“Again,” said Jiwoo as she watched Somi try to slice through a thick wooden log with a katana. Somi tried again to which Jiwoo sighed. Somi’s expression changed apologetically as Jiwoo nitpicked everything she was doing wrong. “Your stance is all wrong. Your legs aren’t spread enough. Your feet need to be firm on the ground like roots are holding you down. Your elbows need to be up and you have your hands positioned wrong.”

Somi pouted letting Jiwoo fix her posture and stance. “Sorry.”

“Let me show you.” Jiwoo unsheathed the katana at her waist and raised it up to the log. “You have to visualize your sword cutting through the log in a clean, fluid motion. Like so.” Jiwoo exhaled through her nose and swung her katana. The top part of the log slid off and clattered to the floor as Jiwoo sheathed her sword. “Take a deep breath. Try again.”

Somi nodded and kept her stance that Jiwoo corrected. She gripped onto the hilt of her katana as she breathed out slowly. She raised her elbows and zeroed her focus on the log before swinging. With a clean cut through its middle, the log fell to the ground.

Somi squealed happily. “I did it!!”

“Good job.” Jiwoo smiled and gently tapped Somi’s back between her shoulder blades. “Keep your shoulders relaxed. Don’t tense up.”

Somi, with a huge smile on her face, only nodded at the advice and moved to the next available log to keep practicing. Jiwoo placed her hands on her hips as she watched Somi with a fond smile on her face. The girl had the potential for greatness, that much was obvious. So long as she doesn’t let her nerves get the best of her like they always do.

“How’s she doing?” Jiwoo heard a voice ask.

She turned to see her friends, Mark and Jinyoung walking up to her. Jiwoo smiled. “She’s doing great actually. She’s getting the hang of it. There’s definitely been a lot of growth since she first got here.”

Somi had come to headquarters only a few months ago. Her town was attacked by vampires and she was among the few who escaped. When she first arrived, she knew little of fighting, let alone using a weapon. It was Somi’s determination and passion for protecting others and her drive to live with a real purpose other than just living and existing that Jiwoo had decided to train her. Those were qualities Jiwoo saw as important for becoming a vampire hunter.

Mark glanced over at Somi as she trained with her katana and hummed impressed. “Think she could beat Chungha though?”

Jiwoo peeked around her friends to look at Chungha who was sparring with another trainee. Chungha is the most all-around skilled trainee they had at headquarters right now. She excels the most in combat and is at the top of the class. She had arrived at headquarters just before Somi had and has been training with Mark ever since.

“Chungha is great, but Somi was trained by the best,” Jiwoo boasted. She and her fraternal twin brother, Jungkook are known as the best hunters. No one had ever been as good or is as good as them other than the vampire hunter’s leader, Jeon Joonhyuk who is their father.

Jinyoung laughed. “She’s got a point there, hyung.”

Mark snorted at Jinyoung’s comment and nudged Jiwoo with his elbow. “Only one way to find out.” He whistled gaining Somi’s attention and waved her over. Somi shuffled over quickly, bowing her head to Mark and Jinyoung. “What do you say about making your training a little more interesting,” Mark asked. “Are you up for sparring with Chungha?”

Somi’s eyes widened a little in fear. “With...her?” She pointed just as Chungha knocked yet another person out of the ring. She had been sparring with people all day today and not one person had beaten her. Not yesterday either. Or any day before that. Chungha is the best and most feared trainee and no one could change that. Probably not even Somi even if she was trained by Jiwoo.

Somi gulped, her eyes locking with Chungha’s for a moment. “Um...I, uh...I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“Nonsense. You’re ready,” said Mark with a grin. “Two minutes, okay? Get ready.” He turned away, moving toward Chungha to tell her to get ready to spar with Somi.

Somi whined. “But I don’t want to…”

Jinyoung placed a reassuring hand on Somi’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’ll do great. Just remember to watch for your moment to strike. There’s always an opening to attack.”

Jiwoo smiled and nodded. “You got this. Don’t worry.” She placed a gentle hand on Somi’s back as they went over to the fighting ring. “Remember what I taught you. If your sword is knocked from your hand—”

“Sweep their legs and use the dagger,” Somi recalled back to the training.

“Exactly. And in this case, you could also steal her weapon away from her.” Jiwoo passed over a wooden sword and dagger to Somi. “And remember, don’t tense up. It’ll show hesitation. Also, don’t hesitate. Just do.”

Somi nodded, “Okay. I’ll try.” She slipped the wooden dagger into the holster at her hip and stepped up into the rink. She gripped tightly onto the hilt of the wooden sword and gulped down her nervousness.

Chungha stood at the opposite end of the ring expressionless as she twirled the wooden sword in her hand. Somi took in a deep breath. She had to calm herself or Chungha will throw her out of the ring in half a second. Somi settled for concentrating on Chungha’s feet looking at how she moved as they circled each other. Not one misstep. This made Somi worried and a little intimidated. Her eyes flicked up to Chungha’s face where she still looked expressionless only with fire in her eyes and an aura of confidence radiating off of her. It made Somi feel a little more intimidated, but she forced it down and didn’t let it get to her. She had to make Jiwoo proud.

When Mark blew the whistle for their fight to start, both girls hopped off their back foot and launched at each other. Their wooden swords clashed as both girls skillfully blocked all attacks. They constantly went back and forth with hitting each other back but quickly regaining. Somi noticed a glint of frustration in Chungha’s eyes. She had been winning to everyone for a long time, she hadn’t ever had someone to actually spar with like this. Everyone else was too easy, this was a challenge.

Jiwoo examined the battle with a proud smile on her face. Somi has definitely improved from when she arrived. She’s already improved from just the week before. Jiwoo was amazed at how well Somi was keeping her nerves together. She wasn’t tensing nor was there even a hint of hesitation in her.

As if in the blink of an eye, Somi had lost the wooden sword but quickly recovered by stealing Chungha’s straight out of her hand. Somi rushed Chungha with her shoulder knocking her back and swept Chungha’s legs out from under her. Chungha fell to the ground with a grunt and didn’t get up. Somi panted heavily, her hair falling out of its ponytail as she held the wooden sword at Chungha’s throat in victory. Everyone watched stunned. Had Chungha really lost? Everything happened so fast, no one knew how to react.

Chungha smiled as she propped herself up on her elbows as everyone started to cheer for Somi. Somi couldn’t help but smile back at Chungha and moved the wooden sword to her side. She held a hand out to the other girl offering to help her up.

Chungha took the hand offered to her and got up with Somi’s help. “We should spar more often. This was fun.”

Somi grinned and nodded in agreement. “Sure. I’d like that.”

Jiwoo smirked and nudged Mark’s side. “Told you Somi was trained by the best.”

Mark rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

Jiwoo giggled and hugged his arm, “Aw, is someone angry?”

“No,” Mark denied with a scoff. He upturned his chin and crossed his arms like a child making Jiwoo believe even more that he had been angry. She grinned wide and poked his cheek.

“You’re totally angry~” Mark ignored her. “Oh, come on, oppa. Don’t be like that.” Jiwoo continued to poke his cheek knowing he would eventually get even angrier. Mark’s eye twitched in annoyance as he swatted her hand away from his face and turned away.

Jiwoo giggled and squeezed his arm gently just as someone called out to them. “Mark hyung! Jiwoo!”

Jiwoo peered around Mark’s shoulder to notice Yugyeom running toward them. He stopped next to Mark and caught his breath. He seemed to have been running the whole time. What was he running for? “Your dad has something he wants to tell everyone. He says it’s urgent,” Yugyeom said.

“You don’t think it has anything to do with my brother, do you?” Jiwoo asked worriedly.

Yugyeom shrugged, his brow furrowing with worry. “I really hope not.”

All of the hunters filed into the hall waiting to hear the news. They didn’t know if it was good news or bad news but they were eager to hear it.

Jiwoo sat between Jinyoung and her roommate and partner, Rosé and waited just as eagerly as everyone else to hear what her father had to say. If it was bad news about her brother, Jiwoo wasn’t prepared to hear it. She didn’t want anything bad to have happened to him.

Joonhyuk stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat for everyone’s attention. The entire hall fell silent immediately after. “I’m afraid I stand before you to tell you bad news.” Gasps floated around the hall as he spoke. “Jungkook’s mission has ended unsuccessfully. He was killed by the vampire he was sent after.”

Tears filled Jiwoo’s eyes as she heard this. She didn’t want to believe it. Her brother couldn’t have been dead, could he? He was one of the best. How could he have just been killed all of a sudden? Rosé grabbed Jiwoo’s hand to comfort her as tears slipped down Jiwoo’s cheeks. Could he really be gone?

After the announcements were finished, Jiwoo stood with Rosé, Mark, Jinyoung, and Yugyeom just outside of the hall. Jiwoo was quiet as the other four had a conversation about her twin brother. Her chest tightened at every mention of his name. She couldn’t bear the thought that he was gone.

“Jiwoo,” she heard her father call out to her. She looked up and he motioned her to follow him with a nod. She did so quietly not uttering a word to the others and trailed behind him to his office.

“Now’s not the time to mourn him, Jiwoo,” said Joonhyuk as he handed her the file. “This is the vampire he went after. The one who killed Jungkook. Find him and eliminate him.”

Jiwoo flipped through the file feeling her blood start to boil with rage when she saw the vampire’s face. The longer she stared at his picture, the angrier she became. All she could imagine was a smirk on the vampire’s stupid face when he tore Jungkook apart. He was going to pay and Jiwoo would make sure he suffered for it.

“Set out as soon as possible. Get it done quickly.”

Jiwoo nodded. “I’ll tell Rosé and we’ll head out—”

“No,” Joonhyuk interrupted. “You go alone.”

“But, dad,” Jiwoo protested, “you sent Jungkook without Yugyeom and he’s dead now. I have to take Rosé with me. This vampire could be dang—”

“No,” shouted Joonhyuk. Jiwoo twitched at his shout. “You are going alone. Taking Rosé with you will only slow you down. Set out as soon as possible. Get it done quickly.”

Jiwoo shut from arguing with her father further and bowed her head. She turned and left Joonhyuk’s office going in the direction of the dorms. Jiwoo hoped Rosé wasn’t in their room when she went there to pack, but that’s exactly where she was.

“What did he want?” Rosé asked, raising to her feet when Jiwoo walked in. Jiwoo silently handed her the file and moved over to their weapons closet. She opened it up and pulled open a drawer and scanned through the various types of silver arrows, daggers, knives, and shuriken that lined it.

“He’s cute,” Rosé said as she looked at the picture of the vampire. “It’s too bad, right?” She walked over to Jiwoo still holding the file as she read on. “So, when do we set out?”

Jiwoo sighed as she pulled two daggers from the closet and placed them into the holsters on her hip. “He wants me to go alone.”

“What?!” exclaimed Rosé, her eyes widened. “He can’t do that. He sent Jungkook by himself and now—”

“Yeah. I told him that.” Jiwoo spoke softly as she grabbed her katana and sheathed it.

Rosé shook her head as she crossed her arms. “No. No way. I’m not letting you go alone. He can’t let you go by yourself. I have to go with you.”

“He said you’ll only slow me down,” Jiwoo said as she tied the katana to the belt at her hip.

Rosé frowned. “I’ll convince him. You’ll see.” She shoved the file back into Jiwoo’s hands and stormed out of their room.

Jiwoo sighed and packed a couple throwing knives in her belt and hid two in her boots. She sat on her bed and stared at the picture of the vampire she had to hunt. “Rosé is right about him being cute. It is too bad,” she muttered. “Too bad he killed my brother. His stupid cute face won’t save him.”

Jiwoo grit her teeth and threw the open file onto her bed. Her blood boiled with adrenaline as she visualized in her head of her driving a dagger into the vampire’s chest and stabbing him repeatedly until he stopped moving. For Jungkook, she thought before moving to continue packing.