[CONTENTID1]Freesia[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Five[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

“Break up with him!” Chaewon insisted. “Do it today!”

Yoonhee sighed and rubbed her face, tiredly sitting on the grass in Chaewon’s garden. “I can’t break up with Sooyoung,” she sighed.

“You keep holding on to him, but you don’t need him at all. He doesn’t treat you well, Yoonhee. Please listen to me,” Chaewon urged. She held a cup of freshly brewed tea in her hands, taking a sip as she watched her friend attentively.

Chaewon had moved in with Mark a while ago and now lived farther away from Seoul than before, but her home was still easily reachable for Yoonhee. Their house was cozy, situated at the edge of a small town. The forest wasn’t far away; the perfect place to live for werewolves.

Yoonhee stared down at her teacup and watched the water rippling when she dipped it a little. “You know how difficult my situation is—and I owe him too much,” she explained.

“Did he tell you that?”

Yoonhee didn’t answer.

“I never liked Sooyoung, from the moment I first met him. If he truly cared about you, he wouldn’t have ripped your favorite flowers to pieces. Normal boyfriends don’t do that,” Chaewon continued. She was stubborn because she could tell that Yoonhee needed a push to change her life.

“But when I break up with him, he might…” Yoonhee trailed off, biting her lip. “I know that he isn’t the kindest person, and his outbursts can be scary, but—”

“His outbursts?” Chaewon said, setting her teacup down on the grass. “He yells at you? Does he do other things too?” she asked carefully.

“Sometimes,” Yoonhee breathed as she cast her empty gaze on a large willow tree near the forest.

“Oh Yoon, why haven’t you told me?” Chaewon whispered and moved to hug her friend. She let Yoonhee lean against her soft body, and once she felt her relaxing her tense muscles, Chaewon gently brushed over her hair. “You don’t owe this man anything, no matter what he tells you. It’s your life and you have to live it the way you want. If you don’t feel comfortable around him, you have to leave.”

“I’m afraid,” Yoonhee answered quietly. Her chin rested on Chaewon’s shoulder while she watched the tree branches swaying in the wind.

“Of what?”

“I think something bad will happen when I tell him I want to break up.”

“What if you don’t tell him? Pack your bags and go, that way he can’t stop you nor follow you,” Chaewon said.

“He would find me because he knows where my shop is.”

“Right, that’s true,” Chaewon sighed. “And your soulmate? What if you ask him for help? From what you’ve told me about him, he values you. I personally find it very cute that he gifted you flowers.”

A pang went through Yoonhee’s heart at the thought of Baekhyun. Her face fell. She moved away from Chaewon, ending the hug they had shared. Nervously brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear, she avoided Chaewon’s curious eyes.

“I won’t see him anymore.” It was hard to vocalize. The unexplainable pain in her chest grew. She felt miserable, she had been feeling that way ever since they had parted ways. Why did it bother her so much? He was a vampire, she shouldn’t miss him.

Her words were followed by a long silence. Chaewon’s golden eyes darkened and Yoonhee could have sworn she heard a low growl from her direction.

“You won’t see him anymore? Why?” Chaewon asked.

“I’m terrified around him. I just can’t help it. I keep thinking he will drink my blood just like—” her voice broke and her surroundings blurred. “It’s so stupid, but I can’t get it out of my head.”

“No soulmate would ever hurt their other half intentionally. It goes against all logic and reason,” Chaewon argued. That she would vouch for Baekhyun was a surprise since werewolves and vampires were like cats and dogs—most couldn’t stand each other. “If there is one person you can trust in this world, it’s him.”

Yoonhee drew in a breath. The weight on her shoulders grew and the heaviness of her guilt threatened to crush her heart. She should have trusted him instead of pushing him away that evening, but she couldn’t undo the damage she had done. Baekhyun probably disliked her now—what sane person would want someone like her as a soulmate anyway? She couldn’t even speak to him without stuttering or trembling. She was pathetic and too much of a coward to break up with her current boyfriend.

“Please meet him as soon as you can. I don’t have a good feeling about this, and my intuition usually does not fail me,” Chaewon said, tearing her from her depressing thoughts.

“What do you mean?” Yoonhee asked and sat up straighter, watching her friend with wide eyes.

“It’s not like that for wizards and witches, but to other supernatural beings, soulmates are an essential part of life. If vampires are anything like werewolves, then you are hurting him with your decision,” Chaewon explained seriously. “Is that what you want?”

“No!” Yoonhee answered so quickly she even surprised herself. “But he is better off without me.”

Chaewon shook her head. She reached for Yoonhee’s hand and cupped it with her own because she could tell that her friend was about to break out in tears. Her lower lip trembled.

“You need to be more confident. I don’t know what that Sooyoung bastard has been telling you all these years… You are a good person, stop putting yourself down. You have met your soulmate for a reason, and I believe that it’s time to turn your life around.”

Yoonhee had a lot to think about when she returned home that evening. She went to bed early and the next morning, she also left earlier than usual in an attempt to dodge Sooyoung. Her flower shop was the one place where she felt truly at home, so that’s where she went. The sunflowers she had planted recently had grown in the past days and seeing them blooming one after the other was amazing. Sometimes she felt like a mother around her flowers.

However, today, her mood was not as cheerful as it should have been in the presence of the plants. Her thoughts returned to Chaewon’s advice again and again—deep down Yoonhee knew that her friend was right. She had to end her relationship with Sooyoung, but it would not be easy. Only remembering his outburst two days ago made her uneasy and apprehensive. How would he react if she told him she would leave?

And then, there’s was the issue with Baekhyun. While she did know his name, she had no clue where he lived and they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers either. Now, she came to regret it since she couldn’t contact him. It was he who had sought her out all this time. But he wouldn’t do it anymore.

With her budding unease came an ever-growing concern about her soulmate and his current state. What if Chaewon was right and he really was unwell? What should she do? She already had gotten an ominous sense of foreboding upon hearing his last words before he had left, and she was convinced that she was overlooking something important.

Yoonhee’s hands were tied, however, so she stayed in her shop and tended to her customers for the remainder of the day. When she was about to close, one last person entered, and his presence caused her entire body to freeze up. It was a vampire and it wasn’t Baekhyun.

He was tall and intimidating, wearing an authoritative expression on his attractive features. His dark hair was combed, and his clothing consisted solely of designer brands. The terror that grasped her upon seeing him was so strong, even her flowers felt it. They closed their blossoms, hiding away.

“Are you Choi Yoonhee?” the vampire asked. At first, she couldn’t process his words because her panic was too much, but once she realized that he had called her by her name, she lost it. He had to be part of the vampire clan she had been running from all these years, and he was here to take her away.

“N-No, I’m not.”

“Don’t play games with me,” he countered impatiently. “It is you.”

“Who are you?” she whispered. was dry and she kept swallowing, but the lump in didn’t disappear.

“My name is Kim Junmyeon,” he said. “You have to come with me.”

Her eyes were impossibly wide and her face ashen. Her lips parted, but no sound left .

“Calm down, I won’t do anything to you. I’m one of Baekhyun’s friends, and I’m here on behalf of him,” Junmyeon went on to explain. “He needs your help.”

“What happened?” she burst out, her concern briefly outweighing her fear.

“Aren’t you already aware of it? He is starving himself for you,” Junmyeon growled and glared at her in an accusing manner. “And he will die if he keeps it up.”

“W-Why doesn’t he drink blood when he needs it so bad?” she stuttered.

“Because he can’t. Shouldn’t you know this as a witch? Once a vampire finds their soulmate, they can only drink their soulmate’s blood. Nothing else sates their thirst. Baekhyun hasn’t consumed a single drop of blood ever since he met you.”

Her breath hitched. She hadn’t known about this—it was new to her, and once she realized what it meant for her and Baekhyun, her stomach dropped. “Anything but that,” she whispered. Her green eyes overflowed with terror.

Junmyeon clicked his tongue and stared her down angrily. “Doesn’t it bother you that your soulmate will die? Because you refused doing something so simple?”

She didn’t want Baekhyun to die, vampire or not, nobody should die because of her. But in order to save him, she would have to do something unimaginable. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Last time had been torture—she had slowly been drained of her blood and gradually lost control over her body. For the longest time, she had been sure she would die. And waiting for death was the most horrible thing someone could endure.

Junmyeon studied her conflicted expression and knitted his brows. She looked like he had just spoken her death sentence even though what she needed to do didn’t entail dying. It seemed like she was so scared she couldn’t even answer him.

“He won’t kill you,” he assured her. “All he needs is some of your blood. You won’t die because of that.”

Yoonhee’s body shook so much, Junmyeon was worried she would faint, but she met his eyes, and this time, her voice didn’t crack. “I will go with you. Please show me where he is.”

He let out a breath, and the iciness in his gaze faded. His voice softened a tad when he said, “Thank you, I appreciate it. Please follow me, my car is right around the corner.”

Yoonhee grabbed her purse and hurried to lock the front door of the shop. Then, she walked next to him as they made their way to his car. It was parked one street away, so they didn’t need