"I have classes, sorry."

Tzuyu rolled her eyes, "No you don't, Chaengie. It's wednesday."

"Oh riiiiight," Chaeyoung laughed so loudly that Tzuyu had to distance the phone from her ear. "But you know what, unfortunately Sana's sick and well, when she's sick she gets really...needy so I–"

"But I saw her at the library yesterday and she didn't look like she was sick at all."

"Well... Uh– yeah." Chaeyoung cleared .

There was silence on both ends for a while before Tzuyu's concerned voice softly asked, "How is she? Do you need help–"

"Nooo, no, no, we're good. She'll be okay with a little rest...I think?" Tzuyu heard someone cutely giggle in the background and she was sure it wasn't Chaeyoung. "Anyway, I'll be staying over at hers till she's recovered so don't worry about us."

"Okay. Take good care of her,"

Chaeyoung laughed. "I will."

"If you need help–"

"I'll call, thanks Tzu. Sorry we can't make it."

Tzuyu shook her head even though she knew Chaeyoung couldn't see her. "It's fine. I'll see you guys later?"

"Of course. Bye, Tzuyu!"

"Bye," Tzuyu sighed as she hung up the phone. She turned to the vampire and pouted. "They said they can't come."

"Do I look like I care?"

Tzuyu's bottom lip jutted out even further. "You're so mean. Do you want to go or not?"

Mina rolled her eyes and mumbled some words under her breath grumpily, making Tzuyu wonder: was the vampire casting a spell to kill her or was she just cursing at her? Maybe it was both?

Mina was hesitant to answer. She didn't want to look like she was too enthusiastic about the offer to see the white-and-black animals– it hurt her pride greatly... Not that her pride hadn't taken really harsh blows already in the past week. But sleeping on the couch was one thing, agreeing to be taken to this 'zoo' as if she was an infant was another. 

...but Mina found herself agreeing anyway.

She leaned against the door with a soft sigh, dressed in a plain red hoodie (that ironically had a so-called-vampire on it, Mina felt embarrassed but...Tzuyu had insisted.) and jeans. 

"You're not getting your coat?" The mortal asked her, coming out of her room wearing a yellow dress that reached her knees, throwing her coat around her shoulders. 

For the last few days the weather had been surprisingly nice (not that it affected her much) so the vampire shook her head. "I'll be fine." Mina raised an eyebrow and looked the mortal up and down. "Why are you still not dressed?"

Tzuyu stared blankly at her. "I...am?"

Mina did go out a lot– mostly to feed on whatever animal she could find (and rarely humans so she could get a decent taste left in every now and then) but she had never seen anyone wearing anything like Tzuyu. She decided it could be because of the sudden weather change and shrugged it off, heading towards the door. Although the fact that Tzuyu was going out half- (at least according to her) was a little bit disturbing.

"Wait!"

Before she knew it, a curtain was drawn over her eyes– immediately Mina grabbed whatever was on her head and conjured a fireball in the other, clearly annoyed by the look on her face. Just as she was about to burn the damn thing, Tzuyu held her wrist, "No! Wait!"

Mina turned the direction of her glare to the mortal and Tzuyu felt incredibly small all of a sudden.

"It -It'll keep the sun out of your face..."

A few seconds of silence passed before Mina gave in with a huff, putting the bucket hat on. 21st century hats were ridiculous, she knew that much. But seeing her reflection in the mirror inside the elevator, Mina felt embarrassed.

"I look ridiculous."

Tzuyu was quick to protest, "Nooo, you look cute."

Mina made a face.

Cute? Mina, an immortal being who drank blood and flashed her predatory fangs whenever she smiled, looked cute? 

....

...This mortal was out of her damn mind.

"Why are there so many children..."

Mina took her time to observe her surroundings. It was very crowded– different kinds of smells in the air. Mina felt slightly disturbed by the mixed smells of the many flavors humans had.

"Should I take you to see the penguins first? Oh oh, the giraffes are quite beautiful too. There's also–"

Mina zoned out as Tzuyu rambled on. Her features softened and the look of disgust on her face turned into amusement, the familiar lovely smell of the mortal wafting over her, chasing other smells out of her nose.

"Mina?"

Mina kept staring up at Tzuyu, it was really intimidating so the taller girl immediately tried to correct what she thought she was doing wrong: "I-I mean unnie? Mina unnie?" The fact she had never called the vampire by her name until this very moment surprised her.

Mina just stared.

Tzuyu wanted to die.

"O-Oh, um, shall I call you by your surname? ...Myoui-ssi?"

Silence.

"...your... immortal Excellency?"

Mina was enjoying this more than she should. Tzuyu was so flustered that she couldn't stay still– she was slightly jumping on her heels, biting the inside of her cheek, her eyes searching for a place to settle on. And it's not like Mina especially listened to Tzuyu's heart or anything but she also happened to notice how fast her heart was beating.

She decided to end the mortal's misery as the poor human looked like she was about to cry any second now. With a small chuckle her lips twitched and she smiled. "As much as I like the sound of that, I guess 'Myoui-ssi' will do it for now."

It was a little too formal for Tzuyu's liking but she decided not to push it. Clearly Mina wasn't much of a people person.

Suddenly a question popped into her head.

"Hey, Myoui-ssi, how come you know how to speak Korean? Hasn't the language changed over the years?"

"Well, I can't read because of the new alphabet and of course there's a lot of changes in the language itself..." Mina grabbed the tip of her bucket hat, blocking the weak rays of sunlight. "Don't compare your mortal self to me though– there's a spell we cast on the ones we put to sleep. Until the spell wears off, the sleeping vampires feed off the basic knowledge of the living vampire who put the spell on them in the first place."

"What happens when the spell wears off?"

"The knowledge transfer stops." Mina answered as she looked around for a sign that had penguins on it.

Tzuyu thought of all this info to be incredibly intriguing. Vampires were much complex creatures than everyone thought. She wanted to learn more. "Who was the one that put the spell on you?"

Mina's eyes finally caught a sign that was shaped like a penguin. "My mother."

Considering her close to none knowledge of the 21st century and even the ones long before it, Mina predicted her knowledge transfer to have stopped a few centuries after she was put to an eternal(?) sleep. Which meant... she didn't have any alive family member left.

Tzuyu suspected that was the case, and when a look of sadness flashed in Mina's eyes (even though it was for a split second), her thoughts were unfortunately confirmed.

Suddenly Mina said something that made Tzuyu stop walking.

"Beggars are allowed in?"

Tzuyu searched for a way to answer, completely confused why Mina would say such a thing.

"I... What?"

"That man. His pants are ripped pretty badly. And his hair is all messed up. Isn't he a beggar? He even has his sleeping rug with him."

Tzuyu looked into the direction Mina was staring at: there was a man with ripped jeans and incredibly messy hair sitting on a bench, a guitar case resting against his leg as he stared at his phone.

Tzuyu tried.

She really did. 

But she just couldn't.

"What's so funny, Chou?"

She stopped laughing only when she saw Mina folding her arms, her eyes flashing a very bright red under the shade of her hat without her lenses.

"N-Nothing! It's just, he's not–" A small chuckle escaped no matter how hard she tried to hold it back. "He's not a beggar. And that's...that's not a sleeping bag, it's a guitar case." Tzuyu ended her sentence with a huge grin, her cheeks flushed.

Mina couldn't glare harder. Who in their right mind would wear ripped pants if they weren't poor? It didn't make any sense. Rolling her eyes so hard that they hurt, she stomped her way towards the direction the penguin sign was pointing at. Tzuyu followed behind, her soft eyes set on the immortal girl.

Mina really was adorable.

***

"There!"

Mina watched one of the penguins walk towards the edge of the big rock and jump into the water just like in the Tv. There were various squeaking sounds Mina heard, and from the corner of her eye she saw Tzuyu producing some of them. 

"Please stop." Although her voice sounded colder than ice, a small amused smile played on Mina's lips.

Embarrassed, Tzuyu chuckled sheepishly before silently watching the cute penguins.

Mina loved seeing them in real life. But once she noticed the fences around the penguins, she frowned. She looked back and under her bucket hat, her eyes caught the sight of a huge cage people were gathered around– there were a few bears in it. She turned around, seeing a few more cages with supposedly dangerous animals. "I thought you of all people would despise a place like this– animals locked up in cages for people to view them for a twisted form of 'fun'." 

Mina could feel Tzuyu's gaze on her. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe this human wasn't as nice and innocent as she thought.

But the mortal proved her wrong once more.

"I do. But this is different. These animals are rescued from the wild– they're not strong enough to survive on their own. They're well fed and happy here." Tzuyu had a gentle smile on her face the entire the time she spoke. 

"Let's go see the giraffes!"

Before the vampire could even say anything, Tzuyu ran off. With a sigh, Mina had no choice but to follow.

After an hour of learning all the animals and feeling like a complete idiot, Mina just wanted to go home.

"Myoui-ssi! Look, that's Gogo!"

"You named a bear..?"

"I've been visiting him since he was a little cub. He's grown so much–"

Mina coughed, a familiar disgusting smell reaching up her nose. She hated her heightened sense of smell at times like these. Tzuyu rubbed her back, soothing her.

"Are you okay?" Tzuyu asked softly.

Mina knew where or who the smell was coming from. A man was standing a few feet away from them, smoke coming out of his mouth. Mina glared at him as she straightened up, her lungs not used to breathing such air. It reminded her of their annoying ex-neighbor.

"Excuse me!" Tzuyu marched up to the man much to the vampire's surprise. She stopped right in front of the tall man, folding her arms, her brows creased. "Smoking is prohibited in the area of the zoo, mister."

The man looked apologetic and immediately put out the cigarette between his fingers. "Oh, I am so sorry. I completely forgot–"

Tzuyu's features softened and she shot him a smile. "It's okay, mister. I'm sorry if I startled you, I was just concerned about the animals."

"No, please don't apologize." He smiled back. "Do you work here, miss?"

"Nope. Just here to visit." She looked over her shoulder and found Mina shooting daggers from her eyes to the both of them. "I-I have to go now– have a good day mister!"

Once she returned to Mina's side, the vampire grabbed her arm tight enough to hurt her. "Why did you talk to that thug for so long?" She spat out her words like they were poison.

"He's not a thug. He was actually pretty nice." Tzuyu put her hand on Mina's, trying to free her arm from her death grip.

"He has that stick of disgusting smoke in his mouth so excuse me for not believing you."

"It's called a cigarette and Myoui-ssi, not everyone who smokes is a bad person, okay?" Tzuyu was speaking so calmly, trying to explain. "I mean Chaeyoung smokes too but she's the cutest, nicest person you'll ever meet."

Mina still had her doubts since she didn't think of Chaeyoung anything like that. But she'd be lying if she said she wasn't surprised.

"Fine." 

She just had to take Tzuyu's word for it.

Tzuyu leaned down, her hand still resting on Mina's cold one, "Wanna go see the penguins one last time before we go?"

With a scoff, Mina walked away.

"Um, it's this way..." Tzuyu said behind her, pointing in the opposite direction Mina was walking to.

Making a quick u-turn, the vampire pulled the tip of her bucket hat down as she passed by Tzuyu, a light blush adorning her cheeks from embarrassement.

***

Once again looking at the penguins, Mina rested her elbows on the railing.

"You must really love them..."

Not liking Tzuyu's teasing tone, Mina threw her a glare. "I don't love them. I just admire them."

"But you were smiling so wide just now."

"I was not. You were hallucinating."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you weren't."

"Yes, I was." Tzuyu made a confused face. "Wait, what? Hey–"

"Chou, the penguin is waving at you."

Tzuyu's neck snapped towards the penguins so hard, the vampire was scared she'd break it. And even though no penguin was waving at her, Tzuyu waved at them like they were with a huge smile before hitting Mina's arm with a laugh. 

Mina's lips twitched into a smile as she listened the sound of Tzuyu's soft chuckles. She made no effort to hide it this time.

"Wait right here, okay? I have to go to the bathroom real quick. I'll be back!"

Mina rolled her eyes (for the umpteenth time that day) at the mortal's words that made her seem like a child, watching as the girl ran off to the nearest bathroom.

She stared at the penguins for a little longer, observing their every move. After a while she decided to go see the lions everyone seemed so excited about (except for Tzuyu who admitted she was a little scared of the said animal). She had seen a few in real life before but she wanted to know if they were the same as centuries before. It didn't seem like Tzuyu was gonna come anytime soon anyway. So she walked off her spot, heading towards the direction she guessed the lions were.

And that's how one of the oldest, most powerful vampire Myoui Mina got lost in the zoo.

It sounded ridiculous and it was ridiculous. Mina was a hunter, she could track where the penguins were but the scents of hundreds of mortals messed up her nose. So she wandered around and trusted her instincts. Just as her surroundings started to seem familiar, a loud voice almost deafened her.

"Attention please, Myoui Mina, your guardian is waiting for you by the exit. I repeat, Myoui Mina your guardian is waiting for you by the exit."

Guardian? Surely, she doesn't mean Tzuyu.

Mina didn't know who this lady was and she wasn't sure if she could trust her. This lady(?) from the sky seemed pretty determined to make her go to the exit (which was visible from where she was standing), that it was a little suspicious. But then again, rather than wandering around the zoo aimlessly, Mina would prefer to take the sky lady's advice. So she did.

Once she went by the exit, she saw Tzuyu standing there just like the sky lady had said.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Tzuyu made a move to hug her but then decided not to when Mina threw her a look, awkwardly retracting her hands. "Sorry."

"I thought you said she was six." A short lady spoke next to Tzuyu, her displeasure obvious from her tone.

This voice...the sky lady! This small lady was the sky lady! Mina couldn't help but be disappointed, she had not imagined someone like her at all when she pictured the mighty being who spoke to her.

"I uh– she–"  Tzuyu tripped over her own words. "THANKS FOR YOUR HELP! BYE!"

Tzuyu practically ran and dragged Mina towards her car by the arm for reasons the vampire couldn't quite grasp.

Then she saw something. Something that made her stop right in her tracks. Something that made her envious.

There was a stand– full of animal plushies and souvenirs. Mina set her eyes on the penguin one, it looked so soft and adorable and the vampire wished such dolls existed when she was a kid. Although she doubted her mother would have bought it for her anyway.

"Want me to buy you one?"

Mina flinched at Tzuyu's chirpy voice and brought the tip of her bucket hat down (it was starting to become a habit). "No. I don't want something as ugly as that." With that she walked away, leaving a pouting Tzuyu by the plushie stand.

"She didn't mean it," Tzuyu patted the penguin's head with a small smile before getting in the car herself.