Damien pressed his body against me. His arms kept still as I tried to budge out from under his grip. My arms were locked in front of my chest, and the pure pressure of his weight, was enough to keep me under his control. My eyes darted to every inch of the room that I could see. I needed to find a way to get out of here.

But before I could properly process what was going on, the pressure against my body was relieved. I saw shadows enter the room, and completely surround us. Damien was thrown against the wall in another blink, and I was on my feet in one more.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Dongwoo’s voice was the first I could determine from the rest. I was surprised he didn’t start biting him. I remembered what he told me before, he wasn’t the Prince with the best self control. He was too angry to realize that there was blood all over my room. Actually, all of them were.

Damien didn’t say a word to him and took each hit. Why wasn’t he fighting? Why wasn’t he doing anything to protect himself at least? Myungsoo wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face in his chest, the tears overpowering me.

“Don’t! He’s hurt!” I couldn’t believe that was coming out of my mouth. He just tried to… assault… me, yet I had to protect him still.

Woohyun and Hoya grabbed a hold of each of Dongwoo’s arms and pulled him back. Something shiny on the wall caught my attention. I scanned the door to see how that could have entered my room, and I noticed a small hole through the wooden frame. That’s when the tears began to flow even more. What the hell is going on?

“Calm down Dongwoo,” Sunggyu got inbetween them. He stood facing Damien, glaring him down. “I’m sure he has a reason for doing what he did.”

“I do,” Damien wiped off the new wound on his lip. “Look at the door. See what I see, Princes?”

Everyone turned to where I was already looking. It was a perfect circle, probably two inches in diameter, and was right at an angle. I realized it was perfectly in the path of where I stood before Damien pushed me to the ground. He wasn’t planning to assault me… but instead he pressed his body against mine to save me.

Oh my God. Another attempt to murder me.

“Now look right beside me,” he pulled out an arrow from the wall. It was about a foot long, with a steel tip. His hands were wrapped around the long body of the concoction. “The entire tip is laced with poison. Now, if I didn’t react the way I did, she would have been dying or dead by now.”

I pulled away from Myungsoo’s arms. But I felt his hand intertwine with my own. He didn’t want to let me go at all. All of the boys were defensive, I could tell by their stance and stares. Woohyun stood right in front of me, blocking my view of Damien.

“I hope you won’t mind us intruding,” he stated, “on your little… party, let’s say. But what we saw at that moment was not something we liked. At all.”

“Then you shouldn’t have been peering into a girl’s bedroom so freely,” Damien smirked.

“We only responded to the blood we smelled,” Sungyeol took hold of the arrow, snatching it from Damien’s hands. “It wasn’t hers so we decided to investigate.”

“And why weren’t you guys here earlier then?”

“We had,” Sungjong replied, “things to take care of.”

I pushed aside Woohyun, just enough to see Damien’s face. He was so bruised and bleeding. I cringed upon thinking what was happening because of me. Everything is going wrong because of me.

“Shouldn’t you guys go after whoever did this?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Damien answered me. “My team seems to have him already.”

“How…?”

“While these Princes were focused on trying to kill me,” Damien picked up his shirt from the floor. In one quick motion, he had it on and was already buttoning it up to his neck, “they attacked and subdued the assassin.”

The boys refused to look him in the eyes at this point. I thought they were already done with hating each other. I thought they put their differences aside. I guess they just had to hate each other to the core. It was their nature.

“I’m perfectly capable of protecting her myself,” Damien announced. He still looked extremely annoyed about our ‘moment’ being interrupted. A part of me was thankful though, that the boys showed up. I felt nothing but worry of what would have happened if they didn’t show up. Damien and I probably would have gotten into another fight. And that… that was something I did not want at all. “I don’t even understand why you guys burst into the room like this. I won’t do anything to her that she doesn’t want me to do.”

I winced at his words. The thoughts running through his head were probably of last night. Why was he doing this? Did he want me to see him like that? To take care of him at that moment? What could he possibly gain from our interaction?

“Soph?” someone asked. I didn’t respond. I couldn’t find my voice. So many thoughts ran through my head. I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed, angry, or frightened.

“Sophia?” another voice called my name.

Hoya appeared right in front of me in a blink. He was an inch or two away from me. I noticed how his chest contracted with every breath, indicating that he was trying his best to control his anger and thoughts. But his eyes didn’t express anger. They showed nothing but fear, sorrow, grief, and gloom. All those words could only describe a fraction of what he must’ve felt… of what they all must’ve felt.

“Sophia, what happened last night?” he asked me.

“He came to my room hurt and wounded,” I tried to think of ways to tell them simply what happened. “I just tended to him.”

“And then we slept together,” Damien smirked.

All of the boys’ expressions darkened. Their faces grimaced in realization what that could mean, what that would lead to, what could have happened. I immediately stared at my feet.

“Liar,” Woohyun simply stated.

“Liar? Me? I would never lie about this. Why else would I be shirtless when all of you barged in here?” Damien wanted to make them feel pain. He wanted to get thoughts going in their heads. I knew he enjoyed this. And I needed to put an end to it soon.

“Get out,” Dongwoo growled. I immediately turned to look at him. I knew what he was capable of. And in Damien’s condition, he wouldn’t be able to fight back. This would end in physical tragedy. “Get the hell out.”

“Did I hit a soft spot?” Damien was starting to anger me. I… I needed him to get out of my sight. My entire vision of him returning back to his old ways disappeared.

“Damien, please just be quiet,” I pleaded softly.

“Soph, they deserve to know.”

“You promised! You promised no more games and no more hate! Why are you turning your back on your promise?!” I yelled at him. Myungsoo’s grip on my hand tightened. It held me back from attacking my own best friend.

“I said I’d be nicer,” he told me. “I said I wouldn’t kill them. I said I wouldn’t do anything drastic. This… this is just for my enjoyment.”

“This isn’t nicer. This is just cruel,” I weeped.

Damien flinched as I said the word cruel. I hoped he finally realized what I was feeling. “I bid you adieu,” he waved his hand while his back was turned to us.

As soon as the door closed behind him, I fell to the ground. I was just enjoying my time with each and every one of them yesterday. And as soon as I thought everything was perfect, it gets ruined. Nothing is normal anymore. And I am no longer safe. Damien was perfectly fine before he got onto the subject of us. Is that all he thinks about?

“It reeks,” Sungjong whined. “It’s just utterly disgusting.”

“The stench of his blood makes mine boil,” Dongwoo stretched his arms and muscles.

“I feel like I’m about to puke,” Sungyeol opened the door.

The entire atmosphere of the room lightened. Why couldn’t they just get along? Why was it so difficult to be nice to each other? Damien promised me, didn’t he—that he’d be so much better about them being in my life. He said he accepted it. But all he seems to do is try to find ways to anger them. I don’t understand. Why?

One by one, the boys walked out of my room. Myungsoo still had his hand intertwined with my own and helped to pull me up from the ground. I realized that he didn’t say a single word in the room. His fingers tightened as we all reached the railing of the balcony.

“We apologize for not being able to protect you,” Sunggyu brushed his soft hand against my cheek.

“The seven of us just got back this morning,” Hoya told me.

“We tried our best to swiftly attend to our duties,” Woohyun continued, “so we could be here by the time you woke up.”

“I thought you guys never left the palace walls,” I was a bit surprised. It was true. They always told me how dangerous it was for them to leave the kingdom premises.

“It was…” Myungsoo finally spoke. “A special task that required our immediate attention.”

“All of us believed that leaving you for a few hours wouldn’t be a problem,” Sungyeol patted me on the head.

“That thought was quickly thrown out the door,” Dongwoo announced.

“At least you’re safe,” Sungjong smiled. “That’s all that matters.”

“That still doesn’t tell us what happened last night,” Hoya grumbled under his breath.

“It’s not for us to know,” Myungsoo sounded like that was extremely painful to say.

“We didn’t sleep sleep together,” I sighed. “I don’t quite understand what you guys are thinking. So I’ll just say this bluntly.”

I noticed how they all started to hold their breath. Well, they didn’t need to breath. They only did so to seem more human to me. I continuously forgot about them being vampires. I just knew the seven boys who changed my life.

“I was fully clothed when I fell asleep. And I woke up with all my clothes where they belonged. We did not do anything last night,” I bluntly stated. “He wouldn’t go to sleep unless I was by his side. So when I laid my head, he pulled me in and wrapped his arms around me. I am weak, we all know that, so I couldn’t necessarily fight back. I slept in the same position that I woke up in. Let me repeat, we did not do anything. Just slept. No intimate things were done.”

“Are you sure?” Woohyun asked.

“Yes I’m sure!” I told him. “Believe me; I did not lose anything last night. I’m still the same Sophia.”

“Then what happened to him?” Sunggyu changed the subject.

“Idiot took on a mission by himself. He wasn’t focused and so he suffered the consequences.”

“And his clothes?” Dongwoo questioned.

“I threw them in my trashcan and gave him some spares,” I answered. “You guys cannot honestly be jealous.”

No word was spoken. They all turned to different directions, not even looking at me. What where they thinking? Wait. Were they jealous?

“Are you guys…” I inquired. “envious of Damien spending the night with me?”

Still, nothing was said. Are they serious? All of them? Every single one? Jealous. Of Damien. What the hell? All of the boys in my life really needed to sort out how they felt.

“Since no one responded, I’m going to assume that you guys are,” I grinned. “We’ve spent nights together before guys! We’ve been doing that since I moved in here. This… this doesn’t make any sense. Why be covetous of one night?”

“Precisely, Soph,” Sungyeol was the one to reply to me. “None of us have spent a night with you alone.”

“What?”

“We’ve always been together,” Sungjong added. “The seven brothers and you. It’s never been just one of us and one of you.”

“I’ve spent quality time with each and every one of you, so I still don’t understand,” I told them.

“Not at night, not in bed, not like you did with him,” Hoya sighed.

“Then after I clean my room thoroughly, we can do that,” I tried to fix their feelings. Why would this cause them to be melancholy? “I’ll spend one night with all of you.”

“That’s impossible, Soph,” Dongwoo told me.

“And why would that be?” I asked.

“We don’t trust ourselves enough,” Myungsoo’s hold on my hand lightened a bit. “We… we don’t want our feelings to get the best of us. That’s why it’s always been the seven of us.”

“But we got through me spending time with every one of you just fine. See?” I poked my cheeks with my free hand and messed with my hair. “Look, I’m fine. No injuries. No worries.”

“That was only for a couple of hours at a time,” Woohyun told me. “It changes upon each environment and situation.”

“Aish. All of you are making a normal condition into a complicated one,” I smacked my hand against my head. “Just calm down and stop thinking wrong.”

“We can’t help it alright,” Sungyeol exchaled. “It’s just in our nature.”

“To worry?”

“To care,” Sungjong sang.

“Okay, then all of you promise me something,” I announced. “Tonight, you guys will stay with me.”

Each and every one of them turned to look at me and nodded. Their smiles were enough to cause my heart to practically burst into billions of pieces.

“After that horrible scent in your room is gone,” Dongwoo faked throwing up.

“It is a foul smell,” Sunggyu wrinkled his nose.

“What? Blood?” I asked. “I thought vampires, you know, like blood. Yum yummy.”

“Not human blood,” Hoya told me. “We’ve been accustomed to drinking animal blood; even though human is appealing, it’s also just bitter to us. And even worse, it’s his blood.”

“Such childish boys,” I giggled. “Okay, I’ll clean it up myself.”

“No!” all seven of them exclaimed.

“Why?”

“We don’t want to strain you,” Sungyeol said.

“I am a maid, boys. Have you forgotten? It is my job to clean and tidy up things.”

“Well, as the Princes of this kingdom, we have formally changed your job title for good. You are now solely and only a baker. No more maid Sophia,” Sunggyu smirked.

“Then who will clean my room? The other workers are still gone for their paid vacation,” I started tapping my foot.

“Don’t worry about it,” Woohyun smiled. “Just don’t go anywhere near your room for a few hours, alright?”

“Since I know you guys aren’t going to go anywhere near it, and since there is no one else here to clean. That means you’re going to get your mother to do it!”

“She’d murder us if we asked her to do that,” Sungjong laughed. “It would be extremely rude for us to do that.”

“Then there is no other options.”

“Don’t think about it Soph,” Myungsoo whispered. “Let us handle it. Just unwind and roam around the palace some more. Hang out with Isaiah or Anthony by the gates. Father and Mrs. Moon are scheduled to return some time soon.”

I followed his suggestions. But something about the seven of them was a little weird to me. And what wasn’t out of my brain was who tried to kill me this time? I examined the arrow some more, before parting ways with the brothers, and noticed that three crosses were embellished into the steel tip. The Lee family. Again. Great. Another assassin from them sent to chew me to bits. But a vampire wouldn’t use weapons. So did they use a hunter?

That’s where things got complicated. All hunters are under the Woo family control. Right? So who else would have attacked me so? And why am I still being targeted?

Plus, Damien was completely a hormonal person. First, he’s being cocky and hardheaded, just like he was when we were younger. He joked around a bunch and did not bring up anything that would ruin the time we spent together. Then, the next second, he’d bring up us and what we could be. It just complicated things even more.

If he didn’t love me the way he did. We wouldn’t be in this situation. I wouldn’t be so heart broken about it. And he wouldn’t be aching the way he is.

The Princes and Damien will never agree on something. And that’s where everything will fail. No matter how strong the eight of them are. A group is just as strong as their weakest link. And with my life hanging on their fingertips, it seems like I’m going to die even sooner, theoretically.

What can I do to change that? 

~~~~~~~~~~~

epicness. epicness all up on this. hehe~ all of the assumptions and all of the anger. T_____T I'm sorry for returning Damien to his hateful ways. His pleads beforehand were just short and simple. They weren't enough to change him for good. He just hates hates hates vampires too much to change so quickly for Sophia. I hope you gus will forgive me for doing this ;w; But it's all for a good reason, trust me. 

Anyways, I hope it explains why the Princes didn't respond to the blood on the premises. But doesn't explain what they were doing exactly! Don't forget about Dongwoo's chapter! They are planning something for Sophia! hehe. 

Damien is just a baddbutt, isn't he? I love his badbutt ways. lol. I don't want to say the bad word so is the alternative. hahahahaha. Can you guys imagine him? If it was a modern times sort of thing, he'd be that character with the motorcycle and leather jacket, honestly. XD

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK BELOW PLEASE <33

@xadrimusicx~it's all for a reason ;w; lol. i know what you mean though. he's just like a girl on her period. horrible analogy but it's true in a way. 

@parktaemi~Give Damien more credit honey! XD hehe. 

@chillaay~ I'm going to update once or twice more tonight so please be prepared!

@klutzyriceball~I'm so glad you can tell that ;w; that's what i wanted to portray in writing each seperate prince chapter ;w; sobs Damien is a confusing boy. lol. 

@applepearles~ D: she's fine though so yaay~

@saranghaeKVAD~ I KNEW SOMEONE WOULD THINK THAT LOL. XD I started laughing though when i read your first line lol. he is kinda hot isn't he hahaha. 

@leepeppers~OH GOSH YOU TOOO ?! XD WOOOOTTTT the boys to the rescuee~ well, lol that's where things get conplicated. ahha. it's all explained :D

@oknamstar~lololololol. Damien is just another factor to the hoaring! oh interesting~ :D

Answer my polls below guys! I would really like that (: It's for me to see what you guys are feeling lol. I've been throwing so many curveballs, it's probably irritating a lot of you. ;w; sobs. 

For this first poll. I just want to know how you guys feel about Damien lol. I've just... driven his character into insanity, haven't I?

And this is when feedback is imperative. Yes, it must be boybands. I find boys easier to write about lol. I know precisely how to introduce each and every one of the groups below so yeaaah (: hahahah. I'm just curious to see who you guys like the most. This may or may not turn into a cameo or permanent spot in this story or the sequel. Or it could result in a whole new story. Just tell me what you guys are thinking and feeling! I do accept requests! :D Thank you so much~