TRIGGER WARNING:

Blood and violence

If it weren’t for the bustling sounds of other beings around them, Taeri and Kyungsoo would have been walking in complete silence. After they had left the abandoned warehouse where a nameless vampire had been slaughtered, they fell victim to yet another pointless argument about how Kyungsoo killed someone on unwarranted grounds.

Taeri had argued that since he wasn’t a protector, he could potentially go to jail. Kyungsoo argued that it was self-defense and therefore completely legal. Then Taeri said that there was no proof of his alleged claims. Kyungsoo grabbed her arm and asked what on earth she was talking about because she had been there to see and therefore could attest that she too was almost attacked and killed if it weren’t for him. Nevertheless, the argument went nowhere, and Kyungsoo just had to tell her again that he still loved her.

What a mess they were.

And now they were on Shinjuku’s main street wondering what the hell they were doing there—together. If Kyungsoo had regrets like Taeri did, he surely didn’t show her any part of it.

“Where to now?” Taeri crossed her arms and glanced at the blank-faced Kyungsoo. “Any signs of Nayeon or Sehun?”

“There’s too many people here.” Kyungsoo shook his head. “I’m not sure if we’re on the trail of a narcissist or a loan shark.”

“Great.” Taeri threw her hands up in the air and laughed in frustration. “That’s just great. What are we going to do now?”

“We have to head to the outskirts of Shinjuku.” Kyungsoo abruptly turned around, leaving Taeri to follow him as she gritted her teeth in frustration.

“Are you crazy?” She managed to grab her wrist, but he shook it off. “Do you want to die for real this time?” He stopped, but he didn’t turn around to meet her face. “The outskirts of Shinjuku? Are you serious? We almost just died there! And you want to go back? Why type of death wish is that? Why can’t we just find a place with a high rooftop—which is any of these buildings, if you haven’t noticed—and…”

She trailed off when Kyungsoo abruptly turned around with his face drooping of a much too obvious sadness. Taeri didn’t even need to use her empathetic abilities to know that he was disheartened and disappointed.

“Tae, you can honestly just leave.” He shrugged. Unlike before, his voice was strangely calm. “I can tell you’re not even happy to see me. And I’d have to be a complete idiot not to know that you’re not willing to risk your life for me. It’s okay. I can kill a vampire myself.”

Taeri stood in shock for a few seconds as he continued walking, but the naivety of her had screamed and demanded that she follow after him.

“Kyungsoo!” She sped up her walking to catch up with his strides. “What are you doing? I’m coming with you.”

“And why would you do that?” He continued to stride, not even looking at her. Taeri would have answered, but she was being pushed by the passing crowd, making it very hard to say anything. Instead of trying to yell, she followed him until they were near an area with a low concentration of people.

“Look,” she managed to grab his shoulder, “I’m sorry.”

“And why would you be sorry?” He turned around. As he turned, Taeri stepped back, a little scared of his expression. His lips jutted slightly forward in a pout, and his eyes squinted a fraction of an inch like he was trying to stop tears from coming. She knew that look. It was that familiar one. The one that tugged on her heartstrings and reminded her that she had a heart. A heart that could feel. He was hurt, and she didn’t need to be an angel to know that.

“You still love me, and I’ve been nothing but a .” Taeri sighed, prying her eyes away from Kyungsoo. If she had kept looking, she would have felt guiltier than she already had. “I’m sorry.”

“I appreciate it,” Kyungsoo waved her apology off with a newly disinterested face, “but it’s fine. Really. I haven’t been honest with you, and my timing’s the worst. I’m sorry too.”

Taeri looked at his face for another minute when she got the courage to crack a weak smile. “We should stop doing this. It’s so five years ago.”

“What are you talking about?” He tilted his head in question.

“Apologizing to each other every ten seconds. Me apologizing and you apologizing even when you don’t need to.” Taeri chuckled, looking down at the ground as she shook her head. “We really haven’t changed, have we?”

“Maybe we have.” Kyungsoo’s voice was barely audible over the sounds of passing people. Although the area where they were talking wasn’t crowded, there was still enough ambient sounds to disrupt their conversation. “After all, you don’t love me anymore. At least, not in the same way I do.”

Kyungsoo looked at her with that look. His face was entirely calm, and there were no signs of malice in it—but Taeri could still see what she had done to him. Lips pressed in a thin line meant he was too hurt to say anything. Solemn eyes that only stared meant she hurt him…but he loved her regardless.

“We should go.” Kyungsoo suggested before another second passed. “It’s 11:38. I only have 13 hours until you leave.”

“Hey, wait—” Taeri shuffled after him. After that intimate moment of apologies, she wasn’t ready to head off yet. Why was he acting so rushed now? “Kyungsoo!” But he kept walking forward, leaving her struggling after him. “Kyungsoo!” It was all to no avail. It was as if he was purposely ignoring her. “Why are you walking so fast? Kyungsoo!” He kept walking. “Kyungsoo, slow down!” She was ignored again. Finally, she exploded, “I don’t care if it takes longer than tonight!”

He turned around. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second before he quickly turned back. He resumed walking, but his pace was slower this time, allowing for them to walk side by side, arm touching arm. Taeri tried her best not to touch him, but they were passing through a crowd again, and not touching Kyungsoo was sort of impossible. So, she let it be and daydreamed of nothing more interesting as the demon beside her.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo abruptly asked, leaving Taeri to look up at him in wonder.

“What are you talking about?”

Kyungsoo arched a brow in response and looked around. It was then that Taeri noticed that they had passed through the crowd and were now in a hardly populated area.

“What?” she asked, still unsure of what he was trying to mention.

“Never mind.” Kyungsoo looked at her with a glint in his eyes and a smile playing upon his lips. “Let’s just keep walking.”

“Okay.” Taeri kept glancing around them, however, trying to figure out why he had stopped her.

It was only when they passed by a shop that sold mirrors that she realized. Her arm was still touching Kyungsoo’s without reason. And that was why he asked her what she was doing. She had been unconsciously gravitating towards him even as the crowd disassembled.

⟡ ⟡ ⟡

The outskirts of Shinjuku were largely inhabited by rotting buildings, scavengers, strays, and a few thrill-seeking humans. Perhaps the dusty, mottled structures had been once bustling with people or lit up with life and light, but now there were no signs that they were a part of the city. In fact, they looked more like a bad, staged haunted city—like the ones famous in Tokyo. Large portions of entire cities would dedicate themselves to creating a realistic “haunted” experience in the weeks leading up to Halloween.

Halloween.

Was Kyungsoo thinking about it like Taeri? She looked over at him as he faced forward, his expression serious and unwavering. If he was thinking about anything else other than Nayeon or Sehun, he didn’t show it. Still, he had to think about Halloween 2993. How could he not? Here, now in Shinjuku, the buildings were reminiscent of the ones they had seen in Tokyo six years ago.

“Does any of this remind of you something?” Taeri asked as they walked on.

“Halloween in Tokyo.” Kyungsoo replied without missing beat. His fast reply shocked Taeri. “How could I ever forget?”

“How could you remember?” She gasped in awe, completely unexpecting him for him to recall the hazy Halloween night.

“The Kiyohime scared the crap out of us, remember?” Kyungsoo nudged her towards a dirty path with mysterious stains covering the damp ground. “We were so scared that she broke character to make sure you were okay, remember?”

“Yeah,” Taeri giggled nervously, “that was so embarrassing. What else do you remember?”

“We ate Taiyakis afterwards.” Kyungsoo’s voice was solemn when he recalled the rather fond memory. “You ate three, and then you asked me if I’d still love you if you got fat.” Taeri blushed, not remembering exactly saying that, but knowing that she most likely did. “I said ‘yes, Taeri, I’d always love you,’ and you didn’t believe me, so you called me a liar. Remember that?”

Once again, his voice was too calm, too serious. Taeri, on the other hand, was a blushing, suppressed-smiling mess. She remembered eating Taiyakis, but she couldn’t recall the conversation that occurred afterwards. How did he keep such thing in the back of his head after all these years? Better yet, why did he do it?

“I don’t,” Taeri whispered, unsure of how to feel towards it all.

“I didn’t expect you to.” Kyungsoo shrugged it off and pointed towards an old hotel. Its old neon sign was falling apart, but it had been saying—“THE HOURGLASS”—was still readable, including the smaller painted words “the number one tourist hotel in Shinjuku” underneath. “There’s something in there.” Kyungsoo made a face. “It reeks of bad.”

“Do you think it’s Sehun or Nayeon?” Taeri felt a wave of uneasiness hit her in the stomach. She wasn’t ready for another confrontation just yet; she wanted to pore through Kyungsoo’s mind and see what else she forgot that he remembered.

“I don’t know.” Kyungsoo bit his lip, glancing up at the boarded windows of the hotel. “It’s hard to tell.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Taeri gulped, already not liking what they were about to do. She summoned her rapier, and its platinum seemed to glow in the light. “Do you want to lead the way?” She asked Kyungsoo sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes, but he laughed. “Does that even have to be a question?”

His shoulders eased back and his composure more relaxed than water, Kyungsoo led the way into the suspicious hotel without shaking legs. Meanwhile, Taeri tried her best not to lose her mind, so she focused on the graffiti on the wall. La Città Morta. Tu vas mourir. Muerto dentro. Maybe she shouldn’t have read them. They left an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

The inside of the motel was nearly identical to the warehouse they had visited just hours ago. If Taeri hadn’t known better, she would have thought that they had arrived at the same location.

“Do you sense anything?” She whispered, gripping the hilt of her rapier tighter.

“I don’t like it.” Kyungsoo replied, looking up at the ceiling and cobwebs. “I-I-I—It’s hard to explain, but I feel it everywhere.” He grunted as if it hurt him to walk forwards. “Taeri, be careful, I can’t tell where it’s at.”

“Do you think it’s on the first floor?” Taeri inched closer to Kyungsoo. She wasn’t sure was he was feeling, but she could feel the uneasiness in her s