Self-Sacrifice to Forge a Lie
Ah, so that was what he'd been suspicious about. I'd been bracing myself, certain he was going to ask whether the family actually existed, and screaming inside the whole time.
Before that, he'd been doubting whether I was even a vampire at all. Well, I suppose it was fortunate he was so completely seized by paranoia… or rather, not fortunate in the least.
Of course I'd given him reason to be suspicious, but who could have expected him to aim a shotgun at my head over it? The Su-hyeok I knew was nothing more than his original-work self.
In the original, he wasn't the type to shove a shotgun in someone's face the moment they said his name — a collar-grab, maybe.
"Aha. So you were wondering whether I was really a vampire at all?"
"There's always the possibility you're just a human playing at being a vampire. I've no business with a mere impostor."
Harsh words. But considering his situation, it was understandable enough. His goal was to get out of this country by any means necessary.
Not that I had any intention of actually helping him do that. That would twist the story in weird ways.
"I can prove it right now if you want… Do you happen to have anything made of silver? Anything at all?"
At that, Su-hyeok started rummaging through his sleeves and the inside of his coat, pulling things out and stuffing them back in as he searched for something silver.
I'd already seen him do this in his monstrous form, so it wasn't exactly amazing, but it was still funny.
Things kept emerging that couldn't possibly fit inside a coat no matter how you looked at it. It felt like watching an old American cartoon.
You know the kind. A brown little rat with no pockets to speak of suddenly plunges a hand into a pocket that shouldn't exist and pulls out an absurdly huge wooden mallet to whack a cat with…
"No. Doesn't seem I have any."
"Is there a warehouse packed inside that coat of yours…?"
Still, not reacting at all would have been strange, so I gave the kind of response anyone meeting him for the first time might.
"I'll answer that if you're a vampire."
"Fine, fine. You seem to have lived your whole life being deceived, so I should yield a little. How about we take a short walk?"
"What…?"
"Exactly what I said. Let's walk. Should I call it a stroll so you'll understand? You wanted me to prove I'm a vampire, right?"
"What does that have to do with a walk… Ah. Right. It's still daytime."
Even without knowing much about vampires, the idea that they couldn't stand the sun was famous enough that Su-hyeok had to know it.
Still, the fact that it took him a while to connect the dots showed he had a bit of a dense streak. Well, in his case, dying and coming back a few times had left him a little addled as an acquired trait.
Anyway, he was being dense right now, wasn't he?
"There's no need to stake your life on it. Isn't there another way?"
Apparently Su-hyeok thought every vampire was the type to go kyaaaaah— and crumble the second sunlight touched them.
That was why he was so openly worried. Another good thing to tease him about.
"You said you don't have anything silver on you right now, didn't you? Then this is the only method left."
"I suppose so."
"And I told you — my blood's a little thin. If I were the kind who crumbled the second sunlight hit me, like you seem to think, how exactly would I have made it this far?"
I told him he wouldn't turn to ash the way he was worrying and to just follow me out. Su-hyeok came trailing after me with a thoroughly reluctant air, practically crawling outside.
"Walking around in the daytime is still far too bright."
"What are you, some child of darkness? A real child of the night is walking under this sunlight right now, you know?"
He muttered that the moment we stepped out, squinting against the blazing sun, so I threw that back at him. Su-hyeok said I was acting like a vampire.
Well, even if I suppressed the vampire elements, they didn't vanish completely. I just didn't have major inconvenience in daily life — I was still a vampire.
…Probably. Judging by how the places sunlight hit were starting to sting.
Alright then. Time to try this.
I stripped off my jacket and tossed it toward Su-hyeok. He caught it, but still recoiled in alarm and asked what the hell I thought I was doing.
…Recoil? Not irritation or anger?
It was just a jacket. Shouldn't he have been more annoyed than startled?
I puzzled over the mismatched reaction for a moment, then the growing heat across my upper body finally let me figure out why.
It was the outfit.
I never took the jacket off outside, so I'd picked something comfortable to wear underneath and flattering when I looked in the mirror alone at home…
And it showed a fair amount of skin.
Not bikini-level or underwear-level or anything that barely counted as clothing. Just a slightly airy white sleeveless crop top.
That guy was a soldier with a decent-looking face, yet he had an extremely ascetic personality. On top of that, his libido still worked just fine, so his resistance to women was absurdly low.
How low? Low enough that even that pure White had him completely flustered.
…Thinking about it now, White was probably just pretending to be pure and quietly enjoying it.
Either way, now that I understood the reaction, I decided to tease him a little more since we were already here.
There was a button right in front of my nose that made weird noises when pressed. How was I supposed to resist?
"What does it look like? I'm increasing the surface area exposed to the sunlight. Can't you tell?"
I stretched with a long arch and turned my body toward Su-hyeok. He averted his eyes with truly admirable honesty, face faintly flushed.
Wow. Living long enough to laugh at a guy's blush. Back in the day I would have scowled on sight and told him to put that disgusting thing away.
Maybe because he was a character I liked, seeing him like this didn't bother me at all — honestly, it made me happy.
…That came out weird.
I meant I enjoyed getting to see all the different reactions of a character I used to like. Not that I found him attractive as a romantic interest.
Even as the man I'd been, I could admit he was pretty good-looking, but saying a handsome person was handsome wasn't anything strange, was it?
I'd been a man to begin with. And I still thought of myself as one, so there was absolutely no way I'd harbor those kinds of feelings toward a guy.
…Teasing Su-hyeok now was just acting because it was fun. What I'd done with White was to get out of a crisis, so that didn't count.
"That's…"
Su-hyeok opened his mouth as if he had plenty to say about the sight of me, then closed it again when even he couldn't find a counterargument, and simply looked away.
Still fun.
"Hey? How long am I supposed to be the one starting every conversation? I'm putting in all this effort to get closer to you… I might start feeling a little hurt, you know?"
I teased Su-hyeok here and there, asked him meaningless things like how he found living in Incheon, and we walked for about an hour.
"One needs something to say first, doesn't one?"
"Heh. If it's things to say, there are plenty… ugh."
The pain that had been bearable transformed into something no longer possible to endure.
Anyone would feel the sting after an hour under the midsummer sun, but this wasn't mere sting — it was the kind of pain you got standing right in front of a campfire, slowly roasting.
My skin had grown visibly red. Any more time under the sunlight and something real was going to happen.
"Hahh. It really is hot. And it hurts… Hehe. Do you know something? This is a first for me."
Still, I couldn't give up teasing Su-hyeok.
If you can't avoid it, enjoy it — that saying was made for moments like this.
"What nonsense are you about to spout this time…"
After being treated like a toy for a full hour, Su-hyeok seemed to finally catch on to what I was doing. He looked at me with open exhaustion, then his expression turned serious as he asked what the hell kind of state I was in.
"I mean wandering under the sun until my blood is boiling like this. You didn't take that in some dirty way, did you? How lewd."
I ignored him and just kept saying what I needed to say. I was in too much pain to have the leisure to care about anyone else…
"Anyway… what was I trying to say. Ah, right. At this point, is the proof enough? I hope so, because I'm starting to… uuugh… uugh, it hurts…!"
I tried to finish the sentence somehow, but the pain became unbearable and I collapsed right there on the spot.
Hot. Just hot. Would it hurt this much if someone grabbed my flesh and tore it off? Was this what burning agony felt like?
I tried to get into any shade I could find, but I had no strength left in my body. Was I losing strength too? Ah, no wonder I'd been feeling so sluggish.
It hurt and I was sleepy. I was sleepy and it hurt. My vision flickered more and more.
"Hey. Hey! Can you move? This…"
Ah, collapsing like this wasn't part of the plan. Don't tell me I'm going to die like this…
No. Su-hyeok will take care of it……
Mina woke when the sun was beginning to set.
"…Aaaargh!! Ugh, ah? Phew. Still alive."
She patted herself down, relieved to be alive, looked around, met my eyes, and asked if I'd moved her.
"Did you think I'd just leave a client to burn up under the sun?"
"I was burning?"
"No flames, but there was smoke."
She recoiled at that, muttered that if she'd stayed longer she wouldn't have been any different, then thanked me.
"Thanks. For saving me."
"It's just what had to be done. No need for thanks."
"…"
"…Did I say something wrong?"
She was looking at me with no expression at all — almost chillingly — so I asked if something had bothered her. She immediately softened her face and reacted with exaggerated denial that it was nothing of the sort.
"Just… uh! Just. Anyway, is the proof enough after all that?"
It was an obvious attempt to brush things off, but prying further wasn't my style, so I told her it was more than enough.
"Then I've got a lot I want to ask you too… but I'll save that for later. I should head home quietly today… Ugh. My condition is really not great…"
"Go carefully. Ah, and here — take your coat too."
"Ah, thanks. Well then, take ca— before I say that. A phone, or some way to contact you. Do you have something like that? I can ask my questions that way."
She asked for a means of contact, so I gave her several burner phone numbers. She stood there a moment, then said that was fine, wished me well for real, and left.
I was briefly amazed that she really was a vampire, and then I felt a little sorry for having doubted her so much.
She had genuinely meant to help, while I'd been bristling with thorns and on guard the whole time.
I could no longer even tell whether the line cast down to me was a lifeline or a noose.
Even as I felt revulsion at my own rotten self, I still held hope for this last chance I'd been given.