The sun had already set by the time the taxi dropped her off at the apartment building. She mumbled a soft thanks as the driver helped her unload her two bags unto the sidewalk and then bowed deeply as the driver got back into his cab and drove away into the growing darkness.

Early winter in Seoul meant that even without a stiff breeze, the chill would sting at your face and your fingers if you weren’t bundled up well. Hyejin adjusted the face mask against her nose and fished out the flyer tucked away in the pocket of her down jacket.

The address on it was correct, with thick, block, letters advertising a room available for renting pending an interview with the landlord and the other flatmates. She stuffed it back into her jacket and fished out her phone to tell the landlord she was outside.

To their credit, the reply came instantly, around the same time as the intercom by the front door of the building buzzed to life.

“Ahn Hyejin-ssi?” A tinny voice came from the speakers, muffled by static. Hyejin quickly grabbed her bags and jogged over. She pressed at the button that would allow her to talk. “Yes, that’s me.” Hyejin said, hoping her voice was clear enough through the face mask.

“Good.” The voice replied. By now Hyejin could tell that it was female. “Sorry I can’t meet you down there, I’ve kind of got tied up here, but come on up. 10th floor.” There was a slightly deeper voice in the background shouting for something that sounded like a clear plastic bottle. More yelling and then the sound cut out from the intercom entirely. The door hadn’t been buzzed open.

Hyejin waited for a few minutes before debating on whether or not to press the talk button and ask when the intercom crackled. “Sorry.” The female voice said again, sounding sheepish even through the static, there was laughter in the background now, “Buzzing the door open now.”

Once she heard the telltale click of the lock sliding, she pushed at the heavy glass of the door with her back as she dragged her luggage through the entrance. When it swung shut and automatically locked behind her, it trapped all the cold out with it as well.

The elevator ride up was quick, albeit a bit cramped. With her luggage in the elevator with her, there was only room for maybe one more person. One extremely thin person. Still Hyejin bounced on the balls of her feet with excitement. This was her first time living in the city and she was determined to make the best of it. 

When she got off at the 10th floor, it was to the site of a nondescript hallway, linoleum floors, and a smattering of identical doors on either wall. Hyejin fished out the flyer again to check for the room, and began walking. The rattle of her luggage’s wheels against the tiles was a comforting presence in the otherwise silent corridor. She stopped at the door number advertised on the flyer.

1031

She lifted a hand to knock but hesitated when she heard yelling coming from inside. 

“Byul-ah! That’s disgusting, stop waving it around!”

“Congratulate me first!”

“Ah! Unnie, you’re splattering all over the floor.”

Hyejin stared at the door, wondering if perhaps she had the wrong room number after all. She triple-checked the flyer, winced, and finally, knocked.

The yelling on the other side stopped, followed by what sounded like someone scurrying over to the door, and loudly whispering something to whoever else was inside. When it finally opened by a few inches, it was to the sight of a woman in matching puppy pajamas, maybe a centimeter or so taller than Hyejin, with her long hair messily tied up in a bun.

“Ahn Hyejin-ssi?” The woman asked, her lips curling up in a smile that could only be described as beatific. Hyejin nodded. “Great! Come on in, we can do the interview inside, although that’s just a formality at this point.” The woman opened the door all the way and stepped aside to let her in, only then did Hyejin get a full view of the halo floating just a few centimeters above her head, as well as the dazzling pair of white wings behind her.

“Oh.” Hyejin said, as she toed her shoes off at the hyeon gwan, “I uh--”

“Sorry,” the angel laughed sheepishly, fingers gripping consciously at the hem of her top, “I’m usually in pajamas when I’m just at home.”

“I think she’s more worried that you’ll try to exorcise her, Unnie.” A voice called out, a different woman was hopping down the stairs from the second landing, standing beside the angel and wrapping an arm around her waist as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Hyejin’s eyes automatically travelled to the prominent pair of demon horns sitting atop her head.

“Or that you’ll damn her to the torture pits,” the angel replied just as easily, elbowing the demon in the ribs until she pulled away with a chuckle.

“Sorry,” the angel said. “We haven’t even introduced ourselves. I’m Kim Yongsun, my sister and I own this unit, but she’s back in heaven so I’m the landlady. This demonic presence,” she turned to the demon with an exasperated smile, “is Moon Byulyi, and we have another roommate, um, there! Jung Wheein!”

Hyejin craned her neck to see where Yong was pointing to another woman who was sitting cross legged on a three-person sofa that faced a large flat screen TV. The woman peered shyly at them. Hyejin waved.

“My name is Ahn Hyejin,” Hyejin said with a bow before she finally took off her face mask, smiling with fangs in full display, “thank you for welcoming me into your home.”

Moon Byulyi’s eyes widened with interest, drawing close to Yongsun once again, hands automatically holding on to the angel’s arm. “Oh, she’s a vampire!” Byulyi said, her voice more amused than surprised, “you didn’t mention that, Unnie.”

“I’m sure I did,” Yongsun said, “you were just too busy playing games on your phone.” She turned to Hyejin now, ushering her to what was probably a dining area. “We can just do the interview here Hyejin-ssi.”

Hyejin sat down on one end and Yongsun and Byulyi positioned themselves across from her. Over their shoulders, Hyejin could see Wheein had her full attention on them, still not moving from her position on the sofa.

“Like I said, this is just a formality at this point,” Yongsun said, as she plucked the halo off her head and reached a full arm inside before pulling out a clipboard. The halo popped back atop her head as she spoke, “for our records you know?”

Hyejin nodded, clasping both hands in front of her. Byulyi had pulled out her phone and was already absentmindedly scrolling through something.

“How long have you been a vampire?” Yongsun asked.

“Over a hundredd years ago.”

Byulyi smirked, eyes still trained on her phone, “Younger than us again. I told you Unnie, at this point you’ll be running a daycare.” Yongsun ignored her, in favor of jotting the answer into the form.

“Do you have family in Seoul?”

“My main coven is in Jeonju, but I wanted a change in pace so I left. We parted on good terms.”

“Are you looking to get a job here in Seoul?”

Hyejin nodded, “I have an audition tomorrow night at a blues club where they’re looking for a singer.”

Yongsun’s smile was nothing short of motherly as she wrote the answer down, beside her, Byulyi was smiling too.

“Are you opposed to sharing living space with,” at that, Yongsun twirled her pen in a wide circle in the air, gesturing to all of them. Hyejin smiled and shook her head.

“Not at all,” she said.

“Do you have any rituals or habits we need to be made aware of?”

“Uh, just standard vampire things I suppose.” Hyejin said carefully, “Uhm, I’m usually awake all night and sleep through the day, but I also suffer from insomnia a bit so sometimes I’m up in the mornings too. I hope that’s not a problem.”

Yongsun nodded as she wrote. “Last question, how do you plan on, uh, keeping yourself nourished?” Hyejin didn’t miss the nervous glance that darted her way, or how Byulyi’s eyes were still on her phone but her thumb had stopped scrolling. 

Hyejin smiled calmly, “I have a running subscription with a blood bank and I get weekly shipments. I just need to email them with my new address here in Seoul.”

She felt more than heard the collective sigh of relief go around the room. Hyejin smiled to herself, she took an inordinate amount of pleasure at the fact that she could still freak out others with the thought that she drank blood to stay alive. 

“Well,” Yongsun clicked her pen and placed it down on the completed form, looking up at Hyejin with a smile. “That’s all there is so I guess the only thing left to do is to say: Welcome, Hyejin-ssi, to your new apartment!”

Hyejin smiled wide and bowed again, first to Yongsun, and then to Byulyi, who had set her phone aside and was smiling at her too. “Thank you very much, I promise I won't cause any trouble.”

“Well, you can cause a little bit of trouble,” Byulyi said, a mischievous glint passing through her eyes, “This Unnie over here loves to clean up messes,” Byulyi highlighted her statement by pinching Yongsun’s cheeks. The angel gave out a short whine and batted her hand away.

“Only because I live with infants,” Yongsun said with a laugh, tucking the clipboard under her arm and gesturing for Hyejin to follow her. “Come on, we’ll give you a tour.”

“The place isn’t that big so it’ll be a short tour,” Byul added, pocketing her phone as she followed behind. 

The entire apartment itself was decently spacious, and flowed well enough that there was even a short flight of stairs that led to a few rooms upstairs. Even though she was sure that some angelic assistance was applied with how everything managed to fit in a single apartment unit, Hyejin stared at everything with no small amount of awe. 

“The entire ground floor is a common area,” Yongsun explained with a wave of her hand, “When you enter from the door the kitchen is automatically to your right and we just came from the dining area. Anything in the refrigerator is up for grabs unless you put a label on it,” at this Byulyi chuckled, and Hyejin was sure there was an inside joke there somewhere.

“Here is, well--we have a TV!” Yongsun said, leading Hyejin past a single bookshelf that separated the dining area from the sofa where Wheein was sitting. She smiled at her again and was rewarded with a shy wave the flash of what looked to be a fluffy chocolate brown tail. Hyejin’s eyes widened.

“Oh yeah, Wheein is a werewolf.” Byul said as an afterthought, smirking at the other woman on the sofa. Wheein pouted at Byul and it was the single most adorable thing Hyejin had ever seen. 

“Up here are the bedrooms and the bathroom,” Yongsun was already bounding up the staircase, this first room is,” she paused, cleared , and said something so low Hyejin could barely catch it. “Sorry?” Hyejin said.

Even though she was facing away, Hyejin caught how the tips of Yongsun’s ears flushed pink. Behind her, Byulyi was chuckling. Yongsun pivoted so fast, Hyejin almost lost her balance and fell backward into Byulyi. The angel was facing her head-on now, a clear and furious blush high on her cheeks. 

“This first room is mine and Byulyi’s.” Yongsun said, her eyes a bit defiant, as if daring Hyejin to say something about it. Hyejin nodded and smiled, gesturing for Yongsun to continue. If the way the tension in the angel’s shoulders released was a little bit too obvious, Hyejin was polite enough not to comment on that too. She chanced a look behind her, Byulyi caught her eye and winked.

“Next to ours is Wheein’s and way over at the end of the hall over there is the bathroom.’ Yongsun said, gesturing to a closed door at the end. “I wouldn’t go in there right now though, the toilet was clogged before you arrived an--”

“And I fixed it!” Byulyi announced triumphantly, “with patience and a clear plastic bottle! No other demon in the nine circles of hell can do that!”

“Yeah, and no other demon would wave around the bottle after and make a mess in the living room either,” Wheein called down from below. Everyone burst out laughing. Despite herself, Hyejin found herself chuckling too. She barely knew these women but already she felt a sense of belonging with them.

“And this is your room!” Yongsun announced happily, opening the door beside Wheein’s room. With a flick of a switch the room was bathed in light. By all means it was a simple room, a single bed by the wall near the door that faced a moderately sized closet, there was a desk by the window and a few shelves along the wall.

“We can have the curtains replaced with black out curtains, or blinds, or whatever can help you keep the room dark during the day,” Yongsun added, she was saying something else but Hyejin could barely hear her. She walked around the room once, fingers running along the cabinet and the crisp clean sheets on the bed. It took her a moment to realize that Yongsun and Byulyi were staring at her expectantly.

“Are you okay with the room?” Byulyi asked.

Hyejin’s resounding smile showed off all her fangs. “It’s perfect! Thank you so much again!” The last part she said with a deep bow. In front of her, Yongsun and Byulyi bowed as well.

“We’re happy you like it, Hyejin-ssi.” Yongsun said, reaching to close the door and give her some privacy.

“Uhm,” Hyejin called out, feeling self conscious all of a sudden, “You mentioned I was younger than you. Uh, I’m okay with not being addressed so formally. Unnie.” She felt the nervous smile creeping up her lips. From her bedroom door, both Byulyi and Yongsun smiled a little wider in return.

“Okay then Hyejin-ah, we’ll give you time to settle in. If you want a snack, there’s some food in the fridge.” Yongsun said, already pulling the door closed.

“Welcome home!” Byulyi called out just as the door shut behind them.

The last word filled her with so much warmth, if her heart was still beating, she knew it would be hammering excitedly about her ribcage. She sat on the bed and let herself really bask in the feel of it.  “I’m home!”