After what seemed like an hour of running—despite only being a few frantic minutes—the sun was hot on their trail, its blinding rays spilling like molten death behind them, chasing them through the thinning shadows of the forest.
Every passing second was life or death.
Then—they arrived.
Corven and Rose crashed into the cave, stumbling past the rocky threshold just as sunlight burst fully over the horizon. A blinding spear of light pierced the dark entrance, halting just inches from their feet.
Corven collapsed to the ground, his chest heaving, palms digging into the gritty dirt floor. The adrenaline surged through his veins, his heart pounding like war drums against his ribs.
A wild laugh broke from his lips, a rare crack in his usual cold, pragmatic shell.
"Holy shit—I almost died!" he gasped between ragged laughs, the chaos and thrill finally catching up to him.
Rose wasn't much better. Breathing hard, she leaned against the cave wall, eyes wide from the near-death experience—but her lips curled into a grin nonetheless.
"You're quite happy, though," she said, laughter bubbling past her own exhaustion, her nerves still buzzing like live wires. She slid down to the floor beside him, laying flat against the cool earth, letting the stone ceiling wrap around them like a shell.
"Of course," Corven panted, pushing himself upright and brushing dirt from his blood-slicked arms. "For someone who barely had fun before becoming a vampire, this kind of fun is addicting."
He scanned their surroundings. The cave stretched deeper into darkness, jagged rocks framing its narrow maw like the ribs of some long-dead beast.
'Is this my another-world cave adventure…?' he thought, amused, letting out a breathy chuckle.
Curiosity tugged at him, and he wandered in deeper, footsteps echoing faintly against the stone. What greeted him wasn't treasure or some mystical cavern of lore—but disappointment.
A dead end.
A plain chamber, no bigger than a bedroom. Five bats clung sleepily to the ceiling above, wings twitching now and then. The air smelled of guano and stale minerals.
Rose followed behind, peering past his shoulder. When she saw the anticlimactic end to their desperate sprint, she just laughed again.
"So we're stuck here for the day, then?"
"Pretty much…" Corven scratched the back of his head, staring at the stone wall like it personally betrayed him.
If the sun wouldn't kill them, boredom definitely would.
They ended up sitting near the mouth of the cave, keeping far from the bat colony—and especially their droppings, which stained the floor like dark ink blotches.
"Should we just… talk now?" Rose offered with a chuckle, her patience wearing thin despite mere minutes passing.
"Sure. Keeps the boredom away." Corven nodded, leaning back against the wall with a sigh.
They talked—first about their hunt, recounting the thrill, the bloodlust, the exhilaration of combat. That lasted about an hour. Then the kiss. They lingered on that for a while longer, awkward and teasing. Then came odd trivia about Corven's past life—mundane human things, like ramen, and rainy days, and sleeping in on Sundays.
But after that?
Nothing.
Seven full hours passed, and conversation withered. Topics ran dry. The silence between them wasn't hostile—just heavy, like the cave itself had run out of things to offer.
Worse yet—the sun was still at its peak.
And there was nothing else to do.
That's when Rose shifted slightly beside him, fiddling with a strand of her blood-matted hair. Her voice broke the silence, soft but direct.
"So… about the bond thing."
Corven raised a brow, still lounging, his light clothes stained with dried blood. Rose was in worse condition—her tattered rags clinging to her like silk strips, soaked from earlier chaos. Neither of them had washed. They didn't even mention it.
It just didn't matter.
"What about it?" Corven chuckled, trying to play off the sudden shift.
"You're pretending to be dense, right?" Rose shot him a sly smirk, her eyes glowing faintly in the cave's gloom.
"You do know what that probably entails, right? Deepening our bond beyond halfway?"
Corven exhaled through his nose, glancing toward the sunlit entrance. The light glared like an unblinking eye, sealing them inside their stone sanctuary.
"I may not remember much," Rose continued, "but I'm pretty sure other vampires would just take what they want instead of asking me for consent."
Corven stretched his arms, jaw tightening for a second before softening into a grin.
"I'm a vampire… not a savage."
Rose laughed softly at his response. Then, just like before, she began to crawl toward him—slow and deliberate, her movements feline, confident.
She slid onto her knees in front of him, the worn fabric of her clothes rustling faintly against the stone. One hand braced beside his thigh, the other resting lightly on his chest as she leaned in, their faces mere inches apart.
"You don't have to second-guess yourself…" she whispered near his ear, her breath warm despite the chill of the cave. "I trust you."
Corven gave an awkward chuckle, his body reacting on instinct—but his mind holding the line. He wasn't some lust-drunk predator. He was pragmatic. Measured.
There's a difference.
"You're quite brave, you know that?" he said, voice low, gaze fixed on her now.
She tilted her head, their faces only inches apart.
"Well… we have all the time in the world now."
"Besides," she added, her fingers tracing down his chest, "if you get stronger, then I do as well."
"We both benefit…"
And without another word, she leaned in—this time faster, hungrier—her lips colliding with his in a kiss far more ferocious than the last. The air between them crackled with tension, with hunger, with the tangled confusion of survival and something deeper.
And the sun outside kept rising—oblivious.