Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Juni
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Jain tilted her head back.
“The kind of guy who doesn’t worry about what the woman next door might do to him while I’m at work.”
A sexy three-hundred-year-old vampire who drew women swarming like bees just by passing by didn’t fit that description at all.
Ever since the day they’d barely escaped the Legion camp with their lives, something had changed.
Jain knew it, and she knew Tora knew it too. Neither of them was oblivious enough to miss the subtle tension flowing between them.
Jain thought she needed to take action before it got any later.
“I went on a blind date.”
So Jain spoke first.
“He was a good guy. His mom was in the military. She served with the ground forces deployed to Yerevan and died in action. He said he was proud of her for it and had always wanted to meet someone just like his mom.”
Her blind date’s eyes sparkled almost literally when he said he admired her mother—it didn’t seem like a lie. He was clearly prepared to understand her situation fully.
From the moment she heard about him from the matchmaker, the conditions sounded too perfect, like a dream come true. She’d thought there had to be a catch, something too good to be true.
But there was no catch. The blind date really was a good guy, and he checked every box she wanted.
“He works at an IT company. He can do remote work, so his schedule’s pretty flexible. He likes traveling too.”
“Sounds good.”
Tora replied in an even tone, like he was tired of listening to his chatty friend ramble on.
Jain chuckled.
“I talked too much about myself. How’ve you been?”
Tora turned to look at Jain.
“No.”
He said it without smiling. That was all. For some reason, Jain suddenly wanted to run away.
She wouldn’t even feel like fleeing from a horde of enemies charging at her.
“It’s gotten pretty late.”
Jain said casually as she stood up. She walked to the door, checked the locked latch again, and made a call.
“The door seems jammed. Could you open it for me?”
She knew exactly how to open it herself but hadn’t. She’d deliberately dragged out the blind date story.
Silence fell after Jain hung up. Soon, footsteps approached from outside, and the door opened.
The workers looked puzzled.
“Why’s there a chain on this door?”
“Must’ve been a mistake.”
Jain turned to Tora and said,
“I’m heading out.”
Then she vanished through the door.
Tora knew Jain had orchestrated this opportunity on purpose. Maybe she’d been bothered by leaving Nika to fend for herself last time.
Even so, knowing Jain wanted a normal life, Tora couldn’t bring himself to hold her back.
What could he offer her?
A normal daily routine? Kids? The joy of growing old together?
Sure, he aged too since he lived off flowers, but it’d probably take thousands of years like Gamal before he looked any older.
For the first time, Tora regretted becoming a vampire. He wouldn’t have met Jain without it, but if he’d met her as a human... innocent in body and heart, unaware of Nika or any other woman....
It was a pointless thought.
Vampires couldn’t turn back time either, and if there were regrets, all they could do was chew on them and live on.
***
Doyoung slung the bag by the front door over her shoulder and turned around. Gamal stood there half-asleep, barely able to keep her eyes open.
Doyoung said,
“You can sleep more, you know.”
“Doyoung’s going to work. Gotta say goodbye.”
“Chloe, the town board game club president, will pick you up this afternoon. Go to the meeting.”
Gamal’s face suddenly sharpened, fully awake.
“Is that okay?”
“There’s McCoy the sergeant and two more Luas team members in town, including you. Their wives are human, but they’re used to Luas by now, so it’ll be fine. I explained your situation, so they’ll be understanding.”
“Yeah. Got it.”
Gamal nodded, tense about going somewhere with lots of humans but going along anyway. Doyoung stroked her head and said,
“I’ll be back.”
For a moment, Gamal fumbled for what to say, then figured the proper response to “I’ll be back” was,
“Come back safe.”
Doyoung smiled—right answer—and kissed her. Gamal felt pure bliss. Then, their eyes level, she noticed the scar on Doyoung’s neck.
Feeling Gamal flinch, Doyoung glanced at the mirror on the wall. Her military round-neck tee left the scar fully visible.
Doyoung asked,
“Does it bother you?”
Gamal shook her head vigorously, maybe overdoing it.
“No.”
Gamal already licked the scar whenever she got the chance. It didn’t heal it, but she lapped at it like it might vanish if she tried hard enough.
She didn’t seem to realize how much it fueled Doyoung’s desire.
“I’ll be back.”
Doyoung said for now.
“Yeah.”
Doyoung left the house and got in the car. She checked the rearview mirror, looking at herself.
She couldn’t see herself in it, so she usually forgot about the neck scar except when using mirrors.
But it seemed more noticeable to others. Especially Gamal. She couldn’t help recalling how it happened every time she saw it.
Come to think of it, as a special forces operative on infiltration and covert ops, such a standout mark wasn’t ideal.
“Team member with a big neck scar”—that’d point straight to her.
Doyoung started the car to head to work.
***
“Um....”
A middle-aged woman appeared at the open doorway.
“Gamal?”
“Yeah. Hi.”
Gamal said.
The casual tone threw the woman off for a second until she remembered Gamal’s appearance didn’t match her age. She introduced herself.
“I’m Chloe Martin.”
“Gamal.”
“Nice to meet you. But what are you doing here?”
Gamal had been sitting at the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor, right in view of the front door.
“Waiting for Doyoung.”
“She just left for work, didn’t she?”
“Nothing else to do.”
She’d tried the TV but couldn’t follow any shows, and reading books nonstop had made her want a break. So she’d sat here to wait for Doyoung.
Zoning out to kill time was one of her specialties, so it wasn’t boring or tiring despite appearances.
But Chloe couldn’t hide her pitying look, like she was seeing a dog waiting all day at the door for its owner.
“Anyway, shall we go? You heard about the board game club from the captain, right?”
Gamal nodded and stood. As they walked a block together, Chloe kept glancing at her.
“What?”
Gamal asked warily, wondering if something seemed off. Chloe snapped back and said,
“Oh, sorry. You’re just so pretty.”
That was fine.
“Look all you want.”
Chloe gave an awkward smile.
“You’ve got a strong personality.”
Gamal frowned.
“What’s a personality?”
“Uh... well, a distinct one?”
“Distinct how?”
“It means you have character.”
“What’s character?”
Chloe panicked at the endless questions. Doyoung answered everything with a straight face, but Chloe pointed at the house they’d reached to change the subject.
“Shall we go in?”
They went inside.
“Chloe, come on in.”
A white woman who seemed to be the homeowner greeted her with a smile. Spotting Gamal behind Chloe, she gasped.
“Gamal? You’re stunningly beautiful.”
“Yeah.”
Gamal’s confident reply made the woman burst out laughing. She said,
“Come in. We were just about to have tea.”
Inside, people were gathered around the sofa. They greeted Gamal one by one as she entered.
Chloe said,
“Sit here. What tea would you like? There’s a new one with phlox in it—want that?”
Gamal nodded.
This atmosphere was new. Everyone knew she was a vampire, yet they chatted casually like with anyone normal.... Not revering her like a god from her clan either.
A young Black woman on the sofa smiled and said,
“My husband says it’s not bad.”
She must’ve been Sergeant McCoy’s wife.
“Here you go.”
Chloe handed Gamal a teacup and sat down, saying,
“By the way, Captain Defer went through something big. Got bitten by a Luas on a mission and infected, right?”
They didn’t know about the TASIL Project, apparently. Makes sense—it was classified.
Another woman said,
“Sounds like a bad case. They say he nearly died. Luas heal all wounds, but it left a scar on his neck.”
Hearing that, Gamal’s face darkened noticeably. But the women, clueless why, kept chatting and laughing.
***
Jain was having a genuinely fun evening for the first time in ages.
Aiden, her blind date for the second time today, had a great build for a civilian—years of jiu-jitsu.
He was humorous too. Great at keeping things varied, so even topics she knew nothing about stayed engaging.
Jain laughed loudly at Aiden’s funny anecdotes, enjoying a worry-free, stress-free time for once.
The problem? It felt like an evening with a friend. A real ‘friend.’
Jain swallowed a sigh inwardly.
Unable to see a guy like this as more than a friend—must be from hanging around abnormal people so long. Her sense of normal had gone off the rails.
“I’ve been thinking hard about this.”
A familiar voice came from behind.
Jain whipped around, startled. Tora stood right there.
Even if he’d appeared without a sound, he pointed at the table like he was shocked.
“Grabbing a knife the second I show up? Isn’t that overkill?”
Only then did Jain realize she’d instinctively gripped the steak knife the moment she sensed him. Pure habit—for stabbing enemies on the spot.
Aiden, unaware of her reflex until now, looked genuinely chilled seeing her holding the knife.
Jain sheepishly set it down and started to ask,
“Why are you h