La Vie En Rose ~An IZ*ONE vampire story~

Past, present, and future

Yena groaned as she started to wake up, her head spinning as she slowly opened her eyes. Once the dizziness went away, she looked around to see she was in the infirmary. She slowly raised her head to look at the clock, seeing it was almost 4 o'clock.

As she sat up, she noticed Yuri was sitting at the side of the bed, fast asleep with her head laying on the mattress. She saw her hand was holding Yena's, making her smile.

"Yuri," she gently shook her awake, watching her slowly open her eyes.

"Yena?" Yuri quickly jolted upright, tears welling in her eyes as she hugged her. "Yena! Thank God you're alright!"

"What?! What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

Yena sat for a moment, trying to think of what happened. Her eyes widened when flashes of memories entered her mind.

"Ah! The shadow thing!"

"Don't worry, it's gone. Minju came and helped me."

"Yuri... You saved me," Yena smiled brightly.

Yuri blushed a bit at her statement.

"See? I was right after all," Yena puffed her chest proudly. "I knew that thing wouldn't stand a chance against you."

"Oh, shut up," Yuri chuckled, pushing Yena's shoulder gently. As their laughter died down, she looked to her friend. "So, I've been thinking... About everything that's happened."

"Yeah? And?"

"Well, after what's happened today, I figured it might be beneficial for me to... actually go into studying magic."

"Seriously?!" Yena's eyes widened, her smile growing bigger. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah. There's still a lot I don't understand, but... I think I'd be willing to learn. Especially if it meant I could use these powers I have to help someone."

"I'm so glad," Yena leaned forward and hugged Yuri. "You're gonna do great. I believe in you."

"Yena..." Yuri slowly hugged her back, leaning her head against hers. "Thanks."

...

Once Chaeyeon was off of classes, she headed towards the bus station where Eunbi asked her to meet up. When she got there, she saw Eunbi waiting along with a young woman she didn't recognize. She had black gloves on that covered her hands.

"Miss Lee! Good to see you," Eunbi greeted her as she approached them.

"You too. Who's this?"

"This is my partner, Hyewon."

"Nice to meet you," Hyewon held out her hand. Chaeyeon shook it politely, however she felt her muscles tense up when she held her hand.

"What is this? Something about her aura..."

"Are you alright, Miss Lee?"

"Ah, sorry..."

"She must've sensed it," Hyewon said.

"Sensed... what?"

She carefully removed her left glove, showing a black tattoo on the back of her hand that resembled a snake eating its own tail.

"W-what is that?" Chaeyeon felt a bit creeped out looking at the tattoo.

"It's a Pact mark. It appears on you when you've made a contract with a Shadowwalker," Hyewon explained as she put her glove back on. "When I was younger, I got possessed by a Shadowwalker and nearly lost my life. I forged a contract to spare my life and the Shadowwalker became bonded to me."