‘I’m so damn thirsty’

Kwok Ji-Hun has a reputation in the university as a delinquent. He skipped classes, got into fights, went to clubs, vaped and basically treated university as a hang out spot. He unlike a majority of the other students can afford to do this since he came from a wealthy family and has a large enough trust fund. Due to this Ji-Hun has repeated his final year in university six times with his parents ensuring his enrollment continues.

This year however was different as Ji-Hun faced several dilemmas.

His parents cut him off and basically disinherited him. Their only form of support now comes from a monthly allowance that is a fraction of what he would usually spend weekly in the past. He couldn’t keep a job due to his lack of experience and poor attitude so there was no extra income flowing in. Even then he is so poor at managing his finances that even with the allowance being enough for a normal person to live off for a month Ji-Hun still found himself living in a rundown apartment building, living off takeout and microwave meals and squandering it on gambling.

His grades have not improved one bit and without the support of his parents he could very well be expelled but that was fine with him. Ji-Hun has already given up on graduating and nowadays is only even attending classes to pass the time or as a form of escapism. Yet despite these issues his most pressing dilemma at the moment had nothing to do with academic, financial and lifestyle woes.

‘Fuck I’m so damn thirsty’

The most pressing dilemma for Ji-Hun at the moment was trying to figure out how he can quench this damn thirst.

‘Shit they never said it would get this bad.’

Evening classes had just let out, it was in the middle of the night and Ji-Hun had just upended three whole gallon buckets of water that is supposed to be used for the school garden. Ignoring how he got wet and the call out from the security guard he continued to drag his feet forward.

‘I’m still thirsty’ Ji-Hun gritted his teeth

Eventually he happened to cross the paths with three other students and paused to stare unerringly at them. The more he stared the more he felt his teeth ache, his hands getting twitchy and his mouth which was still dry begin to salivate. It didn’t take long for the trio of two girls and one boy to notice him.

“Um Sunbae, are you okay?” the boy greeted politely only to have his sleeve tugged on by one of the girls.

“Don’t you know who that is?” she whispered “he’s from the class of xxxx”

The other overhearing them whispered “wait wouldn’t hat make him almost 30?”

“How is that even possible?” the boy questioned.

Meanwhile Ji-Hun could hear them as clear as day but he wasn’t truly listening. Instead his attention was being taken over by an urge.

Suddenly one of the girls looked to her watch and exclaimed “the next bus will be here soon, we have to go now!”

And so with a half hearted farewell the trio left Ji-Hun alone. With their absence came clarity of mind as he shook his head. In regards to their words he would have flown off the handle a bit but not anymore.

“None of that matters now” he muttered to himself as he walked through the mostly empty car park.

A few days ago he got wasted at a club and got into it with some assholes before security tossed him out. As he sat in that dingy alley he was visit by three men in suits, he didn’t quite remember what they said but the next time he woke up he was completely reborn! Going over to the tinted window of a car he leaned down to check his reflection. With a simple flex of his will his eyes turned a deep red, his ear became pointed and his canines elongated into fangs.

‘Not that I’ve got the boss’ gift fuck ‘em’ his parents who threw their own son out to the wolves, the other students who look down on him, those managers who make fun of him when he tried to apply for a job and most importantly ‘fuck this school and everyone in it.’

As his thoughts went deeper and deeper into a dark place his attention was taken by the approach of a familiar face. Ji-Hun scowled at the sight of him but wasn’t so agitated that he forgot to reform his human guise. On the other hand the man himself looked to Ji-Hun with some measure of shock. This man known as Professor Paek was actually Ji-Hun’s former classmate Paek Dung-Ho who graduated and became a professor of the very university he studied at.

Ji-Hun’s scowl of contempt worsened at that fact ‘the fat pig is just as ugly as I remember.’

Unaware of his thought Dung-Ho spoke “Ji-Hun what are you doing out here so late?” as he spoke he fished out his keys and pressed a button causing the very car Ji-Hun stood beside to chirp.

‘This is his car?’

It wasn’t a luxury sports car by any definition but it was a good enough car that Ji-Hun didn’t think Dung-Ho would, or rather should have been able to afford. Ji-Hun never liked Dung-Ho. As a student he thought of him as nothing more than fat, ugly and poor bastard with no friends. And that was the main problem Ji-Hun has with Dung-Ho because while the current student population universally loved him Ji-Hun just could not reconcile that the fat ugly loser he knew back then grew up to become a successful university professor.

It was bad enough he was stuck in university for almost a decade at this point but seeing Dung-Ho only brought into focus his own personal failures. Worse is the fact that the current generation of students fawn over the fat bastard. ‘Professor Paek’ is a favorite among the student population for being friendly, relatable and charismatic.

It utterly sickened Ji-Hun to no end.

Ji-Hun couldn’t see Dung-Ho as ‘Professor Paek’ because that would be the final nail in the coffin for his ego. It frustrated him to no end that someone who used to be so pathetic grew up to be not only successful but also loved.

‘How did that shithead even get a job?’ he silently seethed.

“You should go home soon Ji-Hun, it’s not safe to be loitering around out here at night.”

‘This fucker.’

While Dung-Ho started the car he was surprised to find Ji-Hun standing in front of it. Even with the brightness of the headlights his enraged expression can clearly be seen on his pale face.

“Um Ji-Hun can you move out of the way” Dung-Ho asked with clear apprehension.

Instead of answering Ji-Hun leaned down grabbing the front of the car. The last thing Dung-Ho saw was blood red eyes and fangs on a maniacal expression before his whole world was turned upside down…literally.

“Raargh!” With a snarl Ji-Hun flipped the car over with all his strength and watched as the multi-ton vehicle spun in midair with a fanged grin of glee.

That grin to turn to shock and confusion when just before it could land on its roof the vehicle suddenly froze mid spin and lowered gently on all four wheels. The action revealed a person who Ji-hun is sure wasn’t there before. Someone wearing all black hoodie, jeans, shoes, gloves, ski mask and goggles pretty much obscuring their appearance.

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Caught off guard Ji-Hun only had one reaction to this “the fuck?”

Ignoring Ji-Hun the person went to the window of the now thoroughly terrified professor who was gripping the wheel and shaking from the shock of the experience.

The person bent down to the window and spoke in a casual ow tone “drive home and forget about what happened here.”

After he finished speaking Ji-Hun observed the shell shock fright immediately leave Dung-Ho’s face as his expression became blank and his breathing evened out. The man then proceeded to calmly drive away. Even with the situation taking a turn for the truly unexpected Ji-Hun did not suddenly forget his grudge and seeing his prey get away Ji-Hun set his sights on the professor’s car.

“Where do you think you’re going pig!?”

Due to a shift in his attention he momentarily forgot about the stranger which turned out to be a mistake. Before he could even take a step the stranger appeared in his peripheral causing him to flinch back in surprise but didn’t lose his anger.

“Who the fu-AGH!” but before he could finish a hand was clamped over his face partially obscuring his vision.

“Let’s have a chat” the stranger growled before tossing his body away but not before Ji-Hun felt something shift for a split second.

*CRASH*

“ACK!” he grunted out as his back smashed the wall behind him before falling to all fours.

Looking up to his attacker the snarl cut off into bewilderment as he noticed they were no longer in the university’s car park but in what looks to be a construction area.

‘No’ a closer look found it to be ‘the old Jujong building?’

It is an old condemned building slated to be demolished in a few weeks.

Dismissing the how they managed to get there his red eyes narrowed into a glare as he regarded the masked individual.

Surging to his feet he barred his fangs “who the fuck are you!?”

“I’ll be asking the questions” said the stranger as he stuck a hand in his hoodie pocket.

“You son of a bitch!” Ji-Hun snarled as he leapt at the man fist first “you’re dead!”

In response the stranger made a casual gesture swiping his hand to the side and in the next moment Ji-Hun slammed into the far wall before he could even react.

*Crack* went several of his ribs.

“What the…hell?” he wheezed through perforated lungs.

‘How did he do that?’

“You know Ji-Hun when you suddenly stopped showing up to school I thought you finally gave up on graduating. Not that you had a chance to graduate to begin with.”

“Tch” with his internals now healed Ji-Hun got to his feet and in a blur of speed appeared behind the man rearing his fist back for a haymaker only to be met with the strangers hand right before his with his finger curled.

*Flick*

*Whoosh*

*CRASH*

It felt as if something hit him with the force of speeding car, Ji-Hun coughed up blood as he was once blasted away this time his body going through one of the building’s support pillar.

“Argh, fuck!” he cursed out loud amongst the debris

“And now you come back as a vampire with a surprising amount of control” the stranger continued “you managed to sit through a three hour class without attacking anyone, you can assume your ‘feral state’ at will and you seem surprisingly adept with your abilities despite only recently turning.”

A barrel was tossed the stranger’s way only for it to be deflected by an invisible force before it could even reach him. As it did Ji-Hun punched him across the face snapping his head to the side and followed up with a gut punch that lifted him off his feet.

“You talk too fucking much!” Ji-Hun shouted as he continued to wail on the stranger.

*Crack*

As the sound of bones breaking reached his ears a sadistic fanged grin appeared on his face.

‘This is how it’s supposed to be! I ain’t a nobody anymore! I’m a made vamp now!’

Ji-Hun delivered a final punch that sent the stranger slamming into the ground.

‘I’m gonna move up in the world.’

He’s working as an underling now but it’ll be a matter of time before he’s the one in charge.

‘I won’t make the same mistake depending on other people’s charity.’

There is no doubt that he owed the boss for taking him in and making him a somebody but he won’t make the mistake of edging all his bets on the gang.

‘I don’t have a lot of time but I’ll do it. I’ll aim for the top!’

“I’m going to rule this city.”

“I’ll add delusional to the list” the voice of the stranger spoke causing Ji-Hun to whirl on him in shock.

The stranger stood there completely unfazed. Not even his clothes looked ruffled or scuffed from his impact on the pillar.

“What the fuck? I felt those hits connect!”

“I wonder about that” the man spoke.

As he looked at the unharmed man a thought came to mind ‘then why did I hear the sound of bones breaking?’

At that thought Ji-Hun looked to his own hands to find all his fingers broken in bloody and grotesque manner.

“Gaaaah!!”

“Took you long enough to notice you broke both your hands.”

“Fuck!”

“I’ll give credit where its due those were some pretty good moves back there. It spoke of training but you and I both know that you don’t have the patience, discipline and intelligence to actually train of your own accord” as he spoke he strode over to the writhing vampire to loom over him.

“Fuck you!” Ji-Hun shouted as his hands mended themselves.

“I hope you got that anger out of your system Ji-Hun because I want to ask you some questions and it would be in your best interest to answer them.”

In response Ji-Hun lunged at him with his claws out for a swipe looking to capitalize on their close proximity only to freeze. As in his body literally froze mid leap in suspended animation with the vampire only able to move his eyes and mouth.

“W-what the…” the vampire struggled in vain.

The stranger sighed “I don’t even know why I’m being civil with you Ji-Hun. You certainly don’t deserve it.”

“Who are you?”

The stranger ignored his words and instead placed a hand on his head “now what have you been up to this two weeks?”

The moment those words were said Ji-Hun felt pain in the form of a massive headache causing him to scream out. He struggled with veins on his neck and head as memories came to fore against his will.

He had blown his monthly allowance in a gambling den, took out a loan, subsequently lost said loan and ended up in debt. Then a group of suited men offered to pay it off if he worked for them which involved turning him into a vampire. Afterwards his new boss set him loose on a couple of schmucks driving on a highway to satiate his thirst after which he educated Ji-Hun.

Usually it takes about a month for a newly turned vampire to manifest the full range of their powers after drinking blood. Ji-Hun however is special as he was able to do so in only two days. Combining this with his aggression and fighting capability made him a cut above most ordinary vampires.

Ji-Hun was put under ‘training’ which was basically just a means of his new Sunbaes to show him exactly where he stood in their gang. Because of this Ji-Hun knew he wasn’t the top of the food chain, not even close. In vampire society blood held significance beyond just being something they feed on. A vampire’s blood determines their strength, status and longevity. It is the reason why he and a great majority of vampires are referred to as Common Blood.

Along with being the most mundane of vampires a common blood vampire has a most significant and detrimental weakness, longevity. Common Bloods only have a lifespan of five years before they turn to dust. The only way for a Common Blood to extend their lifespan is if they receive blood from a Noble Blood and ultimately that was the plan of the vampire gang Ji-Hun was conscripted into.

The boss wanted to ally with one of the Noble Bloods but didn’t want to be a grunt having to work his way from the bottom. The boss knew his worth and to prove said worth he spent last several years gathering talented individuals to form a kind of vampire organization. The way it was explained to Ji-Hun they weren’t just a gang of thugs but a a freelance organization that specialized in a number of things.

The boss’ plan was the build his organization as a third party freelance group and once they built enough reputation they would approach one of the Noble Bloods to be under their employ. And as it turns out they did manage to ally themselves with one of the Noble Bloods who charged them with a task as a means of proving themselves. Should they succeed he would grant them the honor of receiving his blood and becoming part of his group and the boss would become a high ranking lieutenant.

Suddenly Ji-Hun dropped and immediately began to cradle his head while wheezing and writhing on the ground in pain. Words cannot explain what Ji-Hun is going through right now, his thoughts were scrambled and his head felt like someone taking sledgehammer to it repeatedly.

‘It’s like…he pulled my memories out of my head.’

Because what else could it have been?

Even when Ji-Hun tried to resist it was like a leaf attempting to go against the winds of a tornado. A small fish attempted to swim against the current of a waterfall.

“This is going to be a whole thing I can feel it” the stranger muttered “dammit Ji-Hun you are such a pain in the ass.”

“What the fuck are you?” Ji-Hun gasped from the ground still reeling.

In response he was lifted up by an invisible force where he came face to mask with the stranger.

“I’m usually less invasive but somehow I can’t find myself to care about that with you” the stranger intoned before his fingers curled slight.

“Grk” Ji-Hun stiffened feeling a pain in his chest.

“W-wait-”

Before he could continue the stranger quickly closed his fist and Ji-Hun spat out blood before he turned to sand from having his heart crushed.

“Pain in the fucking ass” the stranger repeated before tossing the remains of Ji-Hun aside along with his clothes.

With that done the stranger disappeared in a blink.