The bell rang, interrupting Hyunjin’s song. She stood up from the piano and went to open the door.

“Hey, Hyunjin.”

“Come in.”

The woman, with black hair running down her chest and bangs that reached her glasses pouted at her. “Not even a hello?”

Hyunjin rolled her eyes. “Hi, Jinsol.”

Jinsol smiled and patted her head, stepping inside and following Hyunjin to the living room. There were two girls with her, who bowed at Hyunjin.

“Yeojin, this is Hyunjin. She can help you,” Jinsol said to the small girl who barely reached her shoulders, with a round, rather cute face.

“Why is someone else here?” Hyunjin asked, irking an eyebrow at the taller and clearly older girl, with shoulder length brown hair, that stood beside Yeojin.

“It’s her sister, Haseul. Yeojin insisted she came.”

“But... Seriously, Jinsol?”

“It’s family, she should have someone to help her going through this!”

Hyunjin sighed. Selene appeared from the kitchen, sniffing the unfamiliar people.

“Selene, go upstairs and keep Diana company, yes?” Hyunjin grabbed the cat. Selene hissed, her big, yellow eyes fixed on the girls. “Yes, I know, but she is not a bad one.”

The cat went on upstairs, and Hyunjin walked back to join them, mumbling a quick apology.

“What is going on?” Haseul asked, her hands rested in Yeojin’s shoulders.

“Go ahead.” Jinsol patted Hyunjin’s back.

Hyunjin stood in front of Yeojin, and as she took a deeper breath, a certain scent reached her nose.

“It’s the same,” Hyunjin mumbled.

“The same?” Jinsol asked.

“The smell. It's the same one I went to hunt tonight.”

Jinsol widened her eyes, and both Yeojin and Haseul gasped, taking a step back from her.

“Please, don’t be scared!” Jinsol said, trying to ease the atmosphere. “She wants to help, I promise.”

“Can you remember anything about what happened?” Hyunjin asked the girl.

“I was going home, and all of a sudden, someone grabbed me from behind and covered my mouth. I don’t remember anything else after. I woke up near where that happened, and I felt pain in my arm.”

“And you couldn’t eat, right? Jinsol, did you give her something else other than the hot chocolate?”

“Yes, a sandwich,” Jinsol answered. “And she threw it up as well.”

“Are you a doctor?” Haseul asked Hyunjin. “I’m a med graduate. Shouldn’t we take her to the hospital? When she called me asking me to go pick her up, we went straight to the police.”

Hyunjin ignored the question and turned to Yeojin again. “Do you feel anything different about yourself since the attack?”

“I don’t think so, except that I can’t eat.” Yeojin shook her head.

“Did you feel something weird in your eyes when you woke up? Like an uncomfortable warmth, that made you want to scratch them? Or a weird sensation in your stomach, that was not sickness when you ate?”

“Now that you mention it, when I opened my eyes, they hurt a bit. And I’m so, so hungry, but I can’t stomach any food.”

“When was the attack, exactly?” Hyunjin turned back at Jinsol.

“Around nine,” Jinsol said. “Roughly two hours ago. What are you thinking?”

“Only one way to know for sure.”

“What are you going to do?” Jinsol asked.

Instead of answering, Hyunjin walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She took a small, metal flask, and returned to the living room.

“Hyunjin! Can’t she go on a rampa-”

“I’m here. This has to be done before she goes on blood lust.”

“W-What is that supposed to mean?” Haseul asked.

“Haseul, Jinsol, please get behind me.” Hyunjin stood in front of Yeojin again.

“Why? What are you going to do to her?” Haseul’s eyes threatened to cry at any moment.

“Look, I’m trying to help here. If you decided to come, you’ll have to bear with the consequences of what you’re about to know. And for your own safety, please get behind me with Jinsol.”

Haseul cupped her sister’s cheeks and kissed her forehead. “It’s going to be fine, alright? I’m here, I promise whatever it is, it’s going to be just fine!” she said, with now tears rolling down her eyes.

Yeojin nodded, without crying whatsoever. Haseul did as she was told, and stood at the back of the living room with Jinsol, by the piano. Hyunjin gave her a nod, and Jinsol answered the same way.

“Sit.” Hyunjin guided Yeojin to the couch, and squatted in front of her, staring into her innocent eyes. She seemed so... calm, despite of what was happening, and what was about to happen to her. She stared back at Hyunjin, but at her eyebrow instead, where her two scars marked her skin, and at her neck – at her moon cycle tattoo.

“Can I see your arm? Where it hurts.”

She pulled her sleeve up, revealing the unmistakable bite mark – two perfect red dots.

“You have been bitten, and the one who did this, also did something else to you. Don’t be scared, you’re going to be alright. What I have here, inside this flask, is blood.”

“B-Blood?”

Hyunjin could hear Yeojin’s quick breathes. “Yes. And I’m going to ask you to try and stay conscious when I open it, okay?”

Without answering or asking anything else, Yeojin nodded. Hyunjin took a deep breath, asking her Goddess for everything to go well before opening the flask.

The intense irony smell reached Hyunjin’s nose. Her eyes shifted, her fangs grew a bit, and she watched Yeojin’s doing the same. She stared at the flask between Hyunjin’s hands, her widened eyes glowing orange, and her fangs peeking through her parted lips.

“What is that? What’s happening? Yeojin!” Haseul’s voice boomed behind them.

“Stay calm, please,” Jinsol said.

“Can you hear me?” Hyunjin asked, still staring deeply at Yeojin.

She remained silent, still looking down at the flask.

“Drink it.” Hyunjin extended her hand.

Yeojin grabbed it and didn’t hesitate to bring it to her lips, chugging down the red liquid, contracting with each big gulp. She blinked as she finished, and looked at Hyunjin with a small frown.

“What... What happened?”

“You’re a vampire, Yeojin.”

“What? She’s a what?!” Haseul’s voice echoed in panic.

Hyunjin stood up and turned to Haseul, who gasped and took her hands to as she looked at Hyunjin’s yellow eyes and long, sharp canines. Haseul tried to back away, but Jinsol held her in place.

“I told you to bear with the consequences of coming here with your sister. And the truth is that she’s a vampire, just like me.”

“No...” Haseul closed her eyes, shaking her head vigorously. “No, that doesn’t exist!”

“It does,” Jinsol said, rubbing her arms up and down. “Believe what she says. But just like you said, everything’s gonna be fine with Yeojin, Hyunjin’s gonna help-”

“Hey, when did I say that?” Hyunjin frowned and turned to Yeojin. “Don’t go telling people about this, and drink blood twice a day.”

“Hyunjin!” Jinsol dropped her chin. “She needs guidance! Can’t you see she’s just a kid?”

Haseul broke down in loud, ugly sobs, struggling against Jinsol’s arms. Hyunjin rolled her eyes and let Jinsol take care of it, while she sat beside Yeojin, who hadn’t opened , or moved at all since Hyunjin told her the truth.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Hyunjin asked, making an effort to sound friendly.

“Haseul hired you to prank me, didn’t she? This isn’t funny.” Yeojin’s lips, pale with drops of deep red oozing out, trembled. “Or am I in some kind of twisted dream?”

“This is not a prank, Yeojin. I’ve been a vampire for a long time, and it ing . But I had to learn how to live with it, and you will t-”

“This is another stupid prank of yours, isn’t it, Yeojin?” Haseul thundered behind them. Hyunjin looked back at her, as Haseul broke free from Jinsol’s hold and took big steps towards them. “This went too far, mom and dad will know about thi-”

“Enough!” Hyunjin got to her feet, a fist balled and a finger pointed at her own face. “Does this look like a prank to the both of you? Do you think I have special lenses that change my eye color when I blink or something? Or fake teeth? Do you want me to bite you, so you can see how fake they are?”

“Hyunjin,” Jinsol called, a soft whisper, and her hand came to hold hers.

Haseul and Yeojin stared at her with their eyes huge. “If you want to think this is a prank, by all means, go home and pretend this never happened. You’ll watch your sister turn into a blood monster and attack you and your mom and dad, and then I will be forced to hunt her down because she attacked innocent humans.”

“Hey, you don’t need to scare them even more-”

“It’s frustrating, Jinsol. As if the whole situation wasn’t ed up enough already.”

“But you have to understand this is their first time even knowing vampires exist. And one of them even turned to one. How can you expect them to just process all this instantly?”

“Well, I had to accept and live with it. And I’m here, ain’t I?”

“You had someone to be with you. You must remember how hard it was, figuring everything out without any help. Do you want her to go through the same?”

Hyunjin clenched her jaw, eyes fixed on Yeojin, still like stone.

She remembered. How she had no idea what was happening to her, how scared, terrified she was when her teeth grew, how she almost lost her conscience to the blood lust when she was turned and had no one telling her that from that moment, she would have to drink blood in order to survive. She remembered all that, and much more. Things she would never be able to erase from her mind, no matter how hard she tried.

Her muscles relaxed, and she let her body sit beside Yeojin again.

“Listen. I won’t tell you nothing’s gonna change, because it will. But I’ll be here to help you, alright?”

Haseul fell on her knees, burying her face in Yeojin’s knees with loud sobs.

“A-Am I gonna die?” Yeojin asked.

Hyunjin snorted. “No. Much for the opposite, you’ll live much longer now, and you won’t age.”

Yeojin looked at her own hands, like she was looking at them for the first time. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“You won’t, as long as you feed responsibly. You won’t just turn into a beast out of nowhere.”

“F-Feed?”

“Well, drink blood.”

Haseul choked in between an ugly sob. Hyunjin ignored, but Jinsol was by her side, patting the distressed woman’s back.

“And where am I supposed to get... b-blood without hurting anyone?”

“I’ll provide you.”

“And... where do you get it?”

“Oh, it’s pig blood. I don’t drink human bloo-”

Haseul raised her head from Yeojin’s lap and gagged, throwing up to the floor. Jinsol gasped and Yeojin stood up with a jump.

“Oh, for the love of the moon, seriously?” Hyunjin took a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes with a long sigh.

“Are you okay?” Jinsol asked.

“I-I’m sorry,” Haseul mumbled.

“I’m gonna clean this,” Yeojin said.

“No, stay with her, I’ll take care of it. I’ve seen much worse, don’t worry.” Jinsol’s voice was as kind as ever.

Yeojin kneeled beside Haseul, running her fingers down her hair, and Hyunjin wondered how the girl who had turned into a vampire was the one calming her older sister down. Jinsol was back with a mop, cleaning the floor in silence.

“Maybe it’s best if you go home for now,” Hyunjin said.

“But... what am I supposed to do?” Yeojin asked.

“I’ll give you a couple bottles so you can drink tomorrow, and you come back at night so I can give you more.”

“And what about, you know, school? And my parents?”

“You won’t tell a single soul about this. I mean it. Not even your parents, or your best friend. You can go to school, just feed at lunch time, and at dinner time.”

“But how am I supposed to do that at school? I always have lunch with everyone, and now I can’t eat! I... I can’t eat.” Yeojin turned to Hyunjin, her eyes shining with the tears forming. “How will I hang out with them and not eat with them? They’ll suspect, they’ll notice something’s wrong, and then... and then, what am I supposed to do? My parents as well, we always eat together on the weekends, how could I ever hide this from them?”

Hyunjin held her gaze, watching the small tears running down from her eyes. Her new reality was dawning, at last.

“I don’t know,” Hyunjin said.

Yeojin sniffed. “What did you do, Hyunjin? When it happened to you?”

“My family was killed, and I left.”

Yeojin’s eyes bulged and she dropped her head. “I-I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago, don’t worry. You won’t die if you eat, but you need to remember you’ll always feel sick and throw up if you do.”

“What happened to my body? Why can’t I eat? What else do I need to know about myself now?”

Hyunjin pondered for a bit if she should go on and explain everything she could do now, but instead, she took a small step back, and with a bit of an impulse, she jumped over them, backflipping in the air, and landing a few meters ahead of them.

“Show off.” Jinsol shook her head.

Both Yeojin and Haseul’s chin dropped.

“You’ll get it with time. Careful with your strength now. I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow. Come by after dinner time. There’s a bus stop in the main road just a five minute walk from here.”

“I’ll take you both home,” Jinsol said, helping Haseul stand up.

Hyunjin moved to the fridge and took two bottles out. She walked back to the living room and handed them to Yeojin, who stared at them.

“It’s normal if you feel the need to feed more on the first days. These two bottles should be enough until tomorrow night.” Hyunjin urged them closer, and Yeojin grabbed them. “And it’s better if you keep my number, in case you need something or have any question. You too, Haseul.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Haseul cleaned her eyes and took her phone from her pocket, just like Yeojin.

They exchanged their numbers, and Hyunjin noticed the smile on Jinsol’s lips.

“Mine as well,” Jinsol said. “If Hyunjin is busy, you can contact me.”

“Thank you so much.” Yeojin bowed at them.

Hyunjin allowed her lips to show the smallest of smiles, and rested her hand on Yeojin’s head. “It’s gonna be fine.”

Yeojin met her eyes, returned the smile and nodded.

“Let’s go?” Jinsol asked.

Hyunjin walked them to the door, and grabbed Haseul’s arm before they stepped outside.

“Please help her in any way you can. Don’t be scared of her. She’s your sister, she would never hurt you.”

Haseul pursued her lips. “How do you know?”

Another smile, sadder this time, appeared on Hyunjin’s lips. “Believe me. I know.”

None said a thing for a few seconds, and Haseul bowed at her. “Thank you for your help, and I’m sorry for... throwing up.”

“Don’t worry. See you tomorrow, Yeojin.”

Before following them outside, Jinsol approached Hyunjin and pulled her into a hug. “You big softie.”

Hyunjin clicked her tongue. “Have dinner with me tomorrow. There’s something I need to tell you.”

---

A/N: YEOJIN'S A VAMPIRE! And poor Haseul asdjkhasjkdhas

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, with a bit about vampires and how does it all work, but you'll know more in the next chapter! And someone is coming back as well........ :)))