Kim Tae Ha's heart raced uncontrollably, his eyes glued to the sight of blood. His breathing grew heavier, faster, as his gaze sharpened. His irises shifted to a deep crimson, veins bulging around his neck and temples. He gritted his teeth, desperately trying to conceal his razor-sharp fangs. The urge to bite, to quench his insatiable thirst, surged within him. His hands trembled as he covered his nose, the intoxicating smell of blood overwhelming him.
Kang Mu-ha noticed Kim Tae-ha struggling to control himself. It wasn't just Mu-ha—both Seo-jin and Miss Wang were also visibly disturbed by his strange behavior.
"Doctor, I think I'm going to throw up," Kang Mu-ha suddenly said, snapping both Seo-jin and Miss Wang's attention away from Tae-ha. Mu-ha subtly gestured for Tae-ha to leave.
Without wasting another moment, Tae-ha wobbled toward the door, opened it, and stepped out.
Seo-jin, wanting to discuss Mr. Kang Mu-ha's condition with Tae-ha, followed him. But when she opened the door, there was no sign of him—he had vanished without a trace. So she came back to Mu ha.
"Don't worry, you must have been shocked by the blood," Seo-jin reassured, continuing her examination of Mr. Kang Mu-ha, who had mentioned feeling nauseous earlier.
Meanwhile, Tae-ha had managed to reach his car, but his condition was too weakened for him to drive. Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced his chest, as if a splinter had lodged in his heart. The pain intensified rapidly, becoming unbearable. In a moment of agonizing clarity, Tae-ha felt his life flash before his eyes. And then... everything went black.
When Tae-ha opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a bed. Before he could rise, the door to the room creaked open. Il-Soo, a fellow bandmate, stepped inside.
"Hyung, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Il-Soo asked, concern etched on his face.
Tae-ha didn't respond. Though the pain had subsided, a lingering weakness clung to him. As Il-Soo spoke, the rest of the bandmates filed into the room. One of them carried a syringe. Seeing it, Tae-ha's annoyance flared.
"What do you think you're doing?" Tae-ha demanded, his voice sharp.
Il-Soo, startled, hesitated before answering. "Mr. Kang Mu-ha told us what happened. We found you passed out in your car and brought you back here. We also learned that you haven't fed in two days, since he was hospitalized."
"It has nothing to do with you," Tae-ha replied coldly.
"Please don't be like this, hyung. You'll die at this rate," Il-Soo pleaded, while the others joined in, urging Tae-ha to drink the blood they were offering.
"I'd rather die," Tae-ha retorted harshly. "It's a hundred times better than living this cursed life as a monster."
"Go now, before I kill all of you," he added, his tone dangerous.
"We'll go, but you must take this," Il-Soo insisted. "Soo Hyun, go and get it."
A few moments later, Soo Hyun entered the room with a packet full of blood. Tae-ha's eyes turned dark red when he saw it, but he quickly looked away, trying to hide it. His bandmates knew how much he despised being seen while he fed, so they gave him his space and left the room.
Tae-ha waited until he heard the sound of front door closing. Then his gaze turned towards the packet of blood on the table in his room. With trembling hands, he walked over, picked it up, and bit into it with his fangs, spilling a bit of blood onto the floor. He drank the entire packet in a matter of seconds, his energy slowly returning.
Feeling a bit better, Tae-ha decided to take a walk to clear his mind. As he opened the front door of his apartment, he was startled to find Kang Seo Jin standing in front of her door, about to enter her apartment. They locked eyes for a few seconds, both realizing they were neighbors.
Kang Seo Jin opened her mouth to speak, probably to ask about Mr. Kang Mu-ha, but before she could say anything, Tae-ha turned around and entered his apartment, slamming the door behind him.
She stood there, speechless. "Well, that was rude," she muttered to herself as she entered her apartment.
It had been a long day for Kang Seo Jin. Since it was already around 9 p.m., she cooked some instant noodles she had bought earlier. Her mind raced with questions about Kang Mu-ha, Kim Tae-ha, and why she had been so coldly ignored by her favorite idol. "Kang Mu-ha, Kim Tae-ha... strange. They have different surnames. Maybe they're related through Tae-ha's mother," she thought. But why had Tae-ha left suddenly when Kang Mu-ha was ill? Shouldn't he have stayed longer by his side? "Oh, I see now. Maybe they're not on good terms, but it didn't seem like that."
Lost in her thoughts, she snapped out of it when she heard a door slam. "That was definitely one of my neighbor's doors," she thought. "Wait, is that Kim Tae-ha?"