Hongjoong stayed another night. Seonghwa's smiles remained cordial, though the strain in his eyes matched his fingers that cramped around his writing feather more often. He assured Hongjoong he was feeling well, but the signs were unsettling. 

Today, Hongjoong should leave the mausoleum. He hadn't heard the dogs outside, was assured the villagers either searched him elsewhere or gave it up after having banished him successfully. There was no reason to linger, and he owed Seonghwa for his hospitality. Now, the vampire deserved his rest without Hongjoong's constant presence and human scent flaring his nostrils.

In the morning, Hongjoong accepted another cup of wine and the few coins Seonghwa pressed into his hand. It was the closest contact they had so far; their skin just a breath apart. When Hongjoong didn't recoil, Seonghwa rewarded him with a smile.

"They aren't mine to take, but neither do I think the dead need them any longer. If you travel further west from here, you will find the town on the shore. I hear the lands across the ocean don't fear vampires as much as. You can start a new life there," Seonghwa suggested to him with a mellow smile. In his endurance brimmed strength, and Hongjoong grew to marvel at him, instead of being afraid.

Touched, he closed his fist around the precious gold.

"I also thought to try my luck there. This is farewell, though I won't forget you, ever. I owe you my life and despite your kin, you offered your home as sanctuary whereas us humans would have killed you on sight," Hongjoong said. He had to tilt his head back to look up at the refined being before him and Seonghwa chuckled into his palm.

"Consider me just as elated to have met a human who gave me the chance to introduce myself and my goodwill. Farewell, Hongjoong. May fate not haunt you with its whims anymore."

Hongjoong was better off elsewhere. If the people he trusted so easily turned on their own, he couldn't count on their loyalty. Other people would grant him a new home.

"You also take care," Hongjoong smiled back. "And... and find something to eat." He tried not to think about Seonghwa digging his teeth into a living creature, holding it to his face as he drained it of its life. When he imagined the vampire's lashes fluttering as he relished the taste on his tongue, the expected shudder never came. Instead, a coil of something funny tickled Hongjoong's insides. He didn't understand and just followed Seonghwa as he led him to the exit. 

"I promise to tend to myself. Thank you for your trust, miting." Seonghwa lingered in the twilight of the tunnel connecting the tomb to the way out. His hand lifted in the dark to cup Hongjoong's cheek, caressing his skin with a heart-fluttering gentleness. Surprised by the liking he took to the tender touch, Hongjoong stifled his indignation at the nickname.

"Am I so little to you?"

A grin danced over Seonghwa's lips. They hadn't become friends, but Hongjoong admitted he was glad to have met the vampire. As little time as they spent together, he learned a lot and found new hope in his dread.

"You are. So feeble compared to the time I saw pass. So much weaker than this world needs you to be to survive. I sincerely hope you won't have to run anymore," Seonghwa hummed. His hungry eyes swam with compassion, not overtaken by instinct even now that his easy prey left his den. 

When Hongjoong cast his blush away, Seonghwa reached over their heads. If he heard the thrum of Hongjoong's pulse, he didn't point it out. 

This vampire was one of the most fascinating creatures Hongjoong met.

The vampire's might was effortless, sealed in his unassuming body that so easily dragged the heavy lid of the sarcophagus aside. Hongjoong was curious to see more of it, to find out how quickly Seonghwa could move and when a boulder became too heavy for him. Instead of being scary in his otherness, he was a spectacle of uniqueness.

Hongjoong's heart mourned when he climbed the stairs to clamber out of the coffin. The chill of the clear sky greeted them and his breaths formed white clouds in the air. Once more, Seonghwa opened the bolt on the mausoleum for him.

Almost, Hongjoong's treacherous mind wondered why he wouldn't stay and find out more about Seonghwa. They could hide together in the hidden tomb and Hongjoong could wait for spring to come and for the villagers to forget about him. 

But no, that was impossible. Seonghwa allowed him in under the condition that he left soon so the vampire could live without restraint. Considering staying was dangerous, and it abused Seonghwa's favour.

If only they weren't so different.

Hongjoong sighed to himself, but he didn't shy away from the callous and unwelcoming world. He had missed the light of the sun and the crisp scent of winter. In the distance, among the fog, the ocean awaited him, full of possibilities. He didn't need to fear life. There was more out there.

"Won't you get lonely?" Hongjoong asked as he stepped onto the frozen grass. It crunched under his feet as Seonghwa leaned in the doorway to the mausoleum. In the daylight, Hongjoong spotted the four statues flanking its corners. With melancholy faces, the women in flowing dresses carried the roof cradling the dead.

The sun didn't hurt Seonghwa, but he recoiled to rest his graceful form in the shadow. He was similarly whimsical as those statues, so serene and timeless.

"My memories accompany me through my dreams. I will think about you for a long time," Seonghwa replied with a mysterious smile. The twinkle of his eyes was so charming, so beguiling for Hongjoong to fall to his knees and fumble to serve him like a fool. 

Awed by Seonghwa's being, Hongjoong nodded.

"Then I also wish you peace. Be safe." Now that he said it, he understood Seonghwa's hesitation to send him out, the urgency in his wishes. If Hongjoong imagined humans forcing their way inside to behead the temperate vampire, his throat constricted. Perhaps Seonghwa's spell had woven around him already because Hongjoong would rather Seonghwa kill every intruder than heed his manners and get extinguished.

"I shall." Seonghwa lifted his hand in a shy greeting and Hongjoong waved back. His heart was heavy as he turned to leave. Behind him, the iron gate creaked shut. By the time Hongjoong lingered at the tree line to glance back, the sarcophagus lay as if untouched, and the ghostly beauty haunting this place was gone.

Suddenly not sure anymore if he had been dreaming all this time, Hongjoong battled another shudder. He hurried his feet past the cliff and down into the valley, further away from his village and its people. Cool mists engulfed him and brought him back to this world and its reality. As if the vampire in the tomb never existed, Hongjoong dashed between familiar bushes and trees. He saw squirrels scurrying past and ravens filled the wintry air with their ghostly squawks. The path to the town was desolate, and Hongjoong rarely ever took it, but the traces of carts and hooves guided him. Though his heart fluttered with uncertainty about whether he would be spotted and ratted out to his village, his mind also stuck with his newest associate. Would Seonghwa leave the tomb soon to find a meal? How did he look hunting? Would he crouch motionlessly until an animal sprinted by? Or would he lay a trap to tow an unassuming human into the tomb and add their bones to a pile?

Perhaps that sarcophagus Hongjoong wasn't supposed to touch was filled to the brim with skulls.

Goosebumps erupted over his skin. It was for the best that he left. If he stayed longer, the lure of the attractive vampire might have made him submit to irrational desires. Even now, he hurried his step as if the ghostly touch of the spirits warning him of the tomb lingered on his nape.

Hongjoong stopped by a rivulet to refresh his parched throat with some water. When he fled from his home, he didn't get to take anything along. He shivered without his coat, but at least the few coins in his pocket would find him a meal. Perhaps he wouldn't have enough to buy a trip on the boat. Would they accept a helping hand as payment? He would rather fumble his way around on deck than stay in this place for longer than he dared.

Though he could have escaped right away, Hongjoong prioritised his survival. Upon entering the town, he ducked between the alleys to find a seamstress first. He purchased her cheapest cloak and swathed himself in it. A simple meal in a rundown inn warmed his stomach as he faced away from the boisterous men celebrating a long day of work with the maids. Hongjoong gagged everything down into his queasy body and didn't look at anyone when he left. His fortitude returned slowly and reinforced his confidence that he might survive his unknown future. Fate couldn't have condemned him to death if it let him off its hook now.

Hidden among the other freezing townsfolk that merrily led their lives, Hongjoong hastened to the port. No one recognised him and no one suspected his worn figure had spent the last two nights in a tomb with a vampire. They laughed without a care in the world until the lapping of the water on the boats and wooden walkways washed their voices away. Mouldy wood softened Hongjoong's step as he approached a nearby sailor. He wrung out his nets after a day of hard work. The weathered lines of his face and hands made him look grim in the foggy air.

"Hello," Hongjoong said, trying to look like an average person trembling from the cold instead of a fugitive. If caught, he would either get the guard called on him or the price of his ticket would rise.

The man grunted at him. His fishing boat swayed in the grimy water by their feet.

"I wish to cross the sea to visit the land at its end. Could you tell me where I must go for that?" Hongjoong clutched his hands into fists to he wouldn't fiddle with his fingers. His gaze was shifty, but he forced himself to look at the prickly fisherman instead. The powerful muscles wiring down his aged body shifted as he wrung up the soaked net.

"Merchant ships pass through thrice a week an' they accept passengers fer transgression. Ye need to wait two more days fer the next one, lad. The last one left just this mornin'."

Hongjoong exhaled. Two days, he could do that. He could hide in some inn, but would his coins be enough? There was little work for those without connections in this place and Hongjoong dreaded having to sell his body to make it work. But if that was the only way to live, he could do it.

"Do you know the fare?"

The fisherman studied Hongjoong from head to toe. Squirming, Hongjoong prayed the folds of his coat hid his tattered, bloodied clothing.

Ultimately, he shrugged. 

"They ask more o' those who look like they 'ave more, but ye will have to ask 'em yerself."

Hongjoong nodded to himself, trying to reel in his racing thoughts. He had two days, he could find money in that time. Perhaps it was enough if he forewent an inn? A fire in the forest was free of charge, but it was risky, making him easy to track for wolves and blood-thirsty villagers alike. Otherwise, he could ask once they anchored and sell himself before they departed. He had many options, including working on the ship for a while.

He could do this. His path unveiled itself before his eyes.

"Thank you," Hongjoong said. The fisherman went back to his work and Hongjoong weaselled away to hide back in the shadows. He counted his coins. Seonghwa gave him a generous amount but he couldn't know if Hongjoong would stay in the town for two days. Or perhaps he didn't deem that safe and wanted him to leave immediately?

Gnawing on his lip, Hongjoong glanced toward the cliffs. The day would end soon and the skies darkened early at this time of the year. If he hurried, he could make it back to the mausoleum before nightfall. 

It was safer than staying outside. Seonghwa hadn't hurt him and Hongjoong could ask him for advice on how to haggle with the merchants.

The thought of going back winged his heart. It hammered in his chest, unexpectedly happy to see Seonghwa again. Soon, it carried his feet back up the hill.

The door to the mausoleum wasn't bolted when Hongjoong arrived, further proving his point that Seonghwa must have gone out to hunt and would receive him back if he couldn't make it today. Hongjoong let himself in and barricaded the door before he slipped into the sarcophagus and pulled it shut with a strain. 

This time, only one torch burnt in the far corner of the tomb. Seonghwa kept the light low to sleep so Hongjoong tiptoed so he wouldn't wake him. In passing, he peered at the coffin the vampire fancied, finding the lid ajar to grant a peek inside.

In sleep, Seonghwa's beauty was even more everlasting than awake. His gorgeous eyes were closed and his plush lips breathed so subtly he appeared dead. Hongjoong wanted to touch his hair, feel the smoothness of his skin, but he held back since he didn't want to disturb him.

Instead, Hongjoong clambered into his - still open - coffin and tugged his cloak over his body. He felt secure, homey even in the obscure tomb. When his eyes fluttered shut, he couldn't wait to wake up and tell Seonghwa about his progress.