{15} 

“Wow, wow, what’s this?” Caleb stopped short in his tracks. Leah, who was walking behind him, peeked over his shoulder to sneak a glance.

“Woah.” She exclaimed subconsciously.

Daehyun’s eyelids fluttered open upon hearing their voices. He was a light sleeper.

He blinked several times to get his eyes back in focus. His eyes swept from Soah, who was still in his arms, to the pair that stood by the door.

Soah shifted, waking up from her sleep and rubbing her eyes sleepily, clearly unaware of the two intruders in the room.

"Alright, alright, Vampy King, it's time for breakfast." Caleb waved his hand in the air while striding into the room, shooing Daehyun away. 

Daehyun narrowed his eyes at Caleb while Leah clamped a hand over Caleb's mouth, shooting a nervous smile at Daehyun. 

Arching one of his brows, Daehyun planted a soft kiss on Soah’s forehead before leaving the room, leaving Soah with Caleb and Leah.

The moment Daehyun left, Leah slapped the back of Caleb's head. 

"Did you just say shoo the Vampire King away like he’s a fly? What the hell!" 

Caleb rolled his eyes and shrugged her off, plopping down beside Soah on the bed. 

"Hi, Vampy Queen." Caleb wiggled his eyebrows at Soah, causing her to burst into fits of laughter.

Caleb propped himself up on his elbows, gazing at Soah. 

"You're a much better company, not like the Enchanted over there." 

And that earned Caleb a pillow in the back of his head. 

"Shut up, you dumb fairy." 

Soah wiped a lone tear from the corner of her eye, a wide smile still plastered on her face. She really missed her friends. 

"What brings the two of you here? How did you even know that I was here?" 

Leah pointed at Caleb, signaling that it was Caleb who guided her to Daehyun's residence. 

Winking, Caleb answered, "Secret." 

Leah rolled her eyes and turned her attention back on Soah. 

"Anyway, school's out because it's still chaos out there so you don’t have to worry about missing school. Everyone's protesting out on the streets, houses, cars and shops along the streets were all set on fire, it’s horrible." 

Soah's brows drew together. "But what are they protesting about?" 

"Justice. The President, Vice President, Senator and many other political figures were murdered in cold blood. The OtherWorlds are demanding for justice and the police's investigations aren't really progressing. They are demanding for a new leader to step up and rule the OtherWorld but my guess is the military is going to take over for now." 

Caleb shook his head, earning the attention of the two girls. "The OtherWorlds won't agree with military rule." 

"Why?"

"Because when the military rules, they put in place strict curfews and restrictions that the OtherWorlds have to adhere to. A thing that the OtherWorlds hate the most is to be restricted." 

Leah nodded in agreement. "We value our freedom the most." 

Concern knitted Soah’s brows together. “So what’s going to happen from now on?”

Caleb shrugged. “I heard that the police are having a hard time trying to figure out the perpetuator and that’s making the unrest among the OtherWorlds much worse.”

Leah snuck a sideward glance at Soah, one that Caleb caught and he knew that Leah definitely saw certain things when she looked into the future.

Soah, on the other hand, was completely trapped in her own thoughts. I wonder if Youngjae is fine? He looked really tired the other day.

···

Youngjae watched as the raindrops slid down the clear glass of the window in his office, his mind strangely empty.

A sigh escaped from his lips subconsciously. He had been stretched to his fullest, barely getting any sleep and surviving on coffee to keep him awake.

He desperately needed to get a breakthrough on the case. The pieces didn’t seem to fit together and he couldn’t figure out why.

He had to figure it out soon because Daehyun’s life was on the line. His parabatai’s life was on the line, not anyone else. 

His head swiveled around when a few knocks on the door snapped him out of his thoughts.

He met eyes with the guy whose life he was desperately trying to save before it was too late.

“What brings you here?”

Daehyun strode into Youngjae’s room and stopped in front of his desk. His eyes swept over the case files that were strewn all over his eyes and the numerous empty cups that were once filled with coffee, before they travelled to Youngjae’s face.

He took in the heavy rings under Youngjae’s eyes and worry tugged the ends of his lips downwards.

“Because it’s rare to see you around in your room in my house.”

A small smile graced Youngjae’s lips. “Guess you aren’t that slow after all.”

Seeing the case files that were all over Youngjae’s desk and the board that was scribbled with notes and leads beside the desk, Daehyun knew that he was investigating the case that he was involved in.

He couldn’t do so without being restricted in the police department because it would be clear that he was trying to clear Daehyun’s name.

Daehyun’s eyes lingered on Youngjae’s pale face.

“Jae.” He called out. “Hmm?” Youngjae answered without tearing his eyes off the board.

“Thank you.”

Youngjae’s brows scrunched together at Daehyun’s sudden appreciation.

“You’re being really weird right now.” Youngjae paused, glancing straight into Daehyun’s eyes, “And when you’re acting weird out of nowhere, that’s when you’re about to do something foolish.”

Daehyun snorted, shifting his eyes to the photo frame he held in his hand. He traced his thumb over the photograph in the frame with a sad smile on his face.

“Do you still remember where were we when we had that photograph taken?” Youngjae asked with his eyes trained on the photograph.

Daehyun laughed, showing his pearly whites. “We were in Paris, trying to be like those couples out there, taking a tourist shot in front of the Eiffel Tower.”

Youngjae chuckled, nodding in response. “We did really crazy things back then.”

Daehyun nodded while placing the photo frame back on the desk where it belonged.

He hated the feeling of nostalgia, it robs away the joy and peace he had for the present. But today was an exception. Because in a few hours time, after a new day has arrived, he wasn’t sure if he would still be able to reminisce the past with Youngjae again.