Chapter Text
In near darkness, a pair of eyes opened, glowing silver in the gloom. "At last…" The figure rose, power emanating around him. His eyes darted to the mouth of a tunnel through which another fanged, silvered eyed man appeared. "I have returned, Haneunim." The vampire lowered himself into a bow at Haneunim's feet, and the latter smiled. Beautiful and darkly malicious.
"You have been a good servant to me." Haneunim mused. "Come here, my pet, and accept your reward." He hooked a finger under the vampire's chin and gently lifted him to his feet, only to sink his fangs into his servant's neck. Haneunim drew his servant into an embrace, pinning him to his body as the smaller vampire clung to him, letting out a high-pitched keen of ecstasy. The servant's appearance changed, turning undead and monstrous. Only then did Haneunim release him.
"Haneunim," the new creature hissed, "you have given me such power! Thank you!" He hastily lowered himself into another bow.
Haneunim smirked down at him. "Now, my loyal creation, heed my orders…"
Several months later and thousands of kilometers away…
Jimin opened his eyes, taking in his brand-new bedroom for a second before stretching and sitting up. He reached out to the window beside his bed and shifted aside the curtains to peer out at the forest growing right to the edge of his new neighborhood. He and his mother had just moved to the small village of Jinneo on the island of Ulleungdo--a village he hadn't even realized existed until the moment his mother told him they were moving--a week ago, and he still hadn't grown used to the small-town life. More specifically, how quiet the village always was.
"Jimin, hurry up!" His mother called up the stairs. "You're going to be late for school!"
"Coming, Eomma!"
Jimin headed downstairs to where his mother was bustling around the kitchen. He slid into a chair, wary of the articles his mother had carefully clipped from the morning's paper. He tilted his head to read the nearest one, but his mother swept them all aside and set a bowl of doenjang jjigae and some rice in their place. "Your first day of school at Jinneo High! And it's your last year! My kid's all grown up! Isn't that exciting?"
"You're obviously the excited one here." Jimin snorted, swallowing a spoonful of soup. "Don't tell me you have a new project already." He gestured to the newspaper clippings.
His mom didn't even bat an eye. "Well, Jinneo is so much closer to that bizarre string of murders I've been interested in." Jimin stared at his mother. "Don't worry, they've all been in the woods a ways outside the village's boundaries. We're safe here." She smiled. "But I might be able to hit the highway to go investigate on my days off. Maybe I'll even be able to solve the case!"
Jimin blinked before waving his hand in front of his mother's face. "Earth to Eomma! You're a medical examiner, not a crime scene investigator. Your work is inside the hospital. I don't want you snooping around where you're not supposed to. That's what got you fired from your last job!"
"Jimin! That's-that isn't-I-"
"Nope." Jimin cut her off. "No excuses. This job opened up right when you needed it, and I don't want this move to have been for nothing. Which is why we need to set a ground rule." He cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "Repeat after me. Absolutely no going into the woods, Eomma."
His mother sighed. "Absolutely no going into the woods…Eomma." She then narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "Since when have you been the one to give me lectures?"
"Since literally forever." Jimin deadpanned before smiling. "We both know you wouldn't be able to keep your head on straight without me around. And if that means me being the scrooge who makes sure you don't sneak off where you shouldn't, then so be it."
"You're a good son, Jimin." His mother said softly. "But you can't spend all your time worrying about me. Focus on yourself this year. Come out of your shell. I want you to have fun your last year."
Jimin raised an eyebrow. "How about I just make sure not to get murdered. That sounds like enough fun."
His mom shot him a look. "Don't make those kinds of jokes, they aren't funny."
"You're the one who moved us closer to an unsolved murder spree, Eomma." Jimin pointed out. "I get to joke about it."
As Jimin resumed eating his breakfast, his mother glanced at the clock then proceeded to jump up from her seat, pulling Jimin up with her. "We're late!"
"But my breakfast-"
"No time." She shoved Jimin towards the stairs. "You go get dressed while I head to work. Make sure you tell me all about your first day later!"
"I will." Jimin promised, hurrying up to his bedroom to get dressed while his mom left. Maybe if he was fast enough, he would still get to finish his breakfast before having to head to school.
🍂
All across the quad, students sprawled on the grass, hanging out in small groups as Jimin walked through, searching for the admin building. As he looked around, his attention was caught by a student speaking passionately to a crowd in front of him. "All I'm saying is if we're going through the trouble of fundraising, the least we can do is…" He trailed off as he met Jimin's gaze, shooting him a charming smile.
Some of the crowd turned and stared at Jimin, which prompted him to quickly pull out his phone and pull up a map of the campus. After all, staring and eavesdropping was not the way to make an impression. All he needed to do was keep his head down and-- "Look out!" The frantic call cut through the chatter of the quad and Jimin looked up just in time to see a basketball sailing straight toward his face.
Before he could get the chance to try to catch it, an arm stretched out and snagged the ball from the air, tucking it safely into the crook of an elbow. Jimin turned to see the passionate student looking at him in concern. "Are you okay?"
"Aside from being robbed of the chance to earn my rep as the cool new kid with amazing reflexes, never better." Jimin smiled.
"New kid, huh?" The student smiled. "Then you must be Park Jimin."
Jimin's eyes widened slightly at the fact that the guy already knew who he was. Was he supposed to know them. "And you must be…who are you? No offense or anything."
The guy laughed, equal parts surprised and amused. "Honesty. I like it. I'm Namjoon. Kim Namjoon. Class president here at Jinneo High, which gives me a couple perks…namely the honor of giving you the grand tour which should take all of ten minutes."
"That long, huh?" Jimin giggled.
"In case you haven't noticed, this place is tiny." Namjoon chuckled. He tossed the ball back in the direction it had come from and gestured for Jimin to follow him. "This is the main hangout." He explained as he led Jimin through the masses. "Pretty much anyone you're looking for, you'll find them here."
"Sup, Namjoon!"
"Good morning, Namjoon!"
Greetings rand out from all over and Namjoon waved back at each one. "Someone's popular." Jimin snorted.
Namjoon shrugged. "It's a small school, you get to know everyone." He opened a door to the academic building and waved Jimin into a bustling hallway.
They came to a stop in front of a strange statue. Tall with a serious expression on its face and holding a very old, very real looking crossbow. "I'm pretty sure that's a deadly weapon." Jimin mused. "Is this your school mascot or something?"
"It's more like a relic." Namjoon said. "Been here for as long as I can remember. This statue's connected to a bit of town lore. Local legend has it that Jinneo was founded by vampire hunters."
Jimin's eyes widened. "You're kidding."
Namjoon shrugged. "Depends on if you want to believe the stories or not. They say that centuries ago, this town was plagued by evil vampires. They terrorized the townspeople, hunting them, feeding on them…worse. Until the hunters eradicated them, making the town safe again."
"So…vampires." Jimin nodded, not sure what to make of that. Small towns sure were strange. "Any chance they're behind the murders?"
Namjoon looked at him in surprise. "You've heard about the murders?"
Jimin nodded. "They're why we moved here. My mom's the new medical examiner over at the hospital." After a moment, a panic inducing thought hit him. "Don't go telling her that vampire story. She'd charge into the woods just to see if it was true." Namjoon nodded. "But this string of murders that have been happening around here…are you worried?"
"Rumor is, if you stay within the town boundaries, the monsters won't get you." Namjoon gave him a reassuring smile. "You don't have to worry about any bloodthirsty vampires."
"Reassuring…I think."
A shout came up from down the hall at that moment. Jimin turned to look for the source of the commotion and saw a crowd parting around a rebellious looking student. "Where is he?" The student asked, glaring at everyone.
Heads turned to look at the alleged offender smiling smugly at a locker nearby. The angry guy stormed over. Namjoon reached out to stop him, but the guy pushed right past. "Yoongi, don't!"
This Yoongi guy ignored Namjoon. "You keyed 'Psycho' into my locker? You're lucky I don't murder you!"
"Spoken like a true nut job."
Without hesitation, Yoongi slammed the guy against the lockers. In retaliation, the guy punched Yoongi square in the jaw. Jimin and Namjoon got swept up in the circle that instantly formed around the two, giving Jimin the perfect view of Yoongi's smirk as he dabbed at the blood trickling from his split lip. "That all you got?"
Before anymore punches could be thrown, a voice rang out through the hallway. "Min Yoongi!" A woman stormed over in a fury.
Yoongi rolled his eyes and faced the newcomer with nonchalance. "Morning, Principal Chu."
"My office, now."
"Aw, it's nice to see you too." Yoongi smirked.
Principal Chu grabbed Yoongi's arm and dragged him down the hall right past Jimin. Yoongi caught his eye. "Like what you see that much?" He smirked, and while Jimin wanted to look away, there was something about the guy that made it impossible.
"Who was that?" Jimin asked when he did manage to finally look away.
"Trouble." Namjoon said with a dark expression. "Yoongi is bad news, someone to stay away from. Luckily, he's rarely at school, so avoiding him shouldn't be too hard."
Jimin hummed. "Thank god for that I guess…" He mumbled under his breath even as he glanced over his shoulder one last time just as Yoongi was dragged around the corner out of sight.
The bell rang at that moment, so Namjoon gently tugged at Jimin's arm. "Come on, let's get you to class." He glanced at Jimin's schedule before leading him through the small building, coming to a stop in front of a classroom door. "Here we are, your first class of the day. I hope you enjoyed the tour."
Jimin giggled. "Excellent, five stars. I'll leave you a review on Yelp."
"Before you go…" Namjoon stopped him from entering the classroom just yet. "Are you free tonight? There's this annual back to school party in the woods that everyone goes to. I'd love it if you came too."
"A party?" Jimin hesitated, thinking of the murders and how he had warned his own mother to stay out of the woods. "Will this be inside those magic boundaries you talked about?"
Namjoon smiled. "You're a fast learner. I promise it will be safe. And I'd love to introduce you to my friends."
Jimin thought it over for another moment before nodding. "Count me in. I can't be the only person who doesn't go to the party of the year."
"Glad to hear it." Namjoon's smile brightened. "I'll meet you for lunch and give you the details then." With a small nod, he turned and headed down the hall, leaving Jimin to enter his first class.