After listing various advantages, Yan shook his head.
‘What’s the point? He’s a sadist.’
First Sirius, and now Procion too was a sadist. It was a crucial area where they were incompatible.
Is there some rule that all handsome men must be sadists? Yan wondered with a sigh. He needed to quickly become a masochist to stand before Sirius, but it didn’t seem easy.
“Wait, Yan. Don’t fall asleep.”
At Procion’s voice, Yan realized he had closed his eyes. He must have drifted into a light sleep thanks to the other’s gentle touch.
“Mmm…”
“Yan, even if you sleep, you should eat first. You haven’t had dinner, right?”
“That’s true, but…”
He wanted nothing more than to sleep without moving a finger. Though he felt a bit peckish, he wasn’t unbearably hungry.
Yet Procion insisted on a meal again.
“Room service is fine, but would you like to go out to eat?”
“Go out?”
“I’m hungry. And I’m tired of room service. Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Hmm, let’s see…”
Yan himself preferred other meals to hotel room service. His taste was somewhat unique; he enjoyed strongly spiced foods.
Though drowsy, thinking about food made him realize how hungry he was. Yan cautiously asked:
“Do you like frigărui by any chance? It’s meat and vegetables skewered and grilled—”
“I know it.”
“Really?”
While people around Yan usually found the food unfamiliar, surprisingly, Procion seemed to know what it was. His careful inquiry seemed unnecessary as Procion nodded willingly.
“It’s Romanian food, isn’t it?”
“You know it well! There’s a good restaurant nearby.”
“Then let’s go there.”
He thought it would be good to order Romanian soup with beef intestines too. His stomach felt completely empty, so he should start with such liquid food. Or sarmale¹ might be good as well—
“Oh!”
As Yan put his foot down from the bed, he staggered. Distracted by dinner menu options, he had forgotten his physical condition. The moment his feet touched the ground, a sharp pain shot up.
“Be careful, Yan.”
Thanks to Procion quickly supporting him, he at least avoided the humiliation of falling. Cradled in Procion’s arms, Yan could only blink.
Somehow, it seemed like Procion had just moved at an inhuman speed.
‘Maybe he’s a sprinter.’
Yan dismissed it with that thought. Though uncertain, perhaps he was a sports star who had earned a lot of money at a young age. Maybe Yan hadn’t recognized him because he wasn’t interested in sports. —None of these speculations were accurate.
“Huh? Wait, I can walk on my own?”
Yan’s random thoughts were interrupted as Procion lifted him up. While the gesture was appreciated, was it really necessary to carry him like a princess from a fairy tale?
“I’ll just take you to the bathroom. You want to wash up, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Though he had been wiped with a towel, he wanted to at least wash his face. The hotel room was so spacious that just walking from the bedroom to the bathroom was a major undertaking. Yan quietly accepted Procion’s kindness.
Graciously, Procion even brought Yan’s clothes to the bathroom. He was being so kind, completely different from his behavior on the bed, that Yan was momentarily dumbfounded.
‘If only he weren’t a sadist, how nice would that be.’
Both Sirius and Procion were like that. Such kind and good people, yet sadists… Sexual preferences were truly peculiar, Yan thought as he finished his light grooming.
“I’m done. …Hey, we’re not going to the hotel restaurant, are we?”
As soon as he saw Procion, Yan muttered in a half-dazed state.
They were just going out for dinner, so there was no need for even light formal attire. The white shirt, black pants, and jacket were unremarkable in themselves. But perhaps because the wearer was so handsome, it looked more splendid than if he had dressed up elaborately.
“What does it matter? Is there a rule that says we should dress up only for hotel restaurants?”
“…I guess not.”
“Anyway, do you know the way? You seemed to have a place in mind, is it good?”
“Yeah, probably…”
The taste is good, the taste. Yan thought timidly to himself. Of course, the Romanian restaurant wasn’t inferior to others, but being a traditional place, it was a bit shabby.
‘I hope Procion won’t dislike it?’
Before leaving the hotel, Yan worried about this. Fortunately, it was an unnecessary concern. Upon entering the restaurant, Procion looked around with interest but showed no signs of displeasure. Instead, he enjoyed the dishes Yan recommended, eating them with relish.
“Ah, that was good.”
Leaving the restaurant, Yan was somewhat surprised at how enjoyable the meal with Procion had been. A relationship that began with getting spanked in a club—clearly something was off from the first button, yet somehow it wasn’t.
‘I wish we could just stay like this.’
Yan thought, glancing at Procion’s profile. Gazing at some distant place, Procion looked even more handsome than usual, perhaps due to his clothes. It would be nice to be friends with such a man, even if not lovers or partners. Peacefully, like during the dinner just now.
…However, that modest wish was shattered by a sudden attack.
***
Chaos.
Yan bit his lip tightly. He felt helpless, like prey being hunted by an absolute predator. But he couldn’t just be paralyzed with fear. Right before his eyes, people were being pushed aside like they were swept away by a tsunami.
“Yes, that’s right. In front of Hotel Palace… Th-they’ve appeared. Vampires…!”
Someone’s voice was heard sobbing while clutching a mobile phone. They seemed to be calling the police station. If so, Yan wouldn’t need to report separately.
‘I need to pull myself together.’
He was a police officer who protected citizens’ safety. Although it was his day off and he didn’t have a gun, he was better off than ordinary people. Since it wasn’t his first time witnessing vampires’ unique abilities, Yan could quickly regain his composure.
“This way! Be careful not to fall!”
Yan directed the evacuation, wielding a plastic baton taken from a traffic officer in front of the hotel. No matter how well-trained a man was, as a human, confronting vampires barehanded was virtually suicide. So Yan found what he could do immediately.
An ominous wind blew from over there. It was already a dark night, and with the streetlights out, it was impossible to know what was happening. He could only guess that vampires were looking for prey.
“It’s okay, stay calm.”
A little girl had fallen. Yan quickly helped her up. Her father briefly thanked him before rushing away, in the direction Yan had pointed. At the end was an emergency shelter, which offered a better chance of survival than fleeing elsewhere.
Suddenly his mouth went dry. Yan thought of Procion. They had definitely been together when leaving the restaurant, but where had he gone?
With a bang and explosion, the street had turned into chaos, causing Yan to lose track of Procion. Though Yan thought a man even better trained than himself would have escaped well, considering that Procion was a civilian, he couldn’t be entirely at ease.
Yan carefully scanned the people heading towards the emergency shelter. Though it was dark and the situation chaotic, it seemed Procion wasn’t among them. Perhaps he had already escaped to safety.
‘…Let’s think positively for now.’
Yan deliberately erased the image of an injured Procion that suddenly came to mind. They hadn’t known each other long, and they weren’t particularly close, but still, Yan was worried about him.
The only fortunate thing was that the vampires weren’t rampaging. When they first appeared, they threw some people for unknown reasons, but now they were quiet. Yan had thought they might be vampires who had lost their subordinates, but that didn’t seem to be the case. If they were such vampires, they would have gone berserk until they exhausted all their strength. They wouldn’t be quiet, even temporarily.
So why had they appeared?
Yan narrowed his eyes and looked towards the edge of the street. By now, most citizens had evacuated, so he could see quite far. Through the dusty haze, something gleamed.
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots, and… death throes.
Was the owner of those death throes human or vampire? It seemed unlikely that a vampire would shoot another vampire, but also unlikely they would shoot a human. It would be simpler for them to bite the neck. Due to their species characteristics, they preferred that method.
“…”
Yan habitually reached for his waist before lowering his hand. He had never missed his gun so much, which he had obediently left behind. Of course, even with a gun, it would have been impossible for Yan alone to stop several vampires.
Were the police still not here? Yan bit his lip hard, hoping for his colleagues’ help.
That’s when it happened.
“I wondered where such a delicious smell was coming from…”
Yan stepped back in shock. The voice had come from right in front of him.
Soon after, a figure rapidly appeared. It was a man wearing a black T-shirt and dark blue jeans.
“You’re bleeding.”
