“I’ve never been scared of your kind.” 

“See?! Humans can really be lovely!” And then I saw him, the President. I saw him touch Bomi’s face as he leans closer to bite and get a good taste of her blood. Just when he was about to feed on her, I was quick to shift in their position and stand between them pushing him away. 

“You shouldn’t be here Bbom-ah. It’s not safe.” I said disregarding the consequences of my actions of disrespecting the head of the Council. I did expect that the guards would rush and pick me up, lock me under the prison hall where Eunji and I stayed but instead.. everyone inside this spacious room stopped moving. It’s like time freezes for me and Bomi to escape. 

“And you shouldn’t be here too.” Wait what? I turn in the direction where the same familiar voice is coming from. It’s Bomi in her red coat. This can’t be.

I tried to look closely to see her face but it’s as hazy as a bad weather sky is. “How?”

“You should stop coming back to this memory, Rong. Time to move on.” Bomi said and that’s when I realize that I’m living in a dream as what humans call it. She then turned her back and started walking away. “No bbom-ah, don’t leave!” I tried to catch up on her but when I’m about to hold her hand, I woke up.

“Thank goodness you’re awake!” Soeun greeted me as she stood from the bed across me and reach for my hand, my palm that’s covered with red cloth. It’s real. “Are you okay? Does it still hurt?”

“Where is she?” I asked but her expression says that she has no idea of who this person I’m looking for is.

I started packing up my things, quickly got out of bed, and storm out of the room. What happened last night is real. There’s no way in hell that I’m alive and resting in this inn if not for her. Bomi couldn’t have gotten far.

“Wait! Hold on a sec! You sure you can travel? We can stay if you need more rest, Chorong.”

“I’m fine, we really need to go now.” 

Soeun followed and as we’re about to exit the inn, the keeper called for our attention. “You two!”

“Oh right! Payment!” Soeun hurriedly digs for gold coins in her bag but stopped when she heard the innkeeper laughed. “It’s paid, isn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

“Did- did you happen to see who brought us here?” I asked hoping that he recognized the face of the chosen one. But hearing his mind filled with confusion, I already knew that he’s just as clueless as Soeun is.

“I’m not the one on duty last night but someone did leave a note for you.” he said and gave me a folded piece of paper with my name on it, Park Chorong.

“Try not to get yourself killed, I’ll see you when the blood moon appears.”

I tried not to show any emotions over reading her message but there’s no denying over the fact that I’m glad that I haven’t gone crazy. That it’s not just some kind of hallucination on missing someone so dearly.

Soeun and I then walked outside and I can’t help but hear her worried, sorry, and grateful thoughts. I’ve been really cold to her when I know I shouldn’t be. 

“Hey.” I called as I stop my steps and face her direction.

And as if she’s just waiting for me to start up a conversation, she bombarded me with words that she’s been trying to conceal for the past hours, “Please don’t be mad at me. I’m really sorry, Chorong! I didn’t mean to- I’m out of control. I-” It’s visible in her eyes that she’s upset. Upset when she shouldn’t be. I am fully aware of the risks I took to save her.

“It’s okay Soeun-ah. I needed to save you and I’m glad that I was able to.”

“You’re too kind to me,” Soeun said and maybe I am, maybe I’ve been really kind. She reminds me of someone so close to my heart. I guess it’s one factor as to how it was easy for me to share things with her. “I don’t know if I could pay the sum of what you did for me but if there’s anything that I could do, tell me.” There is something.

“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask..” 

“Ask me anything! I owe you my life, giving you answers to your questions is the least I could do.” 

“I need to know what happened to you last night.” I said and she started walking towards the far end of the town center, far from the strolling vampires.

“I knew you’re here to take over the ghouls. I, on the other hand, was there to be taken by them. I’m the pawn, Chorong.” Pawn? What does she mean by taken and pawn? This only means that she knows about the situation with the monsters. I’m starting to feel like it’s much complicated than I’m expecting it to be. I looked at her with confusion and let her continue to speak, “It isn’t news to us that someone is attacking vampires and letting them meet their end. Our town leaders made a plan to catch the person behind it. We’re instructed by the government that by the time someone took the said commission, we’d proceed.”

“So you’re saying that you knew about it but didn’t tell me?!” 

“It’s not that I don’t want to say it, I simply can’t.”

I cannot believe how Soeun’s personality matches Bomi well, she’s just as crazy as the other one is. “And you- you just offer yourself with no backups to save you?” Absurd. Because as far as I can remember, when I scouted the area there are no vampires around. Just ghouls.

“The best warriors that our little town has were there but we’re outnumbered and that’s when the mission failed.” With that number of hordes, they should’ve known that their plan wouldn’t work. Though I shouldn’t be the one saying this given that I took this job all by myself. But then again.. I’m built differently. I trained all my life to have this skills in me, blood of the greatest warrior runs in me. 

“Please tell me that you at least saw or recognize the clan behind all this. Who attacked you?” I asked hoping that she didn’t lose it during the process of her death.

“Here comes the crazy part, it is