Kind words didn't keep the vampires at bay. So Wooyoung let his shivs speak for themselves.

The first blade that flicked into his hand had their attackers pause, considering for a moment whether what they were doing was worth getting stabbed over. Wooyoung was relatively sure normal weapons couldn't kill vampires, but he would go down fighting. He was not letting any blood sucker take a nibble.

The blonde woman giggled behind her glove. She was gorgeous, her beauty so ethereal it looked uncanny. Did they not care if someone recognised them?

"Now, now. They are so unruly," she purred and for the first time, Wooyoung regretted being this good at charades. He even fooled actual vampires into thinking that he was one of them. Their snickering fangs drew closer, clawed hands stretching out for their group.

Nug neighed in fear. In the pale moonlight, the ghostly faces of the vampires brought death upon any living being.

Mingi fired his shot first and the head of the vampire closest to him flung back from the impact. He lost his hat, but he reeled only for a moment before he straightened, blood oozing from the horrid hole in his forehead. With a curse on his lips, Mingi reloaded, giving them a chance to stretch out their greedy claws. Wooyoung slashed his knife desperately, not sure if they could hold the vampires back for long enough to escape with their carriage. The vampires' horses also neighed with fear, but weren't vampires pretty fast even on foot?

The moment frigid hands seized Wooyoung's wrists in a bone-crushing clasp and he cried out in pain, more shots fell.

The bloodsuckers never got to pounce on them.

A bullet came from Wooyoung's left, where he let Hongjoong fend for himself. (Not ideal for his pay, yes, but survival first.) Its impact ripped through bone and tissue, pulverising the vampire's hands on Wooyoung. Limp fingers fell off his wrists as the vampire reeled back with two frayed, bloody stumps for arms.

A moment later, his shriek pierced the air.

Wooyoung scrambled backwards, tugging Hongjoong by his collar since he didn't have a weapon, and stood frozen in fear.

A shadow was drawing in on them through the night, reloading their own hunting rifle. This person also wore a hat, though this one was taller rather than Mingi's wide one. The vampires hissed at the newcomer, baring ivory teeth.

The second shot exploded that beautiful blonde head on her shoulders.

Brains and blood splattered into the grass and the scent churned Wooyoung's stomach. It was rotten and foul, nothing like a newly dead human. He was glad the darkness protected him from the sight.

Nug neighed and whinnied in fear, straining against her bindings. Wooyoung shoved Hongjoong towards the carriage so he could hide inside as he rushed for the horse.

"Keep the heid!" He tried to calm her while Mingi kept his weapon pointed by the stranger's side, defending the carriage.

Hongjoong's quivering fingers tried to light their lantern.

Their mysterious saviour took their side. Their presence made the two vampires recoil and scramble backwards, as if something about them was harmful to the bloodsuckers, like the sun.

Once Wooyoung caught Nug's reins and held her down, patting her sweaty flank with calming fingers, he peered back at the exchange, invested.

"Peace," the head vampire howled, holding the stumps of his arms up in defence, but calm movements snapped the next bullet into the chamber. The lady vampire didn't get up again, so whatever this person fired with, it worked.

"There is no peace for you creatures," a male voice replied from below the shadow of the hat. The rifle cocked again and the leader vampire made a desperate attempt at flight, whirling around until his coat blended with the darkness and Wooyoung couldn't spot him anymore in the blur, but the stranger could.

Loud in the night, the shot echoed through the forest. The vampire's body crashed to the ground heavily, and Hongjoong finally managed to light that lantern. It trembled in his hand as it cast a faint light across the scene. The splatter of blood, Mingi's pale face.

Their saviour wore a long coat, and it was closed to his chin, barely exposing a sliver of his face in between his hat and collar. He wore gloves and heavy boots, but Wooyoung could spot slivers of his equipment below. Bundles of herbs, grenades, silver bullets strapped to his belt.

A vampire hunter?

Only one of the creatures remained. He lifted his hands in defence, showing he bore no weapon as if they even needed any. When he slowly sunk to his knees, the point of the rifle followed his face.

"Please," he begged, before he clasped his hands in prayer. "I only recently joined them; I didn't want to attack these people. I'm just so hungry. Their blood smells so sweet. My teeth hurt so much."

Wooyoung scoffed under his breath.

As if. Vampires couldn't hold back. Maybe some of them tried, but they all ended up as bloodthirsty beasts.

The hunter was on the same wavelength.

"Then eat this," he replied coldly, not caring for the excuses after the deed was already done.

The last shot startled off one of the horses the vampires brought, but the other two remained. Once the last body dropped into the grass, their saviour lowered his rifle.

"Thank you," Mingi choked out first and though he stayed seated since his legs were still weak, he looked up at the stranger with breathless awe.

Wooyoung patted Nug's flank. She was calm now, grumpily munching on some bushels of grass. When he left her side, she stayed in her spot.

Hongjoong was cowering in the carriage and hugging his legs. His face was deathly pale, so Wooyoung left him to his fright. He was not having a good time running into vampires after whatever happened to him last time.

Which meant more fecking work for Wooyoung. Blimey. He should have made sure to kiss Hongjoong before this new trauma so he would cling to Wooyoung as his saviour. But there was still hope.

For now, he faced the hunter. He flung the bodies of the vampires into a pile and sprinkled some herb on top of them. Scooted any lost limbs in there.

"Can I have your fire? Don't want them to come back or poison the wolves," the stranger asked and Wooyoung gladly handed it to him. When the stranger accepted the lantern, their eyes briefly met. The stare of this man was cold and calculating. He studied Wooyoung only for a moment, but Wooyoung felt he stared at the bottom of his soul.

The eye contact broke. The hunter lit the pile and Wooyoung sprang back when the flames were almost explosive. From one second to the next, they rage with a ferocity no wood could cause. They were frighteningly cold.

Wooyoung accepted the lantern when it was returned to him. The fire was bright in the night, but it spent no solace.

"Good work back there. How did your weapon kill them? Mine left only a hole," Mingi asked as the stranger crouched by the greedy flames and made sure no limbs made it out. The scent of the charred flesh twisted Wooyoung's stomach, but he had given up on eating for tonight anyway.

"I'm a vampire hunter," the stranger confirmed. "I know what they are allergic to."

Awed, Wooyoung looked him up and down. He had slung his rifle over his shoulder, but a rapier swung from below his coat as well. Wooyoung wanted to see what other secrets he hid and learn how to ward off the beasts, but the steely expression on this man's face forbade him from asking. Those secrets were not for every commoner.

"You had the right timing. Thank you for jumping in," Wooyoung said instead, trying to charm his way under that hat, but the hunter was unfazed.

"My pleasure. Name's Jongho. I followed the rumour of one vampire out here, but I found three," Jongho sighed as he began cleaning his rifle. He couldn't leave before his fire died down, so he shared the night with them. Mingi offered him some of his absinthe, and the hunter accepted as he crouched in the grass by his side.

"Another vampire? How many of them are out here right now? I swear they keep getting more," Mingi joked as he accepted the bottle back to wash down the fear, too. He threw Wooyoung a pointed look, and the rogue smirked back.

"Three less tonight. No one got hurt, right?" When Jongho lifted his head, their faces smoothed out. Wooyoung glanced at Mingi and at Hongjoong, but both of them seemed fine aside from the fright. Mister rum gill was trying to regulate his breathing, but Wooyoung could check in with him later about his hysteria.

"All good on our end, you were right on time before we would have had to say goodbye to someone," Wooyoung jested. "Can we help you search? We haven't noticed anything odd around here. Well, aside from those three but they only approached us tonight."

The hunter studied their group with those eyes of steel. Contemplated Wooyoung's friendly grin as he tried to gain the friendship of the most powerful human he ever met.

"So, you aren't vampires? This lad looks rather pale." Jongho nodded his chin at Hongjoong and Mingi also glanced back at him. A frown marred his brow, but he also didn't go over, even if just to make it clear they had nothing to hide.

Wooyoung knew what happened. News of him being a vampire must have spread among the creatures of the night. He played his role so successfully that they summoned a hunter.

But that was no grand issue since he could easily disprove he was a vampire. Though he would prefer not to since Hongjoong would have questions then.

"Oh, no. He's just deathly afraid of them. Do we look that dead?" Wooyoung snickered, always a good talker, but Mingi's gaze on him wondered how he meant to take care of this.

Jongho shrugged as he pieced his rifle back together.

"You never know in the night. Why else are you travelling under the mantle of darkness?" His gaze was still suspicious, but Wooyoung grinned good-naturedly.

"Safety, really. Not a lot of fools out here in the dark."

This time, Jongho huffed a laugh.

"Just vampires. Can you prove to me you aren't what the stories say you are? I heard from a town not too far from here how you were talking big about being one of them. Long, dark hair, shoddy coat, mole under the eye. Perfect match," he summarised and Wooyoung was both flattered about the impact he made and ticked off. His coat was not shoddy. He could wear it for another ten years!

"I promise I was just pretending for our safety so no one would bother us. How can I prove it to you?" He offered and perhaps his friendliness swayed Jongho because he already nodded. Surely, another vampire would have passed out near him already. Or attacked.

"Here, crucifix. Touch it," he offered instead as he pulled a large cross from the inside of his coat. It was made of heavy iron, decorated with pearls and linings. When he offered it to Wooyoung, the only thing it exuded was coldness.

Wooyoung boldly put his hand on it. He believed to hear Hongjoong gasp behind him, but Wooyoung would explain his betrayal later. For now, they needed the hunter to leave them alone because he just killed three vampires. They were small fish to him.

Jongho paused for a moment when Wooyoung's hand didn't sizzle and burn. Then he nodded and tucked the cross away.

"Guess my trail went cold. Odd lie, but can't blame you. Just make sure you get no other hunters on your heels. Some shoot first and ask after," he said as he lifted to his feet. "Do tell me if you hear any news of lone strays. The officials in the nearby towns know how to contact me." With that, he shouldered his rifle.

"Thanks, we will. You also have a good hunt," Mingi said as he sat up. The fires burnt low after eating up the bodies in their entirety and their light died out.

The hunter threw them a brief salute.

"I'll take one of the horses. You can have the other one and sell it. Take care." With that, he captured the reins on his favourite horse and swung himself onto its back. Wooyoung waved at him when he rode off into the night, maybe with the smallest of man crushes.

What a guy.