Kim Jongin.

The one and only.

One of the best fighters among the vampires, he was born of royal bloods, along with Sehun, his brother, and a few others. Even so, he wasn’t ranked higher than Sehun’s family, and therefore, he would never inherit the throne. He knew that since he was a kid, and he harbored no hard feelings for Sehun's family.

Kai had been friends with Sehun since he could remember. He was close to Sehun, as Luhan had been. The three shared everything together, and did everything together. Kai knew Sehun better than he knew himself, and it was the same with Sehun.

Kai knew Sehun wasn’t entirely happy with his status and the pressure from his father. He was frustrated, angry, annoyed, but Sehun managed to hide it quite well. Even then, Sehun had always kept his feelings bottled up to himself. When Sehun joined in the Fallen clan, it came out as a shock to the entire vampire races.

No one really knew the reason behind it, but whatever it was, Sehun must be pretty devastated and mad. Becoming the Fallen, you had to let your heart consume all the darkness and accepted madness.

The second shock came when Luhan decided to follow Sehun. Kai had always known that Luhan was in love with Sehun. Luhan didn’t need to tell him, Kai understood, yet he never once for this. What Kai never knew was how much Luhan could sacrifice for his loved ones. In this case, Luhan had given up his sanity for Sehun.

The memories of them were flesh cutting ones. Kai remembered once, when he met Sehun while he was feeding in some area in the city. There was a fight, and after that, Kai lied on the bed, unconscious for three days with broken ribs and bones. Even with his speed healing, the injuries by the Fallen weren’t so easy to close down.

The memories were so bitter, that when he thought of it, there was a sour and bitter taste on his tongue. His heart went cold just by thinking about the former best friends. They were once brothers, now they were torn apart. Like pieces of paper.

Like Sehun, Kai never really counted how old he was. He was about to reach 500 this year, if he wasn’t mistaken. Or maybe 600. He wasn’t that young as a vampire, but he wasn’t exactly old either. Even so, Kai was as fragile as a glass. His heart wasn’t gentle, but it was fragile. One touch and Kai would break down like those shattered pieces of mirror.

“Why is life… so complicated?” Kai put his hand behind his head. He let the wind blew his face. He couldn’t stand being in the sun for more than a few seconds. He immediately pulled the curtain and thought of a random place and teleported himself there.

***

“I’m going to toilet for a while.”

Sehun watched as Hana stood up and walked to the restroom area. He shouldn’t be too worried. It was daylight, and nothing should’ve harmed her, with a few exceptions like the Forsakens. He wondered if keeping her away from her family and friends would be the right decision.

Someday, Sehun would have to explain what the Mark meant to her, and to the whole Shadow world. She was meant to be apart from him in the end, if she could make it through the transformation. The hard part was to find out who Marked her. The rest should be easy deal.

Another thing Sehun noticed was how her scent seemed to amplify in just a few days. Like right now, Sehun could smell Hana’s scent from afar. Her scent was really mouth-watering, sweet and fragrant. Even for him, the scent was overwhelming. Sehun knew the scent would keep on getting stronger and sweeter, until she was changed.

Sehun shook the thought away. He had just taken blood yesterday. Normally, his thirst would be kept in bay for a week and more. But his self-control broke down every time Hana’s scent came in contact with his nose. Maybe he needed to drink more than he would normally take…

“Ah, this is so annoying,” Sehun groaned softly, keeping his voice at minimum. His left hand covered his face as his body relaxed from the stiff position he was in.

Sehun had never took responsibilities in any of the Marked ones before. They were all the same in his eyes; waiting for uncertainty. Once they became the Forsaken, then it was Sehun’s job to finish them off. Taking care of Hana had been odd. It felt odd.

Sehun had stopped hunting at night, so that he could stay home and watched over her. As creepy as it sounded, Sehun didn’t mind staying near her sleeping figure, watching as her eyes contorted in pain or in relief. Sometimes she had nightmares, and Sehun would hush her. Hana never knew, of course.

Kai’s warning had left Sehun on his guard at all times. Hana must be protected, especially against his brother. Who knew what Sehun’s brother would do once he found out about the Mark on her back? Kill her? Sehun doubted it very much. Taste her? In the most intimate way…

Sehun’s face contorted with disgust. It wasn’t that he felt anything for Hana, for God’s sake, that girl was just a small, innocent girl who was too ignorant of the world. Sehun didn’t like her, but he didn’t dislike her either. Sehun only thought of her as a burden. He couldn’t throw her away nor could he keep her.

Right now, in Sehun’s mind, Hana was a sword, waiting to be polished to its best. Hana was his second chance to life. She was the only thing that could-and would- kill his brother. So maybe, keeping her a little longer wouldn’t hurt.

Hana, on the other hand, was washing her hands at the sink. Behind her was a man, his signature smirk grazing his thick, kissable lips. The toilet was empty a few seconds ago. How could he-Hana looked at his face and jumped in an instant, “Holy Lord, it’s you!”

It was Kai, looking good as he did when they met the last time.

“Why are you here?! This is ladies’ restroom!” Hana exclaimed with so much horror written on her face. Kai chuckled at her expression, taking it in as a somewhat adorable face. “It’s not funny. Get out now!”

To her surprise, Kai got out obediently. He hadn’t expected to teleport into a ladies’ restroom. But much to his delight, Hana was there. Maybe a little bit furious, but he didn’t care. She was actually there.

“What the hell do you want, Kai?” was the first thing that Hana said when she came out of the restroom. Her eyes weren’t mad, but Kai knew she wasn’t happy to see him, at all. She looked radiant, as beautiful as she had been before, but her scent intensified twice stronger. The smell of a Marked one would always invite other Shadow creatures to taste the blood…

“Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Hana didn’t know why blood rushed to her head and colored her cheeks red. She quickly shook her head and snapped in a low hiss, “No, now go, Kai, I’m not in the mood. And what the hell, why did you appear in the ladies’ toilet! Are you crazy?!”

“It was a mistake,” Kai truthfully answered. Hana rolled her eyes in response, “Whatever, I’m going.”

Kai grabbed her wrist and looked into her eyes, smelling the scent in. Hana was startled at the sudden pull. She was too surprised to even struggle under his touch, which honestly felt weird and cold. “Let. me. go.”

Kai opened his eyes. There was a sudden urge to reveal his true nature because his fangs were growing inside his mouth and if he kept them inside any longer, it would pierce his gums. He hissed but didn’t reveal the fangs. Hana pulled her hand and looked at him weirdly, before running back to Sehun.

Kai groaned and teleported himself back.