The stars dusted diamonds across the innocent night sky; mirroring the innocence about to be torn apart as the hunter stalked closer to the trapped prey as it struggled and whimpered in distress, unable to free itself from the weight atop it. Blood-red lips parted, allowing a devilish tongue to its way over hungrily bared fangs. The smell of blood so fresh caused a whirlwind in the surroundings, splitting the calm in too deliberate a fashion to ignore. With one swift movement, the predator mounted its prey, a steely grip in adolescent horns holding its head down as blood-hungry fangs pierced through its long neck. The haplessly kicking hooves grew still and the air was cleared of any more sounds as pupils rolled back for the last time. The taste was unparalleled, and as she took the first drink of the night, her adrenaline spiked like it always did. She drank like she’d been starved for years.
 

More and more until-
 

Joohyun woke with a start, jolting upright and smacking a tired, pale hand to feel the sheen of moisture on her forehead.
 

The day was just dawning.
 

Beside her, a curled up Seungwan snored lightly.
 

God, this is the third time this week.
 

She’d been having such disturbing dreams lately. Well, frankly speaking, she wouldn’t have been one bit shaken by them had she been alone. She would have gone as far as to consider them very good dreams, in the past. But not now. She couldn’t. Not while she slept next to the girl that held her by the heart with terribly innocent hands. The prey in her dream may have just been a random deer, but she’d flash back to seeing her Seungwan once trapped like that. The way it struggled against the roped net to get away, the whines and whimpers, Joohyun simply couldn’t shake her mind free of the horrifying parallels. It was as if she was scared that in the next dream she’d open her eyes after she’d sunk her fangs and catch sight of those furry, pointy ears she loved so dearly.
 

It was a jarring image.
 

Still, it wasn’t uncommon, seeing as it had actually been months since her last live kill. This was just nature’s way of reminding her of who she was.
 

A bloody monster, if you ask me.
 

She felt nauseous even thinking about it.
 

She looked down at Seungwan, wrapped in the duvet and nuzzled blissfully into her side. This. This, was her reason for change. That blameless, cute face, the way she lapped up Joohyun’s love like she was her actual mother; the absolute perfection of her little puppy made her feel like both a mother and a monster. It made her want to run away from herself, but at the same time never leave Seungwan behind.
 

Where Seungwan was, Joohyun would be too.
 

They needed each other.
 

With a burdened sigh, the vampiress reclined her tired head onto the pillows, letting herself as well as her thoughts flitter into the realms of a calming doze.
 

The bundle next to her stirred not once.
 

…

Several hours later, a pair of ears wisped against Joohyun’s lips, tickling them and eventually rousing the vampiress from her slumber. Cracking a smile and an eye open, she realised what had woken her and exhaled in a huff of adoration, her breath causing chocolate ears to flick gently in response. Slowly but surely, the puppy burrito peered up at her through heavy, drowsy eyes.
 

Seungwan greeted her mummy with the sleepiest of grins, prompting a string of loving coos from Joohyun.
 

“You’re warm, huh, little Wannie?”
 

The laziest nod.
 

“You want to get out of bed now?”
 

A very definite head shake.
 

“But you want breakfast, don’t you? My puppy is hungry, isn’t she?”
 

A small pause before a nod and a tiny yawn.
 

Any qualms Joohyun had with herself she felt completely wash themselves away whenever she interacted with Seungwan like this in the mornings. She hated to play favourites, but bedtimes and cosy mornings were, by far, the times she looked forward to most. The vampiress let out a defeated huff, reaching up to pet Seungwan’s hair, smoothing her warm ears so they were flat against her head, chuckling after each when they flopped back upright and folded over again.
 

She knew she had her work cut out for her.
 

“You want breakfast in bed, don’t you.”
 

To be honest, she didn’t even have to wait for the answer… but she did anyway.
 

“… mhm…” came the mumbled reply.
 

Seungwan gave a little whine when she felt Joohyun leave her side, the mattress dipping slightly as she stood up.
 

“I’ll be right back Wannie.”
 

…
 

Joohyun leaned against the counter, her gaze was fixed on the bubbling pot of creamy mushroom soup but her mind was far from present. She came to the sudden realisation that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a proper feed. The last time she felt her fangs sink in to warm flesh. She remembered what lay in the garage, and in exactly which corner she’d casually tossed her trap, paying it absolutely no attention since. Just for a moment, Joohyun closed her eyes and let her thoughts whisk her away into a brief blizzard of impossible fantasy.
 

The crisp, cool breeze of the night filled her senses as she poised herself behind a nearby tree, hearing sharpened to a point for that delicious sound of the trap setting off. The scent of few werewolves hunting in the distance stung her nose, but she paid no mind, focusing only on the feast she was about to ravage. Oh yes, she could see it in the shadows; a pair of antlers. There was a small rustle in the bushes before a hoof stepped out, bringing the rest of the animal out with it. Oh god it was so close, Joohyun felt her head spinning with the aroma of fresh blood. She screwed her eyes shut and waited for that heavenly sound… just then-
 

“Oh crap, oh crap!”
 

The vampiress cursed out loud when she realised the soup had been done for god knows how long. If it boiled any further, there’d be nothing left. She sighed in disappointment as her trail of thought was interrupted, cutting her little fantasy frustratingly short. She felt slightly empty as she filled the bowl with the thick liquid. Setting it aside to cool off, she sliced some freshly baked white bread to complete the meal. After discovering Seungwan was partial to white bread, the vampiress took it upon herself to read every recipe on the face of the earth pretty much, making it her single-handed mission to learn to bake the fluffiest, whitest bread there could ever be.
 

And she succeeded, too.
 

Joohyun inwardly beamed at the thought of the way her puppy’s eyes lit up like the sun when she tried her craft for the first time.
 

Anything for you, puppy.
 

And as much as she couldn’t deny the surprisingly natural desire to protect Seungwan at all costs, a part of her knew she was denying her own desires and needs in the process. Don’t get her wrong, she didn’t mind it, not in the slightest. It hadn’t proven itself much of a dilemma at all, really; taking care of and being with her precious Seungwan outweighed feeding on a random animal every month or so beyond a sliver of a doubt.
 

I choose you. I’ll always choose you, Wannie.
 

Though that didn’t stop her interest from piquing every now and again.
 

Tray of fresh, steamy breakfast carefully balanced in steady hands, the vampiress made her way back upstairs, shifting the tray to one hand for the split second it took her to open the door. As she neared the bed, icy grey eyes rolled to the heavens as she heard tiny snores emitting from the small lump in the duvet. It seemed like Seungwan couldn’t handle the 15 minutes of being alone while her mummy made breakfast, so she surrendered herself to the clutches of DreamWorld yet again.
 

Aigo, puppies sleep so much, don’t they? And I’m gonna have to tire you out for bed tonight again, aren’t I, Wannie?
 

Joohyun snorted in disbelief, already picturing herself ‘ear-tricking’ Seungwan’s rambunctiousness out of her when she tried to escape bed time tonight, which was a given.
 

She set the tray down and gently blew on the coffee-coloured ears, playing for a while before actually waking her. She smiled as they twitched from her breath, causing a shift and a drowsy head to lift up.
 

“There we go, Wannie-ah,” Joohyun encouraged, smiling and propping the stretching pup up against the pillows, “up and at em’. Mummy has breakfast for you.”
 

As if on cue, Seungwan’s stomach rumbled and her eyelids fluttered as her nose poked the air in searching little sniffs for where that delightful smell could possibly be coming from.
 

The vampiress laughed adoringly as she got back into bed with Seungwan, not missing how those big, brown eyes widened at today’s menu. She did a taste test on herself first, then, when it was a satisfying temperature, guided the spoon to Seungwan who inhaled the lot in under 10 minutes, ignoring her warnings to eat slowly.
 

In the end, Joohyun actually surrendered both hands in resignation, amusement plastered on her pretty features as she watched her puppy feed herself.
 

She didn’t even mind the clinking of the spoon when it hit the bottom of the bowl, overjoyed that Seungwan was eating well.
 

After she was all full up, Joohyun carefully placed the tray on the ground next to her.
 

 “Thanks mummy,” Seungwan wrapped her arms around Joohyun, initiating a cuddle, “love y-hic!”
 

Seungwan froze, immediately looking up at Joohyun with big, watery eyes.
 

Joohyun simply brought Seungwan closer, smiling knowingly into her hair as she rubbed soothing circles on her back, comforting her as she rode out the waves of hiccups shaking her tiny body. The girl was clinging onto Joohyun for dear life.
 

Aigo, what am I going to do with you, Wannie-ah.
 

Just as she finished that thought, they both jumped when the loud buzzing of her phone reverberated round the room.
 

Joohyun reluctantly broke her hold, reaching over to swipe the vibrating thing off the side table. Seungwan was ever so comfortably snuggled up into her embrace that she found herself unconsciously controlling her breathing so she wouldn't shift the girl too much.
 

Oh yeah, she thought plainly when she saw who was calling, it’s already the end of the month.
 

“Hey Seulgi-ah,” Joohyun greeted, absentmindedly carding her fingers through the blonde locks of the little puppy nestled into her side, oblivious to the conversation that was about to take place.
 

“Hi unnie!”
 

The cheerful reply tugged upwards at the corners of the vampiress’ mouth.
 

“So have you thought about what I said?”
 

Joohyun nodded before she spoke, realising Seulgi couldn’t see her.
 

“Um, yeah I have…”
 

She knew the silence on the other end was her cue to carry on.
 

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot, actually. Been having dreams and things like that, too.”
 

“Ah, I see,” Seulgi hummed in acknowledgement, “I started having dreams too. You remember that time I drank those gross vended blood bags from uni?”
 

Joohyun chuckled fondly as the picture resurfaced itself crystal clearly; Seulgi cramming away at her study, empty packets and straws everywhere. The girl hadn’t showered in days and it was by luck of a miracle, no less, that Joohyun had forced her way into the younger’s apartment after approximately 45 missed calls that day. When she set her eyes on the mess of a vampiress splayed out on the floor amongst the empty coffee cans and blood bags, Seulgi was practically hauled out of her own apartment and forced to live with Joohyun the entire course of the examination period just so she could bring her out, usually against her will, to hunt when she did.
 

Seulgi resented her for intervening when she needed to cram as much information as her exhausted brain would allow, but eventually thanked her for keeping her sane and relatively healthy through her stress.
 

“I just needed fresh blood,” Seulgi continued, jarring Joohyun from her flashback, “I felt so much better after that. I know you have Seungwannie to look after, but I’m also concerned about you… we’re going tomorrow night, if you haven’t forgotten.”
 

A short pause.
 

“So, what do you say?”
 

The raven-haired vampiress bit her lip in thought before proceeding.

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sorry this took a while, my writing is kind of slow cos i'm a little tired. don't forget to vote! you get to decide! i was originally going to write an angst to fluff, but i don't mind writing fluff all the way. :)