"So... you're not going to my blood?"

Jaejoong shook his head.

"And we're supposed to be together? Like, together together?"

Jaejoong furrowed his eyebrows and turned to face me. "Saya," he said. "I'm not going to force you to be with me. All I'm saying is that... I'll always be here for you. In the end, it's your choice."

I meekly nodded, still not used to his bold proclamations. I my lips and looked at the setting sun. Suddenly I was aware of the time and I stood up. 

"Should I drop you home?" Jaejoong offered. "You've come a long way."

I smiled. "As long as you don't mind. I really don't know my way around that well."

Just when the two of us were on our way out, we saw a group of figures crowded by the road. I narrowed my eyes to get a good look at them under the moonlight, a little shocked to recognize Woohyun. Standing next to him were a large number of males, men I had never seen before.

I turned around and found Jaejoong standing frozen, his jaw tightened, his fist clenched. I lightly touched his arm, taken aback when he grasped me and pulled me behind him. 

"Stay with me," he murmured. I whispered an 'okay' and closely followed him.

I felt my insides go hollow as soon as Woohyun saw me. The sight of Jaejoong with me seemed to infuriate him. He muttered something to the eight men, who started walking towards us. 

"Listen!" Jaejoong raised a hand and motioned for peace. I cowered at the look on Woohyun's face and remembered the 'wanted' poster. 

"Saya." Key emerged from the crowd and looked at Jaejoong and me. His expression gave his thoughts away. He understood what had happened. 

"You told her," Key said in a matter-of-fact tone. He then looked at me. "Why didn't you call for help?"

"Why would I do that?" I said. "Jaejoong hasn't harmed me at all."

Key scoffed. "Right. Like the vampires would let some human know everything about them and let her go."

"We're Fated."

The silence was cast like a spell. Woohyun widened his eyes at me and then looked at Jaejoong. In between the man I liked and a once-upon-a-time convict, there was no doubt in my head as to who to choose.

"That changes things," the man closest to us muttered. He was dusky and lithe, his good-looks not compensating for his intimidating aura. He caught me looking at him and I instantly looked away. 

"I'm Kai," he smiled. Jaejoong shot him a look, which made him chuckle. 

"Possessive already?" Kai laughed. He walked away and clapped the back of the second man who he called 'Tao', muttering about a 'friday night outing' gone wrong. 

In the end, it was just Woohyun, Key, Jaejoong and I.

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

"I don't believe you."

"Woohyun," Key murmured, trying to calm me down. I shrugged his hand away and marched towards the man who had threatened to kill me once.

"Come on Saya," I hissed. "Let's go home. It's getting late and you don't know what this monster is capable of---"

"What about you?"

I fumbled and watched as she stepped forward and looked up at me with a mix of fear and anger in her eyes. "You were a criminal, Woohyun. Right?"

I staggered in my footsteps. Fury and confusion boiled inside me and my head snapped towards Key. He was least threatened and shrugged, "She had every right to know."

"She didn't HAVE to know!" I argued. Key rolled his eyes and began walking away. 

"You promised you'll drive me home!" he shouted while walking away. "I'm waiting in the car for you two."

I shot a glare at Jaejoong and said, "I don't trust you---"

Saya stealthily moved in front of him. "Do not blame him. Jaejoong has done nothing but tell me the truth, which I deserve to know."

I closed my eyes to control myself. Saya had no idea what she was talking about and at the moment, I could not forgive myself. "You need to sit with me in the car and LISTEN--"

"Oh I will," Saya said, her voice ringing with pain. She turned to look at Jaejoong and gave a small smile. Jaejoong returned the gesture with a small nod and lightly touched her arm. 

"I'll see you tomorrow," he murmured and gave me a wary look. I lifted my chin up. Who was warning who?

"Come on Saya," I said. "Boa will be waiting."

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

The drive was quiet and even Key refrained from making small talk. Woohyun ignored him and once we reached the antique store, I gave a warm smile to the only human I had seen today, knowing fully well that without him, I would be as foolish as I had been for the past few months. 

The silence on the way back hom was excruciating. I was still seething with anger but the way Woohyun had emphasized on explaining things to me, on me listening to him, I realized that he too had a story of his own. Woohyun had taken care of me as much as he could and by the end of the day, he was my brother.

Or was he?

Hundreds of thoughts, faded words and lingering exclamations pulled and pushed me. Jaejoong and I were meant to be. Woohyun was an ex-convict. Vampires were real, but not the blood-ers that Bram Stoker and Anne Rice wrote about. I apparently had a midnight blue aura, which was a good thing.

The only sense of relief I found was when I realized that my two close friends in Verdelann -- Key and Yoona -- were human. It reminded me of the days that Yoona had been away, involved in the delayed preparations for the town/college festival. Irritation returned as I thought of all the questions I had to ask her. But then I remembered about her relationship with Donghae, how both of them were not meant to be but meant to suffer.

The car came to an abrupt stop, causing me to jerk forward and risk a chokehold from the seatbelt. The light from the dashboard and the mute stereo highlighted Woohyun's conflicted expressions. We were less than a mile away from the house, but Woohyun and I shared the doubt that Boa would be welcome to an all-out argument about immortals and vampires.

"Technically," Woohyun started, "I can't stop you from being with Jaejoong. No one can."

I nodded, sincerely appreciating his honesty. "Thank you for underst--"

"BUT." Woohyun lifted a finger then hesitated, his lips and finally letting out a sigh.

"There's a lot that you need to know," he said, sounding tired. "After what you've told me today, yes things have changed. Everything has changed. But still, there's a lot that you need to know and I.... I need all this new information to sink in."

"Are you also a vampire?" I bluntly asked. The curiosity had been eating me away ever since I had stepped inside the car and the only obvious answer to Woohyun's immortality was that he too was like Jaejoong.

I was taken aback by Woohyun's bemused scowl. He looked baffled and disappointed at the same time and I began regretting my question. 

"We're not vampires." he said, after the moment of shock passed. 

"We?" My voice rang out like a high-pitched cry and I cleared my throat. "How many of you are there?"

Woohyun raised his brows at my expression. "You already saw them today. The guys who left once Jaejoong claimed you. Or you claimed him. Same thing. I called them out once I sensed that you were with him."

"So are you in a cult with them?"

"NO! Look," Woohyun heaved a sigh and held his hands out like he was explaining simple addition to a kid. "There are a lot of things you still don't know about Verdelann. Forget the implicit details you found in Jaejoong's book, there's a lot more to Verdelann's history and it does not at all involve humans."

I backtracked on Woohyun's words then widened my eyes. "Hey wait. What did you mean by you sensed I was with Jaejoong?"

I must have asked the right question for Woohyun tensed and began tapping his fingers on the wheel. 

"You don't want dinner to go cold..." I playfully reminded him. It worked. Woohyun gave a small smile and I was reminded of the man who had burst through the bookstore on a summer day, acting as my own sunshine. It saddened me that the revelation of the truth had changed him so much in so little time. 

"You're right," he said. "Boa is waiting for us. I promise to tell you everything tomorrow morning."

"WOOHYU---"

But he ignored me and revved up the engine. As the car approached home, he suddenly grinned and said, "I haven't seen Yoona in a long time."

"The fest was postponed for some reason," I waved him off, a little sulky despite the promise. "She's busy with the final rehearsals."

Woohyun gazed at me and blinked. "I promise. Tomorrow morning."

I sighed and embraced him. In that moment I realized that Woohyun, no matter what he might be, no matter what weird aura he might have, was my brother. There was no need for a DNA confirmation. I had chosen him as my family long time ago and I was ready to stick it out with him. Besides, he accepted my relationship with Jaejoong, which was still in a pre-natal condition.

"Okay," I smiled. "Tomorrow morning."