"We're not letting you guys cut us just to satisfy your paranoia."
Neither the trio of students nor Joo-Won took his words well with the latter scowling "why are you being difficult Sunbae? This won't cost you anything."
"I could argue the semantics like how your scalpels aren't sterilized and you most likely stole them from the clinic. How your entire setup isn't approved by the faculty and what you're doing is illegal so everyone who participates in this will be implicated as criminals if even one student reports you to the officers who are still on campus."
"What?" one of said student breathed and even Joo-Won flinched at his words.
"Didn't you know? Even if those scalpels weren't stolen from the clinic you need approval from school administration and the presence of a licensed physician to conduct medical exams otherwise you guys are just a bunch of delusional weirdos assaulting innocent civilians with a deadly weapon and that is a crime. Even if you don't end up serving jail time it will be a permanent mark on your social record" Neugdae spoke with a raised voice gaining more attention as the chaos around them grounded to a halt.
Neugdae didn't need to spell out what having a criminal record (even if the offense is light) can do to your future job prospects. When it comes to criminal offenses HR managers especially the ones that work for the more prestigious companies don't look too deeply into details when it comes to criminal records. If they see that there is one they usually dismiss the applicant straight out the gate. Everyone present seems to realize this fact and some looked to be rethinking their actions while a few of the smarter ones actually started distancing themselves and the sound of a few scalpels hitting the ground could be heard by keen ears.
"You sure have a lot of excuses Sunbae" Joo-Won growled before taking out a fresh scalpel "but since you have a problem with having people cut you, why don't you do it yourself?"
Neugdae folded his arms "and why would I do that?"
"To prove that you aren't a vampire!" Joo-Won shouted while holding out the scalpel.
Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they waited for Neugdae to reply and so he did.
"And what if I am?"
Shock spread throughout the crowd as everyone recoiled at his words even Joo-Won who quickly recovered "are you admitting to being a vampire?"
Neugdae was not at all fazed by the accusation and he stepped closer to the younger man "I'm not admitting anything. What I am saying is what exactly would you do if it turns out that I'm a vampire?"
"You...you…" Joo-Won simmered with anger "then we'll hand you over to the police!"
Neugdae nodded plainly "hm, one problem with that Joo-Won well several but I'll spell out the main one. It's not actually illegal to be a vampire."
"What?" the news seemed to floor Joo-Won "what are you talking about! Vampires attack and prey on humans!"
"Right and how would you prove I attacked anyone?"
That caused a lot of chatter amongst the crowd but Neugdae continued.
"Far as I know there haven't been any incidents with vampires on campus and I'm just a student minding my own business. Let's say through this ridiculous farce you end up finding a vampire and handing them over to the police but then it turns out that vampire hasn't done anything and decides to press charges against the mob of students who ruined their life? What then?"
"Enough of this bullshit!" Joo-Won screamed before attempting to slash at him only for his wrist to get caught with laughable ease.
Neugdae glared into the struggling Joo-Won's eyes "like I told your friends before if any of you come at me with a scalpel vampires will be the least of your concerns."
At this point Joo-Won started to sweat and the crowd collectively held its breath in anticipation for the beat down that would no doubt be coming. Only instead of hitting him Neugdae turned his attention elsewhere.
"What do you think Officer Hwa?" he emphasized "does this count as assault with a deadly weapon?"
"Among other things" a voice spoke that sent a collective chill through the veins of the gathered perpetrators.
Like a phantom from their worst nightmare Hwa Chiyon appeared from the crowd of people with a bag of food in hand and an icy expression on her face.
"W-who are you?" Joo-Won questioned with rising anxiety and discomfort as his hand is still in Neugdae's grip.
Chiyon answered by holding up her badge for all to see "Officer Hwa Chiyon of the Gwangju Police Department and I would very much like to discuss the activities you and your friends have been up to in the middle of a university campus, in broad daylight and in front of dozens of witnesses."
She said all of this with a smile on her face, an edge in her faux happy voice and a sweep of her gaze lingering on the faces of every single blue coat wearing scalpel wielding student she could see. And it was at that moment Joo-Won realized he fucked up and he expressed it as much.
"Shit…"
"You can let him go now" Chiyon ordered and Neugdae released Joo-Won's hand letting it fall limply.
"I won't be pressing charges against him so am I allowed to leave?"
"You may but be aware you may be called in to give a statement at a later date."
"Understood" he turned away and grabbed Soyun's hand while muttering "let's get the hell out of here."
Soyun could only mumble in confirmation as she allowed herself to be pulled away. Once they were far enough away from the confusion, chaos and probable arrest pending for multiple students Neugdae and Soyun walked in silence for a bit with the former enjoying the peace and the latter still coming to terms with what she just witnessed.
Finally Soyun seemed to snap out of her state of disbelief as she suddenly spoke "Sunbae?"
"Yes?"
"THAT WAS AMAZING!" she suddenly exclaimed startling a few of the passersby.
"Can you shout louder? I don't think the other side of Gwangju heard you."
Neugdae's comments caused her to snap a hand over her mouth only to glare at him.
"Shut up!"
A punch to his shoulder almost made him comically tip over "ow."
Soyun chuckled at this and the two walked in silence for a bit before Neugdae spoke "I'm guessing classes are off the table now?"
"Yes" is Soyun's immediate answer.
'And things started out so well too.'
Upon her entering class she was greeted by Min-Son and So-Ra with both worry and relief. Just as the three of them hit it off at the restaurant they acted as if they have been long time friends since the first semester. Then So-Ra called Neugdae over (apparently getting his number at some point) and even then things remained genial.
'Then Officer Hwa showed up and ruined everything.'
And as if things couldn't get any worse that whole fiasco with those students happened and…right now staying in the university is the last thing she wanted to do right now.
"I'm not really feeling up for classes at the moment either which is convenient because I need to talk to you about something."
Soyun remembered he said this before they were interrupted "what do you want to talk about?"
"About you being a Pureblood."
His words caused Soyun to stiffen and at first she gave a chuckle "wh-what are you talking about?"
At that Neugdae looked her dead in the eye "Soyun, I know."
And she met his gaze the smile on her face melted into a very serious expression "how?"
"I am very familiar with supernatural Soyun, especially vampires."
Soyun's hand curled into fist as she regarded him warily "who are you?"
"Eun Neugdae."
"Don't patronize me!"
"Okay" he backpedaled lightly "I'm not your enemy."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"If I am your enemy why wouldn't I have pawned you off to the police?"
"I don't know, you could be working for the Noble Bloods for all I know."
"I'm not."
"Prove it!"
"Noble Bloods only work with vampires because they can control them. I am not a vampire and they can't control me but you already know that."
Soyun already knew that Neugdae isn't a vampire. The fact that he is able to eat normal food without needing to excuse himself to the bathroom a few minutes later (as she did) is a testament to that fact. That still does not mean as much as he seems to think though.
"Just because you're not a vampire doesn't mean you aren't working with them."
"Alright and let's say I am then why would I be warning you of their plans?"
"What plans?"
"If you give me a chance to explain I'll tell you."
Soyun held his gaze for a long before nodding "fine."
"Great, follow me."
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere private where people won't bother us" he replied.
Soyun ended up following him to the university library where after greeting the librarian found a private corner where Neugdae retrieved a laptop.
As he booted it up he spoke "I'm going to be honest Soyun you are the weirdest Pureblood I've ever met."
"You know a lot of Purebloods?"
"I've encountered a few yeah but even then their reputation speaks for itself."
"What reputation?"
He paused to give her an odd look "that story about you being found by that priest. Were you telling the truth about not knowing your past?"
Soyun hesitated out of wariness but eventually nodded if only out of curiosity "yeah and what of it?"
He took a deep intake of air at that "oh boy."
"What? What is it?"
"You…really don't know anything about the Purebloods?"
"…not as much as I'd like" she begrudgingly admitted.
This time he pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned "this just got so much more complicated."
"Stop ignoring my questions!" Soyun hissed.
"Right, look" he gave her the laptop and Soyun's eyes were immediately taken by what she saw on the screen.
Slowly she began tapping away at the keyboard growing more and more distressed the longer she did so.
"What is this?"
"This laptop belongs to a member of a vampire criminal organization. Middle management to be exact and from my understanding they were hired by the Noble Bloods to spy on you."
That seemed about right because on the laptop were pictures of Soyun, her siblings and Father Joseph. The pictures came from multiple angles, at various locations and dated as far back as several months ago.
"How…"
How did they do this?
How could she have not noticed?
Another picture of her siblings from what she realized was a week ago came up and Soyun almost crushed the laptop under her hands. Instead she reached up and gripped the crucifix under her clothes while taking calm breaths.
"Why do you have this?"
"I stole it."
"How?"
"That's not importa-"
"Don't…patronize…me " she repeated feeling that familiar feel of her transformation creeping to the surface turning her eyes a burning red with a vertical slit as she glared at him.
Despite this Neugdae did not seem to be phased in the least, no elevated heart rate, no cold sweat or hitch in his breathing to signify wariness of any sort.
'Why is that?'
Soyun is not in the market of instilling fear but vampires have a knack of making people feel scared. Even Soyun knows she can be scary at times and she was definitely not
"Those rumors about the officers investigating a vampire student aren't false. The truth is last night there was a vampire student. He attacked professor Paek and would have killed him."
"You're lying" she almost snarled "if that was true I wouldn't have heard about it. I saw Professor Paek today and he seemed fine."
"That's because I intervened. Professor Paek doesn't have the trauma of a deadly encounter with a vampire and said vampire is probably dust in an evidence bag if he hasn't been carried off by the wind already."
"…you killed a vampire?"
"I did more than that. Turns out the student joined a vampire criminal gang. I tracked down said gang to their hideout and took a peak at their activities" he pointed at the laptop "imagine my surprise when your name and face popped up in their systems? Along with your entire family, address and everyone you've been in contact with."
Soyun took a moment to let that sink in turning from the laptop to the man "that still doesn't explain how you got this…or how you even managed to kill a vampire since…"
"Since I'm not a vampire myself?"
"I'm not so sure about that anymore."
Neugdae rolled his eyes "yes because vampires are the only supernatural creatures that exist in the world" he paused as he noticed her surprised expression "and judging by the look on your face you actually believe that."
"There are others?"
"More than you thought and less than you think" he hinted "but that's not important right now. Clearly you don't have the best relationship with the Noble Bloods. Is there a reason behind that?"
"I've never met them before in my life. I was only told that they need me" her hand went to her chest "they need my heart to become more powerful."
"You were 'told'? Was it the priest who told you that?"
"Yes" the hand over her heart tightened into a fist "but he didn't tell me everything. He never told me there are others out there besides vampires."
"The supernatural world is probably not as big as you seem to think it is."
"And you would know?"
"I do."
"And what are you?"
"I'm…complicated."
She frowned "that's not an answer."
"If you want answers then talk to the priest" Neugdae retorted
"Stop changing the subject."
"We all have our secrets Soyun and it just so happens I'm not the type of guy to freely share his."
Not like you did just now Soyun seemed to think with how pronounced her frown became. She had the right to think this since in the span of less than a week she's managed to spill a good deal of her secret and private life both willingly and unwillingly to the this man. Yet he won't do the same choosing to keep his secrets. It made sense intellectually but Soyun couldn't help but feel cheated when she thought about it.
Continuing his words Neugdae explained "besides I'm not the guy you want to hear answers from" he pointed at the laptop, specifically the picture of Father Joseph himself "I can't imagine he would know so much about vampires and not know about the supernatural world and if he is who I think he is then he might know just as much if not more than I do about the subject."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Talk to him" he said plainly "there could be a lot of reasons why he kept things from you and the only way to know is to ask. I could give you the information but that seems like a conversation you and the priest really need to have."
With his peace said Neugdae shut the laptop down and made to stand up.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to do my own investigations so I won't be joining you and your friends tonight."
Soyun watched him leave in silent contemplation as she mulled over the conversation in her thoughts. The idea that there were other supernatural creatures aside from vampires, that Neugdae might not be human despite her senses telling her the contrary and the fact that Father Joseph kept such information from her was reluctantly put at the back of her mind in favor of the more immediate threat of the Noble Bloods spying on her and her family.
Suddenly a loud chime interrupted her thoughts. It was the bell for the end of last period. She missed the final class but Soyun could not bring herself to care, instead she took out her phone and texted So-Ra.
- Sorry but I can't join you guys tonight. Something came up at home. -
She needed to get home.