For the whole week, Howon had been bothering Eunhye and following her around like a lost puppy. He even waited for her outside the washroom, and went as far as bribing the teacher so that they would be project partners.

And without a doubt, Eunhye was utterly pissed off at this inhuman nerd with oversized glasses. She had to mentally admit, he looked adorable and attractive, and she couldn’t help but imagine what he looked like without glasses.

“Hey, we should do our project on mythical creatures.” Howon nudged her with his elbow.

“For the last time, we are not researching on fake things!” Annoyed, Eunhye moved her chair away from him as she continued flipping through her book.

“Who said vampires are fake? What if they’re just invisible, or what if they live in deserted places? What if they’re real, and they’ve learned how to blend in with people?”

Eunhye bit her lip as she remembered her parents. There had been blood smeared on their clothes, and their eyes had been wide open in shock, but there was no injury except for a clean slice on their wrist.

The diagnosis for her parents had said that they barely had any blood left in their body, too. Eunhye had thought of vampires being real for a few months, but apparently her parents were the only oddball case in Korea.

“Yeah, well, there’s never been a report of a murder where the only injury was a bite on the neck.” Eunhye scoffed.

“It’s not as if the neck is the only place where blood comes out.” Howon laughed quietly as he scooted closer to her. “So, can we?”

Eunhye stared at Howon’s expectant eyes, her anger bubbling up as it was the hundredth time of him asking to research mythical creatures. Now that his face was right in front of hers, she grabbed his glasses and yanked it off as she threw it at the ground.

“There are so many choices to research on, and you have to decide on things that aren’t real! What are you, a kid?!” Eunhye burst out, finally fed up with all the times Howon had annoyed her. She took in a few breaths, not taking her gaze away from Howon's as she realized just how good he looked without those glasses.

“Excuse me, this is a library!” The librarian scolded as she walked over to the scene. She frowned as she saw the broken glasses on the floor. “Are you alright? Do you need help getting to places?”

“No, I’m fine.” Howon smiled brightly, unaffected by the fact that his glasses were now permanently gone. In truth, they were just something he liked to wear to remind himself of his normal days. He had perfect vision.

Eunhye huffed out air and snatched her bag, quickly fleeing the library. She was ticked off, but more embarrassed at herself than angry.

Eunhye sighed as she walked home in the rain, constantly grumbling about Howon’s addictiveness to mythical creatures. She occasionally stopped and looked at the alleyway entrances, wanting to take a shortcut home but not having the courage to.

Not since a year ago.

Shaking her head, Eunhye kept on walking, watching as people rushed to get home to be with their family.

“You there, yes you, the student!” An old lady’s voice called out, catching her attention. “It’s raining this hard and you’re out here without an umbrella? Oh my, what if you get sick?”

The lady shoved a purple umbrella into Eunhye’s hand. “Take it, I’ve arrived at my own home anyways. Make sure you take care of yourself!”

Eunhye chewed on her lower lip as she stood in the same spot and didn’t move. The tips of curled slightly as she remembered how often she was scolded about walking in the rain, and how her father had always freaked out whenever she was got home all soaked.

If she were to go home now, she would be yelled at for making the house all wet.

With another quiet sigh, she her heel after memorizing the exact building the old lady had disappeared into.

Edited: 130820

Author's Note: I want to give up but I don't want to give up. wat.