Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Poopy
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Gamal raised his voice and asked,
“Done?”
Doyoung rolled his eyes.
“Wait.”
He limped out from the bushes. Gamal stood holding the end of the rope that bound Doyoung. Doyoung said,
“Who’re you meeting? What’s the rush?”
“It’ll take a while.”
“Do I have to say it out loud that you need to take a shit?”
As a man who normally knew manners and etiquette, he wouldn’t usually talk like this, but right now he said it even more crudely on purpose. Yet Gamal tilted his head and asked,
“Shit? What’s shit?”
You’d think learning a language would start with curses and dirty words, but there was no telling who had taught him French.
“This kind of situation.”
When Doyoung explained, Gamal tilted his head again.
“Why’s this?”
Doyoung felt a headache coming on. Whether it was low comprehension or just his nature, Gamal asked more questions than a kid bombarding the world with ‘whys.’
“Then is this a situation where flowers are blooming in your head and you’re tap-dancing?”
Gamal seemed to try understanding Doyoung’s words, then finally furrowed his brow and said,
“Major talks hard.”
Doyoung waved him off as if to say whatever, then used the tree branch he was using as a crutch to hobble past Gamal. Gamal hurried after him. They reached the beach, and he immediately headed for the log cabin, but Doyoung tugged the rope and said,
“Hang on. You should wash your hands first.”
Then Doyoung, acting as if Gamal were the one holding the rope, naturally approached the beach. Gamal glanced back at the log cabin hesitantly but had no choice as the rope pulled him along.
Doyoung pretended to wash his hands while gazing at the sky, reading the stars. He’d noticed it earlier while doing his business, but this place was truly in the middle of the Pacific.
*Where was Legion planning to transport me?*
Judging by the direction, it was toward the United States.
*Is that ‘Representative’ guy on the North American continent?*
As he thought, the rope tugged. Gamal stood awkwardly and said,
“How long you gonna wash?”
Doyoung pretended to head up the beach but then plopped right back down onto the sand.
“Let’s sit a bit. It’s stuffy.”
“But…”
Gamal mumbled uncertainly, as if not sure if that was okay. Doyoung waved his hand.
“I’ve told you a hundred times, I can’t run on this leg. Even if both my legs were fine, you’d still be faster.”
“Major was fast. At first.”
“That was exploiting an opening.”
No matter what he said, Doyoung showed no sign of getting up, so Gamal had no choice but to sit beside him. Truth be told, a normal captor would bully their prisoner into complying, but Gamal didn’t seem to have a talent for that.
*Swish…*
The sound of waves rolled in.
Doyoung looked at Gamal sitting quietly. He’d seen plenty of vampires, but never one with such a beautiful face. It reminded him of Olivia Hussey or Isabelle Adjani at their peaks, but softer, more ethereal. Well, he wasn’t human, after all.
Lush black hair fell to his waist, full and vibrant without a hint of frizz at the ends, cascading over gently curving limbs. If there were such a thing as a flower shaped like a human, it would look like this.
Doyoung’s gaze drifted lower.
Though his outfit was a total mess.
The I ♥ NY T-shirt Gamal wore was so worn it was full of holes, on the verge of disintegrating entirely.
His bottoms were some ragged cloth torn from who-knows-where, wrapped around and tied with string—less a skirt than just scraps. Around his neck hung necklaces woven from all sorts of seashells, plus ones carved from animal bones, dangling like he was about to receive a divine spirit.
And crowning that chaotic fashion was a crossbody bag crudely sewn from torn cloth with thick thread, barely holding a shape.
“Where’d you get that T-shirt?”
When Doyoung asked, Gamal glanced at his own clothes and replied,
“Washed up.”
“How’d you know how to put it on?”
Gamal’s face soured.
“I’m not stupid.”
Fair enough. With a face somewhere between Western and Eastern features, he couldn’t have been born on this island. It was deserted, but if there were natives, they’d look more like the typical islanders.
Doyoung looked off to the right, where the island curved away into the distance.
“What do you eat to survive here?”
With no people around, there couldn’t be much for a vampire to live on. He knew animal blood was too repulsive to sustain them.
Gamal rummaged in his crossbody bag and showed Doyoung the contents.
“Flowers.”
Peering inside, Doyoung was at a loss for words.
“This is…”
The bag was filled with red flowers—the raw material for “phlos,” the organic flower compound modern vampires consumed instead of blood.
Doyoung said in disbelief,
“Flowers in their natural state don’t provide enough nutrients. You’re saying these do?”
“Eat a lot.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Doyoung was getting tired of talking. If eating more solved it, there wouldn’t have been all that chaos before phlos was developed. But arguing with Gamal seemed pointless, so he let it drop.
“Where do these come from?”
When he asked instead, Gamal pointed to the mountain behind them.
“A lot there.”
The flowers were a cold-climate breed, hard to find easily around here. Plus, this island had a subtropical climate.
But for now, puzzling it out wouldn’t yield answers, so Doyoung stopped thinking about it. Focusing on immediate realities was very much the soldier in him.
Either way, the important thing was that this vampire ate flowers too. Doyoung felt relieved. He’d worried this cute-looking thing might be fattening him up to eat, but that seemed less likely now. He really wasn’t fated to die.
Silence fell. There was no point sticking around outside any longer today—he wouldn’t learn anything more.
“Let’s go.”
Doyoung started to stand for the log cabin but sat back down. Getting up from a full slump without support wasn’t easy.
He exhaled and tried again when Gamal, who’d been watching, casually offered,
“Want me to carry you?”
“Touch me and you’re dead.”
Doyoung said it stone-faced and tried to stand, but it was still tough. Even so, no matter how strong the other guy was, this was a matter of pride.
Gamal extended a hand.
“I’ll help.”
His eyes were earnest, almost like he was the one begging.
Doyoung took the hand reluctantly. Gamal effortlessly pulled him up. At 184 cm with plenty of muscle, Doyoung was heavier than he looked, so being hoisted so easily felt strange.
Gamal supported him. He didn’t seem strained, treating him like a child, but being taller, he looked down—and Doyoung caught a glimpse of cleavage.
Doyoung stared at the sky and grumbled coarsely,
“Men are all the same, only good for holding spoons.”
Getting worked up over a vampire whose pretty shell hid who-knows-what intentions. Even knowing he ate flowers, you never really knew people’s hearts.
“Huh?”
Gamal asked, clueless.
“Nothing.”
Gamal looked puzzled but didn’t press. He helped Doyoung into the log cabin and settle into his spot. It had been so long since Doyoung’s body felt this inconvenient that he couldn’t even remember when.
“Then sleep.”
With that, Gamal headed outside. Doyoung asked curiously,
“Where you going?”
“Outside.”
“Where do you sleep?”
There might be somewhere else, so he probed. Gamal pointed at the log cabin floor.
“Here. But Major’s here.”
“So?”
Gamal pointed at himself, then outside.
“Sleep outside.”
Doyoung furrowed his brow. Even if this guy didn’t count as ‘elderly or infirm’…
“Then it feels like I’m kicking you out.”
Gamal looked like he didn’t get it. Tired of explaining, Doyoung cut straight to it.
“Where you gonna go? Just sleep here.”
Gamal was the one startled.
“I’m a vampire.”
“So? Gonna suck my blood?”
Gamal shook his head firmly, as if the thought never crossed his mind.
“Have flowers. Don’t drink blood.”
“Then what’s the problem? Scared I’ll jump you?”
Of course, it was sarcasm—bound arms and legs like this, as if he could. And even if he chased Gamal out and slept alone, if she wanted to harm him, being in a bunker wouldn’t make much difference.
But Gamal tilted his head.
“Jump me? Why?”
Doyoung’s head hurt. Was it just language, or was he actually slow? Conversation with this dim vampire was enough for today.
“Sleep.”
Doyoung turned to face the wall. Gamal hesitated, then spread out on the other side of a pillar, mirroring him back-to-back after checking cautiously.
Gamal glanced back. Doyoung really seemed set on sleeping like this. She said softly,
“Good night, Major.”
“Night.”
Doyoung replied curtly and closed his eyes.
***
Gamal stared wide-eyed at the ceiling. No way she could sleep, so she lay there blankly until suddenly, the steady breathing of deep sleep came from beside her.
Bewildered, Gamal turned to Doyoung and asked,
“You really sleeping?”
No answer. Just his back rising and falling rhythmically. He really was asleep. A human, lying next to a vampire.
She knew that in the outside world nowadays, humans and vampires lived together.
Vampires were called “Luas” by another name, surviving on flower extracts instead of blood. But a vampire was still a vampire—one who drank human blood.
*Weird human.*
Gamal muttered at his rising and falling back, then rolled over to stare at the ceiling again. Lying still like this, Doyoung’s breathing seemed even louder.
Finally, she closed her eyes. It had been so long since she’d fallen asleep to someone’s breathing.
***
Doyoung opened his eyes. The familiar log cabin came into view.
*Not a dream, then.*
He swallowed a sigh when he felt something warm against his back.
Puzzled, he turned—and flinched. Gamal was plastered right against his back, fast asleep.
Doyoung shot upright.
“What the—?”