(Eunhyuk´s POV)

I´ve had two best friends in my life. One I liked because I could share with him my sadness and didn´t worry about showing him my weaknesses. He would be always there for me, even if it sometimes wasn´t for free. The other friend was my soulmate, I loved him like a brother. I was comfortable around him and I never wanted to bother his mind with my problems. I liked to take care of him because he himself never actually grew up. This is the story of my friendships, loves and also blood.

“Eunhyuk, wait! I´m tired,” Donghae whined and sat down on the grass.

“Donghae, it´s only a little bit further. Just bear with it,” I rolled my eyes.

“That´s why! We are almost home, who cares if we come later,” he huffed and pretended to be too tired to even stand up. What an actor, seriously.

“Fine, let´s take a break,” I sighed and walked to him. “But only for a little while, it could start raining later.” I warned him half-heartedly and sat down next to him.

“Hop!” Donghae then exclaimed and childishly threw himself on my lap. He used my thighs as a pillow and closed his eyes. “Your legs are the best, they are so plump!”

“Shut up,” slapping his forehead I propped my arms and stayed in the same position so Donghae could lie comfortably. Yes, you guessed right. Donghae was the child-like friend that I loved so much.

It took me nearly an hour to persuade Donghae to get up. He even managed to take a short nap in the middle of my nagging. He didn´t need to hurry, he had four siblings and both parents to take care of everything. It was different for me. When I arrived home, there was only my mom waiting for me. I apologised for taking too long but she shrugged it off knowing well, how Donghae could be like. I got into work right away, cutting the wood and securing the house for the night. My father had to go to the army, when I was a child, but at that time we were fighting with the neighbouring country. My father went to the war, never returned, and my mother had never remarried. I tried to grow up as quickly as possible so I could take care of her, we were living happily.

“Eunhyuk, do you have time?” After the dinner Siwon knocked on the door.

“Yeah, what´s the matter?” I asked with a smile, mother left to take a bath so I brought Siwon outside to talk.

“Just came to say hello, how are you doing and so,” the tall gentle man smiled. He leaned against the willow near our house and pushed his hands into the pockets of his coat.

“It was a long day but I´m managing,” I answered. I was glad he came, honestly it was a little hard on me nowadays. My mother was growing older and I was still only a pupil in the carpenter´s workshop, we needed a break both soon. I was glad that I had the taller man to complain to about everything.

“I keep only repining, sorry,” I realised after some time, “my mom made those sweet dried pears, do you want some?”

“Thanks,” Siwon shot me one of his charming smiles and I grinned. That was Siwon, the one and only person to whom I dared to reveal my frailty.

The night was especially quiet. I was lying in bed and listening to the sounds around. I couldn´t hear anything except for my mother´s silent snoring and the sound of the stream near the house. I couldn´t sleep and in the end climbed out of the bed in my pyjamas. I decided to take a breather outside and put on a coat and shoes. For this decision I would be forever both grateful and cursed.

“Strange, it was so quiet but now it´s kind of noisy,” I remarked for myself. I could hear noises from the houses on the other side of the village and the dogs all around began barking. Ducks in the pond were quacking and even the cold wind started wheezing.

“I guess it´s my fault, sorry for waking you up, dear,” someone´s voice spoke calmly into the muted ruckus. I turned around and noticed a beautiful woman with raven black hair and red gleaming eyes.

“Who are you?” I asked warily because she looked very strange and I had a bad feeling about her.

“Can´t you tell?” She smirked and her cherry red lips revealed a pair of white fangs. “My name is Sunmi,” she introduced herself and I gulped. A vampire.

“Go away!” I raised my voice because there was only a single thought in my head. Mom. I rushed to the door and stood there like a guard dog. No way I´m letting this monster inside.

“My, my,” she sighed, “what a nasty glare over there. But you are sharp, the one I want is not you but the woman with soft flesh inside.”

“Over my dead body!” I snarled and shivered.

“Indeed, even as a vampire, small woman can´t beat a guy like you without making a big mess all over. But there are times when you aren´t home, right? Eunhyuk,” she pronounced my name carefully and it rolled from her tongue like a glass bead. I froze.

“I promise to not fight back, take my blood instead,” I offered bravely because no matter how hard I would try, there was no way to stay with my mother all the time. And vampires were known for being like cats. They enjoyed playing with their food, I knew she would return.

“But it´s not what I want,” she shook her head, “man´s blood is bitter. But there might be something you could give me,” her stare sharpened and I could see pure sadism in her eyes. “Entertainment!”

“What?” I blinked, I had no idea what she meant but I kind of didn´t care. “Whatever, enjoy yourself!”

“All right, but you have no right to complain later, Eunhyuk,” her voice deepened and she slowly walked to me like a feline. “Don´t move, it will be over soon.” She grinned and my body shivered.

Yes, I tried to think of other solutions. Like I could just fight her but I wasn´t confident. She could pretty much win and then attack my mother. I thought of screaming but then Sunmi would run away and I would live with incurable fear all the time. And also my brain wasn´t working really well under given circumstances. My eyes widened in fear as I expected her to bite my neck.

“Aaaagh!”

I´ve never felt such a pain in my life but even like that I pushed my own fingers into my mouth. I couldn´t risk making so much noise, waking my mother or calling for help. Not even when my eyes were being poked out of their sockets.

“So bitter,” Sunmi growled annoyed when she devoured my left eye.

From then on I didn´t see anything anymore because she jabbed even my right eye with her long black nails. It hurt, it was pain like no other. Yet I couldn´t even scream or cry, I was desperate and begged for this nightmare to end soon.

“Alright, as I promised,” Sunmi sighed and I could hear her voice getting further away from me. “Since you were so brave, I won´t touch your mother. And you should do the same,” she chuckled darkly. What? I tried to think but in the end just fainted on the cold backyard of my house.

When I woke up, it was day. I didn´t know how long I´ve slept but I was surprised when my eyes opened. I could see, even better than usual actually. My mother was standing by the stove and cooking, the smell of my favourite food was very intense and the sizzling of the fat on the pan as if was right in my ear. It was strange.

“Mom?” I croaked with my hoarse voice. “Are you alright?” I asked but when my tongue touched the palate, I felt something weird. Since when do I have crooked teeth?

“Eunhyukkie!” Mother rushed to me and kneeled next to the bed. She grabbed my arm and began crying. At first I thought that the night has been just a dream but now I was becoming worried. Her reaction was too strong, is something wrong with me?

“Dear, I´m so sorry! For an old woman like me, it´s so horrible, my child!” She cried and kept apologizing without stopping.

“Stop it, mom,” I frowned, “and don´t kneel on the ground.” I sat up dizzily and pulled her up to sit next to me. She hugged me right away and cried on my shoulder.

“What happened?” I whispered. My mother didn´t answer, only continued with her sorry. I decided to not ask her anymore and hug her instead. We are both alive, that´s what matters.

In the end I found by myself. When I was able to walk around, I went straight to check the mirror. I was annoyed by the weird feeling in my mouth and my body felt weird too, I noticed my blood pressure being too low. In the mirror I saw a man that had a little paler face than I remembered, his eyes were healed but had slightly different colour. And in the end those teeth, two long fangs hidden back in my mouth. I sighed, the conclusion was quite obvious taking into account my body getting stronger and my senses sharper. I was reborn as a vampire. it all.

“Eunhyuk!” One afternoon, not long after I woke up, Donghae came running. “I´m so happy you are alive!” He cried so much that I had to change my shirt later. The brown haired man was stuck to me like a glue and refused to let go.

“They said you were attacked by a vampire!” He sobbed. “I´m sorry for not coming earlier, I was busy.”

Donghae´s family was initially big, he had quite young parents, two sisters and two brothers. By age he was somewhere in the middle but acted like a child the most, he was enjoying the received love to the fullest. He loved his family very much, and he was the same towards me too. I felt like my own family was much bigger thanks to him. That was, though, only until that dreadful night. The noise that brought my attention was actually the slaughter that Sunmi committed in Donghae´s and some other houses. Donghae lost his mother and both his sisters. That vampire was so sneaky, nobody even realised. I was lucky to be awake at that time or I would lose my last family too.

“It´s fine, I survived after all,” I sighed and patted his back in consolation.

“You seem okay, just a little pale,” Donghae remarked and I hitched.

“It will be like that from now on,” I said because I wanted to tell Donghae what happened to me. I wanted to tell him that I was made into a vampire but my friend didn´t catch on the fact that I was about to say something and interrupted my speech.

“That´s bad, you´ve always been white, now you are sick too.” He shook his head. So he thinks that the vampire ruined my immune system or what is that supposed to mean? He thinks I´m ill?

“Anyway, I found a job,” Donghae dropped another bomb. “I joined a guild.”

“But you always said that you won´t work as a craftsman like the lousy me,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, so I´ll be doing something much cooler. I´m going to avenge my family and you, Eunhyuk. I´m becoming a vampire slayer!” Donghae proudly hit his chest.

“You what?!” I choked. This is impossible! How am I supposed to tell him now? And he isn´t even suited for a job like that. Donghae is quite strong and agile, that´s true but he is gentle and soft. How did this happen?

“You will support me, right?” Donghae grabbed my shoulders. “I knew there was something I had to do in my life and now it´s here. It´s not only about revenge, Eunhyuk. It´s about all the others that I should be able to protect. I will learn how to set up traps around our houses and I will beat up every vampire that ever touches you!”

“T-Thanks, Donghae,” I muttered stupidly. I couldn´t lose Donghae, not now that I was dealing with my new self.

And Donghae was serious. He joined the guild and was away whole days, then he would return and tell me about all the weird things he learned. I realised that with Donghae training to be a slayer, I would soon get caught. So to counter that, I remembered everything Donghae said and found a way to avoid suspicion. It was cheating but it was the only way I could save my own . Especially after I fell into one of Donghae´s vampire traps. I scolded him for setting it up on humans and he didn´t even doubt that it was anything else but his own mistake. I was lucky that time and learned my lesson.

“Did something happen between you and Donghae?” Siwon asked me once when he visited me in the evening at the carpenter´s. Sometimes I would stay late in the workshop and work on my skills, it was nice when Siwon decided to drop by.

“No, why?” I asked him surprised and put down the chisel.

“I don´t know, it feels different,” Siwon shrugged and I noted that I should not be too obvious at avoiding the slayer.

“Did you need something?” I changed the topic with a slight smile. I started hiding my teeth, after some time people forgot my smile and when my fangs peeked out once in a while, everyone just assumed I had cooked teeth. Even Donghae.

“You tell me,” Siwon´s stare was suddenly serious. Shivers ran down my spine and I didn´t know, if I had to pretend to be clueless. There was something I really needed. “Or do you not trust me anymore?”

“Of course I do,” I tried weekly but instinctively retreated a little further away until I hit the table with my back.

“It´s just so strange you stopped coming to complain to me, nowadays you just chat with me as if you were some crappy sunshine,” Siwon slowly strolled toward me. “Are you really ill? Your skin is pale but that doesn´t seem to be it.” He raised his eyebrows and I gulped dryly. “And also I don´t remember you having crooked teeth?” At that he stopped right in front of me. I was cornered.

“What are you implying?” I asked even though I knew the answer. Looking into his eyes I hoped I could still get away.

“That if you are hungry, I can feed you,” he said with a smile and I jumped up in shock.

“You what?!” I couldn´t believe my ears. Since I became a vampire I haven´t had a single drop of blood. At first I thought that I could just pretend I wasn´t hungry and it would go away. I refused straight my mother´s offer and never tried to ask anyone else. How could I reveal to be a vampire?

“You heard right, let´s make a deal, Eunhyuk,” Siwon´s voice deepened and he closed the distance between us completely. “We´re still friends.”

“Yeah,” I gave in and agreed with the devil´s deal.

It was pretty safe to tell the truth. We were both doing something illegal and putting our name into it. In case our friendship would break, which wasn´t likely, we still had something like a safe rope. Siwon was from a wealthy family so his reputation was very important. The problem was that the latter was sort of a womanizer and that of course couldn´t be tolerated. The problem lied in the fact that a girl could get pregnant and the wealthy son would have to marry her. And well, I can´t get pregnant, if you know what I mean. For that I could feed off of Siwon´s blood. But I had to agree with Sunmi, it was bitter.

It happened two years later in autumn. I finally managed to become a carpenter and had some stable wage. Some people even came to our workshop to get their furniture done especially by me. It was honour and with the money, I didn´t need to worry about my mom anymore. Life in that way was easier but there were things that weren´t going as well. My relationship with Siwon became pretty intimate and I could once again talk to him about my troubles, often including insomnia or the fact that I had to hide in front of Donghae. My other friend finally realised that his friendship with me was crumpling.

“I saw you,” Donghae said when we were sitting outside and watching the leaves fall into the pond.

“S-Saw what?” I immediately panicked. Did he notice?

“You and Siwon,” he murmured. Oh God, he saw me feeding? “It´s okay, you can sleep with anyone you wish but you should have told me, you know.” My heartbeat slowed down but I felt somehow guilty.

“I´m sorry, I was afraid,” I told the truth. Although I had no intention of telling Donghae. At least not until Siwon marries for real and I have nobody to feed from.

“Are we still best friends, Eunhyuk?” Donghae asked me next and I thought all of a sudden that he somehow matured. He spoke calmly and his usual childishness was gone. I didn´t know if it was for good or bad, everyone has to grow up. Still my chest squeezed at the thought of Donghae not being cheerful anymore.

“No matter what, whenever you ask, I will be there by your side,” I answered and caught his hand in mine.

“You´re cold,” Donghae chuckled and tried to warm me up. I knew it wouldn´t work well and retrieved my hand quickly. Those were things caused by my carefulness that were making our relationship go colder. The slayer just cleared his throat.

Even if I didn´t wish for anything else but to be with Donghae, it couldn´t work. What I felt to him was impossible to describe. It was everything from friendship, brotherhood to love. It sounds complicated but in reality it was just one simple feeling, urge to be with him. But I felt like he didn´t need me and also that I disappointed him. On top of that Donghae under the influence of the guild grew to hate vampire. Donghae wasn´t the type to actually hate, he was full of love. But one night in late October I learned that things change and also people do.

“Long time no see, Eunhyuk,” I grimaced when Sunmi appeared in front of me quietly. I was on my way home from the workshop, hidden in my thick coat and yawning in the cold evening.

“What do you want,” I grumbled. The thought of killing her crossed my mind for a second, I was now a vampire too, I could beat her. But I focused too much on hiding and suppressing my powers so once again I wasn´t confident in fighting her.

“Why so gloomy? Is the business going unwell?” She asked with a smirk and swayed in her long fur coat. “Or rather love life?”

“Shut up and off before I break your spine,” I threatened and began walking again.

“Oh,” she laughed aloud, “I was right, you are entertaining as a vampire!” I was getting slowly annoyed and wanted to hit her but I overheard footsteps and we both looked to the side.

“Eunhyuk! That person is a vampire!” Donghae appeared next to me with a short sword in his hand.

“Speak of the devil,” Sunmi laughed and winked at me. “I noticed you keep being pretty obscure to your friend, Eunhyuk. Isn´t it time to open his eyes?”

“!” Donghae suddenly jumped forward and Sunmi barely avoided the hit. She stripped the heavy coat and in her long black dress looked like a spider. She laughed loudly and launched at Donghae.

I stood there in awe. I´ve never seen Donghae fight and I had to admit that I gained new respect for him, just like unconsciously some fear too. He was doing very well against a skilled vampire like Sunmi. Yes, she wasn´t the youngest anymore, vampires age as anyone else, I could tell first hand, but Sunmi was an incredibly strong vampire. At one point Donghae made a slight mistake and lost his footing, in a second Sunmi was on his hips and about to slice his throat.

“Donghae!” Blood rushed through my body and for the first time since my rebirth, I let the bloodthirst overpower me. My eyes reddened and my teeth bared like a dog´s. My legs felt light and I didn´t hesitate to jump at her. I tackled Sunmi hard to the ground and must have broken something because she let out a painful cry.

“Donghae!” With all my strength I was holding her down and it wasn´t easy. Fortunately Donghae quickly recovered and came to help. I closed my eyes when he stabbed the vampire right into her chest. It was disgusting and I was all dirty from blood. It stunk.

“Die!” Donghae roared and I opened my eyes from the confusion. Sunmi was already dead. Only then I noticed him pointing the sword at me. I fell down on my and was sitting on the cold floor completely defenceless.

“Why?” I asked dumbly and only then realised everything. Donghae knew I was a vampire.

“How long were you in contact with her? Did you know it was her who killed my family? Were you playing around with me all this while? Since when are you a vampire anyway?” He was throwing one question after another and I didn´t even know if he expected answers from me.

“So you will kill me now?” I asked because my brain completely failed to acknowledge this possibility. Donghae hesitated, it must have been weird for him too.

“Go,” he sheated his sword and looked away. “Go away, somewhere far. Because if I see you again, I can´t tell what I would do honestly.”

“You aren´t serious!” I tried to protest but the stare I was given felt even worse than having my own eyes poked out. My heart broke at that moment.

Only a month passed since the happening with Donghae and Sunmi and I was already settled elsewhere. I abandoned the village right in the morning and left my mother in Siwon´s care. The tall man owed me after all. The deal we had, honestly it had always been unfair. I needed blood much less than Siwon demanded my body. The latter was aware and without hesitation took my role in the house. He would often check on my mom and chat with her about me. I was sending letters with money back home. Everything was happening behind Donghae´s back. Or so I thought.

It was around seven in the evening just a few weeks away from Christmas and I was on the square and watching the decorations on the shops around. I wondered, if it would be okay for me to return on Christmas. At least secretly, mother must be busy with all the preparations, I hope Siwon or his people help her with that. I need to ask in the next letter. It´s the longest time I´ve ever been away from my mother, I was dying of worry about her.

“I wanna eat her sweets,” I whined and pushed my hands into pockets. Then something stuck me, the sixth sense was ringing in alarm.

“Good evening,” from the shade I was watching came out a short man with brown hair and furry coat.

“Hello,” I smiled widely, “or should I run?” I changed my mind because I couldn´t tell the intention of the person in front of me. It was a slayer after all. It was Donghae.

“Don´t, please, it took me almost a month to trace a Shadow like you here,” I hummed. Shadows were vampires that were practically impossible to catch. They look just a little infirm, they behave like humans and are able to camouflage their killing intent. Some like me even developed habits like pretending to have number senses or less strength. If you don´t know their face and name, you have no way to sniff them out. But Donghae knew my name and face, why was he looking for me, though?

“So you came to visit before Christmas?” I asked on purpose, I felt still hurt.

“No, I came for forgiveness,” Donghae said and kneeled down. I widened my eyes and looked around, people were staring. So embarrassing.

“What are you doing?” I whined once again and tried to make him stand. But Donghae was stubborn.

“I talked to Siwon and I feel so ashamed,” Donghae bowed his head, “you were suffering this whole time and always welcomed me with open embrace. I can´t believe I pointed my sword at you, I´m sorry, Eunhyuk. Can you ever forgive me?” The brunette was catching his breath and shaking.

“Can I return home?” I didn´t answer Donghae. The only thing I was interested in was coming back. I was lonely without everyone. But I was missing really everyone so Donghae´s next sentence only made me angry.

“Yes, come back and I will leave instead!” Donghae looked up and tears were in his eyes. He wanted to take the punishment, he thought I wanted him to suffer just as I had to. So silly. A daring idea popped in my head. I wanted to know, if Donghae felt just guilty or if the bond between us was still alive. I hoped it didn´t die together with my humanity that horrible night.

“So you are okay, if I return to sleeping with Siwon for blood?” I asked directly and saying it with my own mouth, I felt pretty dirty. But Siwon was my close friend and somehow it didn´t feel unnatural.

“Uh,” Donghae jumped on his legs and grabbed my shoulders. He wanted to tell me something but panic filled his body and it was hard for him to express himself. “But I would give you blood for free!” What kind of argument is that? It means he wantsto be with me, right?

“You are still a child, Donghae,” I sighed with a small smile. “I´ve always told you that I love you more than anything and that I would be by your side when you call for me. Do you still doubt me?”

“No! I don´t!” Donghae´s panic was only growing deeper and when he realised it, he had to take a breath. I chuckled and sneakily hugged his furry body, I knew what was inside his heart. I could always tell. Siwon was my mate but Donghae was soulmate.

Tears fell down from my eyes when Donghae tightened the embrace. “I mean. I can´t live without you, please come back.”

Sunmi had been wrong, man´s blood isn´t bitter, it was her own heart that was foul. She hated men and their blood for her tasted bitter. Just like I hated feeding on Siwon when my heart wasn´t with him. But Donghae´s blood wasn´t bitter. It was sweet. I understood in the end.

The End

Hello! It was still autumn wen I started the story but snow started falling when I finished it. Yesteday I visited Christmas market, today I saw the first snow and tomorrow I might finally admit that it´s winter. I haven´t written bout vampires for a while and this story isn´t very original but maybe that´s why it turned out to be so long. Making this a chaptered story would be too boring, but it would be a waste to forget the idea completely. I also made a long mermaid story if you´re interested. So thank you for reading and take care! - PandaHero