"Awww....Yoseob...." I whimpered. I felt so bad for him. All this time I was hurting, yet he was in even MORE pain. The pain of changing into something monstrous, something inhuman.

"Yoseob....I can't even to begin to imagine how painful and horrifying this process must be right now....but I still want to be your friend. And Doojoon oppa, he's worried about you too. We can work this out somehow. Please...." My lip trembled slightly and I fought back tears. "I'd rather have my life be in danger than spend the rest of my life without you with me."

Yoseob felt his heart rate quicken at my words.

In half a second, he was back at my bedside again, and took my hand gently with his. I ignored the ice-cold feeling and the electric tingles this time. I was too mesmerized by his desperate, enchanting eyes.

"Jimi....I...I....I don't know how safe it will be. I don't know if I can control myself. But I....I want to stay with you, Jimi. I swear. You are the most important person in the world to me." Yoseob swallowed. More than you'll ever know.

"I always watched you, at night time. I made sure you were safe. I saw you crying, I'm so sorry. I really am. I never meant to hurt you. But now....I promise you, I will stay by your side forever. I will always be here, by your side, just like this. I will always be here to protect you."

I blushed. "Yoseob....."

Junhyung suddenly spoke. "Yah, monkey, you mind moving? You're blocking Jimi's intoxicating scent." He breathed deeply as if to demenstrate, then smirked at me. I immediately felt embarassed. Did I smell?

Yoseob turned to glare at him venemously. "Don't think I've forgiven you for drinking her blood, Junhyung, you bastard! If Jimi really DID get drained, I swear to the Devil I will lock you up in the cellar with the Newborn for all of eternity!"

I lightly touched his shoulder (careful not to get too close in case he couldn't handle it) in order to calm him down. It worked. He relaxed and smiled breathlessly up at me. "Sorry, Jimi."

"I still don't understand this whole Vampire--Dhampir thing." I said, frowning. "How does it work?"

Kikwang smiled. "It's rather simple, Jimi. A Vampire was a race unto itself. Just like how there was always humans, there was always Vampires too. No, you don't turn into a Vampire if you get bitten, that's just in movies. You can only be a Vampire of your parents were Vampires."

"Then what are Dhampirs?" I asked.

"Dhampirs are a whole different clan entirely. It all changed about two hundred thousand years ago, when a Vampire married a human. Their child became something that was...well, different. Half-Vampire, half-human. A cross-breed, a hybrid. A Dhampir."

Junhyung cut in. "Vampires naturally shunned the monster, and just for safe measures kicked its parents out too. That sparked the hatred between Vampires and Dhampirs."

"But, then, if Dhampirs could just marry humans to give birth to more Dhampirs, why did that lady change Yoseob?" I demanded.

"Well, that's kind of the problem.....there is a much bigger Vampire clan then there is a Dhampir clan, and people of our kind can only give birth once a century, so if you think about it -- Dhampirs were at a big disadvantage, and it also didn't help that Vampires were trying to kill them left and right. So they had to make some more. They had to change humans and make them cross over to their kind."

Kikwang scowled at Junhyung and kicked him, then continued the explanation to me. "What they do is when they bite a human, they don't drink their blood. If they can fight the temptation to drink, then they give a bit of their Vampire side of the blood over to the human. Once the human's blood mixes with the Vampire blood, then it causes a 'change' reaction and changes the human into a Dhampir. Get it?"

I nodded. "It's confusing, but I sort of understand it. Then what about you two? What's your story? And this Newborn guy....what is he?" I wonder why their faces all spasmed with fear whenever the Newborn was mentioned.

"Well," Junhyung smirked. "I am a criminal."

"MWOH?" I gasped. "A Vampire criminal?" My eyes sparkled. "Wow, that is so cool!"

"Jimi, he is NOT 'so cool'." Yoseob muttered through gritted teeth.

"Aww, don't be jealous, Seobie." I pinched his cheek affectionately. 

Yoseob's pale cheeks turned pink. "I am not jealous!" He snapped, looking flustered.

Junhyung basked in glory under my admiration. "I lived in the Vampire Shadowrealm -- that's the world Vampires live in when we aren't coexisting with humans -- as a rebel, which got me in trouble in the first place. Then I got into a fight with another Vampire. Long story short -- the fight turned ugly, I lost my temper, I killed that bastard. The kingdom was going to pubicly execute me for my crime of 'harming a brother' or and for disturbing the peace as a rebel, but I escaped the day before my execution and spent my days on the run. Then I met this guy." He nudged Kikwang.

"What are you, Kikwang?" I asked him.

He smiled at me. "I am a prince."

"SA WHAT?" I gasped, clapping my hands to my cheeks. "Omo! I get to meet a real, live prince! Waaaaaah!!!"

Kikwang looked equally as pleased about my reaction. "I'm Prince Kikwang, youngest out of several brothers in the kingdom. I was left alone most of the time, and I got bored easily, so I decided to.....uh.....experiment."

"What kind of experiments?" I asked him curiously.

"Trust me, you don't wanna know." Kikwang said, smiling. "Well, one day I went down to the labratory and I....well.....I found out the scientists had found a Newborn."

"What is a Newborn anyway?" I asked, frustrated. Why was this Newborn so dangerous?

"A Newborn is a Vampire that comes straight down from a long, ancient line of Vampire Demons." Kikwang explained. "They are called Newborns because they were Demons before being somehow reborn into a Vampire. It's almost impossible to find one, they are incredibly rare. Most Vampires spend all of eternity never even seeing one."

"And it's a good thing they're rare, too." Yoseob said, shuddering. "Newborns possess deadly powers, powers that shouldn't exist. Powers that can destroy the entire Universe. And as if that isn't dangerous enough, all Newborns are physically and mentally dangerous and unstable."

He smiled at me. "They're like those crazy people you see on TV, Jimi, that people have no choice but to lock up because they can hurt the people around them. Just a million times worse."

Kikwang nodded. "They were going to kill him. I couldn't let them do that -- it would ruin all my years of research on Newborns -- so I snuck him out of the labratory one night and ran off. I was running, trying to find a Gateway to the human realm, when I ran into Junhyung. The two of us were runners, so we decided to band together and try to escape the Vampire Shadowrealm with the Newborn. That's when we crossed the Gateway and we met Yoseob."

I nodded, then fell backwards onto my pillow.

"Jimi! Are you okay?" Yoseob asked, worried. He stood up quickly and bent over to place a cold hand on my forehead. "Are you dizzy? Lightheaded? Do you have a fever?"

I smiled weakly. "I think....I need....to sleep on things...."

My eyelids fluttered closed, and I fell into a weary and exhausted sleep.

"Let her sleep, Yoseob." Kikwang said quietly. "It's been a rough day for her. She has as lot to take in at the moment. She just found out her best friend turned into a Dhampir, and he's living in a mansion with two Vampires and a mentally unstable creature that can destroy the world."

Junhyung his lips. "She smells so delicious."

"I am totally serious." Yoseob snarled, his eyes flashing red for a second. "Don't you DARE go into this room, you got that? Or I'm kicking you guys out -- you can find another unlucky bastard's house to hide the Newborn in."

Junhyung smirked and held his hands up. "All right, all right, I'm just saying -- I know you want a snap at her, too."

Yoseob growled at him dangerously, like a wild beast, the sound low and guttural and menacing. "I. Will. Never. Touch. Jimi."

"Sure, sure." Junhyung said, smirking. "You love her too much, don't you?"

Yoseob turned red and opened his mouth to say something. Then he closed it and stormed out of the room.

"Junhyung, stop harassing him like that." Kikwang scolded.

"What? Jealous you didn't get to taste her too?" Junhyung taunted happily.

Kikwang smirked arrogantly. "I'll do more than just taste her when I get the chance. You do know I'm looking for a bride........"

Junhyung snickered. "Well, let me have another drink before you two get hitched first. Damn, you have no idea how amazing she tastes. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water.............."

"YAH YOU KNOW I CAN HEAR YOU!!!!!!!!!!" Yoseob screamed from downstairs. "IF YOU DON'T COME DOWN RIGHT NOW I SWEAR I WILL UNLEASH THE NEWBORN!!!!!!!!!!"

Junhyung rolled his eyes. "Aish, what an annoying monkey." But he left after taking one last longing look at me.

Kikwang looked at my sleeping face too, smiling slightly. Then he followed Junhyung and closed the door behind him, leaving me to my troubling, unhappy dreams. Dreams of Vampires, Dhampirs, and Newborns.

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LOL sorry this chapter is so boring. I had to explain what Vampires, Dhampirs, and Newborns were, so.....UGH.

Just to be nice to all my readers out there (yes, I love you too) I'll update another chapter right after this one, so you can have a REAL chapter.

LOL anyhoo......