Sleeping with Donghae used to be a normal thing to me before. But now that I had grown into a thoughtful teenager, there’d always be this awkwardness between us. Donghae would avoid my eyes as he climbed onto the bed, making sure to make a ‘safe’ distance between us. Seeing this side of him somehow managed to put a smile on my face, though I’d never let him know how funny he looked when he was shy.

“Come closer, Donghae,” I said, patting the empty side next to me. “I’m cold.”

“Don’t tempt me, Hyukjae.”

“What are you talking about? You’re such a ert.”

“You’re the one who keeps showing me that cute face of yours. Don’t blame me, I’m a victim here.” Donghae whined like a little kid as he moved closer to me, tracing his fingers along my jaw line, his sparkling golden eyes were locked on mine.

In spite of his ruthless behavior – though he’d automatically change when he was with me – Donghae was actually someone who’d get lonely easily. He’d always have this huge smile on his face whenever he came here, claiming that we were the main source of his happiness.

“I really don’t want to go back…” Donghae said out of the blue, scooting even closer to me. His forehead was pressed against mine, and I could feel his hot breath on my face. “I want to stay here for my whole life.”

“Donghae.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you like me?”

Donghae dropped his jaw at my blunt question, but being the straight forward teenager I was, I couldn’t really tell what was wrong with asking something you wanted to know about. “Let’s just sleep, Hyukjae.”

“I want to know.”

“Well…” Donghae sighed deeply, averting his eyes once again and looked at the empty ceiling above us instead. “It’s because of you.”

“Me?”

“I’m in love with everything about you. Let’s just say that, I’m enchanted by you since the first time we met.”

His warm smile, and his gentle voice at that time were still clear in my memory. The way he held my hand and brought me closer to him, enfolding me in his warm, strong arms, and how he looked at me lovingly before he leaned in and kissed my forehead, I could still remember it all.

And deep inside my heart, there was a tiny light of hope in there; to be with Donghae for the rest of my life. Was it possible for a fairy to fall in love with a vampire? I couldn’t care less about that kind of thing. Donghae loved me; that was all I needed to know.

But then, I began to doubt everything. I was starting to question myself, whether the happiness that I was having right now would last long. After my mother died due to an illness two years later, things seemed to have changed between us all. Donghae rarely came to see me, much to my disappointment.

I was seeking his comfort, I needed him more than anyone else, but he was not there beside me. He wasn’t there to calm me whenever I’d shed tears over my mother’s death every night. A part of me was broken, as if my soul had just been ripped apart from my body.

My growing frustration was most likely the reason that brought me to the well-known mountain – the temporary ‘lair’ of wandering vampires – on that windy night. It’d be risky – not all vampires were gentle after all – but I was too desperate to even think about my own safety. It was probably a miracle that I even managed to be in this kind place, alone. But I had to find Donghae, no matter what it’d take. There were so many things I wanted to ask him.

“What is this?”

It didn’t take long for me to stand like a statue in the middle of the forest, when two intimidating figures approached me. I could tell that they were vampires at first glance. They reeked of blood; dead human blood.

“What’s a fairy doing in a place like this?”

Something was not right. The two vampires weren’t the only ones there, I could see more shadows encroaching from the distance. Vampires rarely gathered in the same place at the same time, there must be something going on.

“Is there some kind of a celebration here?” I bravely asked.

“Something like that,” one of them said, “We’re doing fairy-hunting.”

“Sounds funny to me,” I laughed awkwardly, knowing that danger was waiting right in front of me.  The possibility of me winning against this many vampires was obviously zero, I would’ve died within seconds if they were to attack me.

“We’ll try to be gentle if you don’t put up a fight,” a vampire stepped out, holding out his hand to me. “Come with us, little fairy.”

Narrowing my eyes at the rough hand with sharp, long nails – or should I saw claws – right in front of my eyes, I reluctantly nodded. There was no way out of this, running away would just bring death closer to me. I made this decision myself. I was the one to be blamed. The vampires had probably casted a spell on me, because I could feel my legs moving on their own, regardless of how many times I tried to stop.

“Struggling is useless. We won’t hurt you, if you’re being a good little boy.”

I shuddered when I heard a whisper in my ear, cold breath tickling the back of my neck. Should this be the end of my 17 years life, I might not be able to see Donghae again. I’d want to see his face, to make sure that he was fine, only then I could leave this world without regrets.

“Donghae,” I called his name weakly, even when I know that the one I had been longing to meet would never be here.

And I would die in the end, without anyone to mourn over my death at my side.

_______________________________

“You should’ve at least let me sit on a leather couch or something,” I voiced out my dissatisfaction, my hands felt sore being tied to the pillar behind me.

It had been almost two hours since I was locked in this strange, abandoned building in the middle of the forest. I had no idea of what they were planning to do with me, but I knew it wouldn’t a good thing at all. My heart would skip a beat every single time their eyes landed on me, it was like they were scanning through my mind.

“Keep your mouth shut, fairy.”

I stuck my tongue out at a vampire who was appointed to guard me, annoyed by his harsh words. He seemed mad, but he didn’t do anything aside from watching. I could only assume that they were ordered not to hurt me before the ‘big fish’ arrived – like I had heard while eavesdropping on their conversation.

And just like I had predicted, the one they had been waiting soon came, and the vampires immediately stood up.

“Such a beautiful creature.”

I looked up, staring at the unexpectedly young man standing ahead of me. He had gentle features, but his dark, piercing eyes clearly told me what he had in mind.

“I’ve always wanted a fairy,” he hunkered down, grabbing my face with his cold hand to take a closer look at me. “So this one has the ability to heal.”

“Get away from me,” I muttered, but he tightened his grip around my jaw, making me wince in pain.

“I’ll be keeping you from now on.”

I felt as if my stomach physically dropped the moment he took out a pocket knife, tracing the sharp and cold metal along my pale face. I could only see hunger and greed in his eyes. And it scared the out of me, if I was to be honest.

I almost let out a scream when he slowly pressed the edge of the blade on my neck, but I held myself back, biting my lip as hard as I could. I could feel the sharp pain as he pressed the knife harder this time, a deep red liquid flowed out in an instant.

“Your blood smells nice,” the vampire whispered, moving even closer to me while eyeing my bleeding neck hungrily.

“Don’t touch me,” I glared at him, struggling to move away from the beast in front of me, but the thick rope tying my hands wasn’t budging at all. I gasped out loud when I felt his cold lips on my neck, my dripping blood.

“Y-you bastard! Get the hell away from me!” Losing my temper, I shouted at him, and he stopped right away, snickering at my pitiful state before he left. He must’ve casted a spell on me then, I could feel my head was spinning and my body was getting weaker as time ticked away.

I wasn’t really sure if it was only a dream, but there was a loud crashing sound from outside the building a moment later, followed by the vampires’ panic voices, as if something was happening out there. Unable to move, I could only sit still and listen to my surroundings, but there was only silence around me.

Just then, when I was about to give up on staying awake, I saw a familiar face coming towards me, the face that I had wanted to see so badly. If it was just a dream, then I’d never want to wake up from this sleep, ever.

“Donghae…” I called out to him weakly, looking at his bleeding arms worriedly. Ju