Jaewon opens the door to the bed chamber just when Hanbyul’s tears dried. He looks between the three of them and the body of the beheaded rogue laying between them. The room reeks of the rogue’s blood and carnage.

“Hanbin,” he says, startling the leader from his stunned disposition.

Hanbin turns his head to acknowledge him. “We’re fine. It’s the rogue’s blood.”

“Thank heavens you woke up just in time,” Jaewon replies. “I don’t know what would happen if—”

“Byul-ah, can you go with uncle Jaewon?” Hanbin the top of Hanbyul’s head once more before kissing it. An assuring pat on the back helps her to stand. “We need to clean up the mess, and I don’t want her see more than she already has,” Hanbin explains.

Jaewon stares distrustfully at the vampyre hunter, who still seems be in some state of shock, then back to his master. The way he looks at Jinhwan makes Jaewon feel uneasy. He feels as though he’s losing his mentor and best friend over to some unknown forces. Gloom settles on his handsome face as it shifts between obedience and concern.

The little girl sniffles but yields to Hanbin’s request, quickly running over to hold onto Jaewon’s leg where she can reach him. Jaewon smiles warmly down at her and scoops her up in his arms. “Hanbyul-ah, let’s get you clean and pretty again,” he whispers in her ear and grins when she tucks her head under his chin.

Turning his head back toward the pair, Jaewon pleads with Hanbin once more. “If this is about feeding you his blood, you know it was the only way. You can’t fault us for that.”

“We’ll talk about this later. Please, leave us.” The vampire’s impatient voice chills the room.

Jaewon’s face freezes at his uncharacteristic tone. “Fine…” the fledgling shakes his head at whatever he was going to say. “Don’t take too long." He exits the room with door closing behind him, effectively leaving Hanbin alone with the hunter and a bloody headless body.

Hanbin glances at the slight man in front of him who appears to be in a catatonic state. Surely, he’s beheaded many vampyres before in his lifetime so the act shouldn’t have startled him. He has been both the judge and executioner for so long. But the hunter continues to sit, facing him with an unfocused gaze. Something must have triggered this reaction, and Hanbin intends to find out what it is. A hunter who swore he hates vampyres doesn’t become a donor and help defend a coven over night. Perhaps, if he’s a compassionate human, but even the kind ones wouldn’t go to such length. In any case, he’s an enigma that Hanbin can’t figure out.

Hanbin inches carefully toward the hunter like he would to a nervous fawn, with slow purposeful steps. Once in front of him, he kneels down at his eye level and attempts to wake him. The hunter remains too far gone, his pupils dilated and breath short and shallow.

Fascinated with the man, Hanbin stares insatiably at him like a moth drawn to a flame. Sitting here unadorned in what looks like Donghyuk’s old work clothes, he seems lost and afraid, more like a young farm boy than a vampyre hunter. Blood taints his golden hair to a dull brown. In contrast to his slender face, a pair of plump lips open slightly to form a slacked pout, above it, a nose that seems perfectly proportioned to his features. Hanbin recalls those scathing eyes when they first met. He remembers them from his fevered dreams, though he never remembers the content. The heat from those eyes, however, remains with him long after he wakes.

Hanbin lays his hand on his shoulder and gently shakes it once. Still peering into a blank face, he speaks the first words that came to his mind. “Thank you.”

He doesn’t get a response other than the slight flicker of his own reflection in a pair of flat eyes.

Taking it as encouragement, he continues speaking. “Just now, you helped defend our home and protected my sister.” Hanbin takes one of the man’s folded hands and holds it in his, absently noting the smallness of it. This hand once came straight for his throat, now the same hand saved his entire world.

“Even before this, I know you spared my life. It doesn’t matter why, I no longer need to know. All I know is, I’m indebted to you, and now you to me.”

*

The surrounding ebbs back to Jinhwan, and he regards the vampire kneeling in front of him with a frown. The vampire’s black orbs are darker than when they first met. He senses something different with the vampire somehow. Though, with the exception of where the blood had sprayed onto his face and his nightshirt, he looks the same as ever. Tousled dark hair contrasts a thin face that’s always a shade too pale and piercing eyes that see right through him. Exactly the way Jinhwan remembers from their first blush with death. Unlike in his dreams, though, the vampire acts differently, not overly confident and forward but curious and open.

What did he say? Or rather, what did they talked about?

Jinhwan doesn’t know how long he sat like this. Once again, he lost consciousness which is becoming a troublesome reoccurrence. When he looks again, he finally recognizes the gratitude in vampire’s eyes. He finds it embarrassing. Even at the guild, he hates being idolized like he’s a saint. The irony isn’t lost on him, a vampire slayer saving a nest of vampires. He’ll be shamed and ostracized at the guild. He only acted on instincts, but it is unmistakably true. He can’t decipher what his actions mean at the moment, but something has already shifted within him, and it’s as irreversible as the flow of rivers.

“I,” Jinhwan says, his voice rough from lack of moisture. “Vampires or not, I couldn’t watch a little girl die in front of me. I certainly didn’t know she is your sister. And, and I don’t understand what you mean by before.” He scratches the bridge of his nose to gather his thoughts. “Look, the current situation is more complicated than you think.”

Hanbin smiles again, and the grin does a number of things to Jinhwan’s heart.

What is it you desire, my dear hunter?

Jinhwan suppresses a shiver and scrambles to his feet in the most inelegant way. He searches in vain for a reason to excuse himself. Any excuse will do. “Anyway, we made a deal and—”

The vampire squeezes his hand, stopping him in place. When had he grab ahold of it?

“I suppose you already know my name.” Hanbin states. With his own face downturned, Jinhwan can’t see if Hanbin is being serious. He lets the vampire study his hand as though it holds all the answers in the universe, turning it over this way and that.

“Yeah, and I suppose you want mine,” Jinhwan grunts, as they use each other as leverage to stand up on their feet. He starts to pull away but the vampire holds stubbornly onto his wrist.

“Well?” Hanbin tilts his head to the side. The unconscious gesture makes him look inquisitive and charming.

Jinhwan scowls, distorting his face to cover his emotions. He only wants to go home and forget any of this ever happen. Back to his old life, back to his friends, his family, to what he knows. Back to a world where vampires remain nameless and heartless. But of course, nobody here wants to give