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by -JAKISM

by -JAKISM

I giggled as I stared at my phone on the way to school. Youngbin leaned over to see what I was giggling at. “Is it Jake?” He teasingly eyed me and I gave him a short glance. “No. It's just...the boys.” I spoke as I showed him the chaotic picture of the five boys in Sunoo's room. “You didn't join them yesterday?” He asked as he closely investigated the picture. “I didn't want to be the only girl.” He stared at me for five good seconds. “Is it because of Heeseung?” “What? No, why did you think it would be because of him?” “You might be scared that he might tell everyone else and embarrass you then and there.” I released a sigh. “I don't have a problem with the rest knowing my thing with Jake, it was just you.” He sneered at my words. “Am I that scary?”

“Good morning.” A familiar voice rang out. “Good morning, Heeseung.” Youngbin gave him a bright smile. “Good morning.” I mumbled softly and looked back at my phone. He seemed pretty surprised to see my brother in good terms with me that morning, plus because it was the first time I greeted him back. They started talking as I continued to look through the pictures. For some reason, I couldn't stop focusing at Heeseung's figure every time I swiped to see the next picture. He stood out more than other days. I quickly glanced at him and back at the phone. My lips formed into a thin line. I badly wanted to ask more questions about himself but our past encounters with each other made everything awkward for me. I proceeded to walk to school with the two seniors for the first time after slowly sliding my phone into my pocket.

I could see Jake nervously standing near the gate from a distance. I smiled and looked down at the motion of my feet. “Youngjae, why aren't you dashing?” Youngbin asked. I looked up at him to see him staring at me, as well as Heeseung. I looked in front. “I don't have the energy.” He pouted. “Or maybe because you're just sulky because you didn't hang out with your friends yesterday.” He pinched my cheek and I gritted my teeth at his actions. The other boy held his gaze on me for a few extra seconds before looking at the nervous figure near the gate. As soon as we were 5 metres away from entering the gate, Jake bowed 90° in front of my brother. “Good morning, Youngbin.” Youngbin chuckled while looking around. “You're such a nice and cute boy but you don't have to bow like that. Good morning.”

Jake stood back up straight and gave him an awkward smile, which was adorable. I chuckled at it and directly faced away, blushing. Jake also blushed when he saw how I reacted. Youngbin noticed our actions and smirked proudly. “If you two ain't the cutest couple I've ever seen in my life—” “Couple?!” Some students gasped. Youngbin's eyes widened when he noticed that we were in front of the school building. He formed his lips into a thin line. He reassuringly patted my shoulder. “Don't worry, I'll handle this for you.” He turned around and acted like nothing happened. Jake's eyes trembled. “Will this be a problem for us?” “We're not the popular kids in school, don't worry. It won't be a problem.” I answered him. Youngbin started walking and we unknowingly followed him behind. “Now the others are going to know it for sure.” I complained and he chuckled.

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“It's true?” Jay queried, still doubting it. Sunoo covered his mouth with his hand. “I knew it.” Sunghoon simply spoke and Sunoo directly grab him by his collar with both hands. “You can't be the first one to know about this! I should be the first one to know about this!” He yelled, catching every student's attention in the cafeteria. Silence filled the area before he cleared his throat and sat properly to continue to have his lunch. Everyone went back to mind their own businesses. “I suppose this happened because I didn't force you to join us yesterday.” He pouted while playing with his food with his chopsticks. I slightly smiled at his actions. “It's not, he knew a long time ago. You're probably the first one to know it among, well, you and Jay only.” Jay gave him a shrug. Sunghoon smiled brightly as he looked at us.

“What's up?” I asked and he simply shook his head, his bright smile never leaving his face. “You're just so cute together. I had always been looking forward to this day. The day you two finally let the whole world know that you're dating.” I grimaced at his words. He didn't sound like he had a crush on me at all. “Yeah...” I awkwardly replied. Jake chuckled and looked at me. “Heeseung said that he wanted to talk to you.” “Huh?” My eyes widened as I faced him. “That was also my reaction, but he told me that he wanted to speak to you about something when I went to the restroom. Is something going on?” He directly asked. “I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe, he just wants to get along with me now.” I released an awkward laugh. He smiled. “You're not staying mad at him anymore?” “Never said that.”

៚ · •

I waited for the next break to reach up to Heeseung. I peeked inside the eleventh room and directly spotted my brother. My eyes went further and noticed the guy, quietly sitting as he turned a page of the book he was reading. I formed my lips into a thin line and walked inside. “What brings you here?” Youngbin asked when he saw me. “I wanted to see Heeseung.” I simply said with a smile. He didn't have any purpose to tease me about that because he knew I already had a boyfriend. He silently nodded and I tried to walk further when I met with a familiar figure, right in front of me. “I doubted you'd actually come here.” “I just came here because I also wanted to talk to you.” He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Shall we go and talk somewhere else then?” I bobbed my head.

I quietly followed him behind. He stopped when we reached a quiet hallway. “You can go first. It would take too long if I go first.” I instantly spoke up. He looked around for a while before he nodded and stopped his gaze at me. “Do you have any questions?” He asked. “No, I mean, yeah, but go first.” He blinked at me. “I'm going first. Do you have any questions?” “Uh...huh?” He slightly tilted his head. “You're way dumber than I thought.” I formed my lips into a thin line to control myself from cussing at him. He chuckled and stood up straight. “I'll ask you again. Do you have any questions about me?” “I already kinda answered you.” “Right...so? Aren't you gonna ask me now?” “A-Ah, of course. First of all, how...” I trailed off, hesitating to go further. He nodded, signalling me to continue.

I released a shaky breath. “How were you able to heal me?” He looked away. “That's pretty hard for me to answer. Let's just say...well, uh...we have the ability to heal people who we have bitten.” He looked straight into my eyes and shrugged nonchalantly. “What do you mean ‘bitten’? You...” I clearly took a look at his features. “You never noticed that it was me, did you?” He spoke lowly. My heart started racing. “That night when you and your family camped out, I was also there. Yeah, it was me, I'm the one who left that mark on you.” As he spoke, I could think back to that night. I was in a deep sleep when he sneaked into my tent and gazed at me with his devilish eyes before sinking his white fangs into my flesh. It was clear that it was his first time.