In the other part of the cafeteria, Joonyoung was rather surprised to see his sister talking to a guy from the first day. He smiled seeing her smiling. One of his freshly made friends punched him lightly, his attention remaining on Jina.

“New boy likes the new girl?” The guy joked, making the others laugh. Joonyoung rolled his eyes at his friend’s stupidity.

“She’s my sister.”

His friend glanced between him and the girl. While Joonyoung couldn't really be bothered to arrange his hair and clothes, she looked like a girl who would wake up a few hours earlier only to prepare for school.

“Oh. I guess you're both tall,” The friend mumbled since he couldn't really find anything connecting the two.

It was strange but neither of them looked like their parents either. The only thing they had in common was the height which was strange because their parents were both short for their age.

“Who’s him?” Joonyoung pointed at Hongbin. His friend, Theo, rubbed his chin.

“His name is Lee Hongbin. If you want further information, ask Seulgi. That girl over there,” Theo responded and pointed towards a brunette.

Joonyoung didn’t want to preach into Jina’s business but something about the way she suddenly made friends was very suspicious. She's always needed some time to get closer to people and that guy was already too close. He had to interfere but everything had to be done at the right moment.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Jina was indeed playful around Hongbin and she didn't know why. He just wasn't the introvert she imagined; he was laughing and his dimples were definitely his best features. But of course good things always end quickly and the bell rang, the two having to depart for classes. Fortunately, Jina only had Seulgi in her next class.

“So,”

They just took their seats and Seulgi turned to her friend. Jina looked at her friend from the corner of her eye bemusedly.

“So what?” Jina avoided looking at the redhead, staring ahead instead. Seulgi rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on! I really haven't seen Hongbin smile so much in these past few months. Actually, at all! What did you tell him?” 

“Nothing much. He was just really nice compared to how you introduced him.” Seulgi's smirk widened. The teacher entered the room right when she was preparing to ask more.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

After school, the girls were all over Jina. They had different questions but the answer was pretty much the same.

“It's been some time since I saw him talk to a girl. What you did was a little miracle! You know, you should come to this party tonight. Maybe you’ll see him again and-” Yuna moved her eyebrows up and down, insinuating some dirty business.

“Shut up,” They giggled when they noticed Jina's faint blush.

“You should come to the party, though. It’s a routine. Everyone goes monthly to the most amazing party at Fey’s to get drunk and see new and old people.” Yun continued, leaving the dirty business aside. “The best part is the contest. You can win the prize, which most of the time is something expensive! What do you say?” Yuna already caught Jina's attention on the words 'expensive prize'.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Once she arrived back home, time went by very fast. Jina found herself preparing for the party and looking foward to what could be the beginning of a new future..

“Going to the party?” Joonyoung asked from the door. Jina nodded, her eyes locked on her reflection in the mirror. “Want to impress someone?” He smirked playfully.

“I can see you in the mirror, Joon. Stop moving your eyebrows up and down.” He started to laugh. “If you want to know,” She turned around to face her brother. “I don’t want to impress anyone. It's been too long since I acted like a girl. I just want to go back to who I was!” He rolled his eyes. He knew her well enough and knew what her intentions were.

“Don’t lie to yourself, little sister!” She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. He started to laugh loudly and left. Jina sighed in relief. He was an annoying bastard of a brother.

While she was applying lipstick, she saw something shining in the back. She walked closer and saw a nice necklace, made of silver with a beautiful ouroboros pendant made by white shining small diamonds. It was beautiful; a masterpiece indeed. It was handmade and she was sure it took a lot of time finish it. Subconsciously, she took it and put it around her neck. While checking her hair and clothes she didn't notice the way the serpents shifted clockwise, eating more of each other's tail. 

Downstairs, Jitae was talking to Joonyoung about safety. Even if she couldn’t hear them clearly she already knew what they were saying, it was the common dad-son talk.

“Relax, dad. The whole school will be there.” She interfered, saving Joonyoung from more parenting talk. Jitae glanced between his daughter and son with a glint in his eyes; like he knew something they didn't. He sighed and in the end, patted Joonyoung on the back.

“Just, be careful. If something happens, come home.”

The siblings looked strangely at their father but didn’t comment.

“Trust me. It would be better and I would feel better if you’d do as I say.” The old man continued, that strange glint shining in his brown eyes. 

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

“What do you think he meant?” Joonyoung asked while driving to Fey’s. She shrugged.

“I think he went through too many things. He's trying to be a good father but he ends up over reacting,” That's been the comfort answer Jina used ever since their mother left.

“True. But what could possibly happen to make us go home?” She shrugged again and leaned back.

Joonyoung was lost in his own thoughts and she didn’t want to interrupt him. While being slightly bored with her thoughts she saw something move through the trees. She furrowed her eyebrows and leaned closer to the window. She couldn’t see it anymore. Now that was something weird.

“We’re here!” Joonyoung opened the door and jumped out.

Jina was more careful and less excited than her brother. They each went to look for their friends and fortunately, the girls found her quickly. Yuna was very happy and possibly dizzy.

“I’m so happy you came! I thought you won’t show up,” Yuna pouted at the last part.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

After they gave Jina a drink they started to talk about the teenagers there. Jina could finally notice small details about that bar; it wasn't spatious so that was the main reason they connected two building together, the number of people inside was equal with the number of people outside, waiting for their friends while drinking. 

“Kris is a really nice kid and you’ll meet Roy soon enough. He’s somewhere around,” Yuna mumbled while searching for the boys.
 

While her friend was talking, Jina started to look for a face she had been thinking about the whole day. She swore she saw him entering the bar but someone spinned her around and she lost her target.

“Oh, here you are!” Seulgi shouted happily. Jina couldn't help but feel disappointed. 

Behind Seulgi was a guy with a big smile and a bottle of beer in his hand. From her point of view, he looked like what some people would have called a half korean because he had certain features and a certain accent while talking. His face was a bit long and his eyes were big and expresive. He was a handsome man but not like the one she was thinking about.

“And you are Jina, right?” She nodded, surprised that he noticed her so fast. “My cousin is Seulgi. I'm Roy.” 

In no time, Jina found herself in the middle of the bar with too many people to count. She already forgot half of their names and probably half of her brain was shutting down from the number of shots she took.

It was almost the end of the party and the lottery was ready to start. Joonyoung was half drunk and flirting with any girl he found attractive while Jina was enjoying the time with her new friends.

“It’s going to start! Are you ready?” Everyone seemed very excited. The lottery machine started to roll, making everyone anxious. Jina was patiently watching when she felt someone move behind her.

“Hey,”

She turned her head around and saw the one person she had been waiting for the entire night. She couldn't help but let her eyes scan him; he looked very good in his clothes: blue jeans and a black shirt. It was nothing fancy but he really looked good. He wasn't taller than her brother but Hongbin had a certain charm that intrigued her. 

“Are you excited to see the winner?”  She asked, forcing her eyes to move on his face.

“Are you?” He responded with the same question. She narrowed her eyes and smirked, turning towards the crowd. 

“You want the truth or the lie?”  She mumbled jokingly, making him laugh. “I’m not in for the prize. I didn’t write my name on a piece of paper like most people here did. In conclusion, I don’t care.” She continued in a more serious tone. 

“What if you win?” He urged her. 

“That's impossible.” 

“Let’s see,” He leaned in and whispered, making the hair on the back of her neck rise.

They waited for the balls to stop moving. When that happened and the blue ball rolled down, Jina tensed. Mister Fey opened the ball and took the piece of paper out of it.

“The prize this month is an Audi TT!” The crowd cheered loudly. “The lucky winner is,” It was really silent for a moment. “Jung Jina!”

Jina’s eyes got so wide that she could actually feel them boiling out. She wanted to say something but the words were caught in . The cheers were loud and she couldn’t even think in that noise. Her head snapped to Hongbin but he wasn’t there anymore. Joonyoung stumbled to his sister and pushed her towards the stage.

“I won,” She stated. It didn’t make sense. She knew she didn’t participate. Still, she won a car.

“Yes. Congratulations!” Mister Fey exclaimed, placing the car keys in her hand. 

“Congrats, Jina!” Her friends were happier than she was.

“I guess,” Her eyes moved wildly from one side to the other, searching for Hongbin. He wasn’t in the vicinity and there were too many people in the bar.

“This is so cool! Your first time and you won! You've got to tell us your secret!”  Yuna exclaimed while wrapping her hands tightly around Jina.

Her friends weren't making her feel any better. She couldn't move and she couldn't think of anything but what Hongbin said and what happened.

 

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

The party ended for her when Joonyoung got too drunk to stay on his feet. She had to take him home. Now, the big and still unresolved mystery was how. She had two cars and she wasn’t sure which one she should leave there.

“What’s wrong?” She jumped slightly when she heard his voice. It was late and she had a drunk guy leaning on her shoulder; she didn't need some creep sneak behind her. “You need help,”

“I haven’t noticed,” Jina responded sarcastically, the young guy chuckling. She felt Joonyoung stir in the crook of her neck and wake up.

“Jin? I’m ok. I can drive home,” She looked at him like he was crazy. “I swear. I’m not as wasted as I look!” She sighed and helped him on his own feet.

“He looks well enough. Go back in and you’ll see the worst.” Hongbin was taking her brother’s side. They were both boys, after all.

“Yeah, yeah. What he says,” Joonyoung muttered before he stumbled on his feet to his M3 and, while trying to open the door, fell face-first. Hongbin and Jina only watched as one of his hands snapped on the car, searching for the handle.

“I’m good!” He shouted from the ground. Jina sighed and rubbed her forehead. Her brother was a pain in the .

“Look, I’ll drive his car while you drive yours. I’m sure you’re excited to test it.” She stared at him a few seconds. She was having an inner debate with herself, trying to decide what was best. Joonyoung tried to open the door again and fell half on the silver hood, half on the pavement.

“Fine,” She gave up when she figured Joonyoung had to be taken care of as soon as possible.

Hongbin took Joonyoung and placed him in her new car. While she got in her Audi, Hongbin got in her brother’s BMW. The whole time she couldn’t help but glance in the review mirror, for the creepy guy who won her a car. She didn’t want to sound rude or ungrateful but he was freaking her out. He was like a character from Agatha Christie’s novels. Or when the nice boy turns out to be the killer. She shook her head quickly and decided that she should stop reading detective novels.

When they arrived home, the lights were off. Luckily, their father was asleep and wouldn’t see his alcoholic son. She parked the car and left space for the BMW. She got out righ in time to see Hongbin carrying Joonyoung, a bit staggering since her brother was tall and heavy. When they got in front of the door, she grabbed her brother and pushed him against it. She didn’t do a great job at handling two things at once and Joonyoung fell. After she unlocked the door, she pushed her brother in with her feet. 

“Thanks.” She genuinely thanked him. While staring awkwardly at each other she saw something really weird in his eyes. While she was staring at him, his eyes fell on her neck.

“What’s this?” He asked pointing at her necklace. She grabbed the medallion and stared at it.

“A necklace,” She responded in a matter of fact tone. “I don’t know. I have it for as long as I can remember. It has always been there.” She continued when she realized how mesmerized Hongbin was by it. He touched the emdalion and both felt the air stuck in their lungs. He let it go in an instant and took a few steps back.

“I have to go. See you tomorrow,” He mumbled and left quickly. 

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

While she was preparing for bed, she realized that she was still wearing the necklace. Jina unwrapped it and inspected it closely.That ouroboros gave off a good vibe; a safe vibe actually.

“I hate you!”

Her head snapped up, shocked. She got off the bed and went into the balcony, her brown eyes getting captivated by the full moon. 

Meanwhile, not very far from Jung house was Hongbin, watching the moon from his own balcony. He had a lot of things he had to consider but no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't ignore his nature. His father died and his uncle wasn't exactly the kind of man to talk to about women. Hongbin sighed and rubbed his back, the conflict between his human side and the monster lurking in the depths of his mind continuing.