Mina squinted her eyes as she stared up at the sun. She remembered being human. How much fun the beach was, getting a nice summer tan and playing in the ocean. Her mother yelling at her to apply more sunblock and not to go too far out into the water, lest she drown. It was funny to her now, that her mother was so scared of losing her to drowning. She had been so careless as a child. She had never been scared of the water. If her mother would have warned her more about strangers, maybe she wouldn’t have become the monster she was today. But maybe it was her fate to become a vampire and be by Momo’s side. At least she had been able to prevent her from becoming a vampire, since sh couldn’t do the same for herself.

        Mina hadn’t seen her mother in years. Once she had turned into a bloodsucking monster, she ran away from home. Without even saying goodbye. She wondered how frightened her mother must have been, that her daughter disappeared without a trace. At least she hadn’t turned up dead, maybe she was still holding out hope that Mina would return home.

        Mina frowned as she rolled over in the sand and turned her gaze over to Momo. The other woman had fallen asleep on the beach. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed in and out in slow, deep breaths. Mina moved closer to the girl and ran her fingers through the long locks of her hair. She brushed her hand over Momo’s face, knocking off the sand that was resting there.

        Momo’s eyes fluttered open and she looked over to meet Mina’s gaze. They stared back at one another for a few moments before Momo sat up, knocking Mina’s hand away from her skin. She squinted up at the sun and let out a yawn.

        “What time is it?” Momo asked. She stood up and searched her pockets for her phone. After checking the time she reached a hand out to Mina. “Come on. It won’t be long before the sun turns you into a pile of ashes. It’s already giving me a headache.”

        Mina gratefully took Momo’s hand and hoisted herself to her feet.

        “Is it almost time for us to meet up with Jihyo and Nayeon?”

        Momo nodded her head in confirmation and led the way back to the hotel. She needed a shower, her hair was coated with sand. She couldn’t believe she had fallen asleep on the beach. As they walked into the hotel, Momo realized that Mina was still holding onto her hand. She looked over at the girl, who was smiling to herself like a fool. Momo couldn’t help but think that was kind of cute, however, she didn’t want to give Mina the wrong impression.

        Momo slipped her hand out of Mina’s and pushed the button to call the elevator. From the side of her eye, Momo noted that Mina’s expression had not changed in the slightest.

        “I hope we find Sana soon,” Mina said quietly as they stepped into the elevator. “I’m afraid if it takes too much longer she’s going to amass an army here. There are so many clubs just ripe for the picking. I don’t know if she’ll be able to control herself. Who know…. In a couple of days it may be impossible to step onto the Busan streets without being confronted by a vampire.”

        “I think you’re over thinking it. Sana didn’t do that back in Japan, why would she do that here?”

        “Because here, in Busan, is where the largest vampire coven already exists. Lee Minhyuk doesn’t care to control the vampires here. In Japan, the Leaders do their best to keep the vampires in line. They don’t want to draw attention to themselves. But the vampires here, they are power hungry. They would do anything to make the human race their slaves,” Mina said as they walked out of the elevator and to their hotel rooms. “I hate to say it, but the hunters here are not that great. They let a single vampire come into power, and they can’t even find him. At least in Japan, the Leaders contact us on a monthly basis, giving us the whereabouts of out of control vampires. They work with us more than against us. But here, in Korea, it’s different. They have no means of communicating with the vampire population. They have made every last one of them their enemy. Even the ones who would never kill a person are left scared of what the hunters will do to them.”

        Momo unlocked their hotel room door, pondering all that Mina had said. She had never realized how easy it was in Japan. Her first and only assignment so far had been to track down Sana. She knew nothing about how the hunters got their information. She had never thought that the Leaders would be willing to help them.

        “Does UV really work with vampires?” Momo asked. “My instructors never mentioned anything about that.”

        “And why would they? Our bosses give us the information we need and most of us never question where they got their intel, just assuming we have operatives out there, among the vampires, helping us. But no, most of it comes from Vampire Leaders all around Japan.” Mina opened her suitcase and started removing her outfit for the day. “Like I said, it’s different here in Korea. Each city has their own coven, run by their own leaders, all at war with each other. They don’t get along here. And each of them is after something different. And Lee Minhyuk is the most powerful vampire in Korea because…?” Mina waited for Momo’s response, but when it seemed the girl had none, she answered her own question. “He is not just the King of Seoul, but of Busan as well. I’m sure it won’t take long for him to be in control over the entire vampire community in Korea.”

        “Do you think Sana was recruited by Lee Minhyuk? Or did she voluntarily join his side? Since she couldn’t make much progress in Japan...”

        “I don’t know. She isn’t the type to be recruited. However… say Minhyuk offered to make her his Queen, I wouldn’t put it past her to take him up on that offer,” Mina said as she headed to the bathroom for her shower. She disappeared for a moment and Momo heard the water turn on. “But, Minhyuk is the type of guy who needs you to prove yourself to him. You have to show him you’re worthy.”

        Momo approached the bathroom, steam was already escaping the room.

        “So what do you think Sana has to do to prove her worth?” Momo asked, stepping into the bathroom. Mina was already in the shower, her body obscured by the mosaic glass.

        “I have no idea. Maybe it has something to do with the werewolves...” Mina pulled back the shower door a little bit and peeked her head out. “Do you want to join me?”

        Momo felt her cheeks heat up and she looked away from Mina’s gaze. She hadn’t taken a shower with another woman since high school, when they didn’t have much of an option. And even then, they each had their own shower head and were never close enough to touch. But the shower in their hotel room was not that big. They were bound to brush up against one another.

        Momo shook her head. “No. I’ll wait.” She took a step towards the door.

        “Come on. It’ll be faster this way. You don’t want to make Jihyo wait any longer than she has to. She’s not that patient.”

        Momo bit her lip and closed her eyes. With a sigh, she slowly began to remove her dirty clothes. She looked over her shoulder, but Mina had already disappeared back into the shower. Momo finished undressing and reached for the shower door with a shaking hand. She opened the door just enough to fit through the gap and slipped inside. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and noted that Mina was facing away from her, scrubbing at her own face as if trying to wash away her skin.

        Mina turned around then and Momo averted her eyes to the ceiling.

        “Can you wash my back for me?” Mina asked, holding out a soapy loofah to Momo. Momo glanced down at the loofah and quickly took it from Mina’s hands. Mina turned around, a smile plastered to her lips. “You have a nice body Momo. Your abs are really defined.”

        “Um… thanks,” Momo said. She could feel her body growing warm at the compliment.

        “When we get back to Japan, can you help me get a body like yours? I’m really envious,” Mina said.

        Momo didn’t know how to respond. She was feeling embarrassed and her heart was racing so fast and hard, she thought it would beat out of her chest. “M-maybe...”

        “Do you want me to wash your back too?”

        “No,” Momo replied quickly. She didn’t think she could stand it, having Mina touch her body. She didn’t know why she felt that way, but she was scared.

        “Okay. Suit yourself. But I’ll have you know, I am the best back washer. Whenever my friends and I went to the bathhouse together, I was the designated back washer. You’re really going to miss out on the best back washing of your life.”

        Momo couldn’t help but laugh out loud as Mina boasted about her back washing abilities. She felt her embarrassment melt away and decided to let Mina wash her back.

        “You won’t be disappointed,” Mina said as Momo turned around to give her access to her back.

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A/N: Sorry for the long wait.  I've been so busy this year and haven't had much time or energy to work on this story.  But in honor of Twice's comeback I decided to finally get around to writing some more.