written by: 🥺
[14:04] your last class of the day was just about to start when yang jeongin, your seat mate, leaned over and tapped you on the shoulder, asking if he could copy your homework. again.
sighing, you retrieved your homework out of your bag and placed it in front of him. "don't make it look too obvious."
"i never do. you know that i'm a master of disguise, y/n."
"yeah, sure," you retaliated. "changing the order of a couple of words in a sentence doesn't make it less obvious that you copied."
he squinted and stuck his tongue out at you.
"i better get a reward for this," you grumbled.
at the end of the class, you were just walking out of the door when someone grabbed your bag, holding you back. you turned to face jeongin. he stared at you blankly, to which you gave a expectant nod.
"yes?"
"why are you leaving?"
you paused. what was wrong with this kid? "because it's the end of the day and i want to go home," you replied, matter-of-factly. "why? do you sleep on the desks overnight?"
"no! and i know, i just thought you might want your reward." a moment of silence as you blinked in confusion. "you know, for helping me."
"oh, okay. go ahead."
you held out your hands to him, expecting sweet treats, or money, or something of the likes to be placed generously in your palms.
you received nothing of the sort.
instead, a warm hand grasped your own, and before you could react, jeongin began pulling you through of the school.
"hey, what are you doing?"
he didn't answer, only dragged you through the corridors and out of the front gates. he only stopped when you planted your feet into the ground, stopping him from walking. defiantly, you untangled your hands. "jeongin, what the hell is going on?"
"i want to give you your reward."
"and my reward is being kidnapped?"
"no," he chuckled, eyes smiling with him and making your heart beat a lot faster than it should've. "i'm gonna take you out to get boba. there's a new shop near the park so we can go there."
you felt all of the breath leave your lungs at his words. you had expected a bar of chocolate at most for your help, not something like this.
"like...a date," you asked, except it sounded like more of a statement. you regretted the words as soon as they left your mouth, but jeongin nodded—much to your surprise.
"like a date," he confirmed. smiling, he held his hand out to you. "you coming?"
hey y'all! in lieu of us posting our first part of Operation Miroh, i wanted to let you know that i also posted the first chapter of my own skz fanfic on ao3
i'd really appreciate it if you check it out!
all the love,
hattie 🥺 <3
trigger warnings: none
written + edited by: 🥺
pairings: hwang hyunjin x oc
summary: A string of murders lead Detective Yang Nami down the winding streets of Seoul’s maze district, searching for the Vampire Slayer. But what happens when her digging leads her far closer to home than she could have ever thought? What happens when it’s someone she’s supposed to trust?
There are lots of rules when it comes to vampires.
First, they must be invited into a house before they can enter. I'm not entirely sure why--they aren't usually portrayed as the most polite of people, not when they're plunging their fangs into your neck and sucking you dry. But it's a rule, and they have to abide by it.
Second, they must avoid certain things such as sunlight, garlic and anything remotely holy. Supposedly, it's because they're devil incarnates and anything too potent or bright or religious can harm them. I just think it's because they have weird allergies. Kind of like how I'm allergic to oranges, which is really inconvenient because they look like they taste good. It sucks.
Finally--not that it's the last rule, but it's the final most obvious one--they can only be killed by certain methods. Some of these include the use of silver, fire (they're insanely flammable), decapitation and a stake to the heart--the most famous and popularly used of them all.
All of this is purely hypothetical, of course. Just myths formulated by people with better things to do than tell stories of bloodsuckers and the threats they pose to us poor, helpless prey.
At least, that's what I thought.
I had read enough stories and watched enough movies to know the basic rules about vampires, but not enough to blindly believe my boss when he told me they're real.
"You're kidding, right?"
He's kidding. He has to be. Maybe he's crazy, or maybe this is a prank.
I searched Captain Park's face for signs of amusement or maybe some sort of twitch--a crack in his demeanor to tell me that he wasn't being serious. His face remained completely flat.
I glanced around the room for cameras, wondering if I was on some kind of prank show, or that one TV program What Would You Do?. It would have been a really shit prank, because I was definitely not buying it, but you never know. Maybe they'd run out of ideas. I might have been payed more for not falling for something so stupid.
The same security camera that had been in the office since I began working there blinked back at me, red light flashing. I'd seen security footage from it before--for a security camera at a literal police station, you'd think that it'd have better resolution. Apparently not.
Which meant it wasn't a prank show, at least not one that valued it's camera quality. Which meant my boss was crazy.
He stared at me silently, not bothering to answer my question. Yep, definitely crazy.
"I'm serious, Detective Yang." He did look serious. Since when did he start taking acting classes? I thought. I mean, I took drama for 3 years and even I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face after spilling that level of bullshit.
"So you're telling me," I said, picking at my finger nails, "That not only there's been a series of killings around this area, but that they're all down to Vampires."
"A Vampire. And yes, we don't know for sure, but that's what it looks like."
"And what evidence do you have that it's a-" I waved my hands around in the air, as if summoning some common sense for the man. "-An actual Vampire and not just, I don't know, a regular serial killer. Which would be so much easier to deal with."
He clasped his calloused hands together and leaned back in his chair. He had an air of distaste surrounding him as if I was the one who was speaking crazy, but maybe that was because he always looked like he'd just smelled something revolting. Wrinkled skin scrunched up unlike the smooth sheets of paper stacked on his desk; lips pursed as if he'd sucked on a lemon for four hours; small, black eyes squinted despite the large, square glasses balanced on his nose. He had a habit of looking down on people even though he was 5'6 at most. Most people would describe him as intimidating but, to be fair, most people hadn't been told by him that Vampires exist.
"I understand your disbelief." Yeah, no shit. "I, too, was skeptical at first. But the evidence I've been shown convinced me that this is no joke. I know you like to believe that we humans know everything about our world, but the truth is that we simply cannot. You're going to look into this case whether you believe it or not."
Fighting to ward off the compelling urge to sigh and tell him again how stupid this is, I nodded curtly. "So I just have to find this..." God, I can't believe this is actually happening. "...Vampire. And bring them in."
A failed attempt at a smile passed over his stern features. He must have thought he'd won. "Precisely. I'm glad you're picking up on this."
"Can I think about it over the weekend and get back to you?"
I definitely would not think about it and I definitely would get back to him--to tell him that I was absolutely not doing it.
But of course, the universe seemed to be against me all of a sudden. Or maybe it was just him. "No, you can not," he stated plainly. "I've given you this case and you must take it. It's that simple."
"But Sir, there are loads of other Detectives who can do this job. I'm sure there are more... believable cases you can give me," I argued, trying my hardest not to sound in control and totally not like I was pleading him.
He leaned forward and his chair whined under his weight. "You're right." Wait, really? "There are plenty of other Detectives who can do this job and do it far better than you can. However, I am asking you to do this, and like the fair and just man I am-" (I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at that one and, instead, just stared at the side of his desk). "-I will give you a choice: You do this case or you're out."
"Hold on," I began, gaze snapping up from the corner of his desk to those hard, black eyes, "I'm out as in... fired? For real?"
He nodded nonchalantly, not a word slipping past his thin lips. You have to be kidding me.
"That's ridiculous. This entire thing is ridiculous."
"I'm giving you a choice. Make it." He shrugged.
It wasn't really a choice, just the illusion of one. I'd worked under this man for two years by that point. He knew how much I loved that job and all that it meant to me. He knew how much I threw into it. He knew everything I'd given up to be there. And now I had to choose between discrediting my career with a Vampire hunt or losing it altogether. Options, options, options.
"You know what my answer is already."
The corners of his mouth curled up into a smirk. "I do." He reached for a pencil with a sharpened, pointy edge and twirled it around his fingers. "But I want to hear it from you."
God, I hate this man. Trying to hide my seething rage, I gritted my teeth and swallowed. "I'll take the case."
He barely reacted, just continued to play with the pencil. That doesn't mean I didn't notice the triumphant, cocky glint in his eye, though. "You are more like me than you think, Nami."
I looked at him curiously. That couldn't possibly be true. The only similarity that we shared is both working there, and we didn't even do the same job. So yeah, apart from the massive age gap, gender difference and literally everything else about us, we were totally the same.
"How so?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer or not.
"We're both intelligent, dedicated, hard-working." And not the slightest bit modest, clearly. "And like me, you know your place in this world and you will stubbornly defend it." He dropped the pencil onto the desk and it landed with a muffled clatter, then rolled until it hit a framed photograph of him with who I could only assume were his wife and two children. It reminded me that there must have been some remnants of a kind, young man beneath his cold, commanding demeanor--in the worst way possible, though.
He reached over to pick up a file and flicked through it until he settled on a page. I watched as his eyes scanned the paper. Just as I thought he was about to provide me with some tangible evidence of the wild claims he'd made that meeting, he spoke; "You are dismissed."
I found myself glued to my seat, my limbs weighing me down like anchors. "That's it? Are you not giving me a file on this?"
He glanced up from what he was reading for a brief second before continuing. "I'll email the main pieces of evidence to you digitally. You will be given a file tomorrow morning, once all of the necessary data has been compiled."
I didn't reply. Was I supposed to leave just like that? This man had told me that he thought the serial killer rampaging our region was a Vampire and that he was willing to fire me if I didn't take the case, all in the span of 30 minutes. And I was supposed to just soak in all that information with barely an ounce of explanation or evidence? Apparently so.
Hesitantly, I stood from my chair. A searing pain shot through my back, reminding me that I'd been sitting in a wooden chair for the past half an hour.
Captain Park regarded me for a second as I crossed the room. Hand on the doorknob, I faltered, waiting for him to say something, and when he didn't, I left the room, shutting the door behind me as gently as possible--despite the desire to slam it in frustration.
It was almost dark by the time I got home. The cerulean blue sky was stained with bright white dots, and the streets were bathed in the orange, artificial glow of the streetlights. With flushed cheeks, a running nose and icy hands, I fumbled with my keys until my apartment door unlocked, making a mental note to take a scarf or gloves in to work the next day.
I had stayed later than usual that night, finishing off any write-ups and looking through evidence relevant to a few other cases. After the meeting, I hadn't seen the Captain around, but that was for the best. I might not have been able to control my instincts for much longer.
Warmth swept through my body as I stepped in to the living room. I discarded my satchel on the floor and shrugged off my coat, folding it over the back of the couch. It was unusually empty and unusually quiet. Just as I went to search the apartment, a voice sounded from behind me.
"You're home late."
I whirled around to see Soyeon, leaning against the threshold where the living room and kitchen met. Her blonde bob was pulled into a short ponytail, revealing her pointed chin and signature smirk.
"I texted you," I said.
She retrieved her phone from her pocket and glanced at the screen, the blue light illuminating her face. "Oh, you did. Sorry, I didn't see. My phone is being weird at the moment."
"You gonna get it fixed?"
"Eventually."
I rounded the couch and plopped onto it, the cushions sinking beneath my weight. "Where's Jeongin?"
"In bed," she answered, following suit, "I think he has a cold."
"You should have told me, I would've brought some soup."
She waved her phone in the air as a reminder. "Again, dodgy phone. And it's alright, I got some anyway."
"Stupid school kids," I grumbled. I sighed and sunk further into the couch. Soyeon glanced over at me, concern gracing her features. "Bad day?"
I chuckled humourlessly. "Weird day."
"Not allowed to talk about it?"
I faced her and nodded. She repeated the action without a word of protest. It was different at first; Soyeon was always so eager to be involved in every part of my life, and when I told her that I couldn't disclose information about the cases I was working on for legal reasons, she got upset. But after a while, she understood that it was out of my control.
Instead, she extended an arm out to me. I shuffled closer and pressed myself into her side, inhaling her familiar scent of acrylic paint and chai tea.
"You must be tired," she mumbled.
I hummed in response, unable to muster up the energy to force words out. Her head leaned on mine, the way it always used to, except this time was an act of friendship rather than romance.
With every passing moment, my body grew weaker and my eyelids heavier, and after a while, I was unable to resist the tempting call of sleep.