C77: Trying to understand Ji Yong

"W-wait that can't be right... He was p-possessing another person. Ji Yong would never do something so indirectly." Yoon Mi remembered the way he preferred to handle things. "If he wanted to take me away, he would have appeared to me in person and not reveal himself through someone else." She began thinking out loud and talking to herself, somehow finding that she was able to piece her thoughts a little better when she did that.

Thinking harder so that she could match the way Ji Yong thought to the best that she could. It was especially difficult seeing how he had been mysterious and secretive all her life. While she had told him everything about her day and happened when Ji Yong asked, he would never really answer Yoon Mi's questions fully when he asked about him in return.

The only times she had been able to know more about him was when he had something that he always said often like a belief or a motto. Another way that she was able to learn about him, was when she observed him silently, noticing the titles and types of books that he read in the library at home or the way he kept his things immaculately neat and tidy in his room.

He had rarely talked about school or his classmates, though Ji Yong had always talked about schoolwork and what he learnt. But never really said about what he did in school or out of their home.

Why had it taken so long for Yoon Mi to realize how strange their relationship was?

Or rather how strange he was?

How he would always be hiding everything behind a smile and telling her that things are fine, that she never had to worry about anything.

Finally able to get an inkling of the way he thought after she looked into Hae Yong and Yoon Ji's memories, she looked at DaeHyun worriedly as she told him, "He was there to observe me, he wanted to see for himself whether I had forgotten about him or not and when he saw how I was doing fine..."

Yoon Mi gulped and took a deep breath, trying hard not to feel scared about by the way he thought. "He decided to remind me that I belong to him. That he'll be back to get me... The person he possessed was only a greeting card."

*That's why he chose "I'm your fiancé" to describe himself to me.* Yoon Mi let out the breath that she was holding. After all this she couldn't believe that he still wanted her to marry him, after gaining the knowledge that he was the one who killed her family... How could she still want to marry him?

How could she after knowing that her parents and eldest siblings died at his hands?

"DaeHyun, what if he seriously tries to take me away with no warning whatsoever?" She held onto his hand hoping that the slight comfort she felt would stop hers from trembling.

Looking at each other in worry, both the thought and knowledge that Ji Yong was going to take her back was unsettling and to make things worse. They had no idea where Ji Yong was, whether he was on his own or how many other people was working along with him.

"You can only fight back if he tries to take you away Yoon Mi." His words shocked her greatly.

Her? Fight back against him?

Sensing her uncertainty, "You know how the attack on your family turned out, each person in your family killed hundreds of vampires." He reminded her of the figures before telling her something she didn't want to hear.

"But they only died by his hands... Only a Kwon can take down another Kwon."

It was a sad fact but Yoon Mi didn't want to be the one to end his life, to kill him. If possible she wished that there could be another way.

Watching her complexion turn pale; if there was anything that could be more pale than a vampire, she was it. "Yoon Mi, do you know how to properly kill another vampire?" DaeHyun asked, having a hunch that she had never been taught that by her family.

"I-I was only told of re-removing the heart and destroying it..." She reluctantly answered while remembering the lesson years ago when her eldest brother, Hae Yong tried to teach her until she began to turn to different shares of green and pleaded for him to stop.

"Some other ways is by severing and burning their head or stab them in the heart or brain and keep the silver blade in them long enough that it destroys the organ." He answered her quietly. Knowing that she hated violence, this task would prove to be especially difficult for her to carry out.

*If only I knew what my last power was, whether if it would be of any assistance to me in a fight.* Yoon Mi felt disappointed in herself. Why was her last power so hard to figure out?

Even until now she had no idea what it is and Eva was not willing to tell her. In fact, Eva had been dormant since that day and it was strange not being able to talk to her guardian spirit and not having her around at all. Especially when she was starting to get used to her constant presence.

Over the next few days she tried to familiarize herself to the thought of killing another person. It made her turn green for awhile but after a week or two, the idea of killing her brother was affecting her lesser.

The only problem was whether she would really be able to carry out the task when the time came.

Walking into her room after spending the day in the library trying to look for clues for what her last power "light", could possibly mean.

Hopefully it really wouldn't be glowing in the dark like JongUp guessed. It would be a really useless power to have since most vampires have heightened sight and were able to see in the dark.

Suddenly stopping in mid-step, she sensed a second presence in the room and her chain of thoughts were quickly forgotten.

Looking around, Yoon Mi nearly jumped when she saw DaeHyun leaning against the study table in the corner of her room. His arms were crossed and he had an expectant look on his face.

"DaeHyun?" She called out uncertainly, she could feel that it was really him and not an imposter but why was he acting this way?

*When was the last time you took blood?* He asked with a stern tone.

Shrugging her shoulders, "Err...around 3 weeks?" Giving him a rough estimate.

*Wrong, it's exactly been a month since you last had blood.* DaeHyun narrowed his eyes at her. *I thought you were over your suicidal tendencies* He pushed himself off the table and took a few steps towards her.

"I'm already over that!"

*Then why aren't you taking blood regularly?*

"Because..."

*Because of what Yoon Mi?*

"It's because I'm embarrassed to ask alright!" She turned bright red as she looked to the side, not wanting to look at him. "How the hell was I supposed to ask? Am I supposed to say 'Hi DaeHyun I'm hungry, may I have your blood?' Not to mention when should I even ask?"

Giving her an incredulous look, *That's the reason you haven't come to me for blood?* DaeHyun let out a sigh as he got closer and held her hands.

Finding herself being led to the study desk he was leaning against earlier on, his hands slid to her waist and lifted her slightly. Letting her sit on the desk so that they would be at eye level with each other. "You're thinking too much Yoon Mi." He took off his mask and whispered into her ear, moving closer to her as he settled himself between her legs.

"You could have asked me whenever it was just the two of us. I would never turn down your request." Shivers ran up and down her spine as his breath played by her ear.

"All you have to do is say 'may I have some blood?' Simple as that." He continued whispering into her ear. The way he said it, sounding so smug, as if he had a big fat smirk on his face made her so annoyed. But Yoon Mi couldn't focus properly considering how they were so terribly close to each other. It did nothing to help her accelerating heartbeat at all and only made it go faster.

"I'm waiting Yoon Mi, when are you going to ask me?" He looked at her expectantly.

"D-DaeHyun, may I have your blood?" She asked still feeling very awkward. Sounding half hesitant and half embarrassed while she turned red from meeting his gaze.

With an amused chuckle, he said "yes" and proceeded to undo the first four buttons to his shirt.

"Do you always wear a buttoned shirt?" She couldn't help but wonder, thinking about the other times she took blood from him.

Shaking his head. "No, it's easier to take blood while wearing a buttoned shirt than a normal t-shirt. It's easy to sew back buttons than to fix a ripped shirt."

Yoon Mi's jaw hung wide open at what he just said. "A-are you saying that I might rip your shirt apart?!" Completely speechless when he made a sound of agreement while he exposed his left shoulder.

"What kind of person do you think I am?!" She cried out in disbelief. "That's it, let me go. I'm not taking your blood today." Moving and shifting to one side so that she would be able to get off the table.

*Relax a little* His sweet voice echoed in her mind. It felt almost hypnotic to her but it was mostly because of her feelings for him. Hearing his voice in that gentle tone was enough to make her pause her efforts to leave.

Sliding his arms around her waist and holding her firmly against him, DaeHyun shifted her back to their original spot on the table. "I was only joking. Plus you really need the blood, the lack of it is making you too tense about everything"

Yoon Mi sighed as she gave up on leaving, feeling her anger slowly dissipating. If DaeHyun was set on her to have her intake of blood right now, nothing would change his mind about it.

She looks into his eyes and recognizes concern among many other emotions in them. Leaning forward to place a series of light kisses, she wasn't in a hurry to drink his blood and wanted to enjoy the intimate action between them.

his lower lip, teasingly asking him to part them. He smiled when Yoon Mi put her arm around his shoulder and pressed more of herself against him, liking how she was taking the initiatives this time round.

The pressure of her curves against his body made him let out a small moan and it was her turn to smirk as her tongue slid in to explore his mouth. With pleasure slowly building between them, her fangs were slowly extending themselves.

Moving on to kiss a heated trail along his jawline, leaving a lot of lovebites on his neck and shoulder blade. Pretending to look for his sweet spot when she already knew where it was.

The thing about DaeHyun being a healer was that no matter how many she gave him or no matter how dark a lovebite she left behind, it would always be gone within the hour. His power healing the small superficial bruise right away.

Another moan left his lips when Yoon Mi secured her own pair over his sweet spot. Hissing from the slight sting as her fangs pierced through his flesh, he had noticed that it was gradually becoming less painful with each bite and the pleasure that came from it was much quicker and stronger.

Self-restraint was soon becoming a challenge for him as his hands ghosted along her knees to her upper thighs, massaging them and slowly inching upwards. Yoon Mi was finding it difficult to focus on purely drinking his blood. Everything that she felt from their bond was extremely distracting and he wasn't helping at all with his hands traveling up her thighs, hiking her skirt up higher and higher.

His touch sending waves of electricity coursing through her body and she began to feel that if she didn't stop soon, she might go past the point of no return and give in to something that she might not be ready for.

Lightly against his neck, drawing only a small amount of blood before she pulled her fangs out. Worried that this time round she took out too much blood.

Asking if he was alright, she was surprised to find him red faced and breathing hard.

"I'm alright" He manages to answer. *You definitely need to ask to drink my blood more often.* He returned to using his power to speak.

Turning scarlet herself, "Can we not talk about blood for now?" She began feeling warm all over as her body took in the blood.

Disappointed that his fun was over so soon, he reluctantly agreed and started feeling around his pockets, searching for something in them.

*We had been planning this for a while* DaeHyun said, with his fingers closed over the item that he pulled out of his pocket. *If you noticed, the six of us always has a particular ring on.* He turned his hand around for her to see.

*It looks like a simple piece of metal but what outsiders don't know is that there are power gems in them.* He says and opens up his hand, revealing another ring. Holding it between his thumb and index finger, he tilts it to a side and the light reflects on the six power gems embedded on the inner side of the ring.

*This is yours, YongGuk just finished making it the other night.* He takes her hand and holds it up, placing the ring in the center of her palm.

*You can keep it with you but you can't wear it yet because there is something we need you to do. It's going to take a lot of energy out of you which was why I'm being so particular about how long you had gone by without consuming blood.* Buttoning up his shirt and putting his half mask back on, DaeHyun leads Yoon Mi out of her bedroom and up to the room on top floor where she had undergone The Change.

*I'll be teaching you how to make a power gem.* He said while rummaging through the shelves, he pulled out a box and places it on a nearby table. *It's only fair that the guys gives you a portion of their power and you give them some in return.*

Nodding to show that she understood, DaeHyun placed a thick rectangular shaped item on the table. It resembled a marble slab and was a light shade of orange, also having many intricate details and carvings all around.

There were 10 engraved circles on the slab and a concave circle in the middle of it where the gem would form. Placing his hands on the engraved circles, he began explaining about how this works and to channel her powers into it. Even giving her a simple demonstration and making a small gem for her to see.

Letting Yoon Mi try, it took almost half an hour before her gem was clearly visible. With another 30 minutes her first power gem was finally completed and she was proud of what she managed to do.

Not wanting to give the guys her first gem because it was an experimental piece. She decided that she wanted to continue on making more as she set the first one aside.

Creating another six, it was extremely exhausting and she would probably need another blood intake soon. Yoon Mi huffed, leaning on Daehyun for support while he held the special container to hold the gems as they looked for YongGuk.

*YongGuk Hyung, we're done making the power gems. Could you take a look at them and see if they're good to use?* DaeHyun opens the container and hands it over to him.

Pouring the small gems out into his palm, YongGuk told the two of them to take a few steps back. When they were a safe distance away, blue fire blazed from his hand as he slowly shifted the gems around with his thumb. Finding no fault in them, he withdrew the fire and put the gems back into the container.

"There's a saying that only true gold can withstand the test of fire." YongGuk explained when he saw the confused look on Yoon Mi's face. "The same theory applies to power gems. If they're not good enough, they would crack because they're like empty shells."

Taking the lid from DaeHyun and asking him to tell HimChan and YoungJae to hand over their rings. YongGuk made his way to the basement room where he crafted the rings. Seeing how today was just the adding on of another gem, it shouldn't take too long as opposed to creating a new one from scratch.

"YongGuk, why have us come down here? I thought you usually collected the all the rings first if you wanted to modify them?" HimChan asked right away when he walked in with YoungJae behind him.

Making sure that the door was closed and that their rings were on the table, YongGuk took out the container that held Yoon Mi's power gem and lifted the lid.

"Holy crap, what is that thing?!" YoungJae swore when he saw how her gem looked like.

"Why does it have so many different colours!" HimChan couldn't believe his eyes as he picked one up to inspect it.

"I thought gems only have one colour?" YoungJae's expression changed from shocked to bewildered.

"That's because most of us only have one power" YongGuk answered calmly.

"Wait, if one colour correspond to one power. How many powers does Yoon Mi have?!" HimChan eyes went wide with shock as he tried to count the various colours in them.

"Currently she has four" YongGuk took the gem back from HimChan. "If you observe the patterns close enough, you can see four dominant colours, translucent white, green, blue and violet."

Placing the gem back into the container, as he got ready his tools he continued on explaining. "The other small coloured flecks could be potential powers that she might gain in the future."

While HimChan remained in a state of shock, YoungJae nodded in agreement, "That's highly possible considering what she told us about her 'tree' that she saw during her Change... I just never expected that I would see a power gem that looks so much like an opal."

"Me either" YongGuk said, remembering his initial surprise when DaeHyun opened the lid. He hadn't shown how he felt to both Yoon Mi and him, mainly because she might feel worried about how different her gem is from the average vampire.

"Then what about DaeHyun? Why does his gem only show one colour?" HimChan asked.

"I think it's because of where he was originally from." YongGuk answered partially.

"Yeah, back there everyone is a healer so most likely the colour that we can see from his gem is the thought projection power." YoungJae explained the remaining part.

While the two guys continued talking, YongGuk went on setting up the necessary tools.

Getting more and more annoyed by the two chatterbox as time went on, "The two of you, get out. Call JongUp and Zelo to come over when I call you two to collect your rings." He said gruffly and gave a glare that instantly had them leaving the room.

Annyeong~

there's a lot going on in this chapter because I wanted to move things along. Also I'm having exams at the moment so updates is going to be even slower :x

I understand that some of you were confused so hopefully this next part would be able to shed some light.

Explanation about Ji Yong;

I had left chapter 76 with a cliffhanger that he was back for Yoon Mi. But that was her panicking and jumping to a conclusion.

Now that she seriously thought about it, she realized that her guess was wrong and that wasn't the way Ji Yong worked.

Prior to coming to stay with Elder Yong, she was too blinded by her love for him that she failed to notice how strange things were or how she knew so little about the person she was going to marry.

Up until this chapter 77, I have not clearly revealed Ji Yong's intentions and whether I will continue revealing his intention clearly... Well that depends. Just take note that he is even more of an enigma than anyone else in the story.

Hope you liked this chapter~

With love,

Violynn (23/06/2013 ; 12:47pm)