Let's Go Home Together
A vampire.
A monster that drank human blood and killed without a shred of mercy. That was the vampire I knew.
…Cheese…
Not this.
"Um… uh… which way are you… going? You…?"
"……"
She heard my voice and flinched, shoulders jumping as she turned her head. She'd probably been watching Cheese, the orange cat padding along the top of the wall, and she looked embarrassed about it.
Not that I could really tell. Her face was blank as ever, so it was only my own impression.
Scratch. Scratch.
"……"
I was definitely the one who'd asked first, and what came back wasn't an answer. It was another question. Even so, I didn't have the nerve to call her on it. If it were Daeho or Minseok, maybe. With her… this was the first time we'd ever actually talked.
"I… um… I take the bus…"
"……"
"The one… right up there…"
We were standing at the crosswalk opposite the bus stop. The bus I rode was already halted right in front of it, and the light had just changed.
Beep!
"Uh, if I miss it, it's a ten-minute wait…"
"……?"
"S-sorry…!!"
"……!"
I hiked my bag up and took off. I didn't want to stand there for ten minutes. I didn't want this awkwardness to keep going. And more than anything, the kids around us wouldn't stop sneaking glances.
Before anyone could say a word, I kicked off the pavement at a full sprint. I wanted out of there. Now.
Screeeech—!!
"Hah… hah…"
The bus's front door opened the moment I cleared the crosswalk. Beyond it I could see the driver in his sunglasses, and the kids still making their way across the light. She, though, had vanished without a trace.
"D-did she leave…?"
"……"
"Kid. If you're not getting on, step down. There are people waiting behind you."
"Huh? J-just a second… huh?"
I was fishing my bus card out of my pocket when my eyes drifted back, just a little. There it was again. That familiar red shimmer.
She didn't look out of breath, but her bangs were mussed like she'd been running. Both hands peeked faintly from the pocket of her hoodie. And then there was the cold gaze, tilted up at me.
She was right behind me. Standing on the bus step just below.
"You… you're taking this one too…?"
"……"
"Kid."
"Ah, yep, yep, yep!!"
I wasn't the only student trying to board. Maybe that was why the driver kept shooting me looks. I hurried, tapped my card, and stepped inside.
…But.
"……"
"……"
"……"
"……Kid?"
The driver's voice came from behind me, and it wasn't aimed at me.
…Huh…?
……
She was standing stock-still in front of the fare box. No—more precisely, she was patting every last corner of herself. Hoodie pocket, bag, even the pockets of her skirt. And all that came out of any of it was a pair of pale, empty hands.
…Her w-wallet…
"What? Why aren't you getting on?"
"Kid, did you lose something?"
"Hurry up, hurry!"
"……"
If she'd lost her wallet—if she didn't have the fare—then I could leave her there and head home without her. I wouldn't have to be scared, and I wouldn't have to tell her where I lived.
But…
…Uh, what do I do…?
……
She kept glancing around from where she stood, took one step forward like she meant to board, then one step back again. The kids pushing in from behind shoved her forward once more. She truly couldn't go one way or the other, and maybe because of that, the red haze around her wavered, unstable.
Like it might burst if something went wrong.
"T-two people!!"
"Hm? Oh, sure."
"Th… thank you!"
"……"
Beep!
I leaned my upper body in past her and paid the fare in her place. It wasn't that I liked her or anything. I just… just couldn't stand watching her like that.
…And it would be bad if she actually burst.
"……"
"……"
"Um… we should… probably move…"
"……"
She stood there quietly, staring straight at me, so I shifted my gaze past her shoulder. The kids blocked in the aisle were packed in behind her, grumbling. The moment she saw them she startled—shoulders jumping—and slowly walked farther in.
Toward me.
"Um… y-you don't have to pay me back… the fare's nothing…"
"……"
"Th-there's a seat… here… you can sit…"
"……"
There weren't many empty seats. Sitting together in a two-seater was out of the question, and standing side by side felt… off, too. So I flailed a gesture at the seat two rows back from the front wheels, which happened to be open.
…I'd done it myself, and even I couldn't tell what the gesture was supposed to be.
"Ugh…"
"Hey, hey, sit over there, quick!"
"I heard a karaoke place opened by the station. You going?"
"Coin karaoke?"
"Yeah."
"……"
Thump-thump-thump!!
The second we cleared the entrance, kids flooded in. Caught in the rush, she ended up sitting right where I'd pointed. I stood in front of her and reached for a hanging strap—too high—so I grabbed the nearest pole instead.
This wasn't how I'd meant for it to go.
"S-so… where do you get off…?"
"……"
"You… don't usually take this one, right…?"
"……"
Not once, on the way to school or the way home, had I ever run into her. Not on the bus. Not even out on the road. I'd asked to loosen the awkwardness a little, and because I was a bit curious.
This, of course, was not the answer I'd wanted.
…My house. The opposite way…
……
…Doesn't match…
……
A sharp look shot out from under the hood pulled low over her face. I jerked my head aside and dodged it.
I hadn't known it would turn out like this. And thinking about it, it wasn't even my fault, which made it feel a little unfair. Who was the one who'd followed me on their own…
…Even now…
……
…if I get off…
……
The bus pulled away in the same instant as her whisper of a thought, a low rumble underfoot, and inside she let out a tiny …ah….
A moment later she drew a notebook from inside her clothes and started to write.
"Ah, you don't have to—"
"……Yeah."
Maybe it was because we were passing notes, but the tone came off cold. Or maybe she was just like that. Listening to the heart that reached me, though… it might have been both.
…Where. he lives…
……
…I have to. find out…
……
I didn't understand any of it. Not the red haze shivering uneasily around her, not why she kept looking at me with that suspicious stare, not why she was this determined to learn where I lived. Not a single piece of it.
Even so, I couldn't push her away. I was the one unilaterally eavesdropping on her heart, and as far as she knew, she was on her way home. I couldn't very well open my mouth and say, Isn't this the opposite direction from your house?
So I kept it shut and stood there.
"……"
"……"
"……"
"……"
The bus rattled, and under it my heart thudded. She was sitting right in front of me. I was standing right in front of her. Not a word passed between us. I turned my eyes to the window, and she turned her head toward the glass as well.
We were only heading for the same destination in silence. Each of us burying, in our own chest, a secret we couldn't tell the other.
…It. won't be far… right?
My place… takes a full hour…
…This is awkward…
……
…H-how far… are we going…?
……
…I, I should get off… even now…
……
…Wh-what do I dooooo…
……
The longer it went, the damper her inner voice became. Her face, though, stayed perfectly blank. A poker face impressive enough to study. The red haze drifting around her was another story entirely. Something like slime melting and sliding down? Or a face on the verge of tears? Either way, one look said she was miserable.
Not exactly my fault, but… mmm. Whatever. We were here, so it was time to get off.
Hiss—!
Clunk, clunk—!
"I— I'm going this way… where are you… going…?"
"……"
Maybe because we hadn't spoken at all, my voice cracked on the way out. She didn't react. She only stared, dazed, at the ground.
"H-hey…?"
"……"
"Ngh…"
From the shadow of her hood, those sharp eyes poured down on me. And yet the rims of them looked faintly red.
Probably my imagination. Definitely my imagination. The heart I was hearing right now was… probably that kind of thing, too.
…Idiot. Moron…
……
…Drop dead…
……
Then and now, I honestly felt wronged. I'd never told her to follow me home. She'd come on her own and lost her wallet on top of it. And I'd even paid her fare. Talk to her and she only glared, and all she cared about was finding out where I lived.
So honestly, I didn't like it. I was a little angry, even.
"If you don't want to talk, then don't. I'm going."
"……?"
"Bye."
"……!"
I turned my back and walked. Whether she had money or not, whether she'd ridden a bus going the complete wrong way or not, none of it had anything to do with me. We weren't close, and we hadn't gotten close because I'd wanted to. I didn't feel like standing there taking a one-sided cursing, either.
…It wasn't even a voice I'd chosen to hear.
Tug.
"……"
"…Wh-what?"
"……"
Someone had caught my right sleeve from behind and pulled. I turned on reflex. There she was, hood dragged low, pinching the fabric between her thumb and forefinger.
With a right arm that looked… a little like it was shaking.
Scratch, scratch, scratch—
"…Home."
"…And what exactly are you going to do with that."
"……"
Honestly, I hated it. I was scared, and she was looking down on me. I didn't want to trade any more words. She'd only say whatever she felt like saying anyway. So I said what I felt like saying, too.
"Why would I tell you where I live."
"……"
I turned my head, firm, and walked on. For some reason both my body and my mood were worn out today. I wanted to get home and rest as fast as I could.
All because of a certain someone.
…Who knows what she might do…
A vampire. She was fine for now, but there was no telling when she might turn. I'd already seen her drink blood, and I knew about the sharp fangs. I had no particular desire to get close.
Even less so if she was this full of suspicion.
"Hmph. I'm sure she'll find her own way."
Mid-step, I turned my head just a fraction toward where she was. Tall buildings rose all around her, and against them she looked terribly small, and terribly insignificant. Small enough, just a little, to look pitiful.
She stood on the empty road, glancing every which way, with no idea what to do.
……
Over that figure, the memory from earlier settled softly. Not her heart. Her real voice, the one that had come out of her mouth when she caught my wrist.
"Don't report me."
"……Report?"
"……Yeah."
She wasn't an ordinary human. She had sharp fangs, and she lived by drinking blood. A vampire. So many things about her were different from other people. That had to be why she didn't speak, why she hid to drink blood, why she didn't… make friends.
Because she wasn't ordinary.
"……Report……"
If I called the police, she could get home. A child lost in a strange place. They'd phone her parents, or the officers would take her there themselves. But… what if that was the problem?
"……"
Not being ordinary brings a lot of discrimination with it. I'd been through that myself, once. Maybe… I still was. And she kept catching at my eyes.
"Ah, damn it… ugh, I don't know either."
I had no intention of becoming her friend. No intention of getting close, either. I just wanted things to stay the way they'd been. That kind of distance, and nothing more.
So… I was helping this one time. Just this once.
"…What are you doing."
…If he leaves me behind, what do I dooooo…
"……"
…I've never even been here befoooore…
Scratch, scratch, scratch… thud!
She saw me coming and hurriedly started writing something in the notebook. It didn't last. Between her trembling fingers, the notebook slipped and hit the ground.
We both looked down at once. Through the dust, her letters lay in a crooked, wavering line.
"……"
Her handwriting was awful.
She was always expressionless, so she seemed fierce, the sort of person who'd swear on reflex if you so much as bumped her… but I could hear it. Her, crouching to pick up the notebook like it was nothing. In truth her hands were shaking the way a frightened child's would, and inside she was sniffling.
I could hear it, perfectly clear. Even though she never said it.
"Do you… want to know where I live…?"
"……"
She kept acting tough, like none of it touched her. She'd heard me, and she was staring at the dusty notebook as if she were thinking it over.
But…
…He didn't… hate me…?
……
…What do I dooo…
……
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The pen's tip knocked out a short rhythm against the silence. For a long while she hesitated over an answer, and gave none.
Again.
…If I make him angry. I can't…
Because she was afraid I'd get angry. She couldn't step forward, and she couldn't step back. She only stood where she was.
So I was the one who gave a step.
"This way. My house."
"……!"
"But you have to promise me one thing."
"……"
I slowly reached a hand toward her, and for an instant her shoulders jumped. All I'd done was brush the dirt off the back of the notebook. Tap, tap.
…I hadn't been trying anything weird. Absolutely not.
"If I tell you where I live, you tell me where you live. That's only fair, right?"
"……?"
"……"
I didn't know why she was trying to find my house. But if it was so she could hold something over me, then I wanted to hold something over her, too. It made me look a little bad, maybe. I just couldn't keep being the only one on the receiving end.
I wasn't some idiot moron.
…And I didn't want to drop dead, either.
"Yeah. Your house."
"Then what about you?"
"……"
She suddenly yanked her hood down deep. Then she went still for a long while. Not that it mattered. Her heart kept pouring into me, one way, whether she wanted it to or not.
…He's not. with the Association…? But. if I get reported… Mom. will be furious…
……
…If it goes wrong. they'll experiment on me… and the money… is a lot…
……?!
Come to think of it, I'd forgotten. If the world found out she was a vampire, it wouldn't end with her being thrown in prison. According to the urban legends Minseok was always telling, stories like this usually ended in human experimentation. Or started there. She'd be no different.
So…
"A-actually, I don't want to know!!"
"……?"
"I said I don't care where you live!!"
"……"
What if it got out that she and I were tied together? That we were close, that we talked, that we went around together? Of course I'd be investigated, and if it went badly I'd end up on an exam table. And not just me. My mom, too.
So I couldn't get tangled up with her. Absolutely not. No matter what happened—
"Oh my, Hyunwoo. A friend?"
"M-Mom?! What are you doing here…"
"Out buying groceries, of course."
"……!?"
She looked back and forth between me and Mom, like she was about to blurt out, How is this your mom?
…A c-college student…?
……
…They don't. look alike…
……
This was why I hated going around with Mom. Every single person we ran into compared us. I knew it wasn't meant as an insult… the looks were just a little hard to take.
And besides…
"Hmm… Your girlfriend?"
"N-no, she's not!!"
"If she's not, she's not. What's with all the shouting~"
"……!"
Mom looked her over from one angle, then another. She startled, ducked her head in a bow, and began writing in the notebook. One letter at a time, neat and careful.
"Hm? Passing notes?"
"Mom, that's…"
"Sounds fun~ Can Auntie join in?"
"……"
She dropped her head, as if she didn't dare refuse. And Mom, without a hint of hesitation, linked arms with her and started walking toward our house.
Half of it pure steamrolling.
"If you've got time, have a snack before you go~ Auntie's place is right nearby~"
"M-Mom!!! What… what are you doing right now?!"
"Taking her home so I can fuss over her, what else? Why~? Want me to fuss over you too, Hyunwoo?"
"……No."
"……"
And that was how, for the first time, she set foot in our house.