Luhan calmly placed the folder beside him. He stood up and stretched his legs. He needed to rest. The others might be resting like he was planning to. They were all tired because of their own affairs. The night was young, anything could happen. But Luhan didn’t mind that. Fatigue and vertigo washed over him and soon enough, he found himself nodding to sleep.

Lay slowly sat up. He planned to meet with Sujin that night. He slowly slipped away from Kris and Tao and grabbed his black long coat and his mask. He slowly crept out of the building and made his way into Seoul, where he’ll meet Sujin.

He was nervous. His palms were sweating. He wasn’t sure if Sujin would go out that night but he wanted to take his chances. Sujin had this habit of going to the convenience store every other night and Lay hoped that night was part of that every other night.

Lay bit his lower lip and continued walking through the streets. It was only a few turns before he reached the convenience store. If he was lucky, he would find Sujin eating ramyeon there. She liked thinking there and discovering who she was. Sujin looked intrigued when she had the chance to meet Lay.

Before he can even get hold of the door of the convenience store, he was stopped by a familiar character.

“So you’re the guy she’s been meeting with.”

Lay turned his head to see Taehyung. Taehyung looked cold, compared to how he looked whenever he was with Sujin.

“Are you Jungkook?” Lay asked. Taehyung shook his head and chuckled for a moment.

“V. Just one letter. V. I’m a friend of Sujin,” Taehyung said. “And you’re Zhang Yixing, am I correct?” he added. Lay looked shocked and nodded.

“I was. When I lived happily,” Lay said. “Right now, I’m—“

“Lay,” Taehyung continued, leading the way into the store. Lay followed him, curious about his mysterious character. Anyone who would meet Taehyung this way would be intrigued after all.

“Why do you meet with Sujin?” Taehyung asked when he sat down. “Do you possibly like her?”

“I’m concerned about her. I don’t like her that way and she told me a hundred of times that she has a boyfriend, Jeon Jungkook,” Lay answered calmly. “I want her to live as humanely as possible.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Taehyung looked at Lay’s expression closely. His eyes widened.

“What? Why? I know you’re a vampire but do you even have the heart to stop Sujin from living a human life?” Lay asked.

“First, I don’t have a heart since vampires don’t need blood,” Taehyung chuckled at his own clever response. “Second, it was not my choice. Even if I am a free vampire, I have authorities to follow. And the authority said that Sujin is better off knowing her past than blindly living through life without it. A being is formed by its past.”

“Even so,” Lay hit the table. “Sujin has the right to live a human life. It’s better for her to be blind of everything.”

“It’s ironic how it comes from your mouth. You’re the one who gave her that charm. You’re the one who released her wolf,” Taehyung said as he smirked. His eyes turned to a bloody shade of red. He had his hands intertwined with each other, rested on the table top. He seemed unfazed by Lay’s sudden outburst.

“Now, won’t you calm down? The cashier would kick us out if you don’t,” Taehyung gestured at the terrified cashier who looked like she was ready to call the police. Lay went back to his senses and sat down.

“So, how serious is the situation?”

Though the night was already drawing to its close, Taehyung was still not at home. That left Sujin worried. And Jungkook never liked it when Sujin was worried about someone else.

Sujin was at the living room, watching TV. The TV seemed to calm her nerves. She was back to being the cheerful girl Jungkook fell head-over-heels with. But Jungkook was sure her head was full of questions. After all, she was still clueless of her past, especially the parts where she was connected to her former pack, EXO.

Jungkook had no idea what kind of relationship she had with Luhan. He was just sure she was abused and forced to live like a scavenger, a savage, a wolf. That was why Jungkook detested wolves. They were too desperate. They were more animals than civilized beings. They loved pillaging. They loved playing hide-and-seek with the hunters. Vampires were different. They were intelligent beings compared to those dogs.

And Jungkook had no idea what Sujin felt for Luhan. They were mates. It was natural for Sujin and Luhan to have some kind of attraction for each other. Was it still like that? Would Sujin leave him behind and go with Luhan? All Jungkook felt for Luhan was hatred. He hated him for making her miserable.

Jungkook could still remember her fragile appearance when he first saw her. She was trembling. She was afraid. Those wolves abused her. Maybe, MiYeon was the only one protecting her from being killed since MiYeon was such a feminist. But when MiYeon was with the vampires, Sujin was alone to protect herself from those savages.

Jungkook pulled Sujin towards him and enveloped her in a tight hug. He was afraid to let her go. He nuzzled his nose against her hair and smelled her fragrant scent. He will never get tired of her. He loved her so much. He couldn’t handle it if she left him. The fear of her leaving him because he was a vampire was gone. But the fear of her leaving him because she had a mate lingered in Jungkook’s heart.

Sujin didn’t ask why Jungkook was overly affectionate but she let her boyfriend be. She could sense something was wrong but she didn’t want to ask. Jungkook was a strong man and he never wanted to feel vulnerable. It was Sujin’s way of comforting him. And Jungkook was better with that since having Sujin’s presence near him was the best comfort anyone could give.

Sujin was his weakness, his only weakness. If ever someone got a hold of her or tried to hurt her, Jungkook wouldn’t know what to do. He wouldn’t be able to control himself. He loved her too much. He passed the limit years ago. It was impossible to undo what had been done.

I don’t want to let you go… I don’t want you to leave me. And the only way to do that is to capture that mate of yours and kill him.