Dongwoo walked me all the way to my room so I could wash up. I could have made it by myself, but a part of me didn’t want to say goodbye yet. He gave me one final hug before prancing off into his own room. We said goodbye with the biggest of smiles; I was left with a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach.

I bathed quite quickly, yet focused on scrubbing away all of the chocolate concoctions in my hair. From the amount that I washed down the drain, there was probably about another big bowl or two of pancake mix in my hair and clothes alone. After washing up, I thought it would be best to go outside for a little fresh air. At first, the idea of visiting Mrs. Moon popped into my head until I remember she accompanied King Tablo on his trip to the vampire hunters’ headquarters. Plus, the Queen probably didn’t even want to see me anyway.

The sun shined on me and hugged every inch of my body. I wasn’t wearing my uniform anymore, but a dress that I sewed months before. It was a white dress, with a yellow sash in the middle, something extremely simple and clean looking. A lot of different thoughts went through my head, most of which were focused on at least one or two Princes.

“Sophia!” a voice yelled from the distance.

I never noticed how much I truly walked until I turned back and realized how much smaller the palace looked. My entire body shifted to face the person who yelled my name. It was a light haired Prince, his hair flowing with every blow of the wind. He was waving at me from the distance.

“Sungjong? Is that you!?” I exclaimed in return.

He disappeared for a blink before reappearing right infront of me. “Heeeeeyy~”

“It is you! What are you doing out here? I thought you hated the outdoors.”

“Is it because I hate getting dirty? Well, really, I just hate the germs part, I know that everything is washable,” he smiled. “And how could I hate the outdoors when I love gardening?”

“You garden?”

He interlocked arms with me before pulling me farther away from the palace. “Of course I do! You’ve never seen the palace gardens?”

I nodded no. He made this face that was over exaggerated, yet priceless at the same time; which caused both of us to start laughing. I expected a small little corner of the field to be a garden, but this was not. It was a huge area, kept separate from the rest of the lush green surroundings by a white fence. The only entry way was a picket gate. Half of the garden was covered in glass from the ceiling to the walls, to keep sunlight flowing in and keeping unwanted animals out. I couldn’t see inside the glass warehouse though, but I had an idea on what it looked like. The other half, the part that I could see, held beautiful fruit trees and vegetable plants. Every color of the rainbow and inbetween were represented in the garden. The aroma was enough to uplift any sad mood. It was an incredibly breathtaking vicinity; I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was something most girls could only dream about.

The entire area showed the results of hard work and love.

I stood still, staring at each and every variety of plants. “Oh my gosh! Look at this place! I… How is this even possible?”

“I spend a lot of time here,” he danced his way to a rose bush. “Each and every plant deserves special care and attention.”

“Not a single one is dying or in the process of being close,” I sighed while walking towards him. “I mean look at them all! They’re so vibrant in color and all are bloomed. It’s breathtaking!”

“Oh gee,” the feminine Prince grinned. “That means I’m doing something right, right? I’m glad to hear that you love it here.”

“You are a wonderful gardener. And of course I love it! Who wouldn’t?”

He took a hold of my hand as he stood up straight, then proceeded to pull me towards a metal table and chairs. There was a porcelain tea set of some sort, already steaming hot with some tea. The table only had room for two, which I found extremely peculiar.

“If I had known we were going to have a tea party, I would have brought some pastries,” I smiled at him.

He pulled out one of the chairs for me to sit on. I responded to his gesture. The wonderful Prince took the seat opposite of me. Slowly, he placed his chin on his hand and grinned. “I didn’t expect company.”

“Says the boy with two teacups, two plates, two spoons, and a large heaping pot of tea,” a small giggle escaped me.

“Okay, okay,” he swooshed his hair to the side of his face. “Maybe I did expect seeing you.”

“How could you expect me when I was just walking around? Are you some sort of fortune teller?”

“Oh yes! You know what I see in your future?”

“What, dear Prince?”

“Happiness. Pure joy and happiness.”

“I already have that,” I told him. “I’ve had that for a while now.”

“Okay, maybe I’m not a fortune teller,” Sungjong scratched the back of his head. “I just… I’ve been preparing tea for two for a week now. Especially since every other brother has bragged about spending time with you.”

“For a week? You could have asked me to hang out you know?”

Not a single one of the Princes seemed to be willing to just ask. What’s so hard about asking someone to spend some time together? It doesn’t seem that difficult to do. Did I repel them or something? Was I scary? Even Dongwoo, the one with the most confidence, couldn’t do it.

“I’m not that assertive,” he looked at his hands before grabbing the handle of the teapot. “I knew it was a matter of time before you found your way to my little area of the kingdom.”

“So they’ve bragged…” I smacked my hand against my forehead. “Wow. You guyswould have some sort of competition about me.”

“Not really a competition,” he giggled. “It’s a healthy rivalry between us. More like a way to see who’s ahead. But to be honest, you are one odd person to try to figure out. I mean, one minute we think you love one of us more, then the next it’s like a whole other person is best. You are just an utter mystery for us.”

“And I’d like to keep it that way,” I held out my cup for him to pour some tea in. I assumed it was a form of green tea, for the smell just attracted my senses. It was my favorite kind, because it was the cheapest tea and best tasting to buy in the village.

“No fun,” the Prince pouted as he poured some in his own cup.

“So… what have the others said?” I asked while taking a sip. It wasn’t too hot to burn my tongue, but hot enough to really warm my entire body up.

“Nothing interesting, honestly,” Sungjong followed my movements. “All they ever say is that they got to spend some quality time with you. That was enough to get the others’ bloods boiling.”

“I hope you all understand that I love you all,” I nodded. “This whole rivalry thing is trivial and useless.”

“But in the end, you’re only going to end up with one, correct?”

I nearly choked on my tea. As soon as he mentioned that, it hit me. I never actually thought of that. See, if I didn’t have this cancer putting an end time on my clock, that question would ring through my mind every day. A simple question. A simple thought. A simple statement was enough to drive my entire mind to turn every which way. That’s another item to place in my memory bank, when I finally sit down and figure out what I’m going to do.

“You’ve never considered that?”

“Truthfully, the thought never came to mind,” I looked at him.

“You have… let’s see…” he counted using his long, feminine fingers. “Seven Woo brothers. One Damien. And maybe, just maybe, approximately 30 elite vampires from the annual party. And who else knows how many are just waiting to court you outside of the kingdom walls.”

“I get the picture, Prince Sungjong.”

“And you’ve really never deliberated just who to spend the rest of your life with?”

“I’m not one to think about stuff. And I’m only seventeen! Marriage and all that commitment stuff isn’t really first priority.”

“Most girls marry at this age though. Am I correct?”

“Yeah, but that’s not a custom in our village. Most people got married at their mid twenties, just like my own parents. I’m more focused on my family and working, rather then spending time with the other gender.”

“Okay good, no pressure,” he sighed in relief.

“And for the record, those numbers you mentioned earlier, are just purely ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous? Are you that oblivious, love?”

“Mhmm?”

“Okay, where to begin…” he took a sip from his teacup. “Well, for sure the seven of us brothers are infatuated with you. Plus Damien was or maybe still is willing to kill us if we ever hurt you in any way. And your presence in itself drove a bunch of vampires insane at the party. And those boy vampires are surrounded by other girl vampires, yet you still managed to outshine each and every one of them. So if you’re able to do that to us, I am pretty sure you have a grasp on other human hearts outside of here.”

“That’s impossible,” I insisted. “Me? Of all people. Me? That really doesn’t seem believable. And for the record, those boy vampires probably just wanted to drink my blood.”

“Does that mean you think that we want to just drink your blood, Sophia?” His eyes expressed nothing but sadness. I didn’t mean to make it come across as that. I really didn’t.

“No no, that’s not what I intended for it to sound like. I mean… those other vampires are only looking for dinner… right?”

“No, not really. Don’t forget, at this day of age, a lot of vampires are looking for that potential mate. There’s always going to be that one person with the blood that seems sweeter than the rest.”

“A human mate? I thought that was frowned upon.”

“My generation doesn’t really care about the rules. Rules are meant to be broken, right?” he grinned. “Who wouldn’t want you to be their wife?”

“I’m going to keep repeating this,” I announced. “I am no one special. Just a normal girl. Nothing interesting about me at all.”

“You are just so captivating. Trust me,” he whispered as he leaned closer to me.

“Every single one of you keeps saying that, or some sort of it,” I put my teacup down and sat up from my seat. “I’m not perfect. I’m not anywhere close to it. You all put me on this glorified stool of flawlessness, where I don’t belong.”

“You don’t see from our eyes, love,” he got up also. “Let me give you a clear example of precisely what we see.”

Sungjong held out his hand and waited for me to take its grasp. I followed his gesture and held onto his hand tightly. He dragged my entire body to the glasshouse in the other side of the garden. I was too short to see above the hedges which surrounded it, so it was truly a surprise for me. He opened the door for us to enter, and the inside of the greenhouse was filled with nothing but roses. Roses of every color, of beautiful mixtures, of wonderful aromas just covered ever inch of the area.

“This… this is beautiful!” I exclaimed.

“I know,” he smiled. “Aren’t you?”

I turned to look him in the eyes. He was staring at me with the sweetest of expressions. I never quite noticed just how tall he was. In comparison, he wasn’t Sungyeol’s height, but he sure was getting there.

“You’re too nice.”

“You’re too modest, dear,” he grinned. “Every thought you are feeling at this moment, multiply that by one thousand; then you will get a gist of how each of us feel whenever we see you.”

Every… thought? I felt hypnotized by the amount of beauty in my surroundings. There was a wide array of the most beautiful flower in the world, in my eyes. It represented how tough one’s exterior can be, but deep inside they are just as fragile as everybody else. No matter how many walls one puts up, each are easily overpowered and broken to reveal the striking beauty within. Is this what I appear to them? It is true. I am not weak. I am not one to give up easily. I will never stand back and watch others fight or die for me.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Sungjong poked me on my forehead. I instantly got out of my trance. He had a small smile on his clear, porcelain face.

“I’m thinking of roses,” I replied, “and how they relate to me.”

“You are like a rose in every way,” he took a hold of a red one, the biggest of the bunch, and snipped it carefully.

He plucked every single thorn, which I thought would pierce his skin every time. It didn’t seem to bother him at all actually, like it didn’t hurt him a bit. Sungjong walked gracefully to my side. I found myself holding my breath at that moment. I couldn’t pinpoint why. Gently, he reached his hand out, indicating that I move a bit closer. I followed his orders, keeping my eyes interlocked with his. His hands brushed against my cheeks, as his fingers pushed aside every lock of hair on my right side. He secured the rose right above my ear. I felt… I felt so captivated.

“A rose is a symbol of love,” he whispered. “And you are a rose, therefore you are…”

“Love?” I finished his sentence.

“You are a simple example of it. I know that your decision of either being a vampire or just simply parting this world is difficult. And, I know why. It’s simply because you love your family. They are your world. You work for them. You walked every day for hours, just to get over here, for a month.  You probably dream about them a lot.”

I didn’t know what to say. Why couldn’t I speak? His words were correct. My family, my family is my driving force. They are the reason why I worked here to begin with. I wanted to make their lives easier.

“I understand that you have these safeguard walls about you, where you come across with a tough exterior. But I hope you understand that all of us, my brothers and Damien, are here for you always. We will never leave your side. Don’t be afraid to just let those guards down and let us protect you instead. You shouldn’t be terrified. The eight of us are capable of keeping you safe.

“Continuing my words from before, you are epitome of love. The amount of it that you hold is impeccable. I do hope that there is some love for me,” his smile enlarged.

“I do love you, Sungjong,” I interrupted him.

“Really?” he sounded so excited and happy. “That’s… pleasing to hear and know.”

He leaned in, just enough to kiss me on my cheek. I couldn’t help but feel the blood rush to my cheeks, causing them to redden from excitement.

“You are even more beautiful than a rose. You are the most unselfish person in this entire kingdom. This disease, this ailment, this sickness that you have; I hope you are not going to let it hold you back. There are options. This is the time to just think for yourself, do what makes you happy and joyous. May that be living forever with someone or saying goodbye in one month. I want you to live for you now.”

Thank you. I… I couldn’t express my thanks enough to him. Sungjong, the last brother to spend time with me, thoroughly pushed me to think for myself. And he was right. I was the one who gets to choose my end. It’s time to do what I want, what makes me happy, what is best for me.

The Prince whom I viewed as a sibling, transformed that way of thinking. I… I… This feeling. It’s different. It’s… pleasant.

Thank you Sungjong. 

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HEEEY GUYSSS~ I'm happy that you guys payed attention and know who I was talking about when I said the last guy was up this chapter :3 hehehehe~ I previously chose his area a long time ago. But I never found a way to lead into it. I expected to have already done Sungjong's chapter before Hoya's, but it didn't seem like the right time. 

I made Sungjong sound less... feminine? lol. and more mature like. I wanted him to seem like not a sibling to her, but like a guardian who loved her. He is extremely mature and wise, yet still playful and caring. You know? You get me? 

AND THE EPICNESS BEGINS. okay byeeee~ :3

@oknamstar~ not much hoaring this chapter lol. I love Dongwoo's muscles! I wish they'd expose his arms more adkfhakjshdf sobs

@-shaur-~ hehe updated :D

@klutzyriceball~I'm glad that you noticed that ehehhehee ^^ It excites me. And don't worry. Maybe I'll update again tonight and you get to see the epicness pretty soon  :D

@leepeppers~woootttt. :D The action startssss... NOW

@hyeminmints~Bless his muscles /w/ hehe

@saranghaeKVAD~oh ho ho ho ho. I am confusing so many people with my chapters lol. I wonder who she'll end up with ;w; i haven't even chosen an ending yet just winging it! haha. XD

PLEASE VOTE ON THIS POLL. I AM CURIOUS TO HEAR YOUR CHOICES.