[a/n: To prove my own impatience and excitement for the story, here I am posting another update. To warn you now, I might not always be this frequent. But the positive feedback and my own excitement at this story just keeps me writing. So here's the next chapter everyone, I hope you enjoy! :)

-The Informed Puppy]

Tzuyu sets Mina down on the bed the front corner of her modest room and stares at her intently. I should take her to the hospital she thinks to herself That would be the smart thing to do.  She continues to think to herself as she brings her wrist up to her elongated canines. She lets out a rough sigh through her nose as she tastes the wintermint flavor of her own blood against her tongue. This is a bad idea. She reasons with herself, But what if she dies on the way to the hospital. No, I'll just give her a little and she'll be fine. Tzuyu hesitantly presses her bleeding wrist against Minas mouth, letting the blood slowly trickle between her lips. After a few moments Mina swallows, then starts to drink in the blood instinctively. Eventually the chocolate strawberry scent of her blood takes on the wintermint of Tzuyu’s blood. Tzuyu grimaces, feeling the all too familiar ache of bloodlust burn in her stomach as she inhales the sweet fragrance. She pulls her wrist away watching as the two puncture marks close over, as if they hadn't ever existed in the first place. Victoria sits in the doorframe smirking shamelessly. “I tell you to give blood to Hyo and instead you give it to a random girl. Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Tzuyu snarls. “She was bleeding to death. Had the hospitals taken her in, she would’ve died. My blood heals her”

Victoria shrugs, “Well, you have fun dealing with a marked human. Unless you plan to turn her.” Tzuyu responds with a low growl, “What? I’m serious! We’re a dying breed, we need all we can get.”

"I know.” Tzuyu responds coldly. Victoria’s smirk widens at the older vampires all too typical response, then saunters out of the room. Mina remains unconscious for another month, rumors of her going missing and eventual presumption of death spreading throughout the news like wildfire. In that time Tzuyu also kept her on small doses of her blood to keep her body healthy, as she couldn’t eat and they did not have the medical equipment necessary to keep her alive in an apartment. Tzuyu comes in to treat her one morning, but as she approaches Mina she sees her eyelids flutter and Tzuyu hastily moves to the back corner where darkness could hide her. Mina’s eyes finally open, chocolate brown orbs looking around the room with strained curiosity. They eventually come to rest on Tzuyu in the back corner, staring at her for an extended period of time. She sits up slowly with a groan and Tzuyu suddenly finds herself sitting on the beside helping to support her as she sits up.

"Slowly.” Tzuyu says quietly, “You don’t want to make yourself dizzy.”

"Ju-hee?” Mina responds with a voice like gravel. “What are you...Where am I?”

"My name is not Ju-hee, it’s Tzuyu. And currently you’re in my home.” Tzuyu responds, her voice set to a cold monotone. “You suffered a fatal stab wound and I brought you here to tend to your injury. Without my assistance you would be dead.” Mina just sits there, frozen as her mind processes what Tzuyu just said. Her hand then subconsciously reaches up for the area where she was stabbed, but her fingers only find loose cloth over the location. She looks down at the shirt she's positive she wasn't wearing the night of the incident, then lifts it up, revealing the smooth surface of her stomach. There wasn’t even a scar from where the stab wound had previously marred her body.

"I remember...he stabbed me! But...but there’s no.” She looks up at Tzuyu in confusion. “T-tzuyu, was it? How is it I have no…” Tzuyu looks down at the sheets, contemplating what she should do or say. She makes up her mind and starts to form a response when Hyoyeon walks gracefully into the room.

"I can answer that.” Mina’s jaw practically drops off as she stares at the legendary idol standing in the doorframe. Hyoyeon gives her best smile and walks over to the bedside while holding a glass of water and a clean set of clothes. Tzuyu quickly gets up and heads back to her corner. Hyoyeon sets herself slowly down onto the bedside and hands Mina the glass of water, setting the clothes next to her. Mina takes the glass and initially goes to chug it down, but thinks better of it and builds up the willpower to just sip it slowly. Hyoyeon chuckles softly at the obvious care Mina took and sets a hand delicately on the young girl's shoulder. “Tzuyu is a doctor that I hired.” Hyoyeon explains slowly. “One of the best in the business despite her age.” Tzuyu is taken aback by Hyoyeon covering for her. She quickly ducks her head, playing along with Hyo’s game and feigning humility. “Also extremely bashful apparently. She refused to change your clothes out, claiming you could do it yourself when you were awake.” Hyoyeon adds on snidely. “I however thought that you would appreciate waking up in comfortable clothes that weren’t stained with blood. So I changed you myself.” If Tzuyu could blush, she’d be beat red right now. Instead she just ducks her head further so that Mina might assume she’s hiding a blush. Hyoyeon snickers at Tzuyu’s embarrassed state, then returns her attention to Mina. “You've been unconscious for about a month now.” Mina, who at first was starting to relax at the ease of conversation, finds her heart stopping in it’s tracks at this revelation. A month? No that couldn't be right.

"Oh yeah, and as a result the whole world thinks you're dead...probably a decent fact to know.” Hyoyeon says nonchalantly. Mina finds herself gripping onto the bed for support, the glass of water pooling onto the mattress and seeping into the sheets. Tzuyu grimaces and starts to reach a hand out to Hyo, hoping she doesn’t shock the poor girl back into a coma.

"W-why didn't y-you tell anyone I was here?” Mina stammers meekly, terrified about the intentions of the people she’d found herself with.

“Well...let's just say I don't like being in the public eye twenty four seven.” Hyoyeon responds after a few seconds. “The crowds get noisy enough at stages and fansign events. You know how it is” Hyoyeon remarks with a sheepish grin. "If I had told people you were here, you wouldn't be able to get comfortable rest. The media would be busting down the door as soon as we got it put back up again." Tzuyu cringes subtly at Hyoyeon’s poor excuse, looking to Mina to make sure she wasn’t about to fall over. In the process of doing this, she finds herself taking in the entirety of Mina’s small, slender frame. She was awestruck by the perfect curves, the gentle expressions. The chocolate strawberry scent that pours from Mina doesn't help Tzuyu as she finds herself infatuated with this young idol.

She eventually breaks through her dumbstruck state of mind and slowly shifts behind Hyoyeon, setting a hand on the other vampires shoulder.

"We should leave her to her rest, it'll be another couple weeks of recovery before we can let her go back into the world.” Tzuyu says with her deep, quiet voice. Hyoyeon and Mina look up at Tzuyu and Hyo offers a single nod in response.

"Alright. I need to eat anyways.” She looks back to Mina, who’s staring at the both of them with fearful eyes. “Oh, poor thing, you must be famished too. I'll fix something up and call you when it's done.” Hyoyeon says with a patronizing tone that makes both Tzuyu and Mina visibly cringe. Hyoyeon smiles and glides out of the room, elbowing Tzuyu as the latter stares at her with wide eyes. Tzuyu takes a few moments to compose herself, then leans next to Mina and whispers

"I would skip dinner if I were you. Hyoyeon's a terrible cook.” Tzuyu picks up the disregarded glass and walks out of the room, leaving Mina to wonder if she’s stuck here, or if she’s soon to be dead here.

---

Mina had been in their house for about a week now, and in that time she had found Tzuyu's words to ring very true. Hyoyeon was an awful cook. Sweet and kind given the situation, but by the end of the week Mina found herself dreading the idea of food. It was either too bland, or too spicy. Too raw, or too burnt. Hyoyeon never quite seemed to get it right. She figured to herself she’d die of Hyoyeons cooking before any of them got the chance to kill her. The part that truly baffles Mina though is that none of them eat. Not Victoria, not Hyoyeon, not Tzuyu. She’d always find herself sitting at the dining table alone, eating the sad excuse for nutrition set in front of her.

Tzuyu would occasionally join her, initially just sitting on the other end of the table and watching Mina with a cold expression. Eventually she started to engage in conversation, and Mina found herself oddly comforted by the girls presence around her. Tzuyu made her feel like she was a guest instead of a prisoner, despite her generally apathetic aura.

She found Victoria just preferred to avoid her, and in the times they did meet Victoria would glare at her with this...beastial expression that Mina couldn’t really figure out. It was hostile, but also...yearning, like she was starving for something. It frankly frightened Mina, so she was more than happy to continue to avoid Victoria as much as she ignored Mina.

She sits on the edge of her bed as she mulls through these thoughts when she hears a couple soft knocks on her door. She looks up and finds Tzuyu walking in, holding up a clean set of clothes and a brown paper sack with the iconic golden arches sitting on it. Mina practically cries for joy as Tzuyu sets the bag in front of her.

"Figured you could use a break from the torture that is Hyoyeon's cooking.” Tzuyu says simply, the slightest traces of a smile on her face. “She's never been able to cook, but quite frankly none of us are too good at it if I'm honest.” she says with a slight shrug, lieing back on the bed and propping herself up on her elbows.

"Is that why I never see any of you eat? You hate your cooking so much that you starve yourselves?” Mina asks bluntly, and immediately regrets opening in the first place. “Sorry.” She murmurs but finds her regret set at ease by the sound of Tzuyu’s extremely soft chuckle.

"No, I just eat earlier than my unnies and Victoria unnie usually eats later.” Tzuyu explains simply, inwardly cringing. According to her timeline, she was older than both Victoria and Hyo, so calling them “unnie” felt awkward. “Hyoyeon’s schedule is a lot more strict than ours. We figured it would be easier to get used to that time frame. Though, as you might’ve noticed, she’s out of the house by the time you get down to eat.” Tzuyu says as she snatches a fry and pops it in , chewing slowly. It tastes awful, like it was burned black and made of cardboard, but Tzuyu endured it to keep up the facade of humanity for Mina.

Mina smiles as she sees Tzuyu actually eat something. She was starting to worry the girl just didn't eat. She thinks to look away but instead finds herself staring at the other girl in her bedroom, she was wearing dark blue jeans and a tight black tank top. The top allowed Mina to clearly see the definition of toned muscle hidden underneath the thin cloth. This girl has to have eaten, you can't maintain such good health without eating. Mina rationalized silently, still taking in the slender torso in front of her as she munched on french fries. Her eyes meandered up to her smooth neck and sharp jawline, before resting on her oval shaped face. Mina finds herself encaptured by the beauty of her round nose, slim cheeks and thin lips. Her skin was pale, so pale in fact that if Mina didn’t know better she’d say the girl never left the house. Her ivory skin seems flawless, not even the slightest trace of a scar or blemish on the smooth surface. Her hair was a chestnut brown and cascades down Tzuyu's back in soft, gentle waves. Eventually Mina finds herself staring into Tzuyu dark brown, almost black, eyes. She almost jumps as she finds the eyes staring back, but doesn’t break contact. They remain like that for an extended period of time, just gazing into each other's eyes like there was nothing else in the world worth staring at.

"Well...I didn't think your eyes were as hungry as your stomach.” Tzuyu said with a blunt edge to it. “I would've brought pictures for you to gawk at instead.” Mina just blinks as she continues to stare, feeling herself drawn instinctively closer to Tzuyu, who also leans in, narrowing the distance. Tzuyu’s eyes start to turn a steely silver color as the distance between their faces grows increasingly slimmer, drowning in the scent of Mina's blood. It's right there, Tzuyu. Just a few more precious centimeters and that sweet flavor will be all yours. Tzuyu's expression turns hungry, eyes slowly looking down to the crook of Mina's neck. Mina blinks as Tzuyu starts changing in front of her eyes.

"Tzuyu...are you alright?" Mina asks curiously. Tzuyu’s vision starts to blur and she stands up hastily as the burn in her torso starts to set in. She looks away from Mina and covers her nose with her hand, trying to block off the mouthwatering smell of the human in the room.

"Finish eating and get yourself cleaned up. The shower is down the hall to your left. I'll come back later to pick up the bags and dirty clothes.” Tzuyu hurriedly states as she rushes out of the room a little too quickly. Mina is left by herself, curious as to what she just saw, but also to the sudden pang of longing she felt after Tzuyu left.

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