Hi guys! I am officially back with a new chapter! I know I said I'd update on the 14th or the day after, but I got busy unexpectedly so I didn't have the chance to write anything. College has started again, which means I'm gonna be busy again as well. I have an hour and a half breaks on tuesdays to thursdays, so I'll try to write the chapters during those breaks. I'm really sorry for posting this one so late, but it couldn't be helped. From now on, I'll try to be consistent with my updates, but there are no guarantees.

A warm welcome and thank you to the new subscribers! I hope you'll enjoy this story!

And finally, I hope you enjoy this chapter :) I'll see y'all again soon. 

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When Kai woke up later that evening, he was surprised to see that Taemin had left him a few phone calls. He lazily got off his bed to sit on the edge of it, resting his elbows on his knees and turning his phone with his fingers, debating whether he should return the call or not. His mind was still fuzzy from the encounter earlier that day, the encounter with his 'soul mate', as the black haired girl had introduced herself. At the thought of her, the hundreds of unanswered questions returned to torment his brain, which left Kai with yet another headache. Probably the 10th one that week. The headaches became frequent visitors of Kai's brain for some time now, and he never understood why. After deciding that he wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, even Taemin, he threw his phone somewhere on the bed and headed downstairs to feed his whining stomach. 

As he entered the kitchen, he noticed his parents sitting at the dining table, along with...Taemin? Kai's eyes immediately found the blonde's and locked with his. The vampire detected something from the latter's gaze; a mixture of relief and sadness reflected in them. The blonde also looked quite tired. Not the physical kind of tired, but the emotional kind. During the past few months, the increasing tension that settled amongst the once inseparable friends had had a significant toll on the blonde's emotional well-being. Dark circles stained his under-eye area, and for the first time, Kai noticed just how skinny the blonde had gotten. The vampire suddenly felt the urge to touch the latter, comfort him and make his plump lips stretch into the beautiful smile he carried so often a few months ago. But he couldn't. Because things were different now.

After what seemed like hours of simply staring at each other, the two were brought back to reality by the sound of Kai's father clearing his throat and his mother's voice filling the quiet room.

"Oh, Kai, so you've finally woken up. How are you feeling? What happened, why did you skip school?"

Kai scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Fine...I was just tired..." his voice dragged. Just before shifting his gaze elsewhere, Kai's eyes once again met Taemin's. The blonde looked at him with unconvinced eyes, suggesting he knew the truth behind the vampire's lies.

"Well son, your friend was kind enough to bring your homework," his dad said. 

"Oh really? Thanks," the vampire answered, not even sparing a glance at the blonde.

Once again, the room was filled with an awkward silence, and Kai's mother took it upon herself to change the situation.

After clearing , she spoke again. "Well, um. Kai, it's Taemin's first time here, so why don't you show him around?" she said, in an attempt to reduce the inexplicable tension in the air.

Just as Kai was about to say something, Taemin beat him to it. "No, it's ok, Mrs. Kim. I was about to head out anyway<" the blonde explained, getting up from his seat. "It was nice meeting you," the blonde said while bowing. "Thank you for the cookies, they were really good."

"It's no problem Taemin," assured Kai's mother with a warm smile. Even though Kai's relationship with Taemin was problematic, Kai's parents were still hospitable and retained their respect. After all, Taemin didn't do anything wrong. And besides, the witch had taken care of the situation anyway.

Kai decided to lead Taemin to the door. The blonde followed and took his shoes from the rack next to the door. As he knelt down to tie his shoes laces, his long hair fell from shoulders, revealing the skin underneath. His collarbones, neck and shoulders were painted in all shades of blue and purple and red, and marked with small pairs of  bite marks. Kai also noticed how much the blonde's collarbones were sticking out. They were a lot more apparent than they were before, and Kai could only explain it by the extreme loss of weight Taemin had undergone. An intense sense of guilt overcame him and made his knees weak. D-Did I do all of that..? Am I the one to blame for all those marks? How d–

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a sweet voice reaching his ears. "Kai...Can I talk to you..?" Taemin asked timidly. Kai simply nodded, afraid that he would be unable to suppress the lump that had appeared in his throat.

Kai opened the front door, motioning Taemin to follow him outside before he shut the door behind them. A brief silence followed, as Kai awaited for the blonde in front of him to say what he needed to say. Kai felt slightly nervous, considering that they hadn't properly spoken to each other for quite some time.

"Are you feeling alright?" Taemin finally said.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine...What about you?"

"I'm okay," Taemin said, though his physical appearance said something completely different. The blonde tried his best to show a sincere smile to the vampire, but nothing seemed to successfully hide how he truly felt.

Another brief silence followed until Taemin filled it once again.

"I...I was wondering why you didn't show up...at my house I mean. We...we were supposed to work on the project." Taemin didn't understand why he was suddenly stuttering. Maybe because he was afraid of the answer? Taemin already guessed why Kai had decided to skip classes; he figured it had something to do with that mysterious girl he saw him with earlier that day. However, despite already knowing the answer, a part of him hoped that the vampire would lie and come up with a lame excuse. He felt uneasy about the girl, as though she's yet another obstacle that would further ruin his and Kai's friendship. He couldn't handle that right now.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I wanted to, but I was just tired and didn't have the energy. I'll come by tomorrow though," the vampire explained.

When Taemin heard those words, he couldn't help the smile that curled his lips slightly. "Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow I guess."

"Yeah, thanks for bringing the homework."

Taemin simply smiled, a sincere and effortless smile this time, and his heals to walk in the direction of his own home.

* * *

A few hours after Taemin's departure, sometime past midnight, Kai was sitting in his dimly lit room, hovering over the math homework that Taemin was kind enough to bring. Though math was his favorite subject and one which he was good at, he was stuck on a certain question, unable to wrap his mind around the problem. The events of the day kept replaying in his mind and distracted him. He brought his hands to his hair, gripping it in frustration. He finished the last sip of his dose of blood and set the glass on his desk. Just as he was about to call it a day, he heard his phone buzzing on his bedside table. He reached for it to see that he had received a text from Minji.

"Open the door."

Kai was confused. Which door? Is she here? Kai moved his curtains a little to see below towards the front door of his home, which confirmed his thoughts; Minji was indeed in front of his door. He stood up and  began pacing back and forth in his bedroom. He felt nervous for some reason. What could she be doing here... Just before headed downstairs, Kai stopped infront of the bathroom mirror to look atleast slightly presentable. After all, who'd want to look like a mess in front of someone pretty?

He opened the front door and was greeted by a pair of bright green eyes. Eyes that were different from Minji's natural ones. Kai took a quick glance at his watch. 12:43am. Minji was currently in her vampire state and the look in her eyes revealed that she was VERY hungry...for blood.

"Minji, what are y–" Kai began, but was interrupted by the starved Minji, who pushed him inside the house and closed the door behind her. 

"Oppa, I'm hungry," her sweet voice announced in the most innocent manner, though what was on her mind was far from it. As her emerald eyes traveled down to Kai's caramel neck, she her lips at the thought of her upcoming feast. 

Kai gulped as he realized what Minji's words reflected. .

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A/N: Soooooo, yeah this is the best I could do right now. I know this chapter is completely lame and even feels like a filler chapter, but please forgive me, college is so demanding Dx I feel bad because I haven't updated in forever, and this lameness is what I have to offer ARGH. The upcoming chapters will be better than this though, so please anticipate those! I hope this (lame) chapter wasn't too disappointing!

Until next time (which hopefully isn't that long)!