“No fear,” Hyunjin said.

Heejin furrowed her eyebrows, giving her a confident expression as she nodded. She launched at Hyunjin, grabbed on her right arm, twirled around, and when she was about to throw her over the shoulder, she stopped.

“Am I really that heavy?” Hyunjin asked in a mocking tone.

“N-No! I just-“

“You won’t hurt me. I told you I wouldn’t forgive you if you didn’t do this.”

Heejin grunted. “Alright, I can do it. Let’s try again.”

Hyunjin smiled at her and took a step back, ready when she was. Heejin closed her eyes for a few seconds, and when they came open again, there she was. But now Hyunjin knew she was really going for it right from the beginning, by the way she elbowed her stomach right before twirling her around and throwing her over her shoulder with a loud grunt. Hyunjin braced herself, but it still hurt when her back hit the ground, and she couldn’t suppress a small yelp.

“,” Hyunjin mumbled.

“H-Hyunjin, are you okay?” The worry in Heejin’s voice was evident.

“Goddess, this hurts so much...” Hyunjin put on a scene, exaggerating the pain her face showed.

Heejin kneeled beside her, her features frowned in worry, and a hand rested in Hyunjin’s hair. “I’m so sorry! Did you hit your head?”

Even if Hyunjin wanted to pretend how hurt she was for a bit longer, she couldn’t, and burst out laughing. “I’m joking, Heejin.”

Heejin’s chin dropped, and the hand caressing her hair so tenderly moved to punch her bicep instead. “It isn’t funny!”

“I’m sorry, but it really was.”

The pout that appeared in Heejin’s lips was so cute Hyunjin had to suppress the huge grin that wanted to rip off from hers. She sat up and rested a hand on Heejin’s shoulder. “You did great.”

And in the silence that followed, where Heejin seemed out of what to answer, Hyunjin caught on the other girls’ murmurs among themselves.

“Can they get a room or something?” Yeojin said.

“Oh, they did already. They slept together tonight, and even though Hyunjin said they switched the other night, I know they didn’t,” Hyejoo said. “I woke up in the middle of the night and the couch was empty.”

Hyunjin cleared and got on her feet, pulling Heejin up with her, ignoring them as best as she could.

“No slacking off, everyone!” she told the others. “Go back to what you were doing.”

“Sorry, teacher, but watching Heejin do that move on you was something we needed to witness," Jungeun said.

“You really didn’t believe I could do it, did you?” Heejin crossed her arms.

“Oh, we knew you could! That’s why we wanted to see Hyunjin get her kicked.” Yeojin gave her a thumbs up.

Hyunjin dropped her chin. “Unbelievable. As if she would ever be able to do it under normal circumstances. I let her for training purposes.”

Heejin’s clenched fist punched her arm again.

“Will you stop punching me? If you want to practice that, use the punching bag!” Hyunjin whined.

“Will you stop being a proud ?”

“Roasted,” Chaewon mumbled.

“Back to training, guys, I won’t repeat myself!” Hyunjin said, and the girls complied at last.

Hyunjin sighed, massaging her temples.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude,” Heejin said, her voice lower than before.

“You’re right, though. And I should be past that, already. We’re not competing against each other.”

“But it’s also true that I would never be able to do this if you didn’t let me.”

“That’s why we’re training, and that’s what we should be focus on. So, come on, do it again.”

“What?”

“The move. Do it again. Also, I liked how you added that elbow just before throwing me. That was pretty good.”

“Oh.” Heejin tried not to show a smile.

“Let’s try it differently this time. I’ll be trying to protect myself, so fight me, attack me, until you find and opening to throw me off guard.”

Hyunjin expected a complaint, or whining about how that would be difficult. But instead, Heejin nodded with the same confident expression on, and launched at Hyunjin before she could prepare herself. Heejin threw fast punches instead of aiming for a strong one, and Hyunjin had to actually focus to be able to dodge every hit. Then, Heejin added a kick here and there, until she threw a stronger punch, then a kick straight to Hyunjin’s gut, one she didn’t predict and threw her off guard. In that second, Heejin did the same as before – elbowing her stomach, she gripped on her arm and threw her over her shoulder.

Even with the pain prickling her back, Hyunjin smiled. “See, all you need is confidence.”

“And a good teacher.” Heejin extended her hand, and Hyunjin accepted the help to stand up.

And again, the other girls were staring at them, whispering to each other instead of practicing like Hyunjin had said.

“Is watching my get kicked a kink for you guys?” Hyunjin asked them.

“You could put it that way, yeah,” Jungeun said, giving her a thumbs up. "Great job, Heejin."

“Thanks.” Heejin smiled at her.

Hyunjin rolled her eyes.

—

The day went by in the blink of an eye, and everyone was tired, but there was still something they couldn’t forget.

“You’re not trying to avoid it, are you, Hyunjin?” Jiwoo asked, as they all rested, either sitting or laying down on the floor.

“Absolutely not. Whenever you’re ready.” Hyunjin got up on her feet.

Jiwoo followed, fixing her clothes. “Watch how the elderly do it, kids.”

The other girls kept silent, eyes glued to them. Hyunjin scanned them, meeting Heejin’s eyes, and she gave her a quick nod. Hyunjin smiled at her before shifting her attention back to Jiwoo, and before she got in position, she flung her tank top over her head, and the crowd either laughed, or wowed.

“Trying to intimidate me with your muscles?” Jiwoo smirked.

“It was just really hot.” Hyunjin threw the piece of clothing away, and indeed, she felt much better and lighter with only her sports bra.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Jiwoo said, getting in position, bending her knees and getting her arms ready to punch or block.

Hyunjin threw Heejin another look, and the girl’s cheeks were much redder. She hid the smile that wanted to show on her lips, and focused on the girl in front of her. And since she was indeed ready, Hyunjin launched at her.

The punches thrown at each other were so fast the girls had trouble following every movement. They seemed to perform a choreographed routine, each blocking the punches coming at the other and attacking back at a perfect rhythm.

That was, until Jiwoo, instead of blocking a punch coming from below, dodged it by jumping back, and in the next second, performed a surprising turning kick, her right foot landing perfectly on Hyunjin’s face, throwing the girl to the ground as easy as that.

There was a collective gasp, alongside Heejin’s voice, “Hyunjin!”

Jungeun, though, only shook her head. “I told you.”

Hyunjin’s vision went blurry before she blinked and took a couple seconds to get on her feet again. “Really, it’s not like I undestimated you, but still, wow.”

“I’m only getting started,” Jiwoo said.

“Same.”

This time, it was Jiwoo who attacked first, a burst of fast punches. Hyunjin did manage to protect herself or dodge when possible, but she couldn’t find an opportunity to attack back. Jiwoo slowed down, her movements more predictable now, and it was Hyunjin’s moment to counter attack.

Except that Jiwoo saw that punch coming, crouched, and rotating her body with her leg extended, she hit Hyunjin’s ankles, throwing her down again. Hyunjin's landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

Hyunjin winced in pain, and gave up on life for a bit, letting her body lay down as she heard the girls’ reactions – gasps, cheers, chuckles.

“You okay?” Jiwoo asked, hand extended at her and a caring smile on her lips.

Hyunjin accepted her hand and Jiwoo pulled her up.

“Yeah.”

“Got your kicked enough, Hyunjin?” Jungeun asked. “I told you it was useless.”

“Not even close, but let’s take five before we continue.”

“You sure you want to?” Jiwoo asked, and it wasn’t teasing, but genuine concern.

“Yeah. I don’t know when was the last time I had a real fight like this.”

They joined the others, sitting down with them. Yeojin made space and patted the ground between herself and Heejin, and Hyunjin sat there. Heejin kept on staring at her, lips a thin line.

“What is it?” Hyunjin asked.

“Nothing.” Heejin avoided the eye contact now.

“I’m fine, really. You don’t have to worry.”

“I’m not.”

“At this point, Jiwoo will be our teacher instead!” Chaewon said.

“Oh, no, no!” Jiwoo waved her hands. “I may be a good fighter, but Hyunjin has much more experience in fighting vampires.”

“Just join me,” Hyunjin said. “Yes, I may have more experience in fighting vampires, but I don’t have the fighting skills you do. I never had anyone to teach me properly, everything I know is from my own training. That’s why I lack proper skill, and it shows when I fight with you.”

Jiwoo beamed at her. “Alright, I’ll join you. Not like I wasn’t already doing it yesterday.”

“Thank you, Jiwoo. Now, let’s try again?”

“I was just waiting for you.” Jiwoo stood up.

Hyunjin was about to do the same when Yeojin yanked her down and approached her ear. "Heejin won't stop checking you out.”

“W-What?” Hyunjin frowned.

“You took your shirt off on purpose, just admit it.”

Hyunjin sighed. “What if I actually did?”

Yeojin gasped, taking a hand to . Hyunjin laughed at her and joined Jiwoo, already thinking of how she should fight in order to win at least one time.

They got ready, waiting for the other to initiate.

But then, as she took a deeper breath as to prepare, an overwhelming amount of different smells reached her nose.

“What in the moon?” she asked, and as she looked ahead at Jiwoo, she found her with a weird expression as well.

“What is this?” Jungeun’s voice sounded panicked, as she rushed to get on her feet.

“What is what?” Heejin asked, but followed with the others.

Not only scents – hurried steps coming towards them.

“Whoever is coming, is coming fast!” Jiwoo said. “Everyone, come cl-”

Hyunjin launched at her, almost too late, but still, too slow. A piercing hiss echoed in Hyunjin's ears, as something cut through the air, scratching the right side of her neck. She hissed in pain, falling on the ground with Jiwoo, her bigger body protecting her. Someone else screamed and gasped, but in the middle of the loud chaos, Hyunjin could still hear Heejin’s voice calling for her.

“Two are down, go, go!” an unfamiliar male voice said.

And the steps were clearer than ever – they were inside, like a herd of bulls approaching them. Hyunjin didn’t have the time to focus on how much her neck hurt, as if someone kept on poking it with a burning iron bar. She stumbled to get on her feet, pulled Jiwoo up, and couldn’t stop her eyes from widening when she turned and saw the more than ten men attacking them.

Her eyes averted to Heejin, as she rushed to grab her blades just in time to block a swing from above, the clash of blades booming. Hyunjin didn’t think. She let her body take control, her legs take her forward, and her clenched fist hit the guy’s face a second later. He was knocked down, his body rolling on the ground until it hit the furthest wall, and there he stayed.

“T-Thanks,” Heejin said.

“What are you guys doing?!” Hyejoo’s voice thundered, and Hyunjin turned to it, finding the girl with her silver eyes on already, fighting two of them. “We’re not the enemy!”

“Shut up, bloodsucker!” one of them said, swinging his large sword at her.

She jumped back, dodging his slow attack, and something ignited in Hyejoo, a wave of anger so strong even Hyunjin could feel it on her skin.

“That’s right, I am.” She gritted her teeth at them, showing her full grown fangs. “And that’s why you’re gonna regret this.”

With amazing speed and the right amount of strength, Hyejoo dodged another swing, punched his face, and before the other could grasp on what happened, she kicked his chin, knocking both down.

It was then that it all clicked.

Slayers.

Hyunjin clenched her fists, taking a look around, observing how they attacked all of them like they were prey in the woods.

Merely blinking, her eyes shifted, and she allowed her fangs to grow before dashing again to the nearest slayer, one who tried to go for Yeojin. Hyunjin grabbed his arm before he could jump on her, and like she was holding a ragged doll, she threw his body against the wall, the loud bang catching the others’ attention.

“The one with the tattoos! That’s the one!” the tallest, biggest one said. And with it, the slayers focused on her instead.

Hyunjin braced herself for what was coming, but as the slayers approached her, so did her friends. Jungeun, Jiwoo, Hyejoo, and Yeojin got to her side faster than they could ever reach her. Heejin and Chaewon tried to reach them, but they were stopped by three slayers who didn’t even hesitate in attacking them, even knowing perfectly they weren’t vampires. She would have to trust them, that they would be able to handle them, because they had their hands full.

Slayers always fought like that – by outnumbering vampires. That’s why they had brought twice as many people as the vampires had, each of them wielding a silver weapon. And as they launched at her, the real fight started.

They exchanged blow after blow, the vampires focusing more on dodging and only counter attacking when they found a safe chance.

“Just stop!” Chaewon’s high pitched voice overshadowed everything else. “Why are you doing this?!”

“We’re doing what you should have done! You are traitors!”

Chaewon clenched her jaw so hard a vein popped up in her temple, and now that was an intimidating expression. But that didn’t stop him from attacking her, even though she was weaponless.

In a mere second, Hyejoo dashed across the battlefield, her fist sinking in his gut, throwing his body against the furthest wall.

“ing cowards!” Hyejoo shouted, her fists balled at her sides.

That only caught the attention of the other slayers. Three of them shifted their attention to Hyejoo, and charged at her and Chaewon.

“Chaewon!” Hyunjin called, avoiding the two slayers grouping up on her.

The second she turned her head at the call, Hyunjin reached for her gun and threw it to her. Chaewon widened her eyes for a second before tumbling forward, dodging a blow, grabbing the gun and then turned it to the slayer who ran towards her

“You didn’t have the courage to kill a vampire, which is what you were supposed to be doing in the first place. You would never shoot an old colleague.” He smirked at her, his arms lowering the sword at her.

Without a second of hesitation, she pointed the gun to his leg and shot, the sound of it alongside his yells of pain drawing everyone’s attention.

“You ! She shot me!” He screamed, clutching his leg.

“You’re the little , can’t even handle a rubber bullet.” Chaewon spat, not wasting a second in pointing the gun to the ones who fought Hyejoo. With incredible accuracy, she put a bullet to one’s chest, and another to the other’s shoulder, and they both fell to the floor.

Hyunjin was so in awe she got distracted for a second, but it was enough time for three of them to jump on her. She cartwheeled back, and a scream pierced her ears.

Heejin held tightly on her arm, red tainting the hand grasping on it, and with Hyunjin’s next inhale, the bloody scent reached her nose.

“You did not just do that,” Hyunjin mumbled to herself, fighting the spinning of her head, and completely ignoring those three, she sprinted directly at the one who dared to hurt her.

Her hand gripped on his wrist, with such force he screamed and let the knife fall from his hand. With her other hand, she grasped on his t-shirt, and pulled him closer, staring at his scared eyes with her bright yellow ones. “Leave. Now, and I will spare your life.”

Even though she was sure he was in pain due to how she still grasped his wrist, his lips showed a twisted smile.

“Hyunjin, behind you!” Heejin said.

Hyunjin turned, and a sword was coming at her, already too close.

The whole fight stopped when a loud slash interrupted it, everyone turning to it. To watch as Yeojin's body hit the floor, her t-shirt ripped and an ugly, painful cut all across her back.

Hyunjin’s heart shot. She still heard Jiwoo’s voice calling for Yeojin, as she rushed to the screaming girl, but she couldn’t come close to look at it.

Losing the strength in her hands, she dropped the slayer to the ground. In a split second, Hyunjin's left hand was around the neck of Yeojin's attacker, pulling him up, his body hanging above the ground, and her right hand on his arm. She twisted his arm like it was a mere twig, the cracking sound like music to Hyunjin’s ears, and his sword dropped to the floor, his piercing pained screech louder than anything else in the warzone the training grounds had become. She couldn’t stop her hand from gripping harder and harder around his neck, and suddenly, biting and draining a human being until death didn’t sound like such a terrible thing to do.

No. He was not a human being. He was the real monster.

“Hyunjin!” Heejin called. “Please, stop! Don’t kill him!”

“Don’t kill him?” Hyunjin repeated with a dry chuckle, not taking her eyes off from his, watching as he struggled to breathe, holding on her wrist for dear life. “They have the audacity to come here, attack us, hurt us, and I’m the one that has to have mercy on them?”

Hands grasped on Hyunjin’s arm, and the touch made her blink and turn her neck. Heejin’s red eyes pleaded at her.

“We’re not like them,” Heejin said, her voice weak.

With a last grasp, and grunting, Hyunjin let go of him, his body falling to the ground like a lifeless carcass.

“LEAVE!” Hyunjin shouted.

Only six slayers stood, and even though they were now evenly numbered, they would never be able to beat four vampires and two used-to-be-slayers. They exchanged looks before rushing to the injured companions, helping them get up, or even carrying the ones that could barely walk.

“And don’t dare come back,” Hyunjin said as they left as fast as they could.

As the sound of their steps became more distant, Yeojin’s yells and sobs filled the house instead. Slowly, Hyunjin turned, and she could swear a thousand more silver arrows piercing her body would hurt less than that sight.

Jiwoo and Jungeun soothed her, caressing her hair and mumbling in her ear that she would be fine, but Hyunjin knew that no matter what could have happened in all Yeojin’s life, she had never felt such pain. The sword cut all along her back, and her orange t-shirt had become tainted with red.

“I’m gonna make sure they’re really gone,” Jungeun said, rushing out.

Hyunjin took her hands to her face and gave up on giving her legs enough energy to stand up. She dropped to the floor, sudden tears overflowing her eyes.

“Hyunjin,” Heejin squatted in front of her, and arms pulled Hyunjin closer, her head resting on her shoulder. “I... I’m sorry.”

Heejin sobbed near her ear, and then Hyunjin remembered she was also hurt. She sniffed and pulled away, blinking the tears away to take a good look at Heejin.

“You’re hurt.” Hyunjin found the cut on her right arm, the blood dried alongside it.

“I’m okay, but you...” Heejin’s eyes stared at Hyunjin’s neck, where she still could feel it burning. Her hand reached forward, resting just below Hyunjin’s new scar. “It was so close... You could have died.”

“Any of us could have died.”

And with that, another wave of anger washed over Hyunjin. But before she was too clouded, she cleared her eyes and stood up. Jiwoo kept on brushing Yeojin’s hair, holding her hand. Hyejoo and Chaewon were on the ground, Chaewon in her arms, and Hyejoo also caressed her hair. Hyunjin could hear quiet sobs from Chaewon.

“Are you guys hurt?”

“I’m fine, and Jungeun isn't injured either,” Jiwoo said.

“Same with me, but Gowon is hurt,” Hyejoo said.

“Where?” Hyunjin approached, squatting next them.

Hyejoo pushed her aside a bit. There was blood in Chaewon’s lip and a bruise on her right cheek, and scanning her further, her jeans were ripped at her thigh, a red stain around it.

“I didn’t notice it during the fight,” Chaewon said, staring at her own leg.

Hyunjin fought more tears and stood up again, turning to Yeojin. She approached, and unable to hold the tears anymore, she squatted next to her. Yeojin whimpered, but still moved, opened her eyes and gave Hyunjin the smallest of smiles.

“You’re okay,” Yeojin muttered.

Resting a hand on her cheek, Hyunjin broke down crying. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine, please don’t cry.”

Hyunjin knew it wasn’t indeed time to cry, and if she was asking her directly not to, it was what she would do. She cleaned her eyes, sniffed, and carefully turning Yeojin around with a hand around her shoulder and another under her knees, Hyunjin raised her up as she got on her feet. “Let’s go back home. Jiwoo, please call Jinsol and Haseul, tell them to come asap. Tell Haseul to bring whichever medical supplies she can get her hands on.”

---

A/N: Now you know they won’t try and kill you, they said... :)