Blood and Devotion | Woosan (English version)

15 - War Council

San, the next day, found himself sitting around the coffee table in the living room with Wooyoung, Hongjoong and Yeosang staring at him.

He cleared his throat, uncomfortable. "So there are four of them, just like us. Their leader is clearly Seonghwa, the vampire you met, Wooyoung," he said, nodding to him. "He is 160 years old."

Hongjoong intervened. "And he's the leader, you say? Pretty young to be leading a group of vampires," he commented.

San would have laughed at hearing a hundred and sixty-year-old man being called young, if there was really anything to laugh about in that whole situation.

"They basically told me that he is the best among them. He's also incredibly fast, even faster than you," he said addressing Hongjoong. "When he grabbed me by the arm and started running I felt like I was flying, I don't know how I kept up with him."

Hongjoong nodded gravely. "What about the others?"

San felt extremely uncomfortable and guilty. He did not like to blurt out everything he knew about someone who had treated him kindly - as long as he could remember, at least - knowing that through the information he was providing they would be able to harm them. He had no memories of those vampires harming him in the first place. But Wooyoung was sure they were the ones who had killed him, so he trusted him.

He had never been the type to want revenge, but the worst wrongs he had suffered in his life had been teasing and petty theft by classic idiotic bullies who just wanted a laugh. Here the situation was different. Someone with the intention of killing him had beaten him to death, slamming his head against the wall so hard it mangled his skull. No one could have been saved from such a blow. This meant that the person who had attacked him had been acutely aware that he would have died, that his family would have lost a son and experienced unspeakable pain.

San could be as compassionate as he wanted, but he could not allow such an individual to roam free and potentially do the same to other people.

He let out a sigh, forcing himself to continue.

"Seonghwa right-hand man is called Jongho. He is quite strong, a lot more than me, but he is not so fast. He attacks uncontrollably and doesn't have much technique, you can tell he's used to relying on his strength alone. Then there are Yunho and Mingi. Yunho is somewhere in between, he is strong and fast, but not as strong as Jongho and definitely not as fast as you, Hongjoong. Mingi on the other hand — although his size might suggest otherwise, perhaps he is the weakest among them. I don't know how old the three of them are."

Wooyoung put his hand on his knee. He knew it was not easy for him to talk.

"Great, thank you San. And where do they live?" continued questioning Hongjoong.

"Isolated in the forest, in a house that I assume was abandoned before they arrived."

"Do you think you can find again the exact location?"

"I would say yes, although as I said Seonghwa was running so fast that I was a bit dizzy."

"I'm sure you'll make it. We'll have to start training these days. Wooyoung told me you used to do martial arts, am I right?" asked Hongjoong.

"Yes, that's right."

Hongjoong smiled. "Great, you can definitely teach us something, too, then. We, too, have always relied on strength and speed alone, as you said about the others. When you have a body with certain potential, you tend to rely on it completely. On the other hand, when the body is weak, you got to have talent to defend yourself. You are fortunate enough to possess both characteristics."