“The Hwangs?”

            I hadn't met a single vampire from that clan, but they were one of the most powerful families. The Hwang, the Kim, the Jung and the Lee; the four famous families from the vampire clan. Most of the vampire leader came from these bloodlines. Very rare were the cases that they came from a more minor family like the Cho, or the Seo.

            “They say that the Hwang leader has a daughter who is half-human. She always lives in the human world, away from her family,” I didn't know where Baekhyun got his information from, but this sounded pretty interesting.

            Vampires and Faeries, of all clans had the most connection with the human world. That was, until the Faery was forbidden to kidnap the human anymore in fear of illegal human trafficking. The vampires simply couldn't live without the blood of those filthy creatures. Now that I remembered... We were one of the clans who couldn't live without human, as well. We needed a good bargain from them to keep our life substance. Talk about being hypocrite myself...

            “A daughter?” Jinki raised his eyebrow and folded his hand in front of his chest. We were sitting in a secluded bar in Sydney, one of the biggest human cities. The lights were far too blinding for my liking, but I found that this city wasn't as high-paced as some of the smaller countries in the human world. Singapore, or whatever the name was, for example. It was one of the cities I liked to visit for the numbers of deals I managed to secure.

            “Yes, Hwang Miyoung. She lives in Seoul, South Korea.”

            Ah, sweet, sweet Seoul. I couldn't have any more memories of the greedy people that wished for too many things, all at once. That was also where my mother came from. The memory had me cringing, because I didn't spend my childhood there. Seoul... I remembered...

            “Hwang Miyoung? Sounds strangely... familiar,” Jinki sipped his glass of beer. Beer was what I'd like to describe as a devilishly bitter thing that made human forget all their pains temporarily. For us, Demons, beer tasted like a gassy water. A bit bitter, yes, but nothing more than that.

            “This isn't like you, Jinki,” I chuckled and , “You don't usually forget people's name.”

            “Yeah, well, I'm getting older by the year,” Jinki casually glared at me and back to downing his drink in one shot. Baekhyun, who sat beside me, threw us an amused look. He'd seen us bickered so many times, and still, every time we did, he would watch us with so much interest.

            Under the table, he slipped his hand to mine, and I almost kicked him on the feet. He'd just got hit by Jinki, and now, he was breaking another rule yet again. Why was he doing this to me? Did he like to see me blush? The wicked glint in his eyes said yes. He liked everything risky. He liked everything risky concerning me. Because I was like a gift he couldn't unwrap, a price he couldn't pay, a sweet little sin he just committed. And sad to say, I liked it too.

            When he touched me intimately.

            Like he would make me his and his only.

            Right now, he was caressing my right hand ever so gently. And I almost smiled. Jinki couldn't catch us doing this. But he probably knew and said nothing about it. I felt like I was back in my rebellious phase, like I just hit the second puberty. I threw Baekhyun a glare, and he sweetly gazed back at me. This little devil...

            “Hey, are you even listening?” Jinki snapped his fingers and I broke my gaze with Baekhyun. Crap.

            “Sorry. What did you say?” I gave him an apologetic look. And even when he looked annoyed, Jinki just couldn't resist this look. I suspected he might have a not-so-little-crush on Joo Ri before, and so, he couldn't bear it when I looked at him like this. The perks of being identical with a dead woman was that she was a heartbreaker. Apparently, the Great Demon wasn't the only one smitten with the lady.

            Jinki once admitted that I was like a combination of an annoying little sister and a very naughty daughter. Both he never had in his life. So, he was treating me as one. I didn't mind, though. I never had any good memories of my parents, anyway. And I would like to have an older brother figure.

            “I said... You have to decide,” He repeated every words to me and I nodded. Even though he was my teacher, he would often let me decide on important things. This wasn't the first time. “If you're going to infiltrate the whole vampire clan or decide on this one girl. You have your pick.”

            I didn't need to think twice.

            “I say we catch this Miyoung girl,” I looked at Jinki, then Baekhyun, then back at Jinki again. Both were listening so I continued, “The vampires have kept their guards up. It would be difficult to move in and out, unnoticed. But this Miyoung, no matter how strong she is, she won't be able to take the three of us at the same time.”

            Jinki smiled at me, for a very long time that I got the creep of being watched so intensely. When he spoke, it was as if he had spoken in a foreign language that I didn't understand, such was his smile and his gentleness that came all of a sudden, “Did you hear that, Baekhyun? The Lady has spoken, and we, Gentlemen, must listen.”

            I snorted.

***

            Hwang Miyoung. Half-human, half-vampire.

            Street address, somewhere fancy in suburban of Seoul.

            Hair color, ash. Current eye color, dark blue, concealed with hazel contact lens. She was in perfect condition. Hwang Miyoung was about an inch taller than me. She had very fair skin. This girl's obsession with pink made me shudder. Except for the exterior, which was clearly made from the finest woods, everything inside the house was... pink.

            Pink everywhere. Pink, pink, urgh, disgusting hot pink, soft and mellow baby pink. I wanted to cry. Why was this house pink? I couldn't handle the sudden girly-ness. I had lived with guys my entire life (with the exception of my mother, which I barely remembered). Guys loved black, white and gray. I guess they influenced my preferences as well. I vaguely remembered having anything but monochromatic colors.

            “You look like you're going to cry anytime soon,” Baekhyun chuckled to my ear and I wanted to throw him off had it been anywhere but here. I elbowed him hard and he let go of me immediately, doubling over in pain. I smirked in victory and continued walking. He clearly noticed that I hated pink.

            “Stop bickering, you two. We are not here to entertain,” Jinki sighed as he walked up the stairs.

            We might not come as guests, but we certainly walked in like one. Except for the door; we obviously had to sneak in.

            My first time looking at Hwang Miyoung and I had the impression that she was a girl from a fairy tale world, like she just walked out of K-drama. I might be a heartless Demoness , but I enjoyed human's stuff once in a while. Besides, I had to keep up with the trends if I had to seal bargains and deals from human. If I didn't catch up with the language, it would be embarrassing.

            Hwang Miyoung didn't scream like I expected her to be.

            First, she froze. Her eyes as big as saucer and I thought she was adorable.

            Then she stuttered badly and asked, “Who are you?”

            Maybe we could settle this without a fight.

            “Greetings,” Jinki started off like the gentleman he was. He sounded like a grandpa from the 19^th century. I rolled my eyes and decided to walk around the room, instead. Hwang Miyoung, that girl, was really... I didn't know the right word for this. But she didn't scream nor did she fight. She just stood there, trembling. She must either be stupid or fearless. Or she could be both. Fearlessly foolish.

            “We apologize for coming to your house uninvited.” Why did we have to apologize? I threw Jinki a questionable stare. We were here to kidnap her, and drained her out of blood. Not to play nice and have a little chat over this.

            “Why are you here?” Miyoung pointed her long, slender finger to Jinki, then she stared at me and Baekhyun. And finally, she let out a very loud gasp. And if she was human, I could have sworn she had a heart attack, judging by the little strange noises she was making now. “You are Prince Kyungsoo's Knight. You belong in the Winter Court! Why are you with them?!”

            If I felt offended by her reference, I didn't show it.

            Baekhyun, however, didn't react so nicely. “I am no longer serving the Prince.”

            Miyoung finally came to her senses and realized what was happening. She took a few steps back, and we all knew it was in vain. She couldn't run away without giving us a fight. “You're the traitor they are talking about! You sold your clan to the Demons! You, you, bastard!”

            Baekhyun's eyes turned colder. He almost snapped at her, but turned towards me with very angry look. I flinched when he started talking, “What do we do with this girl? Do we kill her, or do we bring her back for the Ritual?”

            Perhaps Baekhyun had revealed a little too much, because Miyoung suddenly became hysterical, “Oh my God! Hana was right!! You are doing the Ritual! That bloody Ritual to bring him back! Do you even know what you are doing right now?!! You are unleashing unspeakable horror to our world! How could you!! The Dead is supposed to stay dead!”

            “He is not dead,” I looked at her and grinned. She couldn't be any more older than me. And yet, she acted as if she knew who our Leader was. Everybody threw us the same threat as if they knew what was really happening; what really happened before. “What would you do if we are unleashing terror into the world? A Weakling like you can't do anything. We'll shut your mouth so you can't talk.”

            “Oh yeah?” Miyoung stared back at me boldly. “Try me.” She looked at the three of us, and I could sense fear from her, but at the same time, she refused to move from her spot and run. Fearless fool, indeed. But I respected her foolishness for standing up against us. “Stop there.”

            The three of us instantly stopped dead in tracks. Miyoung's ability was persuasion, or so it seemed. Baekhyun looked at me in confusion as if he didn't know why he suddenly stopped dead on track. Jinki was unable to continue, as well. And I became the only one who kept on walking towards her, as she looked at me petrified. Hwang Miyoung started running.

            Not even Jinki knew how many abilities I had stolen in my lifetime. I wasn't God. I couldn't keep too many abilities in my body or I would die. Fortunately, nullification was one of the abilities I deemed useful, and so, it remained in my body since day one. Miyoung's persuasion didn't work on me. I chased her hot on the tail, as if we were in a cruel hide-and-seek game.

            “You know what will happen if I catch you?” I screamed ahead of me so she would hear what I had to say. This girl was smart. She made no noise at all. Judging from her thin frame, she must be light. It made the chase more thrilling and chilling. These words I was about to say, I had repeated a hundred times. They held no meaning for me anymore, but it became a death trap for those who listened.

            “I will kill you.”