What were the odds of high school classmates meeting as part of the same class in a secret organization seven years later?
Anyway, we reunited like that and spent over a year working closely together in the Information Department. It was the same even after I transferred to the vampire department. Part of it was because we were high school classmates, but we formed an even closer bond from sharing secrets we couldn’t tell ordinary people. On top of that, I liked Seong-jin’s bright side. Of course, I also loved his heavy wallet and generous personality.
While eating rice and drinking with the crab stew Seong-jin was treating me to as our main dish and side dishes, we talked about various things regarding one of the Grand Duke of Moscow’s heirs we’d be meeting tomorrow.
The VIP’s visit was the Information Department’s hottest topic recently. No one believed the reason for coming to Korea was tourism. Why he was coming to Korea, what the official purpose of the visit was, what he looked like, where and how long he’d stay—these were all matters of keen interest.
Today’s conversation with Seong-jin didn’t stray far from that topic. But if there was something a bit different, it was that Seong-jin had connections with the higher-ups, and that he was a self-proclaimed and universally acknowledged vampire maniac. Additionally, he talked a lot.
“I don’t know why he’s coming, but the higher-ups are really tense. They wouldn’t say anything if he came and went secretly, but since he’s visiting officially and openly, they’re wondering what his scheme is. The most plausible theory is that it’s for business, but the problem is he has no companions. And he’s not meeting with any domestic brokers either, so it’s completely up in the air.”
Seong-jin smoothly shared information I hadn’t even heard of.
“The hotel is Rudan, right?”
“Yeah. And the Presidential Suite at that. Do you know that’s 7 million won per night? He’s staying alone. Without a single companion. Even with discounts, he’s booked it for a whole month. I was so curious about his real identity that I dug into everything. But there’s nothing known about him. Ilya Mikhalovich Rashanin. If you sell this name on the black market, you’d get at least several hundred thousand. Photos would trade at even higher prices.”
“Really?!”
I was so surprised I almost choked while swallowing the webfoot octopus. As I pounded my chest with wide eyes, Seong-jin nodded.
That’s how remarkable he was. It was amazing that a single name could trade for several hundred thousand.
“That’s how little is known about high-ranking vampires. It’s been over 800 years since the Grand Duke of Moscow took his position. But even for him, not even his name is known, let alone a photo. We only know he’s called the Ruler of the Snowfield.”
The reason for such a difference in access to information, even though we were both Bureau agents, was passion. Seong-jin had been famous as an oddball since high school. When other friends were getting worked up over the opposite sex, this guy was absorbed in the existence of paranormal creatures. He was a conspiracy theorist who made the American TV series X-Files his bible and insisted that the government concealed all truths.
Back then I laughed it off, but from the position of sharing information that couldn’t be disclosed to the world, I couldn’t laugh.
Still, Seong-jin’s passion remained the same then and now.
“Look at that over there.”
As the crab stew had reduced properly and we were lowering the heat, Seong-jin pointed to the TV in one corner of the restaurant. It was the news. They were reporting that a gang attempting to smuggle Chinese-made pharmaceuticals through Incheon Customs had been arrested.
“That’s it. That’s what we’ve been chasing hard lately.”
“That fake… blood?”
I whispered softly in case people around us might find it strange. It was a noisy restaurant and there probably wasn’t anyone who would care about the words vampire or blood, but there was no harm in being careful.
The case the Information Department had been focusing on recently was fake blood and hematopoietic agents being smuggled from China. Unlike Korea, foreign countries were overflowing with vampire-related crimes, and the most rampant one these days was fake blood. Attacking humans to obtain blood was too dangerous, and purchasing blood from the Blood Market cost too much money. Exploiting this, a massive criminal organization mass-produced fake blood in China and distributed it, and when vampires who went mad from the fake blood attacked ordinary people in broad daylight, it became an international problem.
Korea, a clean region with a 99.9% registration rate for domestic vampires, had no circulation of fake blood. However, Information Department agents often suffered because it was being used as an intermediate stop in the smuggling route from China to Japan.
“Yeah. We confiscated all the smuggled goods this time, but the guys we caught are all small fry. So there’s talk about whether the VIP coming this time might be related to this case.”
“No way. Would they go that far with an official visit?”
“Because it could be a smokescreen to divert our attention. Well, that’s what they’re saying.”
I sighed at Seong-jin’s words about various possibilities. I was the type to just do my job properly and didn’t pay much attention to unrelated matters. Thanks to having Seong-jin around, I picked up bits and pieces here and there, but it seemed various things were happening beneath the surface.
“Seong-jin-ah. Do you know what’s most important when establishing a hypothesis?”
“Well, facts to support the hypothesis.”
“What do we have?”
“One of the Grand Duke of Moscow’s heirs, Ilya Mikhalovich Rashanin, is officially visiting Korea. The stated purpose is tourism, but we can’t believe it.”
Seong-jin summarized the situation at once, as if writing a report. The guy was an oddball, but he was competent.
“No matter how much we argue back and forth, that’s all we have. The rest is our baseless speculation. Our mouths will just get tired if we keep repeating the same thing.”
“How boring. Don’t you have any dreams or hopes?”
“Why are dreams and hopes coming up here?”
“I’m telling you to cultivate your imagination. It’s such an amazing incident. VN, you know, VN. Doesn’t your heart race?”
“Heart race? Do you know what might happen?”
“You worry too much.”
“I’m the normal one.”
I stated confidently. Even if I’d be told I had no dreams or hopes, I didn’t want my heart to race over something like this.
“Well, I can’t say I’m normal, but still, you’re too stiff.”
“You’re not living in a dream world, are you?”
Seong-jin is a dreamer, and I’m a realist. That’s why we’re friends.
“Tsk. People need to live eating dreams.”
“If you’re racing and yearning for the VN that much, ask him directly. Why he came to Korea. Then it’ll be solved in one shot.”
“Even I can’t do that.”
“Then don’t do it.”
“You really have a bad personality.”
Throughout my life, I’d only been told I was kind, gentle, and well-behaved. Only Seong-jin said I had a bad personality.
“Why do I have a bad personality? Give me evidence.”
“You think I can’t if you ask? For someone who was the model son who monopolized the teachers’ love, you hold grudges like crazy. Just look at what happened with Dongho.”
“Why is Dongho coming up here?”
“You asked for evidence of your bad personality.”
“If you can’t speak nicely, at least don’t be annoying. Just drink.”
I poured soju into Seong-jin’s empty glass. In our senior year, there was a guy named Choi Dongho in a rival clique in class. As class president with a mother who was the parent association president, this guy who lived in self-satisfaction would hurl ten-won curses at me whenever he saw me. Not wanting to clash, I endured and endured with the mindset of wondering where a dog was barking, but I exploded just before summer vacation. That said, we didn’t have a duel—I provoked Dongho into hitting me in front of the teachers—luckily the vice principal was also present. Because his mother was the parent association president, he didn’t receive any punishment that went on record, but he did write quite a few reflection essays during summer vacation. And now that’s being called evidence of holding grudges.
After downing the soju in one shot, Seong-jin let out a “hehehehe” laugh.
“You know? Why Dongho picked fights with only you.”
“That’s because he lost his first place in the whole school to me during the second semester finals of sophomore year.”
I was first in the entire school only once, during the second semester finals of sophomore year. All the other times I was outside the top 10. Nevertheless, Dongho, who had never lost the top spot until then, saw me as a thorn in his side.
“He probably didn’t even care about that?”
“Then?”
“At the beginning of the semester, Dongho handed out bread and cake, remember? You said your stomach wasn’t feeling good and when you handed back the cake Dongho offered you, you dropped it on the floor?”
“So what? I apologized, didn’t I?”
“You call that an apology? Cold wind was blowing all around. And before that, during P.E. class, Dongho called you to play basketball, and you said no. You played soccer with us instead.”
“I don’t even remember that. But how do you remember all of it?”
“I’m a bit extraordinary. I know everything that happened in our class. Anyway, Dongho’s expression crumpled then. He was trying to pull you to his side, but when you didn’t follow along, his pride must’ve been really hurt. He was a model son too.”
“So he picked fights with me the entire semester because of that?”
That was ridiculous. That bastard Dongho really tormented me the entire first semester using his position as class president. And the reason was just that?
“Kids’ feelings are complicated.”
“So?”
“So you have a bad personality. You hold grudges like crazy.”
“Geez. And what about you? Who was the one who childishly put frogs and grasshoppers in someone’s lunchbox?”
