Chapter 2: Doctor Blood Returns.
Summary: Set a few weeks after it is revealed that Prosecutor Min is a vampire. Dr Blood, aka, La Jae-wook returns with a shocking secret of his own.
After the closing of another successful case, in the dimly lit office room housing the Special Divisions Team, three people - an Intern, a Prosecutor and a Detective sat shuffling papers at their desks, readying to leave for the night while Prosecutor Min sat alone in his enclosed office. They knew better than to disturb him.
In the silence, the main door suddenly opened to admit a man dressed in blue jeans and a black jacket atop a white vest and tanned scarf. He walked into the office and was met with stunned and surprised glances from all three people.
"You!" Soon-bum pointed, jumping up from his desk chair, "Where have you been all this time?"
"Where's Min Tae-yeon?" he asked quietly and the Detective glanced silently across at the Prosecutor's office. The blinds were closed to seal away the outside world, shutting the single inhabitant in a small, confined world to which the Doctor turned bartender, approached. He knocked quietly on the door of the small office and opened the door, quickly followed by the other three people behind him.
"Hyung?" Min frowned, surprised as he looked up from his desk as the man gave a small smile.
"Long time no see, Tae-yeon," he replied, meekly.
"What are you doing here?" the Prosecutor asked, "Where have you been?"
"Not far, actually," La Jae-wook answered, sitting down, "I had to stay away...stay hidden, you know that..."
"You were in hiding," Min breathed, "All this time...and you didn't think to..."
"I had to be...if he'd have found me..." he began to explain, desperately.
"He was your responsibility."
"Can we talk about this...in private?" Jae-wook asked, glancing surreptitiously at the three people listening in the office.
"They know," the Prosecutor said, "About what we are," he emphasised.
"They...how?" La Jae-wook asked, stunned, "No...I suppose it doesn't matter. I never meant for things to turn out this way...if I could have stopped him I would have...But I did come here to tell you something...something important."
"What are they talking about?" Dong-man muttered to an equally perplexed Jung-In.
"What?" Min asked his friend.
"A way to pay back my debt to you...watch...watch this," he began quickly and pulled out a small knife from his jacket. He then sliced a thin cut across his palm and watched as the blood began to gather on his skin. "Look...it doesn't heal...it doesn't heal!"
"How is that..."
"I'm not a vampire anymore!" Jae-wook laughed.
"Keep your voice down," Soon-bum muttered in nervous confusion.
"The first person a vampire bites gets turned...I was the first person you bit but I was already a vampire...now I'm not."
"That's not possible," Min furrowed his brow.
"I didn't think so either, but it is. I don't have fangs. I don't heal nearly as fast as I used to. I can eat food. And I think I figured out how to turn other vampires into humans again. I can turn you back too."
"Why?" the Prosecutor asked after a while.
"Why?" Jae-wook repeated, incredulously. "Everything was my fault. Everything started the night I...well...I owe you more than I've every owed anyone. I can pay back the debt I owe you..."
"You think this would pay me back?"
"Wouldn't it? Isn't it what you've wanted since you became a vampire? Don't you want to be human...like them again...more than anything in the world?"
"No."
"No?"
"No. What I want most in the world is my sister...and I know she's out there somewhere. I just haven't found her yet," the Prosecutor sighed.
"Then this would be for her benefit too. She was too young to be turned into a vampire...we both understand that. You know that even if you found her, you wouldn't be able to control her. If she could be changed back..." he trailed off.
"What if it goes wrong? Your intentions were the same back then when you used vampire blood for that transfusion...and look what happened then," Min pointed out.
"There won't be any mistakes this time! I wouldn't do that to you," Jae-wook cried.
"Mistakes aren't made on purpose. I won't take the risk, for myself or for my sister."
"But, Tae-yeon..."
"No."
"...I tried to contact you..." La Jae-wook sighed after a moment, "But every time I did he'd get closer to me and I'd have to move again."
"You could have delt with the mess you created whenever you wanted. No one forced you to go into hiding."
"I wouldn't have stood a chance against him, then or now. I'm human! The last thing I wanted though, was for you to confront him."
"You knew I would," the Prosecutor said.
"...I'm sorry...I'm sorry for everything...I just wanted to see you...if you're sure you don't want..."
"I don't."
"Well...I'll keep it...I'll keep working on it...just in case..." Jae-wook replied, standing up and heading back for the door. He paused for a moment with his finger curled around the door handle. "If you need me...come to the club," he said quietly. "I'll be there...I'll have your usual waiting for you. You can collect it like always...I can still do that for you if nothing else," he finished before leaving.
"Alright...he's gone...now are you going to explain what the hell you two were talking about?" Soon-bum asked Min who sighed with a heavy look of resignation.