“Are you alright? I called you a few times but you didn’t respond,” The librarian sounded genuinely concerned.

Saying that Joonyoung was surprised was an underestimation he was dumbfounded. The young man shook her hands off his shoulders and got up. It was weird mostly because he was sure that wasn’t even his memory. It was connected to Jina; they were siblings and they had a connection but it seemed that it was stronger than he imagined. He glanced at the picture of him and Jina and turned the page.

“Lee Hongbin. He looks familiar.” Joonyoung commented. The librarian agreed.

“He looks exactly like one of our citizens and has the same name. He’s a great kid. He comes here often.”

“Why? What does he do?” The librarian put a finger to her lips and thought.

“Actually, it’s really weird. He looks at this family document. He’s staring at the same face, mumbling something incoherent.”

“Whose?” The woman opened the document to a certain page.

“Jung Jina.” She pointed at the picture. Joonyoung closed the book quickly and sighed. Now things were deeply covered in mist.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

At school, Jina got over the boring lessons without doing much. The day was going really slow and the clock seemed blocked.

“Hey! Wakey, wakey! It’s lunch!” Jina rolled her eyes at Yuna, who was way too happy and optimistic for someone sane.

“What happened to you? Was the party last night too much?” Jina narrowed her eyes at Seulgi. The girl laughed at her own joke. “I saw Joonyoung. That guy can drink no joke,”

“Oh. Have you heard the news? There’s going to be a one day camp tomorrow. It sounds like fun. We should go.” Yuna announced excitedly. Jina turned to Seulgi who turned to Soyou who ended the cycle by turning back to Jina.

“I don’t know,”

Soyou didn’t feel like that was a good idea. Seulgi’s attention shifted subtly and she nudged Jina toa glance over her shoulder, at Hongbin. Jina stared at him for a few seconds before she turned her attention back on her friends. She couldn’t see Hongbin’s reaction but Seulgi did. He looked disappointed.

“Did something happen between you two?” Seulgi tried to be discreet and asked Jina while Yuna was busy trying to convince Soyou to go to the camp.

“No. Nothing happened and nothing will happen.” The taller girl answered firmly. Seulgi raised an eyebrow, curious what happened to them. They seemed fine yesterday.

“Invite him to the camp, Jina. I want to see his reaction,” The two girls stared into each other’s eyes, trying to intimidate each other. In the end, Jina gave up. She got up and groggily walked towards Hongbin’s table.

“Good morning,” She mumbled. He ignored her completely. “Hongbin?” He didn’t utter a word and he didn’t give her a glance. She was growing offended and annoyed.

“You should go back to your table, Jina.” She stared at his head for a few minutes before she sighed and left. “Silly girl,” Hongbin muttered when he felt her heart beat getting further away.

The tall girl blinked quickly and glanced at him over her shoulder. She heard him say that even if she was a good few feet away from him. That was weird.

“Well?” Seulgi asked once Jina got back. She shrugged.

“I guess he won’t come,” She responded, her mind going back to her own problems.

“You talked a lot yesterday. He got really weird over the night.” Jina chuckled when she saw Seulgi cross her hands in front of her chest and pout.

“You’re making it a big deal when it’s not.”

“Maybe,” Seulgi mumbled, rubbing her chin while glancing at the loner.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

After school, Jina went straight home. She was tired and paranoid; she looked over her shoulder a few times on the way home. She tried to find a reason for her anxiety but she couldn’t find one. She was new in town yet she felt like she belonged there.

“I’m home!”

Her voice echoed throughout the empty house. There was no one home and it aggravated her condition. She was really anxious; her hands started to sweat and her body felt like jelly. Jina hurried into her room and locked the door. She jumped in the bed and covered her whole body with the sheets, looking like a big cocoon. She wrapped her hands around the pillow and felt something under it. She got on her knees and inspected the small pendant. It was a knot and it had two initials on the side.

“J and J?” Jina jumped in surprise when she heard the door knob turn wildly.

“Why did you lock the door, Jin? Open it! I want to talk to you about something!” She sighed in relief when she heard Joonyoung’s voice. She got up quickly and unlocked the door. Her brother entered and turned to look at her. He raised an eyebrow when he saw her hand behind her back, hiding something.

“You weren’t at school. Where did you go?”

“Researching.” He answered and sat on the bed, Jina following him closely. “Remember what happened in the morning?” That was hard to forget.

“So you found something?” She asked, leaning in. He didn’t know if he should tell her or not. She could see him change his facial expressions while having an inner debate but in the end, he chose to keep silent. It wasn’t the time yet. She was only going to get scared.

“No.” Jina didn’t believe him one bit. “Just old documents. Nothing useful” He was lying. She didn’t know how she knew but she did.

“I talked to Hongbin today,” She started, Joonyoung’s head snapping towards her. “He ignored me. His whole personality changed overnight, like we didn’t laugh and he didn’t just win me a car.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” She looked up at him in confusion. He was staring blankly at her balcony door while talking “We just moved here and suspicious things started to happen.”

“Like what? This thing with Hongbin? That’s nothing!” She was naïve to think that.

“Jina, we’ve been here for about three days and people went missing. It may sound like a horror movie but their bodies haven’t been found.”

Jina chuckled and patted her brother’s knee.

“And we’re vampires, right? I’m Bella and you’re Edward, right? Or I’m Elena and you’re Stefan; and Hongbin is Damon or what?” She was making fun of the situation and Joonyoung glared at her.

“You should take it more seriously,” Joonyoung was getting her more paranoid than she was already. She didn’t need that.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his head. When he opened his eyes again, there was something weird at their color. His brown eyes felt like they were on fire.

“Joonyoung,” Jina mumbled, a bit shocked and a bit scared.

Jina tried to place her hand on his arm, for reassurance, but she couldn’t. She completely forgot about the pendant she held in her palm. She opened her hand widely and realized that the pendant was burning her skin  therefore, she threw it on the bed as fast as she could. Her eyes narrowed when she realized that the pendant, and Joonyoung’s eyes, started to turn back to their original color.

“This is the Endless Knot. An ancient symbol representing the interweaving of the Spiritual path; the flowing of Time and Movement within which is Eternal. An eternal binding. What’s this?” He took it closer to his eyes and inspected it. “J and J?” His eyes widened when he figured it out. “Jina,” She looked at him curiously. “And Joonyoung. Everything makes sense. Jina and Joonyoung, bound to an eternal brotherhood,” She raised an eyebrow since he was talking nonsense and wasn’t cooperating with her. “Where did you get it from?” He asked after he finished his theory.

“I found it under my pillow when I arrived home.” She responded like it wasn’t anything life threatening.

However, for Joonyoung, everything made sense. It would have been better if he would have told her what he was thinking but he didn’t. Jina was stressed and anxious and her brother wasn’t helping her at all. He was keeping secrets from her. While she was thinking pessimistically, he got up and walked towards the door.

“I’m sorry for blowing up like that,” Joonyoung apologized, though it didn’t sound like he meant it. Jina smiled softly and winked. After he left, her lips dropped into a thin line.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

It was late at night when she felt a chill down her spine. She looked around the room but couldn’t see anything suspicious. There was nothing wrong with her room but something was different. She got off the bed and entered the balcony. When she opened the doors she felt the same chill; the feeling of someone watching her intensified.

She heard a breaking noise and turned around. She saw the ouroboros pendant glow red again and heard water dripping on the floor. It was weird because it wasn’t raining. She frowned and turned towards the railing. There was blood.

Jina screamed and begun hyperventilating when Joonyoung barged into her room.

“Jina! Are you alright?!”

She was on her knees swaying back and forth while staring blankly ahead. The blood suddenly appeared on her balcony; hers, why hers?

“Jina?” She kept her eyes hidden behind her long dark bangs.

“What’s happening to me, Joonyoung?”  She mumbled, her eyes staring ahead like she had just seen a ghost. Her brother could only wrap his hands around her tightly. “I feel so different. I’m scared to walk alone; I’m scared to be home alone and I feel like someone is breathing on the back of my neck all the time.” Joonyoung sighed and patted her head lovingly.

“I know. I’m sorry. Everything will be alright. I promise you.” He whispered while she laid her head against his chest.