THE SHAMAN King hung the call up after receiving the report from the Manshin that Seulgi and Irene visited that very day. For quite a while, the king himself remained silent as he was deep into his thoughts. Did he just confirm something?

For the fifth time, minutes after the call ended, the king gave out a sigh of unknown emotion. There are times that he would just smile and times that he would look like he is about to face some big danger.

“I can’t believe it…” He said under his breath. Finally, he managed to say something. Memories then started flashing at the back of his head; the scene of that day where Seulgi was examined by the elders and was given the judgment of being a zero. After sending her beloved daughter away with a heavy heart, the highest ranking elder came unto him and told him something that he has to be careful of in the future.

“There was only one person from this family whose future can’t be accessed even with just a glimpse.” Jaewook’s attention was caught by the picture posted on his wall. “It was only Euigeon but now…” His stare went from his son down to his daughter who was smiling really wide on the said photograph.

“And now you too, Seulgi-ya?” The king then brushed his hair back with his fingers. “If only I can talk to that elder again. I believe she wouldn’t answer my question even if I asked another shaman to be the mediator of the spirit and physical world. Are you really behind all of this?”

He then poured himself some wine and gave out another sigh before drinking it in one shot. “With that, it is a good thing that she and Joohyun are going to stay in a house of their own. It’s fortunate that she won’t be staying in the castle. But still, I need to keep her guarded.”

The king was then reminded of someone and somehow his heart found some peace.

“For now, I think she would suffice. I should go get back and solve the murder of my son…”

TW: Mention of Blood

IRENE woke up from a deep sleep but everything right from the moment she opened her eyes, to how she stretched up unto the way she sat up felt like a whole, lovely scene from a movie.

Her hair felt like it was styled even though she was rolling here and there in her sleep. Her skin is glowing and companies that promote skin care would flock to her and die just to get her as their promoter once they see how beautiful her morning skin is.

Even Irene herself was surprised at how beautiful she is that certain morning. The first thing she did was taking her phone and checking if her eyes went back to normal and they did! But her CF worthy skin is what caught her off-guard.

“I better post a selca!” She squealed in happiness. She took a 4-cut selca and posted in on her IG and as expected, the responses blew up. They couldn’t believe that the said picture was captioned with ‘Morning selca’. She even told her fans that she followed their advice of sleeping and resting early and she emphasized that it was the result of obedience. She thanked them for their concerns and asked them to go to sleep early as well if they want to gain beautiful, glowing skin.

Irene couldn’t stop taking pictures of herself even while she was on her way to the kitchen. What took her attention away from her camera was the girl sitting by the kitchen table, eating her cereals… It just took that one look for her to blush furiously.

Why? Of course, it was because of what happened last night… The first time that she drank blood straight from a human…

~~

“J-JOOHYUN…” Seulgi called. “J-Just a sip…”

But Irene didn’t stop so Seulgi called her once more, this time a bit louder.

The red burgundy-haired girl raised her head and revealed her bloodshot eyes and her lips stained with Seulgi’s blood. Her eyes landed on Seulgi’s lips and a sinister, y smile curved up her lips.

“Seulgi-ya…” she called then the blood on the side of her lips.

Seulgi gulped. She knows exactly where Irene is looking. She almost gasped for air when Irene came in closer. Feeling the other girl’s body on her almost made her choke.

“J-Joohyun—”

“Seulgi-ya…” That seductive call from Irene silenced the shaman girl. “I feel… weird.”

“N-No…!” Seulgi grunted when the girl tried to get even closer. She raised Seulgi’s bitten arm and hung it on her shoulder before the fresh blood that is flowing out from the fresh wound.

“Rusty—”

Seulgi’s breathing almost stopped when Irene hissed at her all of a sudden. She was angry but the next moment is she is already looking like a tamed fox who seems sorry for what she did. “Seulgi-ya…”

“Stop calling me like you need me that much—”

“I like it when you call my name…” Irene said before leaning on Seulgi’s chest, trying to listen to the girl’s heartbeat. “Stop calling me Rusty… Just call me with my name…”

That request somehow flipped a switch on Seulgi and… “J-Joohyun…”

Irene coiled a bit when she heard how Seulgi called her. She felt butterflies in her stomach… It was music to her ears. She looked up to her wife with those puppy eyes. “Again, please?”

“Is this serious!?” Seulgi internally panicked. “Is she really saying please to me? The al-haughty vampire princess!?” Not really sure of what is happening, Seulgi answered Irene’s plea.

“Joohyun…” She called out again and Irene was looking so helpless Seulgi doesn’t know what to do.

“Seulgi-ya…” This time Irene wrapped her arms around Seulgi’s neck. Her eyes looking back and forth to the girl’s lips.

“Stop…!” Seulgi struggled as Irene’s face was getting nearer and nearer. “Joohyun, I said stop!”

“Just… Just one k—”

Water splashed straight to Irene’s face after Seulgi found help in the form of a bidet. While she was struggling, she got a hold of her savior and immediately fired water at Irene’s face.

“Stop! S-Seul—YAH! I said STOP!” Irene took the bidet away from her. It seems like splashing water to her helped since her eyes are now back to its normal color. What surprised her is the face that Seulgi showed her after being splashed by water.

Her face is so red and she is breathing really hard. She looked really flustered at what happened. Seulgi then pushed the red-haired girl away and rushed to leave the bathroom without saying a word. Irene was left in shock. What exactly happened? The moment she had a taste of Seulgi’s blood everything just turned blurry and her heart…

With that, she fell asleep without seeing Seulgi come out of the room once more, trying to forget the embarrassing thing that she did. She wished everything was just a dream.

~~

SEULGI just scoffed before going back to eat her cereal. Irene noticed her bitten arm wrapped with a bandage. The idol tried not to give her more attention because her heart is already wilding right after seeing the other girl. She went to get some vegetable salad that she bought along with the barbeque ingredients last night. As expected from an idol.

Irene was about to leave the kitchen when Seulgi suddenly spoke.

“So, are you going to act like nothing happened last night?”

That statement made Irene look back at her. “What do you mean?” She asked, trying to be cool.

Again, Seulgi scoffed. “I see… This is how you want to do things, huh?” The girl took one more spoon of her food. “Aren’t you going to say thank you for the food?”

Irene took a deep breath as she rolled her eyes. She knows she must not act like a spoiled brat that time but her pride as a vampire and as the top idol of the generation just won’t let her act like a proper wife.

“Thank you for the food. Don’t worry, it won’t be in need of your blood once again.”

Actually, she wanted to bite her tongue that very moment. That was the most delicious blood she ever had in her life and there is no other way that she won’t crave for it. She doesn’t even know if she could enjoy other blood after having Seulgi’s blood.

“Alright then…” Seulgi shrugged her shoulders after emptying her bowl of cereal. She then just put the used utensils on the sink and left. “If you say so…”

Irene immediately regretted what she said and tried to do something with the situation by following Seulgi but the girl walked faster to draw distance between them.

“H-How is your arm anyway?” Irene stutteringly asked.

Seulgi stopped and turned to her with unamazed eyes, Irene froze on the spot. “It’s fine. Maybe I should ask the Manshin’s assistants to give me those amazing herbs.” Then a smirk curved up her lips. “Why? Do you need another sip?”

“Yes! I mean—” Irene immediately closed her eyes for that epic mistake. She really wanted to smack herself with that tongue slip. There’s probably a chance that she’s really thinking that Seulgi’s blood will be good for breakfast. “I mean…” She just couldn’t find the right lie to cover her mistake so Seulgi took the opportunity.

“I thought it would be nice to help you with your hunger but then you asked something more that I didn’t even offer.”

The Vampire Princess’ cheeks turned pink right at that very moment. “I-I-It’s not that I really wanted to kiss you—” Irene gasped for yet another tongue slip. The look on Seulgi’s face was also legendary.

“You really wanted to kiss me that time!?” Seulgi screeched while pointing at Irene with her shaky, bitten arm. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. “Y-You weren’t aiming to bite my neck or my shoulder but you were really aiming to kiss—”

“STAHP!!!”

The adrenaline rush almost made Irene crush the salad container that she’s holding. For a vampire like her, she blushes quite a lot, quite terribly. “I… It was—”

The both of them weren’t able to speak as both minds turned blank. Irene couldn’t think of an excuse. Seulgi was too surprised.

“Don’t you think…” Seulgi started speaking and Irene had to step back. She’s afraid of what Seulgi is about to say.

“Uhm…”

“Y-Yes?” Irene gulped. “W-What!? Are you going to tease me now that you found out that I wanted to k-k-kiss you at that very moment!?”

“By any chance…” But Seulgi doesn’t seem like she’s going to but instead, she asked, “Would you like to properly mark me.”

Seulgi gulped after asking that question and internally she has been panicking really, really wildly.

‘What on earth are you asking, Seulgi-ya!? Stupid!’ Seulgi shouted at the back of her head. ‘You are subtly asking her to feel the same way!’

Irene was stunned once again. But of course, yet again, her pride came on her way.

“Why would you think I have the heart to mark you!?” Irene asked, almost shouting, almost taunting. “Please Seulgi, don’t misunderstand. I have heard from my father that vampires would tend to comfort the humans we bite by more skinship which means I might do the same with other humans that I bite. If you think I like you because I wanted to kiss you then you’re wrong. Please don’t misunderstand. It was part of the adrenaline.”

Seulgi wasn’t able to speak for some time. It’s just as she expected but it still surprised her.

“A part of the adrenaline, huh?” She repeated. “A part of the instinct? I guess you vampires are really controlled by your thirst for blood. You even feel the need to kiss someone you don’t even like when you’re in the middle of feeding.”

That was supposed to be a dis from Seulgi but Irene stupidly answered. “Y-Yes! We are like that! So, don’t think that I like you or what just because of what my instinct pushed me to do. Don’t dream so much!”

Again, Seulgi lost words to say. She just nodded her head with her lips pressed together. Irene felt a pinch on her heart when she saw the look on Seulgi’s eyes. Did she go too far with protecting her pride? It seems like she has really offended her this time.

“S-Sor—”

“Don’t ever come near me again.” Seulgi said with those piercing sharp eyes before marching towards her room but before she went in, she looked back at Irene for some clarification.

“Also, for your information, I will never, ever like someone like you. Monster.” She then shut her door.

And with that, ladies and gentleman, the honeymoon of the wedding of the century ended. Seulgi and Irene didn’t talk to each other for the remaining days of the honeymoon. There were times that Irene tried to reach out but Seulgi was serious about every word that she said.

THE TWO went back to Seoul without even talking to each other. There wasn’t a single word from Seulgi until they arrived at the place where they are going to live together. A place they will call home.

It was quite a huge house located somewhere in Itaewon. It is located in a private residence area where most well-known celebrities live. Some of them are vampires, some are just plain humans. The whole house is being protected by shaman spells. With this, they can at least be safe from sudden attacks before help arrives.

Irene sank to the couch right away since she started feeling hungry again. Her ban from blood markets has yet to be lifted up… How will she even convince her father that she managed to mark Seulgi so he will let her buy blood packs again? How will she even lie to someone who can read her when she lies.

“There are actually two rooms.” Irene jerked at where she was sitting when Seulgi came back from surveying the whole house. This is the first time that she spoke to her after that banter during their failure of a honeymoon.

“I will take the bigger one.” Seulgi nonchalantly said. “There are beds in both rooms. They are complete with everything. I believe one is supposed to be a guest room but we won’t be having guests in the first place.”