You can’t take back memories. No matter how much you want it…

“Where are you going?”

Hana looked back at Sehun. The male was sitting on the couch, turning on his music player in the living room with a slow jazz music. It was morning. Hana woke up early with stomach crumbling loudly, asking for food. She realized she had skipped lunch and dinner yesterday.

“I want to buy food,” Hana answered, almost immediately. A second later, Sehun could hear the sound of her stomach. The girl smiled shyly, and grabbed the doorknob once again.

Sehun had almost forgotten that the girl hadn’t eaten for a day. She was skinny as stick, and if she didn’t eat for another day, Sehun had no doubts the meats in her body would be reduced to bones.

“I’ll go with you,” Sehun stood up, grabbing his hoodie on the table and wore it quickly. Hana watched in amusement as Sehun put on a cap to cover his face. So much preparation in the hot summer. But then again, he was a vampire; he needed protection from the sun.

“Won’t you burn under the sunlight?” Hana asked curiously. Sehun grabbed the doorknob before her and gestured her to come out with him. “Vampires do, the Fallen don’t. We can stand the sunlight, but it still tickles our skin sometimes.” Tickles. What a strange word.

“I see,” Hana nodded. “Do you really have to go with me? I won’t run away, you know.” Sehun then glanced at her incredulously. “I’m sure you won’t run away. I just want to make sure that nothing will harm you along the way.”

There he went with the overprotectiveness. What was so special about the Mark she was bearing anyway?

“Are there a lot of people like me? Are there a lot of Marked ones?” Hana pushed the button on the lift, and stepped back, looking at Sehun with the look that he called ‘too innocent for her own good’.

“There are,” Sehun folded his hand in front of his chest. But there aren’t a lot that bear the Mark you bear. The girl then titled her head, and followed Sehun inside the lift, watching as he pushed the first level button and closed the lift’s door. “Then they are protected by the Fallen as well. Is that right?”

Sehun gazed at her all of a sudden. Hana’s heart skipped a beat when those cold eyes looked at her with such an unreadable expression. They were cold blank canvas, but at the same time, those eyes held more than just emptiness.

“…No?” Hana asked, almost unsure of her own voice. Sehun opened his mouth at the same time the lift opened its door. The male sighed and walked out first, “Let’s go outside.”

She followed him outside, bowing to the security guard in the front. She saw how Sehun tightened the cap around his head to shield his eyes from the sun. His hoodie fell back when he walked faster, and Hana had to catch his wrist to slow him down a little.

“Can you walk slower?” Hana in a deep breath. She was almost running to keep up the speed with Sehun. The male hissed when her warm hands touched his skin, almost like a thorn. It didn’t hurt much. It just pricked onto his outer skin. This was the effect of the sunlight on his body. They weakened him, maybe not as much as the vampires, but it still did.

Hana observed how his dark orbs became almost black under the sunlight. The sun must have affected him somehow. Hana pulled down Sehun’s sleeves to cover the palm, and tightened her grasp on his wrist. Sehun’s lips opened a little to protest, but the girl had grabbed him along and walked faster to the front.

“What are you doing?!” Sehun muttered under his breath. He wasn’t unhappy with the skinship, but it wasn’t exactly appropriate either. The sunlight still tickled him, but his mind raced faster to the tiny hands on his wrist. They fit perfectly together…

“I’m saving you from the sun,” Hana replied, walking even faster before she spotted a café near Sehun’s apartment. Sehun seemed to hesitate a bit. He still wasn’t used to having anyone around him. A part of him told him that pulling away would be better, because he was the Fallen, and he didn’t want to soften up to a little girl like Hana.

Another part told him to keep quiet and let her pull him along.

“A little bit more, are you okay?” Hana glanced back, and pulled down Sehun’s hoodie, whilst waiting for the traffic light. She wasn’t exactly short, so it was easy to grab the hoodie from his neck and pulled it to cover his head.

“Let’s go,” Hana said, ready to pull him along, but this time, Sehun willingly grabbed her hands and led her to cross the road. Her hand was really tiny. Sehun could almost wrapped his palm around it. The thorn-like pain on his hands and skin subsided a little.

Hana swore she had tried everything not to think about the hand that wrapped perfectly around hers. But still, she knew little red dots started to form on her cheeks, flaming it up. She was blushing. For Sehun, this might mean nothing, but she wasn’t used to a man’s grasp. His hand was strong… and cold.

“Your hands are cold,” Hana commented, taking seat in front of Sehun. He pulled down the hoodie and took off the cap. “And you said the sun doesn’t affect you. It does!”

“I never said that it didn’t affect me. I could stand it. The sunlight just makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Hana nodded, “I will order the food first. Do you want to order anything?”

“Sure, if they serve a glass of blood,” Sehun replied sarcastically. Hana furrowed her eyebrows and retorted almost immediately, with the same sarcasm that Sehun used, “I will make sure to ask.”

***

“Are you going out somewhere?”

Kai halted his steps. Sehun’s brother lied on the couch, looking bored. But Kai knew he was watching everything with his observant sharp eyes. It was morning. No vampires dared to go out with the risk of burning under the sunlight. Kai knew that. But he was an exception with his ability.

“Yes, I am. I think it’s none of your business,” Kai snapped back. He felt like a snarky little every time he talked to Sehun’s brother. Every single cell in his body loathed this man in front of him, and yet, they were cousins. Life must have hated him.

“I don’t care what you’re going to do outside of the House in such a…” A pause, “A fine morning. But I ask you to keep an eye for me.” Kai scoffed, “For you? Why should I? I’m not your slave.”

“You are my ally now,” Sehun’s brother replied, so smoothly and so calmly, being the charmer he was. “After Sehun has left, who will lead the House of Vampires when I’m gone? There’s no one else but you.” That was another lie and both of them knew that. Sehun’s brother wouldn’t have anyone threatening his throne.

“What do you want me to watch after?”

“Anything interesting. Make sure to keep an extra eye on my brother, will you?” Sehun’s brother specifically mentioned the last part. If anyone could threatened him and his throne, it would be Sehun, who had just as much claim on the position.

“I might, or might not do it,” Kai made an annoying clicking sound with his tongue. “Stalking my ex-best friend isn’t exactly the nicest thing to do, especially if he throws tantrum every now and then.” In Kai’s opinion, Sehun was like a on fire.

“You have always pissed him off since the day you were born. It is such a wonder how you two were even best friends,” Sehun’s brother felt the need to remind Kai, but then the later only grinned to the older male, “As much as I piss him off, it can’t be compared to you, Dear Cousin. Sehun hates your guts.”

“That’s good to know,” The said one replied in a bored tone. He had gotten so used to the fact that he and Sehun wouldn’t be able to get along. They used to make amends, but now, after Sehun had changed his stance, his brother felt the need to step up his game as well. “I hate him just as much as he does. So tell him, in case you confront him face-to-face, that he can die for all I care. Just like our Father.”

Kai kept quiet after that and decided to teleport out of the room. Sehun’s brother was on the verge of blowing up his temper. He experienced scary mood swings. One moment he was the charming devil and the next, he became a screeching banshee.

Kai smirked when he thought of where he should go.

Maybe he should try to find Hana at this moment. If he were lucky, Kai would be able to taste at least a drop of her blood…