Jean's eyes shot open.
For a few seconds, he had no idea where he was.
He was breathing quickly, his heart pounding as if he had just run several miles. He stared at the ceiling of his bedroom and remained completely still, trying to understand what had happened.
He was lying in his bed.
His pillow was in his arms.
There was no rooftop.
No wind.
No fall.
It was just him, in his apartment.
Jean blinked several times.
"A dream…?"
He kept staring at the ceiling.
"Was it a dream?"
Little by little, he began to remember what he had seen while sleeping. The fall. The feeling of the air hitting his body. The ground getting closer far too quickly.
And then he remembered something else.
A hand.
"A blonde girl? Woman..."
Jean hugged his pillow tighter.
"I'm never standing on that edge again… Damn it."
He stayed like that for a few seconds, trying to calm himself down, until he finally reached for his phone on the nightstand.
The screen lit up.
11:07 p.m.
"Is it really that late?"
He rubbed a hand over his face.
He had slept quite a while.
Then again, after everything that had happened over the past few weeks, it wasn't that strange that his body had simply decided to shut down for a few hours.
He unlocked his phone.
Then he saw his conversation with Jess.
Or rather, what was left of it.
Jean remembered that after the breakup, he hadn't hesitated for even a second before blocking her everywhere.
WhatsApp.
Instagram.
Facebook.
X.
Everything.
Although, to his surprise, he discovered that Jess had already blocked him first.
"Oh…"
He stared at the screen.
"How considerate."
He set the phone aside.
He didn't want to think about her.
Not again.
And luckily, there was something much stranger occupying his mind at that moment.
The blonde woman from his dream.
He had seen her so clearly.
He had heard her voice as if she were really there.
He had seen her reach out her hand toward him.
It had been too real.
"Too real..."
Jean sat on his bed for a few seconds.
"No."
He stood up.
"No way."
He put on his shoes and left his apartment.
Before going up to the rooftop, he went back for a cap.
He didn't know exactly why he wanted it. Maybe he was hoping that if the blonde woman actually existed and wasn't just a figment of his imagination, she wouldn't see him looking like a mess.
He climbed the stairs and opened the door.
The rooftop was completely empty.
Jean stood still.
He looked to the left.
Nothing.
He looked to the right.
Nothing.
"Of course."
He looked behind some storage stuff.
Nothing.
He crouched down to look underneath an old table.
Nothing.
Then he checked behind a box that clearly didn't have enough room for a person to hide behind.
Nothing.
Jean stared at it.
"Yeah, this is… definitely what it looks like… I'm an idiot."
Even so, he kept searching.
He looked behind a pipe.
Nothing.
He opened a small cabinet that had probably been sitting there for who knew how long.
Nothing.
He even lifted a tarp covering some old junk.
Nothing.
Finally, he put both hands on his head.
"Where the hell would she even be? Stop wasting your time, Jean…"
The rooftop remained completely empty.
Jean looked around one last time.
"Yeah, right. Of course it was a dream."
He stood there thinking for a few seconds.
Then he sighed.
"Well… if I had a dream that crazy, maybe that's a sign I shouldn't stand on that edge again..."
He turned around.
"Clearly not a good idea, especially—"
"Well, I'd say, idiot, that you shouldn't do it again."
Jean froze.
The voice had come from directly behind him.
"What kind of crazy human are you?"
Jean felt his heart stop.
"Huh?"
He slowly turned around.
And there she was.
A tall woman.
She had long blonde hair, with bangs covering one of her eyes. The other stared directly at him, an intense red that was strange and impossible to ignore.
Jean hadn't seen her arrive.
He hadn't heard footsteps.
He hadn't heard a door open.
There was absolutely nothing that explained how the woman had appeared there.
She looked at him with a calm expression.
Far too calm.
Jean took a step back.
"W-w-w-who are you?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"Me?"
"How did you get up here?!"
The woman looked up at the sky.
"Hmm…"
She thought about it for a moment.
"Flying, I guess."
Jean's eyes widened.
"Flying?"
She looked at him again.
And smiled.
It was a pretty nice smile.
"My name is Tesia."
She paused for a moment.
"Nice to meet you, suicidal human."
Jean was completely stunned.
Suicidal human?
Flying?
Wait… what?
"I'm not suicidal."
Tesia looked at him.
"You're not?"
"No!"
"Then why were you falling off a building?"
"Because you scared me!"
Tesia blinked.
"Me?"
"Yes! You!"
Jean remembered that voice. There was no way it could have been anyone else, so he pointed at her.
"You appeared out of nowhere behind me!"
"I didn't appear out of nowhere."
"There was no one here!"
"I was here."
"But I didn't see you!"
"That sounds like your problem."
Jean stared at her.
…
…
"So this is what your character is going to be like?"
Tesia smiled.
"Like what?"
"Such a smartass."
She let out a small laugh.
"Maybe."
Jean took a deep breath.
He still had no idea what was going on.
He had gone up to the rooftop to find out whether the woman from his dream actually existed, and now he had the exact same woman standing right in front of him.
There was no way this was a coincidence.
Jean looked her up and down.
Blonde hair.
Red eyes.
Tall.
And definitely carrying some kind of mysterious aura.
"Your name."
"I'm Jean."
Tesia raised an eyebrow.
"That's it?"
"What else do you want?"
"Dummy."
"Dummy?"
Jean narrowed his eyes.
"Well, what can I say… nice to meet you too, mysterious blonde woman."
Tesia went silent for a second.
Then she burst out laughing.
"Mysterious blonde woman?"
"What?"
"Nothing. You really are a dummy."
She covered her mouth slightly as she continued laughing.
"That was funny."
Jean sighed.
Tesia looked at him again.
"Nice to meet you, Jean."
Her smile slowly faded, and her expression became more serious.
"But don't ever do something as stupid as trying to jump from here again."
Jean's eyes widened.
"I already told you I wasn't trying to jump!"
Tesia frowned.
"Then what were you doing? You've been coming here every day for the past two weeks, standing there like you're working up the courage to jump…"
"I was just… thinking…"
"On the edge of the rooftop."
"Yes."
"Looking down."
"Yes."
"After shouting 'liar' every single time."
Jean fell silent.
…
Tesia crossed her arms.
"Suicidal human."
"But I wasn't trying to jump!"
"Okay, okay."
Tesia raised her hands.
"I believe you."
Jean let out a breath.
"Besides, you're the one who scared me and made me fall."
Tesia frowned slightly.
"That wasn't my intention."
"Well, you can't just talk to people right next to their ear and expect them not to freak out."
"That… I suppose that's true."
She lowered her head slightly.
"I'm sorry."
Jean looked at her.
That answer caught him by surprise.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
Tesia looked up again.
"I didn't want you to fall. In fact… it was quite the opposite…"
Jean remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he remembered.
The silhouette.
The hand.
That feeling of falling.
And the woman who had appeared in front of him.
"You…"
Tesia tilted her head.
"Me what?"
"Even though you're the one who made me fall, you're the one who saved me, right?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Jean took a step toward her.
"When I fell."
Tesia's expression changed slightly.
"How did you do it?"
For a moment, it looked like she was about to give him a serious answer.
But then she smiled.
"It was nothing."
"Nothing?"
"No."
"But I was falling off a building."
"And you didn't fall."
Jean stared at her in disbelief.
"That doesn't answer my question."
Tesia simply smiled.
For a few seconds, that playful smile disappeared again, and her expression became stranger.
"Jean…"
"Yeah?"
"If I told you what I am…"
Tesia moved a little closer.
Her red eyes locked onto his.
"You probably wouldn't be able to keep living."
Jean swallowed.
"What?"
All kinds of possibilities raced through his mind.
Is she in the mafia?
Does she have superpowers?
Is she an assassin?
What the hell is this woman?
Tesia took another step toward him.
Jean instinctively stepped back.
Then she smiled.
"I'm a vampire."
She paused for a moment.
"Oops. I already told you."
Jean stood completely still.
…
Tesia waited.
"And?"
"A… vampire?"
"Yes."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Jean stared at her for a few seconds.
Then he looked around.
The rooftop was still empty.
He looked back at her.
"So you can fly?"
"Yes."
"And your eyes are red because you're a vampire?"
"Yes."
"And you flew and saved me when I fell?"
"Yes."
Jean thought about it.
"Oh."
Tesia smiled.
"That's it?"
"I don't know what you want me to say. I honestly don't know what to think."
She let out a small laugh.
Then she moved a little closer and lowered her voice.
"Jean, now that you know what I am…"
Jean watched her cautiously.
Tesia raised a hand and pointed toward her own smile.
Her fangs became visible.
"You have two options."
Jean felt a small chill run down his spine.
"What are they?"
Tesia's smile grew even wider.
"Die…"
She paused.
"Or become my boyfriend and stay with me forever."
Jean's eyes widened.
Tesia kept that charming smile on her face as she showed off her fangs.
"Which one do you choose?"