There was a muffled sound in the background when Jinah finally came to her senses. She knew she didn’t leave her TV on, and it sounded relatively like male voices. Waiting for her senses to sharpen, she reached underneath her pillow where she kept her stashed gun and spare knife. Feeling nothing but the soft mattress topper and the pillow, she jolted awake. 

Her honed senses narrowed into the voices outside the room. There were a few far away, and she heard feet shuffling in the room next to her. She threw off the comforter with a groan when the sounds next door froze. 

“Hey Jinah? It’s okay. You’re at the Stray Kids house. Hyunjin found you fighting Seventeen.” A deep voice was talking to her next door, soothing her panic. She knew the rest of the clan could hear him; it was hard to miss out on a voice like that.

“Felix?” Jinah’s voice was scratchy and unused, and she cleared it immediately. 

She got a hum back for an answer. Sitting back down on the bed, she was finally able to look around the room. It was clean and had a very aesthetic color scheme. It was nearly all white with light gray and black accents. Jinah was on the edge of the bed about to get up to see what was on the desk when she heard footsteps approaching the door. 

“Hey Jinah? Is it okay to go in?” She couldn’t identify this voice yet.

“Yea.”

Seungmin and Bang Chan entered. It was expected that the leader came in, but she wasn’t expecting Seungmin to come in too.

“How are you feeling?” Seungmin was the first one to talk, which was slightly surprising considering the fact that the leader was in the room as well. 

“Fine.” Seungmin and Bang Chan both looked at her in disbelief. 

“... Sore. A little dizzy. Seventeen are s.” Jinah offered a little more detail and a small laugh at the end, trying to lighten the mood for them. She knew they saved her because she had saved I.N. beforehand. They wouldn’t try to harm her in their house.

“Is it okay if Seungmin does a quick checkover?” Bang Chan asked, still worried about what Seventeen had done to her.

Lifting up the covers, Jinah sat at the edge of the bed. Seungmin walked over to her and placed his hands on her neck, patting around the base and the rest of her scalp for any injuries. 

“Did you have a concussion?” Seungmin asked, putting his hand under her chin and lifting it, staring into her eyes to check for her dilated pupils.

Jinah nodded, transfixed on his face.

“You look like a puppy.”

Bang Chan muffled a laugh into his palm.

“Yea, I get that a lot.” Seungmin chuckled. He didn’t expect her to be this easy going after she was just attacked by a male clan.

“Do you have any body injuries?” 

“I’m not sure. I don’t know how much I healed from them because I lost so much blood.”

Seungmin nodded. If it was a male vampire or one of s, he would’ve strippred them down to see how deep the wound was, but since Jinah wasn’t… he wasn’t sure how to approach this. He glanced over to Bang Chan to see what he should do when Jinah started peeling off her top.

“Gahhh!” Seungmin panicked, eyes flickering shut in panic. 

“I have a tank top on, Seungmin.” Jinah laughed at his reaction. It was funny to see how such a notorious, badass group like Stray Kids had members like I.N and Seungmin still be so wholesome and panicky. 

“I’m not going to peel my tank top off but I know I did get slashed on my arms.” Jinah peeked at her arms, and while they were definitely healing, she could tell the more recent ones were having a harder time healing. They were slightly scabbed over, while others were still slowly oozing blood.

“There’s a bathroom over there,” Bang Chan pointed at the door on the side of the room while Seungmin was looking over her arms.

“Go ahead and take a shower. We’ll leave towels and clothes for you on the bed.” 

Seungmin lowered her arm and sighed at the amount of blood she lost. “Have you been drinking blood at all Jinah?” Most of the wounds were superficial, and although there were a lot of wounds, it shouldn’t have made her that weak that quickly.

“I’ve been portioning them.” Seungmin and Bang Chan shook their heads in disapproval.

“Who’s room is this anyways?” Jinah questioned, trying to figure out who had such an aesthetic sense of style. Seungmin opened his mouth to answer when Bang Chang slapped his hand over his mouth and smiled at her. 

“You’ll find out.” 

Dragging Seungmin out of the room with him, Bang Chang nodded at her towards the restroom, and shut the door behind them to give her privacy. Standing up to go to the restroom, she took two steps before she felt the world spin before her eyes and black spots form. She fell to the ground and felt her limbs lose all strength.

“Jinah?!” She heard Felix next door yelling her name before rushing in front of the door. She heard him twist the doorknob and open it before she motioned at him.

“I’m fine! I was a bit dizzy.” She hauled herself up before making her way towards the restroom again. It was when she finally entered the restroom that she realized that Felix genuinely sounded worried for her. It was a weird feeling for someone to care for her without wanting her to owe something back, or because she had to go on another mission for their benefit.

Stepping out of the shower, she checked her wounds in the mirror. Most of them had reopened while she was washing and she could only hope that the clan was willing to give her blood. Assuming that they ran into each other multiple times in the blood bank, they weren’t getting sponsored by a private one, which was weird considering their reputation and status.

She opened the door and saw a set of clothes laid out. She scanned the room quickly, looking for any cameras that she knew I.N probably would have instilled in the house. 

Readjusting her towel for secureness, she walked over to the bed where the clothes were. There was a note on top of it. 

“Don’t worry noona, I turned off all the cameras in this room for you :)”  Jinah shook her head in amusement. She could tell it was probably I.N who wrote it on the note. Lifting up the clothes, she realized it was a boy’s shirt and sweatpants and a new 6 pack of girl’s underwear. 

Slipping it on, she turned around to pick up the towel and dry her hair when she ended up facing herself in the reflection. It smelled just like the bed she was on a while ago; kind of like crisp apples and cinnamon, and almost like pine. There was another smell that was carried along with it, a smell distinctive to the vampire that she couldn’t explain. She didn’t care though, it smelled nice. The t-shirt was boxy and probably two sizes way too big for her, and the sweatpants had to be tightened with the drawstring as hard as she could pull, but they were gathered at the ankle so it wasn’t too terrible. It was a funny sight, she looked like she was drowning in clothes. 

As she walked down the stairs, the sound of the boys hit her at once. It was an unfamiliar experience. Unlike the silence that would consume her at her house, this one was filled with jokes and warmth. Even the leader, Changbin, and Minho, the three she assumed would try to keep the house quiet, were joining in the banter.

They quieted down when they realized she was walking down the stairs, and she could see Minho and Changbin turn away from her, their bodies turning stiff. It was clear they objected to her even being in the house.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Han snickering at Hyunjin, eyes flickering to the leader to check his reaction. Bang Chan was rolling his eyes, tired of his own group mess around with Jinah for their own amusement.

“So… whose clothes are these?” Jinah was curious, seeing how half of the group seemed to want her to ask them.

In a flash of movement, I.N and Felix were against the wall pressed against each other. Jinah was confused until she realized the familiar scene. Felix, who was pinned against the wall flipped I.N and continued holding him against the wall for a few more seconds until Han burst out into laughter, prodding into Hyunjin’s side.

“...Hyunjin’s. You're wearing Hyunjin’s clothes.” Bang Chan let out, massaging his temple. Minho still seemed disinterested, while Changbin was smiling at their antics. When he felt her gaze on him, he turned away and frowned. She wasn’t supposed to catch him smiling at the younger ones like that.

“You guys are idiots.” Hyunjin growled into his hands, trying to hide his red face. 

“Hyunijn, don’t you think your princess needs some blood?” Han smirked, laughing at the side, trying to keep his laugh from bubbling out. Felix and I.N, who had forgotten that Hyunjin called Jinah. 

“PRINCESS!” They both yelled out in pure excitement. Starting up the show again, Felix pushed I.N and smirked.

“Hey, princess.” 

“Get her blood.” Bang Chan gave an escape to the two, knowing that Hyunjin was probably going to burst and Jinah looked like she would rather have been left at the alleyway last night.

Leaving the room with Hyunjin, Jinah only realized how bad that picture looked when she heard Han, I.N, and Felix hooting in the other room. She felt betrayed when the leader joined in laughing.

She looked over to Hyunjin when she realized he was just as embarrassed and even more awkward than she was.

“...Sorry about that. It’s been awhile since they’ve had dirt on me.” He let out an awkward chuckle, his hand patting down his back hair. 

“Was I in your room too then?” 

Hyunjin’s eye twitched. Jinah took that as a yes and that he was annoyed that they put her in there. 

“Sorry. I don’t think I got any blood on your sheets though?” Jinah tried to offer a joke to lessen the tension that Hyunjin was giving off in waves.

Hyunjin wasn’t annoyed or tense about the fact that she used his room. He was mad that she was in that state in the first place. When he heard that Seventeen ganged up on her, he was absolutely confused. Why would a 13 member clan gang up on a single assassin? Sure, she was from YG, but it was still such an unfair fight. Fair to say, she had defeated most of the clan. 

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t heard her say anything until he felt her take hold of his arm and shake him slightly.

“Are you okay?” 

Hyunjin made the mistake of looking down and into her eyes. He hadn’t seen her this up close in a well lit place. There were gold flecks in her hazel eyes and her eyelashes were naturally slightly curled, making her eyes seem bigger and rounder. 

Clearing his throat, he stepped aside and created space between them.

“I’m not annoyed at you. Why were they even coming for you? You’re a single girl. Against what? 13? 14? Clan members?”

The rest of the Stray Kids clan members had quieted down in the living room, curious at the conversation that was going on in the kitchen.

“It’s their vendetta. I almost killed one of them. Amputated D.K’s legs so he can't walk anymore. Guess you shouldn’t mess with this single girl.” She sent him a tense smile. She hated it when people looked down on her because she was a girl and because she didn’t have a clan to look out for her.

She heard someone tumble and saw I.N sprawled out in the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

“Hi noona.” He winked at her from the floor

“Hey I.N.” Jinah laughed, thankful for the distraction.

“You can call me Jeongin.”

The rest of the members made an entrance after Jeongin tripped and raised their eyebrows at his remark. He didn’t let just anyone call him Jeongin. It was a name you could call him once he trusted you. Jinah didn’t have to look around to know this fact.

Smiling, she nodded. 

“Here’s some blood.” Bang Chan nudged aside Hyunjin who’s original motive was to get her blood.

Taking out more packs of blood for the rest of the clan, they sat around the kitchen table.

“How come you were out at night alone? What about the rest of your clan?” Seungmin tried to make conversation, knowing that anything the other younger ones would say would be teasing and Changbin and Minho would either say nothing or say nothing nice.

“Oh, groceries. Shopping. The usual. How about you? How did you guys know where to find me?” Jinah questioned in return. It was an alleyway that they wouldn’t have run into. Seventeen had known that, which is why they had targeted her there.

“Jeongin saw you getting followed and Hyunjin was the closest.” Bang Chan answered for her. 

To her surprise, they let the heavy topic drop and the younger ones continued maintaining an entertaining mood. Changbin and Minho seemed to start to loosen up more, and Jinah became more quiet when she realized how much of a family they were.

She felt like an outsider to the table, not even a guest. She was an observer to a happy family. It was weird to see such happiness at a house.

Glancing up at the time to see that it was already getting late, she knew that it was time to offer to go home before it got awkward and they had to ask her to leave.

“I think it’s getting a little late. I might have to head home before I run into stuff again.” Jinah laughed, keeping the mood bright. 

“Are you sure? You can stay a little longer and we can send someone to go with you.” Minho was the one who offered, and even though it was out of formalities, it warmed Jinah that he even went the extra steps to do so.

“Thank you, but I have to get going.” It was harder than it should have been to refuse Minho’s offer.

“Hyunjin will walk you home!” Seungmin offered a little too brightly, with a smile a little too wide to be completely innocent. 

“He offered.” Jeongin added, nodding excitedly. 

“I did?” Hyunjin questioned, glaring at the youngest as he pushed them out the door, handing Hyunjin a jacket. 

“The jacket isn’t for you. It’s for Jinah.” Han added, smiling cheekily before slamming the door in their faces. 

Hyunjin and Jinah stared at the door that was shut in their faces before looking at each other and looking away. 

“So, princess huh?” They were a few minutes out of the apartment when Jinah broke the silence, laughing at the irony. 

“Only if I’m your prince.” Hyunjin looked over with the same amusement, rolling his eyes. He thought it was ironic too, that they were joking around about the subject.

It was easy from there to start and continue their conversation. It wasn’t completely void of awkwardness, and it was definitely not like they were long lost friends. Still, they both tried to keep the conversation going, and they both had fun talking to each other and hadn’t had that much fun learning about a new person in a while. 

Reaching the YG apartments, Jinah smiled, slowing down.

“Thanks for saving me. And for walking me back home.” Jinah turned, looking Hyunjin in the eyes. She ran her hand through her hair, teasing it slightly. The subtle smell of peaches and roses hit Hyunjin, who blanked out at the sudden smell, trying to remember where it was coming from. 

“Y-yea. No problem. See you.” Hyunjin smiled back, losing the scent as quickly as it came.

Jinah entered her apartment complex when she saw another mission folder, this time on her dining table. It wasn’t something she wanted to read after a time she spent with Stray Kids. It was like a reality check, a folder that brought her back to her reality. Her reality consisted of missions she had to carry out alone, not with a clan.

She glared at it, frustrated that she wasn’t eating dinner with Stray Kids. She shouldn’t have passed up Minho’s offer to eat dinner. She was frustrated that she called this her house and not her home and that the few hours that she was conscious at their home had a better feeling than the house she had been living at for most of her life. 

Groaning, she raised her hands to rub her face to forget about the duties when she breathed in the sleeve. It smelled like Hyunjin, or what Hyunjin was supposed to smell like- crisp apples, cinnamon, and something else that was just so Hyunjin. 

It brought her back to the time she spent with them at their house, and she felt herself relaxing into the jacket faster than she wanted to. 

Her memories of the Stray Kids’ home that was filled with noise and laughter was in stark contrast to the silence of her own house, the only sound that filled it was the sound of her chair being dragged across the floor as she took it out to sit on. Opening the file folder, she read through the content. 

“How do you even get this information?” Jinah whispered in awe. The vampire world worshipped the royal family, and any and all information on them was sacred and impossible to get, even for the best of the hackers.

They had the specific masks colors and designs of each royal, with the entrances and time they would be taking when they came into the ballroom. It was up to her to track them and assassinate them throughout the time they were there. 

In small vials, there was clear liquid, poison strong enough to kill a strong, centuries old vampire over a short period of time. The instructions inside were clear; she was to put it inside of food they were going to consume and within 24 hours, they would be pronounced dead. They wouldn’t feel sick until 6 hours into the dance, giving her enough buffer time to escape without being seen. There were 5 vials. Jinah was confused. There was the King, the Queen, the Crown Prince, the Princess, Yeji, and the unknown Prince, Hyunjin. However, YG didn’t know about Hyunjin. She should’ve only been given 4 vials, not 5. 

Scrambling to uncover who the poison was supposed to be administered to. She flipped carelessly through the first four obvious profiles until she landed on the last profile. It had no name, and was stated as unknown. There was no identification on it, no birthday, clan, name, or body type and Jinah sighed in relief until she went down to the additional notes at the bottom of the paper.

The unknown prince is currently suspected to be a member of Stray Kids, a notorious vampire clan that is an underground gang. 

Research [ONGOING]

Jinah’s right hand clenched onto the paper, causing it to wrinkle. 

She wasn’t supposed to be this attached to any vampire for this reason. It interfered with her missions. But she couldn’t ignore the fact that he saved her life and that he let her experience what a clan was like, what a family was like for a few hours. She glanced at her phone. She knew that YG had stopped tracking her for a long time, and that they had stopped looking at her phone records. She itched to text Jeongin, who had given her his number before she left about Hyunjin’s safety. But doing so would tip him off that she was the one that had left those typewriter notes, and would leave an easy trace for YG to pick up on.

The last sheet in the folder was the layout of the building the royal dance was going to be held at. Jinah would have to religiously study the layout of the building to know all the exits and entrances of the extravagant venue it was held at, as well as the general hallways that led to other areas. 

The initial days passed with Jinah making plans to poison the King by adding it into his food and the Crown Prince through his drink. She had asked YG to give her extra vials of the poison just in case she failed and for a plan that she had to poison the Queen and the Princess, that would leave them ill but not dead. 

It was a week in when she received a message from the Headquarters that caused a shiver starting from her neck down to her spine.

From: HQ

Kill Hyunjin. We’re almost completely sure he is the lost prince.

Upon getting that message, Jinah rushed up and ran to her room. She opened the closet and the secret compartment hidden inside it. Opening it with the passcode, she took out her typewriter. 

Don’t go to the ball, Prince. YG knows and the one that keeps balance is coming after you. 

She groaned, hoping that one of them would be smart enough to figure out that the meaning of her alias, Jade, meant to keep balance. They knew of her reputation as an assassin, and although they were unable to link that Jinah, who they had saved from Seventeen, was Jade, the ruthless and notorious assassin with a perfect mission rate. 

She threw on a leather jacket and tight black jeans and ran out to their home. She could hear them from nearly a mile away, and she could already picture them surrounding the TV, laughing together while playing video games. 

The longing that she grew up with as she saw the rest of the assassins get put into clans while she was left alone so she could be efficient as a killing machine was filled to the brim when she was accepted by them at their house. It was a bond formed by saving each other’s lives. 

She walked silently to the point where she could see Hyunjin’s room and froze, checking for movement. After a few moments, she saw a figure leave the restroom in dim lighting, ruffling his hair. 

“Hyunjin! Come down!” She could hear Changbin call for Hyunjin with his easily identifiable voice. Hyunjin fell face down onto his bed instead, and Jinah blinked in irritation. If he didn’t leave the room soon, she would have to take a longer stake out and she didn’t want to do that. 

She heard steps run up the stairs and the door slammed open. A figure ran towards the bed and leaped towards Hyunjin with open arms, landing on him. 

“Changbin hyung get off of me!” Hyunjin groaned, trying to roll him off. Jinah could tell he was unsuccessful when there was no movement. She went from her squatting position to sitting flat on her when she accidentally ruffled dried leaves, alerting them who had the window open.

“Did you hear that?” Jinah strained to hear the statement and cursed inwardly when she knew that they heard the leaves.

Changbin took that moment to attack Hyunjin and get him off the bed on to the floor, rolling with him. With a laugh, Hyunjin agreed to go downstairs with him.

The moment they closed the door behind them, Jinah leaped into action, jumping up the wall onto his window. She slipped in, taking out the paper and placing it on his pillow. She was leaving the room when she heard footsteps come upstairs and open the door. 

“Hey Hyunjin?” Minho called out to him, confused at the sudden smell. 

“Why does it smell like peaches and roses in your room?” Hyunjin froze in Changbin’s grasp downstairs and ran up to see Minho holding the paper. 

“I think you had a visitor again.”