Myungsoo sat down at the lunch table closest to him and relaxed. He stretched out his limbs and moaned with pleasure as they cracked and stretched in all the right places. He shut his eyes and smiled to himself. He was content. Suzy had become friends with him, and he had a nice stretch. Now his mind was happy, and his limbs were happy too.

 All of a sudden, there was a loud clatter on the lunch table, which disturbed Myungsoo's tranquility.

His eyes flicked open in shock.

   “Myuuuuuungsooooooooo!,” bellowed Suzy, in between bites of sweet bread. She had thrown her lunch tray onto the table, which was what had caused the commotion.

Myungsoo watched her approach his table. She waved wildly.

   “I can sit here right?”, she asked. She didn’t wait for a reply, and plopped down in the seat in front of him.

Myungsoo was too shocked to even blink. He overwhelmed by Suzy’s friendliness.

   Why does she want to sit next to me? he wondered.

   Doesn’t she have other friends?

 Suzy stopped eating, and placed put her bread down onto her tray. She gave him a quizzical look.

   “Why haven’t you said yes yet?” she asked.

   “I know you’d love to sit with me,” she proclaimed, indirectly telling the truth.

Myungsoo flushed a deep shade of pink.

   “Oh well, you already are. Don’t complain about it later,” she demanded.

  Myungsoo liked her cockiness. It wasn’t often that girls approached him with such confidence. Well, it was different from Seoul. He was in Gwangju now, and he was a new student. He had no reputation, nothing to be known for.

In Seoul, he was known as the 'guy who stopped having friends after he was 7'.

His old friends had looked to him with hatred, while others simply thought of it as a cool, chic trait.

Myungsoo, himself, knew that it was because he was trying to be safe. 

“Why aren’t you speaking? And why aren’t you eating anything? Do you want some of my food?” she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Myungsoo didn’t answer any of her questions. Instead, he asked with a smirk, “Why aren’t you wearing your school uniform, Suzy-ssi?”

 “Hmph. I guess you don’t want food then,” she mused.

 “That’s good though, it’s not like I was going to give you anyway.” she teased.

Suzy thought about Myungsoo’s question again. She frowned. She then proceeded to pick up a sticky sugar-coated slice of cake and pick off the parts she found to her liking.

   “The school uniforms of this school are so ugly,” she said.

   “And I forgot to wash mine last night.”

“There’s no point in even wearing it though. This school never follows up on its policies anyway. I could wear regular clothes for a month, and they won’t even care,” she declared, in between bites.

   “I know what I’m talking about!” she insisted, after receiving a skeptical look from Myungsoo.

   “I’ve done it for like the 2 years that I’ve been here…” she added with a giggle.

   Two years, Myungsoo wondered. She’s a sophomore! That means she’s younger than me. No honorifics needed!

   “Two years, huh? I guess I don’t have to use honorifics, then?” he asked her.

   “I’m a junior, Suzy,” he added, after receiving a confused look from her.

Suzy grimaced at the newfound news.

   “Alright, don’t use honorifics then, Myungsoo! I don’t care. You’re older than me… But, so far, you've listened to whatever I told you to do anyway.” she insisted.

 Myungsoo frowned at her reply.

   “Who are you calling Myungsoo? What happened to Myungsoo-nim? Call me oppa!” he demanded.

 Suzy childishly shook her head, from side to side, making it clear that she would not do so.

   “Why won’t you call me oppa?” he asked, giving her a frown.

   “I’d call you oppa if I respected you.” she teased, with a grin.

 Myungsoo frowned in response.

   “You know who I do respect?” she inquired.

   “I respect that really hot senior who has eyes like us. I’d call him oppa. Heck, I’d even call him my darling.” she said, answering her own question.

   “I know his name too!” she declared.

   “It’s Kim Jongin. Gosh, there isn’t a girl in this school who wouldn’t want him.”

  Myungsoo recognized the name. Earlier, before the start of class, he had heard several people shout his name. He had seen Jongin then, and it was impossible to dismiss his appearance. He was freakishly tall; and had devilishly good looks. He was the most popular senior in school. Even though he was so popular, Myungsoo had no idea that he had yellow eyes.

   “He has eyes like us? What are you talking about? I’ve never seen them as yellow. I don’t personally know the guy, but I don’t think he has yellow eyes.”

   “Does he? Hmm, I guess I wouldn’t really ever see, because he’s always smiling with his eyes shut, right? I’ll keep an eye out for that.” blabbered Myungsoo, sheepishly.

   “He has yellow eyes. You just can’t see it most of the time because he is smiling, that’s true.” insisted Suzy.

   “But that’s not it; it’s also that he wears contacts. He wears brown circle lenses that those stupid Korean girls wear nowadays... When they want to have some kind of anime eyes.”

   “I don’t think he’s going for the anime look though, I think he’s trying to cover up the yellow in his eyes. The yellow isn’t something people normally see when they’re near him.” she concluded.

 Myungsoo gave her a look, as if to imply that she was a creep.

   “I’m not a creep!” defended Suzy, reading his mind.

   “I just saw him one day; he was taking out his contacts and blinking rapidly. I think he was hurt!” she said.

She started to wonder out loud.

   “Since he looked so hurt, I guess wearing contacts all day can hurt your vision. For me, I think I’d rather stick with yellow eyes than hurt my vision.”  

 Myungsoo, despite her explanation, still thought she was a creep. His assumption was even stronger now, because of the things she had just said.

   Why would she watch him take off his contacts? he wondered, feeling a tinge of jealousy.

 She picked up her bread and started nibbling idly at it. She gave him a glance and cocked her head slightly to the right.

   “Anyways, why aren’t you eating?”

 Her question hung in the air for a moment. Myungsoo wondered if he should give her the usual excuse, or tell her the truth.

   Before telling her, I should find out if she’s like me, he decided.

   “Why are your eyes yellow?” he asked, moving out of his relaxed position. He leaned on to the table and extended his arms onto the table, giving her a curious smile.

 To Myungsoo’s surprise, Suzy looked unaffected by his question. Her yellow eyes gave no hint of surprise or recognition.

   “I think it’s some genetic mutation in my eyes or some crap.” she declared.

   “It happens. Isn’t that what happened to you too?” she asked, in between bites of another pastry.

   “Yeah. That is what happened.” he lied.

   “Your eyes are pretty, you know?” he said, looking into her eyes.

 She looked back at him, and gave him an eye smile, indicating that this was not new news to her.

 Myungsoo tried to decipher any kind of pain or agony she might have possibly shown through her smile.

He could see absolutely nothing in those small yellow eyes of hers. He watched them flick back and forth, from one pastry to another, but there was no bitterness within them. How was it that she wasn’t in pain? He didn’t want to think that she fed on humans. It was such a vile and unforgiving sin.

   A sin that he had committed himself once...

   But it was a mistake, he thought, defending himself.

 He watched her eat. He knew that when vampires ate, it only gave them enough energy for the day. It was similar to living off of only water for a human. A human would be able to live off of simply water, but only in a very weak manner. Myungsoo examined her, and noted that she didn’t look unhappy, but she looked very sickly.

He wondered how she had turned into a vampire. He wondered if she had gone through the same process as him. Through the same confusion and pain.

 He wondered what age Suzy had been turned. For Myungsoo he had been 7 years old at the time, so he wasn’t fully aware of what had been happening to him. Myungsoo felt that if she fed on humans, he would have less respect for her. 

    She has no right to take away life from someone else.

   The real question honestly is… Is she even a ing vampire?

Suzy had been watching Myungsoo as he was thinking. She noticed Myungsoo’s puzzled and slightly pained expression.

   “What’s wrong Myungsoo? Are you jealous of my eyes?” she joked.

   “No.”

Her face scrunched up into one of distaste.

   “Alright, I see how it is,” she pouted.

   “There’s nothing to be jealous of. We have the same kind of eyes. I wonder if it brings along the same things…” Myungsoo’s voice trailed off.

   “Things associated with my eyes?” she inquired.

   “If you mean ty eyesight, then sure,” she suggested.

    “I’m pretty darn blind. Some days, I can’t even see anything. Things start to black out.”

    “I don’t know. I guess I should get it checked out,” she offered, after receiving a horrified look from Myungsoo.

Myungsoo suffered from the same exact terrible eyesight! How was it that they both had the same affliction? Was it because they both refused to feed? Myungsoo's train of thoughts ran wildly in his head, frantically searching for answers.

   “Wow, I have bad eyesight too!” he finally said.

   “Say, do you like steak?” he asked.

  He was starting to get impatient at her seemingly human answers. He wanted to know if she was as hungry for flesh as he was. He decided that if she answered 'yes', he would take it as a hint to keep his suspicions. If not, he would consider her a human.

   What do I do with this friendship if she's a human? I can't hurt her...

He dismissed that thought, and looked back at Suzy.

Suzy finally looked surprised. Her eyebrows rose and widened. She dropped her cake.

formed into a wide, idiotic grin.

   “I LOVE STEAK! GOD IT’S SO GREATTTTT!” she shrieked. 

She rose out of her chair and advanced towards him on the lunch table, pushing her body forward. 

   “WHY ARE YOU ASKING? DO YOU OWN SOME KIND OF STEAK PLACE? ARE YOU INVITING ME TO COME? OH MY GOD. YES! LET’S GO MYUNGSOO. OH MY GOD,” she rambled on.

  Myungsoo staggered backwards at her aggressiveness. This wasn’t the kind of reaction he was expecting from her. He had expected her to slither around his question, like she usually seemed to do. He wondered if he was just being paranoid, and that this was just a girl who loved steak.

   But she didn’t say no…

   “How do you like your steak? Rare, medium rare, done well?” he asked.

She paused. Her aggressiveness seemed to die out. She retreated back to her seat and crossed her arms. Her eyebrows were raised in thought, and she twiddled her fingers. She thought about his question with care.

   “I’ll take any kind of steak, to be honest with you, but I like it rare. I know it’s bloody and dangerous to eat it that way, but it’s so juicy and great,” she answered looking into Myungsoo’s eyes.

Myungsoo paused for a bit before replying.

He gave her a knowing smile. “Hmm. I don't work at or own a steakhouse, but I’ll buy some rare steak for you one day. I like it cooked rare too. The bloodiness adds a special twist, don't you think?”

She simply winked back at him.

  Myungsoo wanted to question her further, but he knew it would come off as strange. He watched her go back to picking at her sweets, with a smile on her face now. He had lost the timing as well. It would be too obvious to ask further now.

 He thought about her wink again. He had felt his heart flutter for his own personal reasons at the wink, but it had also brought on more confusion for him. He wasn’t sure if she had winked because she considered that steakhouse dinner as a date, or because of what he wanted.

   Whatever. Whether it be a date or a vampire, both are good for me. As long as it's Suzy, he thought, while gazing lovingly at her.

That conversation had been enough.

   She’s a vampire. For now.

He decided to ask her further once they got to know each other better. He kept his mouth shut, even though he yearned for answers.

--

 The rest of the period went on to no event. Suzy kept on eating from her tray of sweet foods, and Myungsoo watched her. He had dismissed the previous vampiric thoughts, and moved onto simply being infatuated with her. He realized that he liked the way she physically dissected every food that she ate, before she even put it into .

 She was eating a strawberry cake now. Myungsoo took note of how she would carefully pick off each strawberry from the cake, smile at it, and then pop it into .

 He felt as if he was watching a k-pop star that was filming a commercial for some kind of bakery.

   Paris Baguette maybe?

Myungsoo propped his head under both of his hands and watched her.

  Suzy would close her eyes in pleasure each time she tasted something delicious. She would let out a little yelp of happiness when she moved on to the next one, and scold him if Myungsoo tried to take any. It made Myungsoo happy to see her so happy.

   “Do you like food that much?” he asked.

 She scraped off the last bits of cream from the cake with the tip of her index finger, and it off with her tongue. She looked at him, her finger still placed in between her lips. Her yellow eyes bore into his, making him feel uncomfortable.

Her lips pressed tightly together, forming a scowl on her face.

   “I do,” she replied, putting her finger down.

--

Myungsoo just watched and watched, not saying a word.

 Suzy finally looked up from her food.

  He wondered why she had looked up from her eating after all this time. He glanced at her tray. He realized that she was finished with the sweets. There were none left on the tray.

He laughed at her scowl. He was slightly jealous of how attached she was to her food. He wished that someday, she would be this attached to him.

 The bell rang, marking the end of the lunch period. Myungsoo groaned as he realized what it meant. They had to return to class. And he would have to pretend not to sleep. Again.

   “What do you have next?” asked Myungsoo.

Suzy gave him a puzzled look.

.  “Have next what?” she inquired.

   “Oh. I guess I wasn’t specific. What class do you have next? I’ll walk you there if you want,” he offered.

   “Wow, didn’t you say you were a junior at this school?” she asked.

   “If you’re in the same homeroom as me that means we have all the same classes.” she explained.

   “So, it’s not an option to walk me there. You have to.” she added, with a grin. Her two front teeth protruded through her lips.

   She looks like a bunny. So darn cute!

  Myungsoo’s face lit up with excitement as he comprehended Suzy’s words. He realized that he could see her every day, and every single period. This school year was already starting to look fantastic.

   “You’re right! So what class do we have next?” he asked, flashing her his crooked smile.

  Suzy rose from the lunch table without answering his question. She made her way to the nearest trash can, and threw out the wrappers of the sweet snacks that she had for lunch. She turned around, and beckoned with her index finger, for him to follow.

 Myungsoo quickly followed her into the hallway. He jogged to catch up to her. He didn’t understand why she always indirectly answered his questions. When he was around her, he felt as if he was never sure of anything.

They walked side by side now, keeping pace with each other. Their shoulders brushed against one another as they did so.

Myungsoo took note of this, and couldn’t help but smile.

   “Where are we going? What class is it?” he demanded, turning his head to face her.

   “It’s pretty great really. We have a free period now!” she exclaimed, giving him a smile.

   “Let’s go outside Myungsoo. The environment outside is a lot better than this dump.”

   “It’s oppa to you.” insisted Myungsoo.

   “Anyways, leaving the school isn’t allowed until school is over. Let’s just go to the library or something,” he suggested.

 He had said that statement, but in the previous years of high school, he had not obeyed the rule. He had often left the school campus during free periods for a smoke, or a cup of ramen. Those kind of activities weren’t allowed inside the school anyway, and it wasn’t like Myungsoo ever studied during his free time.

Even though he didn’t follow the rule himself, he wished that Suzy would. He didn’t want her to be corrupt like him.

   “Aish, don’t be such a priss. Let’s just walk outside and get some fresh air. There’s a really nice tree outside where we can lay down and rest.” she said.

   “During midterm week, that place was like a second home to me.”

   “I wasn’t really stressed out though, it’s not like I studied for the midterms,” she said.

    “Watching all the other kids stress out was what stressed me out!” she explained, with a giggle.

   They stepped out into the cold autumn air. The damp mist that hung in the air from last night’s rainfall clung to their clothes, making Myungsoo feel uncomfortable. He looked at Suzy, and it seemed as though she felt the exact opposite. She extended her arms out to her sides, and took in every part of the mist she could get. He knew by her expression, that she couldn’t get enough of it. She was happy. Refreshed. Her eyes were small crescents again, and there was the familiar uneven smile across her face.

Myungsoo thought she looked like a k-pop star once again, and felt glad that he was friends with one.

   “This weather’s so nice. It’s not warm, but it’s not cold either. Perfect mixture of temperatures make Suzy happy!” she giggled and started to skip across the campus.

  Myungsoo was surprised at her actions. During class, she had seemed really rude and cold towards him. Since then, he noticed, she had been opening up to him. They had eaten lunch together, and now she was showing him something that was special to her. Myungsoo felt very special. He idiotically smiled behind her.

 He had to jog to catch up to her skipping, and when he did, Suzy stopped in her tracks. She had stopped in front of a very tall tree. It was wide as well, wide enough for someone to sit in between the curves it had. Myungsoo was standing next to her now, and he noticed that she had a faint smile on her lips.

   This was the tree Suzy had mentioned earlier, he decided.

She turned to him and her smile widened.

   “This is the tree! It’s so pretty!” she exclaimed.

   “It’s kinda dying right now though.” she added, with a pout.

   “It’s really breathtaking in the spring though. Instead of the usual green leaves you see on most trees, this one has pink ones. The rest of the trees aren’t like that. This is the only one. It’s so special.” she rambled on.

Myungsoo nodded in approval. He laughed quietly to himself at her lack of knowledge. Trees with pink leaves were called Japanese Cherry Blossoms.

He didn’t understand why there was one of them in Gwangju, though.

 Suzy comfortably sat down on the damp tree. Before she could even settle into the tree, Myungsoo noticed that she flinched. She immediately jumped back onto the pavement. He took a look at her, and noticed that Suzy’s bottom was now drenched with water. It was from the puddle of water that had accumulated in the tree.

   “! I’m so stupid. Even though I saw this damp- environment, I forgot that it rained yesterday!”

 She arched her neck to the right and gazed down at her bottom. It had become completely soaked from the tree. Since her overalls were previously a light-blue shade of denim, when they had become drenched, they turned into a dark shade of violet. It was impossible to hide.

    “Ugh! Now people are gonna think I pissed myself or something.” she groaned.

 Myungsoo’s lips pressed tightly together to keep him from smiling. He took another look at her bottom, however, and couldn’t help himself. A wide smile spread across his lips, and he did nothing to help Suzy as she fussed over her ruined clothes.

  He couldn’t believe how stupid she was. He replayed the scene once again in his head, and laughter erupted from his mouth. Suzy glared at him, but he continued to laugh, and even doubled over with pain.

He laughed so hard that he fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. His mouth started to ache because of how widely he was smiling. Myungsoo looked up at Suzy, and saw that she was frowning down at him. Her arms were crossed, eyebrows furrowed. That familiar type of annoyed breathing came from Suzy’s mouth. He laughed harder when he realized this, which caused Suzy to tap her foot angrily on the ground in response.

Myungsoo laughed harder, (if that was even possible) when he thought of how comical she looked. She looked like she had appeared straight of a comic book, tapping her foot like that.

   “Okay. I’m done laughing!”, he insisted, holding his hand to motion that he was going to stop.

Suzy looked down at him, her gaze turning from angry to expectant.

   “Wait…. No I lied!” Myungsoo giggled. He saw her face scrunch up into a scowl, and that drove him further into hysterics. He excitedly rolled from side to side on the cold, wet ground.

SUZY POV

   Suzy’s scowl turned into a frown. He was causing a scene right in front of the school building. People were walking by, since it was their free period as well, and she didn’t want any kind of attention from them. She had spent 16 years of her life building the reputation of a tough girl, pushing her classmates away from her, and now this idiotic boy was going to ruin it. She didn’t care that he was idiotic, she just didn’t want to seem friendly to anyone. The whole laughing scene that he created made her feel vulnerable. Someone could use that as an excuse to relate to her. And even worse, become friends with her.

Ugh.

She didn’t think that her bottom was even that funny. She decided to leave him. She her heels, breathed in her annoyed manner, and proceeded to leave. She started to walk away from him at a brisk pace, heading towards the direction of the school.