“Can we talk?” Kira’s gaze snapped up to meet mine. She gave me a quizzical look as she settled back into the sofa, her coffee mug nestled between her hands. The afternoon went by without anymore incidents or sneaky attacks and when the classes were wrapped up I went back to the house with my roommates to rest up before my lesson with Isaiah and Chanyeol.

“What’s up?” Kira asked, her eyes flitting across my eyes warily.

“I need you to tell me what happened between Chaneyol and Kiseop. Why do they hate each so much?”

“I thought you didn’t want to know.”

“I’m done with that. I thought ignorance is bliss in this case but I’m slowly losing my mind.”

A defeated sigh escaped Kira’s lips. “Are you sure you want to know?” She asked. “This isn’t a pretty story Lil.”

“Ever since I started dating Kiseop you and Rose have made it clear that you don’t approve of my choice of boyfriend. And now Chanyeol and Kiseop are outright fighting in the middle of the quad and for some reason I’m right in the middle of this.” I laid back on the love seat opposite my best friend, unclenching my fists that I wasn’t aware were clenched in the first place, and gave her a firm nod.

“I need to know.”

“Everything started back in freshman year. Ahri and Chanyeol were always close having grown up together in Agni but I guess something clicked for them when they came to the academy and they started officially dating. Two weeks of school went by smoothly. Ahri, Rose and I were roommates occupying this very house and we got along great. We met Chanyeol through Ahri and our group got bigger. We were close as thieves.” A bitter laugh escaped Kira’s lips and she blinked away the tears that pooled into her blue eyes. She averted her gaze from mine and stared out the tall glass window, a faraway look fogging her eyes. “Then Kiseop came into the picture. At first we thought nothing of his snide remarks because no matter how much the royals preached about unity and harmony and how much they wanted to pretend we were all one big happy family, there was always some lingering tension between the kingdoms. But then he started going after Ahri.”

“What do you mean going after her?” I asked, my voice oddly low and trembling.

“It started with random greetings and short conversations between classes and during lunch. But then it turned into outright obnoxious flirting. To everyone else, he seemed like just another royal douche bag going after a girl who was already in a relationship, but we knew better. Kiseop’s behavior was borderline obsessive. Everywhere Ahri went he was there, smiling, flirting and pissing the living hell out of Chanyeol. Ahri, being the sweetheart that she was, thought Kiseop was just trying to be her friend. She didn’t understand why Chanyeol and the rest of us were being so overprotective. That is, until junior year rolled around.” Kira was silent for a moment, still gazing out of the window absentmindedly. She was so lost in her own thoughts that I suspected she forgot she was telling me a story in the first place.

“What happened junior year?” I gulped, suddenly unsure I wanted to hear the rest of this tale when I saw the furious look on Kira’s face. “Kiseop started getting more aggressive. I guess he lost his patience when he realized his flirtatious smiles and sweet words got him nowhere. Chanyeol and Ahri were strong as ever so he changed tactics. He started ambushing Ahri outside of classes, waiting for her outside the house every morning and evening. He became a fully fledged stalker and Chanyeol had enough of it. Even Ahri started getting uncomfortable. One day, as Ahri was leaving the house to meet up with Chanyeol, Kiseop grabbed her and started going on a rant about how they belonged together and how she was his and not Chanyeol’s. He was hysterical. Chanyeol happened to come by then and a fight broke out between the two. It was so bad both of them ended up in the infirmary and were almost expelled. But then the attack happened and Ahri was…” Kira swallowed hard, looking back at me with steely determination shining in her bright eyes. “Kiseop is dangerous, Lilith. I wanted to tell you from the beginning but Rose said we should give him the benefit of the doubt. She was always a big softy, that’s why she got along with Ahri so well. But in a way I agreed. I mean, what are the chances of history repeating itself right? But then again, what are the chances of our new roommate looking exactly like Ahri and having Kiseop go after her too?”

“What are you trying to say Kira?” I whispered, my mind already putting the pieces together before she confirmed them out loud.

“No one really knows why Kiseop went After Ahri in the first place. My guess is that he wasn’t used to rejection and took it way too personally, but I have a feeling Kiseop’s only dating you to fulfill a sick fantasy of being with Ahri.” The rest of the evening went by painfully slowly. Kira’s story created chaos in my head as different scenes played in my mind before settling on a particular one. I knew every time Kiseop said something about Chanyeol taking what’s his, a feeling of foreboding settled in my chest but I didn’t know he was genuinely paranoid about losing me like he thought he lost my dead doppelganger. By the time my practice session rolled around I couldn’t wait to get out of the house, if only to get away from my own thoughts.

“You look troubled.” Mr. Blackthorn remarked as soon as I set foot into his office. The sun was sinking fast behind the mountains and the temperatures dropped even more. I hugged my black coat tighter around my body and looked at Isaiah, an uneasy smile painted on my lips.

“Is it that obvious?” I chuckled bitterly.

“You never were one to mask your emotions well.” He said, a knowing glint in his obsidian eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?” A long sign escaped my soul.

“I learned something today. A truth that sha