P u b l i s h e d   o n : 2 5 / 0 4 / 2 0 1 3
 Chapter Twelve  : Prefer To Die.

"Tao, that brat finally apologized to Hae Jung."

*Background music, it sounds better with this. Honestly : http://www.replayyoutube.com/watch.html?v=h2MPBdBNU9A "

Brian’s eyes widened as he reacted quick to lift her up from the ground. “Move!” he shouted as he placed her down on the ground in the living room with the twelve boys around in the living room. The boys felt their heart sink a little when they saw Hae Jung’s condition. Some of them wanted to get up from their seats to be by her side but they were afraid of what one another would think. She really looked like she was on the edge of dying.

Celestial and Sty were resting beside Hae Jung as Brian tried his best to heal her. He moved her hands that were covering her stomach to reveal a deep wound. He placed his hands on top of her wound, only to sense that there was silver poison in her. “ing bastards!” he cursed as he cupped her chin with one hand to tilt her head left and right. “She doesn’t have much time left. Lay, I need you here.” He looked at the healer with guilt flushing all over.

Lay got up quick to get on the floor on Hae Jung’s left side as Brian was on her right. “I need you to help me cure her wound at her stomach, now.” Lay nodded before gulping. If he fails to do this, Hae Jung may actually die. Even though she’s a strong vampire with high determination to live, that doesn’t mean she was the most experienced vampire alive. She has a high will to live but at the same time she was also undergoing training with her new powers that was recently being developed in her body.

For 10 minutes Lay and Brian has been working nonstop trying to cure Hae Jung’s wounds but it was pointless. The silver poison had spread so much during her way back here that it was almost impossible to force it out. Brian let tears fall from his eyes as he punched the ground until the floor cracked.

“No! No! No!” he shouted as he shook her shoulders. “Wake up damn it!”

The twelve boys in the room could sense he was hurt. Yet, afraid to lose the girl he was shaking vigorously on the ground. “You can’t leave me! You can’t!” He roared as he shook her harder. Tears streamed down his face as he blamed himself for agreeing to let her take them all on her own. These past few days she wasn’t in her best condition, but yet she volunteered to take on the vampires.

“Hae Jung!” Tao cried as he managed to pry away from the other boys holding him down. He kneeled down beside Hae Jung to hold onto her hand. “You can’t just die after you saved me like that! Aren’t you strong?!” He shouted at the girl that was barely breathing as he shook her hand hard. “Tao..just, back off.” Brian managed to croak out as he pulled Hae Jung’s hand away from his. Tao felt guilty just like that. He felt like if it wasn’t for him, Hae Jung wouldn’t be in this condition.

Lay’s eyes widened the moment her wound started to seal. Her wound was slowly closing and Lay wasn’t even doing anything. It was healing on its own. He placed his hand on her wound. The silver poison was being dissolved by her blood. “B-Brian..” Lay whispered softly as Brian gazed to where Lay was staring at. The other boys around them widened their eyes at the sight.

“You are all so noisy.” She complained softly as Brian’s eyes darted to the girl’s face. He managed to smile as he squeezed her hands. “You’re awake.” He smiled again before she opened her eyes slowly. “How can I not when you are shouting like a maniac?” she questioned as he hugged her tight. “I thought I lost you.” 

The boys in the room sighed in relief the moment they saw she was alright. Tao immediately got off to sit back down on the couch, acting as if he was never beside her in the first place. Even though she was awake, she was still feeling weak. She was having difficulties in keeping her eyes open. “We’re safe now. The boys are safe now.” Brian assured her as he placed a hand on her arm, brushing her skin with his thumb. “I’ll take you to your room.” Brian smiled before lifting her up with her in his arms.

“Thank you.” She tried to force out a smile but her body wasn’t following her mind. “You don’t have to smile. I know you’re trying.” He understood her situation immediately. She slowly wrapped her arms around Brian’s neck as Brian glanced at the boys in the living room. “Make yourselves a home here. You’ll be staying here from now on. Don’t worry about your bag or whatsoever. It’ll all be settled and the decision to continue your college will be decided soon. Meanwhile, you don’t have to go to college.”

They all nodded their heads before Brian bowed a little. “W-wait,” Suho called out as all of them turned to face him. “Is she alright?” he asked as a few of them glanced back at Brian, waiting for his answer.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’s not called a prodigy for nothing.” Brian chuckled before looking down on the girl in his arms. “I think she’ll be fine by tomorrow morning, you guys can visit her in her room if you’d like. She doesn’t bite.” Brian joked before bidding everyone goodnight.

Just as Brian reached her room, he laid her down on her bed. The house that they were living in, well you can actually call it a mansion since it was pretty big. It had four floors, along with over 20 rooms to choose from. Her room was on the highest floor. There were around 10 rooms on her floor and 10 more rooms below her floor. The boys had more than enough choices to choose from. They could even share the rooms if it was possible. “Do you need anything?” he questioned as she shook her head. “I’ll be fine, just go help the boys.”

“I really don’t want to lose you.” He whispered as he held onto her hand. She tried not to chuckle as it would hurt her wound that had just sealed up. “You can never get rid of me that easily.” She whispered back as he leaned in closer to give a kiss on her forehead. “Rest well. If you need anything, I’ll be next door.” He patted her head softly before getting up to leave her room.

When Brian closed her room door, he turned around to only meet twelve people standing in front of me. “What the heck?” he questioned as he backed away from them just a little, with his back pressing onto the door. “W-We didn’t really know where to go, so.. we followed you.” Luhan voiced out as he rubbed the back of his neck. “As you can see, this is Hae Jung’s room. Mine is the one right beside hers on the left. There are remaining 10 rooms on this floor. There are two beds in each room so maybe two of you could share one room. It is big enough for two people to share.”

“What about the rooms downstairs?” Kai questioned as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “We prefer to not let you stay in the rooms downstairs. If it was possible, having all of you on the same floor as us would make us feel like we could come to aid you faster.”

The boys nodded their heads before choosing their partners to share rooms with. A few of them glanced at Hae Jung’s room door before going into their rooms to settle down. Suho let out a heavy sigh as he lied down on his bed after a shower. It’s already 2.01a.m. and he couldn’t even fall asleep even though he was dead tired.

“Is something bothering you?” Lay asked Suho as he sat up from his bed to look at the older boy. “I don’t know, I can’t sleep.” Suho shrugged his shoulders before sitting up to face Lay. “You?” he asked as this time Lay shrugged his shoulders. “There’s so much going on, how could I sleep?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Suho chuckled before the smile on his face faded. “Hey, let’s go check on Hae Jung.” Suho suggested as Lay’s eyes widened. “W-What? Are you nuts? She’ll eat us alive.” Lay shook his head before Suho got up from his bed. “She’s not what she seems like Lay. Come with me.” Suho grabbed onto Lay’s wrist before pulling him out of the door. They stumbled upon a few guys that were passing by their room. “Oh sor-Hey, where are you guys heading to?” Suho questioned as he let go of Lay’s hand.

“We were just heading back to our rooms after checking out the whole place, it’s pretty huge.” Xiumin answered as he looked around. The mansion was decorated elegantly up to Yunho’s taste. There was a chandelier hanging not far from where they were standing. The walls were painted with light peach along with two wall lamps beside each door. “Where are you guys heading to?” Kai questioned as he raised an eyebrow.

“We’re going to check on Hae Jung. After all, she did..once again saved our lives.” Suho shrugged his shoulders before asking them to come along. “Are you sure we won’t get barked by her?” Kai asked as Suho shook his head. “Just come.”

There was a knock on Hae Jung’s door as she couldn’t even hear it. She was in a deep sleep trying to regain her energy from everything that happened today. The four boys entered her room before shutting the door tight. They looked around her room in awe. Compared to their room, hers was much more elegant. The boys’ rooms were indeed comfortable but hers was definitely on another level. Her room walls were painted with dark purple along with wall lights lighted up on each side of the wall. It was like the night sky around her room. They slowly walked towards her bed where she was lying down with a wall lamp above her, being their only light source in her room as the curtains in her room were shut.

They gulped as they stared at the girl lying on the bed. She was in a peaceful sleep and they could tell. She had taken a shower and she was just wearing a plain white long-sleeved top along with black shorts. Her hands placed on top of her stomach with her breathings steady. They would hate to admit it but the sight made them feel warm inside. “Kai, put the blanket over her.” Suho whispered as Kai spotted the blanket at the end of the bed. Since he was the closest to the blanket, he lifted it up to pull it over her until it covered her thighs.

“She’s definitely something.” Xiumin whispered as the rest agreed by humming softly. “Let’s just check on her again tomorrow. She’s probably tired.” Lay suggested as they nodded their heads.

Right after they left her room, Hae Jung opened her eyes. She gazed down to where Kai had placed the blanket over her legs. “Idiots.” She muttered softly before her lips twitched upwards just a little. She shut her eyes tight and dropped the smile on her face the moment the doorknob twisted open. He carefully closed the door before murmuring, “Wow..”

Hae Jung tried to analyze the voice of the boy but she couldn’t really tell who it was. The boy placed a chair beside her bed before he pulled her blanket up to her collarbone. He sat down on the chair as he stared at the girl beside him that had saved his life.

“I’m sorry Hae Jung. I..I shouldn’t have acted like a jerk to you even though your intentions were more than clear to show us that you care for us. I was just afraid of getting attached and hurt, you know?” he whispered as he chuckled softly at the end. “You nearly lost your life because of me, and I would do anything to turn back time and prevent it from happening.” He whispered softly before he tried to reach for her hand but he thought it wouldn’t be such a good idea as it would wake her up.

She could immediately tell who was sitting beside her. It was Tao.

“I know you can’t hear me, but..” before he could go on he let out a soft scoff. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here. You’re sleeping.”

“You know, you at apologizing.” Hae Jung spoke up with her eyes closed, causing Tao to jerk as he nearly fell off the chair. He gulped before gripping onto the bed sheets. “H-How long have you been listening?” he whispered as she opened her eyes. “Since you walked in.” she turned her head slowly to face Tao but he looked away. “Look,” she let out a deep breath before continuing. “I get it, alright? Apology accepted. You don’t have to explain any further.”

His mouth gaped open before he raised an eyebrow. “I don’t?”

She shook her head before her eyes drifted away from his. “You don’t. I’d rather not bicker with you anymore. And I don’t need to hear your past stories about how you don’t want to get attached to people. Once you tell me, you’ll get attached. That’s probably the last thing the two of us would want.” She gulped before she continued to stare at the ceiling.

“The two of us?” He cocked his head sideways as he waited for her to continue. “I’ll respect you, if you respect me. We’re family now. Well, in a way we are. And we have to look out for one another especially how I need to look after you since I’m your trainer. It would be a pain in the to keep arguing. If we continue to argue with one another, this will be our weakness and people in the Carrion Clan could easily use that against us. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

Tao shook his head before finally understanding what she meant. “Go get some rest and prepare yourself for tomorrow. Trainings won’t be so easy anymore after what happened today.” She shut her eyes slowly after she said that as Tao couldn’t move from his seat. “Would you want me to carry you to your room or you have legs to walk on your own?” she questioned him with her eyes still shut. “I-I’ll be leaving now.” He hurriedly walked towards her door to slip through and close the door tight.

“What were you doing in there?” Chanyeol asked as Tao took a step back before gulping. “What does it have to do with you anyway? Let’s get some sleep.” Tao said quickly before brushing past Chanyeol to get to his room where he shared with Chanyeol. “Tch, dumb kid.”

“Just say you went to apologize. Couldn’t be that hard right?” Chanyeol muttered softly before turning around, only to widen his eyes when he saw Chen in front of him. “Apologize? Who?”

“Tao, that brat finally apologized to Hae Jung.”

“She’s awake?” Chen’s eyes widened as he tried to reach for the doorknob of her room but Chanyeol swatted his hand away. “I think she’s had enough visitors in one day. If you were to go in, you’d probably be the sixth visitor of the day.” Chen pulled his hand back before shoving his hand into his pocket. “We’ll just check on her tomorrow then.”

“That sounds good.” Chanyeol smiled before fist bumping with Chen. Right after that the two parted ways as they were sharing rooms with someone else.

“How could you be so careless?” he whispered into her ears as she rested on his chest. “It’s not my fault..” she muttered softly as he her hair ever so softly before he pressed his lips on her forehead. “I’m not there to make sure you’re alright, so you have to take care of yourself. Hmm?”

“I would prefer to die anyway.” She whispered to herself but he caught her words. He flicked her head and she pulled away from him, rubbing her forehead. “What was that for?” she scrunched her nose before he chuckled at her adorableness that she rarely shown anyone. “You know I love you, and I want you to take care of yourself. You promised me, Hae Jung.”

“Well it’s about time I broke my promise.” She stared into his eyes where she could swear they were real. “As much as I would love you to, you can’t. You promised me and a promise is a promise. You promised me you’ll keep fighting to live. You promised.” He held onto her hands tight before placing them on his chest above his heart. “I wish you could feel it beating for you.” She looked away and pulled her hands away from him. “I wish I could too.” He pulled her in for another hug before she let a tear roll down her cheek. “Keep your promise. Fight to live. Those boys need you.”

Hae Jung opened her eyes only to be greeted with twelve boys along with Brian standing in front of her. She was breathing heavily as a tear ran down her cheek. They came in not long ago with Brian but they all kept quiet immediately when they saw her in her condition. They could tell she was either having a nightmare or something was wrong with her. Brian went with her having a nightmare, and he was right. It wasn’t exactly a nightmare. It was more of a painful truth for Hae Jung. She took in deep breaths as she ignored the worried stares she got from the boys. She shut her eyes tight before clenching onto the bed sheets. She didn't want to live, she really didn't. If it wasn't for her promise, she would be dead by now.

“A-Are you alright?” Suho asked as he looked worried. She opened her eyes as another tear ran down her cheek. A few of the boys bit their lower lip, thinking the question Suho had asked was a wrong thing to say. She released her fists that was clenching onto the bed sheets as she sat up. “I’ll have to be.” She wiped the tear away with the back of her hand before eyeing the boys in front of her. She felt at ease when she saw them perfectly fine, unharmed and not injured. She knew it was going to be a long day training them. She stood up and walked out of her room, leaving the twelve boys along with Brian to stand there. Not moving an inch.