NAPE - 76

“Stop, stop... How could you... dare to... dare!” Bibi first removed the noisy vocal cords and tongue. Leaving behind the phlegmy gurgles and bubbling breaths, she separated the neck and torso once more. Then, to prevent him from flailing uncontrollably, she severed all the nerves near his spine. Finally, she took away his sight so he could see nothing.

She made him just like a hound: unable to speak, unable to see, unable to freely flail his limbs.

The blade gleamed sharply, and all five senses vanished from the Trainer’s body. Claireval was in a state where death would be better, unable to recover without external help.

Having dealt with everything, Bibi flung the knife aside. She forced her trembling legs to stand up. She wanted to be embraced by Doyoon. She wanted recognition for enduring well. Bibi turned her head and gazed at Doyoon’s back, where he stood facing away from her. His shoulders and back were heaving greatly. What was it...?

“...Doyoon?” At Bibi’s call, Doyoon flinched, then very slowly turned around. His jet-black pupils were dilated, and hot breaths escaped his mouth. An expression of suffering from hunger. A face clearly feeling appetite and craving prey. He looked like a beast itself, ready to seize and kill something at any moment.

The large beast slowly walked towards Bibi. Why was he approaching her? Bibi couldn’t gauge anything. Even though the Trainer, who had oppressed her, was gone, her body still trembled with tension. No, fear had become even more pervasive than before.

Bibi noticed Doyoon clenching his fists tightly. His fingernails dug into his flesh as if he was trying to suppress something boiling within him. Seeing that, Bibi unconsciously stepped back. Doyoon gritted his teeth and stopped dead in his tracks.

“Take Lee Namwon and leave,” he said in a hoarse voice. “Run from me. As far as possible.”

“...No, I...”

“No. Go.”

“Doyoon...”

“Help me not do something I’ll regret.”

“...”

“Please.” Doyoon’s chest rose and fell rapidly. As if he wanted to pounce on Bibi and devour her at any moment. Between hunger and desperation, he smiled faintly.

“Bibi. You are free.”

“...”

“No one knows you. Don’t worry about Isabel keeping quiet. So live however you want.”

Bibi realized too late. Why Doyoon had urgently sought out the Trainer, why he hadn’t sought help from anyone if possible. He had tried to protect her, a descendant of a rebellious family, to the very end. Tears welled up in Bibi’s eyes.

“Go, Bibi. Don’t look back. Get away from me.”

“D-Doyoon...”

“Don’t call my name. Go. Hurry, go!” As if pulling up his last ounce of patience, he shouted, his reddened eyes gleaming fiercely. From that moment on, Bibi turned and started running. She helped the still-recovering Namwon and ran up the mansion’s basement stairs, moving her legs frantically along the path.

She never looked back.

She feared that if she turned around, a large, ferocious beast would chase her and tear her alive. She just ran, looking only forward. She ran and ran. Only when she reached a never-before-seen train station did Bibi finally stop. She roughly set down the dirt-covered Namwon on the ground and slumped down.

Her mind was still dazed. Doyoon’s expression, when he looked at her, was still vivid in her eyes. That blazing look of appetite was not the person she knew.

How long had he been trying to hide it? Had he felt the urge to devour her, his ‘type,’ right before his eyes? After taking the medicine given by the Trainer, with his appetite amplified... what would become of him? Would she lose Doyoon so meaninglessly?

Why had she run away? Was it out of fear? No, it wasn’t. She couldn’t ignore Doyoon’s plea for her to flee. If she were to be eaten... he would surely be the kind of person to tear open his own stomach.

Bibi sobbed. She felt so small. Why hadn’t she known? A bird that leaves its nest must learn to fly entirely alone after falling to the ground.

Isabel was right. Bibi was too weak. She shuddered with powerlessness. She knew nothing about how to help Doyoon.

In her despair, her eyes fell upon a paper tightly clutched in Namwon’s hand. This was... the painting they had found in the frame that Namwon and she had looked at earlier, wasn’t it? Had he perhaps been unable to avoid the concrete rebar because he was trying to save this? Bibi, with a heavy heart, unfolded the crumpled paper.

Under the streetlight, the numbers shone even more clearly. Like a landmark. She felt she had to go there. To find anyone who could tell her what she had to do.

________________________________________

Ratanakiri Arboretum

The truck carrying Bibi was speeding across the plains of Cornwall in the Southwest. The field, embracing rough rocks, had a rustic charm, making the scenery quite passable.

Bibi, gazing blankly out the window, watched the phone’s clock with a troubled heart. Tick, tock, tick, tock. The sound of the minute hand echoed in her ears like a hallucination. Only two days had passed since then, but it felt like a week.

Was Doyoon still in that dark basement? It must be so hard for him. Even as she sat there blankly, his hunger and thirst must be growing.

“Don’t worry. River was there too. Since he contacted Isabel, they would have taken him to the Tudor household or something,” Namwon, who was driving the truck, reassured a groaning Bibi. Having escaped the swamp of death, his complexion was remarkably good, as if he had never been close to dying. His eyes gleamed with vitality, and his skin was firmer.

His rugged appearance hadn’t changed much, but a strangely strong energy radiated from him, and he also exuded an aura of unknown nationality.

“I want to call and ask what happened,” Bibi said glumly, occasionally glancing at Namwon’s pointed fangs.

“You can’t do that. Isabel is an Executioner. It wouldn’t do for you, a descendant of the Servant family, to contact her. If your location is discovered, they’ll come after you to eliminate you immediately.”

“But we’re friends...”

“Duty is greater than friendship.”

“...”

“Hey. But since I’m new to this vampire thing. Do humans usually smell this delicious? They’re like walking Delimanjus, seriously.” Namwon’s question made Bibi tilt her head.

“What’s a Delimanju?”

“It’s a pastry. They mostly sell them in subways. Ha... But vampires are forbidden from biting humans carelessly, so, well. It’s like forbidden fruit. Torture, pure torture.” Namwon grumbled and pressed harder on the accelerator, speeding up.

“You had an iron supplement earlier, didn’t you?”

“That stuff tastes awful. Damn it, who knew I’d go from a hunter to a vampire overnight? You’ve been hit by a silver bullet, right? Does it hurt a lot?”

“Yes.” Bibi nodded without hesitation at the obvious question. Namwon raised an eyebrow with a curious expression.

“How much does it hurt?”

“...It hurts immensely.”

“Give me a comparison.”

“My former master said it felt like your whole body was inflamed, and someone kept pouring Albochil on it.”

“Wow... Crazy... Damn it, I guess I’ll just have to drink blood packs.” Namwon shuddered, as if disgusted. Seeing Namwon, Bibi hesitated, about to say something, then carefully asked,

“But are you okay?”

“About what?”

“You became a vampire because of me. You became a monster driven by bloodlust and unbearable thirst.” Bibi secretly felt pained by the fact that he was no longer human. She felt it was all her fault.

“Ah. Well, nothing I can do about it now. Honestly, it does feel a bit repulsive to eat something I never ate overnight. But then again, I do eat blood sausage soup well. It doesn’t seem that disgusting. More than anything, I didn’t want to die like that. I’ll just live without thinking too deeply about it.”

Namwon scoffed nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal. Even as a vampire, Lee Namwon was still Lee Namwon. Bibi felt somewhat relieved by his cool reaction. It was fortunate that Namwon was by her side, given that she was separated from Doyoon.

“It’s a relief you’re adaptable.”

“Of course. I’m Lee Namwon.”

“Then, while we’re at it, let’s make this clear. I’m the boss, and you’re the subordinate.”

“Oh, really?”

“I brought you back to life. So you have to serve me.”

“Don’t get cocky, you bat. You’ll have to live another thousand years if you want to make me your subordinate. Oh, we’re here. Is this it...?” As the two bickered, the car stopped in front of an antiquated gate. Namwon and Bibi got out of the car and scanned the sign.

Ratanakiri Arboretum

“It’s an arboretum? Looking at the fence, it’s quite large, so why wasn’t it marked on the map?” As Namwon wondered while looking at the map, a man in white appeared from inside the fence.