Junhyung glanced up and saw Howon entering the café. “Let me guess; you get hungry more often and at the most random moments even if you ate an hour ago.”

Howon stopped and stared at Junhyung, an annoyed look on his face. Eventually, he let out a sigh as he walked past Junhyung and entered the staffroom.

“Honestly, you’ve been drinking pre-made stuff for decades. How long did you think you could go on like that?” Junhyung teased as he followed Howon into the staffroom, a smug look on his face. “You obviously need to have a fresh meal; and when I say fresh, I don’t mean newly produced blood bags.”

“So are you telling me to go out and attack some innocent person?” Howon raised an eyebrow at Junhyung. “You know I don’t do that – no, you know that I can’t do that.”

“Innocent person?” Junhyung laughed obnoxiously. “Don’t tell me you forgot that people actually are hired to provide us with what we need.”

Howon grimaced, clearly not wanting to do it. He stayed silent and sat down on the couch, mindlessly staring at the empty glass cups set up on the coffee table. It took a while before he said anything. “Fine.”

“Glad to hear that you’re finally joining the club.” Junhyung grinned as he headed out the second door inside the room. “I’ll get someone.”

After waiting impatiently, the door opened again and a girl sat down beside Howon, extending her arm out towards him. She looked well-rested and completely healthy, but despite this, Howon couldn’t do it. He cringed at the thought of biting someone, and involuntarily shifted further away from the girl.

“Junhyung…” He sighed and shook his head. “I can’t.”

“That’s a bit contradictory to what your eyes are saying.” Junhyung raised an eyebrow as he saw the tint of blue staining Howon’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

 “Can’t you just draw it out and put it in a cup or something? I don’t want to do it directly.” Howon turned his head and looked elsewhere.

“Still works, but you won’t learn to bite the right vein when you have an emergency. As if that’s my problem, though.” Junhyung shrugged and glanced at the only actual human in the room. “Well, you heard what he said.”

Despite not feeling physically great, Eunhye was emotionally ecstatic. She almost skipped her way out of the infirmary; she was way too excited over the fact that Howon wasn’t there to nag at her.

She was free.

Eunhye dropped by her classroom, apologizing profusely for falling asleep during a lesson. Her teacher only shrugged it off while handing her a form, and a sheet of paper which had her homework written on it.

“The form’s for your parents. You’re going on a field trip next week, for two nights and three days.” Her teacher sounded bored while announcing great news.

Referring back to the loud ruckus her class had made earlier that day, Eunhye figured that her teacher had failed in regaining her classmates’ attention. She couldn’t blame them, though; who wouldn’t be excited over a break from school?

Not taking the time to read through the form, Eunhye shoved it into her backpack and embarked on her peaceful journey home. Nothing could describe how wonderful it was not having Howon walking with her.

Feeling bored while waiting for the light to change at the crosswalk, Eunhye decided to take out her field trip form and read it on the rest of the way back.

She scoffed the minute she saw the destination; they were going to visit a popular camping spot in the country side. Ironically, it was the same camping spot where Eunhye would go annually with her parents.

“Who hasn’t been there before?” Eunhye talked to herself quietly as she crossed the street. “It’s literally the cheapest camping spot in Korea.”

Eunhye slowed down to a stop as she read the lower half of the paper; coincidentally, she had halted at the same spot where the old lady gave her the purple umbrella.

“J.Tune high school?” She breathed out in disbelief and tried to put a smile to her face, but all she felt at that moment was misery. Eunhye lowered her arm and let it dangle uselessly by her side. She didn’t know how to react; was she supposed to cry, run away, rip up the consent form, or get angry?

Confused to no end, Eunhye stood and blankly stared at the people who would rush past her. She wasn’t prepared at all. It was too soon, her guardians weren’t really guardians, she was still having nightmares, and trust was still an empty five lettered word.

She wasn’t ready to face the people she had run away from.

Okay fine, here's yo' chapterly Hofangs.

I totally, totally tried this chapter. Totally. (This gif explains how I react when people ask: do you proofread? Do you edit before you post?)

Edited: 130822

Author's Note: how does one write fanfics without making them cringe-worthy and cheesy.