Hana smiled a bit as she flexed her muscle underwater. There was no one at the pool because it was quite chilly outside. The water was rather cold, but felt comforting to the skin. The swimsuit Hana wore was the uniform the school gave out.

           Miyoung was still inside the changing room. It was time like this that Hana really appreciated the feeling of loneliness and peace. The splash of water, and her shallow breathing was the only sound Hana could hear. Aside from that, nothing else mattered.

           Sehun had been observing quietly for quite some times right now. He didn’t need to get closer to see the girl and observe her closely. He didn’t need to see the inked Mark somewhere on her body to know the girl had been Marked. The sweet, mouth-watering scent that her body gave off was enough as proof.

           “Strange…” Sehun quietly analyzed. She didn’t seem to know what was happening. Perhaps the Marking procession had been against her will, or that she had no knowledge of the Shadow world at all. Usually, a Marked being would avoid sunlight as soon as possible and closed off connection with the environment.

          Tightening his grasp on the sword hidden beneath the thick layer of his clothes, Sehun jumped down from the rooftop to the glass roof where the swimming pool was located. From there, he gracefully slid down to the ground and quickly hid himself in the shadow.

          Hana let out a gasp. She heard the leaves rustling against each other wildly. No wind would make such sound. It was as if something just fell down from the roof. What if this was a ert trying to peek at the girls’ swimming session? Shudders ran down Hana spine.

           “Who’s there?” Hana carefully asked, grabbing the steel grasp on the pool and quickly got out. She wrapped the towel on her body and slowly, very slowly walked to the glass that separated the room and the field outside. “Who’s outside?” Looking back to make sure no one was inside the room, Hana opened the glass-slid door and peeked her head through.

           “Is there somebody there?” Hana loudly called out, but no one seemed to be replying. “Can you hear me? Who’s there?”

           Still, no answer. Hana took in a deep breath. She felt so paranoid with everything lately. With a heavy sigh, Hana closed down the sliding door and put the towel back to the bench. With a jump, she felt the cold water hit her head, and she closed her senses to the surrounding.

           Sehun quietly stood up. The girl wasn’t supposed to see him. He had put on his ‘glamour’, a type of magic that would hide him from human being. The glass room was supposed to be soundproof as well, but clearly, Hana had been able to hear through the door. The girl had a very quick sense development, which was quite unusual for the Marked beings.

           He continued observing her, not feeling bored at all. He had all the time in this world, so he could do everything as slowly, and as much as he wanted. Observing a stranger wasn’t his favorite subject to do, but he had to do it nonetheless. This was his job after all.

        The girl moved fluidly like water. It was almost sensual when Sehun watched her in the swimming pool, wrapped only in swimsuits. Unfortunately, though, for Sehun, whose heart was frozen from darkness, he felt nothing. He wasn’t completely heartless and emotionless though; he still had some of those emotions left.

             He wasn’t a stalker. Sehun’s eyes hardened. He wasn’t a stalker. He couldn’t help but felt like one.

           A few moments later, a group of students arrived. The last one to come in was the only male in the room. He was of average height, and had very feminine features gracing his face. Sehun didn’t even feel the need to hide right now. He had his ‘glamour’ on, and these bunch of people were human.

           Sehun watched as Hana joined in the line. There were approximately twelve of them. She was the last in line, and her head looked left and right for someone, probably her friend. Sehun didn’t see any threat from her surrounding. He was starting to think that observing this one girl could be pointless. Maybe he should just find another target.

             Maybe…

            Maybe not.

           Sehun’s eyes narrowed at another female who just entered the room. She had a strong, striking pose, and Sehun immediately felt the tingly hatred burning inside him. There was no mistaken. The girl was a vampire.

***

             “I am planning on asking Coach Hyunseung later on,” Giddily, Miyoung whispered to Hana. There was a dreamy expression on her face. Her eyes looked longingly at the figure in the front. Another group of girls were flocking around him, asking all sorts of question and Hyunseung, as usual, tried to be helpful and nice.

           “Well, you should. He might be taken if you wait any longer,” Hana casually warned her. Miyoung nodded, looking absolutely horrified. Hana bit her lips to hold back the chuckle and focused in the front. A girl, Hyosung approached them.

            “Hey, Hana, looks like you got some admirer, huh?” Pointing at the sliding door direction, Hana quickly whipped off her head to the direction. There was no one there. Miyoung raised her eyebrow. Hyosung was known as the bully of the school. She was popular, as much as she was hated by everyone else.

          “I saw no one, though,” Hana said, sounding a little bit irritated. She never liked Hyosung. Sure, she was pretty and had a rocking body, but her personality . Hyosung smirked and popped the gum in front of Hana. “Hmm, my bad. I though I saw a hobo out there waiting for you.”

           Strutting away, Hyosung held her chin up with pride. Miyoung gritted her teeth angrily, and turned her head at Hana, “You want me to bite her?” Hana wanted to joke at her words, but seeing how Miyoung’s eyes flashed with anger and danger, Hana shook her head. No one should mess up with Miyoung. She was a tiger in fight. No one could beat her.

           “It’s okay. Chill. She’s just having her PMS early or something,” Hana shrugged and patted Miyoung’s shoulder. She was about to walk away, but before that she swore Miyoung’s expression changed for a split second. Without much consideration, Hana pulled her best friend along and dragged her to Hyunseung’s side.

           “You girls okay?” Hyunseung furrowed her eyebrows together when he saw a pissed off Miyoung and a wary Hana. Hana shook her head and Hyunseung nodded, as if he understood what happened to Miyoung. “So we’ll have a small competition today. This is to determine who will represent our college in the swimming competition next month. We’ll have a free-style swimming for 100 meters. Before that, though, you guys have to warm up well. Make sure no one gets cramp later on.”

           With a small wave, everybody scattered around the pool. Some jumped around to loosen up, some chose to massage their feet and arms. Hana walked away from Miyoung as she talked to Coach Hyunseung. She stretched her legs and arms by doing splits. Her body was quite flexible, so it wasn’t really hard. Besides, she had warmed up earlier in the pool.

            “What’s this? You got a tattoo?” Hyosung sinisterly asked, walking slowly passed Hana. “I have always thought you were such a good girl, but…” Hana felt a pang of hurt and annoyance when Hyosung said that. She didn’t retort back, simply because she didn’t want to attract troubles and unwanted attention.

           “Such an ugly shape,” Hyosung snorted and walked away again.

           Hana didn’t care if she looked so much like a coward. All she wanted was a safe place, where she could stay quite and peaceful the way she had always been. She wasn’t a coward, she just didn’t like fighting. She hated violence and hatred. She made sure to steer away from fights and bullies.

       “What? What did she tell you?” Miyoung whispered. Her entire face was positively glowing after talking to Hyunseung. Hana didn’t want to ruin such happiness. She simply shook her head and continued stretching. Miyoung didn’t seem to push any further.

          “Miyoung, Hyosung, Hyunji, you guys will go first,” Hyunseung read out from the list. Miyoung threw a worried glance at Hana. She then walked to join the other two. Though this might seem like a friendly competition with no harm done, the pride was at stake.

           “Hana, Jieun, Jisung, you guys will be second after this,” Hana took a look at her two opponents. They were fast swimmers, ones of the best in the club. But oh well, it wasn’t like Hana would be competing with them. She was well aware of her own capabilities.

            Sehun twisted the daggers in his hands. He loved playing with daggers, especially when he had nothing else to do. He was not supposed to be anxious, but he was. Watching Miyoung and Hyosung staring down competition was scary. The tension in the room raised by a few degrees.

            “Miyoung, go for it!” Hana cheered, but secretly, hatefully whispered, “Bring that down!”

           Somehow, Hyosung seemed to hear it. She threw a surprised glance, which later on turned to be so hateful and annoyed. Hana didn’t seem to care. Miyoung, on the other hand, seemed a little bit nervous. She kept looking back and forth between Hyunseung, Hyosung and Hana.

           “Ready? Set, go!” With a huge splash of water, the three jumped onto the pool, swimming as fast as they could. Hana watched as Miyoung got out of the water with a proud expression, and Hyosung bitterly threw her a dirty glare. Hana could only laugh from afar, giving her best friend a thumb up, as Miyoung returned with the same gesture.

           When Hyunseung signaled them to go down, everything went blur. The water filled her in, and she struggled hard to maintain her speed. Her hands flailed around in a very stable position. That was when she felt something tugging at her from the bottom of the pool.

           Sehun’s eyes followed as Hana suddenly stopped moving. Her entire body seemed to freeze, then she started struggling. To Sehun, it looked like she was in despair. Her teammates seemed to think she had cramps or problems swimming. A second later, though, Hana freely swum forward like nothing had happened. She finished last in her place.

           “Hey, are you okay?” Miyoung handed Hana the towel. “You got cramps when you were swimming?” Hana’s face was pale. She seemed shaken, but nonetheless, she nodded convincingly, “Yeah. It’s a cramp. Just a cramp.” She looked back to the water in a horrified expression. Just a cramp, yeah.