My Dear, He Is a Vampire

I found out that my husband was a vampire in the third month of marriage. Not because he showed his fangs or because I caught him drinking blood. Quite the opposite - because he did nothing. That night when he had a fever, he stood in the corridor all night. His hands are cold and his breathing is suppressed. When he is furthest away from me, it is precisely when he wants to be closest to me the most. Then I started paying attention. He always goes around my neck when he kisses. He has a dark cup, one cup in the morning and one in the evening. The liquid is dark red. Sometimes he looks at me very seriously - a person who has been hungry for a long time can only smell but cannot move. But the food he cooks is always hot. Braised pork, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and pork ribs soup. He sat across from me, watching me eat the hot food one bite at a time, and his eyes would become very satisfied. Like I'm full too. He always holds an umbrella when he goes out during the day. The sun doesn't kill him, it just hurts. He was walking to my left holding an umbrella, and the umbrella was always tilted to my side. I later gave him a new light gray umbrella. He said nothing. But the black umbrella that had been held for many years has since been leaning in the corner of the entrance hall and has never been picked up again. This is my husband. A hungry vampire who holds an umbrella and always tilts the umbrella toward me. Our boat is still sailing slowly in the human night. He is my anchor and my sail. ——And I am the one who refuses to take a bite despite his hunger.