“Sooyoung and I grew up in the same orphanage when we were young.” Seungwan started narrating after Seulgi asked why and how they were imprinted by Joohyun.

 They are now cleaning Joohyun’s study room. Seungwan was wiping the windows of the rooms while Seulgi was dusting off the books one by one. Sooyoung was with them, who was bringing the books from the shelves.

“And… Sooyoung and I are half-human, half-vampire.” Seungwan looked at Sooyoung and then at Seulgi after she said that. She laughed when she saw Seulgi’s shock reaction yet again. “That’s why I had no reaction when I cut myself with the knife a while ago Seulgi-shi. We have far superior pain threshold than normal humans, but of course, we are nothing compared to Joohyun-unnie who’s pure-blooded.” She explained, smiling. She continued with her task as she continued her story. “We were both abandoned by our parents when we were both babies. We didn’t know that we were half-human half-vampire until we were both eleven. Up ‘til then we were able to survive with only human food, but, as we grew up, we realized that we were different… We… started to quench for blood…” Her voice went from calm narration to a grave serious one. “One day… I got bullied by a co-orphan when he witnessed me… Trying to drink the chicken’s blood that was being prepared in the kitchen. He shouted ‘monster, monster’ at my face. Sooyoung, as my only friend in the orphanage because we were labelled weirdoes by the other children in the orphanage, came to my rescue… She punched the boy who was bullying me and bit his hand. Due to that… Sooyoung awakened her hidden thirst and started to blood from the boy.” Seungwan was now looking down as she reminisced all that had happened to them.

Seulgi looked at Sooyoung as well and saw her just seriously dusting off the shelf, as if she was hearing nothing. She looked back at Seungwan and she took pity at her and Sooyoung. Even though it is still a shock for her to know that they are both half-human and half-vampire, she knew that it was hard for them as well.

“I was able to stop Sooyoung but the damage was already done. We were reported to the orphanage’s higher ups and of course, the rumours about us being monsters, vampires, was spread around the orphanage. We were transferred to the underground rooms and were treated like prisoners. One day, the orphanage’s admins called us up, saying we both have someone who will adopt us.”

“Wow! Wasn’t that a good news?” Seulgi was excited for them, knowing that they also long for someone to call a family.

Seungwan smiled at her. “Well… I thought so too…” Her smile was weak. “I was adopted by a couple, my adoptive mother was a human, but my adoptive father revealed to me that he was a pure-blooded vampire. He said he really wanted a daughter that was like me—a half-human and half-vampire, because their now deceased daughter died while inside mother’s tummy and that she was unable to bear a child anymore. My adoptive father’s feeling was genuine, but he was unaware that my adoptive mother didn’t share the same feeling as his. She… abused me, every time she had the chance. My adoptive father was rarely at home due to some work so he was oblivious of how my adoptive mother treats me while he was gone. She would… starve me… hurt me and curse me… She… was so depressed because her daughter died and my father wanted to adopt. She thought that he shouldn’t just move on like that. She wished that it was me who died instead of her daughter. One day, I heard them having a fight… I think that was the moment that father knew all about what she was doing. It was then I heard a thud from inside their room…” She started shaking as she relived the memories she tried so hard to forget. “I peeked inside and saw my father, he was now my mother’s blood out of her neck. He saw me, and invited me to drink my mother’s blood as well. I was frozen at that moment, I didn’t know what to do. My father… He became a berserk due to human blood starvation. You see, vampires, they can survive with only frozen blood or animal blood but… It is essential for them to drink fresh human blood from time to time, or else, they will go berserk and will be unable to control themselves. That’s what happened to my father. Apparently, he had always refrained to drink human blood because mother was a human, and I’m half-human. His thoughts were pure kindness, but it backfired on him… on us…” Seungwan looked down as she wiped a tear that came out from her eyes. “Eventually, he had lost control and tried to attack me… That moment… Joohyun-unnie came to rescue me. She was on her usual patrol and sensed my father who went berserk and she killed him. I… was already starving back then and was about to drink my mother’s blood when she stopped me. She let me drink her blood and decided to take me home.” Seungwan paused then turned to Seulgi, as she continued. “Sooyoung, on the other hand, was adopted by a maniac who experimented on her body, and he tried to sell her off to doctors. I requested Joohyun-unnie back then to check on her because I was worried about her, and we found her on his laboratory, also starved and was on the verge of going berserk. Good thing we rescued Sooyoung just in time and Joohyun-unnie was able to imprint her."

Seulgi forcefully smiled, trying to absorb the revelations of their stories. “I didn’t know that you two had it so hard. I am sorry.” She apologized, as she sympathized to the past hardships they had. Her head was hung low as she slowly wiped the pile of books on her lap.

“It’s okay Seulgi-shi… What’s important for us is that we were able to change your judgment towards our master.” Seungwan smiled.

“That’s why you are so loyal to her, Seungwan-shi.”

Seungwan cheerfully nodded. “Geez! You can call me Seungwan-ah now, as I’ll be calling you Seulgi-ah as well. You know a lot about us so I think it’s about time to address each other as friends.” She suggested.

Seulgi shyly smiled. “You’re right, Seungwan-ah.” She laughed. She then saw Sooyoung climb down from the small ladder she was using to put the books back to its shelves.

“I’ll go clean Joohyun-unnie’s room. Will you two be fine here?” Sooyoung asked.

“Yes Sooyoung. I’ll be getting a new set of curtain from the laundry to change Joohyun-unnie’s curtains.” Seungwan answered. Then Sooyoung left.

Seulgi sighed. “Why does Joohyun-shi’s healing process take so long? I remembered when I…. s-stabbed her… She was healed overnight.” Disappointment was obvious on her voice. She wanted to talk to her after all.

Seungwan laughed. “That’s because her wounds came from a real silver sword this time around, Seulgi-ah.”

“Eh?? You mean the sword I used was fake?!” Seulgi exclaimed in disbelief. She remembered borrowing it from their school’s drama club and she believed that it was really a silver sword.

“Yes Seulgi-ah. It’s a good thing that it was, because you almost hit her most vital spot. It would only take hours if you hadn’t since it was fake but you almost did so it took overnight.” Seungwan explained as she finishes her task.

Seulgi realized what Seungwan said. It was really a good thing that it was a fake because if it was real, she could’ve killed her. She scratched her head at that realization. “I see.” She sheepishly laughed as she put the few books left back to its shelves.

After they had finished cleaning the study room, Seungwan went to the laundry room to get the new sets of curtains to replace the curtains on Joohyun’s room with Seulgi helping her. They went together to Joohyun’s room and was shocked to see the room empty.

“Huh? Where’s Joohyun-unnie?” Seungwan asked in confusion. She put the folded curtains on the floor, leaving Seulgi behind her. She can hear someone cleaning inside the shower room on the right side so she opened it, knowing that Sooyoung is inside. She found Sooyoung cleaning. “Where’s Joohyun-unnie?” She asked.

“She was on her bed when I entered.” Sooyoung answered then removed her cleaning gloves as she went out of the shower.

They both went outside of the shower room and saw the room completely empty, Seulgi was not there as well. They then saw the locked door across the shower room. They looked at each other worriedly and ran towards it, entering the room. They saw Seulgi standing frozen there, as if she saw something shocking. Seungwan tapped her shoulder and she felt her flinch.

“Are you okay Seulgi—” She looked where she was looking and understood what made her shock.

That room was where they store their frozen blood stocks. There were empty bottles scattered around with droplets of blood on the floor. There was Joohyun, standing on one of the shelves, with blood dripping from . She was panting as she drank a bottle and she looked very thirsty. She finally noticed them and she darted her eyes at Seulgi.

“Why is she here?” Her voice was grave serious.

Seulgi flinched, she looked scary and her voice was threatening.

“Seulgi-ah just want to talk to you, Joohyun-unnie—” Seungwan tried to expla