immortality suited minah well. in the one hundred and thirteen years jae hadn’t seen her she hadn’t changed one bit, making it too easy for jae to read her. sure, in situations like this knowing the other’s sentiment and thoughts with just one blink of the eye came in handy, acting faster than speaking, but right now jae really wished he didn’t have to know what the knit of her eyebrows represented, the guilt and concern flooding her features. he didn’t want her to worry for him, not when it would have been so much worse of she was the one who had gotten hurt.
❝ there’s nothing to be sorry about. ❞ are the only words he manages to squeeze out, fingers reaching out and catching the last of tears that minah had failed to wipe away before they curl around the hand that rests on his shoulder and holds it tight. the vervain was still pushing its way through his body, desperately searching for that secret passage to his heart and driving his body temperature up to feverish levels. he was getting weaker with every passing second, a mixture of sweat and tears leaving marks down his cheeks.
as soon as minah had pulled up into his neighbourhood, jae flung the door to the passenger side open, having fallen to the ground if it hadn’t been for minah’s arm around his waist supporting most of his weight. the hunter seemed to have disappeared but he was the least of his worries right now. all that mattered now was getting those damned bullets out of his back. ❝ i’m fine. ❞ an obvious lie considering jae is looking paler than he already does and the burning of usual ice cold skin. ❝ we’re close. it’s the smallest of three, the red building on the corner of that intersection. ❞ he points his finger to guide minah in the right direction, drawing out a wince that he tries to ignore to the best of his abilities as he trips and stumbles by minah’s side towards the safety of his home.
they’re lucky it’s still early in the day and there are none of jae’s neighbours around to stall them and ask questions they couldn’t answer. a relieving ping of the elevator door soon announces their arrival on jae’s floor, pointing to the left so minah could drag him to the right door. ❝ the code. it’s– ❞ the vampire grits his teeth together once again, trying to supress a growl with his features distorting painfully when he fails to do so. ❝ our wedding day. ❞
it feels like a billion knives are being pushed into his body, twisting and turning before repeating the same movement over and over again. not even his transformation, with his organs giving out on him one by one, had been this painful, stars dancing in front of his eyes when jae’s knees finally give out on him and he falls to the ground, crawling into his home and further into the kitchen on his hands and knees.
❝ there’s – there’s a medical bag in one of the upper cupboards to the left. you – aish ! you need a scalpel and something that looks a lot like tweezers. and – and a lighter. ❞ he sounds weak, leaning his shoulder against the kitchen island before he pushes his body up and uses the last of his abilities to pull the shirt over his head, turning his body to give minah easier access. ❝ you need to make the wound bigger and take the bullets out before burning out the vervain. ❞
minah tries to act like she has everything together. she tries so damn hard. there was nothing that she wanted more than to be collected and effective in removing his pain, but she wasn’t she was a hot fucking mess, and she felt as though she was crumbling under this pressure. the squeeze of his hand both calmed and broke her. the touch was reassuring, but also sent more waves of guilt through her body.
the vampire followed the directions closely and quickly guided them to what was his apartment. hearing the words our wedding day sent a knife through her chest. she was such a big part of his life even after everything that she had done. she didn’t deserve this kind of thought. it was the same thought that she had for him. of coarse, she’d never admit that her’s was birthday, or that the password to her computer was the date of their first coffee date. she swallowed the heavy emotion that welled in her throat and punched the numbers in without any thought. she memorized the date far too well simply forget.
once the door was opened, she tried to catch him and prevent him from falling, but he was far too tall compared to her. the vampire did as he asked and immediately went to the upper left cabinet and searched for the medical kit he had talked about.
she turned back towards him to see him already shirtless and leaned against the island. his skin looked ghostly, and the wounds looked very very painful. her heart sank. she caused this. because she wasn’t fast enough, or smart enough to get away from the hunter jaesung was in unspeakable pain. he took literal poisoned bullets for her.
minah sank to her knees and looked over him for a moment before resting a soft hand on his shoulder. he felt even colder than he should and worry burrowed through her chest. she needed to work fast.
it was quiet as she started to focus. her attention was pulled entirely to making sure he was taken care of now. the tears streaming down her face slowed as she started to raise the scalpel. she paused and took a steadying breath as she used the blade to widen the wound. the vampire squeezed her eyes closed again and held in a small sob, hating the fact that she has to add additional pain to remove the pain that he was in. the only noise was her sniffling nose.
minah then took the tweezers and began to take hold of the bullet and slowly remove it from his back. once it was finally out she allowed it to drop to the floor. a small clink sounded the room and she let out a small breath. one more to go, then she’d burn the vervain out and bandage him up.
the vampire repeated what she had done for the first wound and cut, then removed the other bullet. the second was harder to remove, and she could feel herself losing more and more of her already faltering composure. “i’m-” she sniffled and regained some semblance of control. “i’m going to spend every day that God gives me making this up to you.” she vowed. her small voice was shaky and heavy with emotion, but very sure of itself. she would never be able to forget this selfless act of his. her eyes burned with another flood of fresh tears. “i don’t deserve to have you in my life, truly. i never did.”