III
Not much music was getting played as Jake passed the time in the club room with Jay and his friends. But there were talks about it, sure. Turns out Jake and Heeseung had a crazy similar taste in songs and artist, ‘moody fuckboy music’ Yunah provided.
Jay was busy filling Jake in on what he has missed this past couple of years, and the others were happy to add their own input during every other story. It felt nice, he actually felt like he was where he needed to be.
At some point during the conversation the other four suggested that they should head over to Wonhee’s room; the main reason being that she got a formidable snack collection and they could all use a little treat. So now Jake was on his way to the Witches and Wizards building, for real this time.
“Has the music club always been monopolized by the witchy division of the school?” asked Jake as he opened a bag of beef jerky that Wonhee had handed to him (bless her heart). He was sat cross legged on the carpet, while Jay layed fully horizontal on the room’s floor. Wonhee was seated on her bed while Yunah was on her roommate’s (who apparently was also hanging out in someone else’s room at the moment). The one whose position Jake was the most conscious about was currently perched on a desk chair, rolling around to get closer to whoever was talking the most at the moment.
From Jake’s position it seemed like Heeseung was looking over all of them from his makeshift throne. Just a couple of minutes ago he had asked Jake for help opening a water bottle, which was whatever, but the tone he used had Jake’s heart beating in ways that were concerning to the lycanthrope.
Jay used his elbows to lift himself a little as he answered Jake’s question. “Well not really, for the past two years we actually had a ghoul and an unclassified. But well… they kind of did not stand each other and left the club after a couple months of incessant fighting”
Yunah jumped in with a mouth full of chips “Nu uh, they didn't leave, Heeseung kicked them out”
“I did not!”
“Yes you did”. She wiped the crumbs around her mouth with her sweater sleeve and gave her brother a disapproving look.
Heeseung sighed, not really looking bothered by the accusation but doing the dramatics anyway. “I simply told them that either they stop arguing all the time or they can take their arguing out of the club. They had a choice!” he shrugged as if he had already rested his case.
“Ugh, I miss Sunoo and Sunghoon” said Yunah, clearly not a fan of those two leaving the club.
Jake looked over at Jay to see if he could provide him with more context, but his friend was too occupied munching on a chocopie too notice. The one to notice Jake not following was Heeseung. He rolled closer to Jake and leaned down as he spoke.
“We really don’t know what they were fighting over. In fact they used to be attached by the hip. They were very close, which made their fighting even more exasperating” Heeseung looked more disappointed than annoyed about it, “Sunoo played the piano, he was the one to teach Wonhee when she first joined. And Sunghoon was our manager and treasurer-” he perked up and locked eyes with Jake “That position is still vacant. Wouldn’t you like to be the club manager? You look like the organized type, I think you’ll be a great fit”
When Heeseung flashed a smile at him it was a done deal. Jake had no option but to agree to be their manager and treasurer. Who was he to say no to the Lee Heeseung?
Jake went through another two bags of beef jerky before he glanced at his phone and saw it was already a quarter past ten. Everyone else was already less than three minutes away from their rooms (if not already in their room). As the only outsider Jake excused himself and set off to the second building, on his way to ruin Jungwon’s fun of being home alone.
As he said goodbye to everyone one last time, Jake couldn't help the smile that formed on his face after looking at his childhood friend next to his brand new friends.
…
Jake was casually rolling on his room’s floor, Jungwon’s Netflix show could be heard in the background as he occasionally looked down from his bed to take a peek at what his roommate was doing. Usually, the idea of someone seeing him fully turned into a wolf would mortify Jake, but Jungwon with his weird doppelganger abilities was hardly one to judge. Plus, this was his place too! He could do whatever he wanted. He was tempted to jump on his bed and snuggle a bit, but he knew his future self would not appreciate having to clean the fur off the blanket, so he did the snuggling on the cold wooden floor instead.
Jake had been ignoring the chiming sound that came from the top of his bed for a while now, until Jungwon got up and climbed over to see what it was about.
“There’s like twenty new messages in the music club group chat.” he announced with Jake’s phone in his hand.
A little reluctantly Jake started to turn back to human, an unpleasant feeling, but not an unfamiliar one. He could feel his bones relocating and the cool breeze prickling his bare skin. He threw on the clothes he kept next to him and picked up his phone from where Jungwon had left it.
Jake skimmed over the first couple of texts, and actually started paying attention when he saw the same two words over and over, “Hey, do you know what the ‘Opening Festival’ is and why it would concern us?” he asked his roomate.
From what Jungwon explained, it was a yearly tradition; it was meant to be a one day event where the school officially welcomed the beginning of the academic year. And of course the music club had to prepare a performance for it. As he went through the back and forth of the other members he saw his name popped out.
Heeseung: Jake I know it’s you first time planning for this as the manager, so if you need any help just ask, we got you
Hmmm, Jake knew it was supposed to be encouraging, but instead it just reminded him that there was actual work to do as a club member and manager, and he didn’t know the first thing about it.
He finally engaged in the conversation and started asking the important questions; what songs are we gonna play? Who is going to play what? Are they going to need props? Is there a dress code?
They would have to provide a full five song setlist as everyone else walked in and out of the auditorium and apparently Heeseung could compose the songs himself (of fucking course he is handsome and talented).
Jake was actually going to be playing the violin again in front of dozens of people. And it was his responsibility to make sure they get the funds to buy whatever is needed. No pressure.
“Do you guys have to prepare anything for the festival?” he wondered out loud, hoping Jugnwon would hear him.
The other mumbled something along the lines of ‘decoration’ and ‘arrangements’, too busy watching his drama to articulate a full sentence.
…
After a full day of classes, the five of them were brainstorming inside the clubroom; they were going through some of the songs Heeseung already had in stock. Jay was going to be in charge of the guitar while Yunah did the drums and Heeseung the bass, Wonhee would play the piano and Jake the violin of course.
He leaned over Heeseung’s shoulder to see what the older was working on. He was going through files on his laptop as he matched them with actual music sheets that he had spread all over his lap. This close he could really appreciate Heeseung’s scent; Jake had already noticed but the guy had a faint smokey and earthy smell that didn’t come from a perfume or a soap, but his skin itself.
Heeseung didn’t seem to mind Jake’s presence behind him as he kept on scrolling and humming tunes only familiar to him. Jake would be lying if he said he wasn’t hoping to get closer to Jay’s friend. Sure Heeseung was a senior and Jake a junior, and someone as handsome and talented as him would probably be out of his league, but a man can dream.
There had been something he wanted to ask them about his duties as a treasurer, so he took the chance to interrupt Heeseung for a minute.
“By the way, I’ve already got a rough idea of what our budget would look like. But don’t you guys keep a record of what you’ve done for past events? You know, so I can use as reference, know what format to use and stuff.”
Heeseung turned towards him, “Yeah, we did keep record of stuff like that-” he cleared his throat and gave a little nervous smile “But, I don’t have it one me right now.”
“Oh, I see. Who has it then?”
“Sunghoon!” shouted Jay helpfully from across the room, Heeseung nodded.
Well, Jake guessed it made sense; he was the one in charge of the club's management before. So, did this mean he would have to go directly to Sunghoon for this? As he noticed that no one else had any idea of how Sunghoon used to do his job, it seemed that Jake would indeed have to go directly to the source.
He walked over to where Jay was slouched over in a corner with his guitar, he wanted to ask his friend to come with him to find their old manager.
“Yeah, of course. I bet Sunghoon misses seeing my face already. Tell me which time and I’ll take you there.”
…
The next day, Jay did in fact not take him there. Something came up last minute and he couldn’t make it, so instead he texted him Sunghoon´s room number, alongside the instruction of only showing up at his dorm during early morning. Because, it turns out Sunghoon wasn’t just any ghoul, he was a vampire. Vampires, alongside other strictly nocturnal creatures were allowed to schedule night classes so they can stay indoors during the day. If Jake turned up to Sunghoon’s at noon or later he’ll be met with a very grumpy and sleepy vampire.
Early as promised, he walked to the third building. And Jake had to admit, the smell of decay led him straight towards it. To be fair, the scent of the ghouls building wouldn’t be noticeable unless you had a heightened sense of smell. But the odor of death and blood was certainly unmistakable.
He actually ran into the girl from his physics class on his way to Sunghoon’s floor (turns out she is a wendigo). She was very nice as expected.
The third building was so far his least favorite one; he felt like everyone there was watching him like a walking snickers bar. Maybe it was all in his head (most likely), but the next time he comes over it will be in wolf form. He didn’t know how the school handled cannibalistic creatures, but he wasn’t going to find out first hand.
He knocked on Sunghoon’s door and in no time it opened, almost as if the person had been waiting. Jake had never seen a vampire before. He knew there were plenty in the school, but given the obvious timing differences, he never ran into one. Sunghoon looked exactly like the picture Jake had in his head; his skin was incredibly pale, with a chalky tone, and even before he started talking Jake could see his canines peeking through his upper lip. He could sense the metallic smell of blood coming from the guy, but he knew better than to judge.
“Hi, I’m Jake. From the music club?”
“Yeah, yeah. Jay told me you’d be coming” he stepped aside, and Jake took it as a sign for him to enter.
Jake considered himself an organized person, but this guy was on a whole nother level. Everything inside the room was in a cohesive shades of black, white or grey. Not a single wrinkle was visible on the bed covers and not a pen was out of place on the desk. Even the side that Jake assumed was his roommate’s looked perfectly put together.
Sunghoon went and grabbed a big leather bound notebook off the desk, clearly having it ready beforehand, and passed it to jake.
“Here is where I kept record of everything,” said Sunghoon. “-whatever you may need is already in there.”
“Thanks”
Jake took the notebook, and without wanting to intrude further he was about to take his leave as well, when he heard Sunghoon say “Hey, by the way. How likely is it for you to be my math tutor?”
The look on Jake’s face must have been something, because Sunghoon hurried to explain further.
“Well, you know. Jay told me you were very good with formulas and numbers and stuff, so I was wondering if you do tutoring. Math is really not my subject, so I could use the help. ”
Jake was flattered, but he did not do tutoring. Studying was his alone time; plus, he didn’t have any experience teaching others. He would have to turn the guy down.
“-I can pay you fifty dollars per hour.”
“Of course I do tutoring! Let me give you my number. You tell me which time works best for you, okay?”
Now that he thought about it, there's a fact he should not forget: he was broke. If Sunghoon could use some help, then Jake could use some money. He had always imagined Vampires were lowkey rich, so this was probably less than pocket money for him, but Jake would very much appreciate it.
With the treasurer's notebook in his hand and a new job in the bag, Jake left the ghouls building in a better mood than he entered it with.
…
The sun felt warm on his skin and the noise of all the students getting lunch was pretty comforting as it all faded out into a familiar buzz. Jake was sitting with the other music club members, while Jungwon was probably somewhere with his friends from gardening.
He could swear he saw Yunah constantly stealing glances at a table across the courtyard every ten seconds. It was behind Jake so he couldn’t see what she was so interested in. And he wasn’t the only one who noticed as Heeseung shook his head at his sister and told her “Gosh, you have terrible taste”, Wonhee snickered.
He turned to Jay, looking to be filled in on the joke, a rib midway to his mouth. His friend smiled and in what he supposed was meant to be a whisper, but was actually loud and clear, he said “We all know Yunah has a crush on this girl. I think she is in one of your classes actually. The thing is she is a wendigo, and if we're talking ghouls, that's not a particularly popular one to date”
“They’re scary” Wonhee provided.
The lover girl in question rolled her eyes in exasperation, “What would you guys knoooow? Have any of you dated a ghoul before? Dated anyone for that matter? At least I have a heart!” she jabbed her well manicured finger towards Jay “-You, for example. When was the last time you did actually date someone? Flirting doesn’t count for shit. And you,” she looked at her brother “-all those corny songs and for what? you’ve turned down every girl that has ever shown you a pinch of affection. And you Wonhee.You- you’re still a baby! don’t even think of dating yet.” she pinched the other girl's cheek while Wonhee just let it happen, clearly not deeming it worth resisting.
“What about me?” asked Jake, not wanting to be left out.
“You haven't told us enough for me to form a critical opinion.” she said, squinting her eyes at him.
“Well it’s not like there’s much to tell,” added Jay, prompting Jake to elbow him lightly in the ribcage and earning a grunt from him, despite Jake barely putting any force in it.
It was true though, Jake had always been too busy with hiding his abilities, applying himself to school and pretending his life was as normal as any. Dating wasn’t ever even a thought in his head. But as he caught Heeseungs eyes from across the table, he wondered if maybe he should start considering it now.
When they were all done with their food Jake brought up that he was basically done with the budgeting and all that was left was getting it approved by the school president. Jay said he and Koga were buddies so he offered to take care of that part. Jake was glad his job was done for now.
He knew there was a lot to prepare for the opening festival, but at least he knew he could rely on the others to tell him what had to be done.
“How was Sunghoon like?” asked Heeseung.
“He was…” Sunghoon wasn’t as scary as Jake would’ve thought, he wasn’t overflowing with friendliness either. “-very polite? I mean, his notes were very helpful. I actually ended up promising to be his math tutor”
“He’s not a bad guy, just a bit stubborn” Jay seemed to like him a decent amount, which Jake usually took as a good sign.
When he asked Heeseung about how the songs were going, the older gave a very ambiguous head shake. They had managed to get started with practicing the melodies for some of the songs, but others were in the bare bones. Jay and Wonhee said they’d be in charge of the costuming and styling.
“Is there anything else I need to get prepared for the festival?”
Jay patted him on the bag, “Practicing the violin and tutoring Park is gonna keep your hands fun, don’t worry.”
There was still time left before Jake had his next lecture, so he and Jay were walking leisurely towards the second building; where Jake would go take a nap and Jay would go to pay his visits to some friends that Jake was too socially drained to meet.
There were a hundred things they could ask each other, but chose to enjoy the silence instead. Jake wondered how much the other guys knew about his and Jay’s childhood; did his friend tell them about how his parents used to be loaded, so when they died all his relatives conspired to disown Jay in order for them to get the inheritance instead? Did he tell them that Jake’s parents were too consumed by their own abnormality, their own uncontrolled viciousness, to possibly take care of a child?
As much as Jake sometimes liked to pretend he was better, more civilized, than some of the other supernaturals he saw in the school, deep down he knew it was pointless.
When Jay was about to part ways to go meet with his friends, Jake asked him in passing. “Hey, I was planning on going to the old library to collect a book. Would you mind coming with?”
“Yeah, of course”
…
Jake was helping Jungwon out with some of his club duties. It was mostly man power, which was fine by him. They had to carry some bags of fertilizer over from one of the storage rooms all the way over to the greenhouse. It was in moments like this that Jake hated having a sharp sense of smell; it stinked.
“Oh look, isn’t that your friend?” asked Jungwon when they were making their way near the art classrooms, a cheeky expression on his face.
When Jake turned he expected to find, who knows, maybe Heeseung, Wonhee, even Sunghoon. Who he found instead was the dude that had crashed into him back when he was looking for Jay; Riki, he would eventually be told, was the boy’s name.
According to the guys at the music club, Riki was the principal’s nephew. But he was way more low-key than his cousin over at the shape-shifters division. All they could say about him was that the kid was in the unclassifieds building and other students kept their distance from him. Not because of his connection to the school administration, but out of principle; he gave off a very intimidating aura, and the fact that nobody knew what type of creature he was didn’t help him seem more approachable. Of course there was an exception to everything, and in this case, Riki did have one friend; fellow unclassified and former club member, Kim Sunoo.
“Haha, very funny. Are you sure he is a sophomore? I really thought he was a senior”
“Maybe you’re just short.”
Jungwon surely wasn’t one to talk, but Jake’s hands were too full (literally) to tease him about it. When they finally got to the greenhouse, Jake had to admit the gardening club was onto something; the place was radiant. It smelled like the garden of Eden and whenever he looked everything was flourishing.
Thud. They placed the bags down and stretched their backs, grunting like the elderly men they were.
“Are you really going down to that library? You know, the haunted one”
“Yes, I am a man of my word.” he answered, wiping off sweat with the back of his hand. “Why? Do you wanna come with me?” He said jokingly.
“Yeah. Sounds fun. I wanna see some ghosts”
Well, he wasn’t one to turn a friend down. If Jungwon was excited to go ghost-watching, Jake wasn’t going to deny him the chance. But he surely hoped Jungwon would end up disappointed.