The concept of immortality had never really crossed my mind.

I had never really been a fantasy fan, nor had I ever comprehended it’s function. Apparently, Harry Potter was a wizard boy with a physical deformity that made him even more appealing. Apparently, Bella Swan had made emo-albino the trend, a way to charm vampires and become the ‘it’ girl among the damned. I think I was slowly beginning to understand one of the reasons why Hyun Joong liked me. No doomed (and imaginative) creature had ever made my heart skip a beat.

My only brush with fictional fancies had been Percy Jackson, which I sincerely enjoyed reading. That was thanks to Woohyun, who I wasn’t really keen on talking to as of now. I looked at the picture for the hundredth time, the warm eye-smiles in my memory vanishing into the dead orbs in front of me. This was not… him. But it was… him. At some point of time, most recently in fact, I felt like I had definitely seen this side of him. The possibility of my cousin brother and my closest friend being bipolar was still tolerable.

But what about the eternal youth factor?

So I had six men around me, probable customers of the Fountain of Youth, one of them a convict who was currently cracking lame jokes with my godmother in the kitchen below. The second was my best friend’s good friend, a man who worked right next to her store. The third was someone special to her, someone she had protected by keeping this little secret. The fourth was a volatile punk who managed the town’s music store, the fifth a quiet man who stayed in the shadows.

And the sixth.

I sighed and brushed the dust off the charcoal sketch. As much as I did not want to bring it up, something inside me had clicked when I wanted to deny that the evidence in front of me was unreal.

So I had a thing for a man who would forever be young.

I shook my head and repacked everything, rubbing my hands against my arms and shivering at every memory of Hero’s – or Jaejoong – engraved in my mind. Unknowingly, the two of us had sought for comfort and found it in each other. We had never really spent much time alone but the few moments spent together had made me feel more alive than any other time I could remember. He had triggered my first outburst and at the same time, had helped me come to terms with myself.

But these weren’t reasons.

These were excuses.

I liked Hero, the degree to which I did not know myself and instead of trying to justify my feelings for him, the only thing I could do for now was find answers.

I just hoped his immortal mechanism wasn’t oiled by human blood. The world could only afford one Bella Swan.

                                               *******************************

“She’s here.”

I looked up and sighed, noticing a mixture of pain and joy from my reflection on the window. Jiho sneered and marched to his room. Donghae placed a hand on my shoulder and nodded. Howon pursed his lips and started walking towards the door when suddenly, Seunghyun held him back.

“I think a familiar face,” he said, giving a small smile, “would make her feel betrayed rather than comfortable.”

Howon’s eyes burned into Seunghyun’s face, only to be calmed down by a nod of my head.

“Just don’t make me look like an idiot,” he joked and ran to his room. Seunghyun waved at the door, letting me lead him outside. I took a deep breath in and stepped out into the light.

Saya wasn’t close by. She was in fact, not less than five kilometres from our house. But our mansion was atop a cliff whose entrance was only known to us, walkable only for us. Seunghyun and I leaped over the rocks and landed straight on the sand, jogging towards the thick trail of trees that roleplayed as our own forest. Howon would often practice his taekwondo for time pass here and Jiho was sometimes found with his guitar and his notebook under a tree. Aiden on the other hand didn’t like the seclusion our abode offered, but exceptions couldn’t be generalizations. We all understood that our lives had to be a little distant from Verdelann’s. We couldn’t mix with them, not at our risk. Their risk.

We finally saw the clearing that creeped next to the green boulevard. Saya had her eyebrows furrowed, a cardboard box full of butter paper and old journals sitting on the passenger seat beside her. Her one hand was on the steering wheel of the jeep while the other was tracing a path on the map. I grinned at the frustrated splashes of red and green that splattered against her. Seunghyun stared at me amused.

“They were right,” he said. “She doesn’t have an aura we can see.”

“It’s…” I said, the grin still on my face. “It’s entertaining. Nothing like we’ve ever seen before.”

Seunghyun raised an eyebrow and I patted his back. “Let’s go.”

                                    **************************************

“Lost?”

I yelped in surprise, letting the map fall off my grasp. I cursed and reached out for it, only to recognize the Good Samaritans. They were none other than Hero and Top.

“Hey…” My insincere greeting seemed to have been noticeable, what with Hero chuckling and Top smiling with a shake of his head. I gulped and began covering the box with my arms. Hero raised an eyebrow at me while I draped myself over the pictures and shot him a smile.

“So… Yeah… I was actually….” I began playing with my fingers and sighed. So much for storming into their house and demanding for answers.

Normally people would have been intimidated. Even scared. When one thinks of immortals, or forever young, the obvious choice is ‘vampire’, or someone who sold their soul to the devil. But a particular memory had erased all my fears. The day when Hero had cornered me in college and I had seen him in another light. Those purple eyes had never failed to haunt me, though that was ironic since hauntings never made people feel warm.

The point was, I had seen the vulnerable side of Hero. I knew it was his vulnerable side, the side that no one could see. The question was why I had seen it. The question was why Yoona was involved yet distant. The question was whether I even had the right to know. 

Of course you do, an inner voice told me. You're a citizen of Verdelann. Chances were there were more people who knew about this and maybe I was the only one, newborn and confused. 

Hero decided to sit shotgun while Top offered to drive us to their home. I nodded and climbed to the backseat. Hero grinned at me from the rearview mirror and I wondered whether Dorian Gray was on a sugar-high. Never had I seen him this excited. Poor boys. Maybe two hundred years hadn't been long enough to invite friends over. 

                                                                ***************************************************************

What’s wrong with you?

I sneaked a glance at Saya then grinned. You used to complain about me never smiling.

That’s true. Seunghyun pressed his lips together to restrain from smiling. But your jaw should be hurting by now. You look a lot like that villain Batman can never kill.

His name is Joker, I frowned, quirking an eyebrow at him. And I’m pretty sure I don’t look that scary.

Bet?

“Ok seriously?”

Our conversation ended with Saya’s interruption. She had been staring at us with her arms crossed.

“This silence is…. Useless.” She threw her hands up in the air. “It’d be better to get a headstart instead of sitting down somewhere formal and commencing the conversation over a lovely cup of tea.”

“We’re not going home,” Seunghyun said. He glanced at Saya from the rearview mirror and nodded. “It’d be better to stay away from Jiho, at least for now.”

Saya blinked and looked outside the window. She made a sound of agreement and sank back into silence.

Why aren’t you saying anything? Seunghyun taunted.

I rolled my eyes. It’s a sensitive topic. 

Chances are you'll lose her anyway.

Do we have to?

It’s her right to know your identity and it’s her right to choose to be by your side. But Woohyun is still there.

Suddenly the jeep came to a halt. We exited the car, only to find that Saya was still inside.

“Do you like the beach?” I said, opening the door for her. Saya gazed out at the teal ocean and gave a small smile.

“I only saw it on my way here, to Verdelann.” She wrapped her arms around herself, her sleeveless blouse and cotton pants not helping her to cope with the cool breeze.

I removed my jacket and handed it to her. I watched, amused, as she quietly nodded and murmured a ‘thanks’. She slipped her hands through the sleeves and folded them to fit her well.

They normally refuse first, Seunghyun smiled. Play hard-to-get, or whatever it is girls nowadays do.

She’s not fussy, I said, feeling a little proud.

You’re making me sick.

She’s my destiny. Humour me.