NAPE - 85

Epilogue - Adapting to Human Life

The city’s nightscape shimmered wetly over the Han River. Millions of humans breathed within the sleepless city, a dense forest of concrete buildings, while vampires lived hidden in its shadows.

Seoul, a chaotic city with new changes and hundreds of incidents daily, currently exuded a restless, pre-war atmosphere on its streets and among its people. The reason was a raid that occurred a month ago.

The incident where a group of half-blood vampires attacked people with their sharp fangs in the middle of Gwanghwamun became a major issue. Videos of human-like beings sucking human blood, confused police, and hunters frantically trying to manage the situation spread rapidly via social media, turning public opinion and the media upside down.

The police tried to dismiss it as a mass drug incident, but opinions among citizens were sharply divided. Cults and North Korean spy theories were mild compared to wild speculations about zombie and vampire attacks.

They continuously demanded explanations, and the government was in a hurry to cover up the truth. It seemed that the obstacles to vampire assimilation into human society included not only the Elder Council but also conservative humans. The saving grace, fortunately, was that over half of the political sphere had accepted the existence of vampires.

In unofficial settings, they shared information about the Hunter Association’s activities and operations, and they established contingency plans for how to deal with future similar disruptions. They also recognized the need to establish a vampire management department.

The special envoy dispatched from the Elder Council was incredibly busy. He demanded the same rights for vampires as humans and requested a ban on abuse and desecration of corpses.

Naturally, conservative factions, including the Hunter Association, raged. Their logic was, “How can blood-sucking monsters be treated the same as humans?” It seemed Doyoon’s desired world would take a very long time to arrive.

“Time is on our side.”

Watching the Hunter Association head sweat profusely, he observed calmly, as if it were someone else’s problem. Regardless, the time for change was approaching.

Before that, Bibi had a lot to do. Not only did she need to understand the rules of the vampire world and the Executor’s role and duties, but she also had to learn to integrate well into human society.

Adapting to society was especially crucial. It would be more effective to establish an influential position in society rather than appearing as an alien who just dropped from the sky.

For this, Bibi decided to get a driver’s license first. Lately, Bibi had been enjoying the pleasure of solving things on her own.

Bibi had changed a little. Whereas before she would cling to Doyoon, trying to do everything together, now she would lock her door and spend time alone, and she secretly collected cherished items in a safe. She also registered for driving lessons without a guardian.

Her first steps into society weren’t scary or shaky. If she had escaped the man who controlled her, why wouldn’t she be able to study and pass?

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have no aptitude for studying. She passed the first written exam right away, even though she hadn’t studied that hard. It was the first time she had passed an exam without anyone’s help.

Bibi felt exhilarated and safely passed the driving skills test, her confidence soaring. All Bibi needed now, having mastered road driving, was her driver’s license.

“Alright, are you ready?”

Finally, on the day of the road test, Bibi gripped the steering wheel and gave a resolute nod to the examiner.

“Ready.”

“Why the informal speech...”

“...sir.”

Bibi hastily added. She was used to speaking informally, and since she still perceived humans as prey, she wasn’t accustomed to using polite language. To live harmoniously in human society, she needed to be friends with them. And to do that, she had to be polite.

“...You may begin.”

The examiner got into the car with a displeased expression. Bibi calmly buckled her seatbelt, checked her side mirrors and rearview mirror, and started the engine. She was confident, having memorized the entire course long ago. Today’s route was the easy A course.

Bibi carefully pressed the accelerator and drove, meticulously observing traffic signals. Her heart pounded when changing lanes, but she merged well as practiced, and she was careful not to run a red light when making a right turn. The car moved smoothly.

The finish line was now just ahead. Once she got over that hill, the first step in adapting to human society would be successfully completed. Taking a deep breath, Bibi pressed the accelerator hard, making sure not to speed.

“Oh, what’s this? Did someone drop it?”

The examiner, too, had relaxed his guard as the test was almost over. He found something on the floor, picked it up. It was a small party popper. The examiner, with a curious expression, pulled the small string.

Pop!

The party popper burst.

“Kyaak, kyaak! Ae-oh-woo!”

The sudden spread of gunpowder smell reminded Bibi of being attacked by a hunter’s gun, and she shrieked sharply, jumping up. To make matters worse, colorful paper fluttered before her eyes. Bibi let go of the steering wheel and flailed.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down!”

The examiner gasped, stretched out his arm, and grabbed the steering wheel. Bibi, however, perceived the examiner’s movement towards her as an attack.

Her red eyes blazed with a fierce, beast-like light.

As she shuffled weakly out of the test center, a blue foreign car pulled up in front of her. It seemed Doyoon had come to pick her up, right on time. Normally, she would have jumped for joy, but today she felt unusually drained.

“Hey. You said you had a test this morning, but it’s already evening. Why are you so late? How did the test go?”

Namwon asked, rolling down the passenger window. His eyes were deeply shadowed, as if he hadn’t slept. As a newly turned vampire, he was still unskilled at controlling his thirst, so he had been virtually confined to Doyoon and Bibi’s house, focusing on self-control training. He seemed to have exhausted all his energy over the past month trying to curb his desires.

“I, I passed.”

She had, of course, failed the test. But Bibi unconsciously lied. She couldn’t help it. She had boasted about being able to do well on her own, and to have failed so miserably... She didn’t want to see Doyoon’s disappointed expression or Namwon’s sneer. Bibi looked at the cars speeding by on the road with awe. How did they all drive like that? Amazing...

“You passed, Bibi?”

As she got into the back seat, Doyoon, who was at the wheel, turned and asked. Bibi quietly nodded.

“Let’s go eat. Since you passed, Senior, you should buy us beef.”

“Lee Namwon, you go home and look after the rabbits. If you even touch one of their ears, yours will be gone too.”

“No, Senior. On a day like today, we should eat out. I’ve been stuck at home looking at rabbits for the past month; I’m going crazy. At some point, I couldn’t tell if I was a vampire or a rabbit.”

“Apologize to the rabbits. I’ll drop you off in front of the house, so go in yourself.”

“Wow, Senior, you’re really making me upset!!”

Mid-bickering, Namwon stuck out his jaw.

“Alright, alright. Just the two of you eat, fine.”

“Are you sulking?”

“...I’m not sulking, I’m angry! Drop me off there.”

His voice was clearly angry. Bibi didn’t want Namwon to get out. She couldn’t tell Doyoon about her failure yet. For today, Namwon’s nonsense and loud voice needed to distract Doyoon.

She nudged Doyoon’s shoulder, signaling him to appease Namwon. Doyoon, seeing Bibi’s expression in the side mirror, shrugged as if he had no choice.

“I was joking. I’ll take you too.”

“What kind of joke? Go ahead and eat all the beef without me.”

Namwon stubbornly turned his head away, looking thoroughly peeved.

“I said I was going to take you.”

“Don’t be funny. I’m not going!”

“I booked Hongju Galbi in Cheongdam-dong.”

“...”

Namwon’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

“If you really don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do. I prepared special prime rib today; Bibi and I will have to eat it all.”

“...”

“You can’t eat that anytime. It’s direct from Argentina. And tripe is ready too.”

At the mention of tripe, Namwon’s eyes widened.

“Ahem, hmm. Since it’s already prepared, it’d be a waste not to go.”

Namwon, who had been acting like he was about to get out, reluctantly buckled his seatbelt again. What a relief. For now... just get through today safely and quickly schedule her retest for the day after tomorrow, then she could proudly show off her driver’s license.

She hated keeping secrets, but she couldn’t help it. She had boasted so much, and she didn’t want to disappoint Doyoon, who had trusted her.