Kang Hyewon was sitting on the couch late that night, watching a drama on TV.

She glanced over at the clock on the wall, and realized that it was already 12pm. Her wife called earlier, telling her that she won’t come home that night because of a sudden case that occurred. Hyewon cursed under her breath. She has been away from Chaeyeon all day and she missed that extra fine body by her side. There are thirst and hunger that she has to fulfill but her wife wasn’t around. Sometimes Hyewon feels like joining the police force and kill the criminals who’s keeping her wife busy.

The only thing Chaeyeon should be busy with is satisfying her.

She grabbed the flask on the coffee table and poured herself a cup of its contents. It was red liquid, fresh cow’s blood that she picked up from the market earlier this morning. She likes to heat it up and mixed it with some herbs too, to make it healthier.

Hyewon likes to mixed up their blood related menu. Sometimes she would make blood sausages with cheese or a blood latte for her family. She also always makes meat sashimi with spicy blood dipping sauce. Minju and Chaeyeon appreciates her passion for food.

As she was sipping her drink, while watching the latest episode of Hotel de Luna, the door was opened.

“Yah Chaeyeon, is that you?” she asked.

She sighed, “About time you come home. Let’s have , I’m about to get fat from drinking too much cow’s blood.”

But there was no answer.

Hyewon put down her cup and stood up. She wiped with a napkin and focused on her senses. It’s not her wife’s scent. And she heard some groaning and the clashes of teeth. She knows this scent.

She rushed to the door and gasped.

“Sakura?”

Sakura was standing by the wall, her hand trying to support herself from falling. Her eyes were red and her fangs were out, and she looks like she’s extremely hungry.

“I need… blood…” she said.

Hyewon rushed to her side. She grabbed Sakura’s body and took her inside, putting her on the couch. She brought the flask to .

“Drink up. I even put some chia seeds in there.”

Sakura gulped down the liquid in one go, the lid and the blood that trickled down her chin. After a few minutes, her eyes became clear again, and her fangs subsided. She laid there on the couch, her breathing slowly turning normal.

She glanced at Hyewon, her eyebrows creased.

“Did you put in cinnamon too?”

Hyewon smiled, “Delicious, right?”

“It tastes horrible.”

She smacked Sakura’s arm.

“I just saved your life. Be grateful.”

Sakura grinned, “Thanks Hyewon.”

“So, care to tell me what happened? Did you get close to a human or something? What triggers your hunger?”

Sakura gulped, “I-I don’t know, I just suddenly felt thirsty. Your house is the closest place I could thought of, for blood.”

She lied. She was triggered by Eunbi earlier. It was dangerous. She almost killed someone on the elevator but she managed to hold on till she gets to Hyewon’s place.

Hyewon sighed, “That’s why I told you to find a mate! You may think it’s shallow or what not, but apparently having curbs the bloodlust. You can’t go around showing your fangs to people, it’s not even Halloween yet.”

“Or worse, you could kill someone. Our Chaeyeon is a detective, you know?”

Sakura rolled her eyes, “I won’t kill anyone.”

“That’s what all the Dark Vamps said before they turned into a blood nightmare that’s fitting to be the subject of human fantasies and their twisted ideas of romance. Like, sparkling vampires under the sun? What kind of bull is that?”

“The only thing they got right about us is our godly looks,” Sakura said with a chuckle.

Hyewon smiled, “They got that right.”

“Where were you today? How did your date with Yiren went?”

“I-It was okay, I went out with her again today,” Sakura lied.

“Really? That’s great then! Maybe we’ll get to throw a wedding party soon. I love parties.”

Sakura smiled weakly.

“So you want to stay here tonight? Chaeyeon isn’t around and I’m super bored. Minju just came home half an hour ago but she locked herself in her room. I don’t know, her teenage angst. Oh well, if you stay, we can watch this drama together. It’s about an immortal lady who runs a hotel for ghosts. It’s quite fun. I want to look like Manwol when I’m 300 years old. Actually a vampire hotel business doesn’t sound so bad…

Sakura pushed herself up and looked at her friend, “I can’t. Yujin is waiting for me.”

“Thanks for the herbal blood and the hospitality, Hyewon.”

**

Yujin was sitting alone in the cafeteria the next day. She sat at the farthest back of the cafeteria, avoiding attention from others. A lot of her friends tried talking and being friendly with her, but she wasn’t in the mood. She gave them one line replies, and she’s not smiling like always.

She looked around the cafeteria, hoping to find Wonyoung, but she wasn’t around. She balled her fist, concentrating on her senses and tried to sniff around to catch Wonyoung’s scent, but it was no luck. It was as if she had disappeared from the world.

“Yujin-ah,” a voice called.

Yujin didn’t have to look to see who it was.

“Minju.”

Minju sat next to her without asking for permission and Yujin just scooted to let her sit. The younger girl turned her head to look at her fiancé and their eyes met.

“How are you?” asked Minju.

She cleared and asked again, “I mean, are we doing okay?”

Yujin smiled weakly, showing her dimples.

“I’m okay.”

“I don’t understand you though,” she added.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you like me or do you hate me?

Minju gulped.

“You pushed me away so that you could go out with Chaewon, and then you announced to everyone that we