a/n: it's a really short chapter because it's sort of a prelude to the next one??? and the next one is super long like 2k. i apologize HAHA.

The word spreads quite quickly. Mari and Jaemin are together, and are probably the grossest couple on campus.

All of that PDA and , gross. And to think that I brought them together? I even practiced Gandhi-like kindness by having heart-to-heart talks with Jung Jaemin so that he would wake up his idea and understand Mari’s unrelentless, unexplainable and unconditional love for him.

Sihoo bets half of the reason why the girls don’t like Mari isn’t because of her bloodsucking, self-healing abilities, but rather because of the constant (annoying) sight of Jaemin holding her hand wherever the they went.

But Jung Jaemin is happy, carefree, and smiling widely; and he hasn’t done so in a long, long time. Mari has her head in the clouds nowadays, and she probably thinks everything is fine and dandy because her hero’s always by her side. The vampire pranks the students pull aren’t relenting; in fact the girls have devised even more vicious and fool-proof methods of attack against Mari. However, Jaemin always arrived in the nick of time, with the whole “knight-in-shining-school-uniform” shebang.

Still, Han Sihoo is highly aware that it’s only a matter of time when they figure out his own identity as a vampire. He’s just spending his time cherishing this blissful period of the student body’s ignorance, and then returning to his part time job. There’s hardly any time to idle between afternoons spent rushing through and scribbling slip-shot answers onto homework, secretly jamming out in the band room (because of the wonderful amplifiers!), and heading to that job at the Redeye store.

But it’s good to be busy. It’s good. He has less time to spend cooped up in the apartment, wallowing in self-hate for his parents’ predicament in the horrors of the An Chi punishment room. He also has less time to feel lonely.

Which is good, he guesses. He doesn’t really have any friends in high school. His relationship with Mari’s more of a kinship between the blood-feeding species, and of his duty to protect her. But they hardly interact as much as they used to, due to her very possessive boyfriend. And it isn’t like I want to be within a ten-metre radius of the two of them together anyway.

And then. There’s Ahra, and nowadays, he’s not quite sure where she fits in anymore.

It’s been a week, and Jo Ahra still is thirsty to hear the rest of Sihoo’s song. The stupid, hardly-catchy but horrible heart-wrenching song he sang on the streets – yes, that one. But of course, the most headstrong girl of Year 2 does not have the guts to ask him. This is something she doesn’t quite understand.

But she knows that if she doesn’t, it will drive her insane.

She’s in school, on a Saturday, tutoring a Year 1 girl on advanced trigonometric identities, and nothing is going in. Mainly, because of the noise pollution floating up from the first level.

Noise pollution, in the form of the smooth yet stinging notes from an electric guitar being played passionately in the band room.

“I just can’t get anything-” the girl says as she pores over her notes helplessly. Ahra hears the start of some hardcore Led Zeppelin song travel up to the 2^nd level study tables.

“Like oh my god, can that guy playing guitar shut the up? He’s been doing this every Saturday!” sighs the Year 1 girl as she packs her pencil case and tidies her notes.

“Every Saturday?”

“Yeah, no kidding. I would be fine if it was self study – I’d just plug in my earphones. But that’s impossible for tuition,” she explains. “Sorry, but could we arrange a make-up session?”

“Sure,” Ahra says dismissively, but she heads in the direction of the music. She knows there’s no way Jaemin plays that well; he’s much better in the classical, acoustic guitar than on electric. And Mari doesn’t have that kind of calibre.

Unless there’s somebody else she doesn’t know that frequents the band room and has crazy guitar skills, she knows without a doubt who’s inside there.

She descends from the stairs as she hears Linkin Park and a dose of really mispronounced English streaming from the little door at the end of the corridor.

Ahra smirks to herself.

She has a plan.

And this time, it’s his turn to get shocked.