[Sera]

I know.

I knew that washing all the dishes from breakfast would not atone for my wrongdoings but there was nothing else that I could have done to make up for what I did. And besides, doing the dishes gave me time to reflect on my actions; not to mention, the sound of water calmed me.

Or so I thought.

My hands worked while my mind thought about that night’s events. Sighs… I’ve really messed up big time. Not only did I forget my true identity, I’ve also mindlessly placed my one and only friend’s life in danger.

Ugh, so stupid. Oh Sera, you are so brainless!

Throwing the sponge into the mess of dirty dishes and murky water, I rested my free hand on the edge of the sink. Blurry scenes of Jieun being harassed by the Chinese vampires, of her screaming her head off, of me being flung onto the floor as though I was a ragdoll, flashed through my head.

“Gah! I’m such a moron!” I could feel the simmering anger bubbling within me. I continued to mull on the events of that night and the bubbles of anger transformed into raw rage. How the could you be so foolish! How could you not have thought about the consequences of your actions!?

How could you be so reckless and insane?

The grip on the plate in my other hand tightened as the seconds ticked by and the raw fury in me escalated to full-on rage as I continued to blame myself — my mind all messed up yet empty. Prying my hand from the edge of the sink, I raked it through my hair and cursed silently when my bun came loose. I faintly heard the sound of my hair tie hitting the floor. Nothing is going my way recently. ing nothing.

“Ugh!” And the sound of broken china snapped me out of my angry stupor.

Glancing down, I mentally rolled my eyes and tried hard to not curse aloud as I saw that my hand no longer held a plate. Instead, only a few pieces of it were still in my hand. I gripped it tight, feeling the sharpness of them in my palm, letting them stab my flesh as I watched the murky water in the sink being dyed with droplets of red before turning to black altogether.

Opening my hand once more, a bloody sight greeted me and the pieces crumbled to dust. I let them fall into the sink as I turned the tap on to wash away the red liquid from my palms. Under the blood, my skin began to heal and soon, my palm was as good as new. Yet, the now-black water reminded me of my wrongdoings and the fact that I ought to be punished for my ignorance.

A throat cleared itself behind me and I froze, recognising that sound.

Knowing that my hands were empty, I sighed and whirled around to find a scowling Kyungsoo-oppa leaning on the doorframe of the kitchen with his arms crossed.  

I deserve it. Just come. Come kill me, Kyungsoo-oppa.

He glided over, the scowl softening with each step he took. Standing next to me, he retrieved the sponge from the depths of the sea of dishes and began to scrub at the remaining dishes.

“Yixing-hyung is looking for you.” His tone was light, as though he wasn’t angry that a piece of his beloved ceramic plate had been disintegrated. “Head on out, I’ll finish up here.”

I stared at him, hoping that he would meet my gaze but the boy had his eyes fixated on the mountain of dishes in front of him. I lowered my head in silence and nodded curtly.

“T-Thanks, Kyungsoo-oppa.”

“No worries.”

I removed the apron around me and the boy pointedly extended his arms, making his intention of wanting to don the hideous purple fabric clear. Snickering, I draped it on his body and secured the strings behind his back. The apron made the boy seem even smaller than he was.

“Thanks, Sera.”

“N-No worries.”

“Are you okay? I heard your grunts of frustration from out here so I sent Kyungsoo to you.” I approached my boyfriend from behind but his vampiric hearing caught my noiseless tiptoeing all the same. “And I heard a plate shatter. Let me see your hand.” He whirled around, concern and worry written all over his face, as he took hold of my hand.

“I’m okay. It’s already healed; the cuts weren’t that deep and severe. See.” I slapped my supposedly injured palm with the other, showing him that it had healed perfectly.

“Alright then.” He smiled fondly, his eyes forming crescents, as he intertwined his fingers with mine and he pulled me towards a path that leads to the mansion’s expansive greens.

We walked in silence for a short distance. I let my senses take over, as my eyes stared at the brown, weathered pathway; my nose sniffing the scent of nature and of the boy beside me; my ears catching the melody of birds chirping up in the trees; and my mouth shut, for I do not know how to broach the topic I’ve been brooding on in the kitchen.

“Something on your mind…?”

The corners of my mouth tugged upwards slightly as I sneaked a glance at him; he was looking ahead but I knew he had his eyes on me. Oh Yixing-oppa, you sure know me the best.

“Y-Yeah… Nothing escapes your eyes huh, oppa?” My fingers tightened their grip on his and he let out a soft chuckle. “Of course. Who am I?”

Resisting the urge to smack his arm for his cheekiness, I inhaled and began to rant. “You know, I really didn’t mean to bring her to a nightclub. I know that there plenty of other locations where you can have fun, but at that point of time my mind just couldn’t process.”

“Uh huh.”  

“I know that that isn’t a great reason to go to a club but I just wanted to cheer her up. There’s this feeling nagging at me that the gloominess in Jieun could be related to me. And being the best friend, I had to think of something to cheer her up yes?"

Yixing-oppa nodded, he still looked ahead but I could feel his subtle glances on me.

"But unlucky Sera just had to meet trouble. And the fact that I had really forgotten about our kind's non-immunity to alcohol worsened the problem." The pent-up raw fury made it's appearance once again and I found myself shaking vehemently, my eyes welling up with tears. Feeling my lips quivering and vision obscured by the now-flowing tears, I stopped in my tracks.

“I couldn’t foresee the future, but I hadn’t expected the unexpected to actually happen to me! H-How could I have known t-that we would be ambushed by those v-vampires…” My breath hitched as I hiccupped while my throat suppressing a rough cough that would surely send Yixing-oppa into a tizzy about my health.

“I-I’m really naive, aren’t I?”

He shook his head, as he cooed softly to me. “No… You’re not, my dear.” His lips pressed gently at the corner of my eye and if I wasn’t already so battered by my overwhelming downcast mood, I would have gasped when his tongue flicked my tears away from my face.

I shut my eyes and revelled in his touch as his tongue continued to at my cheeks, no tear running down my face. I mentally chortled when I visualised him as a mother cat cleaning her kitten with her tongue.

“Sera, you did nothing wrong. All you wanted was to put a smile on your friend’s face. Although the method you used was most definitely inappropriate and disapproving, you managed to make the girl smile or laugh right?” He whispered ever so softly, his surprisingly warm breath dancing on the surface of my features. “You’ve accomplished what you had set out to do and in a way, that is all that matters.”

"B-But... It's still my fault. If something were to ever happen to her, I will not forgive myself! I can never forgive myself…” The tears welling up in my eyes threatened to spill again and Yixing-oppa’s widened eyes slightly elicited an inward snigger. “Sehun-oppa was right, I was foolish and only thought about mys–"

He sealed my remaining words when his lips pressed softly on mine. He didn’t move them; it was just a soft, gentle, and comforting peck on the lips. His eyes were closed, his long lashes igniting a tinge of jealousy within me (how can boys’ lashes be that long!?) but I pushed the feeling away as my hands reached up to cup the sides of his face. As though my actions were a trigger, he inhaled sharply and suddenly he tilted his head sideways. He cautiously began to move his lips and his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me even closer to him.

I tried to respond to his intensifying kiss but somehow, I couldn’t. And with his eyes now open and seeing how stiff I had become, a small smile played on his face and he pulled away slightly. Our foreheads touched and he chuckled softly.

“Alright alright, I won’t kiss you like that if you’re uncomfortable.” He pecked me swiftly on the lips. “This is okay, yes?”

I nodded, heat rushing to my face and I dropped my hands from his face. His fingers found mine and we intertwined them as he brought them up to his cheeks before kissing the back of my hands.

My heartbeat accelerated significantly and I swear the boy could hear its rapid thumping for a smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. I was about to lightly prod his cheek when I found myself being whirled aside just as a jet of water shot through the spot I had been standing at.

What the hell!?

"HUANG. ZI. TAO.”

A murderous aura appeared beside me as an arm s around my waist and his svelte digits gripped my shirt. Oh Zitao is in a load worth of trouble now!

Yixing-oppa snapped his head to where the jet of water came from but knowing the third youngest, he would have scrammed the moment he fired the water. Eyes darting around, we attempted to locate him and finally found him when he let loose another stream of water at Suho-oppa and Kris-oppa who had unfortunately chosen the worse time to saunter towards us from the mansion.

I was curious as to why they didn’t sense the troublemaker but boy did they look angry when the cold-looking liquid drenched them both.

If Kris-oppa’s insanely loud bellow meant anything, it would have called for Zitao-oppa’s death. His usually nicely styled hair was floppy, his fringe dripping with water as they obscured the front of his face but I could still very well spy a legendary scowl on his handsome face. Suho-oppa, on the other hand, was calm. But for us who knew him since young, it was just a facade; the boy was immensely angered, the rage building up within his body and waiting for a final trigger to explode.

Uh oh, this isn't good.

With a flick of his fingers, the water on their clothes gathered to form a huge ball. A dangerous smirk crept onto the younger’s face and at his command, the ball of water shot insanely fast towards Tao-oppa. If he weren’t a vampire trained in martial arts, the boy would never be able to dodge it effortlessly.

He emerged from the shadows of the trees, a long water hose held proudly above his head. His eyes had a mischievous glint in them while an unusually sweet and sallow-looking smile crept onto his face.

Wait a minute. I know that face. No way. No ing way. Is he seriously going to suggest wat–

"WATER TAG!”

[Yixing]

At the shout of the time controller, I pulled her closer to me and together we escaped to the outskirts of the clearing.

Even though we were a distance away from the supposed gamemaster who was now nowhere to be found, his ominous voice travelled to our ears. “The rules are the same like those times we played this in our childhood: those who have been tagged by water, as in water touching any part of your body, are instantly out and the final winner gets to have everyone to serve him or her for a week.” I could hear eleven other breaths hitch when Zitao revealed the ‘prize’. Feeling my competitive spirit surging through me, a confident grin formed on my face.

“LET’S BEGIN!"

Besides Zitao, nine other boys appeared in the clearing. Their eyes were narrowed, but I could feel the zealous (or overzealous) spirit in them. Slowly backing away with Sera in my arms, we retreated up a tree before anyone could notice us and from a high and sturdy branch, we watched the game unfold.

Water tag, one of the numerous games we used to play in our childhood. Back in those days, the person who was most advantageous was Suho since he had the ability to control water. And of course, he was the one who thought of this wretched, I’m-definitely-going-to-win activity during an extremely warm summer day. Long story short, my same-aged friend won almost every single time we played water tag. After what happened to Sera, we stopped playing; heck, we stopped playing games altogether. But now that she’s back, I’m guessing everyone thinks it’s alright to resume our games — to go back to our childhood before that tragic day.

“Yixing-oppa.” Her whisper broke my daze and I looked at her, but her eyes were sparkling as they dar