강재성

minah tries to act like she has everything together. she tries so damn hard. there was nothing that she wanted more than to be collected and effective in removing his pain, but she wasn’t she was a hot fucking mess, and she felt as though she was crumbling under this pressure. the squeeze of his hand both calmed and broke her. the touch was reassuring, but also sent more waves of guilt through her body.

the vampire followed the directions closely and quickly guided them to what was his apartment. hearing the words our wedding day sent a knife through her chest. she was such a big part of his life even after everything that she had done. she didn’t deserve this kind of thought. it was the same thought that she had for him. of coarse, she’d never admit that her’s was birthday, or that the password to her computer was the date of their first coffee date. she swallowed the heavy emotion that welled in her throat and punched the numbers in without any thought. she memorized the date far too well simply forget.

once the door was opened, she tried to catch him and prevent him from falling, but he was far too tall compared to her. the vampire did as he asked and immediately went to the upper left cabinet and searched for the medical kit he had talked about.

she turned back towards him to see him already shirtless and leaned against the island. his skin looked ghostly, and the wounds looked very very painful. her heart sank. she caused this. because she wasn’t fast enough, or smart enough to get away from the hunter jaesung was in unspeakable pain. he took literal poisoned bullets for her.

minah sank to her knees and looked over him for a moment before resting a soft hand on his shoulder. he felt even colder than he should and worry burrowed through her chest. she needed to work fast.

it was quiet as she started to focus. her attention was pulled entirely to making sure he was taken care of now. the tears streaming down her face slowed as she started to raise the scalpel. she paused and took a steadying breath as she used the blade to widen the wound. the vampire squeezed her eyes closed again and held in a small sob, hating the fact that she has to add additional pain to remove the pain that he was in. the only noise was her sniffling nose. 

minah then took the tweezers and began to take hold of the bullet and slowly remove it from his back. once it was finally out she allowed it to drop to the floor. a small clink sounded the room and she let out a small breath. one more to go, then she’d burn the vervain out and bandage him up. 

the vampire repeated what she had done for the first wound and cut, then removed the other bullet. the second was harder to remove, and she could feel herself losing more and more of her already faltering composure. “i’m-” she sniffled and regained some semblance of control. “i’m going to spend every day that God gives me making this up to you.” she vowed. her small voice was shaky and heavy with emotion, but very sure of itself. she would never be able to forget this selfless act of his. her eyes burned with another flood of fresh tears. “i don’t deserve to have you in my life, truly. i never did.”

the hand that comes to rest on his shoulder is calming, reassuring. minah will take care of him, he's sure of it. she will make sure he survives and so he tries to sit as still as he can. he grits his teeth together, tries to bite through the pain. still the most painful aspect of it all are minah's tears and her urgency to blame herself for what had happened. a life without her is not a life worth living, the only thing that got him through the past 113 years was knowing that at least she was still breathing. at least she would be happy, even if that meant he would never get to see her again.

his senses have gone into overdrive, shoulders tense as he can feel the scalpel hovering over the wounds. hands grip around the metal pipes of one of the bar stools planted around the kitchen island, preparing himself for another jolt of pain as the blade picks at his skin and exacerbates the wounds. another screams rumbles into the deepest pits of his chest and jae is once again thankful that his neighbours are usually out for the day, sparing him from the worried whispers and knocks on his front door.

the sound of the compressed bullet clattering against the kitchen tiles echoes through the room together with the relieved sigh that escapes jae's lips, breathing in deeply as he prepares himself for the second cut. it hurts a little less the second time around even though the second bullet will take a little more digging from minah's hands. the pain has almost become a second nature, or maybe it's the prospect of almost being painfree that helps him bear a little longer. either way, the screams have stilled down into weak groans and even quieter tears. he will live and it's all thanks to her.

minah felt a sob catch in her throat. guilt consumed every fiber of her being. she could feel herself breaking because she didn’t know how he could do that for her after everything she had done to him. all she could do was think over all the ways she could have tried to prevent it from happening, but it was too late for that now. jaesung was hurt and it was all her fault.

as much as she wished that she could just take him straight to his place, he was right. they needed to be completely positive that they had lost the hunter before they head to either of their homes. she huffed and wiped her face of some of the tears that had flooded down. “i’m so sorry. i’m so, so, so sorry, honey.” she cried out as she reached over and put a soft hand on his shoulder. pet names she hadn’t used in a century were falling from her tongue without her even noticing. “goodness, i wish you hadn’t done that.” 

the vampire drove quickly to make sure that they were safe. she needed to get him inside his apartment to see how injured he was and figure out a way to ease his pain. after it seemed as though the hunter had been shaken she wasted no time getting to his place. she parked and did another look around to make sure that they weren’t being followed. she hadn’t seen the hunter since they had fled, but she was nervous and paranoid now. the vampire got out of the car and walked around the jeep to let him out of the passenger side. wrapping an arm around his waist, she started to him him exit the vehicle. “you’re going to have to guide me to which one is your place.” she said as she looked up to him. “how are you? do you think we can make it to your place?” questions fired off rapidly with anxiety on her tongue.

immortality suited minah well. in the one hundred and thirteen years jae hadn't seen her she hadn't changed one bit, making it too easy for jae to read her. sure, in situations like this knowing the other's sentiment and thoughts with just one blink of the eye came in handy, acting faster than speaking, but right now jae really wished he didn't have to know what the knit of her eyebrows represented, the guilt and concern flooding her features. he didn't want her to worry for him, not when it would have been so much worse of she was the one who had gotten hurt.

❝ there's nothing to be sorry about. ❞ are the only words he manages to squeeze out, fingers reaching out and catching the last of tears that minah had failed to wipe away before they curl around the hand that rests on his shoulder and holds it tight. the vervain was still pushing its way through his body, desperately searching for that secret passage to his heart and driving his body temperature up to feverish levels. he was getting weaker with every passing second, a mixture of sweat and tears leaving marks down his cheeks.

as soon as minah had pulled up into his neighbourhood, jae flung the door to the passenger side open, having fallen to the ground if it hadn't been for minah's arm around his waist supporting most of his weight. the hunter seemed to have disappeared but he was the least of his worries right now. all that mattered now was getting those damned bullets out of his back. ❝ i'm fine. ❞ an obvious lie considering jae is looking paler than he already does and the burning of usual ice cold skin. ❝ we're close. it's the smallest of three, the red building on the corner of that intersection. ❞ he points his finger to guide minah in the right direction, drawing out a wince that he tries to ignore to the best of his abilities as he trips and stumbles by minah's side towards the safety of his home.

they're lucky it's still early in the day and there are none of jae's neighbours around to stall them and ask questions they couldn't answer. a relieving ping of the elevator door soon announces their arrival on jae's floor, pointing to the left so minah could drag him to the right door. ❝ the code. it's--  ❞ the vampire grits his teeth together once again, trying to supress a growl with his features distorting painfully when he fails to do so. ❝ our wedding day. ❞

it feels like a billion knives are being pushed into his body, twisting and turning before repeating the same movement over and over again. not even his transformation, with his organs giving out on him one by one, had been this painful, stars dancing in front of his eyes when jae's knees finally give out on him and he falls to the ground, crawling into his home and further into the kitchen on his hands and knees.

minah followed his plan and began to crawl through the hole in the fence. the vampire could hear the footsteps of the hunter narrowing in on them, and she started to move more frantically until the  sleeve of her coat caught into the fences wiring. she frantically yanked at it to free herself, but it wasn’t fast enough. at show-stopping thunder of the two shots minah jumped and shrieked. it wasn’t until she heard jaesung crash into the fence, or saw the pain in his features illustrated the rest of the picture. 

tears immediately pricked her eyes as she started to feel how miserably heavy their situation was. they were being hunted. it didn’t matter that they were walking down a busy street with people all around them. he stalked them down until there was a clear shot. there was something particularly terrifying about that. “no, no I’m not going anywhere without you.” and she meant that. her heart shredded at the thought that he had just used himself to shield her.

minah forced herself to think fast and logically despite the adrenaline that coursed through her. they didn’t have enough time to just book it to his car. thankfully the way that they had circled back, they were already close to his jeep, but not close enough to be faster than the man loading his gun just a few yards away. 

if they didn’t have anything to make them move faster, she had to find a way to slow him down. “your gun,” she muttered as her hands moved to the waist of his pants. it wasn’t the most tactful, but she had no time think or prepare otherwise. she took the from his holster and his keys, quickly moved around to the side of him, and took two shots at the hunter- both missing him. it wasn’t shocking though. she was never a good shot, and especially didn’t work well under pressure. the threat had at least made him take cover. she’d take anything she could get.

“come on we have to move fast,” shaken voice coming through as she wrapped an arm around his waist and quickly ushered them passed the fence toward his car. her eyes kept cutting back to the hunter who was beginning to come back out from the shelter that he had taken. she frantically opened the door for him to get in. they could have taken her car, but if this was really going to be their shelter from bullets, his jeep was a much safer bet than her sensible sedan.

after taking a few extra shots as he got in for hopefully an extra few seconds, minah quickly ran around to the other side started the vehicle and sped off. if they wanted to have any kind of lead off of the hunter, she had to take advantage of the time it would take the hunter to get to the back car that he had been in previously.

minah didn’t realize how hard she had been crying this whole time until she spoke. “are you okay? why would you do that?” she glanced over to him, stomach churning as she realized how terrified she just was.

❝ minah, please... ❞ jaesung's eyes plead together with his words. under any other circumstances he would have smiled at her promise of not leaving without him, but not when it meant she could possibly get hurt too, not when the hunter's gun is stocked and loaded with the poisonous liquid. as a matter of fact jaesung had been so fixated on making sure minah wouldn't fall into the man's field of fire he hadn't even considered using his own gun. ❝ my- my gun. ❞ he repeats weakly, a hand reaching for his belt but his knees are too weak and so he has to clutch them back around the fence to prevent from dropping to the ground.

minah seems to know just where to look, however, because soon two more gunshots echo through the alleyway and this time they weren't aimed at the two of them. jae wants to smile, wants to tell her how smart she is; how well she's doing but a grunt escapes him instead, inhaling deeply after to prepare him for the couple of feet he has left back to his jeep. 

he doesn't look back to see where the hunter had gone, if he had turned back or just hiding, trusting minah to ensure the safety of their escape, or as safe as they could be trying to run from the guy who's only task of the day seemed to be to put a bullet through their heads. fingers dig into minah's shoulder as she's now the one to wrap an arm around his waist and helps him crawl through the hole in the fence.

pain and frustration push out another growl while jae hobbles by her side back to the car, hoisting himself into the passenger seat as minah takes a couple more shots. his eyes drawing to the mirror on his side of the car as soon as he hears the engine rearing, the hunter might be out of sight for now but it would be reckless to assume they had shaken him off for good. ❝ i'm fine. i'm fine, at least it's not you who got hurt. ❞ jae tries to reassure her, yet with a voice too strained to sound plausible, the tears that had begun to well up in his own eyes too prominent to ignore. the vervain was seeping deeper and deeper into his body, infecting his blood to the point where he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from screaming until his vocal chords would tear apart.

[...]

at the comment of her shoes. minah cut a glance up to him. she wanted to be upset. but the wide smile that she kept trying to repress was all too telling. “of all times, is now really the appropriate time for that?” a half giggle broke through her lips as she looked down at the heels on her feet. 

she paused and looked around, but she couldn’t see much. there were too many people moving around seoul’s busy streets.  “i’m too short to see around the crowd. do you see anything?” the vampire wished that she could at least forget about it and convince herself that it was all in her head, but she simply couldn’t.

for a couple of seconds, jaesung forgets about all the trouble that is on his path right now. when he sees minah smiling up to him, all he really wants to do is wrap his other arm around her neck and pull her even closer than she already was, leave a kiss on her forehead just like he used to. his chest feels warm and it's not solely because of the way he has her glued to his side. no, it's because of how familiar it all feels, how similar she still smells even though it has been over a century since he's last seen her, touched her.

it's a dangerous thought to get lost in, especially now they seemed to be being hunt down for yet to be discovered reasons. no matter how much he would like to burry his nose into her hair right now, he can't, having to shake out of it before he unintentionally endangers the both of them, her, even more. even if it wasn't them the stranger was after, there was still a chance of an associate of their respective gangs busting them and reporting all of what they've seen to their leaders.

❝ i guess not. ❞ the smile that pulls around his lips is maybe a little misplaced considering the circumstances but it's too late to sweep it off his features now. his own joke had taken him back to a time when he hadn't turned her yet, conjuring memories of them bickering over the same exact thing and jae ending up carrying minah home whether she liked it or not. oh the things he would do to have another chance at that and still that's not his top priority right now. all that matters now is getting her home safely.

jae takes a couple more steps before he halts in his tracks, looking over the crowd, pretending he is checking out a restaurant minah had pointed out to him. out of the corner his eyes he spots their stalker who had seemed to have stopped on front of a tiny craft store. to the normal eye he would have looked invested enough, but jae could spot the stiffness in the man's shoulders, how his eyes had fixated on their reflection in the storefront.

❝ he's still following us, we need to keep moving. ❞ features contradict words, fond eyes masking concern. ❝ there's an alleyway ahead, if we speed up a little i think we can make it to the car before he catches up to us. ❞ jaesung's arm now drapes around minah's shoulder, bending through his knees a little so he wouldn't stand out from the crowd too much as they try to make their escape. ❝ just a little further. ❞

as soon as they make their turn, jaesung lets his hand slide down minah's arm and grabs hold of her hand instead. the other finds its way on her back again and pushes her in front of him so she can crawl through the hole in the fence that's up ahead first. still the hunter proved to be smarter than jae had thought, footsteps soon looming from behind him. he can almost imagine the hunter's hand grabbing hold of his gun and yet jae does nothing. instead he waits, covering minah and as much of the fence with all of what he is until he hears two gunshots, body slamming into the wired barrier.

it doesn't take jaesung long to realize the bullets have been coated in vervain, his insides feeling like they're being set on fire as soon as the metal shells pierce through the top layers of his marble skin. the gunshots have caused an uproar amongst the crowd, but the hunter doesn't seem the care, reloading his gun as he takes a couple of steps forward.

[...]

she was sure he was about to say something, but she had to interrupt. “jae someone is watching us. across the street, looks between 30-40 years old, black car, your 8 o'clock.” she put on another fake smile and kept her eye glued on jaesung while eyeing the mystery person in her peripheral vision. “is he with you or haedogje pa?” she didn’t expect jaesung to have back up in a relaxed setting like this, but she hoped that he for some reason would say that it was the case and that there was nothing to worry about.

❝ the dog... ❞ jae repeats once more, brows slowly drawing together at the question. had she not seen the same thing he had? had it not been her memories he had seen? it had to have been. he might not have understood what it had meant back then, but it became awfully clear once he had arrived back at yongsan condo and every touch flooded him with a burning yearning for either blood or drugs. and still she stood in front of him, asking even more questions he didn't know how to answer. how was he possibly going to explain what he had seen and why it had made him bolt out of the cafe if she couldn't even remember what she had shown him?

he was lost in his own thoughts, the cogs in his brain desperately groaning as they searched for words that didn't exist, only shaking out of it when minah chose to speak instead. she's right, as always she's right. if there is anyone he should be able to fully trust it would be her. and then there is also the way she looks at him, so genuinely, so understandingly and it's enough to push him over the edge. upon marriage he had promised her nothing but love, nothing but the truth and so that is exactly what he'll give her.

and then she doesn't give him the chance to. confusion replacing commitment as notices the shift in minah's behaviour. lips still spread into a wide smile, though her words are enough to make his heart skip a beat and not in the good kind of way. he is quick to mimic her expression, however, turning his head ever so slightly to the side so he can catch a glimpse of said man out of the corners of his eyes. they're definitely not with haedogje pa, nor are they any of his own sire's associatives so he can only really guess for who they really are although he's got a pretty good idea of just how much trouble they are in right now.

❝ how about we go grab something to eat? ❞ jae's features remain unchanged despite the clutches that had started to form in his chest, an arm sliding around minah's waist and pulling her close to his chest as he starts guiding her through the streets of seoul. this was probably not the right time to throw all caution overboard, but his protectiveness, his urge to keep her safe was simply  much stronger right now.

once they had merged in with the crowd, the vampire leans in and whispers a couple of words to the female, so quietly it would be impossible for the human ears to catch. ❝ that guy is not with me. i have never seen him before in my life, but lets just see if he follows us first. ❞ usually jaesung wouldn't have been this quick to jump to conclusions, but with the recent rumours of hunters finding their way to seoul he'd rather be safe than sorry. still the last thing he wants to do is unnecessarily freak minah out, so he tries to squeeze a joke in, no matter how inapproriate the timing might be. ❝ on a scale of one to ten how angry would you be if i chose now to bring up your preferred footwear of the day? ❞

[...]

“so do I get any kind of explanation or reasoning for you diving out on me.“ she forced a light hearted chuckle to hide some of the worry that may had slipped through. “did something happen?” she asked though the question that really burned in her head was did i do something.

it's not like jaesung had been dreading the call, he knew minah would have to call someday if only so she could finally cross the job off her own to do list, he just wasn't ready to burst the bubble that was his own fantasy yet. it had only been a couple of days, but that had proven to be enough for jae to get attached to the idea of revisiting what they used to have. now more than ever he realizes how much he's longed for that, eagerly accepting the images minah had shown him as a indication that maybe, hopefulluy, she feels the same way.

but then there had also been minah's obvious indecisiveness, something jae had conveniently chosen to neglect as he dwelms in his own make-believe, as well as the dangers that are tied to actually doing so with being in different gangs. caring more for her safety than his own happiness, he is not sure if he can ask that much of her. so he has no other intentions but to finalize the details of haedogje pa's agreement with geomeun son as he waits next to his jeep.

he has got some explaining to do that much is for sure, he can't possibly expect minah not to ask question after running out on her without explaining but he is unsure how to. afraid he will spill too much if she does, so he sighs in relief when she approaches him with the words of a friend. ❝ it's alright, i only just got here. ❞ a smile pushes the corners of his mouth up as he breaks loose from the jeep with hands tucked away in the pockets of his jeans, as always happy to get another chance to see her.

❝ yeah, about that… ❞ a hand moves up, pushing the cap off his head before he lets the fingers run through the strands of pitchblack hair. a loaded question, one he had expected, still he had hoped they could pretend nothing was wrong for at least a little longer. ❝ i'm sorry. i shouldn't have left like that-- without explaining. ❞ it seemed like a good place to start, apologizing, so the words easily roll of his tongue but he soon reaches the point where he gets stuck and doesn't know how to explain what exactly had happened. ❝ nothing happened. it's just-- i don't really know how to explain it. the dog... ❞ jae's gaze shifts down, only now realizing how bad of an excuse it really is, shamed almost that he can't offer her more. but then again how does he phrase his actual thoughts without scaring her off?