* * * * * *

 

Morning raised and the house is busy with everyone packing. Daheun set the box down and holds her shoulder as the pain from the other day aches again.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

She sees Il-sung come over to her and she shakes her head. He smiles.

 

“I’ll help you take this. You go rest” he says.

 

“Thanks” Daheun smiles weakly.

 

Il-sung carry the box away. While everyone is working hard, Daheun creeps down into the basement. The door close and she goes in. Soohyuk head shoots up to see her coming towards him. After she takes off her hair clip, she grabs his wrist and starts picking on the lock.

 

“I’m going to sneak you out of here…”

 

The lock comes loose as he continue to watch her pick on the other locks.

 

“...Therefore, I want you to run away from this place. Don’t come back, got it?” Daheun says.

 

The chains all come off of him. She looks at him who stands tall in front of her. The trunk of the cars shut and everyone looks ready to go. But something is missing.

 

“Where’s Daheun?”

 

Everyone looks at each other. Their eyes lay on Il-sung.

 

“I told her to go take a rest”

 

Her dad heads straight to the house and her aunt follows along with the others. The door flings open and they go inside.

 

“Daheun!” her aunt calls.

 

The room is empty with the chains laying on the ground. After running far from the house, Daheun stops to catch her breath. Soohyuk looks at her while panting also well. She looks at him.

 

“You go on. I’m going back”

 

She lets go of him and turns around to leave, but his hand grabs her. Daheun stops and face him again.

 

 

 

Everyone step back up into the room upstairs. Her dad is disappointed, yet at the same time furious.

 

“They might not have gone out that far. We must bring Daheun back before things get worse” he says.

 

Just when they’re about to exit the door, the windows suddenly shattered. They all take cover, hiding low to the floor with their arms over their heads. Daheun’s dad pulls his gun out and that moment a voice screams. They turn to look.

 

“Il-sung oppa!” Yumi calls.

 

He is dragged out of the house and Yuhan goes over to pull her away.

 

“Out to the car!” Daheun’s dad orders.

 

They move quickly and soon the car drives off into the road toward the woods. Daheun looks at Soohyuk’s hand and then at him in surprise.

 

“Your...Your hand. They’re so warm”

 

She looks at his hand again. A howl of wolves echoes from the direction of her house. They both turn to look, but he looks at her.

 

“Dad”

 

She pulls away as their hands slip off from each other. Daheun runs back with him standing there, his hand still holding out. He stare at it. The car speed through the forest. The roads are bumpy and muddy.

 

“Uncle. Il-sung oppa will be alright, right?” Yumi asks, concerningly.

 

Her uncle holds her close and pats her head. Yuhan holds her hand as she looks at him, and then place her head onto his shoulder. Daheun’s aunt looks at Daheun’s dad.

 

“What are we going to do now?” she asks.

 

Daheun’s dad is quiet while he pays attention to the road.

 

“Oppa”

 

Just then, he slams on the brake and hits something as everyone is startled. No one moved. They all looked around and a figure stands up from the front of the car. Their eyes meet with it and it snarls as it’s fangs is exposed.

 

“Dam you vamps” Daheun’s dad says, disgusted.

 

The vampire hissed as the car reversed back. The gear is then shift to drive. The vampire darts toward them and Daheun’s dad steps on the gas petal. In a second, blood spattered all over the front window as they stop afterwards. Yumi’s face is buried into her brother’s chest. Raechul looks around.

 

“Is everyone alright?”

 

They all look at one another. Back at the house, Daheun returns and enter the place. The room is in a mess with glass laying all over. Blood is smeared across the livingroom floor. Daheun couldn’t believe her eyes. Her heart is racing.

 

“Dad! Aunt!”

 

She goes to the bedrooms, but finds no one. Going out to the yard, she finds nothing. Just then, she stands still without moving. Something creeps behind her back. The blade in her jacket pulls out and she turns around with her arm swinging toward the target. An arm blocks out in front as it leaves a fresh cut. Daheun is shock to see who it is. Her hand brings the knife down.

 

“Soohyuk?”

 

He puts his arm down and looks at her. She sticks the knife away and goes to him.

 

“I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

 

She takes a look at his arm and he watch her with gentle eyes.

 

 

 

Night comes and the place is chirping with crickets while everyone is settled by the bonfire. Yuhan puts a blanket over Yumi who has already fallen sound asleep. Daheun’s dad glares at the flame.

 

“Oppa”

 

He face to Daheun’s aunt who sits beside him. She reach her hand out to his and pat his hand. He force a smile. At the house, Daheun fix the lamp and the light flicks on. Soohyuk squints with his hand blocking his eyes. She turns to him.

 

“Mian. Is it too bright?”

 

He puts his hand down after she moved the lamp further away. After that, she digs through the cabinets for an aid kit. Soohyuk keeps an eye on her.

 

“Let me see your arm” Daheun says, going to him after she found it.

 

She sits beside him and takes his arm. His sleeve is rolled up, exposing the deep cut. Seeing it makes her feel guilty. The box opens and she begins to clean to the wound. His gaze are tender while it lies on her. Before he realize it, she is done wrapping his arm.

 

“There. This should be good” Daheun says.

 

Soohyuk looks at his arm then at her who stands up with the aid kit in her hands.

 

“You’ll be fine by yourself for a bit, right?” Daheun asks, as she looks at him.

 

He doesn’t say a word and just stares at her. She smiles.

 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I need to change my bandage, so I will be in that room over there”

 

She points over to the direction and he looks over to see, then back at her.

 

“If you need anything, just let me know” Daheun says.

 

He watches her disappear into the other room. A few minutes later goes by and he starts to feel uneasy. Soohyuk stands up and heads over to the room. The door is slightly cracked open so he peeks inside. Daheun is reaching behind her back to apply the medicine on to her burnt wound. The chemicals sting her and she grits from it. When her eyes meet the mirror in front of her, she notice Soohyuk in the background. He turns away. Daheun grabs her sweater to cover herself.

 

“You came in so quiet?”

 

His face is red as he is embarrassed to look at her. She turns around to him with an odd smile.

He is standing there with his head down as his smooth perm bangs cover his eyes.

 

“You? Are you blushing?” Daheun says.

 

Soohyuk shoots up to look at her and she giggles, hiding her smile with her hand. Something inside him flutters at the sight of her and his eyes become dazzled by her laughter.

 

 

 

The sun raised over the horizon and into the forest. Everyone is sleeping so soundly until a stick breaks. Daheun’s dad is alert including the others. They look around. Yumi’s eyes catches a figure’s back.

 

“Il-sung oppa?”

 

While the others are grabbing their weapons, Yuhan noticed that Yumi isn’t anywhere nearby. She walks deep into the forest.

 

“Oppa? Il-sung oppa!”

 

When she sees him standing in a distance, she stops and smile. His back is facing her as she runs to him. Her hand takes his and he turns around to her.

 

“You’re okay. You’re still alive” Yumi says in a relief.

 

A smile forms his lip. She takes his hand into hers and look at him.

 

“Come on. Everyone will be happy to see that you’re back”

 

Before Yumi could turn back, he holds her hand tight and then grabs her by the neck as his fangs inject into her. Daheun wakes up after a terrible dream. She sits up and is covered in sweat.

 

“W-What was that?”

 

The beating of her heart feels uneasy. And then she notice the loose cloth on the floor that has blood stain on it. She takes it into her hand and realize it is the bandage from Soohyuk’s arm. Her eyes dart around, but he is no where to be seen.

 

“Yumi! Yumi ah!”

 

They searched around, yet there is no trace of her. Yuhan goes deep into the forest as they others followed him.

 

“Yumi!” he calls out when he sees her.

 

Everyone else stops to see him running over to her. She lies on the ground, gasping for air. nearly torn open. Her brother kneels before her and takes her into his arms.

 

“O-Oppa. Oppa” Yumi says, tears steaming in her eyes.

 

The others rushed to them as Yuhan tries to stop the bleeding by pressing pressure against it.

 

“Stay back” Daheun’s dad says, grabbing Yuhan’s shoulder.

 

“No! I’m not going anywhere!” he pulls back.

 

They all look at each other. Their uncle pats Yuhan’s back and turns around. One by one, they all leave. Yuhan looks at his sister as he holds her hand.

 

“Oppa. Oppa, I-I don’t want to die” she cries, desperately.

 

Tears fall from his eyes as he embrace her. Yumi silently cries.

 

“I know. I know. I won’t let you die alone” he says.

 

Half way back to their camp, the others stop when hearing two gunshot from where they are. They hurried back to the twins. When they returned, the twins both lay there covered in blood. Raechul checks both of their pulse. Daheun’s aunt covers , terrified by the sight.

 

“They’re dead” Raechul says.

 

Daheun’s dad is disappointed and couldn’t believe what he has seen right before his eyes.

 

 

 

After putting on her jacket, Daheun steps out of the house to go look for Soohyuk. She wonders in the yard for a while and goes to the garage.

 

“Soohyuk? Soohyuk ah?”

 

She then hears a noise as she approach the garage. Being caution, she has her hand on her gun that is attach to the side of her waist. Watching her steps, she peeks inside. All she hears is ripping and tearing and bones snapping apart. When she sees it herself, she freeze in place. Blood is all over the ground and bits of pieces of the body lay around.

 

“Soo-Soohyuk ah”

 

His head shoots up and his eyes are blue; his mouth covered with blood. Daheun is puzzled. His eyes are fixed on to her. She snaps out and backs away, then turns around. In a quick flash, Soohyuk appears in front of her as she stops. His hand grabs her by the throat and she struggles to breath, yet she isn’t fighting back. Soohyuk hissed viciously and brings himself towards her neck.

 

“Soohyuk ah!”

 

He comes to a pause before setting his fangs on her.

 

“Soohyuk, wake up. I know you’re not like this. Please snap out of it!” Daheun says.

 

His mind becomes confused. The hand on loosen and she falls to the ground on her knees as she gasped for air. He looks at his hand that shakes uncontrollably. Soohyuk backs away from her as she looks at him.

 

“Soohyuk!” Daheun calls after him as he runs off into the woods.

 

Daheun’s dad and the rest of the group heads back on the road again. No one speaks and remain silent. They still couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to the twins.

 

“Oppa, where are we heading to?” Daheun’s aunt asks.

 

“I don’t know either” he reply.

 

She looks at him oddly. Raechul and the twins uncle look at them both from the back seat.

 

“What do you mean “you don’t know?” My niece is out there somewhere with a blood er who she thinks is innocent. Yumi and Yuhan also…” her voice trails off.

 

Again, they all come quiet.

 

 

 

Heading deep into the forest, Daheun is restlessly looking for him. Her heart is beating rapidly and her breaths are heavy. She couldn’t get Soohyuk out of her mind. The sight of blood and everything she saw earlier back at the house keeps coming at her, but that doesn’t stop her from finding him. Her feet comes to a halt when she spot someone standing up ahead of her.

 

“Il-sung?”

 

He stands there motionless with blood all over his shirt. His face is pale like a white paper.

 

“Il-sung, what happened? Where’s everyone else?” Daheun asks, feeling uneasy.

 

Just then, his eyes turn red. Daheun pulls out her gun and aims at him. But he vanished so swiftly that she couldn’t keep up with him. He tackles her from the side and the gun slips out of her hand as she hits the ground hard. She grunt, holding the side of her waist and she sits up to see him crouching low in front of her. The gun lays a foot from where she is. Either of them move an inch.

 

“Il-sung ah, don’t do this. I don’t want to hurt you!” Daheun says in despair.

 

He snarls at her and attacks. At the same time, something dash out from the side and nails Il-sung away before her eyes.

 

“Soohyuk!” she calls.

 

They both rolled down the steep hill as she gets up to see them. They are laying at the bottom; both trying to get up. Daheun looks around, thinking of a way to get down the easiest. Il-sung gets on his feet and hissed at Soohyuk, then charges at him. Soohyuk dodge his attack.

 

“Stop! Stop it, the both of you!” Daheun calls down to them.

 

Soohyuk is distract by her and Il-sung takes the advantage. She sees him tackle Soohyuk down to the ground. Il-sung tries to bite him. Suddenly, the gun fires and the bullet pierce Il-sung on the back of his shoulder. Soohyuk pushed him aside as she runs over to them and puts the gun down. Il-sung’s eyes are back to normal as she looks him. Soohyuk sits up and turns to them.

 

“Dah-Daheun...” Il-sung speaks.

 

She takes his hand as she couldn’t think straight; watching him in pain. Nearby, the sound of the vampire’s growls slowly approach them. Soohyuk turns his head to the direction it is coming from. Il-sung pushes her to go as she looks at him.

 

“Go. Leave me here” he says.

 

“No! How could I leave you here? If I have to go, then you’re coming with me” Daheun says.

 

He swallows hard and breathes heavily. Soohyuk looks at her who helps Il-sung get up into a sitting position. Before they could even make a move, they find themselves enclosed by multiple of vampires.

 

“You have to leave me behind, Daheun. They don’t want me. I’m already them” Il-sung insist.

She looks at him and he nods. And then, the vampires attack when the decision isn’t even decided. Il-sung pushed her aside to block the vampires. She nearly lost her balance, but Soohyuk catches her. Daheun turns back to Il-sung.

 

“Go! Get out of here!” he yells.

 

“Il-sung!”

 

Soohyuk grabs her arm and they stand up. Then she gets dragged off. Il-sung’s body gets hovered over and ripping and tearing begins.

 

“Let go of me!” Daheun says.

 

Her arm pulls away from his grip and he turns to her. At the same time, the gun points at him. Soohyuk avert his eyes to her.

 

“Stay away from me. Because of you, everything turned out to be this way!” she shouts.

 

He could see the tears in her eyes, so he takes a step toward her. Daheun moves back, but maintain her gun at him. He stops and his eyes narrow down to her waist. Her hand is holding the wound from earlier when she was attacked by Il-sung. Blood covers her hand. He looks at her again; her face is pale.

 

“If it wasn’t for my stupidity, I wouldn’t have saved you that night. I should have killed you instead!” Daheun says as tears fall from her eyes.

 

Soohyuk watched her shake uncontrollably. The blood is flowing from her wound as she clutched onto it tighter. She could barely stand up anymore. One of her knees fall to the ground and she lowers her gun down. Soohyuk didn’t move. She holds onto her waist and grits. He takes a step forward. In a quick reflex, Daheun brings the gun up at him again and he freeze.

 

“Don’t you dare move a step. Or else you’ll regret it”

 

Soohyuk studies her. In a blink of an eye, he vanished right in front of her before she could pull the trigger. He snatch the gun away from her and his arms embrace her. Daheun tries to push him off her, but he holds her tighter.

 

“Let go of me! Let go…”

 

Her hand slowly drops and her body falls against his. Soohyuk looks at her. The car comes to a stop and everyone gets out. The sun is setting down.

 

“Let’s take a rest here for the night. We’ll head out again tomorrow morning” Daheun’s dad says.

 

They all agree and begin to unpack their bags. Under a huge tree, Daheun sleeps soundly while Soohyuk sits far away from her; remembering that she wanted him to stay far off of her. He even recalls the horror on her face when she witness him tearing the vampire’s body apart and also when he choked her. He looks at his hand. After a while, he noticed Daheun tossing around. Sweat streams down her face. Soohyuk hesitated. Unable to resist, he gets up and goes over to her side. He settle behind her and embrace her from the back. Her body is burning in flames as their body comes in contact with each other. Soohyuk holds her closer to him; his face buried into her nape. He closes his eyes to listen to the beating of her heart. It appears faded as if it’s going to stop soon. Yet, somehow it hurts him too.