Seven O'Clock at Seoul Land
That thought made Seo Rin hesitate for a moment, but he didn't want to go any farther either. After some wavering, he fed a coin into the phone and dialed. A moment later a man answered.
"Hello...? Who is this?"
His Korean was clumsy compared to Maria's, and the voice that took the call carried a faint edge of tension. Caught in the awkwardness of not knowing what to say, Seo Rin suddenly found himself speaking like this:
"Ah, um. Is this Maria's house?"
The person on the other end of the line went silent.
"Ah..."
Even Seo Rin himself knew this was all wrong. Talking as if he were casually calling a close friend's place... He was so mortified by his own words that he could only imagine how it must sound on the other side.
A moment later a girl's laughter spilled through the receiver.
"Ahahahaha! Wh-what is that? Is that some new greeting?"
Maria took the phone herself, laughing brightly, clearly delighted by something. The laughter was so pure and childlike that Seo Rin almost suspected a commercial was blasting on a television somewhere. But the one who had answered was definitely Maria. Having a doll-like cute girl laugh so joyfully made him feel good too—yet it also left him thoroughly embarrassed.
"D-don't laugh! People can make mistakes, you know."
"Well, sure they can, but it's funny because you made one. Right? If you hadn't messed up, I wouldn't be laughing."
"Mm, that's... no, wait. You're still up? Don't vampires usually sleep while the sun's out?"
When Seo Rin asked that, Maria laughed again.
If vampires simply shut down the moment the sun rose, their active hours in summer could drop below eleven. Vampire sleep schedules were usually about the same as a human's, or a little less; during daylight they enjoyed culture or rested in sun-proofed shelters of their own. Of course, that was only true for the higher-class vampires who could afford such leisure.
"That'd just make us oversleepers. Too much sleep isn't good for you either."
"Is that so? Then what do you do if you're not sleeping?"
He hadn't called to ask about things like this, but talking itself was somehow enjoyable, so Seo Rin kept tossing out trivial questions. Maria giggled on the other end of the line.
"Mostly... I answer calls that go, 'Is this Maria's house?' Heehee."
"Come on, I told you to stop. Enough. Wipe that from your memory right now. It's not even that funny—why do you keep milking it?"
Seo Rin waved a hand at the receiver even though she couldn't see him, making a fuss. The more he did, the more fun Maria seemed to have teasing him.
"But in all the years I've lived, I've never heard anyone say that before. It's way too funny."
"How long has it even been since the telephone was invented...? Of course you've never heard it!"
"It's still been a century. So Seo Rin really is the kind of idiot who only comes along once a century. I'm jealous. I want to be something that only shows up once a century too. Just... not an idiot."
"Look... stop teasing me and let's get to the point already. This is a payphone, okay? Damn it, it's yelling for more money."
Seo Rin shoved another coin into the slot. Maria's tone suddenly turned serious.
"There was a real point? I was just happy Rin called..."
"Ugh."
Saying something that cute...
Seo Rin was so startled he lost his words. Why was this child being so affectionate with him? How long had they even known each other? Suspicion was natural—yet it didn't feel bad.
"Well, anyway. I want to hear it. That proposal of yours."
When he had accepted Han Se-gun's offer, Seo Rin had privately weighed the two of them. Maria looked like a cute, pretty girl, but she was a true vampire; Se-gun, no matter how vicious and cruel he appeared, was still human. Choosing the human side rather than cooperating with beings whose very physiology was alien had been a large part of his decision. Not that, in that situation, whatever choice he made would have changed much.
Still, Han Se-gun's actions and mindset contained far too much that Seo Rin simply couldn't handle. He didn't hate the man, but it was painful to watch—so wretched and inhuman.
"...Have you ever thought we might use you? Or kidnap you?"
Maria asked suddenly, her voice serious. It was a direct hit on exactly what Seo Rin had been thinking—a perfect thrust. Yet for her to ask it herself... the tone was like a little child nervously confessing something for fear of being scolded, and it made his chest tighten.
"I'd be lying if I said never... but if that was the plan, you could have done it already. Twice, even."
"Mm. Hearing you say that makes me happy. Then how about seven o'clock today?"
"Seven?"
It was summer; the sun would still be up. Suggesting they meet at that hour left Seo Rin puzzled enough to ask again.
"You sure? The days are pretty long right now."
"Yeah, it's fine. Don't lump me in with other vampires. I may not look it, but I'm a very fine Jinma, you know."
Hearing her brag over the phone made him think there was probably nothing to worry about. Even so—a vampire who could walk around in broad daylight? Then again, when Giovanni had attacked Seo Rin it had been under a blazing midday sun. At the Jinma level, they must have some countermeasure against sunlight.
"'Fine,' huh? Well, if you say it's okay, then fine. We'll meet at that time—so where should I go?"
"There's an amusement park near Seoul, right? Seoul Land, I think? Their naming sense is terrible, though. If it's New York it should be New York Land, if it's Tokyo then Tokyo Land, right?"
"Even if you ask me... I don't know what to say. By that logic, places like New York Bakery or German Bakery are kind of weird names too."
"Anyway, name aside, I've wanted to go for a while. So let's meet there. Seven o'clock. Be on time, okay?"
"Seven o'clock... Got it. I'll stake my life on getting out."
Seo Rin said that and hung up. It was half a joke, but thinking about slipping past Se-gun safely really might require staking his life. And the transmitter stuck to his clothes?
"...There's no listening device, so that part's fine. Hmm, still risky."
If Se-gun caught on to Seo Rin's intentions and came after him, Maria and Se-gun would run into each other. Those two mortal enemies would start fighting at once, and Seo Rin's position would become extremely awkward.
If Maria, who had trusted him enough to come out, died by Se-gun's hand, Seo Rin would never sleep again for the guilt. Even if they didn't fight to the death and the whole thing fizzled out, he still had to risk his life to keep Se-gun and Maria from meeting.
"Guess I should get some sleep myself."
Seo Rin glanced at his watch and climbed onto the motorcycle.
When Seo Rin woke, Se-gun was already deep into his morning training. Napoleon was said to sleep about four hours a day; at first Seo Rin had assumed that was a lie. But Han Se-gun never slept more than three and a half hours in a single day.
"Honestly... dedication on another level."
Seo Rin shuffled toward the basement with a toothbrush in his mouth, rubbing his eyes. Speakers mounted on the walls were playing intercepted material from various regions at eight-times speed.
Long stretches of silence were automatically skipped, and at eight-times speed Seo Rin couldn't make out a single word. The only thing playing at normal speed was a lecture series for the written exam to become a marine engineer.
"Wow, hyung, you're really something. You're a wanted man—what are you planning to do with a certification course? Can you even hear that while training and checking all the wiretaps?"
"If you do it, it works."
Se-gun's answer was simple and clear. He was practicing drawing a pistol like a cowboy from a Western and snapping it onto target with perfect aim. The instant his whipping arm stopped, the motion locked into absolute stillness.
The muzzle froze on the target with surgical precision. The killing intent in each of those moments was as sharp as a blue-edged blade. You didn't need live rounds or a trigger pull to know every shot would have hit. And every time, the laser sight mounted on the gun confirmed it—nailing a point so small you could barely stick a needle into it. Watching that, you could tell how many times he had repeated this exact drill.
"Holy crap! How do you even do that?"
"I told you—if you do it, it works. Think about people like you who start outside human limits and then keep training. Why wouldn't it be possible?"
Muttering that, Se-gun shifted into trick-shot practice, moving his body this time. Even braced on one arm and shooting one-handed, as long as the target was still he was dead-on every time.
Against moving targets, though, more shots went wide than before. Even so, that was only because the targets were small; anything human-sized would never miss. Superhuman senses plus Se-gun's obsessive refusal to waste time sleeping or eating—maybe that combination was what had produced this miracle.
"Hoo. You should wash up, eat, and loosen up soon. We've got training."
Se-gun set the training laser gun down. Only then did Seo Rin gather his courage and speak up.
"Ah, hyung. Um... I've got a meeting with someone..."
"Who? A friend?"
Se-gun looked at him as if that were surprising. A kid who'd quit school and come here—who was he meeting? In the past Se-gun would have exploded, but by now he was so used to it that he barely even got angry.
"Yeah. Something like that."
Seo Rin hesitated a second over whether to call Maria a friend, then answered that way. As expected, Se-gun started lecturing.
"Seriously. You're not in a position to go around meeting people whenever you feel like it. If you meet a civilian, that civilian becomes a target too."
"But... it's not like vampires are following only me around all the time. It's fine, right?"
"Listen. Some vampires are born with precognition. A hundred layers of caution still isn't enough. What time and where are you meeting?"
"Seven o'clock, main gate of Seoul Land."
"Huh?"
Se-gun was surprised again. At seven the sun would still be up, but it would be setting soon. And Seo Rin was saying this with a completely straight face?
"...Seven o'clock means the sun's about to go down! What the hell are you thinking? Want a group mixer with vampires? You're not going!"
Se-gun shook his head firmly in refusal. But Seo Rin was just as stubborn. He had already made the promise; he couldn't simply not show up. As the old story of Weisheng's trust went, a promise with a girl had to be kept even if floods came or typhoons blew.
"I'm still going. I made a promise—breaking it halfway would be wrong."
"Then I'm coming with you."
The moment Se-gun suggested that, the color drained from Seo Rin's face. But he already had nine snakes living inside him; he immediately switched to a sly tone.
"That's a little... Do you really want to do that at your age?"
There was a faint look of looking down his nose mixed into Seo Rin's gaze, as if he were staring at an older brother who had asked to tag along on his little brother's mixer. Se-gun bristled at that look.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm not going out with you to hang out—I'm going to tail you from behind. Otherwise you're almost guaranteed to get ambushed, and you think you can watch your own back properly?"
"I can't keep asking hyung to watch my back forever either, can I? You were planning to use me as bait from the start. If you're going to use bait, you have to throw it in the river."
Seo Rin coaxed him carefully, nervous that Se-gun might dig his heels in, but without letting it show. Se-gun crossed his arms.
"Unbelievable. Who are you meeting that you're thrashing around begging me to throw you in the river? If me being there would be a problem, and the place is Seoul Land... is it a girl?"
"Yes."
Seo Rin's short answer left Se-gun speechless. He stood there expressionless with his arms folded for a moment, then asked again.
"Not your little sister? An actual different girl?"
"Yes."
"Since when did you have a girlfriend? According to my intel you didn't."
Se-gun asked in shock.
He had wiretapped Seo Rin's house and investigated his school friends and every other human relationship thoroughly enough to put private detective agencies to shame. And now a girlfriend out of nowhere? Seo Rin felt a twinge of guilt but answered with a straight face.
"Just because I didn't have one yesterday doesn't mean I can't have one today. Unlike hyung, who can polish his body all he wants alone in a dark basement..."
"Who's polishing his body! I—I'm not working out for that!"
"But as long as you're drinking protein supplements, that excuse doesn't mean much. Even if you claim it's just because you burn so much and need to replace it—when the recycling truck comes to collect the empty protein tubs, do you know what those guys think of us?"
Of course Se-gun took the supplements because he was always short on calories yet had almost no appetite; it was simply the easiest way for him to top up energy. The idea of sculpting a body to impress women had never crossed his mind. Seo Rin knew that perfectly well, but it was something he had always wanted to tease him about mercilessly. Now was his chance.
Sure enough, Se-gun was so flustered by the jab that he started stammering.
This was the opening! Seo Rin immediately walked over to the wardrobe.
"Anyway, I'm going. So I can borrow some clothes, right?"
"Fine. Do whatever you want. But take the transmitter. You need a good hard lesson before you'll develop any real motivation!"
Even as he said it, Se-gun looked worried; he switched on the district cameras he used to watch Giovanni and the magician's group. Several had already been discovered and destroyed—black screens. Still, there was more than enough coverage left for surveillance.
A human gaze could be felt, but a machine's could not. And everything Se-gun had installed was cheap CMOS cameras with no moving parts that made noise; the image quality and angle were poor, but they were not easy to spot.
Watching those feeds, Se-gun gave Seo Rin a final warning.
"Remember this. Other vampires are after you besides these guys. If you get attacked, run into a crowd no matter what. Even the best magic has a hard time working properly against large numbers of people. And you learned how to dodge snipers, right?"
"H-hyung! You sound just like a parent sending their kid off to elementary school."
"In this case, you are the elementary school kid, you little shit!"
The words were barely finished before the fist came flying.