As a vampire.
“Onto my next question: Are you two vampires as well?”
“Miyoung is the only human other than you in this mansion. We met while abroad and invited her to stay,” said Heeseung.
“Rest assured. I’ve never once died.”
“How about you?” The man only smiled, purposely leaving that question unanswered. One flash of those red eyes and you found yourself unable to press him further.
He said Miyoung is the only other human. But, that’s not right, is it? The words Sunghoon said last night ringing inside your head. You thought he was telling you he was human. Were you wrong?
“What about Sunghoon?” Heeseung frowned. Your question made him pause.
“He’s… an exception. I did not offer him any contract; I have no memory of inviting him here at all.”
“That means he shouldn't be alive in this world, right? How did he get here?”
“He simply arrived one day, out of the blue. In fact, it shouldn’t be possible that he’s here with all of us. It surprised the rest of us. He doesn’t know why he is alive again and he’s incomplete.”
Incomplete—physically trapped between human and vampire. A demi-vampire. That explains why he said he was like you. He must see himself more like a human than a vampire.
“That’s enough!” You turned, hearing that familiar deep voice. “Who said you could talk about me behind my back?”
Heeseung calmly looks at Sunghoon as the demi-vampire walks toward the table, glares at the pureblood vampire across you with hate.
“She was going to learn the truth eventually. You could say I saved you the trouble. Unless… you were attempting to hide the information from her for some reason?”
“Stop insinuating when you know I wasn’t.” Sunghoon sighs as he turns away from Heeseung to you. “Glad you took my advice about not being alone.”
Not after what happened last night. Nope, you’re not going to get yourself in that situation anymore. Something about that cocky smile on Sunghoon's face just now irked you.
“Sunghoon, I have a proposal.”
“… I’m not gonna like this.” Sunghoon frowned even before Heeseung said his request.
After the breakfast with Heeseung finished, you follow right behind Sunghoon back to the mansion. Your newly appointed guardian had been silent since he accepted Heeseung's proposal. He was fast, but his black tuxedo stood in stark contrast to the green garden verge.
“Wait, Sunghoon!” You run toward him as Sunghoon halts. He waits while you catch your breath. A jog shouldn’t have winded you. But with the long feet he has, you really had to chase him down. “There’s something that I wanted to tell you.”
“What’s it?”
“First, I needed to say thank you. Second, I’ll try my best to not be a chore for you. I’d like us to get along.”
You automatically bow. But you realised it wouldn’t mean much to him. Will a handshake do? You thrust out your hand.
“Lift your head.” You raise your eyes to his brown undeniably human eyes. Sunghoon accepts your hand—not to shake it, but kiss it, like the gentleman in those movies. It was a slow, purposely action. “Since I’ve accepted the job, I swear to protect you. So, make sure you don’t get into trouble, chore.”
“You indeed think of me as a chore!?”
“You’re welcome to prove me wrong.” He grins and begins to walk off.
You don’t like that imperious attitude, earned or not. And yet, you couldn’t forget the gentlemanly kiss he’d placed on your hand. Your hand still tingles from the touch of his lips. Lips that then curved into a confident smile.
Why do you find him so frustrating?
On the other hand, Sunghoon couldn’t help but find you quite amusing. It’s been a while since the last time he met someone as interesting as you. A clap suddenly interrupted Sunghoon's though, making him stops and turns to the culprit.
“What a good show back there.”
Jake don’t stop clapping until Heeseung glares at him. “What do you want now?”
“‘First, I needed to say thank you. Second, I’ll try my best to not be a chore for you’. She’s good. Nice and sweet to the point I just want to sink my fangs right into her!”
“Try it and lose them,” warns Sunghoon.
However, Jake being Jake, he ignores the warning and still playfully teases the demi-vampire.
“Anger doesn't look great on your face, you know. Say Hoonie, you never answer me why were you trying to help [Name] at that night? She was a stranger to you and thought it would be more fun if we fed on her.” Jake’s eyes sparkled; he was enjoying his little game.
Sunghoon pulls Jake’s collar shirt and grips it tightly. If he was angry before, he is furious now.
“It was to keep her away from you. Satisfied?”
“Looks like the lion is waking up~”
“…You can’t stop turning everything into one of your little games, can you?”
Sunghoon shoves him away before he walks away. Jake touches his lips in thought. You’re defenceless, and Sunghoon has a history of learning how to protect the defenceless. But is it really the reason? He couldn’t help but think Sunghoon must be wanting to set you free because you’re human, in terms of himself.
iii.
You had finally come to terms with this mansion and its supernatural residents. Though you are Heeseung's guest, you persistently want to assist Miyoung in her duties. At least, it is the only thing you could do besides doing nothing for a month and maybe paying back for Heeseung's hospitality, you thought.
Miyoung has told you a few things that you need to know about the residents, in case you happen to face them under some circumstance.
Though vampires appear human, physiologically, they are different creatures with their own needs and aversions. Garlic and holy objects didn’t have any effects on them. They’re just sensitive to sunlight; they can stay under the sunlight but not for a long time. They also take nourishment from blood and they have extended life spans.
She also presented you with a cart with two decanters; one was filled with what looked like a white wine called ‘Blanc’ that served as a blood substitute, the other contained an opaque red liquid which is real blood. These are only consumed when they’re starting to feel thirsty, better than having to drink blood straight from the body.
Your first task of the day was to wake Sunghoon who’d miss breakfast. You raise your hand to knock on the door but hesitate. Miyoung had warned you, there is a time when the demi-vampire can’t be woken up by a mere knock on the door. If he doesn’t answer after the third knock, you can just enter his room and wake him up.
You knocked once, in case you’d got the wrong door before knocking it twice more. Hearing no response, you opened it.
Surprised was written on your face as you saw Sunghoon's room. It was impeccably clean, and though he had shelves of books and papers, everything was put away properly. The demi-vampire himself was found still sleeping on the table in an uncomfortable position. He must have fallen asleep while reading.
“Sunghoon? Sunghoon!” He’s not even stirring. You try to call his name again, this time while shaking his body.
“Mm… mmm?” You could tell he sensed daylight because he scrunched his eyes harder. You shake him again, but this time with more gentleness. “Hey, wake up!”
“What is it?” He blinked at you. “Oh, morning [Name].”
“Morning? It’s already noon! A few more hours and I’d be saying good evening," scold you. "Anyway, doesn’t your back hurt from sleeping like that?”
“[Name]…” He shushed you and raised up just enough to curl his arm around the back of your head. “… Seals that mouth of you.”
Sunghoon pulls you with surprising strength and kisses you. You push at his chest, but you might as well have push on a wall. His lips locked onto yours. It quite shocked you. Just as you’d had enough— he let you go.
“You… you…” You touched your lips, and they were warm. Nowhere near the temperature of your rage.
Sunghoon has stolen your first kiss!
“What are you doing here?” Sobered up, he asks you casually before gazes at you, mystified. “You look feverish.”
“I’m certainly sick of you. How can you-! Urgh, just get up already.”
Still boiling over, you march out of his room. Leaving the demi-vampire confused, “What’s her problem, huh?”
The rest of the day, you busied yourself with work. You went to wash the dishes, then did the laundry. When even that wasn’t enough to work out your anger, you spent your time in the library where a whole forest of books to dust. This should keep you busy for a week. Just four week of this and you’re home!
“You’re trying to kill those books or clean them?”
You recognize the speaker, who was sitting on the floor though there were couches and chairs nearby. He is no other than Jay, one of the residents that almost rarely interacted with you but always spent his time bricking with Sunghoon.
“I might have been imagining the books as a certain someone. I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“You’re not disturbing me. What happened?” Jay asks. “It’s not that important.”
“Right. However, it looks to me like you want to talk about it.”
Something about his eyes makes it feels like he already knows everything that’s wrong. If that was the case. then what was the harm in telling him, right? You ended up telling him everything, everything that makes you mad, including the incident with Sunghoon.
“I see. You ran into one of his bad habits.”
“Bad habit? You mean…”
“Yeah, he’ll kiss anyone like that in the morning. Back then, I’m the one who used to wake him up, and I often annoyed him while pretending to kiss him if he didn't wake up to the point he was not scared to kiss anyone he found annoying. So, yeah, it’s kinda my fault too.”
He laughs a little before continuing, “Everyone tried to pass the job off to someone else. Looks like it was your turn now.”
“I see…”
“Anyway, I’ll tell you something good about this place,” Jay speaks like a man excited to share the secret location of a cavern of jewels. He looks different from the quiet impression you got on the first day. “Everyone here can be a handful. So we developed this system-”
But then he smirks, eyes indicating the library door the very moment it opened. You turn around only to see Sunghoon strides up to you. He just pulls your hand, taking you away from Jay without letting you throw any protest.
Though he doesn’t say anything, his eyes tell you how badly he wants you to come with him.
Jay stands and watches as Sunghoon led you out. But, you could have sworn you heard him say, “enjoy your trip.”
Sunghoon briskly guides you out of the mansion, which reminds you of the time when you two were back in that first night. The night where he was just the brown-haired saviour that promised to help you escape.
“Get on,” Sunghoon instructs you.
You look at the horse and then back to him in confusion. You clearly don’t want to, still not understanding the situation you got into. It kinda made him frustrated. He sighs before grips your waist and hoists you up.
The next thing you knew, you were on the horse with Sunghoon, sitting in his lap. “And we’re off.”
“Huh? Wait, we’re going somewhere? Where?”
“Somewhere. Just hold on tight, this will not be a smooth road trip.”
Accompanied by the clop of steel-shod hoofbeats, Sunghoon and you left the stables to the opposite road to get to the city. You two are now racing into the countryside.
Though Sunghoon held you tight, the wind was strong to the point it seemed to cut your cheeks. You aren't safe riding like this at all. You grip his clothes for dear life, but daring yourself, you turn to face forward.
He seems to notice your fear. But fear isn’t a constant state, and without you noticing, it faded away. It was around that time that the ride ended.
“We’re here.”
Sunghoon helps you to get down. Then you follow him a few steps until you reach the top of a hill. Flowers carpeted the field below you, blooming as far as the eye could see. You couldn't help but be amazed in awe, unconsciously letting a little “wow”.
“I’m glad this could cheer you up.”
His eyes search the field, finding a spot where the flowers are thin to sit. It is like sinking into a fantasy world. The flowers are so much larger, so much more beautiful when sitting among them.
“Finally, you’re smiling,” he mutters.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.” He’d been looking at you, now he looks up at the dark sky and the stars above.
“Why did you bring me here?”
It takes a moment until he finally speaks. “This morning, well…”
He still doesn’t dare to look you in the eyes. His ears turn red as he says, “I brought you here to apologise for accidentally kissing you this morning. Living with someone like Jake and Jay planted a bad habit in me. You might have heard it from Jay about it, right?”
You nod. You also have something more relevant to ask.
“Which one of them told you?”
“Miyoung did. Right after she saw what you were doing to Jake's laundry.“
You sure didn’t say anything to Miyoung, yet she found out anyway.
Wait. She had to have known about Sunghoon’s kissing tendencies when she asked you to go wake him up. But, she still asked you to do it without giving any warning.
Before you have the chance to be mad at Miyoung, Sunghoon holds up a hand and begin ticking down fingers. “Jake told me because of the laundry. Jay saw you during lunch. And Heeseung cornered me afterwards-”
“Hold on.” You cut him up. “It sounds like everyone knew. How did they all find out?”
“You can’t keep a secret in this place.”
It’s not like you’re upset that everyone knows about the kiss. Especially if Sunghoon's gotten the rest of them once already. Not being able to keep a secret around here sounds more dangerous anyway. You got a good look at his eyes and the poor man actually looked a little panicked.
Come to think of it, he is a man of few words. Action first questions later. When you first met, he’d taken your hand as if that told you everything you needed to know. What you felt for him was warm, but it most definitely wasn’t anger. Not anymore.
You are, you daresay, comfortable with the idea of being around him again. Happy, even.
“You’re forgiven. For all of it.” He smiles at the fact you forgave him. “As long as you slow down on the ride back.”
“The hardest treaty I’ve ever made.”
“Don’t make fun of me, I got horse-sick.”
“…Horse-sick?” He can't help but laugh hard. And once he started laughing, he couldn’t stop. He doesn’t know why but it had been a while since the last time he heard a word like that.
You frown at him for about one second and then laugh too.
A Park Sunghoon who sometimes sleeps all day and kisses whoever tries to wake him, who couldn’t even apologise to someone without a long horse-ride first, and who has the most delightful laugh you’ve heard in a long time. You are glad to have been able to meet him on this journey.
In a meadow stippled with wildflowers, the azure sky turned night-dark above you as Sunghoon and you keep talking. It was perhaps the first real conversation you’d had since meeting each other.
iv.
That's it. You’d completed your work for the day and couldn’t wait to get to your journal. Getting used to the environment you lived in this world, you’d started keeping more notes of your time here. Today, you had so much to write about, especially at the new discovery of Warlington you learned from Miyoung.
As you walk back to the mansion, you see Jay waiting by the door.
It’s rare to see him outside, you thought. Or anywhere, really. He was looking longingly at the driver. You knew you guys had a private driver who lived just outside the mansion—in fact, he was currently drowsing in his seat.
It looks like Jay wanted to go somewhere, but felt bad to bother the tired man.
“Jay?” Jay looks up from the man as he hears his name being called. He looks flustered.
“Huh? Oh, It’s you. Don’t startle me like that. And don’t tell anyone about it, too.” You couldn’t help but chuckle. If he hadn’t been fixated on the driver, you wouldn’t have been surprised. Who would have thought you would have a chance to see the infamous prankster Jay surprised like that.
Jay wakes up the driver and gets into the car, then asks you, “Are you done with work?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“Are you doing anything else?” He asks again.
“I was going to… Actually, no, never mind.” There is no way you would tell him about the journal. “Is there something you need?”
“Do you want to come? I’m going to see Sunghoon.” At the mention of Sunghoon's name, your eyes lit and it didn't go unnoticed by Jay. Which makes him raise his eyebrow in a teasing manner. No one in this mansion doesn’t know about how close you two were lately.
“You two are always together, so I thought, You know…”
“I will pretend to not hear the last one, but, sure. I’ll come with you.”
The car takes off at a brisk pace toward the city. While on the way to your destination, you couldn’t help but wonder. Sunghoon did disappear for a few hours every day.
You tried to ask Jay about it, but the only answer you got was a sarcastic reply.
“You’ll find out as soon as we get there.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“… Agreeing with me again. I still can’t get used to it.”
Amusingly, he smiles. Too bad the ride wasn’t long enough to figure out Jay's contrary conversational patterns. The car stopped at the entrance of a dingy alley which made you confused.
They are going to meet Sunghoon here?
As soon as you got out, you heard voices—
“Sunghoon hyung! Over here!” A child pulled Sunghoon's right hand as his other hand held the wooden sword you saw in his room before.
“Patience! I’m only one man.”
“Hyung, me next! I need some help with my stance.”
Where the alley widened, you saw Sunghoon, surrounded by children, young and old. Apparently, he spends his afternoon coming here to teach the children the basics of swordsmanship.
“Hyung!!! Look! I just mastered the technique you teach me!” A child that seemed older than most of the children there suddenly ran toward Sunghoon. The other children started to cry in protest on how it was not his turn yet.
Sunghoon looks at the child before letting out a sigh. What you didn’t expect from him is a flick on the forehead. It was not that hard, but you could see how the child’s forehead turned red.
“Nikki, that’s not exactly how I teach you to swing your sword. It will only hurt your hand before you are able to hit your enemy. And next time, wait for your turn. Understand?”
The boy named Nikki nods while pouting at Sunghoon. You’d see him stubborn, boyish, teasing, friendly. Now there was caring, with an almost paternal gentleness.
Jay looks at the eager young children with pity and sympathy as he explained to you. They were the children of the unfortunate and underprivileged. Pauper, in a word. Different from your world, they couldn’t go to school nor get any education here.
“Do you teach them something too?” You ask Jay.
“…I actually do. Since I used to be a singer, I teach them some basics. It wasn’t my idea, in case you’re curious.”
You two stand talking at the mouth of the alley when the man of the talk himself approaches.
“Jay, you’re here!” Sunghoon happily greets Jay before his eyes land at you. “And [Name]?”
“I brought her-”
“Oh, look! Jay hyung is here!!!” The children cut him off and ran to him. They drag him away from you and Sunghoon to teach them new songs.
Jay said it wasn’t his idea. But though he seems a little overwhelmed, you got the feeling he doesn’t mind. Setting in with the music, surrounded by children and their boundless, boisterous curiosity, he looked unexpectedly content.
“So, how did you end up coming here with him?”
“Jay invited me out of nowhere. Because, and I quote, you and I are ‘always together’.” Sunghoon looks at you in confusion for a second.
"Do we?"
"Well, it was your job to be my bodyguard after all."
While you two are talking, the oldest of the children who was scolded by Sunghoon before comes over. He looks at you with wide eyes. But then turned into cheeky, childish glee, before letting out an unexpected question.
“Are you two lovers?” Your breath hitch in surprise.
What was Sunghoon teaching him, exactly? How was that the first thing he asks when he meets a woman?
“You see, Nikki, we’re just-”
“Yes, we’re lovers.” You glances at Sunghoon in confusion.
He doesn't just cut you but also lie to a child. He even seems doesn’t mind your glare. He leans over to whisper to you, telling you that it was easier to lie than tell him the truth though you do not agree with him. Your heated whisper only seemed to affirm Nikki's guess about you two.
“Heh, I knew it! Mom and dad talk just like you do. Only lovers argue like that.”
“Did you hear that, sweetheart? I think so too, Nikki. But we always make up afterwards.”
You feel a chill at the nickname he used for you. He shot you a sly smile, and you wonder how he isn't bent over backwards with laughter at this point. He obviously enjoyed this too much.
Uninterested in continuing the conversation with 'your lover', you turned to Nikki. You notice the messy drawing at the handle of his wooden sword. Curiously, you point at the drawing and ask.
“What did you draw?”
“Oh, this?” Nikki looks at his wooden sword's handle before letting out an awkward smile. “This was supposed to be a gem like those in real swords. But yeah, somehow it turned out into something abstract. Just like how my other painting turned out.”
Ah, he actually has some interest in drawing.
“Anyway, shouldn’t you go to Jay? He was about to start now.” Nikki jolts in surprise as he confirms what Sunghoon just said. Without wasting any more time, he bids you goodbye and goes to Jay.
“That’s new.” You look at Sunghoon in confusion. His eyes still follow Nikki who was busy observing Jay.
What did he mean by new?
“Nikki was the oldest of the group. He is rarely willing to approach or talk to anyone besides me, Jay, and his group of friends. And usually, it takes weeks for him to be able to open up. So, seeing him talk with you comfortably like that was something new to me.”
You could only smile. Seeing how happy Nikki and the other children from a distance like this make you kinda understand how Sunghoon feels about them. They are precious and you want no other than to protect their little happiness.
Sunghoon's gentle eyes look into the distance. But whether it was the past or the future he was seeing, you couldn’t tell.
"Nikki actually reminds me of my past."
Apparently, Sungoon's childhood wasn’t the brightest like you thought, where he needed to work hard to be able to pay his own tuition and living expenses. He didn’t manage to enrol in a good school like what he was hoping for, but still, he met someone great and was able to learn more from them.
As you listen to Sunghoon, you realise that he was opening up about his past to you for the first time. He smiles painfully at the last memories he remembered about that good man as he looked at you apologetically. Before he could let out what he wanted to say, a pitiful strained-sounding plea interrupted you two for help.
“Yah! Sunghoon! A little bit… assistance, please!”
Jay is surrounded by a lot of boys and gripping on one of the wooden swords with both of his hands.
“Why is Jay holding a sword?”
“You must never let children get bored. Let’s save him before he hurts himself. Let’s go, our little school could use a third teacher.” Sunghoon grins and grabs your hand, not letting you make any protest.
And ever since that day, you started to spend your free time visiting the children. Sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by Sunghoon. You even didn’t forget to bring the kids some snacks that you made with the help of Miyoung which they enjoyed very much.
“Noona, you come!”
“Eonnie!”
The moment you arrived with a basket of bread, their eyes always lit up as they ran toward you. You happily greet them, handing them the bread one by one. However, it didn’t take you long to notice the leftover bread. Who hadn’t gotten the bread yet?
“Nikki didn't come today.” You look up as Sunghoon answers your question. He knew you were wondering about the oldest kid.
Then the two of you found it weird. Nikki never missed any training before. He even promised you to come today to show you something cool. So, why? Why did you feel uneasy about it?
“Guys, I don’t think you would like to hear this,” You two turned your head to Jay in surprise. “But this is about Nikki.”
Jay takes you and Sunghoon to Nikki's house. It is located not far from the alley, not more than 10 minutes by run. You just had to go straight, turn left around the corner, and if you see the simplest and cosy house on your right side, that means you have arrive.
However, the boys suddenly stop on their track, looking at each other with a nod and pull you behind them protectively. You might not be able to smell it, but they clearly knew what the smell hitting their nose was.
Blood. And it wasn’t in a small quantity.
Something was wrong.
The way Jay and Sunghoon acted made you feel that something wrong must have happened inside the house.
“Is everything alright?” You ask.
“Stay behind us.”
Jay pushes the door lightly and notices that it wasn’t locked. He enters the house cautiously, followed by Sunghoon and you. The house is completely empty without any sign of a human being. A tense, palpable silence hung in the room and you looked around the room. That was a big mistake.
Right in front of you, a man was lying lifeless in his own pool of blood. You are stumbling back in shock and almost falling down had it not been for Sunghoon holding onto you quickly.
“Mr. Nishimura!” Jay's eyes widen as he runs toward the body and examines it. “His death was caused by blood loss. Someone must have attacked him with a knife since the wound around his lower back doesn’t match any weapons I know.”
“Are you alright?” Sunghoon asks as he hugs you, shielding you from the horrid sight. “You don’t look good.”
You don’t. The stench of Mr. Nishimura's blood was overpowering your olfactory senses. You could feel yourself ready to throw up any minute just from recalling it. But then, you remembered your purpose for coming here.
“Nikki! We need to find him!”
Two horses took off, like arrows released from a bow. Worry could be seen on your face as the sky grew dark as you rode around the city to search Nikki. After all, he was just a kid and it must have traumatised him.
You three stop riding and running. Run until you reach the door of an old library that you hadn’t checked yet. Sunghoon pushed them open-.
Rows of an evenly spaced bookshelf filled the floor around you. The stained-glass window looks down at you as it allows the moonlight to illuminate the dark library. In the centre of all, stood Nikki with a mysterious man dressed in black.
His small face twisted in wrath.
“Nikki!” You are about to run toward Nikki, to pull him away from a potential murderer, but Sunghoon stops you. “[Name], don’t move.”
"But, Nikki—"
“Look at his hands.”
Nikki holds something that had been almost invisible in the glimmer of the moonlight. A weapon. It is a long-bladed knife. The red eyes and dried tears on his cheek tells you that he had been crying. He was so focused on the man before him to the point he doesn’t even notice your arrival.
However, the man did. His eyes languidly moving to the open door where three of you stand.
“… Customers? I’m sorry, but the library closed earlier today. You can visit again tomorrow morning.”
“Who is-?” Nikki's innocent eyes opened wide when he saw you all, and for a moment, he was once more the child you remembered.
“Hyung… Noona…”
“Nikki, I want you to come over to us. Slowly, carefully now.”
You look at him with a smile and extend your arm to him. But it doesn’t work. He shakes his head and looks at the man again, “I won’t! This man killed my dad.”
“… I believe he’s right about the culprit. Observe his neck.”
There’s a ring of red around his neck, marks on his flesh, just like what Jay pointed out. It looked like someone had tried to strangle him.
When you three visited the murder scene, Jay found signs of a struggle, Nikki's father fought back after being stabbed. It seemed he grabbed the man’s hood and tried to choke him, in a last attempt to stop his attacker. The man even made no attempt to conceal the bruise. Moreover, the smell of Mr. Nishimura's blood could be smelt on this mysterious man's body.
Some of the blood must have splattered on his clothes.
“It was an accident.” The man muttered. “Killing him, that is. But after I stabbed him, he was just so persistent. The others—they all thought to run or play dead. But, with this one, well, I had to defend myself. You understand, surely?”
“You claim self-defence against a man you stabbed?” It makes Jay scoff in disbelief.
“Why my dad? Why did you attack him?”
“Out of the people in this city, you mean?” He titled his head, looking at Nikki as if he was faced with some impossible puzzle. “Because he was the one I happened to pass by this morning, and he cluelessly invited me to his house. That’s all.”
“That’s it?” Nikki curls his fist in anger.
“By chance, my grandfather’s family was sent to prison. ‘By chance.’ It’s a fascinating thought, isn’t it? I like to imagine having that power—only imagine. That’s why I never killed anyone. I only wanted to see how they’d look.”
What a sick bastard. The casual way he talked about hurting people makes your stomach churn.
The man giggles. A muted, broken laugh. He looks down at Nikki with a sick smile, “Killing your father gave me a lot of pleasure. I never had this much fun before.”
Sunghoon is perfectly still. None of you was moving.
The truth of his dad’s death made the knife rattle in Nikki's trembling hands. His blood completely boiled in anger and hatred toward this man. A sick bastard who found killing was fun.
Jay glances at Sunghoon, giving him a look that clearly asks him to do something about Nikki. He was afraid something bad might happen to the child. But Sunghoon just stares at the scene before you, eyes utterly unreadable.
What ishe waiting for? Why does he seem ready to watch these tragic proceedings play out?
“Are you going to let Nikki commit murder? Do something, Sunghoon! Or else, I will stop him myself.” Jay raises his voice.
“He won’t do it. He can’t do it.” Sunghoon's eyes are on Nikki.
As he spoke, Nikki clutches the knife and steps forward on trembling legs. A gut-wrecking wail issued from his tear-streaked face. He runs toward the man.
Just as you thought Nikki would stab him, he slows down and comes to a stop. His arms fall to his sides, head bows-like a puppet whose strings had been cut. And he sobs with shaking hands tightening on the knife.
Sunghoon chooses that moment to speak. “Why did you stop, Nikki? Don’t you want to kill this man?”
“… I do.”
“Very well.” Nikki walks up the floor, his heavy boots leaving an impression on it like frozen ripples upon a lake of blood. He grabs Nikki by the shoulders and pulls him away. “Step back.”
Sunghoon withdraws a baton and swiftly kicks the man, bringing pain to his knee. When the man raises his head, Sunghoon’s baton tip is at his cheek. His eyes are empty of emotion as he looks at the man, cold as the steel of his weapon. Seeing a man’s vulnerable face and nothing else.
“All it would take is a few swings from me and this man would die.”
The tip was already prodding the man’s flesh. Though this baton couldn’t kill the man on the spot, with Sunghoon's strength it was enough to make the man suffer the unbelievable pain ‘till death.
“Say the words. Say 'Kill this man’, and I will kill him.”
Who was he? Where was the man you thought you knew?
All the horror you’d held back since arriving in this world came to you at once, unbidden, when you look in Sunghoon's eyes. You couldn’t seem to breathe.
Everyone was still. Except for the demi-vampire.
“Nikki is just a child!” You want to shout, but can’t due to your horror. While Jay could only whisper a prayer under his breath.
No one seems able to stop him.
Nikki let go of the knife he’d held. It drops to the floor with a thud. He turns away. From the man. From Sunghoon. From all of you. His body started to shake.
Sunghoon looks at him and opens his mouth, “Listen to me. Do not pull a blade on someone if you have not the intention nor the will to kill them. But, if you do kill, know that you forever carry the soul of the man whose life you took.”
The man laughed a dry, high-pitched laugh.
“I can’t believe it. You’re not going to kill me! You can’t do it any more than he can. Of course, a man who’s never killed before can’t possibly bring himself to—”
“Oh, I’ve killed before. I’ve killed more than you could kill in a lifetime.”
From relieved laughter, the man’s face shifts back into terror. So does yours. The fact that he had killed someone before made you shudder more in fear.
The library’s door suddenly opens with a loud bang. A shout and a dozen footsteps of police stomping up the library steps, followed by Jake in the back. He sends you a wink before pointing at the man to the police.
Everything happened so fast. The man was arrested and Nikki was taken in as a witness. When it was all done, the group of you were once more alone.
“Jake, thank you for having the good sense to call the police.”
“It’s fine, Jay. Sorry I didn’t get here earlier.”
It was a blur to you, you didn’t move. You weren’t sure you were able to. Until a tall shadow fell over you. Sunghoon. Blocking out the moon-light.
“Sunghoon…” He notices how pale you are and worries. You feel his hand come closer; you shivered. “Don’t-”
The word leapt out of you. Sunghoon's hand hangs empty in the air. You search for something, anything else to say to him. But you couldn’t find anything. Your hands were trembling and with that he left you with Jay and Jake.
That night, you all went back safely. You didn’t try to talk or even make eye contact with Sunghoon, completely avoiding him after what you just witnessed at the library.
Everyone seems to notice the tension between you two. Because the next day, while busy mopping the floor, Miyoung suddenly stops you and calls the driver. She pushes you inside the car to do a more important task and answers none of your questions, though you heard she say something to the driver.
“Where are you sending me?”
“To master Sunghoon, obviously. He’s been walking around with an air of utter gloom since last night.” You feel a pang of guilt and sorrow. “You two better solve your problems or don’t come back at all!”
With that, the car starts to move and leaves the mansion.
Looking out the car window, you see the sky grow madder red. You know you should use this time to figure out what you want to say to him, but you couldn’t think. It isn’t long at all before the car stops in town and in a blink of an eye, you are in a familiar back alley, painted with tall shadow casted by the sunset between buildings.
Out of the darkness, there is he. Speaking softly to Nikki—too soft for you to hear the words. You got closer and heard the sound of crying. He isn't alone, of course. There is Nikki too.
Sunghoon is kneeling by a weeping Nikki, curls up small and trembling before him. Even from this distance, you could clearly see the tears running down the child's face. Nikki couldn’t stop apologising to the demi-vampire even though he didn’t do anything wrong.
“What are you apologising for?” Sunghoon asks him.
“I hated him enough to kill him, but I was a coward! I couldn’t do it. I was too scared-”
“Of course you were scared.” Sunghoon puts an arm around Nikki and holds him gently as the boy cries. “Don’t say you are a coward. You’re exactly the way you are supposed to be.”
“What do you mean?”
You stand very still so as to not miss a single one of Sunghoon's soft-spoken words.
“Killing someone is no applaudable act. And I didn’t want you to kill him. I don’t want you to ever have to kill anyone.” His voice was gentle. The tenderness with which he spoke to Nikki almost broke your heart.
But Nikki, in his grief, didn’t see Sunghoon's face like you did. He had the look of the one who’d give up so much. Too much. You recognized that expression.
“Don’t-” Outside the moment, his face when you spoke was so clear to you. His shock.
“All right… Let’s return.”
It was the first time you’d heard such grief and such sad resignation in Sunghoon's voice. He expects people to fear him. That’s why he spoke so harshly in the library and why he smiled so sadly after.
The smile of a man who knows he’s seen as a villain, and who counts the second until people make him pay for imagined sins. You’d fallen into that trap, and you regretted it. So much more than you could say.
Sunghoon knew. He knew that sadness. He knew crushing, hopeless despair. Right now, he looks so completely alone.
Yesterday, you got a glimpse of the kind of man desperate despair had made of him. And if you were fortunate, you would never have to understand that feeling completely. But you never wanted him to feel it again.
The reluctance you feel melts away when you see Sunghoon's smile as he watches Nikki run towards home. He stayed like that until the child left his sight.
“Sunghoon!” You begin to walk toward him once more.
Sunghoon looked up at you slowly, as if doubting what he’d heard. “[Name]? I didn’t expect to see you.”
You take a step toward him. Another. Preparing what you would say with each step. You want to talk. You want you two to talk again. Comfortably.
However, little did you know, something that is easy to obtain will easily disappear as well.
In the blink of eyes, there were two weeks left before the door to your world could be opened. Though you are happy to know that, deep inside your heart, you feel a little bit sad. Back to your own world means you wouldn’t be able to meet the boys, Miyoung, Nikki, and Sunghoon anymore.
Something about leaving Sunghoon alone didn’t sit quite well in your heart.
It makes you not want to go back to your world. But, could you?
Everything started to go normal again that day. Your routines, your relationship with the children, and the relationship with Sunghoon. Actually, it actually went better than you thought.
There was a time when Sunghoon wanted to try to make you some food from your hometown since you two and Miyoung were the only ones that could enjoy human food. He would spend his time in the kitchen with Miyoung to prepare everything while you sat in the garden, waiting for them to finish. Because of it, Jay often would say that the demi-vampire was so whipped for you.
But you knew better than anyone that it wasn’t true. Right?
At the entrance to the garden, Jay starts at his folded hands to avoid watching the sweetly smiling and giggling couple. He only could sigh, praying for a break in the conversation to call out either of you two.
“Oh, what’s this? Is it spring already?” Jake shows right beside Jay as he looks at Sunghoon and you. “It must be. Look, love is in the air.”
“Y’know what, I’ve never felt so glad to see you here.”
Jake chuckles, “I was starting to think that you hate me right before they became close like this.”
“Don’t make me change my mind, Jake.”
v.
Lately, Sunghoon felt something strange happen to his body.
He couldn’t describe it, but he did feel more irritable than usual. And no matter how many times he ate some food, he would still feel hungry and lethargic. He found it hard for him to stay around you. But, what else could he do?
He was your bodyguard and he couldn’t trust Jake enough to leave you alone whenever the flirtatious vampire was around.
Spending most of his time with you also made him have a soft spot for you, where he couldn’t deny your request whenever you gave him those puppy eyes. And look where it took him? Nowhere else but your side.
Just like any other day, Sunghoon had taken you to the flower field you visited before to watch the sunset. You are so happy to finally be able to escape the town and the mansion for a breather. You stay there with him until the sky turns dark, watching the sun slowly disappear between the mountains.
“Hey, [Name], could I ask you for something?” You look at him in wonder before nodding. Well, as long as it was not something ridiculous, you don’t mind. “Please don’t change.”
“What do you mean by don’t change? Please be more specific, Park Sunghoon.”
He chuckles while looking at the flower field in the distance, something that he rarely did even when he was alone. “I like having dinner with you, spending time with you in this flower field, and also at how you laugh just from a little silly thing. That’s what I mean as ‘don’t change’. Please stay as who you are right now. That's all.”
“I understand. We should get back now. It's almost time for dinner and I still need to help Miyoung prepare the meal.”
There is no response from Sunghoon. He just sat there, looking at the flower field like there would be no time for this anymore.
“I’m going to go back alone and leave you here without a horse. I really will!”
“… You know you would never do that.” He finally snaps out from his trance and walks toward the horse.
He looks at you with gorgeous eyes and delightfully wide smirk. Standing up slowly, you brush the grass off your skirt and pack up your picnic.
The whole journey to the mansion was silent. A comfortable silence. Neither of you had the initiation to start a conversation until you arrived at the mansion.
You quickly bid him goodbye and left him alone at the stables, missing the pained look that he couldn’t keep in anymore. He had been hiding it for a while now, at least not showing it in front of you.
“Sunghoon? Are you okay?” Heeseung, who happened to pass by, heard the cries and went to check the stables. He doesn’t expect to see Sunghoon in this state.
“I… thirsty. It feels painful. Make it stop!”
Heeseung quickly takes out the emergency rogue he had with him and shoves it towards Sunghoon. But, being stubborn he was, he pushed the rogue away from his sight. No matter how thirsty he was, Sunghoon would never touch or even drink that.
“Drink. You will only make it more painful if you refuse.”
“No. You know clearly what will happen if I drink it.” He firmly says. “It will make me lose the last humanity I have in me.”
And that means he would lose you, too. Sunghoon doesn’t want that to happen.
“You know sooner or later you need to let her go, right?” The older vampire paused as he looked at Sunghoon. “She will-”
“I KNOW.” He shouted.
“I know that, hyung. That’s also why I can’t let her know about this. Just let me endure it a little longer, at least until she goes back safely to her world.”
“…You’re stubborn.” Heeseung could only look at his friend with a sigh. “If you keep being stubborn like this, you will lose yourself first before you are able to send her back.”
"Don't worry. It will never happen to me," assures Sunghoon.
After the little runaway you had with Sunghoon last night, somehow you started to can’t sleep well—resulting in a throbbing headache as you woke up the next morning. Something about the blur nightmare you had made you a little bit worried. It wasn’t a normal nightmare like you had before, living in this world for almost three weeks made you sure of it. It felt like a warning, though you couldn’t remember it well what it was about.
Hoping the fresh air could help your head, you grab a broom and sweep the balcony. However, despite the throbbing headache you got, you couldn’t help but wonder about a certain person.
Sunghoon. He was nowhere to be found all day. You also find him acting a little bit strange lately like he was trying to distance himself from you. Heeseung even had taken it upon himself to wake him up this morning, and went to meet the children a little bit earlier today with Jay without you.
Was it your fault? Or had you done something wrong? Your fingers tightened around the broomstick at those thoughts. Let’s hope that was not the case.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Sunghoon was putting more attention to the children’s self-defence technique to the point he didn’t notice the playful gaze from Jay. He clearly notices something was occupying his friend's thought which obviously concerned you—if not, why else the demi-vampire has been avoiding you as much as he could?
Jay waits until all the children had scamp off to play and sat beside Sunghoon who appears lost in his thoughts. He waves his hand in front of Sunghoon's face a few times before deciding to shout his name again directly in the ear.
It not only successfully snapped Sunghoon out of his thoughts but also attracted some attention from people around the alley. Embarrassed, Sunghoon bows apologetically before raising his fist to Jay.
“I still can hear you clearly, Jay.”
“Where have you been for the last dozen minutes? It’s too early in the day for your head to be lost in the stars,” Jay pauses. “Wait, not a star, but someone.”
“Stop your nonsense. I’m not thinking about her.”
“Her? I didn’t say anyone though.” It takes a few seconds until Sunghoon's ear reddened at the realisation and shoves the laughing Jay away in embarrassment.
“No, I mean— Ugh… Stop laughing!” Jay calmed down a little before meet Sunghoon's eyes. “You’re in love with [Name], aren’t you?"
To say that Sunghoon was caught off guard by Jay's question was understandable. It must be written all over his face. However, there was more. He couldn’t help but repeat the gist of his conversation with Jake a few days ago.
Love is a gift until you have to part.
"So, why are you trying so hard to push her away?”
Sunghoon know where this conversation is gonna take him. Looking at the blueish sky above him, he could only sigh. “I do love her.”
In his heart, you were clever and cute. Everything about you made him able to smile, even just with a thought of your smile. He was never able to understand the way your thought works. And before he knew it, you became all he thinks about.
But, did you feel the same way? Will you still choose him when the door connected to your world opens?
“Then, don’t let her go,” Jay breathes. “Tell her you love her, then the two of you can stay here in the mansion-”
“That’s not my decision to make.”
Sunghoon knew how much you missed your old life. Asking you to not open it means you will throw away your life and… you will regret it one day. He doesn’t want you to live in regret just because of his selfishness. He couldn’t bear it.
“…You love her that much.”
“I’ve decided to not play a hand in her decision. Even if it means she chooses to leave for good. And that-” Sunghoon points his finger at Jay. “-isn’t an invitation for you to ask her to stay on my behalf.”
“You know I can’t do that to you. I know my limit to interfere with people's lives.”
Sunghoon smiles sadly. When he opened his mouth next, it was with resignation. “The most important thing to do now is to treasure the present.”
Before you arrived, he wouldn’t have cared if he became a full vampire or not. He could barely tell the difference between a full and demi-vampire, so it didn’t matter to him. Until he met you. Your arrival made him think more about what it meant to stay human.
Treating time as if it was a precious commodity: eating meals together and feeling satisfied when they were over; talking about arts and drawing together, he could only do that because he was a demi-vampire. He hasn’t yet changed. And so he began to appreciate what he still had left from his human life. He wanted to stay human for you.
Sunghoon frowns, distressed. You and he don’t have much time left.
Little that they know, at the entrance to the alley, a car parked with two men inside. They watched Sunghoon and Jay talk to each other before going to play with the children.
The eyes of a mysterious man in light brown tuxedo widen at the sight in front of him. He grips the window so hard it seems he might break it. While the other male, who looked younger than his age, watched with hand-folded like a spectator at a playhouse. “… that’s him, Sunghoon!”
“You see, I spoke the truth. Park Sunghoon still lives.”
“But… how?” The man in light brown clutches his head, his fingers digging into his dark hair, face twisted in pain. “How can he be smiling like that?”
“I fear Sunghoon’s become sanguine in spirit, not in appetite. Do you wish to see him? Or do you wish to see the man who has taken his name?”
“…How do I reach him? How do I wake him, Jungwon?”
The younger male smiles, “Shall I offer you advice? Whether you find my advice fair or foul, it is certain to help. For inciting passions in men is my stock in trade.”
Jungwon studied Sunghoon as if he were words on-page. He mimed taking a pen in hand and drawing a line through him. But no one, not even this man in light brown, knew how Sunghoon's tale would end.
No one knew how cruel fate could be.
vi.
That noon, you are writing in your room when someone knocks twice on your door. You couldn’t help but wonder who it might be. You unlock the door and see Sunghoon there.
“Did I disturb you?” He asks while peeking inside your room.
“Of course not. What is it?”
“I have something to give you. Hold out your hand.”
Curious, you did as he asked. He places a stuffed toy dog in your hands. It was small and black, with buttons holding it together, and it was cute. You also didn’t fail to notice the folded paper that was attached to it.
“What’s this?”
“A little dog.”
“I can see that, Honnie.” You roll your eyes and chuckle. It’s not like you hate it, but Sunghoon has been giving you so many gifts lately. “What is this one for? Where did you find it?”
“Now you’re asking too many questions.” Most people were content with guessing, but you, only you went out of your way to ask. Not that he hates it, on the contrary, he likes it.
“I can’t help it. I want to know what the man in front of me is thinking.”
“Don’t you know curiosity killed the cat? Anyway, It’s not for anything particular. Jay and I passed a shop on the way back, and I happened to see this stuffed toy. It reminds me of you.”
“Is it because I’m cute?” You playfully asked him. “No, you’re annoying. Like Jay, but more endurable.”
You pout at his remark. While the culprit himself just laughed, letting you shove his body with a weak attempt until you thought it was enough. He looks at you with the eyes that keep captivating your mind and pinches your cheeks.
“Don’t be cranky,” He coos you. “You’re cute, okay. Now I want to see your pretty smile.”
Though you were still mad with his teasing, you couldn’t help but smile. The last words, it was the answer your heart hoped for and dreaded. He stops pinching your cheeks and lets out a yawn.
He then bids you goodbye and walks away toward his room. After losing sight of him, you close the door and lean back against it. Still holding the stuffed toy dog in your hands, you unfold the paper he gave you and smile. It was a drawing of you from the side, smiling brightly at something or someone.
It looks like returning home is going to be hard. Your heart was beating so fast that it ached. You were flushed and warm just at the thought of him. Why does he have to make it harder for you to not fall in love with him?
Time, as it turned out, doesn’t care that you were deeply conflicted. The day moved forward. A day closer to going home.
That morning you are busy talking with Jake about something when the door to the dining room creaks open, showing the confused Sunghoon as he walks toward you two.
“Morning! You slept in pretty late today, even for you.”
“I didn’t expect you to wake up on your own,” You agreed with Jake.
Yawning, Sunghoon glances at the tea sandwich you made on the table, grabs one of it and takes a bite. Immediately, he put his hand over his mouth with an odd look.
That’s a weird reaction, you thought.
“I think he doesn’t have the words to describe how good your sandwich is.” Jake chuckles at Sunghoon before bumped his shoulder to his friends, signalling him to say something to you.
“…Yes. Just like Jake said.”
“If you like it so much, you can have another. There are plenty.”
“I just remember that I have something to do. But I'll come back later for the sandwich.” Sunghoon shoots you a grin and turns to go. Stiffly, he closes the door behind him.
He went straight from the dining hall to Heeseung's room. And without a knock or something, he opens the door harshly. Heeseung calmly faces Sunghoon with a smile, like he had been waiting for his arrival.
“It’s rare to see you here, Sunghoon.”
“I need to ask you something, hyung. It’s very important to tell me everything you know.”
“You have my full attention.”
The last few days, Sunghoon has gone to sleep hungry though he remembered eating normally throughout the day. Not only that, but his throat was also so dry that it was painful and the thirst he felt before became worse from time to time. Even worse from the night when you two just back from the flower field.
Heeseung says nothing, his eyes observing Sunghoon dispassionately. He knew exactly what happened to the demi-vampire in front of him. But, even if he tells him the truth, Sunghoon would only deny it like last time.
Sunghoon meets Heeseung’s eyes with his own, pleading for an answer he could live with.
“You already know the answer.”
“Am I becoming a vampire? Am I changing after all this time?”
“To be honest, I have lived a long time, yet I have never encountered a vampire like yourself. Thus, all I can do is speculate.” Heeseung sighs before continuing.
“There is a reason Jay and Jake require a steady intake of blood. Call it ‘payment’ for their renewed life. That’s the natural law of the vampire world. You too have outlived your original lifespan. You understand it, right?”
It was not the reassurance Sunghoon had wanted to hear. “How do I stop it?”
“Too bad, you can’t stop it. You can only slow the process by avoiding consuming rogue in any form, including drinking for the living.” Heeseung's hands drop to his sides.
After a moment, Sunghoon manages a smile, though his balled fists were bone-white. With that, he left the room.
vii.
The weekend finally came. Jake and you went out to the city for some artistic inspiration. The sky was clear; the street lit with natural light—you were the only gloomy cloud.
Unlike what Sunghoon promised you, he didn’t come back to the dining room for the sandwich. He even didn’t eat much that day, which kinda worried you.
“You, okay?” Jake askes in worry. His gentle voice called you back to the present.
“Yeah, just thinking about something. It didn’t matter.” Jake smiled softly at you.
From outside, Jake might look like someone that is annoying. His flirting nature made people around him feel uncomfortable sometimes. However, once you know him better, you will understand that it was his way to show people how much he cared for them. He was a caring person that loves piano and photography, liked to hang out with Heeseung, and occasionally annoyed Sunghoon or Jay whenever he pleased. You even became his recent victim.
One more thing about Jake that you notice, he has an irresistible smile. Most women are drawn to him like a moth because of it. If you weren’t in love with Sunghoon and the bad impression you had about him, you might become one of those women.
“Anyway, let’s go to that bookstore. I think I saw the book that I had been looking for.”
Thanks to Jake, you could forget about Sunghoon for a while. Your mind feels more refreshed as the walk continues.
Just then, someone grabs you away from the main road. You were thrown over a car before you could react. It takes the breath right out of you. You tried to see who’d grabbed you but failed to get any detail of your kidnapper’s face. A dark hood and the light behind his head conspired to shadow his features.
“Put me down!”
“You better shut your mouth if you don’t want to lose your precious life.” A deep familiar accent. But not a voice you know.
“I don’t know who you are, but release her immediately!” You look at Jake with panicked eyes.
“Jake, run! Get help!” You plead and tell him to go. But, he seems to have another plan in his mind.
“Begone.”
“I’m not going anywhere, not until you let go my friend.” Jake swung his bag of music sheets at the hoodie man’s face. The attack catches the man by surprise, and Jake uses this moment to grab his arm, trying to pull the man off the car before the engine turns on.
Suddenly, there was a clicking sound. The man had drawn a gun to Jake’s face.
You stop him right before he could pull the trigger. “Stop… I’ll go with you.”
“[Name]!”
“Just do as he said, Jake. I’ll be fine.”
You know what Jake is capable of. He might be a vampire, but it is still dangerous to show it in public. Moreover, he was unarmed. He's just gonna get hurt if he stays. Instead, Jake needs to get out of here and tell the others about this.
Leaving his supplies behind, Jake runs at full speed to your waiting car. He told the driver where Sunghoon was supposed to be. Soon, he found him at Leeum Museum of Art.
“Sunghoon!”
“Jake? What are you doing here?” Sunghoon looks at Jake.
“[Name], she—” Jake explains the whole situation in panic. He even sent the driver to alert the police, but he doesn’t know if they couldn't help find you.
Sunghoon listened with a grim expression, fists unconsciously balled in anger. Without wasting any more time, he thanks Jake and runs off the museum art.
On the other side, your kidnapper just unceremoniously tosses you to the floor. Not care even a bit about the impact that went all through your body.
Where are you? You are not even sure how long you ride. You are so disoriented. Eventually, your eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room you found yourself in.
It looks like an old cabin or maybe a warehouse. It was dusty with disuse. The hoodie man comes in after you and stands in the doorway to block the exit. He draws his gun once more and points it at your face. He walks closer to you until it touches your forehead and loaded the gun.
“You better not think of getting away just because I don’t tie both your hands and feet. You might not be able to do it because these bullets will kill you first.”
You want to say, “there is a first time for everything.” but you know you are at a disadvantage with this one.
The way he holds the gun shows that he had experience in this matter. You need some other advantage. You begin to talk, though your voice shakes.
“Why did you kidnap me?
“If you think you can ransom me with money, you’re wrong. I’m not interested in that,” says the man.
“Then, what are you interested in?”
“… inspiring wrath. There is a man I need to awaken. And you’re the key to doing so.” He’s not making any sense, you thought. Why would you be the key to something you didn’t understand? “I’m going to wake him up by killing you.”
What?
A glint. That is the only warning you got. The man pulls the trigger and lucky enough, you darts out of the way just in time before the bullet hits your head.
“Don’t run or you will make your death more painful than it was supposed to be.”
You backed away. One step. Two steps. You do your best to avoid the bullets. Your legs are like useless sticks. You push yourself along the wall with your hands, only for the man to back you into the corner. You want to look for an escape, but your eyes are fixed on the gun in the man’s hand as he loads the gun and aims at you.
The last thing you do is flinch. In your fear, you barely hear the sound—
Someone sweeps into the room, and for a moment, it's as time stops. You hear your shallow breath in the stillness. Nothing came to you, not even a sound of the gun could be heard.
You open your eyes and see your saviour there.
“Sunghoon…” Sunghoon has his arms around you, shielding you. “Sorry, I’m late.”
Seeing is believing. Yet, you still can’t believe it. It was a miracle that Sunghoon came right before death greets you. You didn’t miss the glare he sent to the man like he knew and despite him to the bone.
“You came after me, Park? Don’t you remember what a mistake it is? Almost as grievous as showing your back to the enemy!” The hoodie man pulled the trigger at Sunghoon who has his back to him, protecting you. You can see how much pain he feels just from the groan he let out, arms still locked tightly around you.
“Are you going to stand there while I make holes into your body?” He keeps shooting at Sunghoon, again and again.
“You’re a disgrace, Park. Choosing to spend your life by drawing and devote it to a mere human like her. Do you forget who you are!?”
Sunghoon grits his teeth, unflinching as the hoodie man shoots him again.
Blood. You can feel your hand full of Sunghoon's blood as you accidentally touch his now blood-soaked clothes. He can’t move without putting you in danger. But that also means he is gonna die soon or later if this continues.
“Sunghoon… stop, please” You plead to him to not scarify himself for you anymore. He only smiles and tells you that everything is okay.
Of course, you know it’s not.
The moment the man pulls the trigger again, you grab Sunghoon's outer, just like you’d grabbed his bed sheet so many times, and throw it over the man. Your plan worked. The man steps back to rip the outer off himself.
Sunghoon, with his speed, has his baton out and drops the gun away from the man’s hand with it.
“You-”
“Don’t move.” A boot scuffed the floor as the man took a step back. “I said don’t move.”
Sunghoon sweeps his baton up, just as the hoodie man moves out of his way. But the baton gets caught inside the hoodie and tugs down the hoodie of his head.
A glimpse in the darkness. You glimpse the man’s eyes, shining with unnatural light and filled with mad rage. He stared at a moment before disappearing faster than your human eyes could see.
But your attention quickly diverted at the sudden hissed in pain that Sunghoon let out. He fell to his knees.
“Sunghoon!” You catch and ease him to the floor, holding him in your arms. His back is slick and wet from the blood. Your hands are slick too with the same horrible liquid.
“[Name]… are you hurt?”
“I’m not. You’re protecting me the whole time, don’t you remember? And now you’re hurt because of me.” Your heart is beating too loud for you to think. You wish you could yell at it to shut up.
Stay calm. Remember the emergency first aid. You remind yourself.
Looking around, you try to find a cloth to staunch the blood with. Sunghoon is bleeding too badly to move and there isn’t any sign his wound would heal any sooner.
The second you try to stand up, Sunghoon howls in pain as if your leaving his side caused him agony. He grabs at you, catches your arms. With his other hand, he grabs your collar and pulls you to him with wild desperation. he is panting, hissing through the clenched teeth. And that’s when you see it.
Fangs.
With his laboured breathing, they are unmistakable. He is in pain, and he has a look in his eyes you’d seen before. It reminded you of the first encounter between you and Jake, like how predators look at their prey.
“Sunghoon, I need you to answer me,” You breathe. “Do you need blood? Will it help you?”
“N-no… I don’t… I don’t need blood.” He shakes his head in denial. But his eyes tell you a different story. He is still bleeding out in your hands.
Vampires require fresh blood when they suffer injury. If blood wouldn’t save him, you didn’t know how else to keep him alive.
“Tell me the truth.” He says nothing.
“Please, Sunghoon, let me save you!” You don't want to let him die like this, especially after all the times he protected you. “You saved my life! Please, don’t make me watch you do this to yourself!”
He finally looks up at you, sadly. He leans closer and whispers. “Listen… [Name]… I’ve been… changing. I’m becoming a vampire. If I drink blood… there will be no more holding it back.”
Is that why he didn’t want to drink? But what could be so horrible about becoming a vampire that he'd rather died? You’d lived with vampires. You’re rather here with a vampire Sunghoon than a dead one.
Was it because of you?
“Look, I can’t speak for you. But I know I’d prefer you to do anything, even become a vampire, if it means living!”
“Do not say that!” You are shocked into silence. You’d never heard him sound like that. So rawly vulnerable.
His hand is shaking. “I don’t… want to become… a full vampire. I’m… I’m afraid.”
“But why?” There are so many questions you want to ask. What was he possibly afraid of to the point he doesn’t want to change?
“Because I met you… and I’m afraid of losing this. If I become a full vampire, time will stop passing for me the way it does for you. We will never be able to share the same meal and smile when we are satisfied…” His breath is ragged.
“It may sound silly to you, but… I love doing those things with you.”
But why, why would he die for these things?
Memories of that night in the flower field to your mind to answer your questions.
“Hey, [Name], could I ask you for something?” You looked at him in wonder before nodding. Well, as long as it was not something ridiculous, you didn’t mind. “Please don’t change.”
“What do you mean by don’t change? Please be more specific, Park Sunghoon.”
He chuckles while looking at the flower field in the distance, something that he rarely does even when he is alone. “I like having dinner with you, spending time with you in this flower field, and also at how you laugh just from a little silly thing. That’s what I mean as ‘don’t change’. Please stay as who you are right now. That's all.”
You now understand why it’s important to him. You haven’t realised just how much he’d poured out his heart to you that night. The little joys of everyday life. The nice things, but they’re so commonplace you stop paying attention to them for a while.
Sunghoon had lost those a long time ago. Trying his best to forget his painful past alone.
“[Name]… I know I will have to part soon…” He touches your cheek with a bloody hand, pushes himself up until he could look you in the eyes. “…I only wanted to stay the same as you… until that time came. I… love you.”
Sunghoon completely stole your heart with those words. He had so often teased you about love, with a laugh, with a smile. To say it and mean it now was too cruel.
“ I love you too much… That's why I can’t drink your blood. Do you understand me?”
“No! Never! And I don’t ever want to understand” Your desperate breath mingled with his.
You do understand how much he loves you. Which is why you aren't backing down. You clasp the bloodstained hand that cupped your cheek with your blood hand.
“I don’t care about your past, no matter what it was, you were just the man in front of me. Whether the man is a vampire or not! I don’t care if you become what you think is a monster. Nothing can change my feelings for you. As long as you live, no matter what form you take, the time we spend together will not change. I promise you, I won’t let it.”
You want to ignore your feelings. But you couldn’t, not when you are so close to losing him. You are in life with Sunghoon, and you are not gonna deny it again. You shouldn’t fight it in the first place. Your love was destined, just as you were drawn to that door, you were drawn to him.
“Park Sunghoon, I love you too. I love you more than you think and I’m not ready to let you go.” Your voice trembles with love for him. “Take my blood. Now.”
Sunghoon refuses to bite you and speeds his change to a vampire because he loves you. Whereas you would do anything to keep him alive in any form because you love him. Though they are different, both your wishes come from the same place.
“Do it.” You unbutton your shirt and brush aside your hair, exposing your neck to him. “Drink my blood.”
Though he tries his best to restrain himself, his instincts slowly take control over his body. He strains and snarls like a hungry wolf. Sharp fangs glistened; his breath on your skin was hot. He swore to protect you, and you know he would never hurt you; you trust him.
“…And whatever you happen to become afterwards- just continue protecting me. Keep living for my sake.”
“You know… I never break my promise.”
“I don’t want you to. Which is why I said it.” He laughs a bitter laugh; you see blood trickled down his lips. It’s now or never.
Sunghoon leans down and draws his fangs down your neck as if to get used to the idea. The rake of his warm teeth across your skin. You shudder, then begin to tremble.
“Tell me, can you do the unspeakable?”
Is it an unspeakable act to drink the blood of another mortal to live? Or is it a true taboo falling in love with someone from another world—someone you never should meet? Which of these fit his definition of unspeakable? You have committed one sin and are on the cusp of another.
If judgement awaits you two at death, perhaps you will both have a lot to repent for. But, you’ll deal with that when it comes. For you, damnation was being without him.
“At least, we will be damned together.”
His fangs sank into you. Two sharp pin pricks of pain. A soft cry slipped out of you. The pain becomes more intense as he sinks deeper. Warmblood seeps out of you from the wound. Which he laps up, warm tongue caress on your neck. He sucks hungrily where he had bitten.
Your blood flowed faster into him, nourishing him, sustaining his life. And you feel something else. A subtitle warmth, starting from your neck, gaining power as it rapidly coursed through your body. You gasp.
The heat grow, turns into fire. Every nerve in your body is awake and affected. You couldn’t describe this feeling. Pleasure like you’d never felt before.
“Are you okay? Do I need to stop?” You shake your head no. “It just feels a little bit weird. Like I’m not myself.”
Sunghoon is panting, not in pain, but in his passion, another need now in his eyes. He pulls you close, whispering your name with a stern, yet soft voice. You look into each other's eyes and for a moment, he couldn’t hold himself anymore. He finally lets out all his desire that he had pent up for you and kisses you. You close your eyes, letting yourself drown to the feeling of his soft lips.
It was nothing like his sleepy morning kiss. His lips are warm, alive, and knowing. Deep into each other until you lost to all but your long-suppressed passion.
How could the touch of lips connect two people so perfectly?
You open hazy eyes to see him once more. Sunghoon brushes a spot of blood off your lips with his thumb and kisses it. Then, he embraces you. He holds you so tightly it's almost painful.
As you lose the fight to stay awake, you distantly hear someone speak.
“…Forgave me.”
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