Jiwoo wanted to dedicate a personal you to every vampire film that depicted getting bit by a vampire as something pleasurable. It was not. The proper words to describe the discomfort she felt didn’t exist in any language, but if she had to equate it to something, she would say it felt like her blood was being vacuumed out of her wrist. She had a brief thought to try and pull away, but she was far more worried about Sooyoung living than her sore wrist.

The only thing Sooyoung had said to Jiwoo before passing out cold was ‘call Jinsol’, so that’s what she did. Jiwoo was almost surprised when Jinsol didn’t ask any questions and somehow showed up within five minutes of Jiwoo’s phone call. Of course, that sorted itself out rather quickly.

“What happened this time?” Jinsol sighed as if this was a weekly routine.

“Sorry, I don’t really know. She just showed up looking like she got put through a meat grinder?” Jiwoo shrugged. “Wait a minute. If you’re not asking questions, you know she’s a vampire?”

“Ah,” Jinsol smiled apologetically. “We both are, yes.”

“Hold on a second, man, hold on a second,” Jiwoo had to sit down to still her dizzying vision.

“To be honest, I thought Sooyoung had already told you. She took such a liking to you after all.” this time Jinsol shrugged.

Jiwoo hesitated, “You don’t have to be careful about it? Who knows, I mean?”

“Not really, humans in general are not much of a threat to us. Besides, given our line of work, you’re probably not likely to be super freaked out.” Jinsol said.

“Uh, should we maybe move her? So she’s not just . . . on the floor?” Jiwoo changed the subject.

“I suppose,” Jinsol picked Sooyoung up like she weighed nothing more than a feather.

“You can put her in my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch or something,” Jiwoo called to Jinsol as she carried the unconscious girl away.

Jiwoo just sank on the couch, pulling her knees to her chest. She ran her fingers over her already bruising wrist absentmindedly; it had only been an hour and she had so much to think about. Perhaps Jinsol would be able to answer some questions. As if she had read Jiwoo’s mind, Jinsol sat next to her on the couch.

“Questions?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Wait, you guys can’t like, read minds right?” Jiwoo asked cautiously.

Jinsol laughed. “No, no, of course not! Why? Indecent thoughts?”

Jiwoo blinked. “No, my head is just empty a lot more often than it should be, so that might be kind of embarrassing.”

“You’re really an interesting person, Jiwoo,” Jinsol giggled again. “Anyway, if you have questions for me feel free to ask!”

“Are you sure it’s okay? I would feel bad if you told me something Sooyoung didn’t want me to know,” Jiwoo hesitated.

“Oh, don’t be daft!” Jinsol nodded her head toward Jiwoo’s wrist, “Sooyoung took your blood so you have every right to know what the hell’s going on.”

“The tattoos,” Jiwoo blurted out. “The ones on her chest, they were moving, I think.”

Jinsol looked confused for a second, “Oh! Yeah, where should I start with those? I guess it would help if I started with the forms? Obviously, we have human forms and we easily pass as humans. The form you probably saw Sooyoung in was what we call a hybrid form— you only see our more prominent vampire features. The last form is of course our vampire form. It takes a lot of energy and physical exertion to wield them in this part of the world, which is why we have our hybrid forms.”

Jiwoo realized that this was about to get a lot more complicated than even she could have predicted.

“Those tattoos, as you called them, only appear to move in Sooyoung’s hybrid and vampire forms. In her normal human form, it just looks like a normal human tattoo.” Jinsol continued.

“Are they not tattoos?” Jiwoo’s eyes widened.

“Not really. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they look like tattoos, and in her human form they might as well be, but it’s actually a seal.” Jinsol said.

“Oh, that’s not as nice, I suppose” Jiwoo smiled sheepishly.

Jinsol laughed again. “Yeah, it happened a long long time ago, honestly. Sooyoung is a naturally strong vampire; though not born into a royal bloodline, she could easily overtake them all in terms of power. Of course, women become more fickle with time and luxuries, and jealousy runs through everyone’s veins, so one thing leads to another, and Sooyoung got herself cursed.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t Sooyoung’s fault?” Jiwoo said, more a question than a statement.

“Oh, no, it definitely was.” Jinsol guffawed. “Sooyoung has changed a lot in the last century or two. She used to go around doing whatever she pleased. Actually, the Halloween party reminded me of the old Sooyoung quite a bit.”

Jiwoo turned abruptly towards Jinsol at the mention of the incident. “What do you mean?”

“Oh.” Jinsol paled, if that was even possible. “Oh, she didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?!” Jiwoo whined.

“Well never mind, that’s beside the point really. As for the seal, it just makes Sooyoung many times weaker than she normally is. Not that it made a difference, as she vastly outclassed the woman who cursed her.”

Reluctant as she was to just forget about the Halloween party incident, Jiwoo was taking in so much information that her brain had already moved onto the next question.

“Well, if it’s a seal, there should be a way to get rid of it, no?” Jiwoo reasoned.

Jinsol rolled her eyes. “Well, perhaps we would know if Sooyoung hadn’t decided to kill the caster as soon as she cast it.”

“Sooyoung did what?!” Jiwoo practically shrieked.

“Oh, right. Humans frown upon death as if it’s below them or something out of their hands.” Jinsol nodded sagely. “When you’ve lived for thousands of years, life isn’t anything sacred. Vampires have no qualms against murder and the sort. If you’re strong enough to protect yourself, so be it.”

“Right . . .” Jiwoo trailed off.

“So in conclusion, I have no idea how the hell Sooyoung is going to get rid of the seal, and neither does she.” Jinsol said, then threw in as a good measure, “You should probably put some ice on that bite, by the way.”

Jinsol had explained some other minor things to Jiwoo before eventually leaving, and Jiwoo was too exhausted both mentally and physically to do anything other than sleep. Though, to her surprise, when she woke some hours later, Sooyoung was still out. Also, much to Jiwoo’s surprise, her skin had already healed as if she hadn’t had life-threatening wounds everywhere only hours earlier. She discovered that Sooyoung had returned to her human form, and the seal looked, as Jinsol had said, like a normal tattoo. As Jiwoo sat beside her bed, she couldn’t help but study the tattoo; it looked mostly like two snakes coiling around Sooyoung’s throat. They were so detailed she guessed if it was a legit tattoo it would’ve cost a fortune in both time and money.

True to character, even though Jiwoo should have had many thoughts racing through her mind, it was really empty. Without even noticing it, she fell asleep at Sooyoung’s side, having only slept a handful herself.