Chapter 10
"Humans are weak. They die so easily."
Gamal muttered in a sorrowful tone.
"No."
But when Doyoung spoke, Gamal looked at him in confusion.
"No?"
"Your human body is tougher than I thought. Wanna see? This."
Doyoung rolled up his sleeve like an old veteran boasting about his glory days, showing the scar on his forearm.
"This one's from a bullet graze. And this one's from bomb shrapnel."
He pointed below his ear, then lifted his shirt to reveal a long scar on his side.
"And this was the worst—stabbed by a knife. Lost buckets of blood. Almost died..."
Doyoung trailed off. Gamal had touched the scar.
"Big wound. Did it hurt?"
Her fingertips were cold. Doyoung pulled his shirt down and said,
"I'm fine now."
She was a strange one. The scar was barely visible now, yet she looked at it as if it were still bleeding, her eyes mirroring pain...
So far, Doyoung had known four female vampires: Gamal, Yeonha (a former teammate), a sergeant from another base he'd met during a joint operation, and finally, Rachel.
Even excluding Yeonha—who'd enlisted in MCTC right after turning—the sergeant and Rachel fit the typical image of female vampires: warrior-like, straight out of hell. But Gamal? She made him wonder if vampires were the ones infected by some human virus...
Doyoung, exasperated, asked,
"What are you doing?"
Gamal was patting his stomach like it belonged to her. She looked up and mimed a wave with her hand.
"Your belly goes like this."
Apparently referring to its softness. Doyoung swatted her hand away.
"It's called a six-pack."
Honestly, she was hopeless. Casually groping a man like that...
"I don't have one."
Gamal pulled up her own shirt like a child, revealing faint but insufficient abs for laundry-folding purposes.
She stared at Doyoung and said,
"You're fascinating. You're different from me."
"How so..."
Doyoung paused mid-sentence, suddenly realizing something. "Wait, is that what you meant by 'fascinating' all along?"
Gamal nodded.
"We're different."
"Of course. I'm human and you're a vampire."
"No, more than that..."
Gamal seemed to want to say something but couldn't find the words. Yet Doyoung thought he understood.
Even if she'd been married, if her husband died on their wedding night, they likely never consummated the marriage. And having come to this deserted island "long ago," she probably hadn't gained much experience since.
"There were men among those who came here before."
"There were. But none were like you."
She then stared at Doyoung with crimson eyes and murmured,
"No one ever looked like you."
Doyoung rested his elbow on his knee and chin on his palm.
"You're unexpectedly shallow, caring so much about looks."
Gamal tilted her head.
"Shallow? Like light?"
"It means you like handsome faces."
"Is the Major handsome?"
"It's awkward to say myself, but I suppose so."
Gamal scrutinized him as if verifying the truth.
"You might be right."
Doyoung snorted a laugh. Most people would've called him arrogant or cringed at his confidence, but her honest answer was so Gamal-like.
Since when had he started recognizing "Gamal-like" traits? They hadn't known each other that long.
Doyoung found it absurd. It was laughable how he spoke as if he'd known her forever, especially considering how suspicious she was...
Then he met her gaze.
Gamal's eyes were strange. Though vivid crimson should appear menacing, her large, luminous orbs held the innocent sparkle of a newborn's eyes. If she truly had been born when she claimed, those eyes could've tempted Adam and Eve before the Fall. Yet they remained clear as springwater.
Combined with her adolescent curiosity about him...
Under the starry sky—a setting that could make even the most hardboiled hearts race—they found themselves locked in each other's gaze without realizing it. A tender night breeze brushed through Gamal's hair.
Crunch.
A sudden noise made Doyoung whirl around.
"What's wrong?"
Gamal asked. Doyoung carefully scanned the dark, silent woods.
"You didn't hear that?"
"Hear what?"
If even a vampire's keen hearing detected nothing, it must've been his imagination...
Gamal added as an afterthought,
"Animal."
Apparently just animal sounds.
After watching the motionless darkness, Doyoung turned back to find Gamal waiting cluelessly. Deserted island. Night. Young man and woman. All the ingredients for dangerous tension hung thick in the air.
"Let's sleep."
"Okay."
Gamal's earlier sentimental expression vanished, replaced by her usual eager-to-please puppy mode.
She helped Doyoung up. They entered the log cabin, laid out bedding, and settled down.
"Major."
Gamal's subtle call made him turn. She said,
"Thank you. For being strong. You won't die."
Doyoung bristled.
"Who said I was dying? I'm not dying."
"Okay."
Gamal smiled with crescent eyes. Doyoung looked away.
While human-vampire marriages weren't unheard of, this was different. Whatever circumstances left Gamal alone here, he needed to return home.
As MIA (Missing in Action), his parents likely hadn't received notice yet. But if the MCTC called off their search, he'd need to find his own escape.
Doyoung glanced at Gamal cheerfully arranging blankets. When their eyes met, she smiled.
Yes. Before something irreversible happened.
'The problem's my leg.'
Doyoung grimaced. Had his legs been fine, he could've explored the island for escape routes. Instead, he remained tethered like a dog to his "reserved seat" in the beach shade, useless except for staring at waves.
Beside him, Gamal sat primly knitting a carpet with a bone needle—another of her handmade tools. Every craft in the cabin bore her touch.
Though inevitable for a solitary life, her skills were impressive: cabin-building, kiln-making, campfire cooking, toolcraft. She seemed on track to single-handedly rebuild civilization.
Truthfully, Doyoung would've had endless tasks if stranded alone. But Gamal's established systems and his injured leg left him as useless as a traditional Korean househusband.
Watching her, he recalled an old conversation:
"Vampire origins? Many theories... The most plausible? Aliens."
He'd laughed then.
"Don't laugh! It sounds absurd, but think—humans transforming into eternal blood-drinkers makes no biological sense!"
The speaker wagged a finger.
"Does that sound terrestrial to you?"
Admittedly, the alien virus theory held water. But as someone who disliked sci-fi, Doyoung had scoffed:
"So an 'X Virus' from space created vampires?"
"Long ago. During Earth's volcanic formative era. The first infected went extinct like dinosaurs."
"Space vampires."
Doyoung muttered now. Though he'd dismissed it before, Gamal—a 3,300-year-old vampire with childlike innocence, playing Robinson Crusoe—made the theory oddly plausible.
"Why?"
Gamal asked when she noticed his stare.
"Impressive work."
Though casually meant, she squirmed and mumbled,
"Don't look. It's not finished."
Doyoung swallowed a sigh. This vampire was needlessly adorable.
Better than being stranded with some grizzled survivalist, though both scenarios tested one's heart.
As Gamal refocused on knitting...
Vrrrooom.
A low hum filled the sky. Doyoung looked up.
A plane. Approaching fast.
Naturally, Gamal heard it too—vampire hearing being superior.
'Legion?'
But he'd escaped over a week ago. Why would they still search for a mere Major? More likely a rescue team passing by.
Decision made, Doyoung pushed up from the ground, forgetting his injury—
—and saw terror bloom across Gamal's face like spilt paint.
No time to react. She tackled him, sliding into bushes like a baseball player stealing base.
"What the—"
His protest died as she covered his mouth, pinning him down.
The plane roared overhead.
Only when the sound faded did Gamal relax, her tense body going slack against his. Now noticing their position, she looked down—her unfinished carpet partially draping them like a canopy.
Too close.
Doyoung reached up. His fingers brushed swaying hair, then gripped her rounded shoulder. With a wrestler's move, he hooked her leg and flipped them.
"Heavy!"
Vampires weighed more—their muscle density differed. Being crushed by her felt like getting pickled in a jar.
"Ugh."
Pain shot through his leg as he strained. Gamal instantly sprang up, checking his injury.
"Okay?"
"What was that?"
Doyoung demanded sharply.
