Work Text:
It’s different at first.
A foreign and unfamiliar sensation at the way her teeth sharpen and all her senses heighten that Siyeon’s not sure she could ever get used to. The pure blood lust a total one-eighty from her once human instincts of wanting to harm no human or animal. Now she falls somewhere in-between of being a human and what some people identify as a monster with her pale, cold skin and barely red-tinted eyes still leaning on the side of being a warm shade of brown.
She doesn’t stand out too much more now than she already did. The nighttime calls to her much louder than it once had, the safety of the darkness and moonlight settling over her like the comfort of a blanket.
Everything known was only myths, things Siyeon had only ever grown up hearing tales about, just silly stories and of course seeing differentiating depictions in movies and television of the creatures all seemingly contradicting one another.
When she was first turned it was like most stories tell, a dark night and a looming shadow. Waking up with an unknown memory of what happened with an intense thirst for blood. There was a stinging pain in the form of two punctures on her neck, what happened to her becoming undeniably obvious.
She’s a vampire.
.
Normalcy is what Siyeon misses most.
The routine of an everyday schedule - waking up, going to work, feeling the sun hit her skin on a warm summer day without that searing feeling and fear of being burnt alive.
That was one of her least favorite changes, that and the blood. She had a friend and confidant that worked at the hospital who would steal bags of blood for her because Siyeon really hated to hunt. It wasn’t in her nature. She misses the taste of food, real food, the warmth a jolt of energy a cup of coffee would. bring her. It’s not that she can’t taste those things anymore but it’s certainly not the same.
So, she likes to pretend. She frequents different places than she used to before. She found a little bakery that stays open late with a quiet and calming atmosphere. A little macaron shop.
“Is everything okay?”
Siyeon looks up at the woman addressing her from beside the table she’s seated at, effectively shaking her from her reverie. She recognizes her as the owner of the place, name tag with bright lettering reading Minji on it.
“Hm?”
The woman points to the nearly cold cup of coffee placed in front of Siyeon, steam no longer wafting from the mug, “You always order a cup of coffee when you’re in here but you never touch it.”
Siyeon nods her head ardently, voice quiet but sincere, “Everything’s great.”
The woman looks at her a little strangely because, it’s true, she hasn’t touched any of it but she takes her word for it, a gentle smile in place.
For the record, it all smells fantastic. Something of a blessing and a curse of the bite was was the heightened sense of smell. It made up for the dulled taste food now had for her.
“I’m Minji! Come ask for me if you need anything, alright?”
“Alright,” she finds herself nodding again, a little bit at a loss for words - realizing how much she needs work in making conversation with people - and a lot captivated by Minji.
.
A few nights later, Siyeon’s back in the bakery, back at the same small table with a slice of cake and a mug of coffee, both completely untouched as she reads through random articles on her phone.
She looks up when she sees someone approaching the table from her peripheral. She’s surprised when she sees it’s Minji moving to sit directly across from her. She settles in, elbows on the table with her chin resting atop her folded hands as she regards Siyeon, like she’s trying to figure something out.
Before any sort of greetings, Minji starts by going on a tangent about how she’s spent all of her savings and every bit of money her parents set aside for her future and to attend university. Instead, she chose to attend culinary school and open a bakery and her whole future and livelihood was wholly depending on this business being a success.
Minji takes a deep breath at the end of her longwinded, out-of-nowhere speech and looks back at up at Siyeon after only looking - glaring - at the cup of coffee and slice of cake while telling her story. Maybe she made a mistake in choosing this as her career path. Not that this one lone customer would hold that truth but these things always started with just one. She didn’t know why it was bothering her so much with this particular person.
“Is the food and coffee here really that bad?”
All the while Minji was talking, Siyeon took the time to really observe the little things about her. What it was about Minji that had her so captivated and interested. On a level that wasn’t just purely vampiric bloodlust. She wouldn’t deny that Minji smelt amazing, wouldn’t deny that she couldn’t hear the steady flow of blood beneath the woman’s skin running in her veins. Siyeon was hyper aware of all of those things. No, it was the calming energy the woman had. Small tirade aside. It’s the ever present softness in her eyes coupled with a coy but slightly mischievous smile.
“I’m a vampire.”
As if that fact holds all the answers as to why Siyeon comes here and orders, stays for a few hours before leaving everything completely untouched. It kind of does, but she really doesn’t make the habit of telling people her secret. Without pretense, she trusted this woman for some reason.
The delivery is so pointblank, so tongue-in-cheek, that Minji isn’t sure how to react but she can’t stop the laughter bubbling up from deep within her chest, blessing Siyeon with something joyous and melodious.
Siyeon smiles, her eyes narrowed in a way that indicates confusion, that she doesn’t quite understand the woman’s reaction but the sound of her laughter brought a smile to her face nonetheless.
Minji notices small fangs poking out just from under the corners of Siyeon’s lips and sobers up immediately, her laughter abruptly stopping. How peculiar.
“Oh! You’re serious?”
“Yes,” Siyeon speaks, “But I really like it here.”
Minji starts with the laughter again, more of a soft giggle this time before sharing that she finds it interesting that a vampire, one that drinks blood regularly to quench her thirst and get her nutrients, comes to a bakery for the quaintness of it all.
“It makes me feel like I’m a person still.”
Doing the normal and mundane everyday things that everyone else does.
But it is funny and she laughs and laughs with Minji as though there’s plenty of breath left in her lungs waiting to be stolen by the pure joy she feels right now.
.
Minji has an endless curiosity.
Do you like being a vampire?
“I don’t hate it.”
Sometimes it’s just random questions.
Why is it coffee that you always order?
The irony of it, really.
“Coffee used to keep me awake when I was exhausted. Now I can never sleep.”
Siyeon hangs on to every word, every question, and she’s never been so fast to let someone know her.
Minji doesn’t ask the too personal questions. Not yet. Not about how she got turned and where her family even is. Not about how old she may actually be considering vampires don’t age.
Siyeon only has one question for Minji, among all the ones she’s been aske. But it’s something she wants to know, needs to know at the very core of her being.
“You’re really not scared of me?”
And Minji smiles something soft and sincere, something easy to believe with her hand reaching out to rest upon Siyeon’s cool skin, running her finger over her knuckles as reassurance.
“Of course not.”
.
Siyeon has lots of favorite things about Minji.
She likes how soft and pliant her skin is. She loves her hands the most. Likes that Minji lets her hold her them, roll the skin between her fingertips and Siyeon can feel the thrumming and flowing of Minji’s blood beneath it.
It calms her, comforts her and Minji doesn’t mind it.
She likes her lips.
Minji kisses her first, asking gently when Siyeon walked her home from the bakery one night after she’d locked up. She didn’t make a habit to walking to work since she tended to pull later hours, but if there were ever a time to walk home in the dark it would be with a vampire by your side.
The growing bond between them had been hard to ignore, the innate trust they had in each other early on when first meeting. Siyeon had spilled her secret so quickly and Minji had never shown an ounce of fear when it came to the vampire. That in itself made Siyeon feel the most human she ever had since being turned. Minji made her feel more connected to that muted side of her she so desperately misses in the moments she felt most alone.
When Minji bridges the very small gap between them, bringing their lips together with the gentle pull of a warm hand against Siyeon’s cheek, the vampire feels nothing but warmth. Nothing but sweetness and softness and Minji Minji Minji.
.
Siyeon starts to feel sluggish after awhile, her small blood supply having run out, and she feels like she’s running out of options.
It’s been more difficult to get a replenished stash lately, her nurse friend cutting back on providing her with bags of blood because suspicions were being raised around the hospital. She doesn’t have to feed often, once every few weeks sustains her well enough but she’s been ending up on much longer than that.
She feels weaker as the days stretch on, but that weakness is more pronounced while she’s around Minji. More concerned and worried about losing control around her that it takes a lot out of Siyeon to push down her true nature of being a vampire.
But Minji catches on. Minji, who has come to know her so well, who’s learned all her tells and the little nuances of her personality can see that Siyeon is fading.
Minji makes a decision.
She starts unbuttoning the first few buttons of her top and pulling one side down and off her shoulder to expose her neck to Siyeon, “Here, drink from me.”
They’d never discussed it before, Siyeon wasn’t going to start now. She would be okay. It was harder to hunt for animals in the city but she would make do. She’d formed a relationship with Minji outside of being vampire. Even if that is what she is it wasn’t such a big weight or something that hung over them.
“No,” Siyeon insists with all the strength she has. She’s not going to feed from her, the thought had barely crossed her mind, “I’ll be okay.”
She’s never fed from someone before, not directly anyway. Just from the hospital blood supply. Maybe that’s what set her apart from other vampires as a whole, the lack of hunting and feeding on humans. And the idea of Minji being the first person she ever feeds from both unnerves and calms her. She’s not a stranger, someone she’s just drinking from out of pure instinct but she is someone Siyeon cares about so dearly that the thought of hurting her hurts Siyeon herself.
“You won’t hurt me,” Minji insists as though she knows exactly what Siyeon is thinking and a part of her does because she’s always so so careful in all her movements, in everything she does. She knows she won’t hurt her. She’s almost more familiar with Siyeon than the woman is with herself. She trusts her full stop.
Siyeon didn’t think she’d relent so easy but Minji was stepping closer and with each step, her resolve broke a little more.
“Tell me?” Siyeon starts, hand linking with Minji’s as her head settles at the crook of her neck resting on her shoulder, her breath tickling Minji’s skin, “If it’s too much, tell me or- or push me off.”
The hungrier she was the less likely she was to know when she reached her limit, it’s why she was so against this right now. She wouldn’t forgive herself for bringing any harm to Minji.
“Promise me?” She pulled back to look into the woman’s eyes one more time, to make absolutely sure one more for good measure.
“I promise,” Minji’s voice was small but reassuring and Siyeon didn’t need to be convinced anymore, the thirst increasing now.
She parts her lips, giving room to let her fangs grow to their full size, tenderly kissing the smooth skin of Minji’s neck before sinking her teeth slowly into the soft flesh.
There’s a sharp intake of breath from Minji, her body stiffening just briefly at the sharp pain but it’s only a quick sting until it’s subsiding and Siyeon’s firm hold on her hand tightening just that much more with a squeeze to let her know she’s got her let’s her know everything’s okay.
Minji didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t.. bad. It actually felt good but she has an inkling that has more to it with it being Siyeon than anything else. It wasn’t everyday that you happened upon a vampire. And it certainly wasn’t an everyday occurrence for a vampire to become a steadfast fixture in your life, a best friend and something of a lover.
Siyeon feels nothing short of euphoric at the coppery taste of blood hitting her tongue after going without for much longer than she should have.
It’s exactly what she’s needed. Minji moans and it brings Siyeon back to reality rather quickly. It’s not pained, but it brings her back and she’s moving away after soothing the small wound.
She isn’t sure why she’s apologizing but the words spill from her mouth before she can figure it out.
“I- I’m sorry,” She whispers, pulling her hand toward her mouth to wipe away any remaining blood that may have left.
She feels better than she has in days.
Minji feels nothing but relief when she sees the color come back to Siyeon’s face, the stinging and puncture wounds from her own neck now completely gone and healed by a quick swipe of Siyeon’s tongue before she’d pulled away.
“Don’t apologize,” She murmurs back, brushing back strands of Siyeon’s hair behind her ear before her hand makes the descent to cup her cheek, “And don’t ever do that again. Go without, I mean. I- I’m here. Don’t hesitate to ask.”
It means something. Something so important that Minji would even do that for her.
And something a lot like love swells within Siyeon, sure that if she had a beating heart it would beat all the way right out of her chest, just there for the taking.
Minji already has it.