All five of us, Bora, Kris, Soyou, Kai and me, rode the elevator up to the floor where Do Min Joon was waiting. Bora and Kris stood on either side of me; Bora looped her arm through mine and Kris held my other hand. Kai and Soyou stood in front with their backs to us. The elevator was completely silent. When the doors opened, we walked down the same familiar hallway from when I first met Do Min Joon, my father. I don't think that I would ever be able to call him that. My heart began to quicken as we approached the door. None of us knew what was in store behind that door. A guard that was standing by the door opened it for us and we entered. The room looked the same as last time; same darkness, same red curtains, and same vampires. Do Min Joon stood in the center with his back to us and his collection of followers on the outer edge of the room. The door slammed hard behind us and almost made me jump nearly across the room. 

"I had the displeasure of hearing about the events that occurred last night," said Do Min Joon. His deep voice echoed in the silent room as I felt the tension begin to build. "Jaekyung had the audacity to tell me everything himself." Do Min Joon turned around and began to move toward us. "Luckily, you were able to escape unharmed." His dark eyes glanced between Kris and I. He stopped walking once he was a step away from us. "Everyone out." Then, the room began to empty as the vampires left. "You too Bora." Bora squeezed my arm and remained firm. It was Soyou who dragged her from the room with the help of Kai. "Kris." I squeezed Kris's hand harder as I was afraid of what Do Min Joon was about to say. "Kris how could this have happened?" Kris stayed completely silent beside me; his face held no expression. Do Min Joon clenched his hands in anger. Then, he suddenly let out a maniacal laugh. "How humiliating, to have some like Jaekyung get so far with such a plan." Then, I felt an arm enclose around my waist and yank me away from Kris. I struggled against it. The vampire that was now holding me had fluffy blond hair and held a somber expression on his handsome face; his eyes were empty. Do Min Joon approached Kris, grabbed him by the collar, and then, suddenly, threw him across the room.My heart dropped as Kris landed on the other side of the room on his back. "Such a disappointment." Kris remained stationary on the floor as Do Min Joon slowly sauntered over to him. "The worst part was when I heard about how you escaped." With the word escaped, Do Min Joon's voice plunged into a deep growl. I struggled pointlessly against the strong arms of the blonde, empty-eyed vampire as Do Min Joon placed a foot on Kris's chest. "You know that no one is allowed to touch her." Then, Kris was kicked against the wall. Do Min Joon then grabbed a fist-full of Kris's hair and yanked him up to his feet. With eyes of pure red, Do Min Joon's gaze shifted towards me. "Tao, take her out." I was then dragged out of the room and the last thing I saw on Kris's expressionless face was the fear in his eyes. It broke my heart.

"Its my fault," I said out loud. Tao, the blonde vampire with zero emotion, just shook his head and continued to stare at me with those blank, empty eyes. Following Do Min Joon's order, Tao took me out of the room and brought me to a small apartment that is located in the building. "By the way, where am I?" Tao did not answer and remained motionless. He acted as if I had not spoken at all. "Can you not speak?" Still, nothing. Frustrated, I jumped up from my seat, crossed my arms, and huffed. Still, no reaction. I approached him until our faces were inches apart, but there was still nothing. "I feel like I am trying to crack one of the palace guards from England." I plopped back down onto the couch in the apartment in surrender. Then, my mind went back to Kris. It went back to the look of fear that was in his eyes. "It's my fault." Then, there was a loud bang and the front door flew open. Bora came strolling into the room with Kai trailing right behind her trying to grab her arm, but Bora avoided his grasp and came towards me. Suddenly, Tao appeared in front of her and prevented her from getting any closer. Her eyes turned red as she glared at Tao. 

"Step aside Tao," said Bora. 

"No," said Tao. I nearly jumped from the sudden sound that came from his lips. 

"Huh, so you can talk," I said as I crossed my arms. Tao gave me a slight glance over his shoulder, but immediately returned his gaze to Bora once she began to struggle against his grasp. 

"Calm down Bora," said Soyou as she slowly sauntered her way into the apartment. "Surely you are overreacting." Soyou shook her head at Bora as if she was chiding a child. Bora stopped struggling against Tao and turned to glare at Soyou.

"It's alright Bora," I said. "I know that I will come to no harm being here." Bora then turned towards me with wide eyes, which began to slowly darken. Once her body was released of all her tension, Tao released her. Bora then sat beside me on the couch and placed her arm around me. Soyou exited the apartment with Kai right on her heels. Tao stood beside the couch with no expression; he acted like a statue. "What is their relationship?"

"Whose?" asked Bora. 

"Kai and Soyou," I said. 

"Ah," said Bora nodding her head. "They are what we call in the vampire world mates." 

"Mates?" I asked. "Like a couple?" 

"Much more than a couple," said Bora. "A mate becomes your second half, a half that you cannot live without." My eyes shifted towards the door where Kai and Soyou left as I tried to imagine a relationship like that. "They are lucky though; some vampires live their entire elongated life and never find their mate." 

"I'm guessing that you never found yours," I said. Bora shook her head.

"I did find mine," said Bora listlessly. "But he was human." My gaze snapped back to Bora, who smiled a very sad smile. "But I will tell you about that later." She then gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and that was the end of the conversation. I wonder if Kris had or has a mate. As my mind went back to Kris, my heart broke again.

In that apartment, a lot of time passed before I was allowed to return back to my apartment. Both Tao and Bora escorted me home, but I saw no sign of Kris. The next day, after I was showered and dressed for work, I walked out of my bedroom and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest as I suddenly found Tao in my living room. His face remained blank. "How did you get in?" I scolded him. He simply held up a spare key. I lunged for it, but he lift it out of my reach. "Give it," I yelled. "You shouldn't have that." He remained silent as he kept the key out of my reach. I gave up once I was tired of reaching for it. He was a vampire so chances are that he would never get tired of holding it above my head. "So what, you are my bodyguard now?" Nothing. "Or are you stalking me." He shook his head. "Okay, so shaking your head side to side means no, and nothing means yes." Nothing. "I think I am getting the hang of communicating with you." I head for the kitchen to grab a bagel for breakfast. "You hungry?" He shook his head and I saw a tint of red flash in his eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He is a vampire, you idiot! He doesn't eat human food. I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment at my stupidity. A small hint of amusement touched his eyes, but it vanished within a second. With a bagel in my hand, I studied his face for any other signs of emotion, but I didn't find any. Tao is actually quite handsome, but he would be so much more handsome if his face was not alway blank; a smile would greatly improve his looks. "I'm assuming that you are following me to work." Nothing. I sighed as I put my shoes on and left the apartment with Tao right behind me. As I locked my door, I gave a sad glance towards Kris's door. You already know that my mind is constantly plagued by his absence. With some great convincing, I was able to keep Tao from following me all the way up to the floor where I work. Instead, he was going to wait in the lobby, I think. Well, that was where I left him and I hope he stays down there. The work day started normally with all eight of my wonderful coworkers. Then, Soyou arrived a little after I had my lunch break. She strode into the office in sleek black heels with a red blouse and black skirt. Her red hair was pulled into a tight bun and the little amount of make up on her face implied that she was here for some serious business. She glanced at me for a moment as she past my desk and then disappeared into Kris's office. Still no sign of Kris. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. Hyoyeon gave me a concerned look and I gave her a reassuring smile that I was fine. I resisted the urge to glance at Kris's office. As the work day was coming to an end, Soyou emerged from the office with my uncle right behind her. 

"May I have everyone's attention," said Soyou. "I have an announcement." She stood with perfect posture as her voice rang solidly throughout the office. "As of today, I am the new president of Wu Yifan Industries." There were huge gasps of surprise, and I felt my heart drop. "Due to health reasons, Kris is no longer able to perform his duties here and will be departing from the company. I look forward to working with you all." After those last words, Soyou disappeared back into Kris's, well now it's hers, office with my uncle right behind her. The rest of the women started to whine and complain. 

"I wonder what's wrong," said Yoona, with concern on her face. 

"He is so young too," said Tiffany. "He must be in pretty bad shape."

"Or he already has made enough money that he decided to take an early retirement," said Sunny. The rest of my coworkers continued to talk about different possibilities, but my mind ran with the events from yesterday. What did Do Min Joon Do? Where is he? I need to make sure he is alright. 

"Jessica," said Hyoyeon as she waved a hand in my face. I returned to reality. "We are going out for dinner, you wanna come." I saw all eight of my coworkers ready to leave with purses in hands and chairs pushed in. I shook my head.

"There is something I need to do," I said as I scrambled to pack up my stuff and head for the elevator. When I reached the lobby, I found Tao right where I left him with Bora by his side. She gave me a small smile as I approached the two of them. "Bora, where is Kris? Is he alright? What has Do Min Joon done?" Bora placed her hand on my shoulders and gave me a small shake. 

"Calm down," she said in a smooth voice. "Before I tell you about Kris, I need to tell you a story about the clan's cruelty."

"What story?" I asked. Her dark eyes connected with mine and I saw the sadness within them.

"My own."

Clan's cruelty? Bora's Story? Where is Kris?

Finally!! Another chapter completed!! 

I deeply apologize for how long this is taking me,

but I do always feel a sense of accomplishment with each completed chapter!!

Thank you so much for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this update!!

P.S. What do you think of Tao's character? ^-^