Archive of Our Own

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The solitary dark alley looked like it was ready to swallow me as I walked slowly clutching the flashlight in my hand tightly. It should be here somewhere, the address said it is here somewhere but the darkness made me think otherwise. Maybe it was not a wise idea to walk alone in the middle of the night to search for something many normal people would consider as suicide. But I believed my friend who had given me the address saying only they could help me now, and I obliged because I was desperate for help.

Even if it meant to search for the deadly creatures in the darkness. It should be here somewhere, the door. Where was it?

I looked down at the small paper in my hand again, making sure that I was in the right place. The chilly wind made me shiver to the core, not only the cold but also the fear that was now increasing each passing second. I was stupid for believing my friend. I should have just gone to the police but they would just chase me away. I was desperate.

I should not be here, but I have no choice but to be here. Helplessness and desperation had brought me here.

Gulping down the nervousness, I roamed my gaze around the place. It was solitary and dangerous. Not a single soul was around. The chilly breeze of the night was making me shiver in fear.

Such a bad idea it was.

I looked down at the watch wrapped around my wrist to confirm the exact time. The clock was about to strike 12 Am. It had to be somewhere here.

Roaming my eyes around the alley now I was getting suspicious. From what I have heard through all my childhood the creatures of the nights prefer luxury and comfort. But this place was nowhere near like that.

Vampires, this is what they are called.

For centuries they have resided among humans and other creatures. At first they used to hide from human eyes from being hunted down or worse, being called blood sucking monsters. I had heard myths about them, tales that my grandma used to tell at night about them.

Midnight, it was when they would wake up from their sleep. And I was supposed to meet them here.

A Vampire agency.

Located somewhere in the exact alley I was standing right now.

It is to be said that they came out decades ago when the world was in chaos because of some unknown diseases. Countless people were dying and that's when the vampires decided to come forward and help humankind.

Now, they live like every other person but the time is different.

I blinked my eyes, trying to adjust my surroundings. Turning my head around for the specific place. Had I made a mistake by coming here?

But the thought of going home without any solution also made me distressed. Even if it was something dangerous I wanted to take the risk.

Suddenly a loud sound echoed through the solitary alley and I jumped in my place, clutching my heart in fear. Sweat had started to gather on my forehead. My throat went dry.

There were some distant noises which made me gulp. I slowly turned my head towards the direction and found a blinding light that was not here before. A guy in his twenties was mumbling something under his breath while opening a big door. I stared curiously at him.

His skin was pale, whitish, his long hair was in a bun. He wore a jumper and was yawning from time to time while still talking to himself.

Was it there?

I licked my lips and looked at the paper once again to confirm my suspicions. It was the correct address. Maybe I should ask him. He could tell me if I was at the right place or not.

Inhaling a deep breath I walked slowly towards the boy. He hadn't noticed my presence yet. With my heart beating loudly in my chest I moved forward until I was ten steps away from him.

“Excuse me” I called him.

He stopped doing whatever he was busy with and turned towards me with a bored look.

“Sorry, we are not open yet” He replied and continued to do his work. I blinked my eyes while looking at the inside of the - Was it a shop? Or an office? I tilted my head confusedly.

The inside of the room was painted in red and it looked classy and expensive. There was a desk, where the boy was arranging his things.

“Do you mind if I ask you something, I think I'm lost” I said, hoping he would help me.

The boy huffed and looked at me with fire in his eyes. Kids are more dangerous than any vampire.

“How may I help you?” He asked, clearly irritated by me.

“Is-is there a vampire agency somewhere here?” I asked and waited for his response. The boy looked at me with an unreadable expression and I suddenly wondered if I had asked something foolish. I curled my toes inside my shoes from the anticipation.

“You are standing in front of it” He said and I watched him press on a switch and suddenly the whole place lighten up. Above the building the words ‘Vampire Agency’ glowed in red light. So it did exist. I blinked my eyes a few times to believe what I was seeing. When Jisoo had told me that an agency like that actually exists in the city I didn't believe her but the constant jab from her made me come here to witness it with my own eyes.

“If you are here for an appointment then you have to wait a little bit, we are still opening, and it's too early for my liking” The boy grumbled and I watched him set up a laptop on the desk which seemed like a counter. He attached some wires here and there lazily. It seemed like a regular office building getting ready for the day but the specialty of this place was that it only opened at midnight.

I watched the boy doing his work while standing awkwardly. I didn't know what to expect from here. They are all vampires after all. Was this boy one of them too? 

The agency was to help humans in need, that's what I've heard from Jisoo. She didn't tell me anything about the process or the amount of money they would take from me. I didn't have too much money with me. What if their charges were high and I couldn't afford it. I could only manage a few thousand dollars by working at the Bar. 

But they were my last hope. 

“All right, come here and register your name for the appointment” The boy said suddenly now sitting behind the desk, his eyes on the laptop and he was typing vigorously. 

“Lee Y/N” I told him my name. My palms had started to sweat by now. The boy looked normal. I couldn't find any traces of him being a Vampire. Was he a human or vampire? How old was he? 

“Lee Y/N” He repeated my name and glanced at me with his scrutinizing eyes. 

“You may now enter, our master is waiting for you” He informed me, motioning his hand towards a door which I had not noticed before. “Just go straight through the door and you'll find the meeting room” The boy said, averting his eyes from me. 

I looked between him and the door, wondering what was waiting for me at the other side of the door. The fear inside me was eating me alive but I held myself still and with a deep inhale I moved my legs to walk inside. 

The building was silent, I could only hear the sound of my own breathing. As I walked past the huge mahogany door everything around me turned dark. I couldn't see properly. Didn't they have any lights for their human clients? 

As I walked further inside the narrow hall I could finally make out the color of the wall, a little light twinkling far in the distance. Was I supposed to go there? 

The silence in the hallway was too much for my own liking. Even the sound of my own footsteps scared the hell out of me. 

As I walked further to the light I could finally see a room. In the middle there was a huge glass table surrounded by big couches. Above the table there was a vase of roses and beside it was a file. I frowned, looking around to find anyone. The boy said I was supposed to meet someone here but I couldn't find anyone. My inside twisted in fear and gulped harshly while looking around. Don't let it be a mistake. I didn't want to become the food of any vampire. And I doubt if my blood would taste good either. 

“Welcome” A voice said suddenly, making me flinch. I turned my head towards my right to see a man walking towards me. I blinked my eyes, checking if I was seeing correctly. The man in front of me didn't look real at all. His skin is pale and free from any dark circles or dark spots. Not even a pimple was visible. He wore a blue shirt with black pants that fit his body perfectly. His hair parted to the side, showing his forehead. I had never seen such a perfect man in my whole life. 

He had a small smile on his face as he stood in front of me, extending his hand towards me. I looked between his hand and his face, still in awe from watching someone from up so close. “Miss Y/N right, it's nice to meet you. My name is Kim Seokjin. The owner of this agency” He introduced himself and I hesitantly accepted his hand. I exhaled a breath after feeling his cold skin against mine. He was a vampire and I was still processing it. I wondered if he could notice the turmoil happening inside me. 

“Please take a seat and we can discuss further about your problem” He motioned me towards one of the couches and clumsily walked towards one and sat on it. The man- Seokjin sat on the opposite couch of me. Staring intently at me. “Please relax. I understand it must be your first time seeing one of us our kind from up close but we are nothing like the things you must have heard about us. What we are going to do is purely business so please relax and tell me your problem so I can help you” he said gently. 

I licked my dry lips, gathering the courage to tell him about the situation I was in but it seemed like my voice was gone. I couldn't even utter a word. He must have noticed me struggling because he pulled out a sealed bottle of water from under the table. “Here, drink it. Humans tend to become nervous in front of us which is nothing new so you see I'm always prepared” And then he laughed. I lifted my right hand to accept the bottle and bowed my head, muttering a gentle ‘Thank You’. Unclasping the cap of the bottle I gulped down the water. 

The cold water soothed my throat and I felt a little better now. For sure, he knew how to handle first timer human customers. Once I calmed down I looked at him before telling him everything “I'm a college student in my last year and i work in a Bar. I Have been doing it for over three years now. I didn't have any problems until now.” I said, hoping he wouldn't ask me any questions till I finish. Like a gentleman he listened to me carefully while nodding occasionally and I was very much glad for it. 

“One month ago while working I had this customer whom I was supposed to make a drink. Everything was going okay until he started to visit everyday and demanded that I make his drink regularly. Soon he started to misbehave with me and would follow me to my home. I complained about him to my manager but nothing happened. When he started to follow me to my college I decided to file a complaint against him. But he was in some gang so even if he was arrested he was released the very next day. Because of him I had to change my timing of the work but he was everywhere” I could feel the memories haunting me as I spoke. 

“You see, I tried everywhere for help but nobody was ready to go against a man who always had a gun with him. He made my peaceful life a living hell. But things worsened when a few days ago my brother, Haru, didn't return from school. I tried to find him everywhere I knew he would be but I couldn't find him. At last I decided to file a missing complaint but the police aren't helping me either. I have told them several times that I know it must be that person but they were not ready to listen to him since he was from a dangerous gang. This is when my friend suggested to me that only you could help now” I said with tears in my eyes. My parents were worried and it's been days since my brother was missing. 

“Do you think you can help me?” I asked him. Hoping he wouldn't refuse to help me because I felt like only he could help me now. I watched him with anticipation, waiting for his positive answer. 

Seokjin leaned on the couch and rubbed his jaw gently, thinking of something. “I think I can help you” He finally said, making me feel relieved, “but I must tell you about the process before you agree. It isn't easy. So you must think wisely before saying yes” he said, his voice held seriousness and I could feel myself nodding “I don't care. I'll do whatever you want, whatever the process is. Please save my brother” I pleaded. If he could help me then I would go to any length to find my brother. No matter how dangerous it was. 

“You must listen to me first” He said but I shook my head “I may not have that much money right now but I promise I will give you any amount you want. Just please help me” The desperation in my voice made him sigh and I feared he might chase me away because of how annoyingly I was behaving. But I needed him to know that I was willing to take any risk he would offer. “It's not money that I want” He casually said “heck, if you are a vampire and don't have money then just step in the sunlight. That's a disgrace to our kind”.

“We don't need money Y/N. What we need is–” I waited for him to finish his words, my heart thumping loudly in my chest, what it was that he was about to ask from me. My throat went dry again. “What do you want?” I demanded to know and he looked hesitant at first but I pleaded with my eyes and he finally sighed and said “Blood, you have to give us blood in return for saving your brother”. 

Blood? My blood? Did that mean he wanted to kill me? Or else why would he ask for my blood. My body shook with shivers of fear, I didn't know what to say so I just asked the first thing that came into my head “You want to kill me?” 

I watched his expression changing from serious to comical as he threw his head and laughed loudly. The sound of his laughter was quite funny but I couldn't bring myself to laugh. In other circumstances I might have laughed with him. “I don't want to kill you Y/N” He said in between his laughter and I tilted my head confusedly

“Ok, let me explain this to you simply” He told me and nodded my head. At least he wasn't going to kill me. “You see, the purpose of opening this agency was not to earn money it was to help people in need exchange of their blood” He said “We vampires cannot survive without blood and no sane human will give us their blood for our survival and we don't kill people just to feed ourselves. No, we are not that low. So, this is how we deal with people.”

“Give us your blood and I will solve your problems. A decent deal, don't you think?”

A fair deal I would say. Instead of money they were just asking for blood which would help them survive without harming anyone and the other person would be benefited too. To me, it seemed better than giving tons of money to anyone and I felt like I could also trust them with my blood. After all, I needed my brother safe. So I nodded along with him “But how do you take the blood? Is there any method for it?” I curiously asked, if I was going to do this I needed to know everything beforehand so I could prepare myself for it.

“If you are thinking we drink directly from your neck like they show in those movies and series then rest assured. We don't do such things. The first step is - We take a little blood sample from our clients then our doctors examine it to see if it's suitable for our members. Every blood doesn't suit every one of us. Second - Whoever is suitable for the blood is given the task to complete and in return the client has to come and give 10ML blood every month until that member finds another client.”

10ML isn't much either. I could do that. 

“But if your blood didn't suit any of us then we won't be able to help you since it's against our policy. So if you agree to do this you have to sign a contract with us and we will then help you with anything you want” Seokjin tapped his index finger on the file placed on the table between us. I took a deep breath and said “I'm ready to do this”. There was no time to think and I had to act quickly. So I did. 

“Very well, then come with me. First we are going to take the blood sample to test” He said and stood up from the chair with the file in his hand. I, too, followed his actions. He was so tall and his shoulders were wide. I looked like a dwarf in front of me. He led us through another door and I could hear some distant voices here and there. Seemed like everyone was getting ready for their morning as the night drew in. I quickly followed Seokjin until we were in front of a door. He knocked it and waited. 

“Come in” shouted a deep voice from the other side and Seokjin opened the door wide. Signaling me to enter first. My anxiety was killing me but I forced myself inside the door. The first thing I noticed was the color white, then the equipment laid in front of my eyes and a man wearing a white coat, doing something with some liquids. I stared at the man and his tan skin. He almost looked like a human. Was he a human? 

“Namjoon” Seokjin addressed the man, walking past me. “Could you please take her blood sample quickly?” he said. The man or should I say the doctor- looked up from whatever he was doing to stare directly at me. “Her name is Y/N and she's our new client”.

The man nodded his head “Please sit here” And said, showing me a chair. I looked between Seokjin and him. I really was going to do it. I gulped and walked towards the chair and sat on it. The doctor, Namjoon adjusted his glasses before taking out a syringe and a cotton. “Are you afraid of needles Y/N?” He asked to which I shook my head. It was just a pinch of pain nothing serious. 

“That's good, some clients actually make so much fuss during this process it's difficult for me to concentrate you know” He said while coming to my left side and gently rubbing on my bare arm. “Don't be afraid it's not going to hurt” He assured me and I nodded and stared at the wall in front of me. I felt the jab in my skin and I closed my eyes and then it was gone. Namjoon put cotton over the place and told me to hold it for a minute. And I obliged. 

“When will we get the results?” Seokjin asked him as Namjoon searched for something. The counter before me was full of medical things I had never seen before. He took out a little container and transferred the little amount of blood he had taken from me there. “By tomorrow night” He replied and I watched Seokjin nodding his head. 

“You have to wait till tomorrow night to know the results. I hope you can cooperate till then” He said to me and I could only nod at him. I just hoped my blood would suit someone so they could help me. 

•••

I wiped the counter with a wet cloth. I had spilled a little amount of alcohol earlier while making a drink for a customer. I was never this careless during my work but the situation I had been for a while had me on edge. I couldn't shake off the feeling of someone's eyes on me. Every second I felt like I had been watched. 

And the constant nagging at the back of my mind was not helping me either. Tonight, either I would get their help or return empty hand. And then it would be me against my fears. 

I just prayed that my blood would match one of them. It didn't matter if I had to donate all of my blood. I would do that in a heartbeat for my little brother who might be scared right now. I would definitely save him no matter what. 

I glanced down at my watch, it was 11:30 pm. I decided to work overtime since I would not be able to sit at home. I should probably leave. 

If my blood didn't suit anyone then I'd have to look for other solutions. 

After finishing my work I quickly gathered my things and left for my destination. 

Looking sideways to confirm I was not being followed by anyone I turned right to enter the alley which was lighten up. They had opened it a little bit earlier today. I could see the same boy sitting at the reception area from tomorrow, he was typing something on his phone. 

“Excuse me” I said, my voice shaky and tired from all the overwork. 

He lifted his head from his phone to look at me. His brows furrowed in confusion before he opened his mouth “You were here yesterday too” He said “Mr. Kim had informed me about your arrival earlier and he asked me to lead you inside”.

“Oh!” I surprisingly let out. If Mr. Kim had told me to guide inside himself, that meant they would be able to help me now. Did my blood suit any of the vampires? A little hope had started to bloom inside me as I watched the boy standing up from his position and walking ahead. 

“Come with me”.

And I followed. The same red walls welcomed me. 

“Are you a vampire too?” I asked the boy, not able to remain silent. 

“No. Unfortunately I'm a human” He replied while turning towards me “This is just my part time job you could say”.

A part time job. That sounded interesting. 

I had not heard about a human working for vampires before. The thought alone shook me to the core but the payment was good I guess. Or else why would they even hire a human or why would a human even want to work for vampires? 

No matter what they were still creatures and I still needed to be careful. One bite and I could die. And it was too early for me to die. 

“And besides, the Master pays me good” He said and I blinked my eyes in confusion. He was calling Mr. Kim Master yesterday too. 

Before I could ask anything more I spotted Mr. Kim talking with someone. Since their back was in my direction I couldn't see his face properly. Anticipation bloomed in my chest as I walked towards them. 

What if this was the person?

Hopefully my blood had suited someone. 

When Mr. Kim's eyes landed on me. He stopped talking to that person and smiled at me which made me feel a little relieved. And his next words had me crying in happiness. 

“Y/N, I'm so happy to tell you that your blood had suited one vampire. Meet Jeon Jungkook and he's ready to help you.

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