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The smell of something burning brought Jisung out of his sleep. He cursed as he opened the lid of his coffin, his eyes wincing at the light shining through the drawn curtains.
“Fuckers,” he spat, quickly climbing out of the wooden box and moving to shut the curtains. With a stretch and fairly pain-filled yawn, Jisung shoved on his shoes and made his way out of his bedroom. And sure to his suspicions(and the strong burning smell), Felix and Hyunjin were in the kitchen. His two roommates stood, hunched in front of the microwave, watching as something rotated within.
“I think it’s done,” Felix said, finger tapping against the screen door of the machine. Hyunjin hissed, slapping Felix’s hand away. “Leave it. Last time they were still raw in the middle.”
Jisung rolled his eyes, a yawn escaping from his mouth; his fangs sliding out from his gums. “What are you corpses doing?”
The two zombies didn’t even bother glancing at him as they said, “Cooking.”
“I can see that, rotting flesh bags. What are you cooking?”
“BBQ’d Liver.” Hyunjin said, frowning over his shoulder. “And ‘rotting flesh bags’ is racist. Blood sucker.”
Again, Jisung rolled his eyes. “Speciests would be the better term. Racist is such a human word.” He said venturing further into the kitchen, stepping behind the two zombies and peeking over their shoulders. “It’s burning.”
Hyunjin shoo’d him away, still not taking his eyes off the microwave. “It’s fine.”
Jisung took a whiff and grimaced. “Lix, sweetheart, please get that thing out of our microwave before it bursts all over the inside.” He turned away from the two, moving to one of the cabinets and grabbing a juice box of blood substitute and then grabbing his favorite box of cereal. He’d just poked his straw through when he heard the loud explosion and the sound of screaming coming from behind him. He sighed, slowly setting down his juice box and turning. Sure enough, the microwave now sat, door blown open, BBQ sauce and what was clearly human meat chunks clinging to the insides and coating a good bit of the wall and floor.
“You fucking idiots.” Jisung groaned. “Clean this up before the inspector comes.”
Felix whined, picking a piece of liver out of his hair. “That’s today?”
“Do you two not listen to anything I say?”
“Not particularly.” Hyunjin said as he moved to grab the trash can. Jisung grumbled something under his breath, pointing to the calendar. “It’s been on the wall for two weeks, dick. We failed the last inspection, if we fail this one we’ll be put on probation and campus clean up. And I refuse to be put on Goblin duty again.” He shuddered as he remembered the last time they’d been assigned to “G” dorm.
While being mischievous was in Goblin nature, apparently so was being dirty. Jisung had never seen so much trash and dirty clothes in his life.
“Relax.” Hyunjin said. “This campus is huge, we have time. Besides, they always send that scrawny human guy who's too afraid to look anything dead in the eye.”
As if on cue, a knock came from the door, the three of them sharing a look.
“It’s probably just Seungmin,” Hyunjin said. “It’s only eight, they wouldn’t start with us-”
“-Inspection!” A deep male voice called from the other side of the door.
Jisung glared at his two friends, pointing to the messy kitchen. “Clean this up.”
He gave himself a quick once over in the wall mirror, groaning as he saw the bedhead and wrinkles in his clothes. But nevertheless, he made his way to the door, put on his best smile and arched the door open. The smile he’d concocted, quickly slithered off his face, replaced with a look of confusion as his eyes landed on bright red and gold feathered wings and the tanned skinned man standing before him.
“Well,” he said, blinking. “You are not a scrawny human.”
The phoenix smiled at him, purely white teeth almost blinding Jisung. “Well no, I supposed that I’m not.” He said sticking out his hand. “I’m Drey. The new housing attendant.”
Jisung hummed, taking the man’s hand and skating it. He took in the golden skin, the light hair and the sunkissed wings. “What happened to..uh..?”
“Tanner?” Drey finished for him. “Sadly, he was injured by one of the tenants after giving them a poor assessment. He’s okay. Well..alive at least. But he put in his resignation papers quite quickly.”
“I see.” Jisung said. He glanced over his shoulder towards the kitchen, where Felix and Hyunjin were still cleaning up. He exhaled, stepping back to make room. “Why don’t you come inside?”
Drey stepped over the threshold, pen clicking, “It says here that three tenants live here? Two zombie occupants and a vampire?”
Jisung nodded. “Yes. Me, and my roommates, Hyunjin and Felix.”
Drey let a low rumble slip from his throat as he nodded along, scribbling on his slipboard. "Three undead specimens, are your zombie housing mates, both on stabilizers?"
Jisung shifted on his feet, suddenly standing straighter. "Uh, Felix is, yes."
Drey raised a brow. "And the other?"
The sound of dishes clanging together echoed from the kitchen, Drey’s eyes darting to the noise. Jisung chuckled, nervously scratching the back of his head and stepping into the Phoenix’s line of sight. "Hyunjin is still waiting on his paperwork to be sent in from Gravestown."
“And how long has he been waiting?” Drey asked.
“None of your business, chicken.”
Jisung’s eyes widened his head snapping to where Hyunjin now leaned against the living room wall. “Jinnie!” he exasperated. His friend, who hadn’t bothered to clean the mess of barbecue sauce and flesh out of his hair, only shrugged his shoulders, glaring at Drey. “The chicken is asking too many questions.”
An annoyed look plastered onto Drey’s face as he raised a brow at Hyunjin. “I’m not a chicken, you decomposing meat bag.” He snapped. He held up his clipboard again, looking through the multitude of pages. “And as I’m sure you know, undead specimens are subject to daily stabilization doses and check-in’s with campus medics. And if you were to not have the proper medical clearing you would be subject to removal from campus.” An annoyingly cocky smirk planted itself onto Drey’s lips as he looked at Hyunjin, only growing as he noticed the fear claim Hyunjin’s features.
“Okay!” Jisung said, stepping between the two. “Let's calm it down with the eviction speech. Hyunjin, just explain to the nice man what’s going on with your paperwork.”
“I don’t owe this bird boy any explanation.” Hyunjin said, pushing himself off the wall. “My medical situation is my business and no one else's."
“Your “medical situation” as you put it, is a threat to every student on this campus. Zombies who are unmedicated have been documented to reach feral status within a few weeks. Repeated limb detachment, increased hunger, fatigue, and if you’re one of the luckier ones, you’ll just die. But if you’re unlucky, then your hunger will consume you and you’ll run rampant on this campus killing and eating whoever you want.” He turned his gaze on Jisung. “Has he been experiencing any of these symptoms?”
Jisung blinked, his eyes darting between Hyunjin and their housing attendant. “I..he’s been losing limbs, yes. But he’s a zombie, it’s what they do.”
Drey groans, raising a brow at Jisung. He scribbles something onto his clipboard, before tearing the paper and thrusting it in Hyunjin’s direction. “The number to campus medical, deceased ward. Let them know that you’re in need of an emergency dosage of stabilizer. This is only a temporary fix, I will need you to produce proof of medical documentation by next Friday or I will have to report you to the campus council.”
Hyunjin grumbled, snatching the paper away and rejoining Felix back in the kitchen.
Jisung let out a relieved sigh, mouthing a ‘thank you’ to Drey. But the Phoenix didn’t return the gratitude as he gestured for Jisung to show him the rest of the apartment.
“Well,” Jisung said later, shutting the door to the apartment as he’d let Drey out. He tossed a yellow piece of parchment on to the kitchen table, a bright red ‘F’ stamped in the middle of it. “We failed.”
Felix groaned as he slumped into the chair beside Jisung. “What? How could we fail?”
“Well, other than Hyunjin trying to pick a fight with a phoenix,” Jisung said, glaring at his friend.
Hyunjin scoffed, rolling his eyes as he muttered a derogatory, “chicken.”
“Our bedrooms are apparently not up to code.” Jisung continued reading off the paper. “Your cryopods are apparently an older model that was recalled because they weren’t keeping temp. You were supposed to have the new ones installed two years ago.”
“How is that our fault?” Felix asked. “The school is supposed to handle all cryogenic related needs for us Zombies.”
“Come on Lix,” Hyunjin scoffed. “This school may propagate itself as being all inclusive, but we all know the truth. Unless you have a pulse, you don’t matter.” He shifted from where he leaned against the sink, moving towards the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water. “We dead folks get the shit end of the stick every day and I don't just mean on campus. The whole country thinks we’re an abomination.” He sips, taking long gulps. “I wouldn’t be surprised if my paperwork wasn’t lost and was just sitting in the office backlog.”
Felix sighed, looking at his friend. Hyunjin’s skin was a pale blue-grey, a few patches of skin flaking off and where his friend had reattached his arm, the stitches were already breaking free. Felix shared a look with Jisung before standing and moving to one of the cupboards. He pulled out a black medical bag and held it out to the zombie. “Take it.”
Hyunjin narrowed his eyes at the bag, then turned his glare on his friend. “Get that shit away from me.”
“Jinnie, come on. You heard what Drey said, if you don’t get medicated soon the school will kick you out.”
“I am not taking your medication from you Lix. You need it. And besides you heard bird boy, I can just go to medical and get a dosage.”
“A bullshit diluted dose that won’t even last you a week Jinnie. Please, I have a prescription refill ready, I will be fine. Just take it.”
“No.” Hyunjin said firmly, shoving Felix’s hand away. “I am fine. I’ll figure it out.”
At the table, Jisung chewed on the inside of his cheek. “How can you be fine if you’re falling apart?”
Hyunjin swiveled his glare to Jisung, holding up a hand. “You don’t get a say in zombie issues, ‘pire. Keep your opinions to yourself.”
“Hyunjin, I’m just worried about you-”
The sound of loud knocking interrupted them, then shouting. “-You fucks better be awake in there! I will not be late because of you three again!”
Jisung’s heart fluttered, albeit a bit slower than it did when he was a human. But he recognized that feeling within his chest. Hyunjin pushed himself off the wall, smirking as he crossed over to their living area to take his bag off the couch and tossed Felix his own. “Well, it seems we’ll have to continue this conversation later. You heard the kitty, we wouldn’t want to be late.” He sauntered away, twisting the handle of the door and pulling it open, not bothering to address the two standing in the hall as he walked off.
“Asshole,” Jisung muttered as he too grabbed his bag and keys and headed out of the apartment.
“What’s up with you guys?”
Jisung exhaled, trying to calm his nerves as he laid eyes on the beautiful orange and white tailed feline shifter and the human in his arms. The flutter seemed to dim in his heart at the sight. He swallowed, tightening the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “Just..inspections.” he muttered, tearing his eyes away from the couple. He’d met Minho last year at one of the monthly ration markets. The shifter had been running one of the blood stands and Jisung had been so taken by the male that he’d forgotten his identification card. Which Minho had returned that night. They’d become friends after that, spending nights together on campus and in each other's dorms and once Minho had even invited him to meet his parents. And that same night, when Minho had driven them back to campus, they’d parked near the old fountain in the back of the school; the radio playing soft music and surrounded by the stars. They’d had sex that night. Glorious, addictive, passionate sex. And Jisung had thought their relationship had been going somewhere, that Minho had felt the same as him and was finally ready to take that next step.
And then he’d been introduced to Seungmin.
Minho’s boyfriend.
Minho’s human boyfriend.
And thus, that night had become their secret.
He avoids Minho’s gaze as Felix begins a conversation with Seungmin and the two try to catch up with Hyunjin who was farther ahead, his back stiff as he ignored the rest of them. Beside him, Minho falls into step, their footsteps almost identical. The feline cleared his throat, dragging a hand through his hair.
Jisung hummed, unable to help himself. “No ears today?”
A hint of a smile ghosted on Minho’s lips. “Yeah, no. Min’s been kind of on an ear obsession lately. He found out that I like having them scratched when we-”
His words cut off as if he’d realized who he was talking to.
Jisung nodded, understanding what wasn’t said. During sex. He’d been the one to figure it out first. Minho exhaled, licking his lips. “Uh listen, Min and I are going to a party across campus, a few fairies are throwing. And you know how they get down. You want to come with us?”
“I’m not really a party person, Minho. Why don’t you ask Lix or Hyunjin?”
“You know that zombies aren’t allowed around fairy magic. After what happened last time-”
“-in Hyunjin’s defense, we didn’t know snorting pixie dust would make him human.” Jisung interjected. Minho rolled his eyes. “Jisung, he got high off his ass and scratched three students. He turned them.”
“He didn’t know that was possible!” Jisung exclaimed with a huff. “None of us did.”
Minho scoffed, shaking his head. “You know, I would think that someone with your history would have more sympathy for innocent humans being turned without their consent.”
Jisung halted, spinning on his heels. He glared at Minho, the rage in him making his eyes flash a murderous red as his fangs pulsed through his gums. “Don’t you ever,” he growled. “Use my turning to win an argument.”
Minho blinked, cautiously taking a step back. “I-i wasn’t, Ji-”
Jisung turned, stomping away. “Leave me the fuck alone Minho.”
He pushed through the growing crowd of students, ignoring Felix’s calls asking if he was okay and when Hyunjin had tried to reach for him, he’d given the zombie a warning bite. It wasn’t long until Jisung found himself in the common building, the halls filled with bustling students and exactly where he wasn’t supposed to be. His class was on the complete other side of campus.
He cursed to himself, sliding down the wall and letting his head fall to his knees as he tried to calm himself. He hated Minho. Hated him and loved him all the same. But Minho knew, knew exactly what had happened to Jisung and he tried to-
No.
No, he didn’t want to think about that.
The scuffle of footsteps died around him as did the voices of students as they all dissipated. And just as Jisung was getting himself together, he heard it. That sultry, terrible voice.
“You didn’t have to come all the way over here to see me, pet.” the male said. Jisung’s trembling form slowly lifted his head, his eyes still bloodshot and filled with tears.
Thessian, the bastard crouched beside him, his fangs on full display in a cruel smile. “I would have come to you, Jisung.”
The vampiric piece of shit, stuck out a hand.
“You look hungry. Let’s eat.”