The Mystery of Mr. Lee (True Beauty Vampire AU)

Waking Dreams, Sleeping Nightmares

Sunlight poured over her face, stirring Jukyung from her sleep. She twisted and stretched, bones cracking satisfyingly.

Her head was heavy, but Jukyung felt happy for some reason. She had the most wonderful dream. A dream where she was being chased by vampires and zombies and ghosts of all kinds. To a normal girl, the appearance of such creatures made them distressed. But for Jukyung, it was like watching a very entertaining movie.

"Lim Jukyung! Aren't you getting up?!" Her mother's daily call shook the house.

Jukyung made a face. "I'm up!" she yelled, throwing the covers off with a kick.

She came down the stairs, dressed and ready for work. Her face was bright with thick swipes of concealer hiding her dark circles, but she still felt groggy, unable to fight the yawn that surfaced every five minutes. She rubbed her eye to remove some of the drowsiness, careful not to smudge her mascara.

"Yah, sleepy head. How much will you sleep now?" Her brother teased through a mouthful of cereal.

Jukyung made a face at Juyoung as she took her place on the table.

"Jukyung-ah. How are you feeling? Are you better?" Her older sister, Heekyung, asked in concern. Which surprised Jukyung.

"Me? I'm fine. Why?"

Her mother slammed the rice bowl down in front of her with a frown, "How embarrassing was it to have Seojun drop you off like that. What will Mihyang say?" Her mother whipped around angrily before Jukyung could respond.

"Huh?"

"You should thank Seojun on your way to work. It was kind of him to carry you all the way to our house." Heekyung advised, finishing off her breakfast and getting up to leave for work.

Jukyung looked from her mother to Heekyung to Juyoung.

"What are you two talking about?"

Juyoung giggled like the high-school boy he was, "Don't you remember? You passed out and Seojun-hyung brought you home."

I passed out? Why? Jukyung tried to recall her day, thinking back to the last thing she could remember.

And then it all came back, accompanied with a feeling of great dread.

The comic book, the staying late at Mr. Lee's house, the sounds...

The vampire.

Jukyung dropped the chopsticks from her hand.

"Lim Jukyung! Don't you remember your table manners?!" Her mother's yell jerked her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Yes." She picked up her chopsticks in a daze, her brain trying to make sense of what she had seen.

The image was quite surreal when she thought about it, but it was still vivid in her mind. The dining hall with the cobwebs and the bright red curtains. And the dark corridor. Then the kitchen.

Dark green wine bottles broken on the floor. Red blood spilling from them. And the man... the creature with the black eyes and hands looking at her. His teeth had been normal, except from the protruding canines. And his face had been...

Jukyung was ashamed to admit that it had been handsome. But her main concern was that it was young.

Very young.

He couldn't have been older than twenty.

"Eomma. I'm leaving!" Jukyung rushed out, feeling suffocated by the walls of her house. She had to do something. She had to tell someone.