“Wait, Jimin unnie-”

           “Shh… You don’t want them to hear, do you?”

           Their voices vibrated off the enclosed bathroom stall along with the sound of soft kisses. The younger one was straddled on the latter’s lap and facing her sunbae. Whimpers escaped her lips as the older one’s hot breath tickled her neck. The wet muscle ran across her milky skin. Minjeong gulped and closed her eyes in preparation of what was to come. 

           “Mgh,” Minjeong trembled as she gripped both sides of Jimin’s waist.

           Sharp fangs had pierced her neck allowing the warm, crimson liquid to pool into the sunbae’s hungry mouth. that was once parched was now satisfied with a filling meal that should last for the next month. Minjeong let out a shaky breath once Jimin pulled back with a final swipe of her tongue. 

           Jimin observed Minjeong, who had been resting her head against her shoulder. The corner of her glossy eyes had tears threatening to fall and as always, Jimin wiped them away with her thumbs. She had been a little rough with the younger one this time due to her sudden uncontrollable hunger. As soon as class was over, she couldn’t conceal her urgency and pulled Minjeong into the nearest bathroom stall for a quick drink to replenish her hunger. She planted chaste kisses everywhere along her face to the point where Minjeong had to cover her face and shy away.

           Jimin was a vampire. She needed to drink blood to quench her thirst and hunger. Contrary to popular belief, she was not affected by sunlight and garlic. She could eat human food just as normally as any other human but it wouldn’t satisfy her hunger like blood does. She needed to feast once a month to survive. Before she met Minjeong, she had only gotten her meals from the blood of other animals like ox or cows. They were nowhere near as satisfying and filling as a human’s blood. She heard from other vampires that blood could taste different from person to person, so she had tried blood packs provided by a company run by vampires that delivered blood to other fellow vampires at a costly price. But it was never as fresh and delicious as taking it directly from the source. After tasting Minjeong’s blood, she was addicted to its sweetness. 

           Vampires were seductive and alluring creatures. They were innately beautiful and tall. Their lips and saliva worked as a pain relief and an aphrodisiac for humans. Such traits helped them feast on human blood with little issue. Their existence was hidden from the world but a small population was aware of their existence. Majority of those who knew turned into a vampire themselves or were prey. The minority were hunters. Thankfully, Jimin hadn’t faced any during her lifetime. She was still a very young vampire, almost 200 years old, but she was in her last year of high school. She decided to go to school and educate herself like humans do to fit into society better after growing independent from her parents a few years back with a fake identity. She didn’t regret her decision. Afterall, that was where she met Minjeong.

           “Does it still hurt?” Jimin’s low voice murmured as she brushed Minjeong’s stray hair back behind her ear.

           “O-Only a little,” Minjeong sniffled.

           Jimin pulled out a bandaid from her pocket and applied it over Minjeong’s neck. She always kept spare bandaids in her pocket for such occasions. It was part of the conditions she promised Minjeong after their pact. 

           They had formed a pact over two years ago when Minjeong first came to their high school. Jimin had heard of the new transfer student from Yangsan, who was rumored to be really pretty. From a glance, Jimin thought she resembled a small maltese but that was all. She didn’t understand the hype over her beauty. 

           “Did you see the new transfer student? Isn’t she really cute?” Her friend, Aeri, asked.

           “I guess, but she looked more like a lost puppy to me,” Jimin answered absentmindedly. She was more fixated on her growing hunger and she had failed to order the blood packs in time due to the overwhelming amount of exams she had to study for.

           “She’s a year younger than us.” Aeri crossed her arms. “It seems like she’s really popular with the boys.” 

           “Really?” Jimin feigned interest.

           “Yeah, she’s totally the innocent, cute, pure type that boys like.” Aeri sighed. “She’s popular with the girls too. She’s just like you.”

           “Me?” Jimin raised her brow.

           “Yeah, you’re really popular with the boys and girls too.” Aeri chuckled. “I thought you knew.”

           Jimin only shrugged.

           “Wanna go meet her right now? She’s probably eating lunch in her class right now.” 

           “Let’s not bother her. I’m sure everyone else is just as interested.” Jimin waved her hand in dismissal of the idea. 

           Little did she know, she would get to see Minjeong later that day while she was heading home. She unintentionally entered the same subway as her and they sat beside each other. Minjeong was using AirPods to listen to music with her eyes closed. It was obvious that she was drifting off to sleep with the way her head was bobbing forward. Jimin tried to pay no attention to the transfer student but she couldn’t help but notice how the much older man sitting next to the sleeping girl was staring at her exposed thighs.

           Jimin gently leaned Minjeong’s head against her own shoulder and gave the man a knowing glare. The man widened his eyes in response and rushed to a different area. As Jimin was cussing out the man in her head, a sweet smell suddenly permeated her nostrils. Jimin looked around to find its source and landed on Minjeong. There was a small cut on her lips.

           Her rationality disappeared and all she could think about was tasting Minjeong’s blood. She normally had good self-control but for some reason, it didn’t apply to Minjeong. Jimin’s eyes darted around and took notice of how everyone was facing away from them. It was the perfect opportunity for her to get a taste. It was obviously a terrible idea. So many things could go wrong, but Jimin wasn’t thinking. She couldn’t. She was just too hungry. 

           As soon as she leaned in to on Minjeong’s lower lip, she was greeted with a delicious taste she had never experienced during her two centuries of life. Her eyes lit up, and her iris turned red. Jimin briefly released her lips before leaning back in with a new fervor. Just as her tongue glided over the younger’s bottom lip, she felt a tight grip on her arm. Jimin glanced down and noticed Minjeong’s hand on her before quickly pulling back, alarmed at the fact that the girl was now awake.

           .

           It was a miracle that no one else seemed to notice what had transpired between the pair in the subway. When Jimin had the courage to glance back at Minjeong, she was staring back at her with flushed cheeks and hooded eyes. 

           The older one wasn’t sure what to say. Everything sounded like a nonsensical excuse. It’s not like she could admit that she was attracted to the cut on her lips because she wanted a taste of her blood. Hell no. That sounded weird. It would’ve been better to lie that she did it because she liked her but she would come off as a ert and it was no better than admitting that she had just assaulted her. 

           “Hi,” Jimin awkwardly greeted. “I-I’m sorry… I, uh…” 

           The sudden announcement of their destination interrupted her blabber. Minjeong stood up and walked out of the subway without glancing back. Jimin quickly followed after her, worried that the girl would run off to the police. There were CCTVs everywhere including the subway they had just left. She would be in a pickle if she let the girl get away without a better explanation. 

           “Wait!” Jimin yelled as Minjeong sped away. 

           She finally managed to catch up to the girl and grabbed her arm. Minjeong was tense as she was forced to stop and turn around. Jimin loosened her grip as she took notice of how Minjeong’s chest was heaving from uneven breaths. The sudden thundering of her heartbeat was the only thing she could hear for a moment thanks to her ability to focus her hearing on something and hear it at a more sensitive degree than humans. 

           “Wait,” Jimin tried her best to pretend like she was out of breath, mimicking Minjeong’s current state. “You’re Minjeong, right?” 

           She already knew the answer to her own question but asked to get the girl to relax a little. She nodded timidly as she gripped onto the strap of her backpack. 

           “Sorry, what I did must be freaking you out.” Jimin internally cursed at her terrible attempt to calm Minjeong down. “I… I honestly don’t know what came over me.” 

           Jimin glanced down at her feet. It had been the truth. She was never this reckless before and it was strange that she was unable to hold back her hunger because of this girl. Even when she was exposed to blood from other people over the centuries of years she had lived, she was never this worked up to the point where she would get herself caught like this. 

           “It’s fine.”

           Minjeong’s voice was so soft that if she wasn’t paying attention, she wouldn’t have even noticed she spoke up. 

           “I’m really sorry.” Jimin bit her lips as her eyes unintentionally lowered to the girl’s glossy lips again.

           “... I won’t tell anyone,” Minjeong curtly responded before she turned around and walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

           Jimin watched in despair as she slipped away. Could she really trust this girl not to tell anyone? She could already imagine all the gossip accumulating at school tomorrow as she walked down the halls. She was popular in school and she knew all of the jealous girls would be waiting to pounce on her the moment such rumors spread. 

           Ugh! Jimin, you idiot.

           She could do nothing but accept her fate…

           Yet, there were no rumors when Jimin walked down the hallway the next day. Like Minjeong had promised, no one seemed to know. It was a huge relief but Jimin couldn’t wrap her head around why Minjeong had kept her promise. It was only natural to spill the beans to the other students. After living with humans for about a hundred years, Jimin came to realize that humans can be just as deceptive as vampires, if not, even more. The fact that this human didn’t lie was… well, rather peculiar. There had to be something up her sleeve. Perhaps, blackmail? Humans tend to threaten each other with such methods. But then, Minjeong had nothing to gain from threatening her. What would she even offer?

           “Earth to Jimin? Hello?” Aeri was waving her hands in front of the vampire that had been lost in deep thought. “Did something happen?”

           “No,” Jimin denied before letting out a sigh. “Actually, yes…”

           “Really? Did you fail the exam or something?” Aeri casually asked with a soft gaze, ready to console her.

           “Not the exam. I think I messed up,” Jimin admitted vaguely. “I accidentally did something I wasn’t supposed to.”

           “People make mistakes all the time. Don’t stress over it,” Aeri reassured. “As long as you didn’t harm anyone…”

           Aeri stared as Jimin bit her finger, a habit she did whenever she was nervous. Being her friend since freshman year, Aeri knew that and widened her eyes in disbelief. 

           “Don’t tell me you accidentally killed someone?”

           “What? No!” Jimin looked around the classroom and thankfully, no one was listening. “I didn’t kill her.”

           “Her?” Aeri raised her brow with a look. 

           Jimin sighed before whispering into Aeri’s ear to explain what had occurred the other day. Jimin quickly hushed her friend as her eyes widened and a squeal escaped her lips. 

           “No ing way!” 

           “Language,” Jimin smacked her arm before she glanced around the room. “No one knows, so she kept her promise. But it doesn’t sit well with me.”

           “Why? It makes sense to me,” Aeri calmed down before she proceeded. “She just transferred here and doesn’t have any close friends to tell.”

           “You don’t need friends to start a rumor.” Jimin crossed her arms.

           “It’s definitely easier… You know, if you’re so bothered by it, you should just befriend her,” Aeri suggested. “Get on her good side.” 

           “Wow. For once, you’re not saying something stupid.” 

           “Hey!”