I like the new poster better^^ Enjoy!

The next couple of days, I do my best to limit the number of times I see Jongin. Ever since the day I became aware of our growing bond, I’ve become hypersensitive to his presence. The words that fall from his mouth, even if they aren’t directed to me, make my heart rattle uncontrollably. Every small glance or smile he throws at me sends my insides melting into an emotional wreck. And at every chance I get, I avoid Jongin, sometimes (most times) leaving him completely confused and biting his bottom lip in a small pout. And I’ll admit, that pout is unbearably cute, and I have to almost run in the opposite direction to keep me from standing on the tips of my toes and pressing my lips against his.

It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I even take the measures to arrive back at the apartment, pretend to sleep(which means just turning off my light and lying in bed), and leave the building the next day, all before Jongin even has the chance to catch a glimpse of me. I’m pretty sure that my actions aren’t very discreet though, because Jongin starts to notice.

“Daeun.” I jump a little, tap my fingers nervously against the kitchen table, and turn around. “Daeun, are you avoiding me?” He’s home early today.

“Uh...” At Jongin’s bluntness, I search for the words to respond, cursing that when I do, I stutter. “N-no. Not at all. Why would y-you think that?” To be honest, it doesn’t sound convincing and I mentally hit myself.

“Oh, no reason. It certainly had nothing to do with you turning in the opposite direction every time you saw me, or leaving before me without even a ‘goodmorning’. No, definitely not.” He drawls sarcastically, taking a step closer and making me almost cringe at the decreasing proximity of our beings. “Guess what?” 

“What?” I respond, eyes flitting up to meet his before rushing away. He takes another step. I bite the inside of my cheek.

“I’m just as nervous as you are. Really, this is all new to me, and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about everything. About you. So I understand, but you don’t have to try to hide it from me.” He closes the distance between us, forcing me to look up at him. God, you could just drown in those eyes...

“Daeun?” He calls, and I raise my eyebrows as a response because I don’t think I can talk. Seeing that he has my attention, he smiles and his eyes trail down to my lips. “Daeun, can I kiss you?” 

I shake my head quickly, getting ready to jump out of my seat, but Jongin places a hand on the side of my head and leans closer, his breath ghosting across my mouth. “Oh, that’s too bad. I won’t take no for an answer.”

The next couple of seconds are absolute bliss.

His lips lean against mine, and as cliche as it sounds, every nerve in my body erupts into an array of colorful and heated fireworks. The kiss is innocent, light, almost like a butterfly kiss in a post-summer breeze. But it seems like my chest, my heart, is in hell. It burns with a longing and desire that I can’t describe. Reaching my hand up cautiously, I tangle my fingers in his hair and I smile into his lips. Then suddenly in the back of my mind, something sparks and I feel. 

I feel the delight run through Jongin’s veins, the happiness floating in his heart. The relief. Everything.

So this is what a bond is.

Music fills the air abruptly, jolting us apart. I realize that it’s a cell phone ringing and Jongin sighs, placing his forehead against mine.

“I swear, if that’s Luhan...” He groans, exasperated, as he pulls away to retrieve the ringing device. I let out a small laugh before noticing how empty I feel without Jongin nearby. As I’m hopping off the chair, he strides back into the room, ruffling his hair in slight annoyance. “It was Chanyeol. Said that the Engineering and Health department wants to hold a meeting for some kind of test. It starts at 4:45.” 

I glance at the clock. 4:23. I nod, grabbing my coat and scarf, and heading into my bedroom in search of my phone. When I find it, I exit the room and run into Jongin, his toned body pressing against mine. A little too close than necessary. 

“We should get going if we want to make it in time.” I say, trying to side step him but he blocks my path.

“Or we just stay here until 4:44 and I’ll just teleport us there. Actually, we can just stay here and skip the whole thing. Yeah, that sounds nice.” He says, smirking and leaning tauntingly closer. I open my mouth to wonder, Stay here doing what? but then my eyes widen when I realize what he means. Sliding past him quickly, I try to cool down the heat starting to flow to my face.

“Nope, nope, nope.” I say, stumbling out the door as I hear him chuckle behind me. With the elevator being incredibly slow and my nerves going haywire, I opt to take the stairs and zoom down them, breath huffing when I finally reach ground level. The cold winter air seems to distract me, but only for a few seconds. And then my mind is traveling back to Jongin. Jongin and his stupidly cute smile. Jongin and his stupid smirk. Jongin. Jongin. Jongin.

And almost as if he can read my mind, he appears, opening the SUV door and hopping in, a smile gracing his lips.

“The Engineering crew has made a way to temporarily make vampires immune to the toxin VT2 that’s made to main them. We realized that we needed a way to defend ourselves against it, seeing that it is now a threat for us. After much trial and error, the pill, TD, is now approved by the Health Dept. and is absolutely safe. You all are here because we need to test the efficiency of it, the side affects, and the like. We will issue you all three each for now,” Jongdae says as people in white uniforms pass around a small round, metal container to each Division I in the room. “However, I advise that you use it sparingly. Like any other drug or medicine, taking too much in a certain time frame may cause serious damage.”

I stand at the east side of the meeting hall and notice Jongin observing the container curiously, opening it then closing it, sifting it around in the palm of his hand. Luhan whispers something into his ear and Jongin nods, opening his mouth to reply back. Both Luhan and Chanyeol laugh quietly.

“This is only for SHC use. Which means, Luhan,” Jongdae eyes the light-haired boy with playful accusation. “It’s not open for the public.” A few people chuckle.

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” Luhan waves around his hand with a smile and people murmur in amusement. I snicker at their exchange.

Jongdae turns back to the crowd, face once again serious. “Use them only in times where you are almost positive you could be exposed to VT2, because the pill has one setback. It dilutes your power while in your bloodstream. So I don’t suggest that you take it if you need your ability. Now, everyone take one.”

At his demand, the vampires pop the white and red tablets into their mouths and swallow it down with a swig of water from the cups that the white lab coat people hand out. After about a minute, Jongdae resumes, excitement in his eyes.

“Great! It seems to be working for everyone. The water you drank just now had VT2 mixed into it. Without a doubt, the Toxic Defense pill works extremely fast, almost immediately once it enters the body. However, others are more sensitive and if you experienced a slight itch in your mouth or feel a headache, please tell me after this meeting is over. We’ll up or lower your dosage to fit your individual needs. Dismissed.” 

The assembly of vampires in the center of the room fan out, the neat and organized formation turning into an asymmetrical, diluted cluster of figures. A few walk over to Jongdae who smiles and pricks someone’s finger, reads the results, changes the needle, and repeats the process until all are tested. In my periphery, Jongin heads towards me, the metal container disappearing into the pocket of his grey jacket.

“See, it was an important meeting.” I say crossing my arms. Jongin laughs.

“Yeah it was.” The tablets slide around in the can, creating dull and muted pings. Jongin sighs, and then, almost like an afterthought, leans toward me with his hands in his pockets and bangs hanging over his eyes in amusement. “But I find the way you blush when I kiss you even more interesting.”

My cheeks turn pink, and unfortunately it’s something I’ve been doing a lot lately. A sly smile spreads on Jongin’s face and he moves even closer. “See? Just like that.”

A tall figure walks past and I quickly step back, seeing Kris notice us and start to wave. “Hey, Jongin, Daeun, what’s up...Are you blushing?” He wonders as he steps near to inspect my face with concern. I quickly shake my head, but Kris only smiles, and I can tell he’s only seconds away from laughing uncontrollably. “Luhan! Look, our little Daeun is blushing.” Right away, the golden haired boy arrives, his doe eyes stretched past their limit.

“Blushing? But I’ve never, ever seen her do that!” Luhan chuckles when he sees my face and I glare at him. If only looks could kill. “Wait, but what made you embarrassed enough to blush?”

“Nothing. Now I’m going home.” I start but Luhan and Kris grab hold of my arms. 

“It couldn’t be...” Kris says, free hand reaching up to his face in a mock show of surprise.

“It has to be...” Luhan confirms. Both glance at Jongin, the dark haired boy oblivious to the questioning stares until he’s poked in his rib by a curious

deer and a nosy dragon.

“Did you defile our little Daeun?!” Luhan huffs in part disbelief and part exasperation. He puts a protective arm around me, “shielding” me.

Jongin furrows his eyebrows and begins to ask, “What are you talking abou-”

“Taking advantage of such an innocent soul. Shame on you, Jongin.” Kris clucks his tongue and pats my head like I’m some abandoned stray puppy on the side of the road. I resist the urge to bite his fingers.

“You guys, what the-”

“There, there, Daeun. Luhan and Kris are here to protect you from the evil Jongin.” Luhan nuzzles his cheek against the top of my forehead and I cringe at the sudden sweetness that oozes out of him. 

“Poor little thing.” Kris adds in a sympathetic tone and I really have to stop myself from punching his arm.

“Your fake affection is not amusing.” Scowling, I try to shake off the unrelenting affection I’m receiving from both of them, but to my disappointment, they don’t budge. I look at Jongin and sigh. “Help?”

In an instant, I’m whirred away into the corridor outside of the Meeting Hall. I can hear the distinct laughter of Luhan and Kris bubbling from inside the room, but that all disappears when a warm hand slips into mine and starts to guide me away. We pass the maze of hallways that make up the agency and finally arrive outside, brisk air biting at any skin that is exposed and uncovered. 

Jongin opens the door of the vehicle, like he always does, and lets me slide into the seat before shutting the door closed. Suddenly, he appears next to me and I jump, startled. He smiles, and starts the silver SUV, bringing it life and rushing away.

“I have to show you something.” He says.

“Right now? At 5PM?” I reply, glancing at the sun hanging low in the sky, and Jongin nods. He looks excited in a totally nervous way that makes me smile so I let him continue. 

About eight minutes later, we arrive at a two-story building with window baskets filled with vibrant peonies. Jongin parks a little ways off before taking a hold of my hand again and teleporting us to a room lit by the fading sun streaming through two glass windows. There are mirrors everywhere, and I realize it’s a dance studio. My mind travels back to Sehun and the abandoned studio, and an unconscious shiver runs down my spine.

“I realize,” Jongin starts and the sound replaces the chill of the memory. “That I didn’t tell you much about before I met you. So here’s a start.” He gestures to the room and smiles. “When I was younger, I found out that I really liked dancing. So my parents put me in lessons, and I excelled. I can tell you, dancing in this room, is one of the best memories I have of my childhood.”

Jongin bites the inside of his cheek, and looks down. “The owner of this place was a vampire, too, and she was close friends with my parents. Ms. Danmi was incredibly nice, and always supported everyone in classes. But she was taken away, and this place fell into the hands a human.

“There’s this vampire ‘gang’, I guess you could call it, that believes in the rebirth of the Pure One. It’s some legend that a lot of vampires put their faith in. The Pure One is supposedly going to bring either destruction or salvation to all vampires. Danmi had the ability to look into the future, and she had seen who the Pure One was, where he or she lived, everything. So the cult interrogated her, and when she didn’t release any information, they threatened her. And my parents happened to be there, and tried to stop them, but...both of them got a bullet jammed into their hearts. That alone would not have killed them, but the vampires poured gasoline over their bodies and started to light a match, and I knew they weren’t going make it. Their last dying wishes to Danmi was that she wouldn’t give away the Pure One. They told me to live a good life.

“So I ran for my life because the vampires went after me to finish what they started. I hid in a warehouse and crawled into space that hid me, thinking that maybe they wouldn’t find me. However they did, and they dragged me out. But then by some miracle, I ended up somewhere else. It was the first time I ever teleported, and it was extremely exhausting, but I heard voices so I followed them. And I found you surrounded by three men. Scared. Lost. Just like me. I used the last ounce of whatever I had in me to plant the idea in their heads to leave. As a kid, my persuasion skills weren’t that good, but their minds were weak, so it was easy.”

I slip my hand into his, and he flits his eyes downwards at our intertwined hands. “I wanted to just escape this world and see my parents, or get away from the pain that filled my heart. But then you reached out your hand and I thought, maybe I can try to live again. Who knows where I would be if I didn’t meet you, Daeun. It’s seems so awful that I don’t even want to think about it.” Jongin places his head on my shoulder and I hug him lightly.

The sadness that weighs him down translates over to me and I feel it wrench my heart. “Let’s go home, Jongin.” I say and he pulls back, reaching for my hand and holding it between both of his. He leans his forehead against mine and whispers softly.

“I already am home.”