NAPE - 8

Doyoon, having stopped the bleeding, looked down at Bibi. He seemed relieved to see her awake and held out the blood pack that had fallen on the floor. It seemed to mean for her to drink. Bibi kept her mouth tightly shut.

“You’re about to die.”

The sound of another person’s voice after a month was quite sweet. Bibi looked up at Doyoon with tearful eyes, then shook her head. Even though she was hungry, she didn’t feel like eating the frozen solid thing in front of her. It actually made her feel more nauseous.

“You don’t want to break down, do you? If you don’t drink blood, you could suffer permanent damage. This is the last consideration I’ll give you before you go to the lab.”

Doyoon’s impassive gaze went to Bibi’s emaciated legs. Her legs were so thin it was as if only skin covered bone. Her condition hadn’t been good since he first found her… maybe she wouldn’t be able to walk at all. If she went to the lab, they wouldn’t bother with examinations; they would just label her a hybrid vampire and use her as a test subject.

“Come to think of it, I never even knew her name until the end. Ah, if she’s a hybrid and was raised as a hunting dog, she probably wouldn’t have a name.”

He snorted bitterly. Bibi blankly raised her gaze. She scanned Doyoon’s three-dimensional face once, then stared at his palm. A delicious scent of blood, on a different level from what she had eaten so far, wafted from there. Not frozen blood, but a warm, vibrant… sweet liquid.

If only she could drink just one sip of that blood… she could do anything.

However, she shouldn’t rashly attack this human. He looked relaxed, but his eyes were sharp. Bibi’s instincts told her. If she touched him carelessly, her neck would be severed in an instant. Then what should she do?

Solely for the sake of eating, Bibi’s brain began to spin. Something that could instantly capture this man’s attention, something to divert his attention… what he wanted… that was…

“Bi, Bi…”

Her eyes glazed over with bloodlust, Bibi once again broke the hunting dog’s rule. She decided to give the man the human language he so desired.

“...What?”

As expected, Doyoon’s pupils widened greatly. Bibi stared straight at Doyoon.

“I… Bibi. My… name.”

The voice that flowed from Bibi’s lips stole his mind like a siren’s song. Doyoon looked down at Bibi with an incredulous expression.

“That’s… your name?”

“...I didn’t kill them, the humans.”

As Bibi nodded and mouthed the words, Doyoon hurriedly leaned down, bringing his ear close to her lips. It was the moment he completely let his guard down. Bibi judged that now was the only time. Gathering her last bit of strength, she grabbed Doyoon’s hand. And she sank her fangs in instantly.

“Ugh…!”

With Doyoon’s short groan, sweet blood flowed down Bibi’s throat. It was a dizzyingly sweet and cool taste. Gulp, gulp, gulp. Had there ever been such a beautiful swallow in her life? Pleasure and ecstasy flowed down her stomach and throughout her body.

Ah, she wanted to drink more. More… more…

Bibi was happy. So happy that she wouldn’t have any regrets even if she died at this very moment. Without realizing it, she dug her fangs in deeper, letting something stagnant within her flow into the other.

“Hey.”

A cold voice sounded in her ear. Chills ran down her spine.

“Is it tasty?”

In an instant, a strong, powerful grip grabbed her by the scruff of the neck. Before she could even come to her senses, Bibi’s body was lifted into the air. She was slammed into the sofa by an overwhelming force. A huge shock spread through her body, instantly bringing back her runaway reason.

Only belatedly did she come to her senses. What on earth had she done? Attacking that terrifying man.

“Ah… damn it… that hurts.”

Doyoon, standing tall in the middle of the room like a grim reaper, frowned fiercely and cursed. He stared at the palm that Bibi had just lunged at and sucked.

He curled and uncurled his fingers, properly checking the wound. His sense of touch had dulled slightly. It wasn’t just a bite; it felt like… poison had flowed in along with it.

“My blood is a bit tasty, I guess. Even in summer, only mosquitoes chase after me.”

Doyoon muttered with an intrigued expression.

“…….”

“But this is the first time I’ve been caught off guard like this.”

“…….”

“I’m actually a little angry at being caught so off guard.”

A fierce, blue light flashed in his eyes. She felt a sense of crisis, but somehow she couldn’t move. Bibi panted and quietly stared at Doyoon. What to do, what to do, what should she do…? Sucking the blood of a hunter. A silver bullet would immediately pierce her heart. Maybe it would be better to just die instantly.

According to the trainer, they were vicious beings who inflicted persistent and cruel torture. She had to run, quickly. But was there an escape route? She had tried everything for the past month but hadn’t found one.

While she was trapped, unable to move, as if in a nightmare, Doyoon strode closer. If she moved rashly, she would die. All Bibi could do was cover her head with her arms and cower, anticipating the kick that would fly down.

“Bibi.”

A soft voice spoke. Bibi blinked and looked up. He, who had been standing expressionlessly like a butcher, suddenly smiled. A shiver ran down her spine. It wasn’t a situation to smile, so why was he doing that? Bibi felt even greater confusion.

“Let’s get along well from now on.”

However, one thing was certain: she would be seeing this man’s face for a while.

________________________________________

“Senior! I’m here!”

As soon as morning came, Namwon, entering the villa, greeted loudly. Doyoon, who had been napping on the living room sofa, rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up.

“Why are you sleeping here? What about that bat brat? Did you send her to the lab yesterday?”

Namwon still mixed formal and informal language. Doyoon, still half-asleep and staring blankly into the air, closed his eyes again and hugged a cushion.

“Not a bat brat… Bibi.”

“You even gave her a name? We decided to send her to the lab. Are you taking her today?”

“I’m not sending her.”

“What? Why?”

“She’s not a hybrid.”

He had tried to fall back asleep, but it was no use. Doyoon gave up early, got up, and gulped down the bottled water he had put in the refrigerator. The cold water traveled down his stomach, chilling his whole body. He felt a bit more awake.

“Not a hybrid? How do you know that?”

“Yesterday, while drinking my blood, she tried to inject poison.”

Namwon’s face twisted horribly. Providing a vampire with a hunter’s blood was against the association’s rules. It was a major taboo that could lead to confiscation of one’s gun and disqualification. But he had shared his blood? What the hell was going on?

“You gave her blood? She tried to inject poison? Are you out of your mind? It’s a relief you have a peculiar constitution. You crazy human!”

Namwon snapped. Regardless, Doyoon remained unperturbed. He sluggishly picked up his jacket from the floor and put it on.

“What on earth are you going to do with that vampire?”

“I’m sure she’s a pureblood. I need to talk to her more. Oh, and this is a secret from the association, okay?”

“Heish. Do you really think you can communicate with that wildcat?”

“She told me her name. Bibi, she said.”

“Bibi? What kind of nonsense is that? Didn’t she just tell you wrong? While sneezing?”

“Her pronunciation was more accurate than when you’re drunk and talking nonsense.”

Namwon was about to shower him with more nagging but stopped. With his fiery temper and large build, Namwon was strong in fights and always came out on top. But Doyoon was an exception. Strangely, whenever he argued with Doyoon, he always ended up getting worked up and frustrated.

That seemingly decent senior bastard was as black as charcoal inside. No matter how much he argued, he would be the one getting his insides burnt again this time. Besides, what was the point of complaining about something that had already happened?

“She’s in that room, right?”

Giving up on lashing out at Doyoon, he should at least check on the vampire’s condition. She must be in a terrible state after starving for a month. Namwon strode towards the small room where Bibi was. He was planning to threaten her that if she bit a human again, pureblood or not, he would mercilessly fill her with bullets.

Namwon, who had flung open the door without knocking, stopped abruptly. Contrary to his bold intentions, he was so shocked by the scene before him that he was speechless.

“S-Senior… wh-why is she so big?”

Doyoon, who had finished drinking another bottle of water, turned his head at Namwon’s trembling voice. He saw him standing awkwardly in front of the door.

What in the world was going on? It was rare to see Namwon this flustered, maybe once a year at most.

He closed the refrigerator door and moved. He gently pushed Namwon aside and looked into the room. The moment he did, Doyoon froze in surprise, just like the person next to him. He was momentarily speechless at Bibi’s unexpected appearance.

“First… bring some clothes. There’s a shirt I used to wear in the living room.”

After a long silence, Doyoon barely managed to speak. Outwardly, he was calm, but his heart was surging. The second confirmation that Bibi was a pureblood had flooded him with elation. Vampire Bibi, who had been so thin and small he thought she might be just bones, had changed overnight.