Today is Valentine's Day and the whole city is gathered in the center of Poiana Brasov, standing on the brick floor around the group of activists who gather on the square stage, watching them shout their revolting opinions and hand out informative pamphlets on the subject.

The newly formed historian Song Yuqi is there, listening to the speech without really paying attention to the message — it is something about a possible satanic ritual performed by vampires at the beginning of the small village meadow, though, she is sure. Her mind is a long way from that assembly, if she’s honest, and she is used to these matters in the morning, after all, she’s living in the country for six months now and it makes her experience the most unusual things in the world.

Most places on Earth would be celebrating that world symbol of love, but no: Transylvania is not like that. But that's why she is there, after all, to study the city's history and the connection between culture and local legends, and how it influences the daily lives of the population. It is a research that her college is funding, after she won some award in the last month of her course, as the applied student she always have been, and Yuqi is doing her best to do a good job.

“Ridiculous how humanity can advance in so many areas, but still preserve such archaic thoughts, right?” She hears the voice comment beside her, making her look to the side and uncross her arms. It belongs to a girl, with short black hair and clothes that are expensive enough to pay for a month's stay in the small cottage that Yuqi is staying at. 

“Yeah,” she slowly agrees.

“What, do you believe at what they’re saying?” When the stranger asks, she also finally looks at her and offers her a small smile. 

“No, not at all,” she says. “I think it’s all really dumb, actually.”

The girl can do nothing but nod. “Yeah. Twenty-first century and there are still people who believe that supernatural creatures exist. Incredibly dumb, I agree.”

“Nah, that’s not even the problem,” Yuqi sighs. “I just think it’s really funny that they claim with such certainty that vampires are real and still have no fear of what will happen if that is true.”

The historian sees her smile even bigger, clearly surprised by her response.

“That it very brilliant,” she raises her eyebrows. “What are your thoughts about it?”

“On vampires, you mean?”

“Yes,” the girl claims, too much interested in her point of view. “Tell me your theories.”

Yuqi blushes, not knowing how to deal with this change in attitude. She is used to being called crazy for her unusual opinions and being asked to stop talking. According to her own family, who totally discouraged her moving to Transylvania, she talks too much .

“Well,” she starts, fiddling with her own fingers in disquiet. “I think that, if vampires really existed, they wouldn’t expose themselves like that, doing rituals in public places and all these creep things. And we would be doomed to a sub-issue destination. We wouldn’t be able to fight against them, not that I think they would want war, but, as you said, humanity is ridiculous.”

There is a silence after that and, in the front of them, the woman speaking into the microphone screams again, causing Yuqi to grumble and the brunette beside her to scratch her ears.

“You are a smart girl,” the stranger says, offering her hand right after. “I’m Soyeon, by the way.”

Yuqi squeezes it quickly, noticing the low temperature of Soyeon's skin. “Yuqi.”

“You don’t seem local,” she comments and the Chinese girl can swear she just checked her out. “What are you doing in town?”

“I came from Beijing a few months ago,” she explains. “I’m here to do a cultural and historical research. I'm a historian.”

Soyeon raises her eyebrows, her gaze expressing admiration. “This is lovely. I am a big fan of history myself, although I do see a loop that repeats itself along the years, again and again.”

Her speech surprises Yuqi, who holds her breath to keep from blushing even more and she starts to think that, that girl may be more interesting than she looks. And, believe her, she looks so... Everything : so young and pretty and experient and mature.

“How long have you been here?” Yuqi asks, noticing that no one is looking at them — everyone in Transilvania paid close attention to outsiders; in fact, some still followed Yuqi with their eyes every time she passed by the corner cafe or entered the bookstore, but no one is looking at her now and that can only mean that Soyeon is a local.

“A few decades, perhaps. I stopped counting a while ago.”

Interpreting her answer as a joke, and understands that the girl probably was born in the city or moved there as a kid.

“That’s exciting, isn't it?” She smiles. “I’m loving Transilvania so far, everywhere I go has  a different story and that is just fascinating. But the people here don’t really like talking to strangers, especially outsiders, so I’m always speaking to myself, you know?”

Soyeon nods, even though she did not go through that situation, but she is moved by Yuqi's isolation and caresses the girl's arm.

“Look at them,” she instructs. Yuqi’s eyes follow hers, meeting the activist group that is still speaking on the stage. However, the police are there now and threaten to end the event.  “I guarantee you that you are not losing anything.” 

Yuqi smiles, grateful for Soyeon's attempt to cheer her up, and her eyes widen when a fabulous idea crosses her mind. “Hey, since you’re here for so long, could you help me with something? I’m after local legends, traditions and stuff. You think you can give me a word about it?”

The brunette's touch moves away from her body as if what Yuqi just said had scared her. She clears as she lowers her head. “I think I can, yes,” she agrees, taking her cell phone out of her pocket to check the hour. “Some other day, though. I must go now.” 

“Uh, okay,” Yuqi mumbles, afraid she did or said something wrong that is making the pretty girl step back.

However, as if reading her thoughts, Soyeon shakes her head sideways to plan a way out and smirks, forcing herself to add a sentence or two.

“It was lovely to meet such a brilliant person like you, Yuqi. May we meet again,” she takes Yuqi’s hand and kisses it, leaning her back to do so while keeping eye contact, and leaves with a bright smile and a kind look. 

Although Soyeon doesn’t look back, Yuqi follows her until she’s out of sight, sighing heavily when she realizes that, damn it , she’s so into hers. 

 

+++

 

The next time they meet, Yuqi has left the village to go to the center of Brasov and is at the Museum of Urban Civilization, taking notes on the works exhibited and reading each one of the texts that accompany the objects. 

She walks peacefully through the white walls really enjoying her time, mainly because dismissed her guide, since she always thought that being in a museum by herself assimilates to playing hide and seek, as it gives her the opportunity to discover new things in each room and the silence lets her imagine the scenes of the battles and the meetings as well as she wants to, such as the lack of explanation forces her to play journalist and it is just perfect for her to grow an argumentative sense. 

She is in the last room when she sees the silhouette of the stranger who approached her last week, during the protest in the square. Today, she wears a black boot, checkered trousers and a sleeveless blouse, as elegant as the first time she saw her, and is accompanied by a taller, more curvy woman in a red dress, with painted lips and long bangs.

They both hold informational pamphlets and Soyeon smiles suddenly, making Yuqi imagine that her company has said something funny to her; she didn't, though, mainly because, as far as the Chinese girl can see, the woman in red is clearly bored while swinging her high heels against the floor, and this strange thing makes Yuqi call the brunette.

“Soyeon?” 

She looks at her immediately, smiling big when she catches Yuqi looking too much at her exposed collarbone and checking her out from head to toe. “Oh, hello,” she greets, warning with a wave her mate that she would be gone for a while before approaching Yuqi. “I had not seen you there.”

“No worries, I just saw you,” she finally manages to smile back. “But, wow , I didn’t think you were a museum type of girl.”

Soyeon shrugs. “Me neither. But I might be only here to stalk you, you’ll never know.”

“Yeah, I seriously doubt that,” Yuqi says, not taking the girl’s smirk seriously, and she speaks again when Soyeon frowns, asking for an explanation. “I’m not that interesting to have someone pretty like you stalking me. Specially in a museum.”

They are definitely flirting now, Yuqi is finally sure, because there is no way Soyeon can smile like that — greatly and so naturally — at someone she’s not interested in. 

“I completely disagree with that,” she declares over Yuqi’s statement. “And you said yourself I’m not a museum type of girl.”

“I said that I thought you weren’t,” she defends herself. “But I was clearly wrong.”

With her heart already beating faster, she notices when Soyeon moves closer, almost invading her personal space, which doesn’t feel exactly bad, and does nothing when the girl takes her notebook from her hand, taking a quick look at it.

“Perhaps not,” she denies, passing a few more pages. “Are you busy now?”

Yuqi doesn’t understand the meaning of the question at first, but Soyeon, with no answer, looks at her curiously and she realizes what is going on between them right now.

“No, I was… I was just taking notes for, you know, my research. But I could totally go for some food now. You wanna join me?”

Soyeon shakes her head and finally returns the notebook to the owner. “I already ate, but it would be lovely to watch you eat. I also know a few local stories, if you are still interested.”

“Great. It’s- Uh , great. It would be great,” Yuqi doesn't question because she gets to have a date with one of the most beautiful girls she has ever seen in her life, and feels a little nervous about spending time alone with her, even if they will be talking about history. “There’s a place really close to my cottage that has the best food in the entire world.”

Soyeon smiles. “Lead the way, gorgeous.”

Yuqi doesn't ask about the friend that she apparently abandoned at the museum just to go out with her, but they arrive in time at the restaurant to get a nice table outdoors, next to the musician, and all the food her stomach has been begging for, for two hours.

With a fantastic view, jazz music and a glass of wine, which was only touched by the Chinese’s lips, they do not talk just about history.

 

+++

 

It is a Wednesday and Yuqi is working in the small garden in front of her borrowed house, trying with all her might to keep the sunflower that Mr. Lang, the owner of the cottage, gave her alive for at least a few more days. She is not a fan of gardening and has never even had a cactus — in fact, she is so bad at taking care of things that her parents never gave her a pet, when all the other kids in her neighborhood had one — but she is really trying because that was a sweet gesture and she values kindness.

It is the least that she could do. Besides, it's a great way to get Jeon Soyeon out of her thoughts.

The brunette has plagued her dreams, infected her mind and taken care of her romantic feelings and cliches, and they have only had five dates so far, not counting the time they met. During all their meetings, the information that Soyeon has been giving her is enriching her research in terms that she can’t even explain. The girl knows so much about the city and about cultures in general, and about history that it amazings Yuqi to the point of not knowing what to say, except to desperately ask for more.

Moreover, she has this strange habit of always appearing in places that Yuqi is in, as if she were only there to see her, but she acts in a completely opposite way, which kind of freaks Yuqi out. She doesn’t know what to think about it, although Soyeon always ends up improving significantly her day.  

It is bizarre, she knows it. But it is a bizarre that she likes. 

A proof of this is when a figure moves above her head, landing by her side and making her slide on the muddy floor of fright. She looks up, completely surprised, and sees no one but Jeon Soyeon there, smiling and offering her hand.

“Oh my God, Soyeon!” She shouts. “Don’t scare me like that!”

“I apologize for showing up without a warning,” she says, lifting Yuqi up and smiling bigger while she watches the girl trying to clean her, now, dirty clothes. Yuqi is wearing a denim overall that makes her look so cute that, in Soyeon's opinion, it should be illegal.

“What are you doing here, anyway? How did you know where I was? And, Jesus , how did you do that? You literally jumped off my roof!”

“I wanna take you somewhere,” she ignores the Chinese’s questions. “But you have to trust me.”  

“Are we in that level already?” The lack of response makes her sigh and give up on going against the will of the brunette. “Okay then, I guess. Just let me change into something clean.”

She walks to her house, a small one-story building with yellow walls and only two windows, but stops at the door when she realizes that Soyeon is not following her. She looks back and finds her blushing.

“Oh, should I follow you?” She asks, without knowing what to do.

“Uh, duh ?” 

Soyeon does so, following Yuqi to the nice room that connects with the kitchen. She can see almost the entire house from where she is; the various papers scattered on the dining table, the few dirty dishes in the kitchen sink, the colorful blankets on the sofa and the giraffe plush that she is sure that should not be on the floor. At the end of the room, there is a door that Yuqi goes to that she dares not approach to.

“Give me ten minutes,” the girl in bangs says, disappearing into her bedroom without worrying about closing the door.

Feeling as if she is invading the space, Soyeon squeezes herself on a little space of the sofa and picks up the plush from the floor, placing it beside her and starting to hold her breath. It is not as if she needs to breathe, but she is used to doing it because she is always wandering around the city and dealing with matters that her mates cannot. However, Yuqi's scent is everywhere around her and it is bloody suffocating.

She screams to Yuqi that she will be waiting outside and, after looking at the sky and the dense clouds for eight minutes straight, the taller girl leaves the cottage wearing baggy jeans and a green jumper, her hair divided into two braided pigtails. 

“Where are we going?” She asks.

In response, Soyeon offers Yuqi her hand, and she grabs it with confidence. 

“Don’t let go,” it’s the only thing Soyeon warns before holding Yuqi's body in her arms and starting to run towards the forest behind the house, making Yuqi scream and pay attention to the speed of the brunette's steps. She runs ten times faster than anything Yuqi has ever seen, and doesn't seem to mind the weight she carries not even a little bit.

“Soyeon!”

She keeps running to the Hill of Shadows, a place that all the local people Yuqi met told her not to go because it has been cursed for years, but that doesn’t seem to bother Soyeon, who enters the stupidly tall and dense trees from the top of the mountain range until approaching a small building, hidden by the leaves and wood.

When Yuqi realizes it, her feet are touching the wet grass and Soyeon’s hands are not on her anymore. She looks to the left and sees that the building that extends beside them is wide and has stone walls, gray and old, and looks abandoned. She knows it is not, though.

“How did you- What the hell was that- I-,” Soyeon’s stupid smirk helps her to verbalize her thoughts. “You’re a vampire!”

“I am,” she agrees. “But you must not fear, gorgeous, for I would never hurt you. No one here will.”

Yuqi’s eyes widen. “T-There’s more? More of you? I-I mean… More vampires?”

“Well, of course,” she waves for the other girl to follow her, surrounding the wall covered with slime and stops in front of a steel gate, the most current thing about that place. “There are thousands of us around the world, divided through the continents, although our number has decreased significantly thanks to the oldest of our kind. They are getting tired of living, that’s why we usually walk in clans nowadays, if you wanna know.”

“You have a clan? This is- This is your house?”

“Yuqi-ah,” she turns around to look at Yuqi’s face, who’s not scared at all, just curious and surprised about all this new information, as she expected. “Stop asking what you already know.”

“Why am I here? How did you know that I wouldn’t run and scream and tell everyone about you? About all of this?”

“Because you are smarter than that, gorgeous. I had faith in you. And, naturally, you intrigue me,” Soyeon smiles while her hand runs on the door, opening it and waving. “Shall we?”

Yuqi follows her inside without even noticing she’s doing so, not paying attention to the lack of light and the giant, empty hall that welcomes them.

“I do? Like, my blood intrigues you? Is this some kind of vampire in love thing? Because Edward said the same thing to Bella in Twilight and I-”

Her question causes the vampire to laugh and and get closer to her, touching the hair next to her eyes and squeezing her hand with her own.

“No, Yuqi-ah,” Yuqi doesn’t freeze when Soyeon’s lips get to her face, but she blushes when they leave a soft kiss on her cheek. “It is not like that.”

“Soyeonie, is that you? I can hear a heartbeat!” They hear a young, female voice echoing in the room, muffled thanks to the distance.

Yuqi shivers.

“Come with me, I will introduce you to the girls.” 

Accepting Soyeon’s invite, she grabs the vampire's arm as if something would happen to her at any moment, and they enter a corridor that is completely different from the previous hall, which has smooth white walls and hanging pictures, and Yuqi can swear that Soyeon is in all of them, presenting different looks in each one.

They go down a ten-step staircase and the vampire opens a double door, which content enchants Yuqi and makes her open in awe. It is a library, large and wide, with thousands of books filling the shelves and lots of artifacts scattered around it. The — also white — walls have drawings never seen by the historian before and follow a pattern that she is dying to study.

There is a girl in the center of the room with golden hair who stretches in front of a wooden table; she is reading some old book and looks at them before they announce themselves.

“Miyeon? Do you have a minute?” 

“You brought a human,” she replies to Soyeon’s question, and watches her bring the human closer. “Hello to you! I’m Miyeon.”

“Hi! Nice to meet you!” She says, squeezing Miyeon’s cold hand.

“This is Yuqi, I believe Soojin already mentioned her while I was out,” Soyeon introduces her since she has skipped the part where she tells her name. “Yuqi-ah, this is Miyeon, the oldest vampire between us.”

“And the prettiest, if I may say,” she jokes, pulling the human into a quick hug. “Oh, she smells good.”

“It’s a pleasure,” it is everything Yuqi can say, once she’s too shy after the compliment — which she isn’t sure if is really a compliment or not. 

“You’ll get used to us. Trust me,” the blonde reassures in a whisper and looks at Soyeon. “Be careful with Shuhua.” 

Soyeon nods 

“Let’s go now,” but Yuqi doesn’t seem to want to leave, so she speaks again. “There’s more for you to see. We can come back later.” 

Undoing her pout, she nods and says goodbye to Miyeon, and they are back in the corridor again, walking calmly while Yuqi’s stomach contracts in anxiety.

“Miyeon is the one who turned me into a vampire, centuries ago. She was from the Korean royalty back then, but now, all she does is study,” Soyeon breaks the silence.

“Really? Royalty? How did you even meet her, then?” 

“I used to live in her kingdom,”she explains, making Yuqi wonder how old she is. “My family was really poor, so they sold me to the Cho family to be a servant. Miyeon’s uncle was a vampire and turned her when she was about to die from some common flu of the time. He saved her, but, when I came, she was already forty years old and still looked like a twenty year old girl; people started to notice. I was her private maid and basically her only friend so, when she offered me the chance to run and to be free, I did not even think twice before accepting it. I already knew what she was and asked her for the immortality.” 

“Wow, this is actually very simple,” Yuqi frowns. “Apart from your parents selling you and stuff.”

“What, were you expecting some great, old drama?” She teases.

“Kinda of,” she winces in guilt. “But I have something to ask.”

“Then ask the question.”

“Are we underground? Because there’s no way the building I saw we getting in to was this big.”

“Yes, Yuqi. We are,” says Soyeon. “We do not need fresh air, after all. We are just fine down here, more secure. But I apologize if it gets harder for you to breath or-”

“I knew I heard a heartbeat!” The same feminine voice from earlier interrupts her. They broth look across the hallway and see a new figure, a girl with alternative and printed clothes that smiles really big and approaches them very excited. “Hello, human! My name is Minnie!”

“Uh, hi. I’m Yuqi. Nice to meet you,” she greets, trying to hug her back, but she moves away too quickly, squeezing her cheeks in the same minute.

“Look, Soyeonie! She’s so cute!”

“Stop being cringy,” Soyeon rolls her eyes while pulling Yuqi to herself.

“Well, this is the first you bring someone home and- Damn it! It’s a human! Heart beating and everything!” Minnie defends, turning to Yuqi and really trying to stop herself from squeezing her again. “I’m sorry for my excitement, but Soyeon here doesn’t let me interact with real people.”

“It’s okay,” Yuqi blushes. “It’s the first time I’m meeting vampires too.”

“Do I need to remind you, Minnie, that all the times you did meet humans, Soojin had to erase their memories, for good ?” She scolds and the Thai girl forces a smile, apologizing. “We are going to the living room, do you mind joining us?”

She shows her teeth. “I wish! But I can’t. Truly can’t. I have to get my clothes out of Miyeon's room before she goes back there.” 

“I will never understand you two,” Soyeon declares.

However, the other vampire shrugs and gestures a kiss in the direction of the new guest, waving before leaving them alone to go on her own way. 

As usual, Yuqi cannot control her curiosity.

“They’re a together?” She asks. “Miyeon and Minnie, I mean.”

Soyeon sighs heavily. “It is complicated. Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not. I lost count of how many times they broke up, but they always seem to make up at the end of the week.”

“And you?” Her question makes Soyeon stop and look at her. “Do you date a lot?” 

There is a moment there that the older one uses to assimilate Yuqi's intentions towards the question.

“I do not,” she answers. “Soojin says that I am emotionally damaged , for some reason. She doesn’t believe I can ever develop romantic feelings over someone.”

“And can you?” 

“You are here, at my home, meeting my family, are you not? You make the answer to this question positive, Yuqi-ah.”

With Yuqi’s soft smile, she leans towards her and kisses her lips to prove her speech, which does just the job and allows her to taste once more a little bit of Yuqi. Although she doesn’t take long in the action, it is enough for the Chinese girl to have a gay panic, holding Soyeon’s body really tight against her own without meaning to let her go. 

“You can get emotional later, Yuqi. They are waiting for us.”

Reluctantly, she pulls away only enough so that they can walk to the next room, which by far is more traditional than the library, with stone walls, impeccable lighting, crystal chandeliers, a large television and a brown sofa that blends perfectly with the rest of the wooden furniture.

“I felt her smell from the hallway,” says the palest person Yuqi has ever seen in her life. 

When she looks at her, she wonders how in hell she hadn’t seen her before, because there is no way that girl can possibly go unnoticed; not with her long black hair, and her perfect nose and lips. She is perfect . Her clothing, on the other hand, is so common that it delivers her comfort to today's culture. She wears denim shorts and a shirt with short moss green sleeves, something as normal as the television in the room.

“Yuqi, this is Shuhua, our most recently created vampire,” Soyeon introduces them. Yuqi gets once more surprised because Shuhua is the only vampire she meets that hasn’t hugged her; she only offers her hand. “And this is Soojin, an old friend of mine.” 

Yuqi finally realizes there’s someone by Shuhua’s side, and her bangs and her red lips helps the human to recognize her as the girl who was accompanying Soyeon at the museum.

“Hi,” she greets with a wave. “Nice to meet you all.”

“You’re the girl from the museum,” Soojin notices, squeezing Yuqi’s hands as soon as Shuhua steps back. “I knew Soyeon was lying to me.”

“Hey, I did not lie,” she protests. “I omitted the truth.”

“Sure,” Shuhua clears behind her and Yuqi doesn't know if she was not supposed to notice her agonized gesture, but she does, and Soojin shakes the newborn girl’s hand and smiles at them. “We’re going upstairs, shall we? May we meet again, Yuqi. I hope Soyeon brings you back again soon enough.” 

Soyeon mumbles something to them that sounds as an okay to Yuqi and they leave the room in a rush, which bothers the guest and makes her feel guilty and uncomfortable.

“Did I do something wrong? They obviously left because of me.”

The vampire catches her worried look, and kisses both of her hands in a gesture of caring. “You did nothing wrong, Yuqi-ah. It is just your scent. Newborns have difficulty controlling their hunger, especially with the smell of human blood being so close to them. I was sure Shuhua wouldn’t hurt you, though, or I would not have brought you here.”

Yuqi nods, really understanding the situation, but still feeling bad about it. She didn’t want to be a problem for any of them, since they are important for Soyeon and, well, Soyeon has become someone very important for her.

“Who turned her? When?” She asks.

“Soojin did it a few months ago,” Soyeon answers, encouraging her to sit on the couch with her. She hugs Yuqi to create some intimacy. “They dated for almost three years and recently got married. Do you remember the satanic ritual people in town were talking about in the day we met? It was actually their three-month wedding anniversary.”

“ Oh ,” she whispers. “That explains a lot. Humans do have strange interpretations of events in the supernatural world.”

Soyeon finally smiles again and lies her head on her shoulder, squeezing her body so she could steal some of Yuqi’s warmth. 

“Are you okay with all of this?” She wouldn’t say it, but she’s afraid that it is too much for Yuqi. 

“ Uh , sure,” if Soyeon’s heart still beat, it would have calmed down and reduced the frequency of its beats with her speech. “You’re a vampire who lives in a castle with other vampires and wants to date me. I’m completely fine with that.” 

“Good, then. It makes me relieved.”

“I just- I need to ask you something.”

“You always do,” Soyeon rolls her eyes. “But you know you can always do it.”

“I… I want to know if you have any ex-girlfriend. Because I seriously can’t compete with eternal life and endless beauty! So you better not have any or-”

“I do not,” she laughs over the human’s query. “And you will never have to compete with anyone, Yuqi-ah, for I truly want you, you and no one else, as my girlfriend.” 

And Yuqi couldn’t say no to that beautiful vampire. So she didn’t.

 

+++

 

They are in Soyeon's room, lying on the first bed that Soyeon bought since she became a vampire — one of the things she found herself in need of buying, along with the heater and the air purifier, since she was sure, and completely right, that visits from Yuqi would become a frequent thing —, and her girlfriend is looking up at the ceiling, her hand around Soyeon's waist while head rests on her shoulder.

The sound of her breathing became very relaxing for the vampire, who hears it while reading a gay romance book by an author named André Aciman, just she she promised her girlfriend she would, in exchange for her to let Soyeon comb her hair whenever she wanted to.

She is already in the penultimate chapter when she gives up on reading, sighing as she leaves the book beside her and looks at Yuqi.

“Yuqi-ah, you are thinking too loud,” she says, bringing the youngest’s attention to her. “Do you wanna tell me what is going on in that mind of yours?”

Yuqi pouts in response. “Sorry, but I just… I was thinking about last week, when you introduced me to Minnie?” Soyeon nods, acknowledging the moment. “You said something about Soojin erasing someone’s memories. How is that possible?”

She knew this conversation would come, and she especially knew it would be because of the girl’s extreme curiosity, so she is not afraid of it.

“Some of us, not all, gain special abilities when we turn, in addition to the super speed and the extended hearing, that are common to all vampires,” she explains, placing the lock of Yuqi's hair that falls into her eyes behind her ear. “Soojin is one of them. She can erase people’s memories by touching their head; only when she wants to, of course.” 

Twilight is the only thing that crosses Yuqi’s mind, and she smiles.

“How many of you have powers?”

“We do not call it powers, gorgeous,” Soyeon holds a laugh and leaves a kiss on her girlfriend’s forehead. “We call it gifts. Only Soojin and I have those, although I really think Minnie has a better hearing than all of us and we should consider it as-”

“Wait! You have a power?” She ignores the vampire’s corrections, widening her eyes and practically pushing herself over the brunette's body. “What is it? What can you do? Why didn’t you tell me before, Soyeonie?!”

“I can read minds.” 

Yuqi’s heart starts to beat faster and she knows she shouldn't be so surprised because, after all, Soyeon always finds a way to do so. But, bloody hell, this is huge! 

“You must not worry, though. I am not reading yours since our meeting at the museum. I was definitely stalking you back there, by the way.”

Finally reacting, Yuqi sits excitedly on top of Soyeon's hips and makes her lift her back.

“What am I thinking right now?” She asks. 

It is the weirdest and most unexpected thing she has ever said, but it amuses Soyeon so much that she laughs hard, getting hit by the human right after.

 “Yuqi, no violence here, remember?” She jokes, but the Chinese girl doesn’t give her another choice, keeping her upset face until she starts to speak again. “Very well, then. You are thinking about… Me? And you, doing… Yuqi!”

This time, it is Yuqi who laughs over Soyeon’s embarrassment, and she would have fell out of bed if the older one didn’t have hold her soon enough.

“Do not do that again,” she scolds. “You should never provoke a vampire.”

“Yeah? What will you do to me?”

Yuqi kisses her before she can even think of an answer — not that she would verbally answer to that, in the first place —, and their mouths follow a synchronized rhythm, as rough as it is intense, that has become the only thing capable of boiling Soyeon's interior and driving her crazy since they did it for the first time, as well as Soojin's love for Shuhua, which led Soojin to give a human a chance when she dispensed any real relationship with anyone.

Soyeon squeezes Yuqi's waist and quickly grabs it with both of her arms to move her on the bed, leaving the girl under her as she lets herself be overwhelmed by her hunger. When she starts to kiss Yuqi's neck, the historian pulls her back and glues their faces, forcing an eye contact that makes her shiver. 

“Turn me,” she asks in a whisper.

“What?” 

“Bite me, isn’t it how you turn people into vampires? Do it to me.”  

Still trying to process the girl’s words, Soyeon raises her back and her eyebrows follow, ending the intense moment that was starting between them and making her curse inside her head. 

She wasn’t expecting for this one, especially this early. She doesn’t even know if she likes the idea of Yuqi being a vampire — Soyeon herself loves being a vampire and she admits that it would be lovely to have her girlfriend with her forever, just like that stupid movie Yuqi is crazy about, but she’s also worries that Yuqi might not appreciate that life as much as she thinks she will. Soyeon wonders where this suddenly request comes from, and can’t help but think that she didn’t do enough to make the human feel comfortable and welcome in her house. 

The answer to Yuqi comes with a negative nod and a change of gaze, as Soyeon sits by her side in bed. 

“You are still too young, Yuqi-ah. You should enjoy your life before making decisions you cannot unmake.” 

“Oh, don’t act all Edward Cullen on me!” She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms and sustaining the challenging attitude. “I’m old enough to decide what I want.”

“Have I not told you to stop quoting this ridiculous movie already?” Soyeon frowns.

“But the books are good! Like, really good. The movies could never.” 

Soyeon sees what the girl is trying to do there; changing the subject, trying to distract her so she will be more likely to accept the request. Nevertheless, even if she sees the advantage of having Yuqi as a vampire, she is still the leader of her clan and must ensure the safety of each and every one of them. The matter needs to be discussed by the group first, because that is how they usually make the most important decisions, and, of course, the changing will mess with their lives too, since Shuhua is already taking the place of a newborn and no clan can afford the trouble of having two of them.

“Why do you want it?” She asks, ready to seriously assess her desire.

Yuqi reaches for her hand and hold it next to her collarbone, kissing it before speaking. “You can read my mind, I allow it.”

“I have no intentions on doing so. You tell me.”

Soyeon’s serious and tough look makes her sigh, swallowing hard and looking away to try not to show her lack of confidence on the matter.

“I always felt off, no matter what I did, you know? I just didn’t fit in, I guess,”  she starts, searching for her girlfriend’s support, which she gets immediately. “I mean, I’m social, I make friends fast, that’s not the problem at all. The thing is how I feel , if you can understand what I mean. I left everyone back at Beijing and I have no regrets. I came to Transylvania to dedicate myself to my work, to invest in my career. But I have never ever felt like I belong to somewhere more than when I'm with you, and I want to keep it that way forever.”   

Yes: although Soyeon doesn’t say anything back, she knows that sensation very well. She feels off lots of times too, she recognizes the feeling, and the way Yuqi describes her feelings towards her? It is, definitely, not a one sized thing. She cannot explain it, though; she just can’t. She can only feel the hurricane of emotions that simple human causes her to have. 

At first, Soyeon didn’t understand it, she couldn't figure out why Yuqi, between all of those people back at the square, attracted her. She started a bloody conversation herself! And then locked herself inside her room for days, only leaving when her mind was about to explode from the need to see that girl again, forcing Soojin to accompany her to the museum after stalking Yuqi for hours.

She still has no explanation for that.

“Soyeonie?” Yuqi calls, catching Soyeon’s lost eyes in an attempt to attract her attention. She does it perfectly.

“I give you one year.”

“What?”

Soyeon looks at her passionately and quicly kisses with affection. “One year, gorgeous, I will give you one year. And if you still feel the same way by then, I shall turn you into a vampire, as you wish.”

The human widens her eyes and jumps on the bed, too happy with the proposal. She attacks her with her needy arms and squeezes the vampire’s cold body with all of her excitement.

“Really? Like, really?” The brunette nods, frowning for the shouting. “Yes!”

“Calm down, sweetheart. We still have a lot to go through. It is an entire year, after all,” she scolds, accepting Yuqi’s touch willingly when she cups her face.

“I feel like we’re meant for each other,” Yuqi is so serious that Soyeon blushes. “I’d wait a thousand years if I had to.”

“Stop fishing my love when you already have it, Yuqi-ah.”

“Wow! Jeon Soyeon using slangs? Is this a dream?” She teases, making the vampire roll her eyes and take control on their cuddling. 

“Shush it, Yuqi,” Soyeon mumbles. However, as much as doesn’t move again, something else does, in a very cringy way. “I mean it, shush it.”

“But I didn’t say anything else!”

“You thought it. And it was too loud for me to ignore.”

With a girlfriend that could read her mind, Song Yuqi is doomed. 

Nevertheless, perhaps she likes it.