Irene walks up the nearby mountain to look at the stars. It’s been a few days since she last went to visit Seulgi, yet the girl hasn’t left her mind for even a second. The scenes linger in her head like the smell of faint citrus that now accompanies Irene. Though she’ll never admit it, she was pretty cold. And Seulgi’s coat, it must be laced with some kind of magic, somehow holds the same comfort in Seulgi’s gaze. 

     She reaches the end of the hiking trail where the townspeople would frequently visit in the summer when the elements weren’t so harsh. From here, you could see the lights from the town below and the heavens up above, the stars dancing in the sky. 

     Irene sighs, and it irks her when her breath barely leaves a fog in the frigid air. It reminds her that she’s no longer living, a soul aimlessly walking on earth locked away from resting peacefully. Her breath is cold, her skin is bloodless, her heart stays still in her chest. Sometimes Irene forgets she’s even awake. 

     She’s roused from her stupor by a faint yell in the distance. The voice sounds oddly familiar and Irene almost groans, wishing she was wrong. 

     Running down the trail, she stops and closes her eyes in annoyance at the sight of a girl on the ground looking up at a massive reindeer that looks like it’s about to charge at her. It’s Seulgi. God, what was Seulgi doing here of all places? And in the middle of the night during winter? Irene quickly rushes to her side and fends off the reindeer, shooing it to run off in the opposite direction. 

     “My hero!” Seulgi cheers behind her and gives Irene a goofy grin when she turns to look.

     “It was just a deer.”

     “It was huge! It could’ve trampled me to death,” Seulgi retorts.

     “I quite literally waved it off. More importantly, what are you doing here?” Irene nags as she helps Seulgi to stand. Her hands slide from Seulgi’s shoulders down to her arm and the tips of her fingers, letting her hold linger. If Seulgi notices the affectionate gesture, she doesn’t comment on it.

     Seulgi turns slightly, letting Irene see the backpack she’s carrying, now covered in snow like the rest of her attire. 

     “I’m here to camp! Rumors were going around that the sky lights up with waves of color during the devil’s hour in winter.” Seulgi smiles so brightly, her face squishing into a circle and eyes turning into crescents. 

     Irene was about to comment on how the northern lights don’t appear where they are, but she’s interrupted by Seulgi sneezing and her teeth chattering. 

     “If the deer didn't kill you, the cold will,” Irene comments. She turns away from Seulgi and pinches her nose bridge to alleviate the oncoming headache from what she’s about to do. 

     Seulgi looks at her confused as she breathes into her palms and rubs her arms up and down in an attempt to raise her body temperature.

     “I have a fire ready a few minutes off the trail. Come with me.” Irene tells her. She starts walking without looking back at Seulgi to see if she agreed. This was non-negotiable. Irene was simply returning a favor. It was none of her concern if the human didn’t accept her offer. She was taking time out of her night to clear her debts.

      ...Or so Irene tries to convince herself. Her heightened hearing is intently listening to Seulgi’s breath and movements. She hears Seulgi scramble to shorten the gap between them and follow her. Irene’s face scrunches up in both relief and trouble. Her eyebrows meet and she bites her lip, annoyed with herself. The dilemma of helping the human and preserving her streak of being a lone ranger starts to create a throbbing in her head. 

     ‘What am I doing.’

***

     “Watch your head,” Irene says as she enters her little cave, and she immediately tries to start a fire with dried twigs.

     Seulgi plops down near the campfire and rummages through her bag. She pulls out a stick of flint and a silver knife. As she approaches Irene to help her ignite the fire, Irene suddenly stands and backs away with venom in her eyes.

     “What the are you doing.” Danger rumbles through Irene’s every word.

     Taken aback by what’s happening, Seulgi opens to ask what’s wrong before she looks at the knife on her right hand and drops it to the floor in realization. 

     “I’m sorry! I-I was just trying to help you start the fire faster. I swear, I’m not here to hurt you.” 

     Irene stays silent but doesn’t let her guard down. Her eyes are trained on Seulgi, shining a faint red in the dark side of the cave. Her sight shifts between the woman and the knife. She starts breathing in and out to calm her senses, but still alert to what Seulgi could do.

     Taking the silence as a test of trust, Seulgi slowly reaches to her side to pick up the tool, eyes never leaving Irene’s stare. She inches forward towards the unlit campfire, and Irene takes three steps back. Irene’s completely shrouded in the dark, and they continue their staring contest. 

     The tiny hairs on Seulgi’s nape rise as she looks at two glowing red points in the dark. The tension in the air was thick as Seulgi brought the knife and the flint in her hands forward. The sparks illuminate their faces for a split second, Irene’s expression unreadable. Finally, the dry twigs catch fire and Seulgi quickly throws the tools far away behind her. She raises her hands in surrender and tears her gaze away, looking down.

    Tentatively, Irene takes cautious steps towards the fire and kneels opposite to where Seulgi is, her hands still in the air. She takes a stick and silently stokes the small flame. Her eyes are now concentrated on making the fire larger. They stay that way for a few minutes. Irene is silent as Seulgi’s arms start to become sore.

     “At ease, soldier,” Irene taunts with a monotone voice. 

     Seulgi exhales and nervously laughs. She leans back and plants her hands behind her for support.

     “God... I know you’re a vampire and all, but I never really believed you’d be capable of being intimidating haha…” Seulgi leans back fully, lying down on the cave floor, and rolls around to get closer to the single source of heat. “You’re pretty scary when you need to be.”

     Irene eyes the girl lying prone. She can hear her racing heartbeat, her short breaths, she can almost taste the fresh blood pumping through her veins from the adrenaline. Irene shakes those thoughts away by looking at the knife a few feet behind Seulgi. 

     “Of course I am.”

     “Oh, nope! I said you’re scary when you need to be, Ms. Irene. Your threats are pretty empty half of the time,” Seulgi teases.

     Irene glares at Seulgi and gets a smile in return. Irene wants to pinch those cheeks. No, she doesn't. The ? Irene is bamboozled, to say the least.

     “I’m hungry,” Seulgi announces and crawls over to her backpack. She pulls out a pack of biscuits, some chocolate, and a strange fluffy substance.

     Seulgi sets up her food, and Irene watches intently, her right brow raising up and down. Seulgi stacks the biscuits and chocolate and mounts the fluffy white cubes on sticks over the fire. It smells sweet. Seulgi can see Irene boring holes into her food and she chuckles.

     “I’m making s’mores.”

     “S’mores?”

     “Yeah! My friend Wendy and I came up with this little genius idea.” Seulgi points to the fluff on sticks. “She calls it a marshmallow! It’s sweet and it melts in your mouth. Then I, genius mastermind inventor Kang Seulgi, thought about roasting it and putting it in a chocolate biscuit sandwich.” Seulgi laughs at her own brilliance. “I’m telling you, Irene, when they start selling these at other bakeries apart from Wendy’s, it’s my name that will be written in the history books.” 

     Irene smiles at the genuine excitement Seulgi’s showing. Her hands were waving around as she told the story, and there was an affectionate lilt in her voice when she mentioned her friend. 

     Seulgi offers one to Irene, and as much as she wants to try, she can’t.

     “Seulgi, I can’t eat human food.” 

     “What?!” It was as if Irene had just told her the world was ending. “No way! Of all the things that could be true from the rumors.” 

     “Rumors?”

     “Yeah, the rumors of vampires being allergic to garlic, turning into bats, not being seen in mirrors, and the rumor of you being bloodthirsty killers; which is clearly wrong.” Seulgi looks at her with curious eyes, clearly wanting answers but not wanting to overstep. 

     Irene giggles. “Garlic just smells bad, so I personally stay away. No, I can’t turn into a bat. And I’m not sure about the last one. I haven’t looked into a mirror since before I was turned.” Irene counts with her fingers.

     “Turned?”

     “Vampires aren’t born, Seulgi.”

     The mood turns serious. Seulgi looks at Irene with a strange glint in her eyes that the vampire can’t recognize. Irene clears .

     “So, what does a... s-s’more taste like?” 

     Seulgi respects Irene's boundaries and starts babbling about different pastries at Wendy's bakery and the dishes of some 'little devils' named Yeri and Joy. Seulgi forgets about the stars in the sky when Irene looks like she holds the universe in her eyes. The flames flicker in the red of Irene's irises. Seulgi thinks that hellfire couldn't look more beutiful. They exchange stories of mundane things until sleep overpowers Seulgi’s sunshine smile. 

     In the dimly lit cave, a different fire was ignited in their chests.