Chapter 36: Ha Yeon-hwa. Twenty-seven. Jinjo – 2

At times like this, I knew exactly how to act.

The best thing to do is to stay still and quiet.

For someone like her, silence is probably more comforting than words.

I used to be introverted myself before I mutated, so I understood the behavior patterns of introverted people pretty well.

Acting too excited or overly friendly?

That’d be a minus.

Instead, a gentle smile—calm, low-key.

“Hello. I look forward to working with you.”

The key here is to communicate that I’m not someone threatening or overwhelming.

Someone like her prefers deep, close connections over lots of shallow ones, so barging in without care would just raise her guard.

Right now, this little bit of distance is just right.

“A-ah, y-yes, yes… um, y-you’re… the d-dragon, right…?”

“Yes, that’s right. And you’re a Jinjo, right, Yeon-hwa? Are there any… special traits unique to Jinjos?”

Then, I paused.

Gave her space to talk.

And most importantly—never, ever bring up the community posts.

That is the nuclear bomb of social landmines.

If I even hint that I’ve seen her anonymous posts, she’ll probably shut down and never talk to me again.

If someone knew she wrote those posts?

She’d want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

So in this moment, I needed to be the perfect listener.

All I had to do was bring up something she felt comfortable discussing and then listen with real interest.

If I waited patiently, eventually she’d open up on her own.

I remembered back when I first started college, struggling to talk to people and forcing myself to try.

So I knew— for an introvert, just starting a conversation takes huge courage.

That’s why I simply waited.

Waited for Ha Yeon-hwa to speak, at her own pace.

“J-Jinjo…? Umm… It’s like, um… a s-stronger, um, kind of vampire, basically…? Hehe…”

“Oh… That sounds amazing!”

“E-heh, r-really…?”

“Yes. The Vice Director told me you can even go out in sunlight…”

“Y-yeah, I can go out in the sunlight… but I don’t really like it. I-it’s a bit tough on me… To be active during the day, I have to, um, replenish with blood first…”

“So even as a Jinjo, sunlight still poses a threat, huh.”

“Y-yes… so I usually don’t go out if I can help it…”

“Will working here be okay for you, though? You’ll probably need to be active during the day sometimes.”

“I-it’s mostly indoors… and, um, the pay is good…”

Ah.

Of course—decent pay is a powerful motivator.

Maybe she was starting to open up a little, because for the first time, she lifted her gaze from the floor and looked at me.

…With looks like that, and she just stays holed up inside all day?

Most people would think that’s such a waste.

“T-to be honest, I didn’t really want to do this either, but they offered to pay me and, um… they said I could get blood packs for free too…”

“Oh? Really? I thought they said earlier it was all paid-for through official channels?”

“Well, y-yeah… technically. But it’s hard to afford one every single meal… so I just make do with blood pudding or pig’s blood most days… It’s hard…”

“Aha…”

Then, a thought crossed my mind.

Could my blood help her?

I mean, considering my new dragon-sized body, losing a pack’s worth of blood probably wouldn’t even make me dizzy.

But I kept the thought to myself for now.

“What did you do before you became a mutant?” I asked gently.

As soon as I asked, Yeon-hwa—who had just barely been meeting my gaze—
dropped her eyes back to the floor.

“I-I, um… I just kinda… stayed in my room… My mom used to scold me a lot. B-but now that I’m working with a government agency… she’s happy. H-hehe… I guess I’m glad I mutated. I was pretty much living like a night owl anyway…”

Ah.

Landmine.

She didn’t seem to think so herself, but this was clearly a sensitive topic.

,No need to drag it out.

“I get that. Mutating worked out for me in a lot of ways too. Oh—what kind of powers do you have, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“U-uh… I-I can turn into a bat… and I can, um… manipulate blood…”

“Blood?”

“Y-yes… I can control the blood of any living creature. But I haven’t really tried it… It seems like someone might die if I mess up… It’s a very dangerous power, so…”

Ah.

Now I understood why the Vice Director said she was like a living saint.

She’d kept such terrifying powers to herself and spent her time hiding away in her room.

“A-and… I can control other vampires too.”

“…What?”

“U-uh, u-unlike High Elves… like, uh… Si-ah… v-vampires have a hierarchical structure built into their species… So a Jinjo can command and control the lower vampires…”

At that moment, the Vice Director chimed in.

“Actually, that’s why there haven’t been any vampire-related crimes in Korea.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. Overseas, vampire-type mutants are among the most feared. But in Korea, there hasn’t been a single incident involving a vampire going rogue.”

“Wait—so that’s because…”

“Yes. It’s all thanks to Miss Yeon-hwa here. She’s given strict orders to the vampire-type mutants in Korea not to cause any trouble.”

“Hehe…”

Yeon-hwa scratched the back of her head, clearly flustered.

Even that awkward gesture had a kind of charm that drew your eyes.

Yeah—definitely a vampire.

I had a feeling Jin-ha would absolutely love her if they ever met.

“Oh, by the way—have you met Jin-ha before?”

“I-I did introduce them once, actually…”

“H-hiiieeek…! M-miss Jin-ha is… s-so scary…”

“…Huh?”

Jin-ha? Scary?

That caught me off guard.

Yeon-hwa was strong enough to dominate other vampires, so hearing that she found someone scary was surprising.

“Her, um… overwhelming… o-overwhelming social energy… I’m such a hardcore outsider… Just being near her makes me feel like I’ll burn up…”

“As you can see, that’s how she reacts… Still, the clothes Yeon-hwa’s wearing now were made by Jin-ha.”

“Ah, haha… Right. Um… Yeon-hwa, there’s something I’ve been a little curious about.”

“Y-yes?”

“…Would you ever… consider drinking dragon blood?”

“D-dragon blood…?”

“It just seemed like you were having a tough time with your blood supply situation.
And, well… considering the size of my original body, I figured even if you took a bit, I’d be fine…”

“Oh, in that case, would you be willing to donate? There’s a donation center nearby. If your blood helps Yeon-hwa function more comfortably, that’d be a huge benefit all around.”

“Blood packs are surprisingly rare these days. Not that many people donate, so it’s a limited resource.”

“Let’s give it a shot then.”

And just like that, I headed to the blood donation center.

After they processed and refined the blood, I handed a pack over to Yeon-hwa.

“Heheh… b-blood… it’s b-blood…”

“Is it really that good?”

“Y-yes! To me, there’s nothing in the world more delicious. Even the worst—like pig’s blood, tastes better than anything I ever ate as a human.”

“Ah… I see…”

“So, um… if I could have one wish granted, it’d be to just drink as much blood as I wanted… If this blood… ends up being okay…”

“Then I don’t see why you couldn’t have a pack a day. I didn’t feel anything after donating, so I’m pretty sure it’s doable.”

“A-a-amazing…!”

Yeon-hwa looked at me like she was seeing a literal deity.

…Was it really that big a deal?

I guess it must be harder than I thought to get regular access to blood packs.

She did say she doesn’t consume that much, but that clearly came from a place of extreme self-restraint.

How could the wish of a Jinjo be simply to drink as much blood as she wanted…?

No wonder the Vice Director compared her to the Virgin Mary.

It wasn’t just her being introverted.

It was her entire worldview—not harming others, that held such sway over her that she could suppress her most primal urges.

For someone like that, giving a bit of blood didn’t feel like a sacrifice at all.

Yeon-hwa gently took the blood pack containing my blood, then inserted a straw into it, where did she even get that straw from?

Maybe she just carries them around with her.

She gently placed the straw between her lips and took a single sip of my blood.

“…!?”

“•!?”

Her eyes went wide, and she completely froze.

W-wait—was something wrong?

Did she… pass out?

“Um, Yeon-hwa? Are you okay…?”

I asked nervously— and finally, her body gave a little shudder.

No, it wasn’t just a shudder.

Drip.

“Huh?”

She was crying.

Tears quietly streamed down her cheeks.

W-what… did it taste that bad…?

But no.

That worry was completely unfounded.

“W-what… what is this taste…!”

She gasped in awe, her voice full of emotion.

“I-it’s so delicious! I could seriously live on this forever…! And it’s not just the taste—my whole body feels alive! I usually feel kind of drained during the day, but now I feel like I’m fully charged… like it’s nighttime again!”

“I-I’m relieved. For a second, I thought something went terribly wrong.”

“S-Seo-hyun? Are you really going to let me have this every day…?”

“Yes. We’ll be working together in the same agency now, and since I’m technically the director, I believe it’s my responsibility to support my team however I can.”

“I was worried my blood might affect you in a bad way… but it seems like that’s not the case. So, I’ll make sure you get enough every day.”

“I-I’ll work so hard!! Please ask me to do anything!!”

How good did it have to be for someone who couldn’t even look me in the eye
to now be staring at me with sparkling devotion?

No, it was more than sparkling.

She was looking at me like a devoted believer gazing upon their god.

…I mean, seriously, what the heck does my blood taste like?