Kai staggered back to his house, throughout all the pain that seemed to be eating him alive. When he finally got through the door, he dropped to his knees and immediately after, his sides hit the floor and his vision went black.

He woke up hours later with a mild headache and his parents sitting on the opposite end of his bed. When his mother saw Kai struggle to sit up, she quickly went to his side and held his hand.

"Kai! What happened to you! We found you lying on the floor with blood coming out of your mouth," she said, moving her son's sweat-drenched bangs out of his face. She pat the back of her hand on his neck and forehead, checking if the vampire had a fever. He did. "You're burning up!"

Kai was at a loss for words. What can I tell them...I can't tell them I fed from Kai...I don't even know enough about my kind to explain this. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. 

After some time in silence, Kai's father's voice reached his ear.

"Son, tell us what happened..."

Kai decided to go for the truth. "I...I don't know, exactly."

"Kai...things like that don't just happen out of the blue. The only time when a vampire pukes blood is when our bodies reject the blood that we drank, which is a really strange and rare thing to happen. So please, tell us what happened, this isn't a good sign," his father explained in a gentle and reassuring voice, not wanting to scare his already terrified looking son even further. 

"I...I.." Kai began, but was interrupted when a knock on the door was heard. 

WITH MINJI

Minji was welcomed by a throbbing headache as soon as she opened her eyes. She shook her head bout the room, trying to clear her blurry vision. Minji was greeted by the night sky, the stars shining bright and illuminating the small town below. The city seemed quiet. Too quiet to her liking. There was an unfamiliar pain in her chest and the only person on her mind was Kai. She felt an inexplicable urge to meet him right that moment. She cleaned herself up a little bit before heading out, the cool night breeze her skin. A few minutes later, she found herself in front of Kai's house. Her heart beat faster at this point, anxiety running through her veins. Her hand raised until it was a few inches away from the door. She exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding and let her knuckles tap the door.

Several seconds later, the doors opened to reveal the man of the house.

"Oh hi Minji, what brings you here?" asked Kai's father.

"Hi Mr. Kim. I'm sorry to bother you this late but I really need to speak with Kai," Minji explained, suddenly feeling stupid for going over at 11pm on a weeknight. She herself didn't know what she was doing there; all she knew was the uneasiness in her chest that insisted on her visiting the fellow vampire. 

"Sure, come in," Kai's father said casually, although the confusion was obvious on his features. He stepped aside to allow Minji to enter. "He's in his bedroom, go ahead."

Kai's parents had met Minji a few times already. Kai had told them about her and revealed that she's his soul mate. The look of relief and happiness on Kai's parents' face was something Kai could never forget. Minji came by freely and frequently after their first introduction, and Kai's parents welcomed her with open arms every time. 

Minji offered a bow to Kai's father before heading up the stairs to Kai's bedroom. She knocked on the door. 

"Come in," said Kai's mother.

Minji opened the door and greeted his mother with a bow. "I'm sorry for coming by so late, I just have to talk to Kai about something."

"You're always welcome here, Minji don't worry about it." She got to her feet. "I'll leave you to alone then. I'll be downstairs if you need anything, she said as she head out the room and closed to door behind her. 

"Sit down," Kai insisted, and Minji did. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Are you ok?" Minji asked, only now noticing Kai's sweat-drenched hair, his chapped lips, and his pale complexion. 

"I'm fine, I just have a fever." Minji brought her hands to the fellow vampire's forehead. "Kai, you're burning up! What happened."

"I don't exactly know...My head suddenly felt like it'd been smashed by hammer a few a hours ago and went I got home I passed out...and apparently I puked blood and–"

"Wait, you too?!"

"Wh-What do you mean–"

"The same thing happened to me! A few hours ago!"

"What?! That can't be a coincidence..."Kai suddenly thought about Taemin. His migraine attack had started right after he fed from the blonde. But it can't be because of him, can it..? I've fed from him so many times before and nothing like this has ever happened...Maybe it's because Minji's my soul mate now...

"It's so strange. Things like that don't normally happen to our kind, Kai..." Minji said.

Kai refused to mention the incident with Taemin to her. He couldn't bring himself to. He was ashamed; he felt like a scum, a cheater. He couldn't hurt Minji.

From the lack of Kai's response, Minji continued. "I also had this dream...Actually, I'm not sure whether it was a dream or some sort of vision or distant memory. Anyway, it was about this lady. I was walking out of the convenience store near my place and she was standing right behind me. She gave me this beautiful red rose and it smelled amazing. But then, when I got home, every thing went black. And when I woke up the next day, I didn't remember anything about the previous night."

Kai felt uneasy. "Do you remember what the lady looked like?"

"Yeah. She was small, old, had gray hair, wore really worn out clothes...her nails and teeth were yellow...she almost looked like a witch," Minji said, chuckling at the last statement when she remembered that the old woman really did look like a witch out of a movie. 

Kai's eyes grew wide in shock. "W-Wait...did you say she looked like a witch..?"

"Yeah, why" she said, getting closer to Kai and intertwining their fingers. Then, an unfamiliar scent hit her nose. "What's that smell?" she asked.

"What smell? I don't smell anything," Kai said, smelling the air and his t-shirt, trying to understand what Minji was talking about.

Minji got even closer to Kai, leaning in on his neck and inhaling his scent. "I-Its you...Kai, you have someone else's scent on you..."

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Kai said, beginning to feel nervous that he'd get discovered.

"Kai, don't play dumb. I know your scent very well, and this isn't yours! A-Are you...ch-cheating on me?" Minji said, her voice stuttering. The situation left her shocked and hurt and she couldn't keep her voice steady. "K-Kai...How could you d-do this..." she said, tears gathering at the edge of her eyes, ready to overflow any second now. She brought her hands up to and covered hit, trying to prevent a sob from escaping.

Kai felt like he'd been hit by a truck. "M-Minji, listen–" he said, while trying to hold her arm.

"No! I can't believe you would do this! We're supposed to be soul mates, Kai!" The tears finally fell. Minji shot up from Kai's bed and left the room in a hurry.

"Minji, wait, let me explain!" Kai called after her, but Minji had already left. From his bedroom window, he saw running away, hands on her eyes, wiping the tears off. He heard footsteps approaching his room.

"Kai, what happened between you two!"

Kai didn't bother answering. He just wanted to get out of the how. Right now. He felt like the walls were caving in and he was suffocating. Too many things were going through his mind. He grabbed his jacket and headed down the stairs.

"Kai, where are you going?"

"Nowhere! Just leave me alone!" he shouted. Kai couldn't give a damn if he was being disrespectful. He shut the door behind him, a little too harshly than intended, and got swallowed by the starry night.

His feet led him to a nearby park, completely deserted. Perfect. The vampire sat down on a swing and took a deep breath before letting it out,  a small cloud forming from the cold. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then let his head drop. He could feel his heart rate approaching stability and he could finally think clearly. 

An old woman who looked like a witch...Can it be her..? But why would she appear out of the blue...What's her purpose...why was she after Minji...

Unless...

And then an idea came to Kai's mind. As much as he hated it, as much as he tried to convince himself that there was no way, the possibility still stood strong.

Mom, Dad, you're not involved in this...are you..? He wanted to deny it, but the probability of his parents' involvement was high and Kai's blood boiled at the thought. 

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the silent night, followed by the sound of a bottle breaking. Kai followed the noise, despite his conscience telling him otherwise. He ended up in a dimly lit alley, where three men could be seen pinning a fourth on the wall, the one in the middle throwing a gut-shattering punch to the fourth one, while the two others held him in place.

Kai's steps quickened until the assaulters noticed him. He caught the attention of the guy in the middle.

"Who the are you," he spat, high on adrenaline and anger. As he moved away from the victim and approached the vampire, Kai saw someone who he hadn't seen in a long time. The beaten up guy lifted his head, revealing a face covered in cuts and bruises. He looked relieved and embarrassed to be seeing the vampire again. 

Jonghyun looked absolutely miserable. He'd lost a ton of weight, from what Kai could see, and he looked like he could collapse from sheer exhaustion and hopelessness. The vampire felt sorry for him. Despite the latter having been such a bully to Kai, he couldn't allow himself to leave the helpless man there.

"Let him go," Kai ordered the guy who'd punched Jonghyun. 

"Who the do you think you're talking to?!" the guy said back, grabbing Kai by the collar and pinning him against the wall. He brought his hand to the vampire's throat and landed a punch on his jaw. Kai could feel his jaw pulsing and his vision had gone blurry. He was fueled by anger, and decided to use his genes to his advantage. He took on his vampire form at will; he'd been able to do that easily now, though he still had trouble controlling his vampiric needs. 

He felt his fangs and nails growing out, and his eyes changing color. When he met the eyes of the assaulter, the latter was visibly taken aback. A smirk grew on Kai mouth as he looked at the thug straight in the eyes. Now, Kai was the one grabbing him by the neck with a deathly grip and pushing him against the wall.

"Wh-What the hell are you?!"

"I really think you should go," he said in the deepest and most menacing voice he could manage. The thug quickly got out of the vampire's grip and ran out of the alley, followed closely behind by his friends.

Jonghyun fell to the ground as soon as the two guys let go of his. He was drained of energy and too weak to stand. He could hear Kai's footsteps approaching him. Then, a hand was presented in front of his face. Jonghyun hesitantly took it and got up.

"Are you ok?" Kai asked, now back to is normal form. Jonghyun didn't reply. Instead, he just looked at the vampire in disbelief.

"Why did you save me..." Jonghyun asked, his voice hoarse from pain.

"I couldn't just leave you like that," Kai explained simply. 

"But...But...I deserve it...Why would you even want to help me after the I've done to you...I don't ing understand," Jonghyun said, in utter shock.

"That's all in the past now, Jonghyun. And quite frankly, you really look like you need the help."

And then Jonghyun did something that surprised Kai. Jonghyun chuckled. Not out of mockery. It was a real, sincere chuckle. He smiled ever so slightly at the vampire.

"You're ed up, you know that?"

"Oh trust me, I know," Kai replied with a smile.

Jonghyun just stared at Kai for some time and then surprised Kai for the second time that night. He 'bro-hugged' the vampire and kept the other's hand in his for a little longer than needed. He continued to stared directly into the vampire's eyes. Kai could see that the latter wanted to say something, but had a hard time doing so. Though his eyes said everything.

Jonghyun's eyes were sincere, full of regret. Kai could detect that the latter was thankful for the vampire saving him, and sorry for all the trouble he'd caused him. No words were needed. The vampire's lips curled into a small smile, and JOnghyun's did the same, glad that the vampire had gotten the message. 

"I'll see you around I guess."

"Yeah," Kai replied. They both turned their backs to each other and walked away in opposite paths.

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Surprise surprise surprise!

Jonghyun has made an appearance again!

What do you think'll happen now? I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

BYYYEE