Codename Vestia

Chapter 19: Joonie

Doyeong let out a sigh.

“I told you, I won’t talk about the tribe.”

Once an outsider entered, they were not allowed to leave again. That was the tribe’s rule, meant to protect the secrecy of their existence.

Doyeong had tried to persuade them by saying that he had no interest in the tribe and even less reason to talk about it to anyone else, but it was like talking to a brick wall. It seemed neither Gamal nor Tora had any intention of letting him go so easily.

Now there were two vampires trying to keep him stuck on the island. It felt like he was sinking deeper into a swamp while trying to uncover the secrets on the other side of the island.

“Anyway, it’s not like I’ll be wandering around for just a day or two, so there shouldn’t be any trouble….”

Tora was talking when, suddenly, a tribal woman pounced on him from behind.

Tora burst into laughter as he pulled the woman onto his lap. She seemed to be throwing a tantrum for being left alone. Tora hugged her and whispered sweet words that were evident just from his tone. The woman finally looked satisfied.

Then, Tora nudged Doyeong’s knee with his back. Doyeong frowned slightly but didn’t react otherwise.

Gamal, too, said nothing, leaving the four sitting there with a contrast as stark as fire and ice.

Because of the chaos from earlier in the day, things felt awkward between Doyeong and Gamal. Though Gamal didn’t give him accusatory looks for pushing him off the cliff, he was strangely quiet and lost in thought.

Tora and the tribal woman continued their display of affection until Tora lifted her up and stood. Without even a “good night,” they disappeared in the direction of the house.

Silence fell between the two who were left behind. At some point, Doyeong turned and asked.

“And you?”

Gamal flinched, as if startled by the sudden question, and looked back at him.

“Me?”

“Don’t you go outside?”

“Ah….”

Gamal shook his head.

“I don’t leave the island.”

It was still the same answer. Doyeong muttered in a resigned tone.

“Fine, I give up. They say trying to drag a recluse out by force only makes them withdraw even more.”

More silence settled between them before Doyeong stood up, brushing off the shells of the imitation peanuts.

“Let’s just get some sleep.”

Earlier, a middle-aged tribal woman had gestured to him, pointing out the place where they would sleep tonight — a house on the right, adjacent to the courtyard.

But Gamal didn’t follow. Doyeong glanced back, a bit puzzled. Gamal was staring at the bonfire before turning his gaze to Doyeong.

But that was all. He just looked at him with those clear eyes, not saying a word. Asking if he wasn’t coming to bed felt too much like wanting Gamal to join him, so Doyeong simply turned away. He entered the house and lay down on the bed.

Gamal really seemed to have no intention of coming, even after Doyeong waited a bit longer.

Doyeong was baffled.

“So, she has her people, is that it?”

When she would adorably cling to him, talking about pigs, that was one thing.

For some reason, it made him angry. It seemed like Gamal had people who revered her as a god, and there were also the Clientes. In the end, while Gamal was observing whether Doyeong could be trusted, he had just been killing time.

“What am I getting mad about?”

Doyeong was even more astounded by himself. The strange tension between them was probably just a result of being swept up in the atmosphere of the deserted island. And it wasn’t even a real deserted island, but one deliberately set up to create that atmosphere.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fall asleep.

***

A small hand brushed against his abdomen.

The touch carried a clear intent. Doyeong was half-asleep but almost laughed. That sneaky girl had come late just to poke him in the side.

However, he had no intention of letting it slide so easily, so he spoke as he turned over.

“Gamal, it’s already—”

Then he was startled. It wasn’t Gamal; it was a young woman looking down at him. She was one of the tribal women whose face he had seen earlier.

She smiled brightly and said something before trying to kiss him. Doyeong quickly pushed her away and sat up.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The woman said something else and tried to kiss him again.

Realizing that talking wouldn’t work, Doyeong got up, leaving the woman—who kept trying to grab him—and opened the door to leave. He almost collided with another woman standing just outside the door.

“What the…?”

Doyeong was stunned. In front of the door, a line of women was standing, as if they were waiting their turn at a popular restaurant.

The women began chirping around him like a flock of birds, chattering away in a language Doyeong couldn’t understand at all.

Then he spotted Gamal still sitting in the courtyard, where the bonfire had died down.

“Gamal.”

Doyeong gestured to the women, silently asking what was going on, but Gamal just looked at him.

Doyeong pushed past the women and headed toward the courtyard. The women grumbled in dissatisfaction and muttered complaints, but they didn’t follow him.

He looked back at them and asked Gamal, “What’s with them?”

Gamal, without much surprise, replied, “Because you’re from outside.”

“So?”

“Guests from outside are precious. They help bring healthy children.”

Doyeong was truly, utterly shocked.

“Don’t tell me… that’s why you…?”

So that’s why Gamal hadn’t followed him to bed.

Gamal didn’t respond, her gaze fixed on the smoldering bonfire. Doyeong stared at her intently.

“You do realize that outside, doing this kind of thing without the person’s consent is called sexual harassment, right?”

Gamal hugged her knees and said, “In the tribe, it’s always been this way.”

Doyeong realized why there were so many mixed-blood people among the tribe, considering they were supposed to be natives. In the closed environment of the island, it was likely a necessary choice to ensure genetic diversity.

With Gamal beside him, the women only whispered from afar and didn’t approach. Soon, they seemed to give up and dispersed back to their homes.

Doyeong guessed they understood he had no intention of being with anyone tonight. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like they were going to forcibly tie him down and use him as breeding stock, like in some Amazonian tribe from a novel.

He didn’t know whether he should be angry or just laugh.

“I’m seriously speechless… Now I’m wide awake.”

Saying this, Doyeong sat down.

Gamal fidgeted with her fingers. She had wanted to stop him when he said he was going to sleep. But she couldn’t break the tribe’s rules, especially knowing how much everyone had been looking forward to this day.

In fact, the rustling noises Doyeong had heard beyond the bushes before weren’t only Tora’s doing.

Despite the strict rules, curious young girls had sneaked over to the other side of the island to catch a glimpse of Doyeong. When asked by the girls how this new guest was, Tora had apparently said, “He’s very handsome.”

From what Gamal had observed over time, the interest that young men and women had in beautiful members of the opposite sex was something even their ancestors couldn’t prevent.

The girls had secretly peeked at Doyeong from behind the bushes. They had been captivated by his gray-blue eyes, the blend of a refined, civilized look with a rugged, warrior-like wildness typical of the tribe. They clamored to introduce him to the rest of the tribe.

Gamal had realized not long after that Doyeong was someone who could be trusted, but she hadn’t wanted to introduce him to the tribe. She knew this kind of situation would unfold if she did.

While lost in thought, Gamal’s eyes met Doyeong’s as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Ah…!

Just then, a strange noise came from afar. It was faint, almost like a woman’s scream… but also clearly something different.

The moment Doyeong suspected, he realized what the sound was, and saw that Gamal understood it too. Feeling a bit awkward, Gamal spoke up.

“It’s Tora.”

Doyeong snorted.

“Who else would it be?”

A male Luas and a human woman—it was possible.

Doyeong found himself thinking that there weren’t many female vampires, to the point where the species could be jokingly called a “men’s bathhouse.” It was almost as if, from an evolutionary standpoint, females were at a disadvantage.

Male Luas had two choices—female Luas and human women—but female Luas had only one option.

Though, since Luas weren’t a species that reproduced through typical male-female union, it wasn’t actually the case.

“You can choose anyone, Doyeong. Even Akira,” Gamal suddenly said.

“Akira?”

Doyeong couldn’t remember who Akira was. Gamal pointed toward the direction where the sounds continued to come from.

“Wasn’t she pretty?”

Now that she mentioned it, Akira was quite beautiful, but after seeing Gamal so often, his standards might have shifted, and he didn’t particularly think of her as pretty. But before that…

“Isn’t that girl his wife?” Doyeong asked incredulously.

Gamal shook her head. “Tora doesn’t have a wife. She’s his current lover. That will change soon. It always does. The children take pride in becoming Tora’s lover, even if just once. Tora is the guardian deity of the tribe.”

Doyeong thought maybe the problem lay with him. This ingrained, civilized world’s sense of decency kept interfering, making it hard to accept other cultures without bias.

But when he heard that he could choose anyone, he didn’t know where to begin criticizing the absurdity of having such a slave-trader-like right. Who granted such a right in the first place?

No matter what tribal rules they had, Doyeong still had a basic sense of human rights.

But then, a thought occurred to him, and he looked at Gamal, asking quietly, “You said I could choose anyone? Does that include you?”

Gamal stiffened as if she had been struck by the question, then lowered her gaze, mumbling softly.

“I can’t have children.”

“I’m just asking if I can choose.”

“If it’s not about having children, then there’s no need… to choose.”

Doyeong stared at her.

“So, it would be okay? If I chose someone?”

Gamal fidgeted with her hands but didn’t answer. Doyeong let out a breath, not quite a sigh but something that felt like one, then stood up.

“I’m going back to sleep.”

He walked toward the house, and there was no sound of Gamal following him.

But just as he was opening the door, he felt a sudden grip on his wrist. It was Gamal, holding him back.

“I…”

At that moment, Doyeong pulled her in, pushing her inside.

Click.

The door closed.

Gamal, her shoulders pressed against the wall, breathed heavily. In the darkness, Doyeong spoke in a low voice.

“Say it.”

Gamal knew that, even though she couldn’t bear children, her desire to keep Doyeong to herself was selfish, but she had no choice but to speak. Holding onto the hand Doyeong had placed on her shoulder, she whispered as if she were about to cry.

“Don’t choose anyone. Not anyone.”

As their lips met, Gamal was overwhelmed with joy. There was no other way to describe this feeling—it was pure bliss.

Doyeong slightly pulled away, his lips still warm as he whispered, “Gamal, do what you want. Don’t think about anything else.”

Sometimes, he felt like Gamal didn’t clearly express what she wanted, especially when it seemed she was trying to be considerate of others.

It was probably because she was kind, but Doyeong found that he didn’t like it. With a personality like that, if she hadn’t been living on this island, he doubted she could have survived for three thousand years.

Doyeong looked deep into her eyes and said, “So, tell me what you want.”

“Kiss me, more,” Gamal said, as if in a trance. Doyeong gave a faint, approving smile.

Gamal’s heart felt like it was dropping.

As she stared at him, spellbound, Doyeong kissed her again. With his head tilted down, his bangs brushed against her face, tickling her skin.

With her head leaning back, Gamal resisted the urge to pull him into a tight embrace and instead gently stroked his back.

She didn’t know how to define this feeling. Her head spun, joy surged, and her heart throbbed wildly. It was an unfamiliar, intoxicating sensation.