In this world, she can confidently say that she is one of the best. Will always be. 

She broke molds.

She went beyond the standards others have held her at. 

No one would ever be able to surpass her. 

They had severely undermined and underestimated her capabilities. They always thought the Kang family will be the ones to rise to the top but it was her that was able to tap into the power that made them so revered and at the same time, feared. 

Yet with such power, they never asked for much. They worked and gave their all to the Society and for what? 

Absolutely nothing.

They got nothing in return.

She was different.

She earned her keep. She deserved the recognition for her accomplishments. So, was it so wrong to expect it? 

Jeeun’s eyes snap open and Chanhyuk immediately reacts to her arousal. Slowly sitting up, she was once more granted clear vision. Her mind couldn’t have been more lucid than it was right now. 

“Chanhyuk, after all that I have done, why does he reject me?”

In response, the young man could only offer silence.

“In what way am I inferior to that girl?” She is convinced Mino is completely out of his mind. This is why they shouldn’t have parted. The time they weren’t together, Mino gave into their conditioning. He had lost his way. 

“Jeeun, please calm down. You’ve only just healed.” He advises. “Give him time.” He couldn’t have her be reckless during her recovery again.

***

Between the bites of her breakfast, she looks up to find Mino’s eyes still on her. “Are you hungry?” It’s been like this ever since she had woken up. He wouldn’t leave her alone. 

“What makes you think that?” He responds with the same blank look on his face from across the kitchen table and while offering her a piece of napkin.

Taking it into her hands, she continues to peer at him. “You keep staring at me.” She answers before pointing to the fridge. “Did you forget about the blood bags?”

He waves away her suspicions. “I’m making sure you eat everything. You heard Seunghoon, you need to eat in order to recover.” 

Haneul didn’t know but for Mino, yesterday’s sight was frightening to have witnessed. 

“No one asked you to go this far though.” Seunghoon walks by to get to the fridge in order to grab a blood bag for himself.

Seungyoon and the others soon come down and Haneul looks over. “Where are you all going?”

“To practice.” Seungyoon responds with a brighter expression than usual. 

She had never seen that look on his face before. Whenever practice was mentioned, there was always a hint of reluctance. It looks like now he was starting to appreciate his powers. What could have done that? “I see. Work hard.” One by one, they start to leave before Jinwoo leans down to whisper in her direction.

“Thanks to you, Seungyoon has gained a different perspective.”

“Me?” 

He nods his head before he also disappears with the others.

“Did I do something?” Haneul turned to Mino, hoping he would answer her curiosity. 

“He was able to save you yesterday with his powers so he’s feeling a little proud.” Mino explains. “Now, eat.” 

Smiling to herself, she returns to her food before once more getting distracted by Jiyong who had just walked through the door. 

This time, he was surprised to be greeted by a smile from Haneul. “What is it?”

“I’ve been waiting for you.” She responds which receives a look from Mino.

“Why are you waiting for him?”

“I also want to thank Jiyong.” Haneul responds to Mino. “You guys made it on time because of him.”

“What – “

“Repeat it for him.” Jiyong soon takes his seat at the table to join them. 

Unhappy with the turn of events, Mino slightly kicks Jiyong’s chair and that was enough to disturb the table, spilling the cup of water onto Haneul. She jumps to her feet, looking down at her wet shirt. “Mino.” She looks up at him.

“I suddenly had a muscle spasm.” He responds, still keeping his eyes on Jiyong. He wasn’t the least apologetic and Haneul wasn’t surprised.

Leaving, she heads upstairs to get a change of shirt. Stepping into the bedroom, she finds Bom looking out of the window, lost in her thoughts. Returning to her current task, she silently went to her luggage. But, there was something she was still curious about. 

“Was this what you meant by having fewer options?” Haneul asked while digging into her bag.

Turning away from what she was looking at, Bom offered the young woman her attention. “Except you were almost left with none.”

Grabbing the clean shirt, Haneul slipped off her wet top to put the new one on. Fixing it, she faces Bom. “Did you think I would end up turning?”

“I figured that eventually, Mino would turn you…but, you’re one lucky girl.” She ends up saying. 

Haneul smile back.

“Don’t think it wouldn’t happen later on though.” Bom warns. “As long as you’re here, it will always be a possibility.” Sooner or later, the Society would catch onto th