Yoohyeon thought it was weird, Minji hanging around the hotel “for fun” and not with a girl hanging off her arm. Not that she cared, at all. She shook her head to rid of these thoughts that snuck their way in when she was innocently wondering what changed about the other girl. 

With Bora gone, she didn’t have anyone else to gossip with about the celebrity and the history they have with her. Handong didn’t even know who Minji was at first, but she didn’t mind who she was and treated her like a normal person. Besides, she only knew the Minji now, the weird girl who hangs out with them during their night shifts, not Minji the womanizer. 

She slowly circled around the empty town square in her car, upset that the last fast food place opened at this hour closed before she could even make it there. So much for her rare night off. 

Yoohyeon idled her car near the park sidewalk and stared up at the dark sky, the bell tower in her peripheral. She raised the volume on her mellow music playlist, the soft melody playing through her car speakers. She laid her chin on top of the steering wheel. 

There was something about night time that brought peace and comfort to Yoohyeon. The quiet, no people around except the shadow she just saw on top of the bell tower— what?! 

Yoohyeon gripped the steering wheel, leaning forward to get a better view. She squinted up at the large bell and saw nothing. Hallucinations, great. All these night shifts were finally catching up to her. 

She sighed and moved to shift the gear back into drive. A thump on the hood of her car caught her attention again. Her surroundings were swallowed up by a deep fog, only breaking apart to reveal a girl leaning on her car, eyes dark red. 

Yoohyeon was absolutely mesmerized and frozen in terror. 

~

Another night on the bell tower. It felt like she was watching over the town while everyone slept. Minji paced around the large bell, wondering how loud it would be if she actually rung it. Not that she ever would. She heard a car driving around earlier but paid zero attention to it, too into her own mind about what Siyeon meant.

What could possibly be stirring up in the vampire world? They have lived in peace for the last century, if her memory served her right. Siyeon seemed particularly nervous. Was that why she’s run off with Bora? Minji didn’t even know what to speculate or assume. Times like this she really felt just how young she was in vampire years…

Minji peered down onto the street, ready to step off the bell tower when she noticed the car from earlier. And a suspicious figure lurking around it. The movements seemed awfully familiar, bringing chills up her spine. She scanned the town square once more and made her way towards the car. Before it was too late…

She moved quickly, tackling the figure who leaned towards the hood of the car. Thanks to the fog Minji managed to hide herself from the driver’s view. She gripped the girl’s collar and rushed them over to a nearby forest a mile away. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The other girl pushed Minji away, dusting off her shoulders and fixing her leather jacket. “Nice to see you too, Minji.” She tries to remember the last time she’s run into her last, but her mind comes up empty. Maybe twenty years ago while she was in Europe? What was she doing here of all places? 

“Some entrance, Gahyeon.”

The smaller girl shrugged, her eyes darkening and a devilish grin appearing on her face. “You know me.” 

Minji crossed her arms. “Do I? We haven’t seen each other in decades, now you show up in my city?” 

“Your city?” She scoffed. “Oh, that’s right. Kim Minji the celebrity? Far cry from when we used to go out into the town and wreak havoc on anyone who came our way. What do you think the public will say if they knew you were a vicious vampire?” 

“Okay, was. Past tense!” 

Gahyeon clicked her tongue. “Your compelling must have gotten a hell of a lot better since we last met. You’ve managed to trick an entire nation.” 

Minji’s eyebrows creased. She just wanted to know what Gahyeon was doing here, not catch up. “Seriously, what brings you here?” 

“This girl. Human.”

“The usual.” Minji dodged Gahyeon’s punch. 

“She is different—“

“You’ve fallen in love? Crazy, I never would have suspected—“

“No!” Gahyeon seemed very frustrated, running her hands through her hair. Minji looked at her closely. The smaller girl looked exactly the same besides her ever changing hair color. She narrowed her dark red eyes at Minji. “This girl possesses things we seek.”

Minji’s blood ran cold. “I thought The Society didn’t interfere with humans.” Could this be what Siyeon was alluding to? A shift between the humans and vampires? The fallout could be catastrophic…

“Like I said. She is different.” 

~

Yoohyeon wandered down the busy sidewalk, not used to this part of town but she promised to meet Yubin at this obscure café the older girl had been raving about. She stopped at a crosswalk and glanced around at her surroundings. A big billboard hung on the side of the building in front of her. She scoffed. It was of Minji, from her recent sponsorship with a clothing line. 

Sometimes she couldn’t believe that that person was the same girl she sees at the hotel. If only people knew what she really was like… 

The signs beeped, signaling her to move. She reached the entrance of the shop and made her way inside, instantly noticing Yubin in the corner table with company. She momentarily furrowed her eyebrows, not sure if she remembers the older girl mentioning she was bringing someone. 

“Hey!” Yubin scrambled up from her seat, unlike her usual cool self. Yoohyeon’s gaze shifted to the stranger looking at her expectantly. “This is… my cousin Lee Gahyeon.” There was something weirdly familiar about her, Yoohyeon thought. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Yoohyeon!” They briefly shook hands and she tried not to widen her eyes at how cold the other girl’s hand was. 

Yubin cleared and excused herself to grab some drinks for them. Yoohyeon took a seat across from the stranger. “Yubin didn’t tell me her cousin was coming to town.” 

“It was sort of… last minute.” Gahyeon gave her a small smile, some sort of emotion flashing in her enticing eyes. Yoohyeon felt an odd sense of deja vu.