"Wheein?"

No way. Wasn't Wheein supposed to be dead? She saw a vampire kill her. Wait, she didn't actually see a vampire kill Wheein; she only saw him bite her and drag her away. Why didn't Wheein search for her then? Byul was still sitting on the floor, staring at Wheein stupidly as tears fell from her eyes without her consent. She had dreamed about seeing Wheein again so many times, but now that it finally happened, she couldn't do anything but stare.

Byulyi finally got out of the stupor she was in and uttered the first most coherent question that came to mind: 

"H-how?"

The day that they were attacked, the vampire hadn't managed to kill Wheein. She fainted not long after he bit her, but she woke up in a cozy cabin-like house. Her head hurt a lot and something felt different about her, although she couldn't exactly pinpoint what. Wheein tried to remember what had happened to her, but all she could remember was getting attacked, seeing Byul faint in the distance, and... there was someone else. Another person, someone who had saved her from the vampire.

"You're finally awake, you sleepy head. How are you feeling?"

Wheein almost fell from the bed in surprise.

"W-where am I?" Wheein timidly asked.

"You're at my house. My parents aren't home yet, and my sister is probably playing with Yongkeey in the forest. Yongkeey is my puppy, by the way. I'm sure you'll love to meet her. Oh, and I'm Yongsun. What's your name?" The woman said.

"Wheein."

"Nice to meet you, Wheein." Yongsun smiled.

"Where's my friend?" Wheein asked.

"Who?"

"She was in the forest with me. What happened to her? And to me? Why am I here?"

"Woah, woah, woah! Slow down with the questions, kiddo." Yongsun laughed. "I didn't find anyone other than you in the forest. And as for what happened to you, well, you were attacked by a vampire."

Wheein immediately thought about what Byul had told her had happened to her grandmother. She had always believed Byul, even when Byul had stopped believing herself. Wheein knew her friend wasn't crazy all along. She panicked at the thought of Byul, though.

"How long was I out? I need to find her!" Wheein tried to stand up but her legs gave way below her.

Yongsun helped her back into the bed. "You can't search for her right now, Wheein. You're still too weak. You were out for almost a week."

A week? Why? What's going on? She needs to find Byul. Make sure she's okay.

Yongsun could feel Wheein start to panic, so she tried bringing her back to reality. "Wheein, she'll be fine. You need to relax."

"But-"

"There's something important I need to tell you first." The seriousness in Yongsun's eyes made Wheein calm down and listen to her. "Wheein, why do you think you're alright even though you were bit by a vampire?"

"I don't know? Didn't you heal me?"

"It's more complicated than that, Wheein. When a human gets bit by a vampire, they die. There's no way to reconstruct their punctured carotid arthery, and they bleed out."

"Then how?"

"The only way to make the person survive is to turn them into a vampire by making them drink the blood of another vampire. A pureblood vampire."

"What? I'm kind of confused." Wheein was starting to panic again.

"There's no easy way to say this, Wheein, but now you're a vampire too."

Wheein felt her world spin and go black.

When she woke up, her head was still hurting. She blurrily made out two figures arguing beside her.

"What the were you thinking, Yongsun?! You can't tell her that she's a vampire as soon as she wakes up! You traumatized the poor thing!"

"When was I supposed to tell her, then?!"

"I don't know?! You could've at least waited for me to get home!"

"And what good would that do?! You would probably traumatize her even more with that ugly face of yours!"

"SAY WHAT?!"

"Guys, please don't fight." Wheein interjected.

"Oh, you're up." Both sisters spoke at the same time.

"How are you feeling, Wheein?" Yongsun said and sat on the bed.

"I'm better, thanks."

"Great." Yongsun smiled. She signaled to the person behind her and half whispered: "That's my idiot sister Yonghee."

"I can hear you, you know." Yonghee rolled her eyes, like she was used to this. "Nice to meet you, Wheein. As you can see, I'm the good looking sibling in the family." 

"Bull! That's Yongkeey!" Yongsun retorted. Yonghee shot a look at her sister.

"Don't mind that weirdo, Wheein. That's what happens when you spend all your time studying for medical school and the only people you socialize with are blood-related."

Wheein giggled at the sisters' antics. Yongsun and Yonghee smiled, seeing that Wheein was becoming more comfortable around them. However, the elephant in the room couldn't be ignored any longer.

"So you guys are vampires? Pureblood vampires? What does that mean?" Wheein asked.

"It means that our parents, grandparents, and all our ancestors were vampires. You aren't pureblood, since you were turned by us." Yongsun answered matter-of-factly.

Wheein nodded. "So, what happens to me now?"

"We'll teach you how to survive as a vampire. It takes most new vampires a year to learn, but you look smart. I'm sure you'll learn in no time." Yongsun smiled consolingly, but somehow Wheein looked like she would start panicking again. Yonghee interrupted just in time to calm her down.

"I know what you're thinking, Wheein, and you don't have to worry about it. You won't have to drink human blood to survive, and you won't melt under the sunlight. Most vampire families these days survive on animal blood, including us. You'll have to do it too, but you can still eat normal human food, although only eating human food isn't enough for surviving. And Yongsun here will teach you to control your new vampire strength. You'll also have to come under an oath to not reveal your true identity to any human, and then you're free to go to your family and tell them you where kidnapped or something, if you want." Yonghee explained.

"Okay." Wheein took a deep breath. This was her new life now; there wasn't a point in getting upset. She would learn to be a proper vampire in record time and then find Byul.

As expected, Wheein was an excellent student. Yongsun trained her over winter break before returning to pre-med school with some help from Yonghee. Mr. and Mrs. Kim trained her when Yongsun had to go back to university and Yonghee's full time job resumed. They all fell in love with Wheein. She had become like the third Kim daughter.

"Don't worry, Yongkeey. You were demoted to fourth Kim daughter, but we still love you." Yongsun would tell her puppy, while kissing her all over the snout.

Wheein found that Yongsun could be weird sometimes but she came to really like her and admire her. Wheein remembers the time she asked Yongsun why she wanted to become a doctor.

"Unnie, why do you want to become a doctor for humans even though your parents are so against it?," She had asked her.

Yongsun looked up from her notebook. "For many centuries vampires hurt humans, Wheein, and some still continue doing so. I guess I kind of feel responsible, even though I'm technically not involved. Maybe becoming a doctor would allow me to make up for a little of the harm vampires have done and still continue doing. It's a very selfish reason, really. I'm just trying to make myself feel less guilty of being a vampire."

Wheein didn't think that it was selfish. Yongsun was trying to patch up a problem she wasn't responsible for and that was amazing. Over the months they were together, they grew a lot closer, and became really close friends. 

That's why the goodbye was even more painful than it was supposed to be when her training was over. But she had to find Byul.

Finding Byul turned out even harder than she thought it would be. Wheein knew her friend was a little antisocial and didn't use social media, but she didn't expect to not find any trace of her in any of the biggest cities in Korea. It had already been over a year since she started her search.

Wheein still kept in touch with Yongsun and her family, and visited them from time to time.

Speaking of the devil, Yongsun was calling. Wheein picked up and they made some small talk until Yonghee stole Yongsun's phone from her and asked her how her search was going. Wheein replied that she hadn't found anything yet.

"Wheeinie, you know we'll welcome you with open arms if you decide to come back, right?" Yonghee said, along with an approving muffled 'that's right' from Yongsun, and multiple barks from Yongkeey.

Wheein laughed, imagining the situation they were in. Yonghee was probably holding Yongsun's stolen phone on one hand, while pushing Yongsun down on the floor with the other. Yongkeey would be jumping and barking all over them, trying to get in the fun. Mrs. Kim would scream at them to stop fighting from the kitchen, and Mr. Kim would be silently giggling on his favorite rocking chair, drinking some cool lemonade, courtesy from his wife, who would only prepare it when both Yongsun and Yonghee came back home for summer break.

Yonghee started whispering all of a sudden. "And, tell me, how are you doing with that girl?"

"What girl?"

"You know, your barista girlfriend. That cool, hot and y black haire-" The call was suddenly cut. Looks like Yongsun freed herself and took back her phone from Yonghee.

"Hey, Wheein." She sounded super breathless. "Please don't pay Yonghee any attention she-"

"Yongsun unnie! Why the does your sister know about Hyejin?! This was supposed to be between us!"

"I'm sorry, Whee, she saw me talking to you on the phone and threatened to banish me from the family if I didn't tell her what you told me and to feed me to the bears and-"

"That's not true!" Yonghee must have taken the phone back. "I just bribed her with ice cream!"

"I can't believe you sold our friendship for ice cream, Yongsun!"

"I'm so sorry, Wheee-hmpffpfff"

"Don't worry, Wheein, I shut her up. So, please do tell, who is that Hyejin person?"

Wheein sighed. This was going to be a long call.

Long after the call ended, Yonghee's offer still remained in Wheein's mind.

"Wheeinie, you know we'll welcome you with open arms if you decide to come back, right?" 

Yes, she knew.

Wheein thought about accepting that offer sometimes, but she wasn't going to give up on Byul yet. She was going to find her. Wheein never even considered the possibility that Byul could be dead. In her mind, Byul was an immortal figure. Byul was the strong big sister that would kick her bullies in the and tell them to go themselves. There was no way a simple vampire had gotten to her.

The night that Wheein found Byul was a cold snowy night, not much unlike the one when they separated. Except that this time the lights and sounds of the city accompanied her instead of a starry sky and the rustling of the trees. She was in Seoul; in her third tour of Seoul, to be exact. She had already gone through Seoul twice. This, she told herself, was her last try.

But Wheein didn't expect to find Byul the way she found her.

Byul was under a streetlight looking at her phone. She looked older, of course, but she looked so depressed too. Byul didn't look like the optimistic unnie Wheein used to know. Wheein felt a strong surge of emotion when she saw her, but soon turned confused when Byul started following someone.

Wheein followed them too, and as she got closer, she realized that Byul was following a vampire. A vampire that drank human blood, telling by the smell. Wheein didn't have time to question why in the world Byul was following a vampire when Byul took out her gun and killed him. She then cracked her knuckles and looked to the side, so close to where Wheein was that she thought Byul had sensed her presence for a moment.

But what Wheein saw in Byul's eyes scared her. It was hate. Pure unbridled hate towards vampires. Wheein was still hopeful, though. She hoped that Byul would accept her if she told her she didn't drink any human blood.

But her hope and resolve started crumbling as she saw Byul kill vampire after vampire. Byul would start following another one. And the she would shoot them. And again. And again. And again.

And the disgust and hate in Byul's eyes didn't seem to diminish, no matter how many vampires she killed.

Byul killed four vampires that night. Four.

Wheein was scared. What if Byul also thought she was disgusting? She wouldn't be able to live if Byul thought that about her. She wouldn't want to live. Maybe it had been a bad idea to search for Byul. A vampire had killed her grandmother, after all. It was obvious that she would hate vampires. Maybe Wheein should just go home and forget about this.

Something told her that she was being selfish by letting Byul think that she was dead and not giving her a chance to decide for herself whether she wanted to see her or not, but Wheein just didn't have the courage to face her. She wouldn't survive if she lost Byul a second time.

So she made one of the hardest decisions in her life that night. Wheein decided to let Byul go.

Hyejin was very worried for her girlfriend. She didn't expect her to come back home from work and find a drunk and crying Wheein on the floor. And she really didn't expect to continue finding her that state for a full month.

"Wheeinie, you need to eat something." 

Wheein would just groan in response.

Hyejin was the only person that Wheein had told about Byul. Of course Yongsun and her family knew she had lost a friend and was searching for her, but Wheein had never told them Byul's name, or what she was like. It felt too personal for some reason. It didn't really make any sense, but she felt that sharing her memories of Byul with too many people would make her lose the memories. As if sharing memories was actually a transferring process. 

When they started dating, Hyejin started accompanying Wheein on her trips to search for Byul. She would console her when Wheein came home again and again without having found her. Hyejin became the person Wheein leaned on, cried on, and sometimes hit in frustration, too. If she could stay by Wheein's side, though, Hyejin thought that sharing the burden of Wheein's pain was completely worth it.

Hyejin and Wheein moved out of downtown Seoul when Wheein found Byul. They were living in a house on the outskirts of the city, pretty near to where Hyejin's family lived. When Hyejin was at work, her mom would sometimes come and take care of Wheein, and over time, Wheein learned to manage the pain of losing Byul. 

Hyejin eventually opened her own café, where Wheein also worked, and they lived a peaceful and uneventful life for a while. Until a month ago.

They were cuddling together on the couch, watching some comedy show they liked when they heard someone knocking at the front door. Hyejin opened and found a distressed Yongsun with puffy red eyes from crying.

"Yongsun unnie, are you okay? Are you hurt? Come in." Hyejin practically dragged her inside along with her things and sat her on the couch next to Wheein.

"My roommate-she discovered that I was a vampire and she's a vampire hunter and-"

"Did she hurt you?!" Wheein interrupted Yongsun's rambling. Yongsun shook her head no almost violently.

"But the way she looked at me, she was so scared, Wheein, I didn't want to hurt her and she didn't give me a chance to explain and-" And what? She had run away like a coward? 

"And you're afraid of losing her." Wheein interrupted Yongsun's thoughts. Wheein understood her completely; she had already been through that before.

"I'm afraid I already lost her." Yongsun cried.

"I knew nothing good came from falling in love with a human." Hyejin huffed.

"You speak as if I didn't use to be one, Hyejin." Wheein retorted.

"That's not what I meant, Whee-"

"She can fall in love with whoever she wants to, Hyejin. Anyone should be able to." Wheein said matter-of-factly.

Yongsun was suddenly confused. Fall in love? Sure, she knew she liked Byul. They had even kissed before. But love? The thought of her feelings being more than just a simple 'like' confused her even more than the fact that Byul was a vampire hunter.

Wheein interrupted her thoughts with a hug, and Yongsun eventually fell asleep on her shoulder.

The month that Yongsun lived with them, she did her best to not think about Byul and she just focused on her studies. After that initial conversation with the girls, she never told them or mentioned anything else about Byul, who they only knew as her 'roommate'. 

"So, y-you're a vampire, now, Wheein?" Byul asked after Wheein finished her story.

Wheein looked down and nodded.

Byul didn't know how to process all this new information. Wheein was a vampire like Yongsun. No, they were different. Yongsun was pureblood. What did pureblood mean, again? They said they didn't drink human blood. So they weren't bad vampires? Was there such a thing as a good vampire? 

Of course, there was. There had to be. Wheein was a good person, or, well, used to be a good person. Byul was sure that now she was a good vampire as well. 

Byul found the strength to walk up to Wheein and hugged her. She loved Wheein even if she was a vampire and didn't blame her for not talking to her when she found her those years ago. Byul knew how the fear of rejection could make a person do things that otherwise might not make much sense.

And she needed Wheein to know these things. So she leaned in closer to Wheein's ear and said the words that Wheein had been dreaming to hear. The words that she needed to hear.

"I love you so much, my Wheeinie, no matter what."

As soon as she heard those words, Wheein broke down crying, suddenly releasing the emotions that she had tried to keep at bay for so long.

A/N:

Like some of you predicted, yes, Wheein was alive all this time. I don't think I'd ever write her as dead in a fic, lol. Hope you enjoyed the double update.

Also, Happy new year, everyone!