Daylight Rendezvous
Seo Rin grumbled as he stepped off the bus. His broken neck had regenerated quickly enough, but the nerves inside still hadn't fully realigned, leaving his whole body tingling. Having to risk his life every time he opened his mouth around Han Se-gun was getting old.
Not that he didn't understand why Se-gun acted that way. For all the punches and the rest of it, the worry was genuine, so Seo Rin's mood wasn't entirely sour. The problem was that no matter how much quiet affection might pile up, when the decisive moment came Se-gun would kill him without hesitation. Get all warm and fuzzy over a little concern and you'd only suffer for it later. A single punch that snaps your neck doesn't leave much room for gratitude no matter how carefully someone frets over you afterward.
"Damn it, how does he even live like that? He seems to have his own brand of fun, sure, but isn't that going too far?"
Seo Rin walked toward the amusement park entrance. Nighttime hours were in season, so even at this hour the front of the park swarmed with people. He checked his watch—still a full thirty minutes until their meeting time.
"Talk about early. Showing up half an hour ahead… unbelievable."
He smoothed the clothes he'd borrowed from Se-gun and checked his reflection in a car window. A long-necked vest that rose past his throat all the way to the underside of his jaw, paired with hip-hop pants in stark black-and-white contrast.
Se-gun lived in racing jackets and suits, so Seo Rin had figured the man wouldn't own anything like this. Opening the wardrobe had proven otherwise—quite the collection, actually. Clothes he barely wore and never showed anyone, yet he kept buying them.
Must be making serious bank off vampire blood, right? Or maybe he's a narcissist? Seo Rin snickered at the thought and dropped onto a bench.
"If you ignore the greasy, pretentious streak, Se-gun hyung's looks are nothing to complain about. Heh."
If he hadn't become a vampire hunter, he might have turned out an ordinary fun-loving young man. Or maybe an entertainer like Seong-chan. The idea left a strange ache in Seo Rin's chest. But pitying Se-gun was pure arrogance. If Se-gun ever found out, he wouldn't leave Seo Rin breathing.
Maybe that was exactly why looking at Se-gun hurt. While he was lost in the thought, someone spoke from behind him.
"Oh my. You're already here?"
"Look who's talking."
Seo Rin turned. A blonde girl in a pure-white one-piece dress stood there holding a parasol. Beneath a ridiculously wide-brimmed hat, golden hair spilled out, tied with a violet ribbon. The whole look was something you almost never saw in modern society.
A white girl in a full dress in twenty-first-century Seoul, and this wasn't a Western. Of course people stared. Passersby were already slowing down to gawk at him and Maria.
"…What are you thinking right now?"
Seo Rin swept his hair back and sighed. Maria huffed, clearly sulking.
"My sister saw me every single day—she even shared her circulatory system with me through linked blood vessels—and she never skipped telling me I looked pretty whenever I dressed up. You're way too indifferent, Rin."
"Shared circulatory system?"
"Hmm, hard to explain. Do you know artificial dialysis? Kidney-failure patients get hooked up to a machine that filters waste from their blood."
"Yeah."
"It's like that. I awakened as a vampire so young that it put huge strain on my body, so every now and then my sister would surgically link us and regulate me."
"Th-that must have been rough."
"Not really. The physical pain hurt less than the heartache. If I'd been whole, I wouldn't have burdened her like that. A half-finished vampire who still counts as a Jinma… even an ugly monster shouldn't be this ugly."
Seo Rin stared at her, speechless. Outwardly she looked like a girl in her early teens, yet she was a vampire who had already lived several centuries. And she still acted every bit the child.
"Ugh, ugly? What are you talking about. You're pretty."
"Really?"
She was fishing for compliments and lit up the second she got one. Women… Seo Rin thought it privately and held out his hand to her.
"This place isn't great for talking, honestly. Might as well enjoy ourselves while we're here."
"Okay."
Seeing her that happy left him with nothing much to say. Could this little lady actually open a future for him that Se-gun's methods never would? Did she have another path?
Heading for the ticket booth, Seo Rin asked,
"How are you walking around under the sun, though? It's amazing. Other vampires seem to just die from it."
Maria raised a finger and wagged it, the picture of someone who'd been waiting to be asked.
"That, you see, is possible when your VT regeneration outpaces what sunlight burns away. You need to be able to overcome something as basic as the sun if you want to call yourself a Jinma."
"VT? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hmm. That Han Se-gun didn't tell you anything?"
"Not a word."
In truth he had, but Seo Rin remembered none of it. He had never been a particularly good student where Se-gun was concerned. Shifting the blame onto his teacher was irresponsible, yet Maria already hated Se-gun, so she was delighted. Discovering his negligence put a sparkle in her eyes as she launched into the explanation.
"So VT is the vampire factor—basically a vampire's life force. Every vampire carries a certain amount of it. That factor is what mutates and regenerates a vampire's body into something other than human. The problem is sunlight destroys it at high speed and eventually kills you. Honestly, the Beast is so unreliable. Not teaching something that fundamental…"
"Ah, he was probably busy. Anyway, what about you?"
A twinge of conscience made Seo Rin press the question. Maria answered proudly.
"I regenerate VT faster than sunlight can destroy it, and I protect myself with a few spells on top of that, so I only feel a little under the weather. For a human it'd be like mild anemia."
"So you're definitely pushing it. Why set the meeting for daylight hours, and then show up thirty minutes early on top of that?"
"Oh, are you worrying about me right now?"
"Worry or whatever—it's the obvious thing, isn't it?"
When Seo Rin turned serious, Maria covered her mouth and laughed softly. The sight was so cute he almost keeled over.
Man, what I'd give for a little sister like this. Wait—I already have one. If only Yeong-eun had this kind of adorable streak…
Still, the other party was a vampire lord. He couldn't let his guard down. Seo Rin asked again.
"Why push yourself that hard? You could have come later."
"But then the park would be about to close. Even with night hours they don't stay open all night, you know?"
"Ah… well…"
Seo Rin found himself at a complete loss for words.
Inside the park the crowds were thick. Summer vacation had started, so middle-schoolers, high-schoolers, and college students packed every corner.
"So, are we riding the attractions?"
Seo Rin looked over the various rides as he asked Maria. With balance and physical power far beyond a human's, he felt no fear of heights. Falling from most of these wouldn't kill him, and his reaction speed was so high that the drop itself never registered as terrifying. No real thrill. That made it hard to enjoy attractions the way ordinary people did.
"I want that one."
Whether she was different from him or simply being stubborn, Maria planted herself in front of the roller-coaster line. Seo Rin snorted a laugh at the sight.
"If you want to ride it, fine… but are you tall enough?"
"Hmph! I'm not that small."
"Let's check."
He steered her over to the height-check stick beside the ride. Fortunately Maria cleared the limit by a comfortable margin.
"Whoa, you really are. How tall are you, Maria?"
"A hundred forty-three centimeters."
"I heard Western kids grow faster than East Asian ones. Looking at you, you must have become a vampire ridiculously young."
Maria's chin tucked in, a little offended.
"You're operating under a misconception. Back then food situations were much worse, so people didn't grow as big as kids today."
"Even so…"
Even so, she had clearly become a vampire at a young age, hadn't she? Maria shook her head.
"I was basically a vampire from the moment I was born. Don't worry about it too much."
"Alright."
"So since I'm tall enough, I can ride, right?"
Maria skipped toward the roller coaster, excited. Seo Rin shrugged and followed.
After several rides traded back and forth, the nighttime parade began. Like a parent dragged around by kids on Children's Day, Seo Rin had been running after Maria from place to place. Now he stood among the crowd with a stick of cotton candy bought from a stall, Maria at his side.
As the parade rolled past, fireworks and laser beams painted the sky.
"Here. Maria, you can eat this, right?"
"Ah, thank you."
"Think nothing of it. Serving a lady is my pleasure."
Seo Rin answered with shameless charm and took his place beside her. This tiny girl was a vampire lord. He still couldn't quite believe it—especially when she watched the parade with such pure delight.
Unlike her, Seo Rin's thoughts stayed grounded. Looking at the dancers and staff, he wondered how much they got paid, how tough it must be making a living like that, whether one of them might someday appear on some human-interest documentary pouring out life's hardships.
"…So how is 'he'?"
Maria brought the cotton candy to her lips and asked casually. "He" could only mean Se-gun, but the question was too vague. Seo Rin raised an eyebrow.
"How is he what?"
"You've been living together lately. He's not torturing you or brainwashing you or anything, is he?"
It was a perfect window into how vampires viewed Se-gun. Seo Rin couldn't exactly disagree with the reputation. Se-gun truly stopped at nothing when he needed information.
The only reason Seo Rin himself wasn't being tortured was that the information Se-gun wanted didn't match the usual vampire assumptions. Seo Rin laughed and shook his head.
"Nothing like that. How should I put it… Se-gun hyung thinks on a much broader scale…"
Once, Seo Rin had asked him outright: why not use the child of Lilith—me—to track Lilith down? If Se-gun wanted to destroy the Night, Lilith was the first monster he ought to eliminate. Se-gun's answer had been simple and clear.
Once I've killed every last vampire, Lilith will show herself no matter what.
Talk about the long view. The big picture. Vampires who could only see an inch ahead—and Seo Rin himself—ought to feel ashamed.
Se-gun kept Seo Rin close so he could draw out as many vampires as possible and slaughter them all. He didn't need Seo Rin to hunt Lilith directly. Achieve the goal and Lilith would inevitably appear before him. That was the kind of man Han Se-gun was.
Remembering the moment he hadn't known whether to laugh or cry, Seo Rin let out a dry chuckle.
"Really? Hmm. Then what do you two do day to day?"
"Se-gun hyung? Just endless training and studying. I've never seen anyone live such a bland life."
As he spoke he glanced at Maria. Whenever Han Se-gun came up she puffed her cheeks like a scolded child.
For all her status as a Jinma, she had never subdued him—instead she had lost precious subordinates to him. She ought to leave Korea at once, yet the determination to avenge her sister kept her here.
Staying wouldn't let her kill Se-gun. Compared to his airtight precision, Maria was still a naive child.
"Then what about you, Seo Rin?"
"Uh… who knows? What would you like me to do, Maria?"
"I just… want you to come with me. E-even though I'm a vampire, I'll protect you so you stay safe. If you want, I can help you find Lilith. Or just…"
Maria stumbled over the words, stealing looks at his face. She seemed terrified he would refuse. Her slightly flushed porcelain skin and flawless blue eyes made her look like a perfectly crafted doll. This time, though, he couldn't afford to get distracted by how cute she looked.
It made no sense. Even if Seo Rin followed her, what did Maria actually gain?
He wasn't the only one hunting him. If he went with her, wouldn't every other vampire after him turn hostile toward her as well?
"…So what exactly do you get out of this?"
Seo Rin raised his voice amid the parade crowd. Maria hemmed and hawed.
"Well… the truth is I'm interested in Ririm too. I'd have to do a little research, at least."
"A little? I don't get it. I'm basically dynamite with a lit fuse. Se-gun hyung took me in precisely because I'm a bomb, but unless you're as completely unhinged as he is, why would anyone need a stick of dynamite with the fuse already burning? Just for a little research?"
His volume climbed; people nearby started glancing over. Seo Rin shut his mouth and held out his hand. Maria failed to grasp his intent and fidgeted helplessly. He simply grabbed her hand and pulled.
"Come with me."
"Ah, but…"
At that moment several men blocked their path. Broad-shouldered, sharp-eyed—looked like they'd trained. Most of them were male, maybe some university sports club out in force.
"Hey. What do you think you're doing to that kid?"
"She clearly doesn't like it."