The museum was empty. Or at least the underground of it. Except for two people. Everybody left, except for Taeyeon and Tiffany. The two were now closed in Yoona’s room, sitting on the bed. Taeyeon was looking on the diary that she was on her lap. She didn’t even start reading yet, she was just thinking. She regretted teaching Sunye this cipher. This was obviously something really important. Yet she used it so recklessly. She sighed. She couldn’t change it anymore.

“Aren’t you going to read it?” Tiffany asked then.

Taeyeon hesitated and gulped before she started to read aloud.

 

 

“10^th March 1993,

My name is Kim Kyung Soo. And I’m a vampire.

This is a diary that I’m planning on giving to my daughters in future.

I made up this cipher and decided to write this diary using it, in case somebody who shouldn’t see this got it. It was actually my friend Steve’s idea. Thanks bro!

My eldest daughter Taeyeon turned four years yesterday. I will start to teach her this cipher soon, preferably tomorrow. She’s already old enough to manage. She may be a bit clumsy, but she’s definitely smart.”

 

 

“Some things don’t change,” Tiffany chuckled quietly, interrupting Taeyeon. The latter just gave her a judging look and continued reading.

 

 

“My younger daughter Hyoyeon is still too young.”

 

 

“My sister,” Taeyeon whispered.

Tiffany put her hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder and rubbed it. “Yeah.”

“She’s probably dead.”

“But maybe she’s not.” Tiffany herself didn’t really believe that.

“Whatever,” Taeyeon shrugged it off and continued reading.

 

 

“My younger daughter Hyoyeon is still too young, but I will start to teach her as soon as possible too. We don’t have much time. I don’t plan on teaching this any other person, so if you are reading this, it means you are either Taeyeon or Hyoyeon. And it also means we, your parents, are probably dead.

Why am I even writing this? We don’t have much time. I’m repeating myself and I realize it, but it’s true. I will just assume that you know that you are half vampires. And if you didn’t. Well, now you do. We, as for me, your mom, the Hwangs and the Jungs are trying to find a cure for vampirism. And I can smell that we are getting close. But… who knows?

The Wolf clan… do you know that there are clans of vampires? I hope you do. I hope we managed to tell you before we died. Well, the Wolf clan is after us. The clans always were in war, but this one is getting out of hand. We don’t have many members left, I could count them using fingers on my one hand. Actually we are the last ones. Me, and you two. How am I still alive? I wonder too to be honest. It’s probably because we are working with the Jung, the vampire slayers. They are really strong and I dare to say that the wolves are scared of them. We also have the Hwangs. Steven Hwang ran away from the Wolf clan. They want to kill him even more that they want to kill me. He married a girl from the Jung family. He married an enemy, he has to pay. They have two kids.”

 

 

Taeyeon looked at Tiffany who wasn’t saying anything, just kept blankly staring on the text she didn’t understand.

“I think it’s about your family,” Taeyeon said.

Tiffany just nodded.

Taeyeon sadly smiled and continued.

 

 

“We also have a deal with the Kwons. Another slayers. We’re not really allies, but we are living next to each other in peace. I know they won’t attack us even if something goes wrong. I trust them. So it’s all of us against the wolves. We’ll see how all of this will turn out…”

 

 

Taeyeon stopped reading aloud and just scanned the rest of the entry. “Nothing interesting anymore…” she mumbled and turned the page.

 

 

“14^th March 1993,

I know I know I know how bad this is. But we need to find the cure for vampirism. We are desperate for it. And I know we shouldn’t do it, but it’s the only way, because our kids are the only ones with the mixed blood. Today we took some Taeyeon’s blood. Oh my gosh, Taeyeon-ah, if you’re reading this, I’m so so sorry!

We are examining it right now. There must be something, because you as a half human can go on sunlight while the Hwang kids as half slayers, can’t. Which is weird. Slayers and humans have the same blood. Something must have gone wrong. Or well?

Anyways, like I promised I started to teach Taeyeon the cipher. And she’s been doing great! She’s a smart girl, I knew she would manage. She looks really happier lately. I think it’s because of Stephanie, they seem to get along really well. Stephanie is Steven Hwang’s daughter by the way.”

 

 

Taeyeon felt Tiffany stiffen, so she stopped reading and looked at her.

“T-that’s me, right?” Tiffany asked.

Taeyeon slowly nodded. “I think so.”

“Stephanie Hwang…” Tiffany said carefully. “Huh… Stephanie Hwang. My real name.”

“It’s a beautiful name for a beautiful girl,” Taeyeon commented with a smile.

Tiffany hesitatingly smiled to. “It has a… nice sound.”

 

 

“They also have a son, Leo. He’s the eldest out of the kids. I also need to mention Jessica. She’s the Jungs’ only child. Thinking about it… poor Leo, the only boy in the house.”

 

 

“16^th March 1993,

Seriously! Steve! Why the heck would you leave your three years old kid in our lab on her own?! Something really weird happened today.

So Steve, my beloved friend, left his half vampire daughter Stephanie alone in the lab. Dude… seriously… Why? Back to the topic. We had some blood for our experiments there and for some yet unknown reason Stephanie decided to drink one. And… here’s the interesting thing. She drank the blood that belonged to Taeyeon.”

 

 

“Heh? You already drank my blood before?” Taeyeon asked surprised.

Tiffany looked as shocked as the other girl. “I-I guess I did, keep reading.”

 

 

“Of course it triggered her vampirism to its full form. Now she craves for blood and she can’t go on sunlight. Great job, Steve, great job. We made a deal not to let our kids drink blood oh my gosh!”

 

 

“How come I can still go on sunlight even though I’ve triggered my vampirism back then in the hospital?” Taeyeon asked.

Tiffany shrugged. She didn’t have an answer for that. “I guess it just works differently for you. Everything works differently when it comes to you, if you haven’t noticed yet.”

“I… guess you’re right… whatever…”

 

 

“But since Taeyeon is half vampire… I wonder if there won’t be any side effects. Vampires can’t drink other vampires. But I guess they can feed on somebody with mixed blood? Who knows, who knows… We will see, the time will tell us. It really that our kids are the only people with mixed blood that we know. It really .”

 

 

“18^th March 1993,

Just when we thought everything was completely fine that there were no side effects on Stephanie, something weird happened. Taeyeon came to me, all scared that Stephanie is reading her mind. What the actual heck?”

 

 

“Yeah, that’s a good question… What the actual heck?” Tiffany asked. “That weird connection we have… is because I once drank your blood when we were kids?”

“I… guess so? Maybe it started to work again since we met?”

Tiffany slowly nodded. “Continue please, maybe there is something else in it…”

 

 

“We are just going to wait and see if it happens again.

Once again I repeat how much I reflect on testing things on kids, but… we have a vampire from the Wolf clan. She’s not even two years old yet. And she already triggered her vampirism. Triggering it in this young age will destroy her life. So… let’s just say we are trying to save her. Her name is Juhyun by the way. She’s a smart kid. She is growing up well. But we are making sure it’s no harm to her.”

 

 

“10^th April 1993,

Taeyeon isn’t complaining about Stephanie reading her mind anymore, but they are acting weird when they are together. And they are together all the time. They don’t talk at all, they just look at each other and they seem to understand each other without using words? Maybe they built some kind of telepathy… or maybe they just feel awkward after what happened? Nah, they are four and three years old, that’s not possible, kids don’t feel awkward. So maybe the telepathy? But I asked Taeyeon… She told me there was nothing weird going on. But kids lie. But why would she lie? I don’t know, this is confusing. Taeyeon-ah, tell me!”

 

 

“What happened back then?” Taeyeon wondered.

“It was the telepathy,” Tiffany stated.

“You remember?”

Tiffany shook her head. “Not at all. But… it’s happening again isn’t it.”

Taeyeon hesitated before she slowly nodded. “Yes. It is. And… it’s growing. I mean… Last time you said you even heard me talking to you.”

“That’s… true.”

“Let’s try it again. I’ll try to think about you and you’ll tell me if you felt something.”

Tiffany hesitatingly agreed. “Okay. Sure.”

Taeyeon closed her eyes and just softly thought about Tiffany. She didn’t want to rush the process. She tried to naturally think of Tiffany’s beautiful face, cute personality and husky voice. She was afraid she would start to feel overwhelmed with feelings soon, she tried to calm it down a bit but then she suddenly remembered the soft kiss they shared earlier. Taeyeon heard Tiffany gasp. She quickly opened her eyes and looked at her. Tiffany was biting her lower lips.

“How was it?”

“I’m… not sure. I’m confused, I’ve never felt so many things at once in my life.”

“What… did you feel?”

“I’m not sure… my head felt like… fireworks.”

Taeyeon gulped. That’s exactly how she feels towards Tiffany. But she’s trying to keep it low. But obviously, even though her body is calm, once her mind isn’t, Tiffany can feel it.

“Our connection…” Taeyeon started slowly. “I think we need to protect it. I feel like it’s something special.”

Tiffany nodded. “But why doesn’t it work vice versa? According to the diary, we used to have some kind of telepathy. Why only I can hear you, but you don’t hear me?”

“We haven’t really tried it yet.”

“That’s right. I’ll try to… think… about you,” Tiffany said quietly.

Taeyeon nodded and just waited with her eyes closed, her mind blank. After a minute or so she let out a quiet sigh. She opened her eyes. “Nothing,” she told Tiffany.

Tiffany pouted. “Well… doesn’t matter then.”

Silence filled the room for the next few seconds. “I think I should…” Taeyeon then said, pointing at the diary and started to read again.

 

 

“22^nd July 1993,”

 

 

“Wow, what a jump,” Taeyeon said after she read the date.

 

 

“I haven’t writer for a long time, I know. But I had nothing to share. Until now. We did something with Juhyun. It’s all written in our research folders. But just in case those researches got into wrong hands, it’s not full. A person needs both – research and this diary, to know how to cure vampirism. Yes. You read this right. We found the cure. But you can do nothing with those researches. I’m making sure only you, my kids, know. I believe this is a good time to note that Taeyeon already mastered this cipher. She’s a great kid. I-”

 

 

Taeyeon stopped reading and bit her lower lip.

“What is it?” Tiffany asked.

Taeyeon just blinked a few times, staring into the diary.

“What does it say?” she asked and put her hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder. Taeyeon looked up from the diary and tilted her head, revealing her neck.

Tiffany looked away from the throbbing neck artery she could see. She wouldn’t bite Taeyeon’s neck, nor cut it, but… She loved Taeyeon’s blood and she knew it, so just in case…

“I miss them.”

“Huh?” Tiffany snapped back to the reality. Taeyeon was now looking at Tiffany. Tiffany notices her eyes got a bit watery. “I’ve never missed my parents. But now, reading this… I miss them.”

“Aww, that’s okay, TaeTae,” Tiffany said, rubbing Taeyeon’s back.

“How did you just call me?” Taeyeon asked, surprised a bit.

“Uhh…” Tiffany’s pale cheeks turned a bit pink. “TaeTae?” she repeated, now realizing the awkwardness. “Sorry.”

“No, that’s fine, just stick with that,” Taeyeon smiled and looked back into diary. She sighed. “I’ll continue… Where was I… ah, right…”

 

 

“She’s a great kid. I love my daughters more than anything. But back to Juhyun. And the cure. The structure is written in the research folder, but there’s written that it needs to be injected. That’s not true. You need to drink it. And there’s another thing missing too. The last ingredient is a blood of a vampire who hasn’t drank a human blood yet. That’s the cure.”

 

 

Taeyeon looked up. “We need to get those researches. No matter what.”

Tiffany just nodded and Taeyeon continued to read.

 

 

“We tested it on Juhyun. Suddenly she doesn’t long for fresh human blood. She is very calm even when she’s already on a diet for a long time. She also can go on sunlight.”

 

 

“Wait. They said she was two years old, right?” Tiffany interrupted.

“Mhm, yeah, why?”

“No blood lust, can go on sunlight, born in 1991, Juhyun.”

“Yeahhh?”

“That’s Seohyun!” Tiffany yelped.

“Seohyun? Doctor Seo?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh… well… it makes sense.”

“Yeah,” Tiffany nodded, totally taken aback by the new information. “That’s why she’s so special.”

“I’ll… continue.”

 

 

“She still needs the blood of course and she still is as strong and fast as a vampire, but this is definitely a huge progress in our research. I also gave the cure to both of my daughters. They haven’t triggered their vampirism yet, so it did nothing, but maybe it will help them in the future. We will have to wait.”

 

 

“I have the cure in me. That’s… why I can go on sunlight? That’s… why I don’t feel blood lust?”

Tiffany shrugged. “I’d like to give you some answers, but I don’t know. Sorry. But I personally don’t think the lack of blood lust is because of that.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Well, you felt… lust. Or… not?”

“I… did. Just… lust of a different type?” Taeyeon answered awkwardly and the atmosphere got weird.

“Well… We’re just… guessing. Nobody knows,” Tiffany said, trying to get rid of the awkwardness. Taeyeon just nodded.

“Okay…” she sighed and continued to read, her mind filled with so many questions…

 

 

“4^th August 1993,

The Wolf clan attacked us. They kidnapped Juhyun. Screw it. We have no chance of getting her back, but we will fight. The Jungs are getting ready. Oh, I forgot to mention… Jennifer Jung is pregnant again! At least something good happened. But seriously… they have time to make children at the situation like this… But good for them good for them.”

 

 

“I think I understand where your dorkiness comes from now,” Tiffany said.

Taeyeon glared at Tiffany before she continued.

 

 

“The conflict with the wolves is getting more and more intense. They are after us and the institute, we have basically no chance, they’re gonna cut our throats like nothing. But before that… we’ll make sure we will fight.”

 

 

Taeyeon skipped a few pages, scanning all the text. “I… don’t think there are some important things left in it anymore. I need a break; I will go through it all later.”

Tiffany rubbed her forehead, thinking and still taking in all the new information. ”We really are connected, Taeyeon,” she mumbled.

“Y-yeah, I guess so,” Taeyeon stuttered a bit, not really sure what Tiffany meant.

“You said you liked me,” Tiffany suddenly raised her voice a bit, looking directly into Taeyeon’s eyes. She wasn’t being harsh, just… obviously upset. The two girls were sitting on the bed next to each other

“And… that’s… still valid,” Taeyeon answered and carefully touched Tiffany’s hand with her fingertips. She withdrew it quite soon though. She was too unsure about Tiffany’s reaction.

“But… what if it’s just the connection? What if it isn’t real? I think the old bond between us appeared once again. That’s why I can feel or even hear when you think about me. And I feel that the more I know you, the stronger it gets,” Tiffany explained, frustrated.

“Oh…” Taeyeon just breathed out. “I… haven’t thought about it like this. I.. Maybe it is possible… I-I guess. But… I don’t think so.”

“But are you sure?”

“I… think I am.”

“See? You think, but you don’t know…” Tiffany sighed, resigning.

“Why… think about it? Even if it was just that stupid bond… Can’t we just… not think about it? I like you and it’s not like it’s gonna change anytime soon,” Taeyeon whispered, looking into Tiffany’s eyes.

Tiffany slightly smiled and nodded.

Taeyeon smiled back and put her hands around Tiffany’s neck. “I like you… Stephanie Hwang,” Taeyeon chuckled a bit.

Tiffany’s smile grew bigger. “I like you too… Kim Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon kept smiling for a few seconds and then suddenly her expression slowly changed. She was obviously thinking about something. Tiffany could not only see it, but also feel it. She knew Taeyeon was thinking about something concerning her.

“What’s… on your mind?” she asked carefully.

Taeyeon slowly shook her head. “I just remember one article I read a few weeks ago…”

“What article?” Tiffany asked, confused.

“Does anybody have a laptop here?”

Taeyeon let go of Tiffany and stood up. She left the room, leaving Tiffany behind. Taeyeon looked around the living room and then at the door to Yuri’s room. “Please tell me she has it here and not at the cafe,” Taeyeon whispered as she entered it. “Oh yeah!” she grinned as she spotted a laptop that was put on the desk. She took it and returned back to Tiffany.

“What is going on?” the confused girl asked.

“Well…” Taeyeon didn’t really reply, she just entered the key words into the browser and then went through the results. “Here it is…” she said and clicked an article. “When I first saw it, I thought it was a total crap… well… I don’t think so anymore.”

 “Yesterday, it was exactly fifteen years ever since one of the most mysterious murders happened. On the 13^th of December 1994 in the early morning, president and co-founder of the biggest scientific company in the South Korea, HJ Institute, was found dead in his family house along with his wife. They were both found with their throats precisely cut. Their children, an older son and a younger daughter, escaped. The ten years old son later contacted police and testified that the murderers had been incredibly fast and strong, worn masks and killed the parents with a dagger. He said he had run away during the attack so he didn’t know anything more. Even though he was included in a witness protection program, he was murdered the same way his parents had only a two days after. Their daughter has never been found.”

Tiffany read it aloud and then looked at Taeyeon, confused. “What is it?”

“Do you see it? HJ institute… HJ… That means Hwang-Jung. Throats cut. That means vampires. A man, his wife, a son and a daughter who has never been found,” Taeyeon said. “That… my dear Fany, is about you and your family.”

 

 

A/N: Oh god, my dear readers, I know this might be really confusing so feel free to ask me anything! If there's something you don't understand, just say so in the comments, I'll make sure I answer :) As long as it doesn't spoil the story of course, hehehe!

The next chapter will be 'normal' again. The YulSic fight, woohoo!

Thank you for your lovely comments! Love you all!