INFORMATIVE NOTE:

Mentions of potential violence on  inanimate objects, adult language.

Chapter Four

A New Day

    I SLEPT the required four hours before making a Cesoue breakfast, an oatmeal meant to be coated in nectar oil. It came in three colors: Blue, pink and yellow. I liked the yellow one, because the nectar oil made it taste like honey. I stirred it with a long spoon to make a smooth hill. The fragrant steam made my eyes heavy.

    My tongue narrowed and an indention formed on the end. I'd been thirteen when Cesoue had appeared on the market, and lavishing it had been the highlight of my day. My body became warm inside. As a firefly hybrid, when I chose to glow, my insides heated in a neutral way. I barely felt it and it didn't go to my skin.

    That afternoon Luhan came home angry. He smelled of glue and sweat. His job title: Glazier. He installed windows and sometimes shower doors. I took one of my headphones out and put the wire over my ear.

    He liked to vent and after years, I'd learned to half listen to music and half him. The scorpion side peeked through, darkening the blended red and black on his face and arms. His eyes turned black and it always made me want prepare to run, because he had a tendency to break inanimate objects. We'd bought new chairs - with his help, thanks Minseok's influence - and he'd repaired holes in the wall himself. I said, "So, what happened this time?"

    An unnerving hiss left his mouth and his finger curled claw-like. "How hard is it to take extra care of packages labeled 'Delicate'?" There were three windows broken on arrival and one broken while installing it. I'm glad I'm not paying for that . Light gray spread over his lips and his fingernails turned orange.

    Minseok had gone to work, so calming him down would be nearly impossible. He could've calmed him down with hard logic, but I didn't know how to do that. So I went with the only idea I'd ever used: I attempted to get him to take a run, or go to the gym. He decided to go outside and shoot hoops. I grit my teeth at the slamming door.

Hm?

    AT first, obviously, the vampire inadvertently scared me, and still did. But, I couldn't help natural curiosity. The vampire had a gift for hairstyles: Every time I'd seen her elaborate styles had immediately drawn attention. I wouldn't ask questions with her home. It'd be awkward, because she had sensitive hearing. She didn't leave that day.

    I watched her and she watched tv, shot hoops with Luhan (which I only knew about, because they'd discussed it), and stayed in her room for a couple hours. Then she and Minseok went grocery shopping. The next day only me and Chen were at home. He wasn't a work-a-holic like me, so when I got up at noon, he'd been up since five am. Breakfast pizza on the table had been covered in tin-foil.

    I warmed up three slices and poured nectar oil on it. At first, the sauce and honey flavor confused my taste-buds, but after a few bites I loved it. Chen's red fox tail curled over his bent legs and I sat a cushion down to watch an afternoon talk show.

    That night I'd realized something shocking. I had taken a shower and drying my hair, I'd come in to the living-room. Luhan had been sitting on the floor and the vampire had been messaging his shoulders. Minseok had been absent, so I got the sick feeling that they were more close than they should be. I'd never believed he'd cheat, but then I'd wondered.

    Minseok had been at a meet-and-greet lunch with a client, and when he came home I had tried to tell him, but I couldn't. It took me all day and his response surprised me. "You don't remember your research on vampires, do you?

    "What's that got to do with any thing?"

    He shook his head and I sensed disappointment with a hint of annoyance. If he felt that way, then I'd gone too far. I had to buck up and fix this.

    "Just do the research again," he said.