It was tears that woke her from sleep. Enough tears had flowed to soak the pillow.
She gets out of bed. She couldn't understand why the memory from that time had appeared as a dream.
It was a memory she had tried to forget, but it wouldn't be forgotten, and was keeping her shackled. She shook her head from side to side to shake it off.
It was a dream she hadn't wanted to have.
The time was now 6 PM. It was the vampires' waking time. The girl felt displeased that her eyes opened on their own at this hour.
'Even my body is moving without my consent.'
The girl, having raised her body, washed up and sat in front of the computer. And she went onto the Facebook of Hyeon-jeong, who had appeared in her dream.
A peaceful daily life, Christmas spent with friends. And anticipation and anxiety for the new year. It was ordinary.
How intensely the girl had wanted that ordinariness. And because she knew it wouldn't be given to her, how easily she had also let it go.
She logs out of Facebook and stares blankly at the ceiling.
'How powerless it is, to have nothing I can decide with my own hands.'
The man who held her destiny opens the factory door and comes in.
"Did you sleep well?"
She did sleep well. But what determined the quality or amount of sleep was not the girl, but the habits of a vampire.
"I feel like you should be asking, 'You must have slept well, right?' I slept well. It's been so long since I've had a deep sleep that sleeping this well feels unfamiliar, rather."
"Today is the meeting day."
"I know."
"If you have something you want to say, tell me. I'll pass it on."
The girl answered immediately.
"I have no intention of becoming a Hunter, and likewise, I have no reason to live."
A reproachful gaze was directed at the girl, and the girl did not avoid that gaze. Se-yun said.
"Let's talk after I get back."
At those words, the girl's head turned back to the monitor without a single word.
Se-yun looked at the girl's back, then went out of the factory.
Se-yun, driving his car, a black Chevrolet Malibu, heading for Seoul. Unlike his heavy heart, the car was speeding fast down the highway.
The place he was going to was a 3-story, 50-pyeong (approx. 1,776 sq ft) building located in the middle of Jongno.
The people in the nearby commercial district knew nothing about this building.
The only known fact was that it had been built in the 80s, passed through the 90s, continued into the 2000s, and had reached the present day.
This 3-story building had no sign, nor were there any shops or offices that had moved in. At a glance, it just looked completely empty.
Among the people, only words on the level of an urban legend circulated, such as that it was a place where secret police had tortured and killed people in the old days, or a place where a cult had committed mass suicide and buried the bodies.
However, there were some who had seen several luxury foreign cars coming and going from the building. And there was no one who knew the identity of those cars, either.
1:40 AM. The shutter of the 3-story building's parking garage goes up. And it devours 6 cars and the door slithers shut.
The cars each park in their own spots. And the owners get out of the drivers' seats.
The ones who got out of the red Mini Cooper were a male-female couple.
The woman was Ahn Jeong-hee, age 23. She was a beauty who looked good with a short-cropped hairstyle. She looked to be slightly under 170cm tall, but perhaps because of her good proportions, she looked taller than she actually was. She became a vampire in 1989.
The man who got out with her was Lee Je-hyeong, age 29. He had a prudent-looking appearance, and his every movement seemed stable. The year he became a vampire was 1991.
The man who got out of the navy-blue Audi was not very tall, but his gaze looked quite sharp. However, his expression was smiling, and his suit, which he was dressed in, was flashy. His name was Kim Yeong-hwan. His age was 32. Yeong-hwan was the oldest vampire among them. He became a vampire in July 1945, one month before the liberation.
The owner of the Land Rover was the tallest among them. His name was Jo Woo-seok. His age was 36. It seemed he was almost 190cm. On top of that, with his sturdy shoulders and body lumped with muscle, he had the appearance of a special forces agent. Woo-seok became a vampire in 1969.
The driver of the black BMW, Han Sa-rang, was the oldest among them in age. At 52, she was elegant and looked intelligent. Although her age was high, her history of being a vampire was short; 2011 was the year she became a vampire.
Because of that, she always felt it was unfair. That she, who should be the maknae (youngest) of the vampire society, was treated as the eldest.
The one who came in the gray Sonata was Jeong Tae-kyeong. Tae-kyeong was twenty-eight, and had kind and gentle eyes. Although he had a somewhat thin build, that instead made him look intelligent. He became a vampire in 1998.
And Im Se-yun. Like this, the seven vampires gathered in the parking garage. They exchanged greetings with each other.
"By the way, does anyone know why we're gathering today?"
The one who threw the question was Kim Yeong-hwan. They each scanned each other's faces.
"I know what it's about, but it would be better to go in and hear it from Tae-yang."
The one who answered Kim Yeong-hwan's question was Jeong Tae-kyeong. Kim Yeong-hwan spoke to Jo Woo-seok, with whom he was closest.
"I don't know what it is, but that kid, Tae-kyeong, he looks like he knows something, leaving just us out?"
Woo-seok said to Tae-kyeong.
"What is it? Is it a story that'll go bad if we know it before we go in?"
"You'll find out when we go in. Woo-seok hyeong."
Han Sa-rang patted their shoulders.
"Let's just go in."
Im Se-yun took the lead and walked toward the wall facing the parking garage. And he pushed the wall slightly. Inside the wall, a long and narrow passageway was revealed.
They went inside, one by one. This was the path that led to the office where Shin Tae-yang was.
This place, with no light whatsoever. A space the size of a high school classroom.
20 monitors that completely filled one wall. All sorts of games were running on them.
A 12-year-old boy, looking at the monitors and striking 20 keyboards as if they were a piano.
He was none other than Shin Tae-yang.
Tae-yang liked games. No, it would be correct to say he loved them. The games he owned exceeded ten thousand, and the games he was in the middle of playing also reached the hundreds.
He was equipped with every console gaming system, and he was also thorough in his care so that they could run at any time. And he bought new games without rest.
Kim Yeong-hwan spoke to Tae-yang, who was sitting with his back turned.
"Everyone has arrived."
Tae-yang turned his body. His attire looked just like someone who had come to a ski resort to snowboard.
A beanie pulled down deep, goggles covering his whole face, a mask covering his mouth, gloves for a smart phone on his hands, and wearing a snowboard suit, his appearance looked like a small snowman.
"Thank you for coming."
He turned off all the monitors. Only then did he take off the goggles and mask.
"Tae-yang, are there any places where a rash has broken out today?"
At Sa-rang's question, Tae-yang shook his head.
"There aren't. You ask me every time you see me, but you don't have to worry so much."
"I'm always anxious that you're playing games, taking such risks."
Tae-yang smiled.
"That's why I've put up an iron-clad defense. Since changing to the snowboard suit, that kind of thing hasn't happened even once."
However, everyone was worried.
This child was allergic to all light. Neon signs, fluorescent lights, monitors, candlelight, etc...
If light touched his skin, that part would break out in a red rash, and if left alone, it would burst and ooze fluid.
Even with this constitution, Tae-yang had not the slightest thought of reducing the time he poured into his hobby.
But no one nagged him severely.
It was because Tae-yang had said that there was no tool as good as games for him to kill time.
"Shall we get to the main point? I will tell you the reason I've called this emergency meeting today."
Everyone tensed up lightly.
"On the 23rd, I bit a seventeen-year-old woman."
Sa-rang covered her mouth with one hand and said, "Oh my." Jeong-hee and Je-hyeong's eyes met, and Yeong-hwan almost shouted, "What?" Woo-seok's eyes widened.
In the midst of that, the only ones who were unfazed were Se-yun and Tae-kyeong.
Yeong-hwan quickly scanned Se-yun and Tae-kyeong. Oho, those guys, this is a story they already know all about.
"What does that mean? Weren't you supposed to never bite anyone?"
At Jeong-hee's words, Tae-yang raised one hand.
"I will tell you the detailed story about that. First, please listen to what I have to say."
Everyone waited for the words of Tae-yang, the last descendant of the First Pure Blood, who had passed a thousand years as a vampire and had led the Hunters since the Joseon Dynasty.
"On that day, Se-yun hyeong came into the office holding a certain girl in both arms. That girl had attempted suicide. She had shed too much blood, and the sleeping pills were a lethal dose."
Jeong-hee frowned and said.
"She was a suicide attempter?"
"Yes. She had her body halfway submerged in the river of death. There was no way for anyone to save her. By modern medicine, it was already too late."
Everyone looked at Se-yun. Se-yun showed no reaction to their gazes.
"Se-yun hyeong asked me to save that girl. Saying that no one could save her but me. That's correct. No one could save her but me."
Tae-yang, stopping his words and looking at Se-yun. Se-yun nodded his head. Tae-yang continues speaking again.
"I said I do not bite humans. When I did, Se-yun hyeong said he would die if I didn't save that girl. He threatened to commit suicide."
Sa-rang's shocked voice flew toward Se-yun.
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
It was a concise and short answer. Everyone except Tae-kyeong was shocked.
"Vampires always keep their promises, no matter what they say. I knew that Se-yun hyeong would really die. I couldn't let hyeong die, so after stating one condition, I bit that girl."
Jeong-hee asked.
"What condition?"
"That if I save this girl, Se-yun hyeong must absolutely not die. That he wouldn't die until I told him to die."
Je-hyeong thought, 'He's seized Se-yun's life as collateral for the girl's life, in short.'
"That seventeen-year-old girl, just what kind of kid is she? Se-yun, you, what is your relationship with that kid?"
Saying that, Woo-seok took one step toward Se-yun.
"I can't say right now."
Sa-rang asked.
"Then when are you going to tell us?"
"When that kid becomes a Hunter."
Jeong-hee asked.
"Since she's become a vampire, that kid is a Hunter, isn't she?"
Se-yun closes his eyes and answers.
"No. That kid is refusing to become a Hunter."
The atmosphere instantly becomes unsettled. Jeong-hee continues to question Se-yun.
"So you're saying you brought a kid who doesn't even intend to be a Hunter and made her a Pure Blood?"
Without answering, Se-yun only nods his head.
"Does that kid even know what a Hunter or a vampire is?"
"She knows now."
"Does she have a grudge against the Beasts?"
"No."
Jeong-hee turns her body from Se-yun toward Tae-yang.
"Do you think this makes sense right now? Is this how a Pure Blood is just recklessly made?"
Tae-yang stared intently into Jeong-hee's eyes. She didn't know why Tae-yang was looking at her like that, but she didn't turn her head.
"Se-yun hyeong was trying to die, and I didn't want to lose Se-yun hyeong. Because it wasn't a joke. Creating a Pure Blood in return for that was an easy task."
Yeong-hwan, fiddling with the collar of his well-pressed suit, said.
"I greatly welcome the fact that we've gained a Pure Blood. We were in a state of needing more members as it was. Even so..."
The one who continued after him was Woo-seok.
"We shouldn't make someone who doesn't want to be a Hunter into a Hunter."
The heavy-mouthed Je-hyeong asked Tae-yang.
"What are you thinking of doing?"
They all focus on Tae-yang at once. Tae-yang closed his eyes and seemed to be lost in thought.
"She became a Pure Blood regardless of her will, so whether she accepts being a Pure Blood or doesn't is purely up to that girl's will."
Se-yun's and Tae-yang's gazes entangle. They both knew full well what the other would say.
"If that girl refuses to become a Hunter, I will execute that girl. Because in vampire society, there is no need for one who will not become a Hunter."
It was as if cold water had been poured over their heads. A cold silence descended on the entire office.
The person who broke the silence of that moment was none other than Im Se-yun.
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