It’s hard to believe that last night happened. Cha Jungwon who was so firmly on my mind claimed to be a vampire, claimed to be able to read every mind but mine. …I almost stabbed him. A shiver ran up my mind as I fully was back in that moment. His face was beautiful but his words… his actions… No. I can’t reward his behavior. I have set him down and teach him. A stalker who thinks that he’s a vampire is not what I need here.

Jaeduck was eating a slice of bread and staring out the window. Silently I moved closer then I noticed Cha Jungwon’s car. Oh my god. He is not…

“Care to share why there’s a car here?”

“Uh… there may be a guy who’s very interested in me?”

Jaeduck looked over his shoulder, “Who?”

“C-cha Jungwon?”

Jaeduck tensed. “You like him?”

“I uh… he’s cute?”

Before I could stop him Jaeduck walked out of the house. I stand in the doorway not sure what to do. Should I drag Jaeduck back in here or… I watch in horror as Jungwon and Jaeduck have a conversation. I should be trying to get ready for school yet here I was frozen watching my stalker talk to my father. Lunging forward as it looked like Jungwon was getting out earned me Jungwon’s attention. I had to look away to avoid those eyes. Jaeduck must have said something since Jungwon sped off. Jaeduck walks back towards the house.

“I’ll be having a chat with his father…”

“D-dad… why did you do that? You didn’t upset him did you?”

Jaeduck pins me with a look. “Miyoung, if you feel uncomfortable around him then you shouldn’t have to be around him. It’s that simple.”

“...I didn’t say that.”

Jaeduck pats my shoulder. “No but the look on your face when you called him cute spoke volumes. If any other boys or him, bother you… tell me Miyoung. Please.”

I nod my head. I was not sure how to react. Part of me was happy for Jaeduck sending him away. Another part of me… part of me was upset that my father would embarrass me in front of the hottest guy in school. Either way, I gathered my things and then went to my bongo. I’d be driving myself to school it seemed. The drive was quiet. I could only think of what Jungwon must be thinking. Although… this is the guy who admitted he was stalking me. Should I really be worried about his opinion? He’s stalking me. Oh god, why didn’t I tell Jaeduck about that? If anyone could help with that it would him.
I’d made it to school before I realized it. The knock on my window right after I parked made me jump. It was Jungwon. How did he get over here so fast? I roll down my window.

“Care to chat for a bit?”

I slowly get out of the car. “What do we need to talk about?”

“You that uncomfortable with me?” Why did he seem so damn please knowing this? “I thought we were just getting to know each other… Jaeduck hyung seemed to think otherwise.”

“My dad is a cop so… you know, protective.”

“He should be… I’m not good.”

The restraint I had in not rolling my eyes would have killed anyone else. I looked around for Jimin until I spotted her. Under the shelter of the cafeteria roof's overhang, Jimin was waiting. Her eyes were about to bug out of their sockets at the sight of Jungwon following me like a puppy. Over her arm was my jacket. She handed it to me without a word.

"Thanks for remembering."

"Good morning, Jimin," Jungwon said politely.

"Er... hi." She shifted her wide eyes to me. Clearly trying to gather her thoughts. It wasn't really his fault that his voice was so irresistible. Or what his eyes were capable of. If only she knew about the stalking…

"I guess I'll see you in class." She gave me a look. 

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

Jimin walked away only pausing twice to peek back over her shoulder at us. Well, not us. But me. What on Earth am I going to tell her?

"What are you going to tell her?"

"Hey, I thought you couldn't read my mind!" I hissed.

Understanding brightened his eyes once it clicked for him. "I can read hers and she'll be waiting to ambush you in class. …so what are you going to tell her?"

"A little help?" I pleaded. "What does she want to know?"

He shook his head, grinning wickedly. "That's not fair."

"No, you not sharing what you know. That's not fair."

He deliberated for a moment as we walked. We stopped outside the door to my first class. "She wants to know if we're secretly dating. And she wants to know how you feel about me."

“...and how far can your hearing go?”

He caught a stray lock of hair and tucked it in behind my ear. “And why do you need to know? I thought we weren’t having secrets between us…”

I could not be honest with the reason why. How could I say to this guy who claims to be a mind-reading vampire… claims to stalk me? He would not take the whole I wanna share your secrets 'cause you’re creepy thing well. “What should I say?”

"Hmmm. I suppose you could say yes to the first... if you don't mind… it's easier than any other explanation."

I did mind. I minded very much.

"And as for her other question... well, I'll be listening to hear the answer to that one myself." One side of his mouth pulled up into my favorite uneven smile. "I'll see you at lunch."

I hurried into class. Now I was worried about what I was going to say to Jimin. How far would his hearing go? Could hear us in here? Would he realize that I told Jimin? Oh no. If he thinks he’s a vampire wouldn’t he just kill her? Damn. Maybe I could just tell her about the stalking? Maybe then people would think he’s a human-level creep…

"Morning, Miyoung," Changbin said from the seat next to me. I looked up to see an odd look on his face. "How was the shopping?"

There was no honest way to sum it up. "Great," I finished lamely. "Jimin got a really cute dress."

"Did she say anything?" he asked, his eyes brightening.

"She said she had a really good time," I assured him.

"She did?" he said eagerly.

I smiled. "Of course."

Classes passed by in a blur all while I worried about how to explain things to Jimin and agonized over whether Jungwon would really be listening to what I said through Jimin's thoughts. How very inconvenient his little talent could be. Well, when it wasn't saving my life I guess.

The fog had almost dissolved by the end of the second hour. However the day’s still dark with low oppressive clouds. I smiled up at the sky. When I walked into class, Jimin was sitting in the back row and nearly bouncing off her seat in agitation. I reluctantly went to sit by her and tried to convince myself it would be better to get it over with as soon as possible. Rip it off like a bandaid. Quick and to the point.

She whined. "Tell me everything!"

"What do you want to know?"

“Tell me the juicy stuff Miiiiiiiiiyoung.”

I rolled my eyes. "He bought me dinner, and then he drove me home."

“And?”

“What do you mean And? That's what happened.”

“There has to be more to it than that.”

“There isn’t though… He found me, brought me to you guys, bought me dinner then took me home. There isn’t anything to it.”

Jimin pins me with a look. “You guys kiss?”

“No… why would we?”

She stressed each syllable. "Cha Jungwon."

I have no clue where she going with this. The class started so I figured that we were done. Jimin just started whispering trying to get me to respond. She wasn’t the only one talking. Mr. Park thankfully wasn’t paying attention to any of us. I tried very hard to focus on what he was talking about. Jimin however seemed to only want to talk about it.

She glared at me, "How did you get home so fast?"

"He drives like a maniac. It was terrifying." I hoped he heard that.

"What did you talk about?" She pushed for more information in a whisper.

"I don't know, Jimin, lots of stuff," I whispered back. "We talked about the English essay a little."

"Please, Miyoung," she begged. "Give me some details."

"Well... okay, I've got one. You should have seen the waitress flirting with him. It was over the top. But he didn't pay any attention to her at all." Let him make what he could of that.

"That's a good sign," she nodded. "Was she pretty?"

"I mean… do you think Ahri is pretty?"

"Ahri? Oh my god… He must like you."

"I think so but it's hard to tell. He's always so cryptic," I threw in for his benefit, sighing.

"I don't even know how you're brave enough to be alone with him," she breathed.

I look back at her. Does she know about him being a creepy stalker? Jimin said that he never took interest in anyone. I just don’t get it.
"He's so... intimidating. I wouldn't know what to say to him." She made a face, probably remembering this morning or last night when he'd turned the overwhelming force of his eyes on her. Jimin was definitely having a prey response to a predator.

“Yeah. I know what you mean.” I admitted.

"Oh well. He is really hot." Jimin shrugged as if this excused any flaws.

"There's a lot more to him than that." . Why did I blurt that out? Why did she have to hit on that point? Jimin could have brought up anyhting else. Why did it have to be about looks…

"Really? Like what?"

"I can't quite explain it... Jungwon's even more unbelievable behind that hot face." The mind reading vampire who was stalking me. Yep. Definitely so much more behind that face. I can’t say it out loud though. If he really could read minds then he’d know. I don’t want to know what happens if things go bad like he’d been talking about before.

"Is that possible?" She giggled.

I tried to look busy. If I’m busy then maybe she would ignore me.

"So you like him, then?" She wasn't about to give up.

“He’s cute.”

"I mean, do you really like him?" she urged.

What if he’s listening… What would be the answer he would want to here? Jimin wants me to say yes but what would Jungwon accept?

She giggled. "Oh my god. You like him. How much do you like him?"

One blush blending into the next. Thankfully, Mr. Park called on Jimin for an answer. She didn't get a chance to start in on the subject again during class and as soon as the bell rang. I took evasive action. "In English, Changbin asked me if you said anything," I told her.

"You're kidding! What did you say?!" she gasped, completely sidetracked. "Tell me exactly what he said and your exact answer!"

"I told him you said you had a lot of fun. He looked pleased."

We spent the rest of the walk dissecting sentence structures and most of Spanish on a minute description of Changbin's facial expressions. I wouldn't have had to draw it out for as long as I did if I wasn't worried about the topic returning to me. Then the bell rang for lunch. As I jumped up out of my seat, my expression must have tipped Jimin off.

"You're not sitting with us today, are you?" she guessed.

"I don't think so." 

Outside the door to our Spanish class, leaning against the wall, Jungwon’s waiting for me. Jimin took one look and rolled her eyes. "See you later, Miyoung."

"Hello." His voice was amused and irritated at the same time. He had been listening.

Walking with Jungwon through the crowded lunchtime rush was a lot like my first day here, everyone stared. He led the way into the cafeteria line though his eyes returned to my face every few seconds. It seemed to me that irritation was winning out over amusement as the dominant emotion in his face. I fidgeted nervously with the zipper on my jacket.

He stepped up to the counter and filled a tray with food.

"What are you doing?" I objected. "You're not getting all that for me?"

He shook his head stepping forward to buy the food.

"Half is for me, of course."

I raised one eyebrow. Jungwon was very adamant about the whole being a mind reading vampire thing. He led the way to the same place we'd sat before. From the other end of the long table, a group of seniors gazed at us in amazement as we sat across from each other.

"Take whatever you want," he said, pushing the tray toward me.

"I'm curious," I said as I picked up the apple, "what would you do if someone dared you to eat some kind of food?"

"You're always curious." I was mostly trying to stall him. I needed him to be focused on something that wasn’t me or my conversation with Jimin. Jungwon lifted the slice of pizza off the tray and took a bite. I watched him, eyes wide as he made a show of swallowing said bite. "If someone dared you to eat dirt, you could, couldn't you?"

I wrinkled my nose. "I did once... on a dare… It wasn't so bad."

"I suppose I'm not surprised." Something over my shoulder seemed to catch his attention.

"Jimin's analyzing everything I do. She'll break it down for you later." He pushed the rest of the pizza toward me. Mentioning Jimin brought out a hint of his former irritation back. I put down the apple and took a bite of the other slice of pizza knowing he was about to start.

"Something you said to Jimin... well, it bothers me." He glanced up from under his lashes.

"I'm not surprised you heard something you didn't like. You shouldn’t have even listened in," I reminded him.

"I warned you I would be."

"And I warned you that you didn't want to know everything I was thinking."

"You did," he agreed. "You’re wrong though. I do want to know what you're thinking everything. I just wish... that you wouldn't be thinking some things."

“Excuse me.”

“You know what I mean”

“No I do not. Explain.”

“Do ou really think I’m cute?” he murmured, leaning closer to me as he spoke, his dark golden eyes piercing.

“Flirting with me won’t distract me.”

His eyes opened wide with surprise. "What?"

“Stop with that.” I gestured to his face as a whole. “Flirting with me will get you nothing.”

"Oh." He frowned.

We were inclined toward each other across the table now. He had his large white hands folded under his chin. I leaned forward, my right hand cupped around my neck. I had to remind myself that we were in a crowded lunchroom with probably many curious eyes on us. It was too easy to get wrapped up in our own private little bubble. I lean back watching him.

"Are you going to answer the question?"

I looked down. "Yes."

"Yes, you are going to answer, or yes, you really think that?" He was irritated. Again.

I sighed. “Can you stop doing that? I can have an opinion of my own.”

“Just answer me.”

“So you can tell me I’m wrong for finding you attractive? No thanks. I’ll just eat my lunch.”

I waited for his anger. He always got so angry whenever I expressed an opinion or a boundary. The silence dragged on. I refused to be the first to break it since he will just snap at me anyway. Fighting hard against the temptation to peek at his expression. Finally he spoke, voice velvet soft. "It’s not that you’re wrong. This… whatever this is between us is wrong."

I glanced up to see that his eyes were gentle. "You can't know that."

"What makes you think so?" His liquid topaz eyes were penetrating. 

I could see him getting frustrated by my silence. He started to scowl. I lifted my hand from my neck and held up one finger. If he didn’t shove food at me then he wouldn’t have to ing way like this. "Let me think," I insisted. I dropped my hand to the table, moving my left hand so that my palms were pressed together. I stared at my hands, twisting and untwisting my fingers until I finally spoke. "Well, aside from the obvious..." I hesitated. "We don’t know each other. I only know that you’re suppose to be a mind reading vampire and you’re adopted."

"Perceptive," he whispered. "That's exactly why you're wrong, though. What do you mean, 'the obvious'?"

"Well, look at me," I said. "My dad is a cop… your dad is some rich doctor. I’m not some drama protagonist. I’m absolutely ordinary… well except for bad things, all the near-death experiences and being so clumsy. Look at you." I waved my hand toward him and all his bewildering perfection. Yes he’s a creepy stalker at times but… Jungwon is really cute.

"You don't see yourself very clearly. I mean you’re right about the bad things but you didn't hear what every human male in this school was thinking on your first day."

I blinked. "That’s… ew. Don’t talk about that."

"Trust me on this. You are the opposite of ordinary."

I’m sure he meant it flattering however Jungwon didn’t tell me he found me cute or any of that. He’d only pointed out the guys in school found me attractive. Not that he found me so. Did he even like me at all? Why was he spending time with me if he didn’t think I was…

I took a deep breath. “P-plus you always sound like you’re saying goodbye. If you’re ready to leave me every second then you must hate me right?”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Well you clearly don’t like me if you’re trying to run from me all the time.”

"Don't you see? That's what proves me right. I care the most because I can do it," he shook his head, "if leaving is the right thing to do then I'll hurt myself to keep from hurting you… to keep you safe."

I didn’t like where he was going with this line of thinking.

"Don’t worry. You'd never have to make the choice yourself." Abruptly, his mood shifted again. A mischievous, devastating smile rearranged his features. "Of course, keeping you safe is beginning to feel like a full-time job that requires my constant attention."

"No one has tried to kill me today," I reminded him. I didn't want him to talk about like that anymore. Maybe I should talk to Jaeduck about Jungwon after school…

"Yet," he added.

I wrinkled my nose trying to change the subject. "You know, I haven't forgiven you for the Chan thing yet. It's your fault that he's deluded himself this much."

"Oh, he would have found a chance to ask you without me. I just really wanted to watch your face," he chuckled, "If I'd asked you, would you have turned me down?"

"Probably not," I admitted. "But I would’ve canceled later."

He was puzzled. "Why would you do that?"

My brain had made me speak the last part out loud! ! Quick… I shook my head. "You've never seen me in Gym but I would’ve thought you’d understand."

"Are you referring to the fact that you can trip on air?"

"Rude."

"That wouldn't be a problem. It's all in the leading." 

I plastered a smile on my face but something about the way he said that felt… creepy. IF he really was a vampire then Jungwon was the most ill adjusted one of the bunch. How can one person be this clueless to how normal people behave?

“Hey do you want to do something?”

I hummed. “What do you mean?”

“You always act like you don’t believe me about being a monster. I’ll show you.”

I tensed. Time alone with Jungwon but a chance to maybe make him come to his senses. Could I really risk this? Could I do it? I look him over. “One condition…”

He looked wary. "What?"

"Can I drive?"

He frowned. "Why?"

“Jaeduck will try to stop me going anywhere with someone he doesn’t approve so if I drive then he’ll think I’m going by myself. He won’t stop me.”

He shook his head in disgust. "Just tell your father you’re coming with me. He likes my family.”

“Uh… this morning?”

“Minor issue. I mean who asks someone questions like that when they just wake up.”

I paled. “What… were you… reading his mind?”

“Of course. He mistook your embarassment for being scared. It’s sweet that he cares for you so much. It really is.” Jungwon smiled, “So you’ll let me ride with you after school?”

“S-suuuure… yeah. We can go.”

Jungwon chuckled. “Relax I’m teasing. The weather is only good enough for it tomorrow. You’ll have to sneak out to meet me there.”

“Y-you… y-you didn’t tell me where.”

“It’s a surprise. But… You should tell Jaeduck, though."

"Why in the world would I do that?"

His eyes were suddenly fierce. "To give me some small incentive to bring you back."

"I think I'll take my chances."

He exhaled angrily, and looked away.

"...let's talk about something else," I suggested.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked. He was still annoyed.

I glanced around us making sure we were well out of anyone's hearing. As I look around the cafeteria, I locked eyes of Boyoung. She had a oddly intent look on her face. I don’t know what to make of that look. The rest of his siblings were so focused on him though. I looked back to him and I asked the first thing that came to mind.

"Where did you go to hunt? Aren’t there like bears or something?"

He stared at me as if I was missing something very obvious.

"Bears?" I gasped, and he smirked. "You know, bears are not in season."

"If you read carefully, the laws only cover hunting with weapons," he informed me.

He watched my face with enjoyment as that slowly sank in.

"Bears?" I repeated with difficulty.

"Grizzly is Shownu's favorite." He watched me for my reaction.

"Hmmm," I said.

"So," I said his meeting gaze. "What's your favorite?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Mountain lion."

"Ah," I said disinterested.

"Of course," he said, "We have to be careful not to impact the environment with our hunting. We try to focus on areas with an overpopulation of predators. There's always plenty of deer and elk here but where's the fun in that?"

"Where indeed," I murmured.

"Early spring is Shownu's favorite bear season. They're just coming out of hibernation so they're more… irritable."

"Nothing more fun than an upset grizzly bear," I agreed.

He snickered. "Tell me what you're really thinking, please."

"I'm trying to picture it but I can't," I admitted. "How do you hunt a bear without weapons?"

"Oh, we have weapons." He flashed a threatening smile. 

I fought back a shiver. 

"Just not the kind they consider when writing hunting laws. If you've ever seen a bear attack on television, you should be able to visualize Shownu hunting."

I couldn't stop the next shiver down my spine. I peeked across the cafeteria toward Shownu. The thick bands of muscle that wrapped his arms and torso were somehow even more menacing now.

Jungwon followed my gaze and chuckled.

"Are you like a bear, too?" I asked in a low voice.

"More like the lion I’ve been told," he said. "Maybe our preferences are indicative."

"Perhaps," I repeated. "Is that something I might get to see?"

"Absolutely not!" His face turned white. His eyes were suddenly furious. I leaned back, stunned by his reaction. He leaned back as well. I hadn’t meant to be serious. I thought he’d laugh it off with me. Jungwon is a self-hating vampire. I should have known better.

"Believe me. I would take you out tonight if I thought it would scare you," he said, his voice cutting. "You need a healthy dose of fear. Nothing could be more beneficial for you."

"Then why?" I pressed.

He glared at me for a long minute. "Later," he finally said. He was on his feet in one lithe movement. "We're going to be late."

I glanced around, startled to see that he was right and the cafeteria was nearly vacant. When I was with him, the time and the place were such a muddled blur that I completely lost track of both. I jumped up, grabbing my bag from the back of my chair.

"Later, then," I agreed. I wouldn't forget.