Just like the note had said, Nefeli went into town the following morning. He hadn't given a time, so she decided that maybe if she left in the morning, he'd be there. He also didn't say where he wanted to meet, which left her to guess. She assumed it didn't matter, since he was a vampire. He could find her no matter where she was. So, she just decided to sit down on the side of a fountain that was in the middle of town square. She didn't have to wait for too long, before she could smell a familiar cologne. She noticed that before she saw him. When she did see him, he was already sitting with her. But, he kept a little distance.
"Seon--"
"Don't say my name," he tells her, quick to cut her off. But, she listened. He continued to speak.
"Just sit normally. Act like you aren't with me."
Nefeli listened to that as well, looking away from his direction. She wanted to look casual, so she pulled out her phone and started to take pictures of her surroundings.
"What's wrong? Why are we meeting like this?" she asked him softly.
"Because you're not safe talking about it, unless it's this way," he said from behind her.
She frowned in confusion, but kept taking pictures. She moved her phone, taking a beautiful picture of a nearby old looking building.
"What do you mean by that? What's going on?" she asked, sighing softly.
It took him a minute to answer, but he did.
"It's your brother, Jihoon. I don't know how, but he found out where Decelis was. He was trying to find you, but he found us instead. When he did, he told us that if we continue to talk to you and hang around you, that he'd kill you and he'd make sure he'd succeed this time."
Nefeli felt her heart sink as she lowered her phone to her lap. She stared ahead blankly, hearing Seonwoo's words. Jihoon again? Why was he going through all of this, just to kill her? Why had he become such a terrible and heartless person? That vampire had changed him and made him an entirely different person. Somebody she didn't even recognize. She couldn't even call him her brother anymore. At this point, he was just a stranger who wanted her dead.
"But, he can't get on to the grounds, can he?" Nefeli asked.
"He can. That's how he found us."
"Okay, but, I doubt he can kill me at school. He'd only cause a scene and I doubt he'd want to deal with all that trouble," she said, frowning.
"We told him the same thing. But, he said he didn't care. He said if we kept hanging around you, that he'd go as far as making your death a public event at Decelis. That's why the others have been acting the way they have been. Because of Jihoon's threat," he stated quietly.
Nefeli sighed again, frowning and looked down at her lap. She messed with the case on her phone. Well, that explained it all.
"I wish the reason was because Amelia was jealous and petty," she whispered.
She heard a quiet and breathy chuckle leave Seonwoo. She couldn't look at him, but she could see how he looked when he did that. With that beautiful smile and his eyes scrunching up. She felt a swelling in her chest as she saw that image in her head.
"I do, too. That way, it could be a simple solution to a simple problem. If it was her, we could easily just tell her off and go back to everything being normal again," he said, sighing himself.
Nefeli felt her own smile fade and return to a frown. She chewed on her bottom lip, not sure on how to fix this situation. She felt helpless. She knew she was unable to do anything. And if she did, she'd only get killed in the process. She could only do so much as a mere human. She began to chip away at her nail polish. The small flakes of the red color, fluttered down to her lap.
"I really thought that all of you hated me. I was starting to question whether or not all of you were my real friends," she whispered again.
She sensed Seonwoo move slightly closer to her, but not much. Just only enough for her to just barely feel his back against hers.
"No, we are. It's just Jihoon's threat scared all of us. And since we don't know how to get rid of him right now, we just decided to listen to him. We were going to tell you, but he's been on top of us. I'm lucky that I was even able to do this," he tells her, his voice soft.
Nefeli continued to chew on her lip, feeling tears sting her eyes. She was both angry at Jihoon for doing this, and upset because she couldn't be with her friends. It stressed her out and she hated dealing with this. She had Soobin and the others. But, how long would that last? What if Jihoon got to them, too? She couldn't do a thing about any of this. All she could do, is sit back and let it happen, and wait for it to hopefully be solved. But, there was a chance it wouldn't be. He was her brother and even she didn't know his weakness. She wished she did, though. If she did, she could help.
"I should get going. He might be here somewhere, watching. I don't know for sure. But, it's best I leave before he does notice," Seonwoo said, breaking their silence.
Nefeli felt her heart break a little. But, she couldn't tell him not to leave. She knew that he was just wanting to protect her. So, she nodded.
"Okay.." she mumbled.
He moved away from Nefeli and got up from the fountain. Just before he left, she felt him just barely brush his hand over her back. Then, he was gone. She didn't have to see him to know this. She looked up, her brown eyes dancing over the crowd of people in the square. Naturally, she didn't see Seonwoo. She'd been around him and the others long enough, to feel when they were near her, without actually being with her. It was a form of bond she guessed.
Nefeli sighed softly, getting up the fountain, looking around. She should get back to Decelis. She did have class tonight.
