The campus library is unusually quiet tonight.
Most students have already gone home, leaving behind scattered whispers, turning pages, and the faint hum of fluorescent lights.
Eun-ji sits near the tall window on the second floor, a book open in front of her.
She hasn't read a single page.
Her eyes keep drifting across the room.
To him.
Kang Ji-ho sits three tables away, leaning slightly over his notebook. His black hair falls across his forehead as he writes, calm and focused like nothing in the world bothers him.
Like nothing strange ever happens around him.
But Eun-ji is watching carefully now.
Really watching.
Every movement.
Every expression.
Every tiny detail.
You moved too fast yesterday, she thinks.
No one moves like that.
Ji-ho pauses suddenly.
His pen stops.
For a moment, he doesn't look up.
Then slowly…
His eyes lift.
They meet hers instantly.
Eun-ji quickly looks down at her book.
Too late.
He already noticed.
A few seconds pass.
Then a chair slides quietly across the floor.
Ji-ho walks over.
Her heart betrays her immediately, beating faster as he stops beside her table.
"You're staring again."
Eun-ji looks up innocently.
"I was reading."
"You were holding the book upside down."
She glances at the page.
…It is.
She coughs.
"Details."
Ji-ho sits across from her, studying her face carefully.
There's something softer in his eyes tonight. Something tired.
"You've been acting weird," he says quietly.
Eun-ji raises an eyebrow.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"You disappeared in the middle of campus yesterday," she shoots back. "That's pretty weird too, pumpkin."
The nickname slips out naturally.
For a second, Ji-ho's expression flickers.
Warm.
Dangerous.
Fond.
Then it disappears again.
"What are you trying to figure out?" he asks.
Eun-ji leans forward slightly.
"Maybe I'm just curious."
"About what?"
"You."
Silence.
The space between them feels charged.
Ji-ho looks away first.
"You should focus on your studies instead."
She narrows her eyes.
"Why do you always do that?"
"Do what?"
"Deflect."
He doesn't answer.
Instead, he stands.
"I'm leaving."
Eun-ji blinks.
"You just got here."
"I finished my work."
Which is impossible.
He barely wrote anything.
But before she can stop him, he walks toward the exit.
Suspicious.
Very suspicious.
Eun-ji waits exactly ten seconds.
Then she grabs her bag and quietly follows.
—
Outside, the campus pathways are dim under the streetlights.
Ji-ho walks quickly across the courtyard.
Too quickly.
Eun-ji keeps her distance, hiding behind trees and buildings whenever he glances back.
Okay, she thinks nervously.
Maybe stalking your best friend is slightly crazy.
But she needs answers.
Ji-ho suddenly turns toward a quieter path near the old science building.
No one else is around.
Eun-ji steps closer—
Then freezes.
Ji-ho isn't alone.
A tall boy is leaning casually against the wall, arms crossed.
Min-jae.
His boy best friend.
They're talking, voices low.
Eun-ji hides behind a nearby tree, trying to hear.
Min-jae sighs.
"You know she's watching you, right?"
Ji-ho stiffens slightly.
"…What?"
Min-jae tilts his head subtly.
Not toward Ji-ho.
Toward the tree.
Toward Eun-ji.
Her stomach drops.
Oh no.
His voice lowers.
"You're terrible at hiding things lately."
Ji-ho runs a hand through his hair, frustrated.
"She's starting to notice."
Min-jae smirks slightly.
"Of course she is."
A pause.
Then his expression grows more serious.
"You keep acting like this and she's going to find out."
Ji-ho's jaw tightens.
"I won't let that happen."
Min-jae laughs quietly.
"That's the problem, Ji-ho."
His voice drops to almost a whisper.
"You're a vampire."
The word slices through the night.
Eun-ji's breath stops.
Completely.
"You don't get to choose when the truth shows up."
Ji-ho's shoulders tense.
"I'm protecting her."
Min-jae studies him for a moment.
Then he says something that makes Eun-ji's chest tighten.
"You're not protecting her."
"You're just delaying the moment she realizes what you really are."
The silence that follows feels heavy.
Dangerous.
Behind the tree, Eun-ji's mind is spinning.
Vampire.
The word echoes over and over.
Her heart is racing now.
Her hands are trembling.
That's ridiculous.
That's impossible.
But then—
Her mind flashes back.
The speed.
The glowing eyes.
The way he reacts to blood.
The pieces start fitting together.
And suddenly…
Nothing feels impossible anymore.
Eun-ji presses her hand against the tree to steady herself.
Her world just shifted.
And Kang Ji-ho has no idea she heard everything.