LitN: Running Through The Night

XI

He clicks his tongue, "I honestly came to this realm expecting someone who'd drop everything to have fun before they'd die, not someone who's so passive about it. You're not even a single ounce of proud that you're saving both Human and Vampire kind. Seriously, what are you profiting from wasting your time like this—?"

"Do you know what my dad always said to me when I was younger?" she cuts him off, bearing an unreadable but calm facial expression. "Even in hard times when all feels impossible, time still goes by. That's why it is important to keep going. Even if no one anticipates it, if you break the expected things, it will be more impactful."

Sounds like Jungwon hyung, Ni-ki thought to himself. He smiles at the thought, but Yoojung didn't seem the slightest bit amused.

"My dad gives off the vibes of a wise person, but in reality, he's shallow. He's a wealthy businessman, and he stands only on business. He refuses to tell me about his past and childhood, and if he does, he doesn't give details. It doesn't help that he never spent time with me growing up. My older brother probably knows much more about him than I do.

"You mean the ditzy doctor you were with the day you got diagnosed?" Ni-ki raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, that's Dawon oppa. He's the golden child, practically the reason why I work so hard. He's going to inherit my dad's business, so our dad never really paid much attention to me and focused all of his on him." After their interaction not too long ago, Yoojung felt that Ni-ki earned her vulnerability.

"Jungwon?" Now Ni-ki was wondering if they were talking about the same man. Fatherhood felt so far to Ni-ki, so he never really thought about it and how he'd do if he'd ever become one. Now that it became of topic, he was surprised that Jungwon would be any less of a good dad. To Ni-ki, his hyung was almost perfect in any every way. Well, one could never predict the future.

Yoojung then remembers her sorrowful childhood. She was constantly overshadowed by another's achievements. At one point, she wanted to reveal her Vampire abilities to her parents, and she was so close to... but then Dawon returned home - before she could even finish her sentence - and revealed his acceptance to Harvard, and her parents forgot Yoojung was even speaking in the first place.

Her independence was due to these factors, and she had been obsessed with becoming better than Dawon since then.

"This is why I can't die like this. Not yet. I want to be able to understand why he neglects me and why he is the way he is. I need answers. I need to prove myself to him, that I can be as good as Dawon." There was a hint of desperation in her voice. From the way both her fists clenched tightly, this was noticeably a long term grudge she held against her father. "At one point, I resented him. Maybe I still do- I don't know. I want to give myself a reason not to hate him. You've known him as a child, right? Defend him. Please."

It honestly hurt Ni-ki. Obviously he was going to be biased toward to his childhood best friend, so he wanted to defend him, but Yoojung's fierce eyes didn't show any sign of deceit. It was also important for Ni-ki to note that he hadn't see Jungwon for years.

He wanted to attempt to explain Jungwon's side to the best of his ability, nevertheless. "Your dad was a leader. He was supposed to be the current King of the Vampires." Ni-ki then laughs, recalling Jungwon's cockiness whenever royalty was brought up in a conversation. "When he was still a Vampire, that was all he dreamed about. He never missed Royal training although he found a lot of the practices useless. But he dropped it all for your mother."

When Yoojung realizes that Ni-ki was actually going to help her find out more about her parents, she twirls her swivel chair to face him in delight.

He continues, "Your dad fell in love with your Human mother when we were temporarily training here. He was a real fighter, the top student during training. At the time, Humans and Vampires were at peace with one another. All was going well for everyone until a stray Vampire named Rose decided to disconnect us from each other because of a grudge she held against the Yang family. Man, I remember it all. Jungwon was so depressed after your mom was taken from him. The only way Vampires and Humans could reunite with each other was to become the other. And that's exactly what he did, he gave up his Vampire state and became a Human. He lost everything and basically became reborn. Sadly for him, it was only lately we found out how to recreate the connection."

He didn't feel the need to go over the Danah-Yona situation. That information was unneeded for the moment.

Yoojung was dazed at what she was hearing. Honestly, she thought Ni-ki was bluffing. She refused to believe some aspects of that.

"Since he couldn't be king. Don't you want to see him? You sound like you miss him."

"I can't" he says. "Seeing him may change my mind about our whole deal."

Yoojung understood what he meant quickly. She decides to change the topic, "What's your name?"

"My name? I have a ton, actually. Bastard, asshole, jackass, motherfucker..." he trails off when he notices her glaring at him. "Why do you need to know?"

"You say you're going to make sure I'm always okay, shouldn't I be able to call for you if I ever need help? How else would any here refer to you?"

Suddenly, he remembers his own trauma from when he was a child...

"First step to combat to the death, never ask the opposition their name and never let them know yours. Exchanging names means you're creating an attachement; an expectation to see each other again and again," the Vampire hunter hisses as he hovered his knife over a young Ni-ki's throat. "Right, Ni-ki?"

His brain had blocked out this memory for decades, so his heart dropped to his stomach when he recalled it. He shook his head as if trying to remove the thought from his mind.

"No one in this realm needs to know it," he deadpans, instinctively becoming cold. "Names are for beings who have a purpose and significance for the point others call for them. Not me, I'm not here to stay. Why would you want to call for me? I am meant to bring you death."

"If I ever am lonely, I guess," she replies. He pauses to stare at her. It wasn't like Yoojung to get vulnerable out of the blue, so she suddenly felt a bit awkward. She looks down at the floor, a bit embarrassed.

She does look lonely. He quickly softens, somewhat feeling pity for her. "Ni-ki," he dryly says.

"It was nice talking to you, Ni-ki."