Tesia looked at him with a smile. Her red eyes seemed to glow a little brighter as she slightly lifted her chin and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, striking a pose that, at least in her head, was supposed to make her look mysterious, elegant, and even a little intimidating.
However, with that sincere smile and her tiny fangs barely peeking out from between her lips, all she managed to look was adorable.
She seemed rather proud of herself, as if whatever she was about to say—and, in her opinion, the coolest pose a vampire could possibly make—could change the world and the course of this entire story.
(Yes, she had practiced it.)
"We're going to a five-letter place."
Jean frowned.
His mind went completely blank.
It simply shut down.
"...Bsss..."
Five letters...
Jean followed Tesia as she led him down the street by the hand, making a strange little "bss" sound under his breath. The vampire seemed perfectly happy and wouldn't stop talking about who knew what, but Jean wasn't listening to a single word.
In fact, he was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed she was holding his hand completely, their fingers intertwined.
All Jean could see was the way her lips moved as she walked beside him, occasionally smiling.
Five letters...
Jean narrowed his eyes.
I think I've heard that before.
Where had it been?
He tried to remember as he walked.
Where did I hear it... and why does it make me feel so... uneasy?
Then he remembered.
It had been during lunch with Juan.
It was an ordinary day, and while they were talking about whatever nonsense came up during their lunch break, Juan had casually—and very happily—mentioned that he had taken a girl to the "five-letter place."
Jean hadn't understood a thing, nor had he understood why his coworker seemed so happy about it.
Eventually, he couldn't take the curiosity anymore and asked what it meant.
And Juan, laughing, had told him that he was definitely out of touch with the times and had no idea what young people were into nowadays.
"Jean, Jean, Jean. You seriously need to get with the times, dude. That place I took the girl to, that glorious and magical place where you should take someone... that place... the five-letter place is a..."
Jean slowly opened his eyes, only to roll them upward in shock.
A motel?
His mind stopped for a moment.
And even though his body felt heavy, he somehow felt as if he were floating.
Although, technically, that was probably because of Tesia's strength. She was gently guiding him along the sidewalk, carefully avoiding any obstacles that might bump into them.
Jean slowly raised his gaze.
First, he saw her legs.
Then he noticed the athletic pants she was wearing. They were the kind of sweatpants that weren't particularly revealing, yet somehow still showed the shape of her silhouette.
She has a nice butty...
Jean kept looking, almost as if everything had gone into slow motion, following the curve of Tesia's back until his eyes reached the nape of her neck, which was exposed because she was wearing a cap to protect herself from the sun.
Wait.
His face began turning red.
Wait, wait, wait, wait...
He looked Tesia up and down again so quickly that he nearly made himself dizzy.
Meanwhile, the vampire continued walking happily and casually, still holding his hand.
What do I do now?
Stay away from temptation and sinful thoughts!!!! She's your friend!!! Stay away!!!!
"Jean."
He didn't answer.
"Jean..."
Nothing.
"Jean."
Jean was still completely lost in his thoughts.
"Jean!"
"Five letters..."
He finally heard her voice.
"Jean! Jean! Jean! Answer me, silly! —Tesia threw a tiny childish tantrum."
Jean blinked several times.
"Oh... yeah? What is it, Tesia?"
Tesia puffed out her cheeks a little.
"You didn't hear a single thing I said, did you?"
Jean looked away.
"I... it was about... uh..."
He paused to think.
"No, sorry. I really didn't hear you."
Tesia looked at him with concern.
"Silly, what's wrong? You're really distracted."
Jean swallowed.
Tesia tilted her head.
"Do you... not want to go to the five-letter place with me?"
Her expression immediately became sad, and Jean turned even redder.
"That's not it!"
Tesia blinked.
"Then what's wrong?"
"It's just that... I'm not ready."
"You're not ready?"
"And I'm... not that kind of guy."
"What kind?"
Jean became even more nervous.
"I need to get more involved."
Tesia frowned slightly.
"Get more involved?"
"I just can't do this like this. You and I..."
Jean lowered his gaze.
"We're just friends."
Tesia fell silent.
"Just friends...?"
The vampire's expression suddenly changed, although not for the reason Jean was imagining.
"But... what does that have to do with anything?"
"What do you mean 'what does it have to do with anything?'"
"Well, exactly that. It's not a big deal."
Jean looked at her.
It's not a big deal?
His heart sank a little.
"Tesia... what do you mean it's not a big deal?"
Jean's voice came out quieter than he intended.
The vampire looked at him in confusion.
"Well, it's not."
She shrugged.
"I go there all the time with Invi."
Jean raised his head.
"Invi?"
"Oh, crap."
Tesia put a hand to her forehead.
"I never told you. Invi is my best friend. She's a vampire too. A really cute one, by the way."
Jean stood completely still.
"And you go there with this Invi girl?"
"Yeah."
"To that place?"
"Yes, Jean... what's so weird about it?"
Tesia looked at him as if she genuinely couldn't understand the problem.
"I go there with my parents all the time too."
Jean was speechless.
His head felt like it was about to hit the ground.
He didn't know what to say.
He didn't know how to process this information.
So this is what vampires are like...
This is a very unexpected cultural shock.
They seem to have very... strong and unconventional family and friendship bonds.
Tesia continued walking and took his hand again.
"I... I'm actually really excited to go there with you..."
Jean barely lifted his gaze.
"I don't know if I can..."
"Jean..."
She took both of his hands and gave him a gentle smile.
"I promise, if you don't like it, we can leave. We're almost there."
Jean continued walking beside her, still completely dejected.
For some reason, he felt like he'd just discovered a side of Tesia he hadn't known existed—and wasn't sure he wanted to know about.
It was something he hadn't expected, and he had no idea how he was supposed to react to how casually she talked about it.
And somehow, it had shattered a little bit of the image he'd built of her.
If she's really like this, then...
Jean swallowed.
Maybe I shouldn't...
"We're here, you silly, suicidal, depressed-for-no-reason friend!"
Jean looked up.
"Huh?"
Tesia pointed ahead.
"It's right there!"
Jean stared at the place, his mouth falling open.
His eyes widened.
"This is..."