Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Junny
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Gamal followed along and asked,
“Isn’t it dark?”
“It’s a path I know.”
Suddenly, Gamal took a step back. The movement was a bit unnatural, so Doyoung instinctively turned around and saw Gamal quickly hiding something with her foot. Doyoung pretended not to notice and looked away, but he had seen it clearly.
‘Footprints.’
Just like before, they were human footprints without shoes. Now it was certain. Gamal was hiding someone.
And it was a man.
Both times, judging by the size, the footprints belonged to a man. And once he thought it might be a man, anger started to build inside him.
A boyfriend? A husband?
But if that were the case, it didn’t make sense that the guy would just leave her alone like this. Unless he was some open-minded type who didn’t care if his woman fooled around with another man, or just an idiot.
‘Why hide him?’
There was no need to hide him just because he was a vampire. So there had to be some other reason she was keeping a secret. Something not just related to romance.
Doyoung suddenly turned around and raised one eyebrow.
“Where are you following me to?”
“Ah, sorry.”
Gamal apologized and took a step back. Doyoung entered the bushes on the right, deliberately going deeper in. From a distance, Gamal shouted,
“How far are you going?”
“I’m doing it because I’m worried you might follow.”
“I won’t. It’s dark. Don’t go too far.”
Doyoung subtly scanned the surroundings, but felt no presence. Crickets chirped through the night.
Gamal’s secret was hiding somewhere in that darkness beyond. Doyoung could feel it.
***
“What are you doing?”
After breakfast, Gamal asked in bewilderment. Doyoung was packing things into his crossbody bag.
“Going out again?”
Doyoung slung the bag over his shoulder and replied,
“I didn’t see everything yesterday.”
Gamal wondered how to stop him and mumbled,
“I’m tired...”
“Then I’ll go alone. I’m getting familiar with the path now.”
Gamal quickly said, as if that was unthinkable,
“Doyoung alone is dangerous.”
“I can handle animals by myself.”
Then she stared straight at Gamal and added,
“As long as no vampires attack.”
Gamal set down her basket and said,
“I’m worried. Let’s go together.”
Doyoung shrugged.
“Fine.”
So the two entered the forest again, just like yesterday.
Doyoung wandered here and there like he was foraging, searching for traces. Glancing back, he saw Gamal following. Yesterday she had been so flustered, but today she was coming along without a word.
Doyoung faced forward again.
‘She must have told him to erase the tracks.’
After walking a while, he pushed aside some branches. Suddenly, the view opened up to a majestic sight. In the distance on the opposite side, a waterfall cascaded down a cliff.
“That’s the waterfall where Doyoung first fell.”
Gamal, who had come up beside him, pointed at it.
The waterfall was bigger than he’d thought. It was amazing that a mere human had fallen from there and survived. It was probably because Gamal had thrown him well.
“There’s nowhere else to go.”
As she said it, Gamal glanced at Doyoung hopefully that they’d turn back. Doyoung didn’t answer and walked along the cliff. His eyes scanning the base were serious, like a commander surveying the terrain and devising a strategy.
Gamal followed, peeking down at the cliff below. Suddenly, Doyoung turned around. Gamal flinched, wondering if he’d caught her thinking whether a human could survive falling from this height.
“Huh?”
“Gamal.”
Doyoung took two steps closer and spoke in a serious tone. The sound of the distant waterfall crashing down was grand. Doyoung’s eyes seemed to reflect the slanted sunlight, giving off a faint glow.
“Why...?”
Overwhelmed by that gaze, Gamal asked softly. Doyoung placed his hands on both her shoulders.
Then he leaned down and kissed her. Their lips met softly. She was startled for a moment, but Gamal soon closed her eyes. The waterfall’s roar seemed to shake heaven and earth, yet it gradually faded in a strange experience.
Their lips parted slightly. And from that breath-close distance, Doyoung whispered,
“Gamal, I’m sorry.”
Gamal, in a daze and barely conscious, asked back,
“For what...?”
“I need to know what you’re hiding.”
Thwack.
Then Doyoung shoved her with all his strength. Gamal’s eyes widened. Since she was right at the cliff’s edge, she had no chance to react before plummeting down.
Meanwhile, Doyoung spun around and started running. He felt bad, but this was the only way to shake her off even briefly. It would be a one-way trip to the afterlife for a human, but she was a vampire, so she’d be fine.
Crunch. Rustle. Swish.
He tore through leaves and branches at full speed. Since he’d memorized the way coming and going, he knew where to head.
After running with everything he had, a wide flower field opened up.
This was the boundary. The limit of where Doyoung could go. Gamal’s secret lay beyond. Toward it, Doyoung didn’t stop. He ran so hard he could feel his heart pumping blood furiously.
Past the flower field came a reed bed. And the reeds were nearly at an end. That was the moment. Someone whooshed by his side. Doyoung’s eyes widened.
“What...!”
It was a man who appeared out of nowhere, but Doyoung knew instantly he was a vampire. Because...
Doyoung ducked his head immediately. The man’s roundhouse kick whistled through the air, barely missing above his head, then smashed into a tree behind. The tree exploded with a pop like a balloon bursting and flew off.
This was power impossible to mistake for anything but a vampire!
“Tora!”
Gamal’s voice already calling from afar echoed.
Doyoung rolled to his feet. The man turned to look at him from the middle of the reed bed.
It was hard to describe him in one word. His bronze skin, jet-black hair reaching his chest, and a few thin braids woven with colored threads hanging down both sides made him look like a native at first glance, but on second look, like a mixed-blood.
If Doyoung were a woman, he’d lose his senses in an instant at that beauty.
No word fit better than “chisled.” His lean, muscular body showed no trace of fat—if Gamal was the pinnacle of feminine beauty, this was the pinnacle of masculine. The tattoos climbing his arms and disappearing behind his back felt like artwork.
But no matter how impressive, Doyoung had no desire to examine another man’s body this closely.
Especially since the man wore only a black scrap of elaborately decorated cloth around his waist.
And those red eyes glinting with the curiosity of a predator spotting a toy.
Two vampires with red eyes—Doyoung had forgotten he was in the midst of testing how bad his luck could get lately.
“Hello, Tora.”
Doyoung wasn’t in the mood to smile, but he did.
“You seem to know who I am.”
Tora gave a slight bow, polite to the point of formality.
“Of course, Major.”
In contrast to his native appearance, his English was perfect. British accent, even. Despite the outfit, he exuded connection to the outside world.
Tora flashed a smile that would make any woman’s heart pound and said,
“Sorry, but you can’t go any further.”
“So there is something hidden on the other side of the island.”
“Everyone has a private life, don’t they? I’d appreciate it if you respected Matty’s.”
‘Matty...’
Was that Gamal? Doyoung didn’t ask, instead scanning Tora up and down and saying,
“Not sure if this is the right moment, but talking to you makes my chest feel wide open.”
Tora chuckled.
“Matty’s fluent in Sanskrit, Latin, and ancient Greek, and decent in Aramaic too. Modern languages are her weak point, though.”
“I get everything else, but what’s ‘Sanskrit’...”
Tora said as if it were obvious,
“The language of the Satadi tribe.”
“Never heard of a tribe like that.”
“Of course not. It’s not in the records. Modern people wouldn’t know.”
Doyoung realized something.
“Is Gamal from your tribe, by any chance?”
Tora smiled faintly.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”
The next moment, Tora was behind Doyoung.
‘Too late!’
Doyoung swung his knife backward. But Tora effortlessly caught his arm, flipped him over, and knocked him down. Then he raised his hand. His red eyes flashed like a torch under the sunset glow. The face of a beast with its hunting instincts awakened.
“No!”
That was the moment. Gamal burst through the reeds like lightning and tackled Tora.
“Matty, it’s downhill here...!”
Tora cried out in surprise, followed by the sound of them tumbling down. With the weight of two vampires, it sounded like a massive boulder rolling.
Anyway, seizing the chance, Doyoung jumped up and plunged through the reeds again.
Swish, rustle.
Sounds of pursuit came quickly. This time, two vampires. The worst situation Doyoung had faced in all his fights.
The reeds shook unnaturally. Doyoung swung his knife immediately. It struck Tora’s leg.
Tora used the recoil to spin acrobatically in the air and land, then said,
“You’re the first human to react to my speed, Major.”
“Don’t underestimate a trained human.”
“Underestimate? I respect you.”
Rustle.
The reeds shook again—Gamal was nearby. This reed bed was unexpectedly advantageous for Doyoung, obscuring the vision of the two physically superior vampires while revealing their positions.
Doyoung turned and ran backward.
But the moment the reeds ended, there was a swamp. Doyoung was startled.
“What...!”
Unfortunately, with momentum built up, he couldn’t stop. Doyoung plunged straight into the swamp. Flailing, he turned to see Tora standing at the edge, grinning.
“If you behave and listen, I’ll pull you out.”
He’d been herding him here all along, occasionally attacking just enough to chase without realizing the swamp ahead.
His body was sinking gradually. Unless he wanted to end up a mummy at the swamp bottom, there was no choice. Doyoung sighed and said,
“I’ll behave.”
Tora triumphantly pulled a long reed and extended it. Doyoung grabbed it. Tora yanked him out with immense strength. Then he offered his other hand. Doyoung took it and stood.
Suddenly, Tora flinched and looked at Doyoung. A knife pressed against his lower ribs, perfectly aligned with the vampire’s skin grain.
Doyoung’s eyes gleamed as he said,
“Don’t even breathe.”
Every vampire’s skin had a unique “grain”—they looked tough, but hit the grain right and they could be cut.
He’d figured it out when Tora grabbed his arm. Tora realized it too. The angle was so perfect that even human strength would slide the blade right in.
Tora stared at Doyoung and said,
“I’m impressed.”
“You should be scared.”
Doyoung pressed the knife harder.
“Indeed...”
Tora muttered, then whipped his leg around in a kick. Doyoung threw himself sideways. Tora’s foot grazed perilously past his face.
“You’re no ordinary man.”
Tora grinned and no sooner had his foot touched down than he kicked again. It was a speed no human could react to. This time, he couldn’t dodge.
Doyoung realized Tora intended to knock him out.