Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

‘Fuck.’

This was bad. Horrible, even. Kim Soleum hissed at the feeling of the arrow lodged in his ankle– he could remove it, easily, and it would heal, incredibly quickly, because Kim Soleum was a vampire.

‘The problem’, Kim Soleum thinks, ignoring the pain as he ducks further into the Mayor’s mansion, ‘is that I can’t do it without them noticing.’

“Them” in this case referring to the vampire Hunters chasing after him.

To be fair, he knew they weren’t pure vampire Hunters– they simply exterminated all that was supernatural. Which was a bit stupid, considering that a lot of them willingly utilized magic.

Apparently magic was the only acceptable supernatural thing and not all witches were evil, shocking, Kim Soleum was not salty over the fact that this didn’t apply to other supernatural beings, totally.

Ducking over another arrow, Kim Soleum took a shortcut through the dining room to avoid the one wielding the sword Kim Soleum could tell was not silver but also could tell would harm him either way. It looked like a sword full of holy energy– so vibrant that it hurt his eyes.

The guards were out, protecting the Mayor. This far into the mansion, the patrolling guards who remained behind wouldn’t be able to hear him even if he screamed.

‘The Mayor’s room, the Mayor’s room…!’ 

Kim Soleum darted up a flight of stairs, hearing the woman behind him curse at his speed. 

“Won’t you slow down a bit?” The one further behind calls.

Kim Soleum does not scream, because he is an adult, but it is a very near thing. Instead, he remains quiet, and finally rounds the corner to the Mayor’s study.

Getting in is a quick thing. He locks the door behind him, hoping to buy just a little time. The wards wouldn’t work for him; he hadn’t been here long enough yet.

He digs through the Mayor’s drawer. He’d said that there was something which could help Soleum, though he hadn’t specified, but Mayor Lizard was trustworthy and had very good decision making skills, which was why he got the job, so Kim Soleum rifled through the drawer until he reached the bottom.

Outside, the two Hunters were arguing.

“Can’t I just break the door down?”

“This is why I call you youngster. If he is a vampire, he will fade to dust. If he is not, then the Mayor will find us personally and kill us, or majorly inconvenience the Guild. Do you want that to happen?”

“...Sorry, ma’am.”

‘Dear God that I do not believe in because you are a liar,’ Kim Soleum thinks violently as he removes the false bottom to find a small box, ‘can you make them stop having such civil conversation while trying to kill me?’

The Hunters outside had finished speaking, and Kim Soleum could hear the lock clicking.

…It appeared the old lady knew how to pick locks.

‘I’m doomed.’

Kim Soleum opens the box. Inside it is–

‘A compact mirror?’

Kim Soleum flips it open. He can clearly see his reflection, haggard, bags underneath his eyes and blood staining his clothing.

‘Mayor, how is this supposed to help me…?’

Kim Soleum turns the mirror around, hoping for any information Mayor Lee Jaheon could have given him.

He finds, on the bottom of the mirror–

‘Finished 1360, made of pure silver. May you find use in this gift.’

Kim Soleum freezes.

Silver? The mirror was made of pure silver?

Frantically, Kim Soleum turns the mirror back around.

His reflection appears calm, even if the quirks proving that he was anxious could be seen if one looked closely. Knight Eun Haje had told him that his eyes would flattened slightly when he was nervous, but it wasn’t something the ordinary person who didn’t know him would be able to tell.

And then his reflection no longer looks calm, because a wide grin appears on his face.

One that he is not making.

‘Ah, I’m so fucked.’

On one hand, it looked as though the woman was nearly done with the lock. On the other, the mirror contained a reflection not his own but mimicked it closely enough to pass, even as a silver mirror.

No wonder the Mayor had said it would be able to help.

The problem was, how was he supposed to prove he wasn’t a vampire? The Hunters might simply suspect that he had tampered with the mirror somehow, and make him look into a silver mirror he knew they had in their coats instead.

His reflection mouths something.

Help you. Help me.

Kim Soleum nods his head frantically.

At this point, he’d take the unknown mirror entity over the Hunters who were guaranteed to kill him once they proved he was a vampire. Besides, this was the Mayor’s possession; even if Kim Soleum would have to pay back… whatever the price this mirror was, the Mayor would do his best to help Kim Soleum. He was kind to his people like that.

The lock clicks open.

Kim Soleum shoves the drawer back into place as the lady opens the door.

She’s holding a sword. A very holy sword. Kim Soleum absolutely does not scream at the sight, and he knows he doesn’t because neither the woman nor the man behind him so much as have a change in expression.

The man– the archer– gives him a whistle.

“Sorry ‘bout your ankle,” he says, voice smooth despite the strange scar on his throat, “I was aiming for your knee.”

‘That doesn’t make it better!!’ Kim Soleum thinks, desperately.

The woman smacks the man behind him without even looking back.

“I apologize for his behavior.” She says, only inclining her head slightly. “I should introduce myself properly.”

“I am Haegeum, of the Supernatural Entity Hunter’s Guild.”

Kim Soleum blinks slowly. Yes, he had gathered as much, because he wasn’t an idiot and knew his politics. And also the one who turned him held great hatred for them, but that wasn’t relevant at this current point in time.

“This–” she gestured behind herself at the handsome archer “–is Choi.”

‘...Did she just say that his name is Choi?’

She sighed.

“Sorry to break the news to you, but we have reason to suspect that you’re a vampire.”

Kim Soleum blinks at them.

“...I see.” Is all he says.

The room remains silent.

The woman– Haegeum –sighed.

“We’ll run a few tests, and if you’re not a vampire we’ll be on our way. I’ll get you a recommendation at a temple as well to get your wounds healed after.”

“Tests?”

Choi grins at him.

“Hey, Mr Aide, what tests do you think we’ll run?”

This felt like a very dangerous question.

Say too much, and he gets clocked for knowing the supernatural. Say too little, then… he comes off as an ignorant fool? Whatever the case, they know his position, which means he is expected to have at least minimal knowledge about supernatural beings.

“...Don’t vampires hate garlic?” Kim Soleum asks, rhetorically.

Choi winks at him.

“That’s right!” He says, cheerfully, as though this is a casual conversation and not one where they’re accusing him of being a vampire, “but it’s not the best metric! In recent years, it’s been found that some people have bad reactions to garlic despite not being vampires.”

“All we need you to do,” Haegeum says, patiently, “is to stand still and look into this mirror.”

From beneath her cloak, she pulls out a small mirror. It’s silver– Kim Soleum can instinctively tell, and the logo on the back of the mirror only further solidifies his hypothesis.

“I’m going to step closer. Is that alright?”

Kim Soleum does not verbally say that it’s not like he has any other option, because he knows if he acts aggressively they’ll cut him first and ask questions later.

The Hunter’s movements are slow and open. One hand remains on her sword, because clearly she isn’t a fool, but other than that she’s trying to be as unthreatening as she can be. Kim Soleum appreciates it.

“Alright,” she says, like she’s trying to soothe a beast and isn’t going to cut his head off the moment she sees that there’s not a reflection, “won’t you look into the mirror?”

Just as she’s about to the small mirror–

“Wait!” The other agent calls.

Hunter Haegeum does not look back at her colleague, but her annoyance is clear on her face.

“What is it, youngster?”

“What are you holding?”

It’s clearly directed at him, so Kim Soleum replies honestly.

“A mirror.”

“Oho, I see.”

“Can we get on with it?”

Kim Soleum nods slowly, shutting his eyes as the woman slowly raises the mirror so that it reflects him and at an angle where she can view his reflection.

‘If I jump out the window, I should be able to survive… but they won’t like that I’m bringing attention to the supernatural. There’s a chance they’ll kill me if the Hunters don’t.’

The Mayor– or City D, in general– would stand for him, because they had sworn to, but Kim Soleum doesn’t want to inconvenience them when they’d already given him so much.

At that moment, blinding pain shoots through Kim Soleum’s hand.The silver mirror from Mayor Lee’s drawer clatters onto the floor, falling open, right as Hunter Haegeum raises her mirror enough to see his face. 

The woman seems alarmed. 

“Choi! You know better than to–”

“He’s a vampire, though?”

‘This is it. I’m going to die.’

Kim Soleum wished, desperately, that he was anywhere other than here. If only he hadn’t–

“He’s not, so put down the bow.” She says, sharply, her voice cutting.

‘Right, an experienced Hunter like Haegeum would have already cut my head off and stabbed me in the heart with a stake if I was a vampire– what did she just say?’

“He’s not a vampire, kid, so stop being hostile.”

“...I see.”

“We’re talking about your instincts again when we go back.”

“I’m sorry.”

Hunter Haegeum looks at him with pity, patting his shoulder lightly.

“I’ll make him foot the bill, so don’t worry and visit a cleric.”

Kim Soleum nods his head slowly, still processing what just happened.

Her gaze trails downward, to his injured leg.

“...Or perhaps we should call a cleric here instead?” She suggests, politely.

“No.” Kim Soleum denies, perhaps a bit too quickly. “It won’t be necessary. I don’t want to bring attention to this matter.”

Hunter Haegeum nods at his words.

“I apologize once again for that, Mr Aide. What might we call you…?”

He smiles at Kim Soleum disarmingly, but he doesn’t let his guard down. This was the man who had just shot him with an arrow, after all. One with a bit of holy power or blessing, by the way his hand was burning.

Kim Soleum remains quiet. He’s been briefed on this before.

“Sir?” Hunter Haegeum asks, her hand going back to her sword.

Kim Soleum knows they know his name. They know his position, after all, so they most definitely know his name. He’s a bit wary of saying it, however, seeing as they suspect that he’s a supernatural being so they still have some tools which can be activated even if he’s passed the vampire mirror check. Slowly, he opens his mouth.

“There are many deer in the forest at this time of the year.”

“Excuse me?”

“Roe deer, specifically. The dogs like chewing their bones.”

“I see.” Hunter Haegum says. “Mr Deer, is it?”

Kim Soleum nods lightly.

“Why didn’t you choose to say your name?” Choi asks, voice light and airy.

“I might not know a lot about the supernatural,” Kim Soleum says, forcing a glower onto his face, “but I’m not a fool. I know what can be done with a name.”

“Like what?”

Kim Soleum nearly chooses not to answer, but making the Hunter feel a sense of guilt seemed like the better option.

“My friends– my family…” Kim Soleum lets his voice trail off, turning his head to face the floor.

Hunter Haegeum finally turns away from him, even going as far as to take her hand off her sword.

She proceeds to slap Choi across the face. The sound is incredibly crisp– so crisp that Kim Soleum nearly bursts out laughing.

“We are talking about this back at Headquarters.”

“Yes ma’am.” He doesn’t sound too sorry, though. Kim Soleum can’t really blame him– he is being incredibly suspicious.

“If you ever need something supernatural looked into, please call us. We’ll ensure your request is looked after as soon as possible.”

“Alright.” Kim Soleum agrees. There is no way he is ever going to walk into that building, so it won’t happen, but he supposes if he comes down to it he can send a letter.

“Might I ask who ‘tipped’ you about me being a vampire?”

It must be pretty bad for the Hunter to reply instantly.

“A man from City F. I can’t say much more, but the evidence he brought was compelling enough for us to be dispatched.”

“I see.” Kim Soleum says.

There’s really only one man who would try to kill him this way.

He should make Baek Saheon’s life difficult. It appears he’s been too lenient on that guy lately.

He doesn’t push more, because that would be awkward with the oath the Hunter has probably sworn which would prevent her from answering, but the fact that she willingly said the request was from F City inspires some goodwill in Kim Soleum’s heart.

“I know the guy. We’re on pretty bad terms.” Kim Soleum coughed lightly. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t listen to his requests if they're about me.”

Hunter Haegeum nods with understanding. She’s probably seen this scene countless times before, as an experienced Hunter.

“We aren’t assassins, but Hunters. We are not mindless dogs. You have my word that we won’t bother you about this matter anymore.”

Kim Soleum spies the badge underneath her cloak. 

‘Her rank is probably high enough to be trusted.’

“Alright.” Kim Soleum agrees. “My apologies, but do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

“Feel free.” Then, she frowns. “But you might want to go to a temple soon.”

“I’m fine, I’ve faced worse.” He flashes what he hopes is a charming smile.

Both Hunters look vaguely disturbed, so he drops it quickly.

“Do you know a Hunter Bronze? I want to express my gratitude towards him.”

“Oh, Jaekw--” Haegeum slaps a hand over Choi’s mouth before he can complete his sentence.

“--Ahem, I meant of course! He’s the best junior I could ever ask for. Lent me his crossbow as well.”

‘No wonder it looked familiar…!’

“Is he doing well?” Kim Soleum asked, politely.

“He is.” Hunter Choi says, clearly pleased to talk about his junior.

“I’m glad.” Kim Soleum says, and absolutely means it.

Spotting a flicker out of the corner of his eye, Kim Soleum looks out of the window. Distantly, many lanterns are seen making their way to the mansion.

“That’s our cue to go. Until next time! Who should we tell our Bronze is being thanked by?”

“My alias is fine.”

“Alright!”

With that, Hunter Choi winks at him, before striding out of the room. His posture is so very relaxed– it’s difficult to associate this man with the trigger happy one who had shot him in the leg and hand.

Hunter Haegeum nods at him, concern on her face.

“I’m sorry I can’t bring you to a temple myself.”

“It’s fine, really.”

She takes a small bag out of her cloak.

“This should cover the cost of visiting a proper cleric.”

“Isn’t– isn’t that your travel funds? You needn’t give it to me, really–”

Hunter Haegeum winks at him.

“How else am I going to get the youngster to pay for everything?”

Kim Soleum laughs at that.

“Stay safe.” He says, politely.

“You as well.”

Hunter Haegeum leaves, closing the door behind herself politely.

Kim Soleum remains silent, standing perfectly still until he’s certain both Hunters have finally left the mansion.

Then he collapses to the floor and lays there.

He rips out both arrows, uncaring of the way they spill blood over the floor and his clothing. He had already spilt blood upon it earlier, and there was no way he was going to be able to fool the Mayor’s eyes so he simply gave up.

They’d be back by morning.

He’d need to draft a report as well. A member of City F’s council letting slip that he was a vampire was a disaster in the making. Either the Mayor would make them pay reparations, or he would simply bring it up to the one who had turned Kim Soleum. That’s guy’s visceral hatred for the Guild would ruin Town F. He probably wouldn’t have cared as much had it just been assassination, but most people knew that bringing the Hunter’s Guild into this was simply asking to be found and ripped to shreds brutally by the old fox.

It was a close call. If not for the fact that he had a reflection in the mirror, he wouldn’t have survived the night.

'…'

Speaking of the mirror.

Kim Soleum sits up frantically, picking up the mirror and brushing away any dust which might have gotten onto it.

The mirror reflected his current appearance for a moment before raising its hand and giving him the middle finger.

…Kim Soleum probably deserved that.

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to draw their attention to you…” It’s not a lie, and it’s not the full truth, but it is sincere enough that his reflection lowers its hand.

Helped, it mouths.

Kim Soleum nods his head.

“Yes, you helped me a lot. It means a lot to me.”

Payment.

Kim Soleum nods his head, taking in a deep breath. Hopefully, it wouldn’t ask for something Kim Soleum couldn’t give.

The entity opens its mouth, before leaning in closer and blowing on it, fogging it up.

You.

Name.

The entity’s power was probably related to the written form of words, seeing as it wrote it out instead of asking Kim Soleum directly, when Kim Soleum had proved that he could read its lips.

Biting his lower lip lightly, Kim Soleum writes with a shaky finger.

“Roe

Deer”

At once, the surface of the mirror becomes clear. His reflection is frowning now, clearly displeased.

Ask

Name.

“It is my name.” Kim Soleum insists.

The mirror entity frowns at him. It’s strange, seeing his face be so expressive. But it is also quite literally a reflection of himself not acting like he usually would, so Kim Soleum lets the fear drag his appreciation for it back down to manageable levels.

“It is a name I refer to myself by.”

Not.

“It is. It is one I am referred to by my colleagues as well.”

The mirror entity looks properly angry now.

“It is a name. You can feel that it is a name. It is a name because it is a name, and you know it.”

The mirror entity looks at him. Really looks at him. It scrutinizes him, before a wide grin stretches across its mouth.

Companionship.

“Very well.” Kim Soleum says aloud to the mirror’s writing. The mirror entity had helped him survive, after all.

“Bring me with you”, it mouths.

Kim Soleum takes in a deep breath.

“If that’s what you want in return for your earlier help.”

The mirror entity nods. 

‘Good. That deal is sealed, then.’

First things first, Kim Soleum would have to clean up the Mayor’s room, and draft up a report about what happened to be submitted. Then, he’d have to ask him what this mirror was.

And how it could affect other mirrors, to make them show Kim Soleum’s reflection within pure silver.

But that could wait until later, when the Mayor got close enough for Kim Soleum to be able to see his features from a distance. There was still a night before he would come back, after all.

Sighing, Kim Soleum pulled out a knife from underneath his vest, cutting off parts of the flesh that had been burnt by the slightly-holy arrow. While it didn’t hurt as much now, it was impeding his natural healing.

Stretching, Kim Soleum yawned. He’d have to ask the Mayor for more blood soon.

After wiping the mirror down and ensuring that it looked sparkling clean, he placed the mirror on the Mayor’s desk so that it had a good view of what he was going to do. Kim Soleum did not think about how this sort of mirrored his other experience with entities in inanimate vessels, then he decided that he didn’t want to think about it too hard, lest he attract any undue attention from certain beings.

He also does not think about it because it is a bad pun.

Really bad pun. Something that would get him looked at funny by Captain Falcon and Deputy Badger before they laughed with him, trying not to hurt his mood despite the common consensus being that it was a shit pun.

He missed them so badly right now.

With all of the staff being dismissed for the day, Kim Soleum sighs and begins to attempt to get the blood out of the carpet.

‘Worst comes to worst, I’ll just have to burn it.’

Today was not a good day to be a vampire. He should really set his Mayor on City F as soon as possible.

Chapter Text

“You’re back, Mayor. How was the hunt?”

Mayor Lee Jaheon blinked slowly at Kim Soleum.

“It was successful.”

Kim Soleum waits for another two seconds, just in case Lee Jaheon felt like adding any adjectives today. He doesn’t say anything else, which is to be expected, so Kim Soleum smooths over that.

Captain Eun Haje laughs, slinging an arm over Kim Soleum’s shoulder, who hastily bites his tongue to not let out a yelp in surprise.

“Should’ve seen him, kid! Looked just like a knight from a fairy tale or something. I thought we’d have to hunt quietly, but he just ran straight up to the deer with his sword and ran them through.”

Kim Soleum pictures Lee Jaheon running up to a deer and cutting its head off. That… that seemed in character, honestly. 

“The deer was running so fast I had a hard time believing the Mayor managed to catch up. I thought we’d have to camp out in hiding for a few days, but turns out we didn’t even need to camp at all.” Vice Captain Park Minseong adds, bringing his own hand up to ruffle Kim Soleum’s hair.

Kim Soleum appreciates the physical contact, really, he truly does, it’s just–

“Can you at least take the gloves off?” Kim Soleum asks, weakly, and Eun Haje just winks and leans her weight on him and ow she’s wearing armor ow–

Mayor Lee Jaheon leans over and picks up Eun Haje by the collar as though he is picking up a stray cat by its scruff, which is insane because he’s doing it single handedly and Eun Haje might not be decked out in full armor but she’s still wearing considerable amounts of metal and that must surely be heavy.

…When had human standards applied to Lee Jaheon anyway? It was better off to not try in general.

“How have you been, Soleum-ah? You feel fine, right?” Park Minseong asks, a hint of genuine worry in his voice.

Really, this city… all its people were too sweet to him.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry, I won’t get sunburn just from standing outside during daytime.” Kim Soleum lets a small smile overtake his face, and the relief on Eun Haje and Park Minseong’s faces is clear for all to see. Lee Jaheon’s face doesn’t change at all, but then again Kim Soleum perceives him as having a reptile head so he’s probably not the best person to talk about all this.

Kim Soleum nearly reaches for the necklace that he had been given the day he’d received the alias of “Roe Deer”. It’s hidden underneath his shirt, plain and simple if not for the way instead of a small chain it looked from afar each link was in the shape of an antler, the type which the Captain and Vice Captain had said looked like that of a roe deer's and left it at that. As long as the charm sitting upon its center remained close enough to him, he could afford to stay outside in the sun.

…Still not for too long, though, so they’d better get back before then.

“I’ve asked the staff to prepare a meal for you all; I’m sure you’re very tired.”

Eun Haje sighed.

“Considerate as always… we’re so lucky we have you here, kid.”

The meal they have together is nice. Eun Haje regales him with tales of Lee Jaheon doing Lee-Jaheon-like things with Park Minseong chiming in every so often, who is content eating good food that they can afford thanks to Mayor Lee’s good decisions regarding business. 

“For all that our Mayor seems straightforward, he’s surprisingly good with business.” Park Minseong says, chewing on roasted meat.

“I am the Mayor.” Lee Jaheon says in reply.

“Yes. Yes you are.” The way Eun Haje says it is akin to a tone one would hear from a mother indulging her child’s dreams. Kim Soleum is not sure what to feel about it.

“I have something I’d like to bring to your attention.” Kim Soleum says, politely.

The mood at the table drops so fast he’s surprised the room doesn’t freeze over.

‘Though, judging by Captain Falcon’s goblet, it’s a close thing…’

Eun Haje curses, nudging the ice formed on the metal rim into her drink and chugging it down, pretending nothing happened.

“...It would be best to discuss this after your meal.” Kim Soleum says. Perhaps he shouldn’t have brought it up at all…

No, it involves the Hunter’s Guild. That’s important enough to bring it up. They’d need to up security around the mansion when the Mayor was out; some important documents could have gone missing had the Hunters not have a code they stick with.

…Well, if it was anyone else then Kim Soleum would have made them faint from blood loss before they could even reach the second floor, so perhaps it wasn’t necessary. Something to ward against Hunters, maybe…?

“In the office, right?” Park Minseong asks, his voice tense.

Kim Soleum nods in response.

Park Minseong glances around the table, before standing up quickly.

“Since we’ve finished eating, we should–”

“You have not finished eating.”

Park Minseong glances down at Lee Jaheon’s words.

“I’m fine, really. Don’t have too much of an appetite at the moment” He says, his smile a bit strained. Eun Haje frowned.

“Just this once.” She grumbles.

It doesn’t take them too long to get to Lee Jaheon’s study. Kim Soleum watches Lee Jaheon’s eyes sweep over his own office, taking in all the inconsistencies he can notice that would probably be physically impossible for anyone else to see.

Park Minseong opens the window and leans out for a minute, letting his gaze fall onto the busy mansion. He does a sharp whistle– as quietly as he can, for it is a whistle in the end– and listens to the silence.

He closes the window, locks it and draws the curtains, giving the rest of them a nod.

Eun Haje covers her eyes for a moment, whispering underneath her breath, and when she finally puts her hands down her eyes glow with magic.

“Sometimes I wish these steps weren’t necessary,” she mused, “but I guess that kind of thinking is what makes it necessary.”

She does a sweep around the room. 

She frowns slightly, but eventually shakes her head to indicate they aren’t being watched.

“My eyes are dry.” She complains, her eyes no longer glowing. She leans against the desk, watching Lee Jaheon.

‘It’s both strange and fascinating.’

The fact that, despite the both of them wholly believing Lee Jaheon was human, they still trusted him the most. They trusted his senses over their own magic and nature.

They trusted his leadership.

And to be fair, Kim Soleum did as well.

Lee Jaheon opened his mouth.

“It is safe to converse about sensitive matters at the moment.”

Eun Haje lets out a breath she’d been holding, and Park Minseong finally sits down comfortably. They all turn to look at him, but it is the lizard’s gaze that bothers Kim Soleum the most.

‘The thing with Mayor Lizard,’ Kim Soleum thinks, as Lee Jaheon’s gaze burns into his coat pocket, ‘is that his senses are far too good to be human.’

Well, he isn’t human. Not to Kim Soleum, at least.

He looks perfectly human to everyone else, though. Kim Soleum really doesn’t know how it works.

‘Maybe a strong glamour?’

“Roe Deer. You took out the mirror.”

Both Eun Haje and Park Minseong look confused at that, but they keep quiet to let them speak.

“Yes. May I take it out?”

“Yes.”

Kim Soleum reaches into his pocket and takes out the small, compact mirror. 

“May I– no, should I open it, sir?”

“Yes.”

Kim Soleum flips the mirror open, gazing into his own reflection. It still felt incredibly strange– he was still used to looking into clean windows and the surface of still water to check how he looked. 

His reflection mirrors him perfectly– or he assumes it does, up until it lets a wide grin spread across his face.

From where she’s standing behind Kim Soleum, Eun Haje has a clear view of what is reflected in the mirror.

Eun Haje recognizes it as silver before Park Minseong does.

“Kid, what the hell?” She steps closer to Kim Soleum, and he has a feeling that she would have tried to rip the mirror out of his hands and thrown it across the entire world before Mayor Lee stops her with a single turn in her direction.

Park Minseong scrambles to peek over Kim Soleum’s shoulder, clearly having caught on as well.

“You shouldn’t have a reflection in a silver mirror.” He says, wonder in his voice. Kim Soleum’s reflection shoves Eun Haje and Park Minseong’s reflections, and Kim Soleum startles when they’re physically pushed away from him.

The Mayor is by his side in a second.

“You will not do that again.” He states.

He tilts his head.

“You will not hurt my staff.” He amends.

His reflection clearly seems displeased, but it breathes over the surface of the mirror and writes.

Won’t

Hurt

Again

It is clearly good enough for Mayor Lizard, who nods and steps away.

“What is that?” Eun Haje asked.

“A contracted entity.”

“Contracted by whom?”

Mayor Lee Jaheon did not give her an answer.

Kim Soleum’s reflection is raising its middle finger in the mirror, so Kim Soleum smiles awkwardly and puts it on the desk, with a clear view of the room.

“Kim Soleum.” Lee Jaheon says, “did you make a deal with it?”

‘Average Mayor Lizard, managing to make a question sound like a statement…’

“Yes.” Kim Soleum replies. “I promised it companionship.”

Lee Jaheon tilted his head.

“It will not harm you. It can only speak the truth. It can only take on the form of one person at a time, and will be bound to you as your reflection until you break your promise.”

Kim Soleum feels himself gaping at Mayor Lizard. Even Captain Falcon and Vice Captain Badger seem confused.

“He doesn’t usually say that many words at once, right?” He asks Eun Haje, quietly. It’s a close room, though, and they’re all close to each other so everyone in the room hears the words.

‘Park Minseong could have whispered in another room and the Mayor would still have heard him…’

Eun Haje frowned.

“Is that all? No downsides? This doesn’t sound real to me. No offense, Roe, Mayor Lizard.”

Lee Jaheon nods once.

“No offense was taken.”

“Is there anything I should be careful about, Mayor?” Kim Soleum asked, politely.

“The mirror can only be shattered by supernatural means. Doing so will mean that it will be released.” Lee Jaheon paused, before adding one last sentence.

“It does not want that currently. Your best option is cooperating to appear as one entity.”

Kim Soleum blinked. Usually… usually trapped entities wanted to be freed, right?

‘Unless there’s something looking for it… no, enough of that.’

“Can it read my thoughts?”

Mayor Lizard blinked once. Kim Soleum once again pondered why he could see a lizard head while everyone else saw a presumably very handsome man with white hair.

“Yes. Only when your own reflection is present.”

“Thank you, Mayor. How might I pay you back for this mirror…?”

Lee Jaheon opened his mouth, presumably to name a price that will leave Kim Soleum in debt, before Eun Haje crosses the room in a single stride and slings an arm over Lee Jaheon’s neck.

“Don’t worry about it, kid!” She exclaims, though a grimace appears on her face, “think of it as a late birthday gift or something! We completely missed it.”

Mayor Lizard’s expression did not change, but Kim Soleum could have sworn he saw confusion.

“Gifts with a value exceeding–”

“We chipped in!” Park Minseong said, loudly. “We chipped in and this is a collective gift to Roe from us, right, sir?”

“The entity is an entity, so we can’t put a price on it. All of us chipping in to get a vintage silver mirror for our favourite junior’s birthday isn’t a strange thing, right?”

She gives Kim Soleum a thumbs up. Park Minseong repeats her gesture.

Lee Jaheon sits absolutely still for a second, so still that Kim Soleum might have tried to take his pulse just to make sure that his heart was still beating.

“Yes.” Lee Jaheon agrees, and then raises his own hand in a thumbs up gesture.

…He’s so awkward about it though, it makes the scene comical.

“There are no problems.”

Kim Soleum smiled. Really, they were all so…

“Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank us for– Roe?”

“Fuck, are you crying? Look, I’ve got a handkerchief here, stop rubbing your eyes with your hands!”

“I-I’m not crying!”

“That statement is false.”

Kim Soleum laughed helplessly. They truly felt like family to him, and Kim Soleum couldn’t be more grateful that they were part of his life.

Park Minseong sighed.

“I guess you’ve missed the feeling of looking into a mirror, huh?” He asked, patting his back gently.

“It’s fine to converse with the mirror entity, right?” Kim Soleum asks Lee Jaheon instead of replying.

Lee Jaheon nodded.

“Thank you. Thank you so very much.”

“? You are my aide. I am responsible for ensuring you receive the help that you need.”

Lee Jaheon looks him in the eye. Kim Soleum has grown used to looking at the lizard face right back over the last few months, but it’s still an… experience.

‘Ah, right, the second item on the agenda.’

“Back to my report.” Kim Soleum says, coughing slightly, doing his best to discreetly rub his eyes with Park Minseong’s handkerchief which Eun Haje had taken to give to him.

Both Eun Haje and Park Minseong step back, giving him room to speak.

“The Hunter’s Guild broke in last night.”

“Roe, what the fuck–”

“You should have said so earlier–”

Lee Jaheon raises his hand.

“Continue the report.” He says, flatly. Both Eun Haje and Park Minseong stop speaking immediately– their respect for him is clear, Kim Soleum thinks.

“Yes. They had enough evidence to accuse me of being a vampire. I was injured, but I am fine now. It is presumed that they knew of your schedule and the patrol route of the guards, as no one noticed their intrusion.”

Lee Jaheon blinks once, considering the information.

“I will deal with this matter myself. Prepare a list of staff to be hired as soon as possible.”

Kim Soleum blinked.

“Sir? Isn’t that–”

“No, Roe.” Park Minseong said, pained. “It’s about your safety. It’s not unnecessary.”

“I am capable of holding my own against–”

“But you didn’t for the Hunters.” Eun Haje said, her tone cutting. Her voice softened, trying to soothe him. “Look, it’s not that we don’t believe that you can’t protect yourself, but you consider the City’s political scene more than you consider your own safety at times.”

Kim Soleum has no retort, because it was true.

“We’re worried about you,” Eun Haje continues, “and you are going to let us worry about you.”

‘It sounds like a threat…’

Kim Soleum glances at Mayor Lee pleadingly. He simply blinks once slowly in response.

‘…That’s just how Mayor Lee Jaheon is…’

Kim Soleum sighed inwardly, keeping his face flat as he continued his report.

“The hunters were not visibly observed taking anything from the premises. However, they should be a bit more amiable to ignoring a few of City D’s… strangeness for a little while, since their information was faulty.”

“Did they say who gave them the information, Roe?”

Kim Soleum coughed.

“A man from City F. I believe I know him.”

“The same one that tried to sacrifice you to his god once?” Eun Haje asked, coldly, with the vibe that she was going to find and kill said man.

“He doesn’t believe in god.” Kim Soleum says. “He doesn’t worship god, at least.” He amends, because Baek Saheon deserved at least that distinction as a basic human right.

“Not the point. Point is, Mayor, can I kill the guy?”

“Your request will be considered.”

Eun Haje sighed. Park Minseong chimed in, sounding mildly hopeful.

“Can’t we put in a request with–”

“It will be denied.” 

‘An instant rejection…’

‘Baek Saheon is…’ well, last Kim Soleum had heard, he’d gotten a pretty good foothold in City F politics, and had been scouted by one of the royals for being a whole Cult Escapee with a lot of knowledge about specific blood rituals which had been dying out nowadays, if he remembered correctly.

'They probably felt the information was useful if they gave him a good post and support.'

Well, it’s not his problem anymore what that guy does, but did he really have to point the Hunter’s Guild at City D? It was such a shame he counted as a human, otherwise Kim Soleum would have asked the Hunters to investigate Baek Saheon right back.

“Is there anything else?” Lee Jaheon asked. It was still a wonder how his voice was so… flat? Monotone? Yet still so very sincere.

“No. Thanks a lot, Mayor.”

Lee Jaheon nodded.

“Your safety is City D’s safety.”

“I really don’t think–”

“Yes it is, Roe, do we need to talk about self care aga–”

Eun Haje stopped their argument by leaning in and wrapping her arms around both of their shoulders.

“Say, what do you both say to something more expensive tonight, eh? Heard a merchant came to town recently selling some of City I’s specialties.”

Neither of Park Minseong or Kim Soleum’s protests reach Eun Haje, who grins and glances at Mayor Lizard, who approves of their new dinner plans with a nod of his head.

Kim Soleum sighs at the thought that he’s going to have to rearrange the Mayor’s schedule right after he got back.

‘Then again, I need to rearrange everyone’s schedules either way, including my own. Someone leaked the information, after all. Him leaving for the hunt was known to the entire mansion.’

Kim Soleum sighed at the thought of having to replace staff and making sure the new chefs or maids or butlers were reliable and unlikely to sell out the Mayor.

There should be more of his supporters– he’d brought economic growth City D had not seen before with his policies, and happiness levels had been steadily rising for the last few years. It helped that Mayor Lizard, with his general inhumaneness, was very good at hunting supernatural beings– the more well known ones, magical creatures– and could sell their parts to the Capital, which fetched them a rather hefty reward.

Despite the fact that he was absent from the public’s view a lot, there was no doubt that he was effective. It helped that he had a handsome face as well, even if he appeared with a lizard’s head to Kim Soleum. He’d heard far too many people comment on Mayor Lee Jaheon’s attractiveness as he passed by them in the streets– though he would agree that the Mayor’s muscles were very nice.

Some argued that he was a bad leader as he was incapable of sympathizing with the people. Kim Soleum thought of them as idiots. Lee Jaheon, despite his face looking presumably emotionless most of the time, was very good at noticing people’s bad habits and doing his best to support them in his own, unique way.

Plus, Mayor Lizard didn’t lie, unlike other politicians.

…Though sometimes Kim Soleum would have to gesture to Mayor Lee Jaheon to speak more instead of giving one word replies…

Eun Haje looked at a clock and sighed.

“I think that’s all the time we have today. Sorry, Roe. Sorry, Mayor.” Park Minseong said, apologetically. 

“It’s alright. Please keep up the hard work! Fighting!”

Park Minseong ruffled his hair.

“You’re right, Haje, this is the best texture in the entire world.”

“? You are wearing metal gloves of considerable thickness. It is unlikely you feel the texture of Mr Kim Soleum’s hair underneath them.”

“I– Mayor! Not the point!”

Eun Haje waved at them cheerfully, which contrasted her tired face in an amusing way.

“See you next time we’re free. Or come see us if it’s important.”

“Farewell, Captain Falcon, Vice Captain Badger.”

“Farewell.”

“We’ll come back soon!”

Kim Soleum waved at them as they left the study, trusting that they would find their way out of the mansion with how many times they’d been there. Instead, he locks the door behind them, and turns to face the Mayor.

“Did you find anything?” He asked, quietly.

“No.”

Lee Jaheon appeared thoughtful.

“Is there anything else you might want to mention, Mayor?”

Lee Jaheon visibly frowned, which took Kim Soleum aback.

“Mayor?”

“Based on current evidence…”

Lee Jaheon considers speaking, before eventually deciding that Kim Soleum had a right to know what came out of his snout next.

“There is reason to believe your old Lord knows about what you seek.”

“I see.”

Kim Soleum clasps his hands behind his back to hide their trembling– as though Lee Jaheon would not be able to pick up the increase of speed in his heartbeat, in the shorter intervals he breathed, in the mild tremors which wracked his body–

“I have a request.”

“What is it, Mayor?”

“If you are to converse with him,” Lee Jaheon said, looking right into Kim Soleum’s eyes with his own unblinking ones. The vertical slits bore into him and through him and into the deepest parts of him Kim Soleum would not admit to anyone, not even Lee Jaheon.

“It is advised you do it with the cooperation of your reflection.”

“Alright. Thank you, Mayor. I will be taking my leave.”

Lee Jaheon nodded.

“Do as you please.”

Kim Soleum unlocked the door of the study, walked out, and closed the door behind him. 

Then he let his expression collapse, let his body tremble and shake visible.

‘Fuck.’

Of all entities, it had to be “Braun”.

If Kim Soleum were to look into (ha!) a mirror, he’s sure his skin would be paler than it already was and his eyes would glow as red as candlelight in the dark.

Kim Soleum gripped his fists tight enough for his palms to bleed. He watched as the blood coalesced, yet not a drop slipped free from his control. He let it flow back into his veins and shook his head.

No, focus.

He’d need to converse with the mirror entity.

It was incredibly lucky that staff weren’t allowed near the Mayor’s room unless it was a certain time in the morning and evening, as no one was around to see his expression. Kim Soleum speed-walked to his own office, which was relatively close to the Mayor’s.

While it was usually convenient, as it allowed for quicker communication, Kim Soleum despaired at the fact that it meant the Mayor would probably be able to hear everything Kim Soleum said.

First things first.

‘I need to talk with the mirror entity– and then with Him.’

He would make proper preparations this time. Rubbing a hand over his ring, which felt unusually warm today, Kim Soleum walked into his office, and locked it, allowing himself to bathe in pure darkness.

“...I’ll have to light a candle for the mirror to reflect me properly, though.” He mused aloud.

Fuck, he felt so tired. Not physically, but mentally.

‘Too much happened yesterday… but it’s not like I have all the time in the world. I need to act if I want to get answers.’

So, with a sigh, Kim Soleum rifled through his drawers and took out a few candles. Now, to think about what to ask first…

Chapter Text

Kim Soleum lights three candles. One on the left of the mirror, the other on the right, and the last one behind it. Bar the flickering candle flame, no light is present within the room. Not even a sliver of light passes underneath the doorway, covered by a thick curtain.

With shaky fingers, he flips the mirror open.

Even in the dim light, he can still see his reflection clearly. 

It is his mirror image, until it is not. It opens its mouth.

Question?

“Yes.” Kim Soleum said, staring into his reflection. “There are a few things I want to ask.”

The entity considers.

Acceptable.

“What are you” was a broad question. It was also one inviting answers which could not be given or understood or should be known at the current point in time. “Who are you” was better, but with how Lee Jaheon had said that perhaps the mirror entity would rather stay in the mirror…

Kim Soleum knows the entity should have at least his surface thoughts at the moment. It was the same with him, after all, but it wasn’t as though he was thinking anything dangerous so he brushed it off and settled on an easier question.

“Firstly, what would you like to be called?”

His reflection in the mirror tilts its head, and then writes a single word.

You

That… was fine. It would work, for now.

“What do you want from me?”

Hide. Safety.

“You do not want to be found by whatever is looking for you.”

The entity nodded its head.

“How much of ‘me’ do you know?”

Outside. 

Don’t know, don’t understand inside

Conclusion will be the same either way.

So, something like strong intuition for what Kim Soleum was going to do next physically?

“About other people’s reflections. Are you able to physically touch them even in the mirror?”

Only this mirror.

Only when they are reflected within the mirror, then.

“Can you promise not to willingly harm my friends?”

–

The entity draws a single line through the mirror. Kim Soleum presumes that is a neutral answer. Hm, not unexpected…

“Why me, of all people?”

Unholy

Without reflection in silver.

Perhaps the mirror entity was limited to silver? Or perhaps just pure metals? Kim Soleum is aware he has reflections in glass; could the entity appear there as well?

“Why the emphasis on silver?”

The mirror entity lifts a finger to write on the mirror, but opens its mouth to speak instead.

Important. Rituals. Holy. Trust.

‘Trust?’

Kim Soleum did not have too much trouble interpreting the mirror entity’s words. It was much like Mayor Lizard only saying keywords and leaving the context to be guessed if he was in a hurry.

Kim Soleum bites his inner mouth. No, there didn’t need to be questions about trust yet.

“Mayor Lizard recommended that I do a ritual with you in my presence. Might I hear about the reasoning?”

Lizard

Want

Protect

Kin

“How exactly do you protect me?”

Entity. Binding.

That could mean a multitude of things. 

“‘Entity’ as referring to someone else, or to us?”

Us

Kim Soleum thinks he gets it. They are two beings, but with the mirror they would appear as one. A binding for “Kim Soleum” would affect them both then, in this case? That was useful information.

Kim Soleum thinks about what else he could possibly ask. The mirror entity looks patient, clearly having expected being forced into a conversation. To be fair, while Kim Soleum was sure Mayor Lizard would have ensured the entity held no ill intent, he still had some things he would like to clear up before they came up at an inopportune time.

“What would happen if I died?”

The mirror entity writes quickly. Not quite startled by the question, more in a way that gives him the feeling it is trying to convince him not to die anytime soon.

Unbound

Reflect all

It would be unbound from Kim Soleum’s appearance, and it would reflect everything else…? Lee Jaheon did mention that it could understand his surface thoughts; perhaps it would still be the same even if more subjects were reflected into the mirror.

“Is there a benefit to reflecting only me?”

You -> free to move body

Others -> fingers and facial expression

‘...It values freedom.’

Perhaps it was fine with being bound, because it chose to be? But it felt that being forced to reflect everything was too limiting. However, even when the mirror had reflected Park Minseong and Eun Haje when Kim Soleum had shown it to them, the mirror entity had used his body to push them out of view. During that time, had it been reflecting them, or had it not? Did “the mirror” and “the entity” count as two separate things, instead of being just one?

‘It’s something to think about later.’

“That night the Hunters broke in– you showed them my reflection in silver. Is it limited to just silver, or does any reflective surface work?”

Able to view as mirror

‘...For now, I’ll assume it means that it has to be opaque enough to not see the other side.’

That’s all the information Kim Soleum needed for now.

“Do you promise to cooperate with me to the best of your ability?”

Yes, it writes.

Kim Soleum raises an eyebrow. His reflection pouts in the mirror.

Promise to cooperate with you as much as possible concerning your safety

‘Thankfully, it wrote that without too much resistance.’

Kim Soleum feels sweat bead on his forehead. It seems he’s never quite gotten over his fear of most supernatural, even if he himself was a vampire now. Though he would have been willing to change the terms to something more vague if the the entity refused, the fact that the entity accepted the first promise was a relief. 

Simply “cooperating” was too strict; Kim Soleum had expected it to change it to something less restricting. “Concerning Kim Soleum’s safety” was about as good as it was going to get.

“Is there anything you want me to take note of?” Kim Soleum asks.

His reflection points at itself, and then at him.

You. Me. Kim Soleum.

You are Kim Soleum

I am Kim Soleum

Do not deny

“Am I allowed to say we are separate beings?”

The entity nods.

You are you.

I am me.

We are Kim Soleum.

The entity needed to “borrow” the name “Kim Soleum” without truly touching upon the name itself. 

It was using his name as an anchor.

Kim Soleum nodded.

“That’s fine. I understand.”

After all, it wasn’t asking to use his name. It wasn’t asking him to say that it was Kim Soleum. All it asked was that he did not deny it.

Kim Soleum took a deep breath.

‘This is fine. This is all fine. It’s within acceptable parameters.’

Kim Soleum sighed. He would have had to ask this question at some point, anyway.

“Could I ask you to help me with a personal projects of sorts?”

The entity clearly knows what he is thinking, what he is asking. It’s spelt out clear across his thoughts.

It asks for clarification anyways.

Summoning of an Ancient God, it writes.

“Yes. I am willing to do it without you, but the Mayor requested that I do it within your presence.”

The entity opens its mouth. It closes it. It leans closer to the mirror, and draws a large, crude–

X

It then considers for a second, and adds a second word underneath for emphasis.

No

That wasn’t too surprising. It meant Kim Soleum would have to, unfortunately, go against Mayor Lee Jaheon’s advice and–

Lantern

‘...What?’

What was it–

The mirror entity points behind Kim Soleum. As though in a trance, Kim Soleum walks over and pulls out the drawer, revealing a wooden box. He takes it out and flicks open the lid, setting it on his desk.

It is a beautiful lantern, reminiscent of the stars. Eun Haje and Park Minseong had made it together as a welcoming gift for him. Mayor Lizard was banned from helping, or so they said, as he might squash some delicate objects. He had, however, helped fund it, which he was grateful for.

‘They said it was because it was good fortune.’

Eun Haje had added a bit of magic to the lantern, despite not being an artificer. The wood was from a tree Park Minseong had cared for himself. An enchanted one, it was guaranteed to light up a room, no matter how dark it was. It didn’t hurt to stare into, unlike fire. Its glow was stable, dim enough not to bother him but bright enough to let him differentiate colors clearly.

Kim Soleum looks back at the mirror uncertainly. Why bring the lantern up…?

Candle instead of lantern, it mouths.

“It’s convenient. I’m used to using candles. Besides, the lantern is a special item. I don’t want to waste it.” Words flow out of Kim Soleum’s mouth, as easy as breathing. It’s the truth, after all.

Liar.

It points to the mirror.

Warding.

‘It’s implying the warding spell on the lantern could have helped in negotiating?’

That didn’t matter, though. To an entity like it, which could be counted on the “holier” side with its silver mirror, it wouldn’t have guarded against it at all. At best, it would have annoyed the entity.

It picks up on what he is thinking, and opens its mouth before he does. Seeing his expression in the mirror be so disturbed is a disconcerting thing.

Lantern light better for reflection.

‘That’s true, but why…’

Wait.

Kim Soleum preferred doing his paperwork in the darkness with a single lit candle. It allowed him to see well enough, so he had never found a reason to change the habit.

‘Even so, I’m not averse to using items. Using the lantern for a brighter light that wasn’t fire would have given a better impression, and the stronger light would mean that my reflection would be shown more clearly, so why–’

Compromised, it writes, bold strokes in each letter.

Kim Soleum was not compromised. His thinking wasn’t compromised. He wasn’t–

Kim Soleum stumbles backwards, and pulls the ring he had always kept on free from his hand.

It’s still sparkling, an unremarkable band of simple, unidentifiable metal with no engravings or excess detail on the outside. Yet–

Kim Soleum watches as flakes of metal fell out from the inside of the ring. A dirty, tarnished brown.

It had been eaten from the inside out.

‘Fuck.’

Fuck, he felt sick. The metal ring had clearly lost its protective properties not too long ago, for its outer shell remained whole and shiny.

He’d let that ring sit on his finger for months, with every intention of letting it sit there longer. 

He had been feeling more panicked over the last few days, hadn’t he? He had hesitated on making a decision with the Hunters, torn between escaping and killing them and oh he wouldn’t have even considered killing them when he could just sort it out with words. 

‘The ring isn’t working anymore.’

The thought of placing the ring back onto his hand made him ill. A placebo effect that he could still remain calm here would be worse than acknowledging he was less mentally resilient without it.

Kim Soleum’s thoughts swirled around like a whirlpool, throwing him into disarray. The acknowledgement that the ring no longer functioned as intended left him scrambling for something that made sense.

‘But why did it break? I haven’t interacted with anything that could mentally affect me for months.’

If he had, he trusted that Lee Jaheon would have informed him. He wasn’t allowed to follow on hunts either, and the people he met in his daily life were all normal humans. That meant the only thing that could be affecting him was something he wasn’t aware of.

Kim Soleum looks into the mirror.

‘...No, I’m already aware of it.’

‘I just kept denying it.’

Kim Soleum kneels down, unlocking the bottommost drawer with a bit of his own blood. Inside lays a mask; an elegant, refined mask, adorned by gems too rare for Kim Soleum to name and too extravagant it touched upon the line of being excessively so. A ribbon was looped around it, brown with gold seams. Kim Soleum could still remember the day it was given to him by an entity more divine than anything Kim Soleum could safely name without his brain melting.

For a second, Kim Soleum feels the urge to put the mask on, to travel and bring smiles to people’s faces and act and encompass the feeling of “life” and listen to the audience clap and perform for the Great MasterOfTheStage–

Kim Soleum throws himself backwards, away from the mask, his entire body shaking. He had felt compelled to put it on, to wrap the ribbon around his hair or hand or neck like a leash and–

‘It’s an object with power. It just tried to manipulate me into putting it on.’

‘And,’ Kim Soleum thinks, ‘the power rolling off of it in waves is pretty distinctive as well.’

Because “Braun” was, unfortunately, a petty bastard for a God.

His moment of clarity would fade soon. It was how his life went, after all, and if he focused too much the information he could not digest would melt his brain. He hasn’t felt this mentally weak since he was a human. Becoming a vampire had naturally made him more resistant to most mental effects and allowed to be more clear-headed, but being a vampire was nothing compared to someone like him. When just his existence was something beyond mortal comprehension.

Kim Soleum opens his mouth.

“MAYOR!”

For a few seconds, there is absolute silence. And then the noise picks right back up. He hears the rattling of paintings on the wall, and hears the way objects drop to the floor. From where he is sitting, he can see the entire room shake.

He hears Lee Jaheon before he sees him; the door swings outwards, torn off of the wall. He’d very kindly pulled it instead of pushing it, probably to minimise the chance of hitting Kim Soleum with a flying door.

Kim Soleum could cry seeing that familiar lizard head.

“Sir.” Kim Soleum says, not knowing how he should formulate his next sentence. An apology? An explanation?

Lee Jaheon’s eyes focus on Kim Soleum, and then the mask clearly belonging to a world famous troupe who happened to worship a certain God in their spare time.

He walks across the room and picks up both Kim Soleum and the mirror without hesitation, and walks right back out and to his office. Kim Soleum lets himself be carried, embarrassed. His feet weren’t even touching the floor right now… 

“Do not use your office for the next three days.” Lee Jaheon says, simply. It’s reassuring listening to him speak.

“Alright, sir.” Kim Soleum says, his voice still shaky.

Lee Jaheon places him down in his office, and takes off his own suit jacket to lay it over Kim Soleum’s shoulders. It’s a very touching gesture, one he normally wouldn’t do unless prompted.

‘Vice Captain Park Minseong would be proud of him.’ Kim Soleum thinks, still in shock. His body trembles. Of course that guy hadn’t given up on him. Of course, because this was his life now. Being strangely appealing to all sorts of different supernatural entities for some reason. And he still didn’t even know where he came from, even if Daydream had simply falsified all his documents and stamped them as official and no one was about to go to the Capital and argue with them that his records were falsified, would they? Not if they were sane and valued their survival.

It doesn’t take too long for Mayor Lee Jaheon to return, even if every passing moment had felt like an eternity.

But Kim Soleum had an eternity to live now, so did feelings like that even matter?

“A message has been sent to Captain Falcon. She will be arriving shortly.”

Kim Soleum tries to offer Lee Jaheon his suit jacket back, but he simply denies it with a curt “no” and goes back to working. He leaves a cup of hot milk by Kim Soleum’s side as well, which is really nice of him.

‘...Did Captain Falcon and Vice Captain Badger successfully manage to coach Mayor Lizard on human niceties?’

Kim Soleum feels antsy without anything to do. Not that he’s complaining, per se, it was just…

He needed to work on something to take his mind off the fact that he had been polluted by a stupid stage mask he can’t throw away or break lest its owner decide to descend in godly form and cause an accident he knows he will be held responsible for.

‘Either way, I need to do something right now.’

It’s not a whim; it wasn’t a want, it was a bone-deep need, an urge to do something, anything at all. Energy he did not have a mere ten minutes ago was suddenly rampaging throughout his body, and Kim Soleum wanted to move and pace around where he was safe next to Lee Jaheon, wanted to do anything to get rid of this buildup of energy.

He solves it by trying to peek at what Lee Jaheon was writing. Most of what he kept on his desk were purely business matters, which he would consult with Kim Soleum about, and if it was a personal letter then it was from either Eun Haje or Park Minseong who would always include a line like “say hi to Roe for us!” or “don’t work our Soleum-ah too hard”, which meant it was fine for him to read, and seeing as even if Lee Jaheon was popular as a leader he was still cold and aloof and fairly intimidating for the average person to approach and the letter was unlikely to come from anywhere else.

Kim Soleum doesn’t think about the mountains upon mountains of love letters he filters out before they reach the Mayor’s desk.

Kim Soleum is trying to read upside down when Mayor Lizard simply opens his mouth without looking at Kim Soleum once.

“If you wish to read, it is requested that you move closer.”

Kim Soleum shuffles the chair around the desk awkwardly, ignoring the way it screeched against the floor. While it might have bothered him any other day, the past few days were far too eventful for him to be bothered by it to a meaningful degree.

Kim Soleum watches Lee Jaheon sign different forms, doing math for business matters in his head and writing out the answers in a single step, which felt a bit insane to Kim Soleum. He’s even writing letters as well, and–

…Wait.

‘...Mayor Lizard writing letters?’

Kim Soleum snaps out of his trance of watching Lee Jaheon’s hand move and smooth lines of ink draw themself upon each page to focus on what Lee Jaheon is writing instead. It’s a reply to an event at the end of the month, a day of national celebration, where the leaders of each city were invited to visit.

Kim Soleum resists the urge to bury his face in his hands, for he was currently holding a cup of now-cooled milk with them.

“Mayor…” Kim Soleum says, weakly. “What did I say about writing letters?”

Lee Jaheon pauses in his writing.

“To consult you first.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Lee Jaheon stares unblinkingly at Kim Soleum, and once again he is taken aback by Lee Jaheon’s lizard face and reptilian eyes.

“Aide Kim Soleum is currently in no state to work.”

Kim Soleum turns his eyes towards the letter and reads it.

‘...Can this really be called a letter???’

Your Highness Cheong,

Attendance is confirmed. 20 people will travel to the Capital including myself and the knights. Thank you.

Lee Jaheon

Mayor

City D

“Mayor, you know people don’t take the letters you write well.”

“Her Highness is not one who is described as a person.”

“That’s not the point,” Kim Soleum replied, slightly tearfully. Really, this Mayor… he was truly too lizard headed at times.

“I write all your letters for you for a reason. Human interactions go into a deeper level, and subtext matters.”

Kim Soleum quickly pulls a blank piece of parchment towards himself, making sure that it was empty, and hashing out a quick draft.

Your Highness Cheong,

It is our honor to be invited to the attend the Tide-Split Festival, and we gratefully accept the invitation to attend.

Aside from myself and my aide, 18 of our finest knights will travel with us, including City D’s Captain and Vice Captain. We will arrive by the 28th of October, and expect to stay until the 31st. Should any issues arrive, we will inform you as soon as possible.

Thank you kindly for the invitation, and we shall not disappoint Daydream with our conduct. We look forward to seeing the Capital draped in fine decor and the banquet that is sure to amaze even foreign visitors.

Yours faithfully,

Lee Jaheon

Mayor

City D

“Look,” Kim Soleum says, writing down the words as it came to his mind, without thinking of any revisions. If he had more time, he’d look over it carefully and add a bit more substance with more consideration, but since the letter was coming from City D, they’d be forgiven for a relatively short letter. Lee Jaheon’s personality was infamous, after all. 

‘Even so, it’d be best to go through at least another two drafts like I usually do.’

“You need to remember to add some flair to the letter, Mayor. You can be as dry-cut as you like to the other cities, but this letter is going to the palace. It’s going to be read by royalty.”

Lee Jaheon tilted his head slightly.

“All necessary information was included in the letter.”

‘There’s truly no reasoning with Mayor Lizard.’

“Sir Lee Jaheon,” Kim Soleum says, slowly, “please listen to me on this. You can’t pick up on subtext most of the time, but I assure you that the letter will not be received well if it is sent just as you had written.”

Lee Jaheon stares at Kim Soleum, and his perfectly flat reptilian face makes Kim Soleum want to tear his hair out because Lee Jaheon was just going to send it anyways, wasn’t he–

“I have sent letters written in the same format since I have been Mayor.” Lee Jaheon says, factually. Kim Soleum gets the increasing urge to hit Mayor Lizard over the head with a rock, and he’s not embarrassed to think so because the rock would shatter against Lee Jaheon’s head and Lee Jaheon would brush it off– literally – without a single change in expression, so no harm would be done anyway.

Perhaps the Royals just found it amusing. That would be in character for whatever goes on in the Capital.

Kim Soleum is about to argue with Lee Jaheon about the semantics of human speech when Eun Haje bursts into the room, panting. Her armor is half removed– the metal breastplate is gone, and she was only wearing one of her greaves.

“What happened?” She asks, panting. Her familiar flies in after her, settling itself on her arm.

Kim Soleum feels bad for making her worry.

“It’s nothing–”

“An Ancient One has been regularly attempting to pry into Sir Kim Soleum’s brain for the past few months through an inanimate medium.” Lee Jaheon interrupts, his voice dry.

Eun Haje turns to Kim Soleum, and Kim Soleum realizes belatedly that he is still covered by Lee Jaheon’s jacket and holding an empty cup between his hands.

“Nothing?” She asks, incredulously. “You call that NOTHING? We gave you that lantern for a reason!"

‘Ah, so the lantern was "protection" for my mental state.’

For the second time that day, Kim Soleum swears within his mind.

Chapter Text

"Kid, stop making us worry about you so much."

Eun Haje, after having aggressively given Kim Soleum a checkup, was now sitting on the desk, her hawk familiar on her arm.

"I'm very sorry." Kim Soleum apologized once again, sincerely, for he truly had nothing else to say.

"Your office should be good to use in another two days." She pats the wooden box, newly carved with sigils, with her other hand. "It should last for a few months, since I'm not the best with sigils. For fuck's sake, I major in hexes and curses, not protective wards…"

Eun Haje devolves into an angry rant about different types of witchery and the different subclasses, which Kim Soleum listens to with great interest, even if she's too busy cursing every other sentence to really explain things properly.

"Is this letter acceptable?" Lee Jaheon asks, voice dry. Both Eun Haje and Kim Soleum stop and turn to look at it.

Eun Haje shrugged.

"Could be worse. I really don't understand what you're trying to do by training him out of how he usually writes. It's not like anyone even cares about it."

"Captain Eun Haje…"

"Fine!" She throws one of her arms up. "Fine, have it your way. It's funny watching them all scramble when Mayor says a single word more than necessary."

'...That's still not the point. I'm not teaching him that as an intimidation tactic…'

Kim Soleum sighed.

Eun Haje switches topics.

"Kid, we've explained to you before about your unique mental constitution, right?"

It's about as close as he's going to get called a coward without getting called a coward, even if the implication is there.

"Yes."

"Don't care, I'll go over it again since you've clearly forgotten."

'...Ow.'

Eun Haje was really cutthroat when she wanted to be.

"Humans are susceptible to things like illusions and mind manipulation. As a vampire, you should be more resistant to both, and more mentally resilient in general. However, that freak of a God–" 

"Please don't say that." 

"–Freaking stalker of yours has keyed your being."

She taps the box which used to contain the lantern.

"Like how I keyed the lantern with your blood to make the protection spell surround you instead of attack you as an unholy being, and how our charms can only be used by ourselves. In short, as long as it's from him, then your mind gives no resistance. It's not something I can fix, since it's not my area, but I can recognize it well enough."

Having finally stopped her sentence, Eun Haje takes in a deep breath. Clearly, she hadn't wanted him to interrupt.

"When you visit the Capital, go see whats-her-name… Duck. The Pope. That old lady. She should be able to help you bump your mental resistance up."

Lee Jaheon offers no comment, which means he neither approves nor disapproves of her suggestion.

"I will take that into consideration." Kim Soleum says nicely.

Eun Haje looks at him, and then snorts.

"Yeah, fancy way of saying you won't do it."

Kim Soleum opens his mouth to retort or to apologize, but she throws her familiar at him before he can form the shape of a word.

"--Ack!"

"Hey, Falco." Eun Haje says, casually, to her pet hawk named Falcon without the n, "stick with him for a bit. I'm busy."

She then turns around and leaves.

She doesn't close the door behind her.

Kim Soleum stares blankly at the empty space left behind as Eun Haje's hawk familiar makes a nest of his head.

"Sir Aide. I will be sending the letter as-is to the Capital."

"...Alright, Mayor." Kim Soleum says, his response delayed as he does his best to stay still for Falco. This was why he liked Honey the badger more… At least she didn't scratch him unless provoked, unlike how Falco was now gripping his shoulder. Ow. He was a vampire, so he was more durable, but that didn't mean he appreciated the feeling of talons digging into his skin.

Sighing, Kim Soleum raises a hand. Falco lets himself be pet, the handsome and smart bird that he is. He's sure Falco will fly off by itself when it feels that it has fulfilled whatever Eun Haje has asked of it. 

A few days later, Kim Soleum is going to pick up some pastries for himself and the Mayor. Mainly for himself. The Mayor seemed like he needed to pick up something confidential that even Kim Soleum wasn't supposed to know, so he had sent him out.

It was probably some important Daydream thing. Probably. Lee Jaheon has his position for a reason, and it's because whatever Daydream asks of him he delivers. That's her Highness' criteria, after all. Talent trumps all.

"Hey! Kim Soleum!"

Kim Soleum turns his head at the call, and breaks out a smile when he sees Park Minseong run toward him. His face is all red, and his hair is slicked back in sweat. Kim Soleum checks his mental timer– very early in the morning. The knights had just finished their daily morning practice, then.

"Hello, Vice Captain Park Minseong." Kim Soleum greets politely. "I was just about to buy something to eat. Would you like to join me?"

Park Minseong beams. 

"Of course!"

He leans down and slings an arm across Kim Soleum's shoulder. Kim Soleum is about to grimace and maybe joke about him not being able to remove his own armor when Park Minseong whispers in Kim Soleum's ear.

"It's serious. As soon as possible, I need to talk with you about Eun–"

"Are you eating without me? Damn, here I thought we were friends…"

Park Minseong pulls back and gives Eun Haje, who had just appeared, a shaky smile.

"Nope! I just spotted our favourite Aide, I was planning on asking you as well…"

Eun Haje laughs.

"Sure, sure, you weren't going to abandon me. Woe! A liar I have for a partner!" 

Her voice is incredibly sarcastic.

Park Minseong's smile grows more strained.

'...I'm getting a bad feeling about this.'

Park Minseong is desperately glancing back at him, with a look that pretty much said "let's talk about this later."

Eun Haje herself seems to be suspicious, but she wasn't commenting on the atmosphere yet because somewhere in her was the last sliver of patience she had for the day at 6am. Kim Soleum needs to extract himself from this conversation as fast as possible before she does something like follow them to their breakfast all smiling with dead eyes and sit there and chat ominously until one of them gives in and spills the beans, of which Kim Soleum doesn't have any.

"I heard there was a new restaurant that opened recently. I hear it is City I cuisine; I was just about to buy some for myself and the Mayor."

It's a white lie. Mayor Lee Jaheon wouldn't bat an eye at whatever Kim Soleum brought back, as long as it was consumable and had nutrients in it. Hells, if Kim Soleum brought him a bottle of live insects he'd probably still eat it, even if it would give away the fact that Kim Soleum knew he had a lizard head.

Eun Haje's smile freezes on her face, and she stops walking closer.

"...City I cuisine?"

Her expression crumples.

"They throw so much salt onto their food I can't believe it's edible. Don't you die from drinking sea water because it's too salty?"

Eun Haje does not like salty foods.

…Not quite. Salt was an important part of most dishes, and Eun Haje liked her food to be with salt. She simply disliked food that was too salty. Her taste buds were sensitive like that, even if sour foods and spicy foods were fine.

"It depends, I think?" Park Minseong scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Don't you die from drinking sea water because you don't filter it? It can carry diseases… or so I hear."

Eun Haje shrugged. 

"Well, are we heading to the restaurant or not?"

Kim Soleum glances at Park Minseong, who is not looking at him. Instead, Park Minseong pats his back twice.

'...He slipped something onto my necklace.'

"Well, we'll be off then! We can't kill our Captain with bad food before she dies from stress."

Kim Soleum smiles weakly.

"I won't keep you. Have a nice breakfast!"

He speedwalks around the nearest corner and slips into an abandoned alleyway. It's still fairly clean, despite being a place no one frequented. The lack of trash brings a smile to Kim Soleum's face.

He reaches behind his back and removes the small slip of paper from the back of his necklace.

9pm your office today, it says, in his signature scrawl.

Kim Soleum frowns. What could he want to talk about?

"She's been acting strangely the past few days," Park Minseong whispers.

At a time where Kim Soleum should be the most busy, he is instead meeting Park Minseong, who has snuck out from night patrol duty.

Kim Soleum looks at him. Just gives him a blank stare until he elaborates.

"…More like the past few weeks. I thought it was fine, but then she's been… acting more suspiciously than usual for the last few days."

Kim Soleum blinks at him.

"In what ways, Vice Captain?"

"You know that she keeps her potions well, right? They're a rarity, and expensive to make to boot."

"What of them, sir?"

"...Soleum-ah, I saw her smuggling some of said potions away from her house. And it was only the ones that benefitted health; everything else stayed."

Kim Soleum feels his face turn paler than it already is.

"Is Captain in any financial trouble? Do we need to convince the Mayor to give her a salary raise?"

Even if she said she had only "tried potion making out", like she had "just tried every other branch of witchery out", there was no denying Eun Haje was quick at picking anything up and becoming proficient in, at the very least, the basics.

As such, it meant that even if her potions couldn't do miracles, they were still guaranteed not to be defective, which was already a lot better than average. And also meant said potions would sell for more money, or be traded for rarer materials. And also meant the Hunter's Guild was going to try to crack down on illegal potioncraft again if they noticed an influx of potions that actually functioned correctly.

'I don't understand why Captain Haje would do something like this. What's her goal?'

It wouldn't be fame; she already had enough of that as City D's beloved Captain of the Knights, and she herself was very vocal about not wanting to be known as a witch. It also wouldn't be because of any threats; should there be any, her first course of action would probably be to see if she could take care of it herself or simply set Mayor Lizard on them.

It could be money, but Eun Haje already had quite a high salary, and if she ever wanted money she would simply ask.

"...Didn't she spend a month perfecting the way to make a healing potion?" Kim Soleum asks.

"Yes." Park Minseong says, gravely. "She did."

'It's difficult imagining Captain Falcon just throwing away all her hard work…'

Park Minseong claps his hands.

"So." He says. "I decided that we need to follow her around. Excluding Mayor, of course, because he'll give us away."

'Stalking,' Kim Soleum thinks, 'is not something I thought I would hear Vice Captain Badger propose.'

…Upon further consideration, it also wasn't something he wouldn't not hear him propose for a plan.

"She said she was busy on Saturday, didn't she?"

Park Minseong smiles at him.

"Yep. She also said it was her day off and she'd stay in the City, but a little bird told me it saw her discreetly buy a ticket out to City E."

Kim Soleum frowns at Park Minseong.

"...I was really worried."

'If I didn't know he was just worried and taking it a bit too far, I'd be concerned he has bad intentions…'

Well, all of them had been acting weirdly recently, bar the Mayor himself. If Kim Soleum focused on his limbs, he would be able to feel the phantom sensation of an arrow ripping into his skin. Eun Haje had been more twitchy and snappish that usual the last few days, the bags under her eyes growing darker each time Kim Soleum sees him, which, was indeed concerning. And Park Minseong was now stalking Eun Haje, which Kim Soleum knows for a fact Eun Haje will be upset about.

'Either way, she values her potions. I'd much rather just ask her about it, though…'

He's about to say so as well, to ask Park Minseong why he hadn't just asked about her mood lately, and maybe they should all do something together and release some stress when the both of them hear footsteps approaching.

It's late at night. The staff wouldn't come this close when they were instructed not to. And it wasn't Mayor Lizard, not when his footfalls sounded a bit louder and heavier than the higher-pitched clicking noises outside.

Knock, knock.

"You there, kiddo?"

'Fuck.'

It was Eun Haje.

Kim Soleum and Park Minseong try to communicate with just their eyes. Park Minseong looks one as though he is about to jump out the window and run away. Kim Soleum understands the feeling, because at the moment he wants nothing more than to turn into a small bat and stuff himself in a drawer to hide, no matter how claustrophobic it would be.

They both hear Eun Haje sigh outside.

"...You do know I can see you both, right?"

There is a moment of awkward silence.

"Sorry. I'll open the door for you now."

Park Minseong shakes his head violently. Kim Soleum merely does his best Lee Jaheon impression and stares at him.

'What do you want me to do???'

Damnit, Kim Soleum didn't want to sour his relationship with either Eun Haje or Park Minseong.

Kim Soleum yanks the door open before Park Minseong has finished climbing out the window, and he spots Eun Haje with her foot raised, looking a second away from kicking down the door.

"Huh. Nice, Soleum-ah. Thought I'd have to actually break the door down again."

"Please don't."

"Either way." She raises her hand and ruffles Kim Soleum's hair. "I was coming here to ask you if you knew where Minseong was, but I see there's no need to ask you, lil' Deer.'

Park Minseong retracts his foot from where it had been stepping on the windowsill and rubs the back of his head awkwardly.

"So?" Eun Haje asks, an eyebrow raised. "What are you two scheming?"

Park Minseong is not a good liar. He is, in situations where it's required, but he's a bad liar because it's easy to pick apart his tells at times. Therefore, it surprises Kim Soleum when he opens his mouths, and blurts out in the most truthful tone possible:

"Your birthday is coming up soon."

There's a moment of silence.

"Yeah? And? What, are you going to say you were planning on throwing me a birthday party?"

Park Minseong averts his gaze. Kim Soleum watches Eun Haje's face cycle through all five stages of disappointment.

"No. Nope. I'm hallucinating. I inhaled something bad again. You're not actually planning on throwing me a birthday party. Fuck, tell me you haven't told the squadron yet…!"

She runs over and begins shaking Park Minseong by the neck, who lets himself be shaken. It's a very funny image, if not for the fact Eun Haje is sort of freaking out.

"No, I wasn't going to tell them!" Park Minseong defends. "I was planning a small party, just us and the Mayor, and more people if you wanted."

Eun Haje sighed.

"Right. That's… good. Look, I said I'm busy on Saturday, so you really don't need to do that for me."

"Captain, you never told me your birthday was this Saturday?"

Eun Haje averted her eyes.

"It's not important, it's just a day of the year. It's not even like it's a holiday or anything, kid."

"I think it should be."

"I agree."

"Shut up, the both of you."

Eun Haje reaches into her pocket and pulls out a pipe, chewing the mouthpiece without lighting it.

"Look, I don't really care and don't need you to celebrate it. I won't even be there even if you host a party."

That sounded a bit like a lie. Eun Haje would appreciate the effort put into a theoretically thrown party, and even if she did have to leave she'd try to at least show up or make Falco attend in her place.

"Might I ask why you will be busy on your birthday?" Kim Soleum asks, politely, projecting the picture of a helpful, caring junior, as he plays Devil's Advocate. "If it's anything we can help with, please let us know."

Eun Haje, other than putting her hand on his head and ruffling his hair again, ignores him.

"Minseong-ah, you do know that I know about the wild animals you make spy on people, right? I've already had to tell Falco not to eat that squirrel that reports to you about the knights at least thrice this month."

Park Minseong's face turns paler than Kim Soleum's, which is genuinely concerning.

"Pretty much anyone with a hint of supernatural blood in this City knows about this? Why are you acting so surprised…? Soleum-ah, back me up here."

"...Is that why you make Honey follow me? Because you know I'll be most receptive to her?"

"...Ack, come on, take my side here…"

"Stop avoiding the kid's question."

Riveting information that Kim Soleum is learning this evening. The fact that Park Minseong was apparently a tracker/stalker and City D treated it like an entirely normal thing.

'...On second thought, maybe it is normal for the supernatural world. Maybe I'm the one who's not insane enough.'

"Look, I'm not mad. If I was going to be mad I'd have been mad a whole year ago. Just tell me you're worried next time. Birthday party is also a shit excuse, by the way, I know you finished planning at least two weeks ago. You wouldn't be rushing now."

Park Minseong lowers his head in shame, and Eun Haje does a neat spin with the pipe in her hand.

"...It's nothing serious." She says, a hint of reluctance in her voice. "Just some personal business I need to sort out. I made a promise."

"...Even so, is there any way we can help?"

Eun Haje grumbles.

"Dear lord, stop looking like kicked puppies. Fine. Follow me if you want or something, but get your time off approved on your own. Kid, you haven't eaten in a while, right?"

"No, Captain, I already ate this morning–"

"I mean properly. Blood."

She shoves her pipe back into her pocket which really shouldn't fit said pipe but does, and takes a small knife out of it instead.

"Captain, there's really no need to–"

She's already sliced open her forearm before Kim Soleum can get any word in otherwise. She raises an eyebrow at him, a silent challenge to let her blood go to waste.

Kim Soleum rummages around his room for a proper chalice, and awkwardly offers it to her for her to drip the blood into.

'...Now that I think about it, I am starving, huh.'

He'd simply forgotten that he was supposed to ingest blood every once in a while.

After the blood has reached about half a cup, Eun Haje retracts her arm and attempts to just hide it underneath her sleeve. 

"Captain…"

"Captain Haje…"

She coughs lightly. 

"Fine, fine, take care of it however you want."

Kim Soleum presses his thumb against a fang until he feels it cut through skin. Gently, he takes Eun Haje's arm and lets a singular drop of his own blood drip into the wound.

Eun Haje watches her wound close up, a pleased smile on her face.

"I can never get tired of seeing that." Park Minseong whispers. "It's so coooool."

Eun Haje snorts.

"Like your powers aren't 'just as cool'. Speaking of which, see ya next time, kid."

Eun Haje turns around and walks to the window Park Minseong had opened earlier and jumps out of it, instead of taking the door like a normal person.

Kim Soleum peers out the window and watches her jump down onto the footholds Park Minseong had grown around the walls in preparation for his escape, which Kim Soleum is fairly certain she's doing just to flex, and turns to look at Park Minseong.

"If you're also taking the window, do you mind removing the plants after you're done? They make the walls easy to scale."

Park Minseong smiles sheepishly at him and gives him a thumbs-up.

"Haha, yep, sure, Soleum-ah! I'll just… go now…"

He walks out the door and closes it behind himself, and Kim Soleum could swear he could hear him muttering something underneath his breath about "Kim Soleum" and "Hunters".

'...Speaking of hunters.'

He thinks about the duo who had broken in… a few days ago, now. Mayor Lizard had increased the amount of patrolling guards, but mostly he spent quite a lot of money letting Eun Haje go wild and upgrade the wards. No wonder she had been so tired lately…

'I don't think I've written to that guy yet.'

If Baek Saheon had even a sliver of intelligence, which he unfortunately did have, he was either already far away from City F or was laying in bed at night with fear at the fact that he hadn't successfully gotten Kim Soleum killed. Should he let Baek Saheon quiver in fear for longer and only greet him at the Capital or should he go and visit him properly?

'Either way, he won't be pulling anything for at least a month.'

Really, that guy was so…

Kim Soleum couldn't find a proper word to describe Baek Saheon. He was not sure that he wanted to.

'I wonder how Hunter Bronze is doing.'

Kim Soleum truly hoped the man was doing well. He hadn't really been injured, but he did find himself concerned for the man who had treated him kindly. 

'I need to write to all my acquaintances…'

Kim Soleum tried to keep in touch with all the people he knew, but it was a bit difficult with how he was. A letter at least once a month was a promise he made to himself and one he did his best to keep.

'I'll do that later. I need to focus on finding Captain a good birthday gift first.'

All of them had done so much for his birthday. It felt unfair to not be able to give them anything back for all the care that they had shown him.

Kim Soleum lets a smile creep onto his face. Being able to live in City D was the most amazing thing that had happened to him which he could remember. Kim Soleum knew he didn't belong, but even so, he never wanted to leave. He wanted to stay with this City for as long as he could, stay with its people as long as he was allowed to.

That's why, a few days later, as he watches Eun Haje's body collapse to the floor, a sword pierced through her chest right where her heart would be, Kim Soleum realizes that this selfish wish of his will never come to pass.

Chapter Text

Perhaps, instead of describing the outcome, one should first start by telling the chain of events which lead to said outcome.

It begins, or perhaps it continues like this:

"Happy birthday, Captain!" 

"Yeah, yeah, no need for any of that. Watch'a got there?"

"Your gift?" Kim Soleum offers, awkwardly. 

Eun Haje looks at him as though he's an alien.

"Why would you get me a gift?"

"It's your birthday? Captain, I really don't understand why you don't want a birthday gift… why is this a question?"

Kim Soleum reveals his gift; it's a small stone, one which looks like ruby, which glimmered in the light.

Eun Haje picks it up despite herself, fascinated.

"You made this from blood, didn't you? Insane kid, I told you to not just leave your blood anywhere it can be easily taken…"

"It's lost most of its effects, Captain."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." She admires the stone, and puts it in one of her false pockets. She's wearing casual clothing today, as casual as one can be on the road. She's swapped out metal for thick leather, and her trusty rapier is by her side. "Tell me, what do you think a birthday is?"

"Its a celebration, isn't it?" Kim Soleum frowns. "A date where you celebrate having survived another year."

"Yeah? For us, it's a bit different. Birth-dates are a thing you should conceal, because it's believed your fate can be charted through the date of your birth. More than that, it's a date you're grateful for being alive, one you shouldn't take for granted."

Eun Haje sighed. 

"I used to celebrate my birthdays as a kid. Now… I guess technically speaking you can say I avoid it for religious reasons?"

"Ah."

Kim Soleum feels a bit embarrassed.

"What's that look for, Mr Aide? Pff, did you really expect to know everything about this world? There's arrogant, then there's arrogant. I don't want to see you fall into the latter category anytime soon, unlike our lovely Vice Captain here."

Kim Soleum focuses on the surroundings.

He didn't see anything…? Wait. 

That was the sound of a faint heartbeat.

Kim Soleum turns to the direction Eun Haje is already looking in, and a moment later Park Minseong was jumping off of a tree, casually brushing away the leaves on his hair.

"Sorry… I did mean to show myself, it was just a hard conversation to interrupt, okay?"

Eun Haje just stares disappointedly at him.

Park MInseong wilts like a flower, and it's only after she watches him grovel for a good ten seconds does Eun Haje just gesture the two of them to follow her.

"Borrowed a cart for the road. There's delicates, so I expect neither of you to play around, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." They respond in unison.

For all it's worth, it's a pretty soothing cart ride. Park Minseong sits at the front, whistling to himself, listening to the chatter of the birds and squirrels that decide to hitch a ride and speak with him. He's wearing casual clothing today as well, layer after layer of baggy clothing that look rather comfortable. It makes Kim Soleum feel awkward for wearing such a formal suit.

Eun Haje is admiring the hand-carved falcon that Park Minseong had given her. 

"Didn't really know you could carve," she says, turning it this way and that. "To be honest, I thought you grew it for a second."

Park Minseong doesn't turn back from where he's guiding the horses, but the petulance is clear in his voice.

"Grow it? How do people grow wood into specific shapes? Bushes I get, but not wood! You don't just… grow a tree, without growing what makes a tree a tree!"

He pauses from his rant.

"I did grow the tree that I used to carve it, though."

Kim Soleum is certain that Park Minseong has a private garden somewhere, with all the wood, and therefore trees, he's grown.

'It would make sense as well.'

"What's growing something like?" Kim Soleum asked, curiously. Park Minseong beamed.

"For starters… I'd say it's sort of like baking?"

Kim Soleum doesn't know how to cook nor bake, but alright.

"It's like adding yeast to dough to let it rise quickly, instead of waiting longer. I speed up the process, but I'm using what they already have. If they lack any nutrients or the land's completely dry, all I'll manage to grow is a withered husk of a tree. It's got to be possible."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kim Soleum can spot Eun Haje looking at them both with a small smile.

"Hey, it's my birthday, right? So I get to tell you all some things."

"Go on." Park Minseong said.

"I'm retiring at the end of the month."

Kim Soleum chokes on air.

'…What???'

"After the Tide-Split Festival, of course, since I can't have people looking down on our City."

"Wait, wait, wait, roll it back a bit. Retirement?" Park Minseong asks, flabbergasted.

"Yup." She says, like this is not a life-changing revelation. "You're gonna be Captain next. I know you'll do a great job."

Park Minseong clutched the reins so tightly his hands were turning blue.

"You don't just drop this on someone. Does the Mayor know?"

Eun Haje snorts.

"Yeah? Obviously he knows; who else would approve of my retirement? Soleum-ie?"

Park Minseong lets out a sigh.

"Yeah, I figured… I thought you wouldn't retire until you got heavily injured or of old age."

"Nah." Eun Haje says. "I want to have fun with the rest of my life. I'm more mortal than you two. Magic's fun, but I want to use it for myself for no reason other than for other people all the time."

She quickly casts a look at Kim Soleum.

"Not," she emphasizes, "that I dislike using it for other people. It's just… sometimes I want to be able to turn random objects different colors just because, y'know?"

'...She took the opportunity of us travelling to break the news to us.'

Kim Soleum wondered how long Eun Haje had been planning this. The potions clinking against each other within the crates seem to prove that however long of a timeframe she had been working with, it was at least months. Perhaps a year. Or even before Kim Soleum had joined…

"I'm glad you joined, Soleum-ah. It's a bit selfish of me, but I'm glad you're here to help with City D."

"No!" Kim Soleum denies. "It's my duty. I want to be here."

Eun Haje chuckles and leans over to give Kim Soleum a side-hug.

"Just what I expected to hear from you, kid." She gives Kim Soleum a bit of a sad smile. "Don't push yourself too much, 'kay? And if you ever find the urge to quit your job and perform at a travelling circus or theatre, come look for me first. My magic doesn't last forever."

'Even though I'm a vampire now, forever still feels like such a long time…'

For a second, Kim Soleum imagines what life would look like after a hundred years. He immediately stops thinking about it, because he doesn't want to think about his friends being dead and gone when they were right here before him.

'I'll think about it when I get to it.'

Kim Soleum was going to enjoy the present. So he says, straight faced, to Eun Haje,

"Of course I'll come to you. If I became a world famous clown overnight, I think I'd ruin City D's reputation before anyone else can."

"No, Soleum-ah. You can't say that…" Park Minseong frowned. "Being a clown is hard work. It's a job for them as well. That said, I think you'd bring more fame to City D than infamy. Maybe City D could start its own circus…"

Eun Haje laughed.

"Our Mayor's enough of a freak as he is." There's nothing but fond affection in her voice, even if her words are biting. "He'd carry the entire circus on his back. Literally."

"Then what am I?" Park Minseong wonders aloud. "The lion tamer? Honestly, I'd always thought it was a bit of a shame circuses only seemed to look for dangerous, exotic animals. I think a circus with many beautiful birds you can feed would do better."

Kim Soleum sweats as both Eun Haje and Park Minseong turn to him, the latter only angling his body slightly more to the side.

"I'll… be the acrobat? Vampires have good sense of balance, right? And it's perfectly safe for me, since I can just turn into a bat if I fall."

Eun Haje hummed.

"Do you think the audience would see it as you being a vampire, or it merely being another circus trick?"

Kim Soleum ponders for a while.

"I genuinely don't know," he admits. "It could go either way."

"Hey!" Park Minseong calls. Ahead of the desolate road they're taking, a crossroads is seen. "Which way am I supposed to go again?"

Eun Haje whistled.

"Hey. Move over." She clambers over her seat and steals the reins from Park Minseong's hands, shooing him back to where Kim Soleum was sitting.

"Look," Eun Haje said, grinning. "This is what magic can do."

She takes the right path, but immediately after they pass the sign, she sharply steers the horses left. They seem confused at being led off path, but with Park Minseong's residual animal-whispering they're all too happy to abide Eun Haje's direction.

The moment the horses are one step of stopping behind the crossroads sign, it vanishes.

Or perhaps, Kim Soleum thinks, the right thing to say that it is them who vanish.

"I didn't know this place existed." Park Minseong says in wonder.

"That's the point." Eun Haje grinned, pleased.

"Welcome to the crossroads between City E and City F. This was where I spent most of my youth."

Kim Soleum feels himself gaping at the scenery. If he had to describe it, it would be that there was an additional layer of saturation for everything. The grass was greener, the sky was bluer and the path was yellower. It was something that was best seen and not described.

Eun Haje lets the horses trot down the vibrant path and grins.

"Learnt my first branch of witchery here, even if it isn't where I grew up." She sighed. "I missed being here, despite the fact that it's not too far away."

She glances at Kim Soleum, who is staring at the scenery in wonder.

"The best part, kid, is that this is a safe place for non-humans. The sunlight here won't burn you."

'So that's why the uncomfortable feeling vanished.'

"I see. Captain, why did you need to bring all the potions here?"

Eun Haje sighs.

"Friend'o mine called. His village is pretty rural, and he lives between City U and City W. It's a bit rough out there, but at least it's not hell like City Y or City Z is. Somethin' broke in a couple months ago, and he's trying to gather resources to rebuild."

"Ah."

Eun Haje was not someone who helped for the sake of it. She was kind, certainly, but she usually wasn't charitable.

'This person must be very important to her, then.'

That she was willing to give away so many resources…

Eun Haje seems to follow Kim Soleum's train of thought.

"What?" She says. "Sure, the potions may have sold, but they'd never beat out visiting an actual temple. I'd run out of stock before I can deal with demand, and then things would get messy." Her face softens. "I'd rather it be useful than rot away at home until there's no one to use them for."

"Are we there?" Park Minseong asks. Kim Soleum peers over Eun Haje's shoulder.

It looked like a village, a very small one. There were only a few houses, but everything felt… lived in, in a way Kim Soleum could not describe but knew he wouldn't be able to step into said houses without the owner's permission.

It looked abandoned, but it was lovingly taken care of.

"Used to learn here. They moved bases, though. Now witches learn somewhere else. The magic over this village will still last a couple years, so we use it as a meeting point."

How beautiful. A space concealed between two roads– had Kim Soleum not been led here, he doubts that he'd ever be able to find it.

Eun Haje grinned. 

"You know why they never found this place?"

"Why is it, Captain?" Kim Soleum asked, genuinely curious.

"If you leave, you can't re-enter for a year."

Kim Soleum blinked at her.

"Come on, you're smart, Roe. Tell me why."

"This was a place of learning, wasn't it? Then it was expected that the pupils would stay for however long it takes to master the craft. As such, they don't need to leave the village at all, and would be staying for long intervals."

"Right on the mark! Our Roe Deer truly is the smartest in all the lands."

Eun Haje spots her old friend, because she jumps right up and starts waving furiously.

"Oi! Brickhead! Took you long enough!"

The man, who lets Eun Haje call him "Brickhead", trots over.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I've just been running all over the place recently. You're doing me such a big favor…"

"What, like I'm supposed to just let a friend suffer?"

'Our Captain… she's really noble.'

Eun Haje was the coolest witch in the world, and nothing could change Kim Soleum's mind.

They chatter on a bit, with Eun Haje introducing them both to "Brickhead", even if she doesn't tell him what they are. He seems to at least recognize Kim Soleum for a vampire, though.

"You told them 'bout the village as well, right?" He asks, nervously.

"Yup. Why?"

He laughs. "Really, nothing. Thanks once again; this means so much to me, you don't understand…"

"Did you grow soft over the years? What are you thanking people so easily for? Did your backbone dissolve while I wasn't looking?"

"Brickhead" laughs, but it's still a shaky one. 

"No, just– stay safe, you fiend."

They help him transport the crates of potions to his own cart and wave him off. When they can no longer see him, Eun Haje turns to them and grins.

"Not a lot of people come here anymore. Want to explore?"

"Yes!" Park Minseong shouts, his cheer unable to be contained. 

'He's probably excited about the possibility of seeing an exotic animal.'

Well, this was a different place. Kim Soleum also wondered about what sorts of different species could exist here. How did the village sustain itself in its prime? Large amounts of grain being delivered to the middle of nowhere would be suspicious for any City…

They spend a nice afternoon just chatting and going around the village. Eun Haje points out old buildings and explains the significance behind certain decorations. It's fun. It's learning. Kim Soleum likes it.

"Too bad Mayor isn't here," Eun Haje jokes. "I thought he'd be too lonely, so I sent Falco to stay with him."

"No," Kim Soleum denies, good naturedly, "he's too busy plotting world domination to be lonely. Have you seen the speed at which he's been writing lately?"

"No?" They both say. "I'm a knight, why would I watch the Mayor do paperwork?" Eun Haje asks.

"Whenever the mayor invites me over, he always stops working to have the snacks I bring him." Park Minseong says, scratching the back of his head.

Eun Haje looks at the both of them fondly.

"Let's celebrate my birthday during dinner when we get back, alright? I think we can get home before sundown if we leave now."

"Yeah." Park Minseong smiles. "Let's go home. Roe?"

Kim Soleum opens his mouth.

What comes out of it isn't words of encouragement, but rather a hiss of pain from the arrow lodged in his shoulder, which he pulls out immediately.

The atmosphere plummets within a moment. Eun Haje pulls out her rapier, her smile a lot more dangerous. Park Minseong frowns, letting his bow manifest in his hands, an uncertain expression on his face.

Kim Soleum coughs and feels his body return to normal. It wasn't silver, thankfully, but iron. However…

"They're not here for me or Badger." Kim Soleum hisses, knowing the feeling of a curse even if it doesn't affect him specifically. It's similar to mana, which means he knows what target they're aiming for. "Captain, they're here for you."

Eun Haje nods.

"I know." She says. "I knew the moment I realized there were people here."

Shadowy figures appear from behind trees and buildings, and Kim Soleum scowls. Twelve people, and he can't hear any other heartbeats or feel the flow of blood elsewhere.

"Speak!" Eun Haje barks. "What do a bunch of witch-hunters want with me, Captain of City D's knights?"

"You." One of them steps out; most likely the leader. "You'll fetch a pretty penny. Good talent is hard to come by these days."

Captain Falcon tilts her head.

"So you're not taking me seriously, then."

The leader raises a hand, and the grunts behind him raise their weapons, clearly ready for a fight.

What they're not ready for, though, are the violent man-eating plants bursting out of the ground and gnawing on their feet.

The ones who wear iron boots scream and leap away; the ones who wear leather boots aren't so lucky. Their screams as the plants tear away at their flesh fade quickly as they are consumed whole.

"You should be thankful, sirs!" Vice Captain Badger says. Despite the cheerful tone of voice, his face is perfectly blank. "Each one of you can nourish one of those plants for a few months. Be grateful that your lives are useful to someone!"

The leader snarls.

"Get them!"

The smartest ones, who have realized they are dealing with a supernatural entity, immediately turn tail and run. Park Minseong takes those down without looking, wrapping their limbs until they can no longer move. Seeing as they're smart enough to run, they're also smart enough to lay there quietly, quivering in fear, clearly understanding they'd taken a job far above their paygrade.

Falcon leaps into the fray, moving faster than the mortal eye can track. Her rapier pierces through the throats of two men easily, and it's only at the third where she has to start dueling properly. Any distracted combatant is quickly met with an arrow to the head or joints, and Kim Soleum quietly stops their blood flow as long as they have an open wound.

The witch-hunters quickly find that their enchanted weapons are useless in the face of sheer skill and training. It doesn't matter that they have poison for Eun Haje when they can't even touch her.

Captain Falcon is having fun. She's laughing, even though she's taking the fight seriously, cleanly ending her opponent's lives. Park Minseong keeps careful watch alongside Kim Soleum, arrow after arrow flying from his bow.

Kim Soleum's job is to make sure whoever falls doesn't get back up. It's easy compared to the other two's; he puts them into a state akin to sleep. Nothing that requires combat experience, because Kim Soleum is not a combatant.

The rest of them go down easily enough. Park Minseong stabs the people who have fallen with a dagger through the heart as they pass by, just to make sure they're dead.

"Shame," Eun Haje jokes. "Would've liked being able to extract information from one of them. Third-rate hires, these ones. They're not even good fighters; did they really think they could go up against a Knight Captain?"

"The enchanted weapons must have made them think they would succeed." 

Eun Haje is only lightly injured, her decision to wear leather armor having reduced quite a lot of damage she would have otherwise received; at present, the worst injury on her body were the scratches on her arms.

Eun Haje glances around, her eyes a bright cerulean blue.

"Don't see anything else. We should be fine now. Really, was that all?"

She scowls.

"Didn't expect that idiot to betray me, though." She pauses for a second. "No, he looked coerced. Even tried to warn me like the fool he is. Bah, if he's betraying someone, he should stick through with his decision and not try to warn them." There's a bittersweet tone in her voice, and she mourns a friendship she had clearly kept dear to her.

"Right, kid. Got any idea why Brickhead would do something like that?"

"Ah, give me a moment, Captain." Kim Soleum quickly scans over the different corpses, suppressing his disgust, and finally finds the man who had seemingly led the group. He reaches into his blood soaked clothing with disgust, and within the personal belongings he finds a smalled rolled up piece of parchment. 

"Does this name look familiar to you?"

Eun Haje scowls.

"Hey, Minseong, this is name of City X's mayor, isn't it?"

"...No wonder it looked familiar." Kim Soleum mutters.

"If it's City X, it would be close enough to your… um, acquaintance's village, right? Enough to pose a threat."

"Yeah." Eun Haje agrees. She sounds majorly pissed. "What's City X doing trying to assassinate me when they can't even handle their city?"

"We'll need to report this to the Mayor." Kim Soleum says, frowning. "Be careful during the Tide-Split Festival."

Eun Haje laughs, something wild and energetic. "Yeah, yeah, take care of yourself first, kid. You wouldn't know how to defend yourself if–"

Her expression cuts into one of horror.

Here are two facts: 

Kim Soleum is immortal.

Eun Haje is not.

It does not, however, stop Eun Haje from shoving him out of the way as a click sounds throughout the forest.

"...Falcon?" Park Minseong asks, quietly.

Eun Haje spits out a mouthful of blood.

The leader is trying to shove himself onto his feet and run– had he faked his death? A healing artifact, perhaps? Kim Soleum wonders– but he doesn't make it far.

It takes a split second for Kim Soleum to recognize the fact that Eun Haje is dying. It takes even less to understand the cause.

Kim Soleum points.

Blood rises from the floor, flows and compresses itself into a singular point and compresses itself further until it cannot.

So Kim Soleum lets go.

He gets up and scrambles to Eun Haje's side, ignoring the way the man lets out a terrified, cut-off scream as he is torn apart from the inside out and his organs fly through the air, blood falling down like rain. Kim Soleum doesn't notice that the man is missing the upper half of his body. He also doesn't not notice it, but he's not what is important at the moment.

"Captain." Kim Soleum pleads. "Captain Falcon."

It all happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, Eun Haje was covered in blood, victorious. The next–

She is lying on her side, wheezing. There is a sword pierced through her chest. She's trying to sustain herself on mana, Kim Soleum could tell, but at the rate she was going she was about to eat into her own life to breathe another second.

Blood. There's so much blood. She looks so… weak, lying on the floor. It's a look not befitting City D's Knight Captain. It doesn't fit Falcon. It doesn't fit Eun Haje.

"...Captain." Park Minseong calls, falling to his knees beside them. There are tears welling in his eyes, and his hands hover in the air, unsure what they should do. "Haje." He calls, helplessly. He's not a healer. It's not his duty.

"...Kid. …Stop– that."

Kim Soleum doesn't listen to her. He focuses on the blood flow within Eun Haje's body, and artificially helps it move. The human body was so very interesting; so many things could lead to death. Eun Haje's heart isn't beating. She's clearly aware of this as well.

"Kid." She smiles, helplessly.

It's stupid. It's Eun Haje's birthday. It's Captain's birthday and it was her day off and they were supposed to have fun together.

The only reason Eun Haje hasn't bled out yet is because Kim Soleum is nearly controlling her body and her mana is doing its best to sustain her. And one of those forces was going to run out soon.

"I could–"

"No."

Eun Haje cuts him off before he can even propose turning her into a vampire, propose letting his blood flow into hers and allowing it to mend all her wounds.

It's the first time in a long while Kim Soleum has felt helpless. Has felt powerless. Has felt mortal in a way he should not be.

"If I run and grab a potion–" Park Minseong begins, but Eun Haje shakes her head slightly. 

"...Entry." She gasps out. Graciously, she doesn't mention that her potion can heal but cannot bring the dead back to life.

'Think. What can I do?!'

Eun Haje did not want to be turned. Kim Soleum would respect her wishes, would–

'Wait.'

Eun Haje was a selfish mortal. That was fine; for all of humanity was at least a bit selfish at heart. She was reserved, good and kind to only those who had earned it. Even so, she still wanted to live. Kim Soleum could see that desire in her eyes, so why–

"Captain," Kim Soleum gasps out, as though he is the one who is running out of time. "Are you against me turning you because of what would happen to me?"

Eun Haje gives him a wry smile and a shaky nod.

Eun Haje was selfish. She was also, in her selfishness, utterly selfless.

Park Minseong catches on as well.

"The Prince–"

Kim Soleum would need his permission to turn another into kin. Thus was sworn when he was turned; and should he break the oath, a worse fate would be fall them both.

Even so–

"Haje-ssi." Kim Soleum says. "I promise, if the Prince would allow it, would you be willing to be turned into a vampire?"

There is conflict on Eun Haje's face. She clearly knows what will happen next, knows what her choices are. 

A future where they all stay in City D is far out of sight.

So Eun Haje makes her choice, bleeding out on the floor of a village she had once lived and learned in somewhere in the distant past.

She closes her eyes.

"...Do, hah, whatever the hell… you want, Roe."

Eun Haje is selfish. She wants to live, doesn't want to die here before the prime of her life was even over.

Eun Haje is also selfless. Because even dying she would rather put City D first.

It's so horribly human of her.

'It hurts.'

The headache of trying to control the blood still inside a person grows stronger each passing second. Kim Soleum can barely hear Park Minseong's worried voice, not when all that fills his eyes is a scarlet red and Eun Haje's resigned face.

Kim Soleum pulls at the collar of his shirt until he reaches his necklace. He ignores the scale on it, the contract that binds him and a symbol of her Highness' power. Instead, he clutches the small bloodstone laying between the antlers.

"...Prince of Deceit, First of my Kin. Please, answer my call."

He sets it against his fang and bites.

Blood fills his mouth. A different flavor from Eun Haje's, from Park Minseong's, from Lee Jaheon's.

It's ancient blood, nothing but iron and bitterness of learned hatred and the faint scent of pestilence.

Kim Soleum swallows.

Small shards are still lodged between his mouth. The skin breaks, but it does not heal. Why should it? It was from the one who turned him, after all.

For a second, nothing happens. Park Minseong is by his side, keeping him steady and preventing him from falling over. Eun Haje is still bleeding out on the floor, the only reason she was dying her simply being unlucky.

And the next–

"Well, now, what do we have here?"

Expensive shoes click against a solid substance.

'...A path of blood.'

"It took me quite a bit of energy to get here, so this Prince hopes you are not wasting his time."

Ho Yuwon, First Vampire, smiles down at them from where he is standing in the air, blood underneath his feet.

"Well?" His eyes are curved into crescents. "Do begin explaining. Don't disappoint me, Roe Deer."

Kim Soleum lets his mouth fall open, and through the pain says a single sentence he knows will force the vampire to take him seriously.

"Why don't we about 'the City Beyond the Dream?" He asks, and from the way the Prince's eyes narrow-

Kim Soleum knows, at the very least, that he has Ho Yuwon's attention.