Later that afternoon, outside campus, chaos broke through the usual calm. Two students began shoving each other near the campus gate. Eun-ji froze as a sharp cry and a bright splash of blood erupted from a misstep.
Her stomach twisted. Blood. Her fear, her dislike—it all hit instantly.
But beside her, Ji-ho froze. Not metaphorically. Veins pulsed faintly beneath his pale skin, his breathing tightened, and his eyes darkened in an instant.
"Ji-ho…?" she whispered, unsure.
He didn't respond. Step by step, he backed away, cold, distant, unreadable. The warmth, the teasing, the nickname—all vanished.
If she sees what I really am… his internal monologue echoed in the alley as he gripped the brick wall, forcing himself to calm down. I can't let her find out. Not like this.
By evening, Ji-ho stood alone in the shadows, struggling with the hunger he hated, sunlight still weakening him slightly. The faintest flicker of his veins beneath the skin reminded him how close he came to losing control. He pulled out his phone and sent one message: Meet me.
Not far away, in a dim photography studio storage room, Han Min-jae waited. Guardian. Bound by ancient rule. He had saved Ji-ho after his turning in the jungle years ago and trained him to survive without becoming a monster.
"You reacted," Min-jae said without greeting.
"I do," Ji-ho replied tightly.
"That didn't look like control."
"It wasn't," Ji-ho admitted. "There was blood. She was there."
Min-jae's expression darkened. "Did she notice?"
"…Maybe."
He knew. Love made vampires reckless. And recklessness could be deadly—not just for Ji-ho, but for Eun-ji too.
That night, Eun-ji lay on her bed, phone in hand, replaying the afternoon. The fight. The blood. Ji-ho's eyes. The veins. Her stomach twisted.
"He didn't look sick…" she whispered. He looked… hungry.
Laughing nervously, she typed in the search bar: My friend reacts strongly to blood and sunlight. What could it mean?
Then closed the laptop… but only halfway. She didn't shut the tab.
Something was off. Something she wasn't ready to understand yet.