bad desire | sim jaeyun

nineteen🦇

"Who's Sungho?" Jake asked aloud.

"Me!" a booming voice answered directly behind him.

Jake jumped, spinning to see a boy wielding a megaphone.

"Where's Siyeon?" Jake demanded.

"She should be in the changing room!" Sungho shouted, through the megaphone, of course.

Jake winced. "Where's that?"

"Out the doors then turn left-!"

Jake yanked the megaphone from him. "Say it without using this."

Sungho huffed, crossing his arms. "Out the doors. Turn left. Third door on the left. Happy?"

"Yes." Jake shoved the megaphone back into his chest and hurried off before Sungho could start yelling again.

When he reached the changing room, he pushed open the door without thinking.

And froze.

Siyeon stood before the mirror, adjusting the ribbon of a sky-blue hanbok. The silk shimmered under the fluorescent lights, the fabric falling gracefully over her frame. For Jake, the world seemed to tilt, her outline blurred, fading into someone else's image.

Serim.

His breath hitched. He hadn't seen her in centuries, yet here she was, smiling faintly at her reflection, alive in this girl's body.

"Jake, what are you-!" Siyeon started, startled by his sudden appearance.

Before he realised what he was doing, Jake crossed the room in a few quick steps, cupped her face, and pressed his lips against hers.

Her body stiffened, eyes wide in shock.

"Serim..." he whispered against her lips, the name spilling out before he could stop it.

"What?" Siyeon blinked, utterly bewildered.

Jake's eyes widened as reality snapped back. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

Her face flushed with a mix of shock and irritation. "Then could you please get out so I can change?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Sorry." Jake stumbled back, practically tripping over his own feet as he bolted out the door.

Leaning against the wall outside, he buried his face in his hands.

'Why did I do that?'  His heart pounded, his chest tight. 'There's no doubt now that Siyeon is Serim. But why did I call her that to her face?'

He groaned softly, ruffling his hair in frustration. 'Oh, you idiot.'

A few minutes later, the changing room door creaked open. Siyeon stepped out, back in her uniform, her expression carefully neutral.

"You're still here," she said flatly.

Jake gave a faint, sheepish smile. "Yeah. Thought maybe you'd want to walk home together...."

"...Sure."

The air between them was thick with awkwardness. Their footsteps echoed in rhythm, but no words passed between them, until Siyeon finally broke the silence.

"Who's Serim?"

Jake froze mid-step. "...She's no one important."

"Then why did you call me that?"

"It was by accident," he said quickly.

Siyeon narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure? I mean, you kissed me and then called me that name. Do you... do you only like me because I look like her?"

Jake whipped around to face her, his voice urgent. "No. No. No, Siyeon, I—"

But before he could finish, the air shifted. A pulse of demonic energy brushed against him, faint yet unmistakable. Jake's head snapped toward the street, eyes locking onto the tall figure passing by.

Heeseung.

Jake's body tensed, and then it hit him, an overwhelming wave of hunger so sharp it felt like knives twisting in his gut. His vision flickered, edges darkening, until all he could hear was the pounding of blood.

"Jake? Jake, are you okay?" Siyeon asked, panic creeping into her voice.

"I'm... I'm hungry." His voice cracked. His fists trembled.

"Okay, then. We can stop at the shops nearby, get something to eat-"

But Jake didn't respond. His body jolted like a pulled string, and then he dashed off into the night with inhuman speed.

"Jake!" Siyeon screamed, sprinting after him.

Her heart hammered as she chased his shadow down the dim streets. She lost him for a second, until she heard the sharp thud of a body hitting pavement.

Rounding the corner near the shops, her breath hitched.

Jake stood there, chest heaving, his shirt and hands drenched in crimson. In his arms was a limp, middle-aged man, eyes wide in eternal shock, skin pale and drained of life. The scent of iron filled the air.

The body slipped from Jake's grasp, hitting the ground with a hollow sound. Blood trickled into the cracks of the sidewalk.

Siyeon's eyes widened, her stomach lurching.

"Jake..." she whispered, her voice trembling.

He slowly turned his head toward her. His eyes glowed faintly, still edged in the feral hunger that had overtaken him. His lips were stained red.

For the first time, Siyeon wasn't looking at the boy who teased her after class or asked her to the ice rink. 

She was looking at a blood-hungry demon.