A two-person venture.

“Ilay..Riegrow? Did..I hear that right?”

I ask, with cold sweat dripping from my forehead.

“Mhm.”

I awkwardly smile, and turn around to gather my thoughts,

*ILAY RIEGROW!??? THE RIEGROW?? No way..Haha am I so unlucky to meet a RIEGROW at my first hunt far from my home? Jaeui!!! Give me your skill to get out of this situation!!! *

“Are you alright?”

“Oh, yeah..”

Pleasedontkillme pleasedontkillme pleasedontkillme

I’ll just reply with whatever..!

It’s a bit rude if I just keep my back faced at him..Dammit! I turn around to face him,

Making eye contact with Ilay. Deep in those eyes of his, I start thinking about the past.

...(Flashback)...

“Have you heard?”

“There’s this vampire..”

Murmurs could be heard outside of the cabin, I rub my eyes, getting out of my bed, I head outside and eavesdrop on the other werewolves.

“The vampire, Riegrow, reached a killing of a thousand, some victims being human, other species and even his own, but majority of the killings were werewolves.”

“Really!? That madman!”

“Yeah, and while I was scouting for food, I saw a smaller figure of him! The same grey hair and eyes!”

“Darn! That must be his offspring then.”

“Heh, we should kill that offspring of his then. Then he’ll know the pain when he killed those families.”

That’s a bit mean..

”Uhm..Hyung, you should kill that- that Riengrow instead of his son because his son didn’t do anything wrong..”

They all stare at me with annoyance, one opening their mouth.

”Tsk, what would YOU know? You’re sheltered in that little cabin. You wouldn’t know the pain of losing those you love.”

Another werewolf glances at me,

”Can’t even pronounce his name right, it’s RIEGROW, get that right because it might be the name of the next murderer that kills your brother yeah?” He laughs.

...(Back to present)...

“Ha, I wondered what kind of face I made there.

I was really a wimp.”

“Hm\~? Were you thinking about something?”

The vampire asks with a curious face.

Oh, did I say that out loud? I click my tongue, “I should really stop doing that..”

“Well, having you react strongly to my name, you’ve probably heard about my father, well, probably not good ones.”

He’s keeping that indifferent expression, I can’t tell if he’s ashamed or proud..?

”I’m sure you’re well aware of your father’s actions then.”

Come to think of it, this vampire, well, Ilay to be specific, has gray hair too like how they described it. He really must be that man’s offspring. How unlucky..

*“Please do separate my father’s actions from mine, I assure you, we ***aren’t** the same.”

He’s giving that cold smile again. Should I even trust him? But I shouldn’t assume,

“Don’t worry, I’m a victim of a..Similar matter.”

Ilay stares at me with a hint of interest as to what I just said,

“May I ask-“

I already knew he was gonna ask that. So before he could get the chance to finish, I interrupted him and started walking back.

”We’ve been here too long, those humans will wake up. I’m going now.”

“Haha, okay then.”

...****************...

I walked my way back to the deep forest where my house resides in, then walked faster…And faster, and faster..!

Then I stopped,

“Okay seriously! It’s been like, what? two hours? And you’re still following me! What is your probelm!?”

I glare at him, irritated.

“Hm.”

He glances at the sky indifferently, seeming as to not hear what I just said.

This little-.!! Ugh! Fine, have your way then. I’ll just tire you out!

I start walking in circles around the deep forest, running and jumping around. Trying to tire him aswell as losing him in this forest.

How do you like that, Ilay! I turned around, expecting him to be tired out or has disappeared.

”!!!!! How’d you even-.?”

Ilay was right beside me, even slightly ahead of me.

“You’re slow for a werewolf.”

He chuckles.

“You’re just fast..”

“That’s what weaklings always say as an excuse.”

“Oh, shut it!”

This Ilay guy is really getting on my nerves!

I started sprinting and being faster than before.

Ilay notices it and runs even faster.

. . And that’s how our little race happened.

***

“Okay stop..I give up..”**** I said while panting and sweating profusely.

“Haha, that was fun.”

“Only for you…”

I click my tongue, damn! My whole plan backfired on me!

I glare at Ilay who’s smirking like a damn villain, before glancing at the way ahead, happily opening my mouth,

*”***Oh! My house!” **My eyes lighten up.

Ilay glances at the direction I’m looking at, “That’s your house? The little shack at the bottom of that tiny cliff?”

(img: credits to TinyHouseTalk from google)

I stare at him, “Shack? SHACK!? This..This is a whole house! What the heck do you mean shack!?”

“Hm? Oh, it wasn’t my intention to offend you or anything. I was just telling the truth.”

“You..YOU DAMN VAMPIRE!!”

I start attempting to hit him in the face, but he dodges every attempt.

*“***I made this house with my own two hands! And with my family!”**

“Hm, that’s actually quite impressive for a 15 year old like you.”

Woah, how did he guess that? Is he actually a psychic!? I look at him with a baffled expression

Ilay glances at me,

“Really..You-“

“Ah wait, you haven’t told me your name yet.”

Oh, right, I haven’t told my name.

I clear my throat, “My name’s Jeong Taeui, you can call me Tay!”

Ilay looks at me as if in deep thought,

“Tay…”

*“***No way! You’re actually the first one to pronounce my name right! Well, besides my parents of course. Haha, even my older brother couldn’t pronounce my name correctly the first time.”**

Ilay smiles, “Well, I have experience.”

Eh? What’s that supposed to mean? Does he mean he’s dealt with hard pronunciation names before? Good for him then. I assumed with no further thoughts.

“Tay, it’s almost sunrise, and my home is very, very far away from here, so I don’t have any shelter for when the sun comes.”

I could already tell what he was hinting at.

”Well it would be rude to leave you out here to burn, so I guess, since you did keep me company the whole night.”

“Oh and, help me carry these inside.” I lend him two bags of livestock meat while I carry the other two bags.

“Fair enough.” He carries the bags on his shoulder with one hand.

Ah, I forgot to tell him there are kids inside-

“Wait, I forgot to tell yo-“

But before I could finish, he opens the door with his other hand.

creak…..——

The kids run to the door to greet “me”,

*”***Hyung!! Oppa!!”**

They burst out the door and hug Ilay tightly.