It had now been over a month since Yongsun moved in with Byul, and they were still getting along very well. Byul was a little ashamed to say that she spent every moment she could with the older woman instead of doing something more productive, like installing those extra door locks she had bought. Although, to be fair, Yongsun didn’t have much spare time for her. Between her university classes, her work as an intern in at a local hospital, and other club activities she never gave much info to Byul about, Yongsun barely showed up at the apartment. Whenever they could, though, they watched movies, played Byul’ s video games, and stressed over Yongsun’ s homework together.

Byul didn't use to open up to other people this quickly. It seemed to her that every time she was with Yongsun her emotions guided her instead of her logic, but so many things were going on in her life that Byul didn't have time to wonder too much about it. She'd just gotten fired from her part-time job for arriving late to work too often and falling asleep on the job. She wanted to be upset about it but she knew it was true. Vampire hunting usually left her too tired to focus on the job.

Byul was drinking soju in the dining room to console herself when she heard Yongsun arrive from her internship. Yongsun took off her shoes and backpack and sat next to Byul at the table with a sigh.

"Hey, Byul, can I drink too?"

"Sure." Byul was going to stand up to get her a glass but Yongsun opened a new bottle and drank straight from it. Byul lifted an eyebrow in surprise.

"Rough day?"

"Yeah. And you?"

"I got fired." Byul looked down. Rent was due next week and she didn't have enough to pay, and even if she found a new job tommorow, she wouldn't receive her salary in time. It looked like she was going to have to accept the vampire hunter's association job. 

"I'm sorry, Byul."

"It's alright. I'll find something else. What happened to you?"

"A patient died today." Yongsun rested her head on the table. "He had been involved in a car accident. The surgeon wasn't in, so he died for not getting the proper treatment on time. I could've saved him, but I was too scared of the consequences I would face if I operated on him without the supervision of a surgeon. I can't afford to lose my internship." Yongsun took another sip from the bottle as her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "It's not the first time I saw a patient die, but it was the first time I saw a patient die because of me."

"It wasn't your fault, Yong. Some people you just can't save, no matter how hard you try." Byul thought of Wheein and finished her glass.

"I guess." Yong rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears and then felt her cheeks. "Is my face red? I feel kind of hot."

"Are you already drunk?" Byul chuckled.

"Not enough." Yongsun responded and took another big sip from the bottle.

"You should slow down, Yong."

Yongsun took Byul's advice and they fell into a comfortable silence for some time before Yongsun rested her head on Byul's shoulder and hugged her arm.

"You're a good person, Byul." 

"You're definitely drunk. Such a lightweight" Byul chuckled. She wasn't used too this much skinship and it made her nervous. "So clingy too."

"No, I mean it. I was scared you would be a weirdo or something but you're pretty nice, if a little annoying at times."

Byul ignored her and only laughed. "You should go to bed. Don't you have class tommorrow?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. I just wanna crawl into a hole and hide."

"I doubt you'd be able to fit." Byul teased. Yongsun hit her shoulder.

"I take it back. You're annoying all the time." Yongsun said and started standing up to go to her room but tripped and almost fell down.

Byul laughed and helped steady Yongsun. "Should I help you get to your room?" 

"I'm fine."  Yongsun looked up and their noses almost touched. Was it the alcohol or was Yong blushing a bit? 

Yongsun said goodbye and walked alone towards her room, but not too long after Byul heard a thud come from the hallway and went to check on her.

"Are you okay?" She asked her as she helped her up.

"Yeah, I just tripped."

"You're so clumsy." Byul placed Yongsun's arm over her shoulder to carry her to her room. "You shouldn't drink so much next time, Yong."

"Oh, will there be a next time, handsome?" Yongsun lifted up one eyebrow and smirked. 

Byul chuckled at her expression. "Are you trying to flirt with me?"

Yongsun laughed and looked up at Byul with her adorable dimpled smile. "I don't know; is it working?"

"You really shouldn't drink too much." Byul blushed and mumbled under her breath.

They finally made their way to Yongsun's room and Byul left her on the bed. As she was standing up, Yongsun reached out and took her by the wrist.

"Could you stay for a bit? Please?" 

Yongsun's troubled expression made Byul nod and sit on the bed. Honestly, she wasn't even sure why Yongsun had so much control over her. Whatever. Right now, Byul blamed it all on the alcohol.

Byul woke up with a strong headache. This wasn't her room. Right, she stayed with Yongsun last night. 

When she sat up on the bed, Yongsun woke up too. 

"Ugh, my head hurts so much."

"You probably missed class, too."

"Oh my god, Byul! What are you doing here?!" Yongsun jumped in surprise.

"Last night you told me to stay and I fell asleep?"

Yongsun's eyes widened as she remembered last night's events. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with my drunk self."

"Well, I accept apologies in the form of food." Byul smirked.

"You're so annoying."

"I know, you say it all the time." Byul chuckled as she stood up from the bed and streched. "By the way, I need to go." She yawned. "Time for job hunting."

Byul was already outside the room when she heard Yongsun's "goodluck!".

Byul had thought about her options, and she had decided that her best one was to accept Irene's job offer. She took a bus to the hideout of vampire hunters, which is where she knew Irene probably was. When she went inside, she spotted her near the back talking to some guy and walked towards her.

"Hey, Irene."

Irene turned to face her and gave her a polite smile. "Fancy seeing you here, Byulyi. To what do I owe the pleasure of you visit?" 

"I want to join your association." Byul went straight to the point, completely ignoring the person Irene had been talking to.

Irene was visibly surprised. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I need the money." Byul sighed. "Could you pay me in advance or something?"

"Sure," Irene smiled, genuinely this time, "we've already taken a lot of vampires from you, so it's only fair." She handed Byul an envelope.

Now it was Byul's turn to be surprised. Irene just carried this amount of money with her? How much did they make selling vampires' body parts?

"Don't be too surprised. There will be a lot more in the future." Irene smirked. "But you'll have to follow the association's rules now."

"And they are?"

"You can only go out to hunt in pairs for safety. Every vampire you kill has to be brought to the association; if we find out you steal one, you will be punished and expulsed. You will also have to sign a confidentiality agreement; you can't talk about the association with anyone who isn't a fellow member."

Byul grimaced. She expected to lose some of her freedom, but it didn't make her any less upset.

"Also, we'll throw you a welcoming party sometime in the future, that way you'll be able to meet everyo-"

"That's not necessary." Byul interrupted.

"It's a tradition in the association. Even if I don't arrange it, the other members will make it happen." Irene chuckled at Byul's desperate expression.

"Alright, then." Byul sighed resignedly. "When do I start working?"

It had now been a couple of weeks since Byul accepted the association job. She went out to hunt twice a week with Hajoon, who was the guy Irene had been talking to at the hideout, and also the only other hunter in the association able to keep up with her. They had been getting along pretty well, but sometimes he made her regret ever wanting a hunting companion. He was the kind of person that loved having all the attention for himself. Also, Byul hadn't been given an invitation to the welcoming party yet. She hoped that they would forget about it, but according to Irene that was impossible.

Yongsun interrupted Byul's thoughts by grabbing her hand with such force that it made her flinch.

"Byul, hold my hand."

"Yong, wait, it hurts!"

"Shut up and hold my hand!"

"Why did you put on a horror movie if you can't handle it?!"

Suddenly someone knocked on the door and Yongsun screamed.

"My ears, Yongsun!" Byul yelled as she paused the movie and turned to look towards her.

"Just go open the door!" Yongsun yelled back.

"Why? Are you scared?"

"I'm not!"

"Then do it yourself!"

"I'm older than you, have some respect!"

Byul sighed and went to open the door. There was not point in fighting with Yongsun over this. When she opened the door, there was a beautiful woman there. She kind of looked like Yong.

"You must be the roommate," she said.

Yongsun sped to the entrance as soon as she heard the voice.

"Yonghee, what are you doing here?!"

"Can't I come visit my little sister?"

Oh, so this was Yongsun's sister. No wonder they looked alike.

"You could have called to say you were coming! Or at least texted!"

"Stop being so dramatic." Yonghee said dismissively as she walked towards the living room. She then turned to Byul and introduced herself.

"I'm Yonghee, Yongsun's older sister. Nice to meet you, Byul."

"Nice to meet you too, Yonghee-ssi. You know my name?"

"Of course, Yongsun here won't stop talk-"

"Oh, shut up, Yonghee!"

Byul laughed at the sisters' antics as they moved to the living room.

"So, Byul, what do you do?" Yonghee asked as she sat down on the couch.

"I thought you had come to visit your little sister?" Yongsun huffed from accross the room, sitting with her arms crossed. Yonghee rolled her eyes.

Byul gulped nervously. She couldn't tell them what her real job was so she said the first thing that came to her mind. "I'm unemployed." It was technically true, she'd been fired from her legal job. She wasn't sure if hunting vampires and selling them was legal. Did it count as trafficking? What did the government think about vampires and why hadn't they informed the public about them? 

"Are you a student, then?" Yonghee's question brought Byul back to reality.

"No."

"Don't interrogate her." Yongsun groaned.

Yonghee lifted up her hands in surrender and changed the subject. "Has Yongsun been giving you any trouble? As you can see, she can be really annoying at times."

"Yonghee!"

Byul used this opportunity to tease Yongsun. "Well, two weeks ago she got drunk and-"

"Not you too, Byul!"

Yonghee chuckled. "You don't know how many stories I have of drunk Yongsun. When she was a teenager she-"

"Yonghee, stop!"

Byul laughed at Yongsun's reactions. It looked like Yonghee really cared about her, but she constantly. Byul found that Yonghee was the perfect accomplice with whom to tease Yongsun, and they spent the rest of that afternoon teasing her while the three were having a movie marathon. Byul couldn't stop smiling when the sisters fought. It kind of reminded her of her own family.

After Yonghee left, they were sitting on the couch watching a funny puppy video that Yongsun's friend had sent her. Byul suddenly thought about Yonghee's earlier visit and got curious about Yongsun's family.

“Yong, why don’t you live with your family?” She asked.

“Are you lowkey trying to kick me out?” Yongsun smiled teasingly.

“What? No! I’m just curious.”

“Well, my family doesn’t approve of my career choice. They still give me an allowance and support me, but sometimes their indirect nagging is too much for me. Besides, I like being independent.”

“Hm.” Byul nodded in understanding, although she couldn’t imagine how strict Yongsun’ s parents were if they weren’t satisfied with her becoming a doctor.

“What about you? You never talk about your family.” Yongsun asked.

“It’s complicated.”

“I’m here to listen if you want to talk about it.”

Byul had never told anyone about her family except Wheein. Part of her felt like she should also keep it a secret from Yongsun, but another part of her felt like she would be supportive.

“I used to have a very loving family. My parents were always there for me, spoiling me, helping and supporting me in everything I wanted to do, and just being there for me. My sisters and I used to be so close that we knew almost everything about each other. They used to be my whole world.”

Byul stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts. Yongsun patted Byul on the back and nodded at her to resume talking when she felt comfortable to.

“But then I fell in love with a girl. My parents couldn’t accept that.” Byul could already feel tears in her eyes. “I hated keeping such a big secret from them, and I knew that this was a secret I wouldn't be able to keep for long, so I came out to them. I mean, how long would it take them to figure out I was gay if I never went out on dates with guys and spent so much time with a so-called 'friend'?" Byul sighed. "I think my mother already knew, she just was in denial. And when I told them, I could practically see her heart break. She didn’t hate me. She wasn’t disgusted of me. She just thought that God would send me to hell for being gay, and it hurt her. I hurt her.” Byul broke down sobbing.

“Shh... It’s okay.” Yongsun continued carressing Byul's back in what she hoped was a consoling manner.

“My father, he was also very sad. But unlike my mother, though, he was also angry and disgusted. He was right to be, anyway. Why did I turn out like this? They raised me in all the right ways. I couldn’t understand it myself.”

“Byul, it’s not wrong to be gay.”

“I know that; in theory. But I can’t help but feel that there’s something wrong with me. It’s what I was taught my whole life.” Byul paused to dry her tears. “In the end, I moved out and never saw them again. I broke up with the girl I liked and started a new life. I know my parents still cry because of me every night; praying to God to make me straight and bring me back to them. It breaks my heart.”

“It’s not your fault.” Yongsun said matter-of-factly.

“But it is.”

Yongsun took Byul’ s head between her hands.

“Look at me, Byul. It’s. Not. Your. Fault.” Byul tried to look down but Yongsun held her head steady. “Say it.”

“I-it’s n-not my f-fault.”

“Confidently. I barely heard that.”

“It’s not my fault.”

Byul felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. Technically, she knew it wasn't her fault, but hearing Yongsun confirm it comforted her a lot for some reason. Byul felt really thankful for Yongsun at this moment. She helped her get rid of a little bit of the guilt she used to feel.

“Good." Yongsun gave Byul a nod of approval. "So, what happened then? You moved to Seoul?” 

“No, a friend took me in, but she… passed away.”

“I’m so sorry, Byul.” Yongsun hugged her.

“It’s okay. I’m better now.” Byul said as she melted into Yong's hug.

Byul smiled at Yongsun when she pulled back from the hug, but then she blushed, suddenly noticing how close their faces were. Yongsun looked so beautiful in that moment. Her brown eyes shined, reflecting the living room lights. Her curvy black hair flowed down messily but also perfectly onto her chubby cheeks and to her shoulders. And her lips; Yongsun’ s lips looked so warm and inviting. Byul couldn't help but start leaning in closer to her.

Was it her imagination or was Yongsun also getting closer? Byul couldn’t think anymore.

“Yong.”

“Hm.”

“I want to kiss you.”

“Then do it.”

Byul didn’t even stop to think if she heard that right. She tilted her head and closed in on Yongsun’ s lips.