“Alright, SinB-ah, just a couple more combinations and we’ll be done with training for the day,” Yerin said as she positioned herself in a boxing stance.

For the past four hours, SinB was with Yerin in the gymnasium of the headquarters, brushing up on her skills and learning new techniques. While SinB was growing tired by the minute, her spirits were constantly being uplifted by the slight, blink-and-you'll-miss-it interactions she shared with Yerin. There was a lot of eye play as one girl would sneak affectionate glances at the other girl unbeknownst to them. Slight caresses of the skin that may seem accidental, but never failed to make SinB blush occurred occasionally. On other occasions, Yerin felt like she could communicate with SinB through her eyes alone. No spoken words were necessary. All it took was one look and they both were able to convey their thoughts, their feelings.

SinB, whose hair and shirt were dampened with sweat, simply gave a quick nod as she adjusted her boxing gloves. Yerin, omitting the use of gloves, raised up her bare hands. They looked into each other's eyes, connecting their minds together.

“1-1-2!” Yerin instructed a beginner’s jab-jab-cross, in which SinB executed with ease.

“1-2-3!” the older girl called out for a jab-cross-left hook. The younger girl performed it without any trouble.

“1-2-5-2!” Yerin upped the intensity with a jab-cross-left uppercut-cross. SinB had to put a bit more focus in her moves.

“2-3-2!” Yerin commanded a right cross-left hook-right cross. SinB let out a yell at the last hard punch she threw.

“Excellent! Good job, SinB-ah,” Yerin swayed out of her stance to clap and praise the hard working girl.

Exhausted, SinB immediately removed her boxing gloves, carelessly dropping them on the padded floor. Grabbing her towel and water bottle, SinB began to blot the sweat off her neck and forehead.

“It's not fair that vampires don't have sweat glands, and I'm over here practically melting away,” SinB complained, gesturing to how Yerin didn't even look like she spent hours upon hours in a closed off room training.

“It's not that vampires don't have sweat glands, it's just that the function becomes unusable to us,” Yerin explained as she twisted off the cap of her blood-contained bottle to take a sip.

“Still sounds unfair to me,” SinB jibed back before drinking a much needed gulp of water.

Smiling benignly, Yerin walked closer towards the younger girl. She took the towel away from SinB’s hand and proceeded to dab the remaining sweat off her face.

“Don't be ashamed,” Yerin quietly spoke. “It should be seen as an accomplishment. You really did great today. More than I could ever hope for.” Lowering the towel away, Yerin looked at SinB with one of the most natural eye smiles she has ever seen on the older girl’s face. It wasn't forced like she was trying to get SinB to calm down. She smiled because she sincerely meant it. And, that made SinB feel a hundred times better.

Discreetly biting her lip, SinB feigned stubbornness by pushing Yerin’s shoulder. The older girl stood unaffected, the bright smile left unchanged. Flustered, SinB had to look away.

“I should go and shower. No matter how valuable you regard sweat, it's still bound to leave an odor,” SinB ducked her head, embarrassed that she continued to talk about bodily functions. “Anyways, I should also look presentable for Sowon-unnie and Yuju-unnie. I have yet to write and send that text message to them.”

“Don't worry about it too much,” Yerin assured SinB, tucking several stray hairs behind the younger girl’s ear. “Whatever you write, I'm positive that they'll show up.”

SinB knew that she could always depend on Yerin to say the sweetest words to rid her of any doubt. And, though she currently felt like a cluster of wet hay from the strenuous training, Yerin still managed to make her feel special. With a softened smile, SinB leaned in closer to Yerin’s face and planted a delicate kiss on her cheek.

Placing near Yerin’s ear, SinB began to whisper. “Part of me did that to say ‘thank you.’ But, I mainly did that so you won't get too mad at me for doing this.” SinB proceeded to empty the rest of the water from her bottle that she was holding onto Yerin’s head, causing the older girl to jolt in surprise.

SinB quickly kissed Yerin, again, on the other side of her cheek before tousling the girl’s drenched bangs and running out of the training room with a gigantic smile. Amused, Yerin shook her head in disbelief. A huge grin of her own formed as she chased after the mischievous girl.

“Guess what,” Sowon said to Yuju in the midst of stretching her arm.

“What?” Yuju casually replied back, sitting on the floor to stretch her legs.

The tall duo were warming up for another session at Destiny Dance Studio. Familiar faces passed in and out of the practice room, but none of them were SinB. While both of them couldn’t help but feel relieved, a sense of worry for the younger girl accumulated in their conscience.

“I met a girl, yesterday,” Sowon answered with a wide grin on her face.

The two weren't able to conversate with each other the other day as Sowon was busy with the hustle of school and Yuju was preoccupied with training.

“Me, too,” Yuju responded as she got up from the floor.

With knitted eyebrows, Sowon looked at her friend questioningly.

“Say the name of the girl we met on three,” Sowon instructed, with her arms crossed and an interrogating glare. Yuju placed her hands on her hips as she side-eyed the taller girl, but kept her expression composed. Sowon slowly began to count. “One. Two. Three. Jung Eunha.”

“Kim Umji,” Yuju stated the name at the same time.

They looked at each other and began to laugh jovially in relief, causing some of the other dancers in the room to take notice of them.

“Whew,” Sowon said, pretending to wipe off her brow, “I'm glad history didn't repeat itself again.” She smiled at Yuju who was also clearly at ease of avoiding another mishap from years ago when they both fell for the same person.

“Jung Eunha,” Yuju repeated the name that Sowon uttered. “Is she the savior that you were talking about in the text you sent me yesterday?” she asked as she attentively went back to stretching.

“Yup,” Sowon proudly attested. “She has the face of an angel and the mind of Einstein. I was having a hard time studying for my trig exam, and suddenly she showed up, asking if she could sit next to me. And, then, she asked if I was preparing for Professor Cho’s midterm. It turns out she took his class last semester and was gracious enough to tutor me. I'm pretty sure she's some sort of mathematician because there is no way that I could recall the things I learned last sem, nonetheless, last week. To keep things short, I'm pretty sure I'm in love,” Sowon swooned, placing her hand on her heart and leaning on Yuju until the younger girl playfully shoved her away. “And, she gave me her number in the most creative, yet brain-teasing way ever.”

“If you ask me, Eunha-ssi sounds too good for you,” Yuju joked, earning a half-hearted slap on the arm from the older girl. “I'm kidding. But, seriously, I've never seen you so head over heals for a girl before, especially one that you just met.”

“It's called ‘love at first sight,’ Yuju-ya,” Sowon said, placing a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “I suggest you believe in it more.”

“As if you ever did,” Yuju jibed, earning another slap on the arm from Sowon.

“So, inform me about this Kim Umji,” Sowon asked, raising her thumb up.

“She's the CEO’s niece, visiting from the States,” Yuju began. “She caught me practicing by myself, and we ended up talking for a bit. It was an unusual encounter, now that I think about it. But, Umji-ssi  was very intriguing, and she helped me see things in a different light. And, I guess, I’ve come to the realization that I earnestly miss SinB.”

Yuju placed her hands behind her back, looking shyly at the ground. A small smile formed on Sowon’s lips as she wrapped her arms around the younger girl’s waist, pulling her into a hug filled with a mutual sense of sympathy.

“I miss her, too,” Sowon quietly spoke. “I wonder what she’s doing now.”

“Who knows?” Yuju casually responded. “For all we know, she could have run off with Yerin-unnie.”

“Whatever happened to Yerin-ssi, anyhow?” Sowon questioned, releasing her hold on Yuju to place a hand on her hip. “The last time we saw her was on Friday when we forced SinB to hang out with her.”

“I’m not sure,” Yuju replied with a hint of puzzlement in her tone. “I just always assumed that she ended up taking an earlier class session. But, if they actually became a couple I doubt that SinB told Yerin her secret. That would be a relationship ender for sure.”

“All in all, it is definitely strange,” Sowon concluded.

Quack. Quack. Woof. Woof.

“What is this? A farm,” Hyoyeon joked as she passed by the two girls whose text message ringtones went off at the same time.

“Mianhae, Hyoyeon-nim,” Sowon replied to their dance instructor. She and Yuju bowed in apology as they reached into the pocket of their shorts to retrieve their phone. Both of their eyes grew large when they saw the name of the sender: SinB.

Exchanging surprised looks, Sowon and Yuju took a moment to read the message from their friend whom they haven’t heard or seen in days.

6:57 pm

“Hi, guys. I know that I’m the one at fault for breaking our friendship, and you two have every right to be mad at me. But, I was hoping that we could get together and try to make amends. I want to show you the place that I’ve been staying at for the past 3 months. I’ll send the address in another text. Please, come by tonight after practice. I really miss you guys…-SinB.”

Once finished reading, Sowon glanced at Yuju who looked back at her with a pensive expression.

“Do you want to go?” Sowon asked nurturingly as she reached out to hold the younger girl’s hand.

“As long as we go together, I think I’ll be fine,” Yuju softly answered with a reassuring smile.

Rihanna’s “Do Ya Thang” boomed out of the speakers of the practice room. Sowon patted Yuju’s back before falling in line with the group of dancers.

“I can’t believe that we’re bringing her food,” Yuju remarked, gesturing to the takeout bag that Sowon was carrying as they walked into the entrance of the apartment building.

“What do you mean?” Sowon asked, pushing the the elevator button to go up. “Ddeokbokki is the perfect food to call a truce.”

“All I’m saying is that I think we should at least pretend that we’re still angry at her,” Yuju replied, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jacket as they stepped inside the elevator.

“Why keep putting up this charade when we both want to rekindle our friendship with SinB?” Sowon defensively questioned.

“Part of me still feels like we shouldn't have let her off that easy. What she did remains unsettling to me,” Yuju answered as she leaned her back on the wall of the elevator.

“Truthfully, I’m also disappointed that she would sink that low,” Sowon admitted while anxiously fiddling with the plastic bag. “But, she bravely invited us here to tell us the full story. The least we could do is listen.” She glanced at the younger girl whose eyes stubbornly stared at the ground.

The elevator doors opened to the floor where SinB’s apartment was located. Sowon immediately stepped out while Yuju pushed herself off the wall to trudge behind the older girl. Taking out her phone, Sowon checked to see what the apartment number was.

“Keep a look out for G115,” Sowon alerted Yuju. After passing by several rooms, Sowon immediately found the number. “Oh, never mind. Here it is!”

The two of them stood directly in front of the door, both a bit nervous about seeing SinB again. Inhaling and exhaling a deep breath, Sowon gained the courage to close her hand in a brittle fist and knock on the thick, metal door.

But, before her hand met the surface, a loud thud was heard from inside the apartment. Frightened, Sowon quickly withdrew her hand to her side.

“What was that?” Yuju, who was equally startled, whispered to the tall girl.

“I don't know,” Sowon breathed out, brows furrowed in confusion as her heart rate climbed with uncertainty.

Curious, the two bewildered girls placed their ear next to the door’s frigid surface in hopes of getting a better grasp of what might be happening.

“It sounds like there's a snake hissing,” Sowon spoke under her breath.

“M-multiple snakes hissing,” Yuju stuttered as her panic grew. “Sowon-ah, I'm getting goosebumps,” Yuju confessed. She stepped away from the door, unwilling to listen to the intense, eerie noise.

Sowon turned her head towards the younger girl and noticed that the color in Yuju’s face was drained, visibly stricken with distress. Just before Sowon had the chance to comfort her friend, another crash reverberate from the apartment along with several agonizing screams.

SinB-ah, grab the stake behind you!, a female voice cried out.

Sowon and Yuju’s eyes grew when they heard the name of their friend. Gritting her teeth in determination, Sowon aggressively pounded at the door while shaking the handle. To her surprise, the door was unlocked. She proceeded to push it open all the way, revealing an unexpected sight.

There, SinB and Yerin were in a fisticuffs with three very vicious looking men. Both were too involved to notice the two friends’ presence.

In one corner, Yerin was going head to head with two of the guys. Her moves were slick and the punches she threw carried so much precision that it knocked each guy to the floor. One of the tall, lanky men jumped on her back, hoping to tackle her down. But, Yerin proved to be much stronger than she looked. With two hands, she grabbed the guy by his neck and flipped him onto the table which crumbled from the impact. Sticking out her elbow, Yerin slammed it into the guy’s stomach, causing him to gasp in pain. She got up and kicked the other guy square in the jaw.

On the other side of the room, SinB was dealing with a broad-chested man who seemed to be taunting her. In her hand, she tightly held a wooden stake. While there was some hesitation, SinB did not appeared to be scared as she kept her eyes focused on the man’s movements. Suddenly, the man charged towards her. Though they engaged in a light scuffle, SinB was swift enough to forcibly puncture the man in the heart with the stake. In an instant, he succumbed to nothing but dust.

Eyes wide open and mouths gaping, Sowon and Yuju stood frozen at the threshold as they watched their friend and the girl they met a week ago fighting with gumption against a group of men who were pale as the moon and who bared…pointy teeth?

No...They couldn't be…

Before the realization completely dawned upon them, a bat with its wings fully exposed was darting towards them. With a sense of apprehension coursing through her veins, Sowon snapped out of her trance. As if by instinct, she shoved a still petrified Yuju away from the entrance and quickly grabbed the handle to slam the door to a close. The sound of an unsuspecting bat crashing to the door was heard.

Sowon began to breath heavily due to the rush of adrenaline. She stared at Yuju who remained gravely pale. The younger girl tried to walk on her own accord with her long, trembling legs. Worried that she might fall, Sowon hurriedly wrapped an arm around the back of Yuju’s waist to support her. Yuju instinctively placed an arm around the older girl’s neck.

“Are you okay, Yuju-ya?” Sowon asked the distraught girl, her tone filled with concern.

“Sowon-ah,” Yuju, dismissing the question, addressed her friend, “those two girls, were they…”

“SinB and Yerin-ssi? Yes,” Sowon promptly answered.

“And, those guys they were fighting,” Yuju posed another question, “were they…”

“Vampires?” Sowon responded with a gulp. “It appears so.”

Yuju began to nod her head slowly as she tried to understand how Yerin is somehow involved in this, how SinB ruthlessly stabbed that huge guy who just vanished into nothingness, and how vampires actually exist.

“Is it me, Sowon-ah, or everything spin-ning?” Yuju slurred moments before fainting on the older girl.

Yuju. Yuju-unnie. Hey, guys, I think she's starting to wake up!

Yuju’s eyes flittered open at the sound of her name. She realized that she was lying on a mattress. The first face she saw was the worried expression of SinB, then the relieved face of Sowon, and then the sympathetic look on Yerin.

“Oh, thank God,” SinB breathed out, the lines on her forehead beginning to disappear.

“What happened?” Yuju asked, her voice a bit raspy.

“You fainted,” Sowon replied. “I didn't know what to do, so I knocked on SinB’s door. Thankfully, they were finished fighting off the vampires.”

“Vampires. Right. They're real,” Yuju quietly said as the memories flooded back into her mind.

“I'm sorry, Yuju-unnie,” SinB, tone filled with guilt, apologized. “This wasn't suppose to happen. I didn't know that those damn vampires were going show up, but that’s no excuse for putting you two in danger.” She looked down, away from Yuju’s exhausted eyes. “I know that I invited you guys here so we could try to reconcile things. But, I understand if you, both of you,” SinB glanced at Sowon, “decide that you would rather no longer want to be involved with me. I already severely messed up this friendship. It’s probably best and safer that way.”

The room was silent. SinB continued to stare at the ground, waiting for a response and preparing herself for the worst.

“I was mad at you, SinB. Really mad at you,” Yuju spoke up. “But, then, I realized that I still care about you. That if anything bad were to happen to you, I would never forgive myself for neglecting you at a time where you probably needed Sowon and me the most.” She sat herself up in the bed, smiling to herself when everyone in the room rushed to her side in case she needed assistance. Staring directly at SinB, Yuju gave the younger girl a soft smile. “You’ve been my best friend since elementary school, SinB-ah, and you’ll continue to be even when our legs stop working. But, I’m sure that won’t stop you from dancing.” Light giggles were exchanged.

“We really missed you, SinB-ah,” Sowon said as she placed a comforting hand on the younger girl’s shoulder.

SinB looked at the warm expressions on both of her best friends’ faces. She’ll never know how she was able to score such compassionate, loving friends. All she knew was that she was lucky to have them back in her life. Tears of fulfillment began to well up in her eyes.

“You guys are making me get emotional,” SinB said with a shy smile as she wiped her tears away with her thumb.

Touched, Yuju motioned SinB to sit beside her on the bed while Sowon followed suit. Together, the duo embraced the younger girl in a much needed group hug, solidifying their friendship. After a moment, Sowon turned her head to check on Yerin who stood diligently with her hands behind her back, giving the trio their space to recuperate.

“So, Yerin-ssi,” Sowon addressed the girl standing at a respectful distance from the group, “based on those crazy, intense fighting skills you displayed earlier, I assume that you’re a vampire slayer of sorts?”

Yerin shared a quick glance at SinB who gave a slight tilt of her head as if to say, “The subject was bound to come up.”

“Something like that,” Yerin timidly responded with a bashful smile. “Um, actually, Sowon-ssi,” Yerin spoke with hesitation, “I’m a vampire. The good kind!” She quickly added to avoid any chances of causing Yuju to faint again.

“I beg your pardon,” Yuju said, unsure if her ears were playing tricks on her.

“Sowon-unnie, Yuju-ah, you guys heard right,” SinB mustered up the courage to speak. “Yerin-unnie is the reason why I finally told you about my secret after three torturous months of keeping it hidden. One very significant part that I left out the first time I revealed it was that the person who gave me the job, my ‘boss,’ is a vampire, as well. Virgo is his name and he’s pure evil. Those vampires we were fighting were sent by him since I’ve been rejecting my obligations to him.”

“But, I’m a part of an organization, ‘Sisters of the Night’ as we like to be called, that was designed to help people like SinB,” Yerin chimed in with her own exposition. “For the past week, my colleagues and I have been helping her prepare for the inevitable confrontation with Virgo.”

“There’s a lot more things that I need to tell you two,” SinB added as she saw the mixture of surprise and confusion on her friends’ faces. “But, we need to go. I already canceled my lease on this apartment since I’m staying with Yerin at the headquarters, for now. The tenant is only giving me until 11:00 pm to pack up my things and leave, and it’s already nearing the time.”

“Sowon-ssi and Yuju-ssi, you two are welcomed to spend the night at the headquarters,” Yerin offered, walking nearer to the three girls. “It’s the least I can do after the stress SinB-ssi and I unintentionally caused. You girls can talk more in depth there.”

Yuju stayed silent and Yerin could see the proverbial gears turning in the younger girl’s head as she continued to make sense of this entire situation. Sowon cleared and decided to take the reigns of the conversation.

“Are you sure, Yerin-ssi? We don’t want to stir up any trouble or inconvenience,” Sowon politely asked.

“Trust me, guys. It’s absolutely fine,” SinB assured her two friends. “Whatever trouble that may happen will be worth it in the end. Right, Yerin-ah?” She stared at Yerin intensely. Though her back was turned away, SinB could sense that Sowon and Yuju were speculating something.

“Correct, SinB-ah,” Yerin nervously agreed, a bit ashamed that she failed to use the less formal honorific the first time around. “Besides, I don’t think my other two associates will mind the extra company.” She smirked at SinB who responded with a knowing wink.