It was approximately 30 minutes later when Dongwook finally fully registered the situation they were in. He found Yerin on the beach, by herself, in a state that didn’t seem to explain by itself.
He took her back to the hotel and wrapped a blanket around her before forcefully pushing her on an armchair and going into the kitchen to prepare some tea. For the whole time he spent boiling water, she didn’t move an inch.

“For how long have you been there?” He asked before handing her a mug filled with strawberry tea.

She took it without even flinching at the hotness of the mug. Yerin couldn’t even look at him so she decided she should stare at the beverage instead.

“Why did you leave in the middle of the night?” Dongwook continued, “What were you doing on the beach in the middle of the night, Yerin? What happened?”

“I don’t need your help. I can manage, like I have always done.” She replied.

Dongwook was losing his patience, she could notice it from the way he started to tap his foot.
He had every right to worry, in his point of view but in Yerin’s, he was a stranger. The worst part of all was that he knew that; he knew exactly what she was thinking at the moment and it was only adding fuel to the fire in his heart.

“You-You’re doing it again!” Dongwook exploded, “Just like thousands of years ago, you just won’t let me get close enough!”

“It’s not something you can help with anyway.” She hissed yet still not losing to her instincts.

Dongwook scoffed loudly, his anger not subsiding at all but growing so big that he couldn’t even stand in one place and so he started to pace around.

“Maybe you don’t understand because you have been gone for a long time but the whole country can hear you. Vampires, no matter how old or young, can hear your heartbeats loud and clear.”

Yerin chuckled darkly before she got up suddenly and turned to him with a glare. It was most surprising when she threw the mug at Dongwook's head. It happened so fast that he could barely avoid it crashing into his skull.

"Are you insane?!" The tall man screamed at her, astonished that she could act so childishly.

"Yes! I am insane and irresponsible! I am the scum of the world and I don't deserve to live at all! I am a monster! Are you happy to hear me admitting it? I am the monster that changed you into a vampire just for my own pleasure!" Yerin shouted, surprising Dongwook with the way her eyes seemed to get on fire. He was speechlessly staring at her with a frown, trying to figure what to do next.

"Why would they come to kill you? Everyone from that time is either dead or-"

"It doesn't matter. Do you think the new generations still believe they have a leader? Or that they need one? They are coming to kill the last remain of that fairytale." Yerin explained, calming herself down internally.

Dongwook sighed and leaned against the wall, feeling the pressure in the back of his head. He didn't expect his life to go in circles like that.

"We should go back to Seoul," Dongwook mumbled rubbing his neck still annoyed.

---

"So, I only have to come and drink? That's all I have to do next week?" Ji Soo asked Seojoon when he came in to have a chat.

"That's pretty much it. You can keep Jiwon company and decrease her need to meddle with other people's lives." Seojoon answered smiling up at the human, "I'm sure you can manage it."

"That girl is insane." The human added, making Seojoon chuckle bemusedly.

"You know, when I first came here, I was more scared of Yerin than anyone else."

"You mean the woman Dongwook likes? She doesn't look dangerous to me."

Seojoon couldn't help but smile softly at the human. He had no idea where he was or who was in charge of the place. Seojoon could only wander what will be Ji Soo's expression when he will find out that his boss is immortal.

"Strong essences are kept in small bottles."

"Is that why Jiwon and that Chinese guy Liu Wei are short as well?" Ji Soo joked making Seojoon laugh so loudly that it echoed in the whole room.

"You must have a death wish." Seojoon threw in as a commentary before they heard the front door open.

"Aren't you so eager to begin working here? You're 5 days too early." Liu Wei stated walking towards them with his hands in his pockets.

"I pay for my drinks so I am a customer. I'm free to come and go as I please." Ji Soo answered nonchalantly.

"In my ears, that translates to I have no friends."

"I do have friends. I came with one yesterday but you were too busy tending to those suit men. I was surprised when I realized one of them is a former friend of my dad's." Ji Soo added with a smirk.

It might have worked boasting in front of a usual boss but Liu Wei was far too old to take that as an offence.

"Rich kids will always be rich kids. Have you checked your bank account lately? Not too much missing I hope." Liu Wei said with sparkling eyes as he passed the human.

"What does he mean?" Ji Soo asked Seojoon.

"It means you should check how much you have left. You said it yourself; you come here and pay for your drinks." Jiwon replied instead, sitting next to him with a grin. She even urged him to check it on his phone which Ji Soo did slowly.

"What the-"

His account was half less than he knew he had. It was as if someone withdrew the half that he put aside from his salary. Angrily he turned to Jiwon, instinct telling him she had something to do with it.

"It's fine. They didn't spend as much as I hoped. Dongwook must have pitied you." Jiwon chuckled, glancing at Seojoon who was trying to hide his laughter.

"Hyung- he has a lot more money than I do! Why would-you had something to do with it."

"Maybe," She admitted with a bright face.

"This, you'll pay for it. I'm serious; you will pay me for working here!" Ji Soo exclaimed just to be sure Liu Wei heard him.

---

By the time Dongwook and Yerin arrived back in Seoul, it was already afternoon and the young and restless part of the South Korean population was getting ready and pretty for a night out.
Sundays were not as crowded as Fridays or Saturdays in night clubs but they weren’t on the verge of going out of business either. Itaewon was one of the most frequented parts of Seoul by both foreigners and Koreans and Dongwook had a slight idea why Yerin bought a pub that could easily change into a club over night, in a place with so many people.

“When did you meet the woman you live with?” Dongwook asked on their way up the same alley towards her store and his apartment building.

“A few years after I left. She was brought with other Asians to be of use in France. Jiwon was pregnant when I saw her bleeding in a corner in a local pub. Her so called boss gave her the name Jeanne and forced her to sleep with men but he never thought that she might actually be a virgin. Jiwon’s feminine pride shattered very early in her life. I knew I had to help her live.”

“What happened to her baby?” Dongwook asked.

Yerin sighed heavily, changing the hand she was holding her luggage with. It wasn’t a subject she enjoyed remembering about.

“The baby boy lived. Jiwon has been keeping an eye out for her son and his ancestors ever since. Everything she has, she gives it all to them.”

“And Liu Wei?”

Yerin chuckled, catching glimpse of Dongwook’s intense stare. He was genuinely interested in everything she has done and everyone she had met while she was gone.

“Liu Wei committed treason and was sentenced to die. I changed him because he was handsome.”

Dongwook stopped and looked at her in a very confusing manner. He couldn’t understand if she was joking or not because her voice did sound sincere.

“Also, the way he was looking at me as if dying wouldn’t bother him at all reminded me of you. While I was waiting for you to reach that line between death and life, I could see it in your eyes. Once the shock disappeared, you accepted your fate and that’s probably one of the main reasons I changed you. You didn’t deserve to die back then.”

She said those words so easily as if she has been rehearsing that moment for the past years.
But for Dongwook, it meant so much more.

“I searched for you afterwards but you just vanished.”

“I know.” She admitted, glancing down at her hands before she continued, “I saw you. I saw you in Europe and I caught glimpse of you in Vietnam and China. Every time you’d find me, I’d run away.”

“Why?” Dongwook asked frowning as he abandoned his luggage on the ground and walked in front of her.

“My heart only beats out of control when you are around. I can’t stop it, can’t stop myself from having this human trait.” Yerin said softly, avoiding his gaze, “I have loved you for a thousand years and will probably love you for a lot more and that’s why I had to leave. I’m not hidden when you’re around.”

Dongwook’s frown deepened even more as he thought about their little trip to Busan.

“So it’s my fault then. If I stay away from you, then you can just mix into the crowd.”

“No!” She might have said that too fast and too loud, “I mean, it doesn’t matter anymore. Sooner or later, other vampires will figure out I’m alive and will come search for me.”

There was a small pause in which Dongwook stared at her, worry in his dark eyes and millions of thoughts swirling in his mind. He sighed and grabbed a hand through his hair, feeling the pressure in the back of his head stronger than before. The dark haired man grabbed his luggage with one hand and grabbed hers with the other, walking up the alley.

“Um, my apartment is not the same way as yours.” She informed him, quickly running after him.

“I know. You’ll be staying with me tonight. We need to come out with a plan because I want to settle in.” He replied over his shoulder, his voice sounding more like a grumpy mumble than anything serious.

But even if she heard it correctly, Yerin was still confused.

"What's that suppose to mean?” She mumbled to herself, following him even if she knew that was most definitely not a way to quiet down her beating heart.

Notes