The clock by her bed flashes midnight. Little Yerim smacks her dry lips in annoyance. It's hard to fall back to sleep when you're thirsty. She really should have listened to mommy Wendy when she said to bring her tumbler to her room earlier.

With light steps, the five year old tiptoes out of bed and sneaks out of her bedroom. She can't be too noisy or else her moms will know she wasn't listening to them again. That did not go well the last time.

So Yerim hastens her little steps. As she walks through the hallway, she notices the dim light of the kitchen.

If she was any older, she would have found that suspicious. But she's five. That means little Yerim looks at the light with a curious sparkle in her eye instead.

She sneaks, like those Ninja Turtles her auntie Seulgi used to watch with her, ducking into the shadows and hiding behind the door. Mission success! Yerim gives herself a pat in the back for not making any noise.

Then, she sees the scariest sight she's ever seen in her entire five year old life.

Yerim isn't stupid. She's doing great in school, thank you very much. She always goes home with a star from her teacher and her mommies always compliment her. 

That said, Yerim totally knows what it means to see her Joohyun umma burying her face on her mommy Wendy's neck who has her eyes closed.

It's very obvious.

Her mother is a vampire.

Yerim barely manages to stifle the horrified gasp that comes out of at the revelation. With frantic movements, she runs back to her room. The shadows from her nightlight are almost menacing casted against her walls as she pulls her blanket over her head.

She knows all about vampires, of course. Aunty Sooyoung made sure of that last halloween. Something about being authentic, she said as she comes over dressed as the fanged creature. Her moms had been out that night.

It was an old movie. Yerim doesn't remember much of it because she slept halfway through but she remembers there was blood and there were many girls dying.

Yerim gasps again.

Her mommy Wendy is a girl. Oh no.

"What do I do?" she whispers to herself, whimpering into small hands to keep herself quiet.

Is her Joohyun umma going to drain her mommy Wendy's blood? Who will make her pancakes in the morning now? Oh no.

With worries plaguing her mind, little Yerim soon falls into a fitful sleep.

She wakes up groggy the next morning, yawning into little fists as she sleepily makes her way into the kitchen. Little Yerim takes her seat, eyes drooping as she climbs up quietly.

"Good morning," her mommy Wendy greets.

Yerim hums in response, eyes still adjusting to the morning light filtering in through their panelled windows. Her mom drops a kiss on the top of her head as she places a plate of choco chip pancakes onto the table.

Wait.

Her mommy Wendy?

Yerim rubs her eyes and looks again, disbelief clouding her eyes as she stares at her mom who is very much alive and smiling too much for someone who was attacked by a vampire just last night.

"You can eat first and then I'll help you clean up for school after, okay?" she tells the five year old, not minding the way Yerim spaces out.

It must be love. Maybe that's why her Joohyun umma didn't drain mommy Wendy's blood and left her for dead. That must be why Yerim is still eating her favorite pancakes in the morning.

Wow.

She watches her mom walk away, probably to start her morning routine so she can take Yerim to the bus stop later. There's a skip in her step that can't be ignored. Even more than usual.

Love. How strange.

Yerim loves her mommies a lot. She loves it when mommy Wendy reads her to sleep, or when Joohyun umma ties her hair because she's just better at it. She loves it when they eat ice cream after a long day and she falls asleep next to her moms, their voices a lullaby to young ears. They're a family.

So Yerim makes up her mind.

Joohyun umma may be a vampire but Yerim loves her and she's sure that she loves Yerim too. Therefore, little Yerim will do everything she can to protect her mom.

Yerim runs to her moms' room as soon as she finishes shoving the last bite of pancakes into . She peeks in. The room is dark, curtains drawn to block in sunlight. Of course. It makes sense, nods little Yerim. She's a vampire after all.

With that confirmed, little Yerim walks back to the kitchen and right past the bathroom where her mommy Wendy can be heard singing behind the door.

Tiny hands get busy as the five year old grabs blankets and cloths around the house, tossing them over mirrors because she can't quite reach many things yet. Little Yerim closes all the curtains next, making sure no light can come in so when her Joohyun umma wakes up, she won't turn into dust. Yerim would hate that a lot.

She's halfway through picking up the garlic in their spice cabinet when she hears a throat being cleared. Yerim freezes on the stool she's standing on, body heavily leaning towards the shelves.

"What are you doing?"

It's her mommy Wendy. And she's using that voice. Oh no.

Yerim turns her head slowly, eyes and pout at the ready by the time she fully faces her mother.

"Umm..." she starts to say, unsure if it's okay to tell on what she found out about Joohyun umma. Her mommy Wendy was probably under a spell last night so maybe she didn't know. Her eyes were closed, after all.

"Yerim, is that garlic?" Mommy Wendy starts to walk closer, brows furrowed as she squints through the dimness of the house. "And why are all the curtains drawn?"

Oh no. Should she tell? It wouldn't be polite to tell on other people's secrets.

"I'm doing something important," Yerim tells her instead.

Mommy Wendy doesn't buy it. Instead, she undoes Yerim's hardwork and lets the lights back in through their kitchen windows.

"No!" Little Yerim can't help but say. "It's dangerous!"

"Dangerous?" Her mommy Wendy asks.

"Not for us, for Joohyun umma!" Then she gasps, covering with a fistful of garlic. She shouldn't have said that.

Mommy Wendy looks even more confused now. She was definitely under a spell and didn't know and now Yerim did an oopsie and told on her Joohyun umma.

"What do you mean, Yerms?" Mommy Wendy asks again.

Too late now. The secret's out.

"Am I in trouble?" she asks, pout more visible.

"That depends if you tell me the truth," Mommy Wendy tells her.

Well in that case.

Yerim decides to tell her from the start, sparing only the detail of forgetting about her water and says she just happened to be there when she saw her moms. Mommy Wendy starts to pale and Yerim gets worried. Maybe her mom isn't ready to find out about the truth on Joohyun umma.

"She's not a monster!" Yerim defends immediately. "Joohyun umma loves you and me and we love her too. Even though she's a vampire."

Mommy Wendy chokes on air when Yerim finally says it out loud.

"Excuse me, a what?"

Honestly, was her mom not listening? Didn't Yerim tell her about what she saw that night?

"A vampire," she tells her mom again.

There's a snort, then a very loud laugh that has Mommy Wendy leaning on the counter as she clutches on her belly. She must have laughed too loud because soon enough, Joohyun umma comes out of her room to see what the commotion is all about.

But the curtains are still open. With wide eyes, Yerim snaps out of her confusion and puts a palm up as Joohyun umma walks into the kitchen.

"Wait!" she practically screams.

Joohyun umma startles into a stop but it's too late. She's already stepped into the kitchen where it's bright and sunny and... nothing happens. What?

"What's going on here?" Joohyun umma asks.

Mommy Wendy wipes the tears from her eye, meeting Joohyun umma's confused gaze with her amused ones.

"Hey here, vampire lady," she greets with a wide grin.

Little Yerim looks at the two of them, neck snapping as she tries to make sense of what she's seeing right now. At least until Mommy Wendy gathers her into her arms and carries her towards Joohyun umma for a good morning kiss.

"What are you talking about?" Joohyun umma asks, taking little Yerim into her own arms.

"Yerimmie thinks you're a vampire," mommy Wendy says.

"But you're not dust?" Yerim looks at her Joohyun umma and pokes at her cheek, confirming that she's still here.

"I'm not and you're about to be late for kindergarten," she says.

It's mommy Wendy's turn to gasp, eyes darting towards the kitchen clock and taking Yerim back from Joohyun's arms. Morning clean up time was too hectic for Yerim to ask any more questions after that. It's upsetting.

The school day ends in a happier note. Yerim had loads of fun with her friends that she almost forgot about her worries. Until she comes home, that is. Joohyun umma had picked her up on the bus stop instead of mommy Wendy and she's still very much not dust.

They make a stop at the ice cream place, her Joohyun umma buying them both a small cup. There's a table outside where they sit side by side, Yerim with her mint choco and her mother with something more plain and boring.

"I heard about what you saw last night," Joohyun umma starts to say.

Little Yerim keeps her gaze on the ice cream, still feeling a little guilty for accidentally telling on a secret that wasn't hers. Even if its to mommy Wendy.

"I'm not mad at you," Joohyun umma continues.

"You're not?" Yerim raises her head, eyes full of wonder as she finally looks at her mom.

"No, I'm not." Irene stirs her ice cream a bit. "It was my fault, anyway. I thought you were asleep."

Well that's not nice. Joohyun umma shouldn't wait until Yerim's asleep to be able to have real dinner. Families should eat together, her moms had told her often before.

"But why?" she asks her mom.

"I'd rather have Wendy explain that," Joohyun umma says. "Or we'll just... enroll you in a school that explains those things well to kids."

Yerim frowns, now even more confused than ever. Is there a special school for kids who have vampires for a mother? Because that would be cool but she also doesn't want to leave her friends behind.

"But why?" she asks again. "I like my school now."

"I know," Joohyun umma says, then grimaces. "This isn't going well."

"That's okay, umma." Yerim reaches to hold her mom's hand to show that no matter what, she will always love her.

Joohyun holds her hand tightly too, and finally smiles. A silent thank you.

"What I mean to say," she tries again, "is that what you saw last night... I'm not a vampire."

Little Yerim's eyes widen at this. "You're not?" she asks, incredulous. She knows she saw what she did.

"Yerim, you've seen me walking around during daytime since you were born," Joohyun umma says with a giggle. "And we literally had garlic rice a few days ago, didn't we?"

Now that she mentions it.

"Oh," Yerim says. "But what about what I saw?"

"Yeah, no. Definitely passing that to your mommy. Let's finish our ice creams so she can tell you."

Odd, but she'll take it. Mommy Wendy has always talked more between them anyway. She likes to explain things a lot. Yerim doesn't mind waiting a little longer.

"Okay," she says. She leans towards her mom who presses a kiss to her cheek.

Little Yerim can now eat her ice cream worry-free. Her Joohyun umma isn't a vampire and mommy Wendy will keep making her yummy breakfast in the morning. 

For now, she's content knowing her family is going to stay as happy as it can be.