*1950*

“Stop it!” he cried. Punches and kicks were thrown at the little boy. He curled himself into a ball, trying his best to shield himself and reduce the pain but to no avail. The rest of the kids bullied him, paying no attention to his cries. They were having fun hitting him, because he was weak. He couldn't protect himself.

“Get away from him!” Another voice of a child's shouted. He shoved the other kids who were punching the poor boy with all his might, sending punches back at them. “Leave him alone!” They trashed wildly on the ground, arms and legs flailing. In the end, the mean bullies couldn't hold back any longer so they ran. He approached the crying boy, wiping the blood off the scratches of his face.

“Lee Howon! Stop crying and get up!”

Howon sniffed and looked up at the latter, tears streaming down his face. Bruises covered his legs and arms. “Hyung!” He wailed.

Sighing in defeat, the latter shook his head and squatted down with his back facing Howon. “Get on my back, I'm bringing you home.” Still sobbing, Howon wrapped his fragile arms over the boy's neck. The said one looped his arms around Howon's legs and piggy-backed him home.

“My goodness! What on earth has happened?” Miss Han exclaimed upon seeing the two badly wounded kids. “Jang Dongwoo! Explain!”

“Howon were picked by a bunch of kids. They were hitting him so I had to stop them,” Dongwoo set Howon down on the bed.

“Dear god, sit here the both of you, I'll get some medicine,” Miss Han shook her head and rushed off.

“You seriously have to stop crying,” Dongwoo sighed and flicked the boy's forehead. “Man up, Lee Howon!”

“But the bullies are stronger than me hyung, their punches hurt!” He retorted and burst into another fit of tears.

“This is why you must be stronger than them! They pick on you because you are weak! Look at me.”

Howon looked at Dongwoo with teary eyes.

“I was hit too,” he gestured to his wounds. “But I fought back, to protect you and myself. You must not give up protecting yourself, don't let people hurt you.”

Just then, Miss Han came back with some ointment. “There's a new orphan left outside on the doorstep, I'll be back in a while.”

“It's okay Miss Han, I'll help clean up Howon, don't worry,” Dongwoo flashed her a smile.

“Thank you Dongwoo,” she smiled back and patted his head before heading to the door.

Dongwoo took a damp cloth and started wiping the dirty spots left on Howon. “The world is a cruel place you know, it's almost everyday we have new orphans at our doorsteps. Parent's abandoning their own kids, they're no different like you and me.”

“Is it...because I'm weak that my parents don't want me?” Howon sniffed as he asked.

Dongwoo could only sigh. “I don't think so, you're strong inside your heart, but you just don't know it.”

“Then why did they not want me?”

“It's complicated for kids like us to understand how they really think, I don't even know why mine chose not to want me. But we have to be strong, for ourselves and for each other. Why don't we give you a stronger and cooler nickname you could use?”

Howon tilted his head to a side.

“Let's see...Ho...ya? Yeah, Hoya sounds good,” he nodded by himself.

“It sounds weird hyung,” the latter shook his head and softly laughed.

“No, it's not weird and it's cool. From today, if the bullies ever come get you again, you will have the strength from the name I gave you and fight back.”

Hoya kept quiet for awhile, gathering his thoughts. “Okay hyung, the next time, I will be the one who will protect you!”

Dongwoo laughed. “We'll see about that!”

Yet again, Hoya was still picked by the bullies countless time. But slowly, he mustered up the courage to really fight and defend himself. But still he was outnumbered and he needed Dongwoo's help. The both of them made and oath to be there for each other, watching each other's back. But there was one night, Hoya witness the most cruel scene of his life.

“Hyung! It's not right!” Hoya hissed as they both sneaked out of the orphanage and into the woods. Hoya had no idea that this was a surprise from Dongwoo hyung. Today was the day Hoya arrived at the orphanage last year, so Dongwoo thought he would surprise him with something he built secretly in the forest even though it was just made of sticks and stones. “Miss Han said to never come into this forest! It's dangerous!”

“I know what she said! But it'll only be awhile, I want to show you something,” Dongwoo said as he walked through the woods with an oil lamp.

“What is it?”

“You'll know when you get there!”

“Miss Han said this forest is filled with vampires hyung,” Hoya said. “Remember a few weeks ago the villagers were holding torches and pitchforks hunting for them?”

“Yes, yes I know. They burned the creature alive, so this forest is free from vampires. Don't worry!”

Hoya could only huff and follow his hyung. “Okay fine just hurry up, it's creepy here.”

“We're almost there, close your eyes,” Dongwoo instructed. The said one did as told. Dongwoo slowly guided him to the place where he built his surprise. “No peeking!”

“Yeah, yeah, come on already.”

He stopped and told Hoya to open his eyes. As soon as he did, Dongwoo flashed him a smile. “Surprise!”

“No way!” Hoya's eyes almost came out their sockets as he saw a tent built neatly with branches. It wasn't anything special but the thought of Dongwoo making this when he was only 8 years old was spectacular. The size was just enough for the two of them to squeeze in.

“I needed to see if you liked it first before building more so we could play with the other kids, or maybe it can just be our secret hideout.”

“Why'd you build this though?”

“Well, since its your official one year here so maybe I thought a surprise would be nice.”

Hoya looked at Dongwoo for a while, then crashed into him for a big hug. Just then, branches and twigs snapped.

“What was that?” Hoya gasped. Dongwoo naturally pushed Hoya so he could be behind him, and that he could protect Hoya from anything that was going to hurt them.

“Shhh,” Dongwoo placed a finger on his lips and dimmed the oil lamp. There it was again, snapping branches and crisping of leaves, but this time there was a low growl.

“Please don't tell me its a vampire,” Hoya whimpered. Before Dongwoo could answer, a beast rammed into the both of them at a high speed. They screamed as they tumbled away from each other. Hoya's back came in contact with a tree and it knocked the breath out of him. The beast walked toward him, its fangs sharp and protruding. The creature had piercing yellow eyes like a wolf's but it really isn't a wolf. It had the form of a human but distorted as the limbs were too long for and ordinary man. It its lips looking at Hoya, ready to pounce on him in any second.

“NO!” Dongwoo screamed and hurled a rock at him with all his might. The creature got angry and snapped its attention towards Dongwoo. It ran towards him and clamped its jaws over Dongwoo's small body.

“HYUNG!” Hoya's eyes widen and he choked out a terrifying scream.

“Hoya, run!” Dongwoo yelled as the creature's fangs tore at his body. Blood was spurting everywhere as he was violently teared apart by the creature. Hoya froze with fear, he couldn't move at all. He could only stare at the creature ripping Dongwoo apart. In a flash, a silhouette of a man whizzed by like a breeze, his hand stabbing right at the creature in a swift motion. The creature yelped and released Dongwoo, but the said one was already dead.

The man walked towards Hoya and knelt down next to him. Hoya knew he wasn't human. His eyes were pure crimson. In that moment he realized it was a vampire, and the myth was true. He looked at Dongwoo lying a few feet away, motionless. He wanted to get up and run to him, but he couldn't feel anything except his neck. Everything below his neck was numb. The crash had paralyzed him and snapped his nerves.

“Come and find me once you wake up,” the man said in a hushed voice, but it terrified him. With another swift motion, the man sank his fangs on Hoya's neck. Before giving himself into the darkness that started to overwhelmed him, one thought came to his mind.

I couldn't protect Dongwoo.

Authornim: I'm so sorry it took this long. My finals are not over yet thanks to the bad haze in my country. School's were closed down for many days due to the health of students and my papers got postponed. But also i dont really wanna give a damn to my exams because my fingers were itching to update. Again I apologize for the long wait. Thanks to all of your concerns and support and patience. I'm really really grateful to have you amazing readers who are actually sticking by this story. I will always try my best to update but it depends on what life's throwing at me too. it's really been months since i've updated so ill do some minor editing for the previous chaps (cuz they're so when i reread them). Anywayssss, I love you all <3