Don't Let Me Let You Go

Chapter 4

Byul hadn't seen Yongsun in a month. She had been discharged from the hospital with a few broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder, but when she went back to the apartment, she found that Yongsun had already moved out. Maybe it was better that way, a vampire hunter could never get along with a vampire, right? Still, there were so many things that Byul was curious about. Why didn't Yongsun smell of blood? Did she have some kind of special scent blocker? Or maybe she didn't drink human blood?

Byul used to think that her hate towards vampires was greater than anything else in her life, but as time passed, she found that her feelings for Yongsun only grew stronger than the hate. She had to admit it; Byul missed Yongsun terribly. She regretted pushing her away. Calling her a monster. She knew Yongsun was different from other vampires; she just wanted to know why and how. It came to the point that didn't matter to her that other vampires were looking for her to kill her; she could only think about Yongsun.

Byul tried calling and texting her, but Yongsun never replied. The only consolation that Byul had was that at least Yongsun hadn't blocked her phone number.

And then there was Irene's association thing. It was contradictory, having feelings for a vampire but joining a company that kills them. However, her loyalty to her best friend Wheein came first. She would find the vampire responsible for her death and kill him. She'd figure out the rest later, but for now she was stuck alone at her apartment. Stuck alone with memories of Yongsun. Of Wheein. Oh, and also of the welcome party at Irene's association.

..................

"Everyone! Moon Byulyi, the best hunter in Korea, has just joined our ranks! Let's give her a big round of applause!" Irene's voice boomed through the room. Everyone clapped.

Byulyi looked around. Irene had prepared a pretty big event. She had really wanted Byulyi to join, huh? Byulyi got a drink from the bar and sat down with Hajoon, who was the only person she knew at the place. They mostly talked about work, though, since they didn't really have anything else in common. Turns out that he took too long to take back the body that night because of back pain. So now he was on sick leave, like Byulyi.

They hadn't gone too deep into conversation before Byulyi was swarmed over by what Irene called 'young impressionable idiots' who 'idolized' her. Hajoon, who didn't like crowds, left as soon as they started attacking Byul with questions.

'How many vampires have you killed?'

'What do you do in your free time?'

'Are you single?'

Byul wanted to follow Hajoon and escape, but one of the persons around her caught her eye. She looked smart and wasn't desperate like all the other rookies. Byul asked for her name.

"Seulgi." The girl had said. Byul let out a small smile; one of her sisters was called Seulgi.

"Could you show me around the place? That idiot Irene didn't even bother." Byul joked.

"Sure." Seulgi smiled.

They started walking out of the events room into the rest of building. Seulgi showed Byul the weapons and ammunitions room, the gym, the kitchen, and the washrooms. The last room Seulgi showed her was a big office full of computers.

"This is where we track people we think might be vampires or people who collaborate with them. It's where I work." Seulgi proudly said.

Byul thought of Yongsun for a moment. "Could you find someone for me if I have their phone number?" she asked.

"Only if the person turns their location on. You can give me the number and I'll tell you if I find anything."

"Thanks, Seulgi."

"You should treat me to dinner sometime, though. I'll have to work extra hours for this." Seulgi teased.

"Of course." Byulyi let out a small laugh. That was the first time she had laughed since she let Yongsun go.

...........................

It had now been a week since Byul had gone to the hunter's association for the welcome party. She'd just gotten a text from Seulgi this morning with the address, but still wasn't sure whether she should go see Yongsun. Maybe Yongsun would get angry that Byul tracked her through her phone and slam the door in her face. Maybe she wouldn't even be there.

There was one place Byul always went to when she had a lot on her mind: her parent's house. Of course, she didn't actually go inside; they would kick her out. She just liked watching her family from the rooftop of the building opposite to theirs and seeing that they were safe. It gave her peace even when she was in her darkest moments.

Right now, only her mother was home. She could see her making bulgogi through the kitchen window. She really missed her. And her cooking too. When Byul lived alone, she used to mostly survive on instant noodles. Then Yongsun moved in and cooked for her sometimes. Now she was back to instant noodles.

Byul spent the rest of the afternoon like that. She watched her father come back home from work. She watched her sister Yesol arrive home from school with a few of her friends, and her other sister Seulgi arrive home from university. University! They were already so grown up and had gotten so far.

Without her.

As she watched them watch tv together from the living room window, Byul made a decision. She wouldn't let that happen to her and Yongsun. She wouldn't let her drift away. Byul decided go to the address Seulgi gave her right now and she couldn't care less whether Yongsun was a vampire or if she got mad and punched her in the face.

Byul drove to the address in her new car that she bought with the money she was receiving from the hunter's association and arrived soon enough; the place was on the outskirts of Seoul. The building was a café but the address Seulgi had given her was for the apartment on the upper floor. Byulyi found some stairs to the apartment, went up, and knocked on the door. Someone very beautiful but kind of intimidating opened the door.

"Hello?"

"Um, I was wondering if someone called Yongsun lives here? Her full name is Kim Yongsun."

The woman looked at Byul suspiciously before dragging her into the apartment and pushing her against the wall.

"Who are you? And how do you know her?" The woman aggressively whispered.

"S-she used to be my roommate." Byul suddenly got nervous especially when she saw that her answer somehow made the woman angrier.

"So it's you! You hurt her." The woman growled. She strengthened her grip on Byul and was going to slap her but Byul literally started begging for her life.

"I'm sorry! That's why I'm here! I need to see her!" Byul closed her eyes, anticipating the woman's slap. She was scared of what it might do to her. Break her nose? No, if she got slapped she might need to have her whole face reconstructed. This woman didn't smell like blood but if she was Yongsun' s friend, she most likely was a vampire too. Maybe even as strong as Yongsun.

Suddenly, they both heard someone approaching. The woman immediately weakened her grip on Byul.

"Hyejin, what are you doing?! I told you to stop getting into fights!"

Byul recognized that voice. She'd heard it a thousand times before. Suddenly, she didn't care whether this woman (Hyejin, presumably) slapped her or not; her new hunter job gave her medical insurance. She only needed see who was the owner of that voice.

Byulyi peeked over Hyejin's side to see who had spoken and fell to her knees.