NAPE - 6

The two hunters returned in the middle of the night. Namwon, who had taken off his shoes and stepped inside first, suddenly felt a sense of unease and looked around. Surveying his surroundings, he frowned at the changed state of the villa.

“What the hell happened to the house?”

Doyoon, who had been looking at his phone, belatedly raised his head. The villa was a mess, as if it had been ransacked by thieves. The dining chairs were overturned like defeated soldiers, and the sofa cushions were scattered all over the floor. The only decoration, a potted plant, had fallen over and spilled its soil.

It was obvious who was responsible. The only one left in the house was that vampire.

“Shit, no way…?”

Namwon cursed and stomped as he ran to the small room where the vampire had been, flinging the door open.

“Empty!”

He scowled fiercely, looking at the empty room. They had let a hybrid vampire who had killed nine old people get away. And due to negligence. Their reputation as hunters was ruined. It was all because Kwon Doyoon had been so sure it would be fine! Even if she was a hybrid, they should have prepared for any eventuality!

“She couldn’t have gotten out. The front door is fine, and the windows are specially made.”

Doyoon calmly stared at the broken headboard of the bed. He hadn’t expected that scrawny vampire to have such strength. Could it be… she had been hiding it on purpose? If she had that much intelligence…

“Let’s search. I’ll check the second floor!”

Impatient Namwon stomped up the stairs. Doyoon automatically took the first floor. He checked the master bedroom, bathroom, veranda, and storage room with half-hearted steps. Since she was small, he even checked behind the sofa just in case. But the vampire was nowhere to be seen.

About ten minutes had passed since they started searching. Doyoon concluded she wasn’t on the first floor and reached for a cushion to lie down on the sofa.

“Found her!”

Just then, a loud voice and a crashing sound came from upstairs. Climbing the stairs, Doyoon saw Namwon lying face down on the living room floor on the second floor, panting heavily. His ample backside looked like a giant gourd. The gourd that Heungbu in the fairy tale sawed open must have been just that size. Doyoon had to fight the urge to kick that butt.

“Senior, what are you doing? Look down here! That vampire brat is hiding under this sofa! How did she even get into that narrow gap?!”

Namwon, his eyes as angry as a bulldog’s, pointed under the sofa and yelled. Doyoon crouched down next to Namwon and lowered his head.

“Oh, she’s really there.”

In the black darkness under the sofa, red pupils were clearly visible. Bibi looked back and forth between Doyoon and Namwon, her face pale with fear.

“Hey! Come out here, it’s dusty under there, huh?!”

Namwon threatened. Bibi flinched and pressed herself even flatter against the floor. One of her hands was still cuffed. The metal was slightly bent, as if she had tried to break it. This meant she wasn’t just looking around the house, she was trying to escape.

“She’ll come out if we leave her alone.”

Anyway, they had confirmed she was inside. An animal in hiding would only hide more if you tried to force it out. Doyoon, having kicked Namwon’s prone butt, yawned and turned away. Namwon got up, following him.

Watching them, Bibi felt relieved on one hand, but angry at herself for missing her chance to escape. Pretending to sleep was a good start, but she had acted too slowly. Breaking the headboard was one thing, but she had wasted unnecessary time trying to undo the handcuffs.

She hadn’t expected the hunters to return so early. She had hurriedly hidden, but she had been discovered like this. How could she get out of this situation unscathed?

First… she had been discovered hiding under the sofa, so it would be best to quietly move to another location. Bibi silently held her breath and assessed the situation.

After waiting patiently for a long time, the sounds of people nearby disappeared. The hunters, tired of waiting, seemed to have gone downstairs. Bibi felt slightly relieved and cautiously crawled out from under the sofa.

“Gotcha!”

A large, hairy hand suddenly grabbed her by the scruff of the neck from above.

“I even held my breath, you little rascal!”

Startled by Namwon’s booming voice from above, her heart leaped. The hand gripping her neck forcefully pulled her forward. Bibi thrashed wildly and defended herself to protect her body, baring her fangs. It was her last resort. She grabbed and bit anything she could reach.

“Aaargh!”

With a scream, the large hand fell away from her neck.

“Th-that thing bit me!”

Namwon, who had been pulling Bibi out from under the sofa, jumped up and down. The strong grip that had held her neck had been released. Bibi, thoroughly frightened, scurried back under the sofa and trembled.

She hadn’t intended to bite the other party. But didn’t a vampire cornered in a crisis situation have only one choice? Fangs were natural weapons she had been born with. A very good defense and attack tool against those who threatened her.

“Senior, Senior! I got bitten!”

Namwon was furious and roared that he would lift and throw the sofa. Doyoon, who had rushed upstairs, calmly examined the bitten area. Two puncture marks, as if pierced by sharp fangs, were visible on his wrist, and blood was streaming out.

“Damn it, that really hurts! You vampire brat, you better crawl out right now?!”

Namwon’s excited voice and the rage hormones he was emitting pressed down on Bibi. It felt like a dinosaur was rampaging. The pounding vibrations felt like large waves.

Bibi’s body trembled violently. She lay flat on the floor, unable to move. Was she going to be hit? The owners used to beat Bibi as a way to vent their anger whenever they were upset. Even if she tried to avoid it, it was no use. Quietly enduring it made the situation less worse. Learned helplessness dominated Bibi’s mind.

“What if that thing is a pureblood? Damn it, am I going to become a vampire? Am I going to be a lab rat?”

“Calm down. You weren’t bitten properly. Besides, you don’t become a vampire unless venom is intentionally injected. Would that thing have been in its right mind to do that?”

Doyoon, having thoroughly examined the wound, covered Namwon’s agitated mouth with his hand and stared under the sofa. This was getting increasingly troublesome. Should they have just dealt with her in that container? This was exactly like a wildcat picked up from the wilderness. A sentence he had vaguely heard a long time ago came to mind.

“A vampire tamed as a hunting dog dies as a hunting dog in the end. They cannot adapt to an intelligent group.”

“I think I should go to the hospital, just in case. Senior, please drive.”

With his mouth covered by a palm, Namwon groaned.

“You only use formal language so meticulously at times like this.”

“When else would I use it?”

Doyoon put a towel on Namwon’s wrist, which was making a fuss, and picked up the car keys. Just before going down the stairs, he turned back and saw the vampire peeking her head out from under the sofa. Her sorrowful eyes were full of confusion and fear. It was as if she was trying to explain that she hadn’t done it on purpose. Though that was unlikely.

“Senior. That vampire doesn’t understand words. It’s just a blood-sucking beast in human form. What part of that looks like a pureblood vampire?”

In the car heading to the hospital, Namwon, who was applying pressure to his wrist to stop the bleeding, said seriously. Doyoon, who was behind the wheel, remained silent.

“I know you’ve been obsessed with purebloods for a while now, Senior. I understand the obsession, but I don’t get why. Is it admiration, or do you want to catch one? Anyway, in my opinion, that’s not it. Look at her. Her appearance is so pathetic. She looks like a bat. Thin and unsightly, she’s clearly a hybrid. I don’t even feel sorry for her anymore.”

“A bat? Isn’t she cuter than that?”

“Hah… Forget it. If it’s something troublesome to dispose of for various reasons, let’s just send her to the lab. Huh? That way, I won’t feel guilty about killing someone weak, and if she’s a pureblood, the results will come out, so it’s a win-win. We don’t have to go through all this trouble, you know?”

Namwon seemed to have completely changed his mind. Doyoon, who had been lost in thought, finally nodded with a determined look.

“Alright. Let’s send her to the lab. But I’ll hand her over myself, so let’s leave her at the villa.”

“That’s a good decision.”

“I’ll drop you off at the hospital. I think I need to go up to Seoul first for work. Take care of yourself.”

“You’re going to leave your junior who got bitten by a vampire and go up to Seoul?”

“I had something I needed to finish by today.”

As he parked the car in front of the hospital, Namwon grumbled and got out. Doyoon ignored his junior’s resentful gaze and immediately drove towards Seoul.

He looked at the darkness outside the window and swallowed a queasy feeling. Judging by how difficult it was to communicate… she probably wasn’t a pureblood after all. Yeah. Maybe he had misheard in the container.

Doyoon’s interest in the captured vampire had waned. Although he didn’t want to, it would be better to hand her over to the association’s lab rather than wasting time. In fact, although it was called a lab, it was practically a vampire’s graveyard.