50

In the darkness, Bibi quietly contemplated the images floating in her mind. Things she had experienced with the trainer, things about him, a very long time ago… certain memories that were heavily scribbled over with a pencil, making them difficult to see clearly. And the situation of killing Choi Haejin.

Just thinking about that moment made her heart pound as if she were back there. The image of Choi Haejin, her body severed, screaming, “You’re a bad hunting dog, you deserve to be slaughtered,” was still vivid in her eyes. Bibi shook her head and composed herself.

No. I shouldn’t think about it, I mustn’t think about it. Doyoon said it was the right thing to do, that she did well. So, I’m okay. I’m not a hunting dog anymore.

But someone had said that the moment you’re told not to think of an elephant, an elephant appears in your mind. The more she repeated inwardly that she shouldn’t think of Choi Haejin, the more her blood scent, severed torso, and contorted face were deeply etched in her mind. Fear washed over her.

Before she knew it, this unfamiliar room had become a cage made of iron. Bibi’s body was tense, on edge, easily startled by the slightest sound or stimulus. With her eyes closed, she counted numbers and took deep breaths as Doyoon had taught her in Korea. One, two, three, four….

She was now in England. No matter if the trainer was chasing her, he wouldn’t know her location here. She was in the same house as vampire hunters. If he invaded, he wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on her. She would never return to that dark and cold cage.

Bibi strained her ears, focusing on Namwon’s snoring that drifted from afar. On the plane, his snoring had been so loud that she couldn’t easily fall asleep, but now it was like a lifeline pulling her mind, which was sinking into darkness, back to reality.

Tomorrow…. I have to be good.

Bibi made that resolution and finally fell asleep. Perhaps because she was tired from the long flight, Bibi slept without dreaming. Her consciousness was deeply buried in darkness.

However, in the middle of the night, the soundly sleeping Bibi suddenly awoke with a jolt, her whole body trembling as if having a seizure. It was because the pale, ghastly face of Choi Haejin abruptly flashed before her dark vision.

“Huh…!”

Bibi gasped for breath, her chest heaving violently. Sweat poured down her temples like rain. Overwhelmed by a fear that made the fine hairs on her body stand on end, she couldn’t move a muscle.

Everything before her was dark. Bibi couldn’t discern where she was lying. She was confused whether this was inside an iron cage or a dark, cave-like basement. This was bad. She had to run….

“Bibi.”

A voice like a ray of light sounded in the darkness.

“It’s okay.”

A heavy hand rested on her chest and patted gently. Slowly, her tension eased as if she were immersed in warm water. Belatedly, her eyes, having adjusted to the darkness, confirmed the room’s scenery. Unchanged, clean furniture and the room, a plush bed. Bibi finally realized that she was safe.

“Doyoon….”

She turned her head to the side, her voice hoarse. A face so exquisitely beautiful that it instantly erased the pale face of Choi Haejin appeared. Weren’t they sleeping separately? Why was he here?

“I thought you might have a nightmare,” he whispered, as if reading the question in Bibi’s eyes.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll stay with you until sunrise.”

The hand patting her chest was very gentle. Bibi reached out and burrowed into his embrace. Doyoon didn’t avoid her as he had during the day. But he didn’t seem to have any intention of the intense and deep physical contact they had shared last time.

It would be nice to feel that ecstatic sensation from that time, when it felt like time had stopped, again. She felt a lingering disappointment. What would happen if she asked him to kiss her like before, or if she climbed on top of Doyoon and tried to seduce him?

Bibi bit her lip and shook her head slightly. Strangely, she couldn’t bring herself to make demands like before. Thinking about that time made her heart beat rapidly. When she treated Doyoon as her master, there was a clear hierarchy, which was comfortable and easy. Now that it wasn’t like that, it felt unfamiliar, awkward, and she didn’t know what to do.

Her desire to approach him had doubled, but her actions were restricted. Why was that? Bibi hoped that this strange and uncomfortable feeling would disappear quickly.

________________________________________

Early in the morning, Namwon dressed up with an excited face. He put on a black fur coat that she didn’t know where he had gotten it from and prepared to go out. He thought he looked like a stylish British gentleman…. A fur coat on a grim face. The visual was quite far from his intention.

“I thought Grand Prince Suyang had arrived.”

Doyoon casually commented as he passed by. Bibi quickly searched on her phone, nodded, and understood.

“What conversation can I have with people who have no sense of style?”

Regardless, Namwon didn’t care and even put on a fancy hat. He said he planned to see Big Ben today, look around Covent Garden, and then tour the British branch of the Vampire Hunter Association.

As he was about to head out with an excited expression, he suddenly seemed to remember something and slyly approached Bibi. Then, he gave her advice, though it sounded more like a warning, about what to do when meeting someone’s mother.

“When you go to see a mother, you have to be neat and affable. Huh? You have to be a bit like an announcer. Smile brightly and eat heartily, no matter what. And don’t you dare throw your plate if it’s spicy. And if she asks you to peel fruit or do the dishes? Just say, ‘I was raised preciously and can’t do things like that!’“

Namwon earnestly instructed. Bibi, who was sitting at the table listening, tilted her head in confusion.

“I wasn’t raised preciously though….”

“It’s just a figure of speech, a figure of speech. Are you going to say, ‘Oh, Mother, I was raised in poverty, so I can do everything’? Don’t you know that superiors always think of using women as servants the moment they see them? It can’t be helped. Anyway, go and be very nice. This is all advice that will become your blood and flesh.”

Namwon gave a long speech explaining why she had to do as he said, then left, satisfied. Regardless, Doyoon put on an apron and concentrated on the stove. He soon placed bacon, toast, and scrambled eggs on Bibi’s plate.

Honestly, it didn’t taste very good. The toast and eggs were burnt, and the bacon was undercooked and greasy.

“I made garbage.”

Doyoon readily admitted that his cooking skills were terrible. He drank his juice while reading the newspaper, not even touching his own portion of the meal.

Bibi didn’t have much appetite, but considering the effort he had put in, she suppressed her gag reflex and diligently stuffed the food into her mouth. Doyoon, watching Bibi eat with a proud expression, drank a blood pack and then swallowed ten iron supplements.

After finishing their meal, the two changed clothes in their respective dressing rooms and headed out. Doyoon, who usually enjoyed wearing a mustang jacket, was surprisingly wearing a casual shirt. He looked Bibi’s outfit over and complimented her, saying she looked great. Thanks to that, Bibi felt slightly better.

After contemplating about what to wear, she decided to wear sneakers first for comfort while walking around, and then put on a flowy black dress, which seemed to look better than she had thought.

Bibi asked Doyoon what his mother was like.

“Hmm…. An interesting person? You can treat her comfortably.”

With a light heart, Bibi got into Doyoon’s car, listened to music, and headed towards where his mother lived.

Doyoon, who valued aesthetics over functionality, drove an Aston Martin Volante. His sleek car sped through London to Long Melford at a terrifying speed. In less than two hours, the two arrived in Long Melford, Suffolk, in southeastern England.

They say only the lucky get to see England’s sunny weather. The sky was a gloomy gray. They drove windingly through a dark and eerie forest until a large main gate appeared. A rose-shaped seal was engraved on the rusty iron gate.

After waiting for a moment, the gate creaked open automatically with a chilling shriek. The car entered and drove straight down a long path.

Passing a vast, dried-up field of grass, they saw a gaunt, large tree with bare branches, a fountain, a pond, a melancholic-looking angel statue, and a rectangular mansion made of intricately laid bricks appearing one after another.

The mansion was a stately and aristocratic 16th-century building that overall resembled a crown. Uniquely, it had round turrets protruding from both sides, and the roof was pointed. If it weren’t for the vines climbing the walls and the surrounding gaunt trees, she would have thought it beautiful.

As Doyoon stopped the car and got out, River, whom she had seen at the airport yesterday, greeted him with a welcoming face.

“Welcome. She is waiting.”

He used Korean as before. Doyoon led Bibi, who was looking around curiously, into the mansion. Unlike its gloomy and imposing exterior, the interior was lavish. The long hallway with a red carpet was filled with golden frames and tapestry decorations.

The light from the wall lamps was quite dim, but it wasn’t a problem at all for vampires with good eyesight. A faint smell of chemicals wafted from somewhere. Formalin… perhaps?