Meridian ◈ Seungjin

23 ◈ Cobra

Hyunjin collected his notebooks from the top of the desk.

He shoved the metal binded bundle of papers into a slung bookbag as the students in the room did their own similar routine summoned when the class bell rang, the bent wires catching on the fabricated inside of his abused bag and slicing along the thin netting purposed for weak pencil pouches barely strong enough to hold a feather. With a huff, he squeezed the rest of the unnecessary notebooks compact with textbooks miles thick and too heavy for a mortal person to carry on their tired backs less they wished to carry the world itself upon their shoulders and zipped the contents shut without another hint of revealing what truly laid inside the cavern. Lastly, he slung the object over his shoulder. The weight born down on him, a priceless tag he was forced keep printed on his forehead placed in the form of the bookbag resting on his back.

Waiting until the vast majority of students in that history class had been evacuated from that room and into the hands of their friends wandering around the hallways for their next class, Hyunjin found the opportunity to slip away unnoticed when the doorway was void of any obstructions in the form of human, vampires, faculty, anyone or anything really, including the classical literature book a third year was forced to double back to grab after swiftly met it's destiny of the floor when it clattered to a hopeless and forgotten end. Leaving his seat, Hyunjin scurried past the last cluster of tightly woven friends sitting near the entrance of the classroom. Briefly overhearing an uninteresting conversation, he immediately locked out of his mind. The vampire left the otherwise silent classroom.

The faces in the hallway weren't any better. Unfamiliar features, useless chatter, a monotonous glide of similar interests and trending strings pulling your movements to fit the dance. None of it interested him. None of it mattered; That fake plasticity, intermingling with the senseless attributes acclaimed for greatness. Motionless faces, plastered with a fine porcelain, tainted with discolored thoughts and feelings. All meant to hide. To stow their worries, fears, how truly terrified they are to die, to be threatened, to know they could be walking amongst murderers, killers, their smiles hid it all.

Hyunjin rubbed at his face, the creases of his palms soaking up his thoughts like a sponge as he walked along the hallway alone.

How many of you would scream if you knew?

Would everything be okay?

Would you blame me?

Seungmin may be a nuisance, but there were a few concepts Hyunjin agreed with him on; One was the undeniable fact, everyone had their secrets. It may be their interests, their likes, their history, all of it kept as secretive as a kingdom's treasure. Tightly locked behind brass knobs, iron doors, stone walls, impenetrable and unwaving guards, everyone had a secret. And as for Hyunjin, he would take his to the grave; Second, he agreed the scolsing eyes following his every move were reasonable. There was a history, a faintest chance, he or another vampire might turn on those they loved. Their friends, their family, their classmates, innocent bystanders, the serial killer was enough reason to believe it was true. The glares he received under porcelain states were true. They were validated. They had a reason.

I wish they knew, Hyunjin stopped in his tracks. He flipped a glance over his shoulder to a group of unfamiliar students. They immediately turned their heads away from him.

It isn't hard to figure out where the stares are coming from.

A fist collided with his shoulder. A meager punch, not vaguely close to the power required to successfully harm a vampire, connecting the side of it's owner's hand with his bicep to call his attention. As the touch left his skin, Hyunjin flipped his gaze from the students to the person standing by his side. Seemingly appeared out of no where, materializing from the thin air like a magician throwing the doves from their sleeves; A great reveal hidden under a sharp intension. Spotting the person, Hyunjin could nearly feel the scowl forcing his lips down and contorting his forehead into a painful furrow of a jumbled messed. Still, he dropped his voice below the chatter of the other students present and asked, "Your dorm? I can't risk Chan or Changbin finding out."