"Hello?"  Junhong smiled as he heard the other's voice on the line. 

"Junhong?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Hey. How's it going? How's the kid?"

"For starters, he's weak. I was able to pin him easily, but in the end, I left him off with a warning. I was surprised though. He didn't ask why or who was after him. He just kept saying that he didn't know what I was talking about when when I called him the Pravus."

 He heard Yongguk sigh. "He'll come along eventually. In the meantime, just keep an eye on him. I have to go now. Junhong..." There was a short pause before Yongguk spoke again. 

"I miss you. I really love you. Be safe." Junhong's smile widened at the sound of hearing those words. "I miss and love you too. Don't worry, I'll be safe. Besides, I'm a vampire. I'll be just fine."

"Okay. Bye." They hung up and Junhong stood there with a smile plastered on his face while studying the house across the street from him. Youngjae's house, to be exact. Then he heard his stomach rumble.  Feeding time.  Hiding in the bushes, he anxiously waited for his victim. 

God, how long will I have to wait for a... As if hearing his thoughts, a man walked by. Junhong's eyes looked in the direction he smelled O positive. After the man was a good distance ahead of Junhong, Junhong followed him. His eyes were on the man as he unlocked the door to his home. Then his fangs shot out from their hiding place in his gums, and Junhong was soon standing behind the man just as the door closed. Noticing his presence, the man turned around and Junhong forcefully pushed the man into the wall by his collar. Exposing his neck. The man's eyes were filled with fear as he faced death. Junhong smirked. 

"You should consider yourself special. I don't normally feed in private. I like to kill you humans in front of your family or friends, it doesn't matter. The sound of your hearts racing with fear and your blood flowing with much more fear, is like music to my ears. But sadly, it looks like you live alone. Oh well, I don't have an audience, but my hunger is much more important. And you, my friend, smell delicious."  Junhong bared his fangs while moving closer to the man's neck who trembled under Junhong's hold. 

"Try not to move around a lot." With that, he sank his fangs deep into the man's neck and drank every last drop of blood before letting go of the limp, lifeless body to fall to the floor. Junhong left the house looking like he just didn't drink the life out of someone, and instead of going back to Youngjae's house, he disappeared into the cool evening. 

~~~~~

"Daehyun!" Jongup yelled excitedly in the barely crowded airport, as he waited for his cousin, who finally arrived after two days of traveling from Seoul. Daehyun looked in the direction he heard the familiar voice call his name and smiled brightly. "Jongup!"

 Despite the nervous butterflies in his stomach and his anxiety level high, he was glad to see Jongup. He was very nervous about his mission, but he swore to the Elders that he wouldn't screw up, and he hoped he wouldn't. The two cousins met each other with a tight embrace. 

"So what are you doing in New York?"

 Jongup didn't know the real reason why Daehyun was there, and Daehyun planned to keep it that way for as long as he can. 

"Just decided to visit my cousin I haven't seen in a long time, and to check out the school life here." Daehyun smiled as he ruffled Jongup's hair who nodded. "Oh. Well you missed the first three days of school, but our principal will surely understand." Daehyun nodded and gestured to his three suitcases. 

"Mind helping me?"

"Sure." Jongup grabbed two of them. Daehyun, with trembling hands, grabbed the black suitcase that held his mission's information and his stake. Information including the Pravus's real name (which Daehyun didn't know), a picture, background check, an address to his house, and pictures of his family and friends. 

 Sometimes Daehyun would wonder how the Slayer Society got their hands on such information, but that wasn't any of his business. The Elders made it clear before he left that he shouldn't pull out those files until he was in a more secluded place. Which, in this case, would be Jongup's house. 

 The two boys walked out of the airport, into the cool evening air. They called a taxi and loaded Daehyun's suitcases in the trunk. The ride to Jongup's house was filled with never ending stories from Jongup about his adventures in playing with girls' hearts, but most of them, Daehyun noticed, had his friend in there. His laughing quieted some before Daehyun spoke. 

"So what is your friend's name?"

"Oh yeah, forgot. Sorry. His name is Youngjae. Yoo Youngjae."

"When will I get to meet this, Yoo Youngjae?"

Jongup's face turned into a thinking face. He pursed his lips while shrugging. "I'm not so sure. Because of this incident that happened two days ago, he got injured, but not badly injured, and now he can't go out as much. It ." Jongup pouted.

Daehyun's lips formed an "o" shape while he nodded. Then Jongup's face lit up and he spoke to Daehyun, excitement etched in his voice.

"Maybe I can take you to his house. His guardian, Ailee, surely wouldn't mind. She pretty much likes to meet new people. Maybe not the girls I bring over sometimes, but yeah. Youngjae is sort of anti social, but I want you to meet him anyway."

Daehyun turned to his cousin, beaming. "Okay. That sounds great."

"Great! I'll call Youngjae when we get back to my house."

 The taxi pulled up in front of Jongup's house and they paid the fare before collecting Daehyun's suitcases. Jongup fumbled with the keys before opening the door and told Daehyun where he would be staying before Jongup ascended the stairs and Daehyun followed suit. 

 As they walked down the hallway, Daehyun could see some of the belongings in Jongup's parents' room to be collecting dust. He wasn't surprised to see that Jongup lived alone most of the time because his parents' minds were only on their business companies, but Jongup looked like he was getting along just fine. 

Unlike Daehyun who lived in a household where everyday was dull and not fun like it used to be. He'd wake up to dull mornings instead of the smell of breakfast being made. Daehyun would get a 'good morning' once a week, twice if he was lucky. He would always lose his mom when she'd go into this state of depression that blocks out her surroundings, and his dad was more distant from him. 

He missed the lively version of his parents, when they were always smiling. He would always hope that one day they would all move on from the tragedy that caused his family's happy aura to change drastically to an unhappy one. The tragedy where his little sister, Ae Sook, had the life drained from her. Literally drained from her by the fangs of a vampire. If there was a reason why Daehyun decided to become a Slayer, this was it. To seek revenge and receive justice by killing every vampire he comes across. For Ae Sook  

The image of that night played in his mind. Where he heard Ae Sook's soft crying and went to check on her to see a vampire gripping onto her while he had his fangs in her porcelain neck. Drinking every last drop of blood that her little body held. Daehyun had felt like he was glued down to his spot as he witnessed his sister's last moments of her life, and he wasn't doing a thing to stop it. He was terrified. 

When the vampire raiseed his head, he saw Daehyun and he dropped Ae Sook's lifeless body on the bloodstained sheets. In the twinkling of an eye, he was hovering over Daehyun who trembled as the vampire put a hand to Daehyun's left temple, and he coldly whispered in his ear. "You will forget everything about my face." 

Daehyun, in the morning, was being questioned by police about the suspect and they wanted a description. But, just like the vampire had said, Daehyun forgot everything about his face, but he didn't forget the sound of his voice. 

Coming back to the present, Daehyun sighed and his lips before walking into the room next to Jongup's. While he collapsed on the bed, enjoying the softness, Jongup was in his room and picked his phone up to call Youngjae. Youngjae answered almost instantly like he was waiting for Jongup to call or something. 

"Hey Jongup!"

"What's up Youngjae? Hey is it alright if I come over and bring a friend?

Youngjae hummed then spoke. "That depends. If this friend is a girl, then you coming over is definitely a no."

Jongup chuckled. "No. It's not a girl. My friend would be my cousin. Jung Daehyun. He wants to meet you. If that's alright with you and Ailee."

Youngjae pursed his lips. He didn't like meeting new people. That would mean that he had to lie to another person on who, or to be precise, what he was. But this was Jongup, his drudge. He could trust him. He sighed.

"It's okay with me. I don't know about Ailee. I'll ask her though. Hold on."

Youngjae stood up from sitting on the couch while watching television and walked upstairs where Ailee was reading in her room. He knocked, but didn't wait for a response and walked right in. 

"Hey Ailee, Jongup wants to come over and bring a friend.

Ailee looked up at Youngjae before talking. "If this friend is girl, then I don't," She was cut off by Youngjae. 

"His cousin. He wants to bring his cousin."

"Oh. Well he can come over then."

Youngjae nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He put the phone back to his ear where Jongup surprisingly waited patiently. "Ailee said you can come over."

"Great! We'll be over in a little bit."

Youngjae was downstairs when he ended the call and he plopped back down on the couch. Jongup stood up from sitting on his bed and walked to Daehyun's room where he saw his cousin unpacking. Jongup noticed a black suitcase, and it was completely untouched. He walked over to the suitcase, intending to help Daehyun, only to have it snatched away. He looked at Daehyun suspiciously, but smiled anyway. 

"I was saving this for later."

"Okay. Well whenever you're ready we can head to Youngjae's house." Daehyun folded a few shirts before putting them in the drawer. 

"We can go now. I was just putting some clothes away, but I can do that later." Jongup nodded before walking out of the room. Daehyun sat down on the bed, releasing a sigh of content. That was close. 

~~~~~

Youngjae was currently downing a blood bag when he heard knocks on the door. . Ailee came down the stairs because she heard the knocks on the door, and looked into the kitchen to see Youngjae frantically trying to clean up. 

"You really need to learn how drink these without making a mess." She grabbed a cloth and helped clean up. 

"I know. Could you answer the door? It should be Jongup. I'm gonna go change my shirt."

 Youngjae dashed out of the kitchen and up the stairs as Ailee walked through the foyer and answered the door with a smile. 

"Hello Jongup." Jongup smiled back. Ailee turned to Daehyun. "I trust this is your cousin?" Daehyun nodded while beaming and he extended his arm.  "I'm Jung Daehyun. Nice to meet you." Ailee gladly took his hand. "Wow you're so handsome. You young boys keep getting more handsome. Too bad I'm older than you." Then they heard a voice that caught Daehyun's full attention. 

"Ailee stop embarrassing yourself." They all looked at Youngjae descending the stairs in a fresh shirt and he stood at the bottom of the stairs. 

"Tch. It's true though." Ailee stated as she smiled at Daehyun.

"Aren't you going to let them in?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry." Ailee stepped to the side to let them in. "Come in."

As the four of them gathered in the living room, Daehyun stared at Youngjae. Not in awe, but questionably. Suddenly getting an off feeling about the way he looked inhumanly and impossibly beautiful. He remembered that in his training, Howan explained that vampires have this vampiric beauty that makes them look innocent. 

Daehyun continued to stare and his breath caught when Youngjae smiled. Daehyun couldn't help but think that it looked absolutely beautiful. Daehyun brushed off the thoughts of doubting Youngjae's beauty as vampire trait when he saw him laugh, but saw no sign of fangs. Or he didn't listen when Howan said that vampires can hide their fangs in their gums. 

He was still staring, that he didn't hear what Jongup had said. That was until Youngjae looked at him did Daehyun come back to his senses. He looked at the three faces that looked at him expectantly. 

"W-what did you say?"

"What's your name?" Youngjae spoke with a voice as beautiful as his face. 

"My name? Oh m-my name." Daehyun laughed nervously as he blushed. Why am I acting like this? "I'm Jung Daehyun. You're Yoo Youngjae, right?"

Youngjae smiled and nodded his head. "That would be me." He held out his hand. Daehyun shook his hand feeling that it was strangely cold as ice. The four of them had a nice chat. Daehyun thought it was nice, but in the recesses of his mind, something was telling him otherwise. He tried to enjoy this evening with his cousin and new friends before he officially started his nerve wracking mission. 

After they said their goodbyes and the two cousins left, Youngjae went to his room where he collapsed on his bed. He laid there thinking about the handsome stranger that he noticed was staring at him. This handsome stranger he came to know as Daehyun. He liked Daehyun. He was gentle, nice, and funny  

Youngjae shifted and winced in pain as his sore shoulder tightened painfully. His shoulder was still sore from that night in Central Park. Where he was pinned down harshly by a young vampire. He knew it was a vampire because of the incredible strength and speed. Also because of the blood red eyes and fangs that were bared and looked needy for a neck to sink into  

The main questions in his mind that he forgot to ask, and were killing him for answers were, why was this so called Elysia after him and why did they want him dead. He was long gone from the park when he noticed that he didn't ask those questions and face palmed himself. Youngjae sighed before getting lost in his thoughts and fell in a deep slumber. He needed rest from all the thinking he's done, and he was glad it was now. 

~~~~~

Daehyun and Jongup returned back to their house. Jongup went straight to his room and Daehyun soon heard his snores as he walked into his own room, closing the door behind him. Daehyun sat down on the computer chair by his desk and his eyes found their way to the black suitcase hiding underneath the bed.

He eyed the suitcase momentarily before standing up and recovering the suitcase from underneath the bed. He carefully placed it on the bed and, with a shaky breath, his thumbs pushed down on the locks, hearing it click. It opened, revealing the lemon colored files and his trusty stake and holster within  

Daehyun picked up the file and opened to the first page while grabbing his computer chair. He began reading as he sat down. His eyes roamed along the lines of typed words. He was reading about the Pravus's past and learnt that he lost both his parents in a house fire. His vampire dad and human mother. He learnt that he lives with a close friend of his mother's.

He turned to the second page to see a picture of the fire scene. The big house was completely annihilated. Next to the picture was a picture of the vampire's parents. The father looked somewhat similar to Youngjae, but he just met Youngjae a while ago. He showed no signs of being supernatural. After staring at the pictures, he turned to the next page to see descriptions of vampires. Some Daehyun knew and he didn't. 

Vampires are known to have incredible strength, speed, and power. Most vampires have the ability to conversate telepathically. They each have a mark written in their language, known as the Elysian language, on their wrists to show they are with Elysia. Elysia is powerful amongst vampires and they have a set of rules each vampire must abide to. The most important, by far, is, no vampire shouldn't fall in love with a human. Vampires have different ways of revealing that they aren't supernatural. First, their beauty, it makes them look human. Next, they have a way of hiding their fangs inside their gums. Their fangs only appear when they're in combat or feeding. As we said before, their beauty makes them look human, but the temperature of their skin and the color of their complexion gives them away. With skin cold as ice and skin pale as can be, one would notice they're supernatural. 

Daehyun didn't need to go on reading because what was more worse, was, he was friendly with a vampire. Daehyun sat up and remembered how inhumanly and impossibly beautiful the other looked. How light skinned he was. How he felt the other's hand to be cold as ice. 

His eyes widened in shock.  This can't be. It just can't. He frantically went through the rest of the file skimming each page until he came to the last two pages. Daehyun dropped back in his chair in disbelief and the file fell to the floor to have a picture and the caption said, "Yoo Youngjae At Age 15 With Possible Drudge." 

Daehyun looked down at the picture to see a smiling Jongup and Youngjae that was taken from afar. He picked it up again and turned to the last page to see a picture of Youngjae and Ailee in Central Park that was also taken from afar. The caption said, "Yoo Youngjae At Age 18 And Guardian Ailee (Last Name Unknown)"

Daehyun examined the picture to see the same dark brown hair, pale skin, beautiful smile, and cheekbones. I can't believe this! Daehyun couldn't believe that his own cousin was friends with a vampire, or to make it worse, a drudge to the very vampire he was assigned to kill. He couldn't believe that he was in the vampire's house. He couldn't believe that he thought that this vampire was just another innocent and beautiful citizen. 

Daehyun thought he could approach this mission with confidence, only to approach it shocked and confused. His mission was already a failure before it even began. He threw the file back into the suitcase before slamming it shut. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair before pinching the bridge of his nose. He paced with a look of anger plastered on his face. He was angry. Not only with himself, but with his cousin. How could his cousin be friends with a vampire? A blood creature of the night. A monster. The very motivation that made Daehyun want to become a Slayer. He was angry with himself for being stupid into believing he could be friends with Youngjae and that he didn't think Youngjae was a vampire. 

His foot stepped on a picture by his bed and he looked down to see that same beautiful smile that strangely and weirdly captivated Daehyun. He picked it up. It must've fell out when I through the file. He saw that it was a recent picture. Daehyun narrowed his eyes as he looked at Youngjae's flawless features and, out of anger, he crumpled it and threw it on his desk. He was beautiful, but he was a vampire. A monster. Daehyun didn't want to know the outcome of this mission because, as he can see, it was already heading downhill. 

After putting the suitcase back under the bed he whispered, "Damn it." To himself when he turned out the lights to try and get some rest. The information he found out was too overwhelming that he didn't know what to do. Should I kill him right away? The Elders did say without hesitation, but Jongup probably wouldn't ever forgive me. 

Daehyun tossed and turned that night, and finally at three in the morning he came to his final thoughts. Forget it. I'll just do it. I've already sworn my duty to this mission and I will do it no matter what. I can't lose my privilege to be a Slayer. 

If Daehyun was honest, he liked Youngjae. He thought the other was nice, but Youngjae was a vampire and Daehyun, a Slayer. Vampire and Slayer, sworn enemies since the establishment of both sides. Youngjae was the game in this situation. Whereas Daehyun was the hunter. He was meant to kill Youngjae. With his last thought, Daehyun fell asleep for the remaining hours of the early morning until it was time to wake up for school. He has to kill Youngjae.  It's the right thing to do...right?