Fatal Attraction | Yeonbin

18 | ᴋᴀʀᴍᴀ

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Karma ; the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.
/ˈ𝐤ɑː𝐦ə,ˈ𝐤əː𝐦ə/

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

➸

9:48 pm was the time Yeonjun arrived home. Exhausted, all he wanted to do was to submerge himself into a hot tub of warm water and let his thoughts get washed away with it.

But that didn't happen.

The moment he entered his room, his gaze was returned by an uninvited someone, perching himself on top of his bed, grinning like a little devil.

"Oh god, no—" Yeonjun sighed, about to head for the door.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Beomgyu spoke, jolting up as he pulled Yeonjun's hand, forcing him to sit on the bed. "I'm going to take a wild guess," he giggled, his eyes aglow with glee. "He's the person who found out about your identity?"

Yeonjun looked away.

"HE IS!" Beomgyu cried, feeling enlightened to see how flustered his cousin had become. "And... you've already started falling for him?"

"NO! NO, I HAVEN'T!" Yeonjun responded almost instantly, feeling his cheeks go warm.

"You should take a good look at yourself in the mirror cause you definitely already have," Beomgyu responded as a matter of factly.

Yeonjun threw a pillow in his face.

"Look," Beomgyu spoke, trying his very best to contain his laughter, "there's nothing wrong with having feelings for someone—"

"AND THAT'S WHY IT'S SO WRONG! BECAUSE I JUST ALLOWED MYSELF TO FALL FOR A HUMAN!"

"Oop—looks like you just openly admitted it," Beomgyu snickered.

Yeonjun threw another pillow in his face.

"Okay, but in all seriousness, as long as he is mentally strong enough for you, everything is going to be fine," he reassured.

"I have a feeling that he doesn't like me back," Yeonjun mumbled, planting his face into a pillow. Beomgyu rolled his eyes.

"So? Are you going to spend another century not being able to tell your feelings?"

"NO! I mean—I will, one day. But that won't be today."

"Sure," Beomgyu giggled. In an instant, his smile vanished, the realisation slowly sinking in. "But—do you remember the last time we talked?"

"In the library?"

"No. The time you first tasted his blood—about it being an exceptionally sweet taste," he interrupted.

All of Yeonjun's memories felt hazy, his thoughts scattered all over the place—fatigue stopping him from making any rational decisions. Yeonjun felt tired, and now wasn't exactly the best time to be cracking mysteries.

"I have a small—tiny feeling that he is the one who holds it. But I don't want to risk finding out or my mother. You know how much it will mean to her, knowing who possesses the sweet blood," he said, rubbing his throbbing head.

Beomgyu paused for a few moments, allowing his mind to soak up all the information that had just been delivered to him. "You will need to confirm it quickly. Because if Soobin really is the holder—yours and his life are at risk. You are putting his life at risk," he said, turning to his cousin who seemed too tired to detect the seriousness of the matter at hand.

Yeonjun grumbled in response. "I won't take my chances at that. If my mother finds out about him, then I will protect him."

"You're being daft and foolish," Beomgyu flared, "if you really care about him then stay away from him and end things before matters escalate—"

"Beomgyu, I know what I'm doing, thank you very much," Yeonjun interjected, his firmness and hold of his argument reflecting the latter. He got up, walking towards the door. "I will never put Soobin in danger," he spoke, his voice crisp and sharp before disappearing into thin air.

Beomgyu heaved a sigh. I really hope you know what you're doing.

➸

Treading into the darkness, Aeri came to a halt in front of the vault which sat at the very end of her path. Searching her pocket, she brought out a silver key before using it to unlock the door standing in front of her.

With a firm click, the door swung open as she stepped inside. There, in front of her, laid thousands of shelves, files sandwiched next to each other. The faint smell of earth crept up her nose as she immediately began to walk in front of the shelf labelled "Choi".

This inventory beheld all the documents of her late victims.

Her finger ran through the failed papers, frantically searching for a specific folder. Scattered papers and files littered around her feet as she continued digging—

Found it.

Attached with the file she just pulled was another file with the label "Lee".

Choi Jae-Young and Lee Song-Ah were labelled on the front.

Taking a deep breath, she flipped it open to see two old, tainted photographs staring back at her.

Date of death: 18 September 2006.

Memories of the past began to unearth from the depths of her mind as horrid images plagued her thoughts.

Their last words still rang in her head: "I have children to care for," was what they said before taking their dying breath as they dropped to the ground, cold, their bodies motionless. A horrible feeling began to well at the bottom of her stomach. A feeling resonating very much to guilt.

She swept aside her feelings, reminding herself why she was here in the first place.

Her eyes searched through their documents before resting on the sentence with the names of their children:

Choi Minhyuk.
Choi Soobin.

She swallowed the urge to scream, a single bead trickling down her forehead as nausea coated her throat.

Choi Soobin.

It can't be. No—it just can't— she told herself, her mind pushing out all rational thoughts are her head encircled those two words.

A knock came from the door as Secretary Ji entered the room.

"Madam, are you okay? You don't look so good—shall I fetch a glass of water?" Secretary Ji asked worriedly, reading Aeri's ashen expression.

"N-no," she rasped, searching for her voice, "I'm fine—please leave. I would like sometime to myself."

"As you wish," her secretary replied before leaving the room

For the briefest of moments, she allowed her mind to slip off the matter at hand, giving her a moment to breathe before the weight of the truth threw itself upon her crippled state once more.

Because 15 years ago, she had committed a horrible sin herself—

The mercy of a couple resting being clutched in her hands.

Their lives lost. The parents of their children, gone. All because she was so blinded by greed. Her thirst for avarice so strong, she had mistaken them for the holders of The Sweet Blood. And now, karma had arrived at her door to avenge them.

All this while, her theory of the couple possessing such the blood wasn't entirely wrong— because she now only found out that it was their child who possesses it.

A child who was now her son's dearest friend.