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A nurse, on his rounds, suddenly stops in the middle of the hallway.
There is a patient in the blood bank.
It's 2 AM, the room is dark, and the little, standard window in the top half of the door is barely big enough to see through even with the lights on. But it is enough, the hallway lights shining into the room at just the right angle for the nurse to catch a glimpse of bright blue hair and a hospital gown.
The nurse swipes his access card over the door handle — how did the patient get in without one? — and calls out softly.
"Excuse me, miss, you're not allowed to be in here. Please allow me to escort you back to your room."
The patient turns. She smiles warmly, but something about her gaze is dark. As a random night shift nurse, it's not his place to make judgments, but in those eyes of bright green against dark sclera, he finds a look he's all too familiar with in a career like his: a pair of eyes that have seen the life leave another.
"Sorry!" The patient says brightly, bounding over to the nurse. The nurse, despite himself, takes a half step back and braces his hand against the doorway. But this close, something about her face is familiar. "I got a little lost. I'm in Room 68!"
The nurse gives a double take and looks down at the patient's legs before he can stop himself. Around her right knee is a tightly wrapped bandage, and he freezes.
Room 68's patient is famous vampire hunter Lee Seonghae. She was admitted just this morning, in critical condition for a detached limb. He doesn't need to look under the bandage to know that under it, he'll find fresh stitches.
At this time, the surgery must've just wrapped up. He frantically reaches for his pager to call for a stretcher and all but pushes Lee Seonghae into a seat.
"You are not allowed to be walking around yet," he scolds as he inspects the wrap, luckily showing no sign of blood. "Do you know who operated on you?"
"Mmm… Doctor..Go Yeongeun, I believe," she responds, and he nods. Everyone knows Doctor Go Yeongeun is the most skilled professional in the hospital, if not the city. For Lee Seonghae to be walking around so casually just after her operation, no one but Doctor Yeongeun could've done the job.
It's hard to believe she's only in her twenties.
"You're in good hands," the nurse says, mustering up as much reassurance as he can, especially considering that it's still 2 in the morning.
But even if it wasn't 2 AM, even if he miraculously slept a full eight hours the night before, absolutely nothing would've prepared him for what she had to say next.
"Is it common knowledge that she's a vampire?" Lee Seonghae says, almost absentmindedly, much too flippant considering the absurdity of the question she just asked. The nurse doesn't bother holding back his laugh.
"She can't be, that's ridiculous," he denies. Sure, it's a little weird, the amount of experience Doctor Yeongeun has at her young age, but a vampire? "Impossible, besides. She's around blood all day."
"I suppose," Lee Seonghae hums, but she sounds unconvinced.
The nurse shudders. Is this the level of vigilance you need to survive as a vampire hunter? It makes him feel just the slightest bit better about his own career choice. He thought being a nurse required paranoia, but suspecting even your own doctor is a level of anxiety he'd never even considered.
He looks back to Lee Seonghae. She's still smiling in that bright, slightly empty kind of way.
…Maybe eccentricity, for vampire hunters, is just a part of the job.
Go Yeongeun pushes open the door to Room 68, bracing herself. Every single anecdote on this patient's chart screams eccentricity — security camera footage of her limping through the doors of the ER with her right leg under her arm, a receptionist anecdote of her calmly checking in and taking a seat in the waiting room until someone noticed her bleeding all over the white floor tile, the late-night record of a nurse finding her in the blood bank.
The only time Yeongeun herself has come in contact with her, during the operation, Lee Seonghae was already under. What story am I about to add to this list?
Go Yeongeun steps into the room and knocks lightly against the doorframe. Lee Seonghae is… normal. She's looking out the window, legs swung out from under the blankets and swinging aimlessly against the edge of her cot.
"Lee Seonghae-ssi?" she calls out as she steps deeper into the room. The woman in question turns around, bright-eyed, and Go Yeongeun smiles back. "It's a relief to see your speedy recovery, but due to your, um, walk, last night, we're unfortunately going to have to extend your stay."
"That's alright!" Lee Seonghae says, still beaming, and so Go Yeongeun continues.
"I'll just check on your vitals, and then I'll leave you be. Do you have any questions?"
Lee Seonghae hums, then, "If I may ask, how long have you been a doctor?"
Go Yeongeun blinks. "Oh! I'm coming up on two years, but I promise, you'll be in good care."
At that, Lee Seonghae turns her head and smiles just a bit wider. A bit sharper. "And how long have you been a vampire?"
Go Yeongeun feels her smile freeze, imperceptibly. If she still had blood, it would have run cold. How does she—?
It's only because of how long she's been alive that she doesn't visibly react. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."
Calm down. Calm down. By all accounts, Go Yeongeun isn't even breaking any laws, other than her forged birth certificate, and even that only has the birth year faked. Her most recent degree reads Class of 20XX, ink still practically wet (though she still keeps her first degree from a few centuries back). It's not even against the law for a vampire to be a doctor, or nurse, or work in healthcare at all; it's just, well, pretty unprecedented.
That's it. Unprecedented. Because who's going to believe a vampire works in healthcare?
"I assure you, no one here at the hospital will try to harm you. Everyone has been thoroughly background checked," Go Yeongeun picks up, after the silence stretches on for too long.
A beat more, and Go Yeongeun moves forward — she should at least check on Lee Seonghae's leg before calling a nurse to take her vitals — when Lee Seonghae jumps up from her cot, blanket flying to the ground.
Go Yeongeun's eyes follow the movement, and her breath hitches. Blood is dripping onto the floor, a puddle forming starkly against the fallen white bed sheet.
"Please sit back down!" Go Yeongeun says sharply, placing her hands on Lee Seonghae's shoulders and pushing her back into the cot. Go Yeongeun checks her knee first — no, the bandages are clean, so the stitches haven't ripped — is there some other injury she missed? Where is the blood coming from? "Lee Seonghae-ssi, where are you hurt?"
Lee Seonghae's hands reach up towards her shoulders, pulling off Yeongeun's hands and holding them tightly in hers. Her grip is sticky and wet, and Go Yeongeun finally looks up to see blood trailing down Lee Seonghae's arm, dripping from a deep gash in her wrist.
Not for the first time, Go Yeongeun curses her own constitution. Even a human would've been able to smell that much blood. Meanwhile, Yeongeun's long-ingrained training to ignore the scent of blood leaves her oblivious to such a major injury right under her nose. What's the point, if her abilities can't even help when it's convenient?
"Good people really are everywhere!" Lee Seonghae says, eyes sparkling and answering absolutely nothing. "I've been bleeding since you came in, and I haven't seen you try to hurt me once!"
"Of course not, we aren't in the business of hurting patients," Go Yeongeun replies firmly, pulling her hands away to switch out her now-bloodied gloves. Lee Seonghae moves to follow. "Seonghae-ssi, please stay put!"
"I can't believe I really got to meet such a good vampire," Seonghae continues, but gratefully sits back down. Go Yeongeun sighs and begins sorting through drawers to find the bandages and gauze. Even if they aren't in an exam room, there should be at least one roll somewhere nearby. "I shouldn't have been so wary of you at the start, though I could tell you were a vampire as soon as I first saw you! But you didn't try to sneak blood from any patients, and I even checked the blood bank, nothing was missing— ah, doctor, what are you doing?"
Go Yeongeun wraps one end of a roll of gauze around the edge of Lee Seonghae's wrist. "Please bear with this. I'll call for another doctor to take over the rest of your treatment plan, but I can't leave you bleeding here."
"That won't be necessary!" Lee Seonghae says, with a shake of her head. "You're the best person in this hospital, I completely trust you with my care!" She thrusts out her wrist, higher, right in front of Go Yeongeun's mouth. "This is for you!"
Go Yeongeun looks at the still bleeding wrist, then back to Lee Seonghae. All those years ago, after Go Yeongeun had first become a vampire, she never would've envisioned herself in a situation where she would be convincing someone to not give her their blood.
Even if Lee Seonghae can't be talked out of believing Go Yeongeun's a vampire, it's not a good idea to just… drink from her wrist. For a multitude of reasons, not least of all considering that Lee Seonghae is a recovering patient, and Go Yeongeun the doctor in charge of her recovery. Besides, Go Yeongeun hasn't drunk human blood for centuries at this point. It would be terrible practice to start now.
"Let me just wrap your injury," Yeongeun tries, pushing her arm down, but Lee Seonghae was surprisingly strong for what should be a bedridden civilian. Go Yeongeun reaches back for the gauze, but Lee Seonghae moves her wrist to follow.
"You can drink! I insist!"
"Please be reasonable, Seonghae-ssi," Go Yeongeun tries again, catching Lee Seonghae's wrist the next time it comes near, and managing to get the end of a bandage wrapped around it. "You're still recovering, and either way, we can't take blood donations from injured patients," Yeongeun insists, with a final flourish, as she finally ties off the bandage against the steadily bleeding wrist.
Lee Seonghae suddenly stops, her arms falling to rest at her sides. "Oh! Ohh, don't worry, I completely understand!" Go Yeongeun puts her own arm down and sighs in relief. She'd finally acquiesced, surprisingly easily, but Yeongeun wasn't in a position to complain.
"Thank you for your cooperation," Go Yeongeun says lightly, and begins to finally check on Lee Seonghae's vitals.
Though she's not looking forward to updating her chart.
Go Yeongeun has gone through her fair share of running into old patients. Most of the time it's nice, seeing those people doing well even after being discharged. Sometimes it's sadder, running into family members and hearing second-hand that someone's not doing well. There have even been a few that she ends up meeting as repeat patients, and those, Go Yeongeun tries to treat with the best care she can.
This situation does not fit into any of the aforementioned above.
"How did you even get in here?" Go Yeongeun says after opening the door to what should be her empty office. Instead, despite having been discharged from the hospital just last week, Lee Seonghae is sitting in a chair in front of her desk. It's the seat with a soft, plush cushion that Go Yeongeun usually reserves for visiting family and friends, or when upper management stops by.
"I walked in!" Lee Seonghae says cheerfully, answering absolutely nothing at all. Go Yeongeun looks back out into the hallway. From here, she can see down the hall into the lobby, and as she suspected, the hospital security is standing in their usual places.
Go Yeongeun steps fully into her office and sighs, closing the door behind her. "I'm happy to answer any questions, but please make an appointment next time, Lee Seonghae-ssi," she says, walking around to sit behind her desk. "Luckily, I have around an hour left of my lunch break, so let me know if you've had any issues since being discharged."
"Oh, it's your lunch break! Perfect timing," Lee Seonghae beams, and pulls out a large insulated lunchbox. And it's large, like the type restaurants use to deliver large catering orders. Lee Seonghae continues to be the oddest patient Go Yeongeun has ever treated.
"Oh! You're free to eat in my office, if you'd like, but—"
"It's for you!"
Go Yeongeun blinks. She's getting an odd sense of deja vu. "I'm sorry, Lee Seonghae-ssi, but we're not allowed to accept outside food during work hours—"
"It's alright! I can keep this under the table," Lee Seonghae waves off, not deterred a bit, and pulls out a plastic pouch filled with a deep, red liquid. "Sorry that it's cold, but I didn't want the blood to go bad—"
"Blood?" Go Yeongeun thinks she's vastly misunderstood this situation. "If you'd like to make a blood donation to the hospital, Pathology is on the upper floors—"
"Donation?" Lee Seonghae blinks and tilts her head cutely. She's very cute, actually — something that Go Yeongeun suddenly realizes that she hasn't thought about anybody for a long time. Augh, wait, not the time, Go Yeongeun!! She shakes her head to clear the thought, as Lee Seonghae is still talking. "It's just for you!"
Go Yeongeun reaches out and pulls the insulated box closer to her. Inside, it's packed to the brim with unlabeled blood bags.
…She really, really, doesn't want to know where all that blood came from.
"I'm sorry, I can't accept this," Go Yeongeun finally says, pushing the box back over to Lee Seonghae.
"No, no, don't worry! I can personally vouch that no good person was harmed for any of that blood," Lee Seonghae insists, already beginning to push the box back to her.
"That's great to hear," and certainly raises more questions than answers, "but unfortunately, we just can't accept unlabeled blood donations."
And Go Yeongeun suspects even if they could, accepting this much blood from an unknown source, without reporting it to any set of authorities, is probably some kind of crime. Like money laundering. Blood laundering, or something.
Lee Seonghae looks at Go Yeongeun, then back to the box, then back at Go Yeongeun. "I understand," she says, nodding solemnly. "Good people deserve only the best, after all!"
…Somehow, Go Yeongeun is getting the feeling that maybe she's the one who doesn't understand.
Before she can correct her, or ask just 'what' she understands, Lee Seonghae is gone, and the office door is swinging, open.
Go Yeongeun turns into the alleyway leading to her street. In the pitch dark, leaning against a brick wall, is a now-familiar shock of bright blue hair and the scent of blood.
It's a testament to how used to Lee Seonghae that Go Yeongeun has gotten, despite their few interactions, that instead of asking a normal question like, 'How do you know where I live?' Go Yeongeun says, "Lee Seonghae-ssi, I'm not going to drink your blood. Or anyone else's. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
A beat of silence, then: "How do you survive?" Lee Seonghae says. Her voice is purely curious, not accusatory. Lee Seonghae hasn't sounded accusatory towards her, not since that first day in Room 68.
"Animal blood. I need a lot more of it— ah, but it's not so bad!" Go Yeongeun rushes to say, because Lee Seonghae's expression had begun to fall just slightly, and Go Yeongeun is slowly realizing that if she ever saw Lee Seonghae frown at her, it would break her non-beating heart. "And anyway, it's better than killing other people for it."
"You can drink from me! I'll be okay, promise!" Lee Seonghae insists again. "Human blood is better for you, right? And I'm perfectly healthy~"
"Why are you so insistent on this, anyway?" The words left her mouth before she could stop herself. It's something Go Yeongeun was curious about, ever since Lee Seonghae first stuck her wrist in her face.
Lee Seonghae's always been smiling, every time Go Yeongeun has seen her. But at those words, the corners of Lee Seonghae's smile are pulled down, just a bit. Not enough to frown, but it's a smile that looks more like contentment, in contrast to the cheeky smile Go Yeongeun's gotten used to seeing on her.
"Good people deserve good things," Lee Seonghae says simply. The words are soft, but said with a conviction that echoes even through the dark alleyway they're currently stopped in. "I want to give good people good things."
It's a conviction that sends Go Yeongeun back a long, long time. To when she herself was much, much younger, and decided, that even as a vampire, with blood on her hands and in her mouth, she would help people, and overcome anything to be able to do it.
Go Yeongeun's hands are still in Lee Seonghae's. Lee Seonghae pulls them up to her shoulders, pulling Go Yeongeun's face closer and closer, and tilts her neck to her.
"It's— I'm for you," Lee Seonghae whispers into her ear, and Go Yeongeun shivers at the sudden warmth.
She looks at Lee Seonghae's neck again, a pale, tantalizing, smooth stretch of skin. Go Yeongeun almost wants to laugh. To think, years of careful self-control, quivering at a single pretty girl she met on the job.
Go Yeongeun leans down, bares her teeth, and moves— towards Lee Seonghae's mouth.
Lee Seonghae lets out a muffled gasp that Go Yeongeun swallows. She's so warm, Go Yeongeun thinks, as Lee Seonghae kisses back and worms a hand into her hair. It's been a while since Go Yeongeun had last kissed anyone, but she definitely doesn't remember it feeling like this, like every nerve is on edge and her skin is on fire. She feels like there's lava running through the curls of her bob, slipping through strands of hair and melting away the part of her that thought she could live with never seeing Lee Seonghae ever again.
Even after they pull apart and Lee Seonghae pulls her hand away, Go Yeongeun still feels her scalp burning.
…She wants to kiss her again.
"Next time, instead of offering me your blood, I'd like it much more if you offer yourself instead," Go Yeongeun somehow manages to say, lips still tingling. She hasn't felt this hot since she was still human.
Lee Seonghae laughs, a bright, crystalline sound. "For you, Yeongeun-ssi? Anything!"