Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 05
Chapter Title: Puppy
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"Gamal? That's a weird name."
Doyoung said.
It was hard to pin down his nationality from the name alone. But judging by his red eyes, he must have lived a long time, so he could have been born in a country that no longer existed.
"Weird?"
Gamal tilted his head at the unfamiliar word. Doyoung was a bit surprised by how innocent he looked. He'd been more terrifying than anyone during their fight.
Doyoung rephrased it in simpler terms.
"Strange."
"It's not strange."
Gamal immediately made a pouty face. He seemed more spirited than expected.
"Fine. Sorry."
Doyoung didn't feel like arguing, so he apologized readily. Gamal then asked casually.
"You?"
Doyoung looked at Gamal.
He had an innocent-looking face, but Doyoung couldn't reveal his identity rashly without knowing his intentions. This whole thing could be a setup, and he might be an informant sent to extract information from him.
"Ismael."
So he deliberately used a fake name.
"Your name's strange."
But Gamal said that right away. Doyoung felt a vein throb in his temple.
"You little..."
"That's not your real name."
Gamal said calmly. Doyoung was surprised but kept his cool and asked evenly.
"Why do you think that?"
Gamal then opened his crossbody bag, rummaged inside, and pulled out a familiar item. It was Doyoung's wristband. It was broken from the fight and only half remained, but it was definitely his.
"Your real name is..."
Gamal said slowly, making Doyoung tense up. Gamal flipped the band to show the ID tag.
"Major."
The wristband had been cut, so the name was cut off there too. Pointing at it, Gamal said smugly.
"Don't try to fool me. I know everything, Major."
"Ah, okay."
He was a bit dimmer than expected.
He probably didn't know what "Major" meant, but it was fortunate for Doyoung anyway.
"Do you live on this island?"
Doyoung changed the subject. Gamal nodded.
"Yeah."
"Alone?"
"Yeah."
Even from Doyoung's rough scan earlier, it looked like a deserted island.
"Why? You're not shipwrecked or anything."
Even if the island was somewhat far from land, a vampire could swim or build a massive raft to escape somehow. But Gamal didn't answer.
Doyoung looked at him, wondering why, and Gamal said something else.
"I live here."
Doyoung thought Gamal hadn't understood "shipwreck" and tried again.
"Shipwreck means..."
"Eat."
Suddenly, Gamal pushed a bamboo-woven basket of food toward Doyoung.
Doyoung tried to speak again.
"So why are you here alone..."
"You need to eat. For health? To heal."
Gamal tilted his head, his pronunciation a bit off.
'He has no intention of answering.'
Doyoung realized. And there must be a reason for it. So he decided to back off for now and instead corrected the word for him.
"Health."
"Health."
Gamal beamed and repeated it. When expressionless, he gave off an otherworldly chill, but his smile made him look like a gentle puppy. Doyoung was dumbfounded.
'Why is he so cute?'
He nearly kicked himself for the reflexive thought.
The guy in front of him was a vampire. Modern vampires didn't suck blood, so the term was a bit inaccurate, but still—with whatever this one ate for sustenance unknown.
Anyway, Gamal had come late, and Doyoung was hungry. He needed to eat before doing anything else, so he held out his bound arm.
"Untie this for me."
Gamal shook his head firmly.
"No."
"You think I'm gonna run on this leg?"
If there were even a place to run to, maybe. But Gamal was adamant.
"Move. Hurts. Stay still."
It seemed like he meant to stay still because moving hurt, but sorry—not his call. Doyoung raised one eyebrow.
"Untie me while I'm asking nicely."
Gamal shook his head. Doyoung said again.
"Untie it."
Gamal flinched but stubbornly shook his head anyway. Doyoung sighed.
"You want me to eat like this?"
Then Gamal's face lit up like he'd had a great idea.
"Want me to feed you?"
Doyoung pressed his forehead into his hand.
How had he ended up captured by a mysterious vampire on a deserted island—one wearing an 'I ♡ NY' T-shirt, no less? If someone had told him thirty hours ago—exact time unknown—that he'd be in this situation, Doyoung would have laughed it off. Yeah, right.
From the moment the bomb went off on his mission, it felt like an experiment in how bad his luck could get.
Doyoung sighed and lifted his head. Gamal was waiting obediently.
"Pay attention."
As Doyoung began, Gamal focused like a kid hearing "eyes on me" from the teacher.
"You're a vampire. I'm human. Right?"
Gamal nodded. Doyoung continued.
"I don't know how long you've lived here, but you know the terrain. I don't. Got it?"
Gamal nodded again. Doyoung pointed to his splinted leg.
"And thanks to your kick, my leg's like this."
"Sorry."
Gamal said it like he really meant it. Doyoung shook his head.
"Not asking for an apology. So what are you scared of that you're tying me up?"
"Uh..."
Gamal seemed to realize it made sense and fell into thought. Then suddenly he grabbed a bowl and thrust out a piece of flatbread—like Indian naan baked without yeast—stubbornly saying.
"No."
Doyoung swallowed a curse. He'd almost had him.
"Eat."
Gamal pushed the bread toward his mouth again. Doyoung eyed it, then reluctantly ate. He was hungry, and his leg needed to heal.
But after eating, he discovered something unexpected.
"Not bad."
As a Frenchman, Doyoung had sky-high standards for bread. If he said "not bad," it meant it could sell anywhere.
Gamal looked proud and mimed flames with his hands.
"Bake bread. Fire... whoosh."
"You mean an oven?"
"Oven?"
"For baking bread."
"Yeah. Have one. I made it."
If he'd built an oven, he'd clearly lived on this island for quite a while. He didn't seem like some last-minute plant.
Gamal tore off more bread and offered it. Doyoung ate. After a few times, Gamal—who'd been watching curiously—suddenly said.
"You eat like a dog."
Doyoung froze.
"You little...!"
Doyoung rocketed his head upward, slamming Gamal's chin. Even a vampire couldn't shrug off an unprepared hit to the jaw; Gamal toppled backward.
Clink, clatter!
The bowl and food flew, scattering noisily on the ground. Doyoung yelled, veins bulging in his neck.
"Who put me in this mess? And you call me a dog?"
Gamal looked shocked. Still sprawled, he touched his jaw and muttered.
"Headbutted me."
Meanwhile, with the rope too short to reach further, Doyoung thrashed his leg and shouted.
"Untie me! Untie it! I'll show you a real mad dog!"
Gamal stared at him in shock, then bolted up and ran off. Doyoung yelled after him.
"Where you going, you bastard!"
***
Doyoung lay there, reviewing what he'd learned so far.
'Name: Gamal. Species: vampire. Nationality: unknown. Age: unknown. Appearance: mid-twenties. Red eyes mean at least four hundred. Notes: lives alone on deserted island. Not sure if truly alone.'
That was all he could gather. With the rope still on, he couldn't investigate more. He should've pried gentler earlier; anger had surged unexpectedly.
No guilt over hitting him. That didn't qualify as 'elderly or infirm.' Compared to the vampire, Doyoung was the one who deserved kid-gloves treatment. His head throbbed from the headbutt for a while; he thought he'd die.
Truth be told, Doyoung couldn't trust a mysterious vampire either. Cute face or not, who knew what he was hiding.
But more importantly, there was a different problem now.
"Damn, what about the bathroom?"
Doyoung grumbled.
Captured and tied by a mystery vampire in an unpredictable situation, but human needs were brutally honest. Plus, he could digest ten thousand calories a day when eating well.
Then the door flew open, and Gamal appeared.
"Need to pee?"
Doyoung was floored. He'd thought Gamal had gone somewhere else.
"What? You were here?"
"Yeah. Here."
So like a husband storming out after a fight but with nowhere to go, sulking outside smoking a cigarette—listening with his sharp vampire hearing to Doyoung's mutter.
Doyoung sat up using his abs.
***
Damn, the night sky was too beautiful. Alphonse Daudet must have written "Stars" under a sky like this.
Come to think of it, he couldn't remember the last time he'd gazed leisurely at the night sky.
Probably back in the academy dorm, stepping out for cool air during all-nighters, sighing up at it—or during a mission, eyes catching the sky while waiting for the assault signal.
Looking back, he'd lived hard. Studied like he was prepping for the bar to become an officer, then trained his body to extremes beyond that, given special forces life.
And now, his efforts had landed him lounging in the grass on a deserted island.
"Never thought I'd live to see this."
Doyoung fixed his pants, buckled up, and quickly scanned the surroundings. Human eyes couldn't see much in the dark woods, but he needed any info he could get.
Then the rope on his wrist tugged. From beyond the bushes, Gamal called loudly.
"Done?"
Doyoung rolled his eyes.
"Wait."
He limped out of the brush. Gamal stood holding the end of the rope tying Doyoung.
"Who you meeting? What's the rush?"