Rosé groaned as she struggled to keep up with Mark and Yugyeom. Her feet were tired from all the walking. They hadn’t stopped to take a break once since they started heading back to headquarters. She was exhausted. “Hey, guys. Wait up.” She pouted and tried to quicken her pace.

Both Mark and Yugyeom stopped to look back at her only to notice someone was stalking them from the shadows. Mark squinted his eyes at the figure and his eyes widened when he noticed piercing red eyes, sharp claws and blood covering the entire front of the creature.

“Rosé! Look out,” he shouted trying to pull out his gun. Yugyeom, now on alert, also pulled out his katana and ran toward Rosé.

She frowned and looked back when the creature jumped at her. She screamed and braced herself for impact with the vampire, but there was nothing. She looked out from behind her hands to see the vampire standing frozen just behind her with its claws in the air. It let out a choking noise and looked down at the katana that was stabbed through its chest from the back.

Rosé looked at Mark and Yugyeom who were watching the scene stunned. The vampire started to shriek and scream in pain as its body started to burn starting from around the katana. It let out a cry of agony before bursting into a pile of ash.

Rosé, Mark, and Yugyeom all frowned. This wasn’t an ordinary vampire. They don’t turn into a pile of ash when they’re killed. Their bodies simply start to rot upon their death. Even if you put them in the sun, it takes days until they actually turn into ash. What kind of creature was this?

“Are you all okay?” their savior asked as he sheathed his katana.

“Y-Yeah...thanks,” Rosé said, straightening up.

Yugyeom’s eyes slowly widened when he recognized who the person that saved them was. “B-Bambam? But...how? You—”

Bambam twitched when Yugyeom spoke and, without another word, turned and disappeared among the trees.

Rosé looked up at Yugyeom, “Bambam? Your old partner? I thought he died?”

“I thought so, too,” Yugyeom spoke, his voice breaking. Rosé saw the hurt in his eyes and moved to give Yugyeom a hug, but Mark cut her off.

“We need to hurry back.” He grabbed onto Rosé’s hand. “Come on. We’ll discuss Bambam later.”

Mark turned and led Rosé down the path. Yugyeom trailed behind, many thoughts running through his mind. How was Bambam still alive? What happened after he ran away that day? What if he didn’t run away and stayed to help Bambam? What if…

Just outside of headquarters, they stared up at the gate.

“You guys ready to die?” Rosé asked gripping tightly on Mark’s hand. He had held her hand the whole way back and he still wasn’t about to let it go. It actually made Rosé feel safe like nothing was going to hurt her.

“Let’s go,” Mark said as he walked in first leading the other two into the gate.

Instantly, they were surrounded by guards.

“Any chance you guys are just welcoming us back?” Rosé asked in a joking manner. None of the guards laughed or even had the slightest reaction to the joke making her shrink against Mark’s side. “Gee...tough crowd.”

Yugyeom, Mark, and Rosé were all pushed forcibly into Joonhyuk’s office. Rosé jumped when the door slammed behind them loudly.

Joonhyuk turned toward them and he did not look happy. “What made you all think you could just leave like that? None of you had a mission and I’m more than positive that I specifically told you”—his voice raised as he glared at Rosé—“that you couldn’t go with Jiwoo on this mission.”

“Technically, I didn’t go with her… I… went after her,” Rosé pointed out quietly.

Joonhyuk crossed his arms. “You still went against my order. You disobeyed me and because of you, Mark and Yugyeom are going to get punished as well.”

Rosé bit her bottom lip and looked down as she toyed with the silver bracelet on her wrist. He was right. She dragged Mark and Yugyeom into this for no reason. It wasn’t their business and now they’re in trouble.

Mark glanced at Rosé noticing her discomfort and took a step forward distracting Joonhyuk from yelling at her further. “Please, sir, hear us out. We discovered something when we were out there. It’s why we came back.”

“I don’t care.” Joonhyuk looked at the guards by the door and nodded. “Lock them up.”

“Please— Listen, there’s something dangerous out there,” said Mark as one of the guards yanked on his arm. “They’re not animals and definitely not vampires—”

Joonhyuk said nothing and turned his back to them. Rosé grabbed onto Mark’s arm to stop him from fighting the guard and shook her head. “It’s no use, he won’t listen,” she said.

“But he has to. Jiwoo is out there by herself with those...things running around. He has to love his daughter enough to hear us out,” Mark said, yanking his arm away from the guard and slammed on Joonhyuk’s desk. “Sir—”

Joonhyuk didn’t turn around as he spoke. “I don’t have time to waste listening to your stories. Get out. You’ve all angered me enough.”

“W-Wait, sir, but Jiwoo—”

“Jiwoo knows her job. She knows the risks. If she dies, she’ll have died with honor,” Joonhyuk said glaring toward Mark. “Jiwoo knows her place. You should know yours.”

Mark immediately shut his mouth and followed the guards out without another word.