The first thing Hana did when she woke up early next morning was to wait outside for the newspaper boy to deliver that day’s paper. As soon as she got hold of her copy, she locked herself in her house and flipped through it’s pages looking for any news that might hint at Min Ji’s disappearance anywhere (only she and few others knew that she was no longer alive). To her immense surprise, there was no such news, which was highly suspicious. What exactly did Si Woo do with Min Ji’s body?

It was with extreme apprehension that she walked through the campus that morning. She half expected cops to jump out from behind the trees that lined the walkway and confront her.  But the university looked just as usual. It was bustling with morning activities. It was like none of them were aware of what the library building had witnessed on that fateful night. Gulping slightly, she made her way to her class, trying hard not to break down.

By the end of the first session of her class, Hana had made up her mind. She should talk to Sehun and Jongin as soon as possible. She walked along the corridors looking for the duo but they were nowhere in sight. She sighed as she checked her watch. She was again running late for her next hour. She walked back, thinking that she would talk to them during lunch. The first thing she noticed when she entered advanced calculus lecture hall was that the two people she was looking for were in fact sitting a few feet away from her. How could she forget that they had calculus together?!! Cursing herself internally, she walked forward and sat beside Jongin.

“Someone’s in foul mood.” Jongin observed how Hana almost slammed her bag onto the table.

“Not exactly.” Hana sighed, pulling her books out.

“Something bothering you?” Jongin asked, looking at her face intently. But before Hana could say anything Mr.Lee had entered the classroom and she pressed her index finger against her lips to indicate that Jongin should better shut up, than face Mr.Lee’s wrath.

Mr.Lee had just started the lecture but Jongin already started scribbling frantically on his book. He then pushed it towards Hana. She looked at it curiously.

“What’s the matter?” He had written.

“No one seems to notice Min Ji’s disappearance. Something’s fishy.” Hana scribbled back. She looked up just in time to see Jongin’s frown. He didn’t write anything further but instead turned to the other side and started whispering something into Sehun’s ear.

None of them talked for the rest of the lecture and that made Hana more restless. What exactly is going on? It took a great deal of patience from Hana’s part to sit without punching herself in the head for the entire lecture. She almost jumped out of her seat when Mr.Lee left the class room after the class ended.

“What is going on?” She said facing Jongin and Sehun. Both of them exchanged brief glances towards each other.

“We don’t know, Hana. All we can do is wait for the police to come up with something.” Jongin said.

“That’s the problem! They don’t know yet. But how can they not? Surely her parents would have notified the police if she hadn’t gone home for two days straight.”

“We don’t know.” Sehun repeated. “We have no choice but to wait for the cops to figure things out themselves.”

“Can’t we let them know?” Hana asked, feeling guilty. Not doing anything when she knew exactly what happened was something she couldn’t accept.

“And have them suspect us?” Sehun snapped. “We already have enough on our plate. Let them figure this out themselves.”

“Let’s go.” Jongin said slinging his bag over his shoulder and leading the way outside. Hana followed him out with a resigned expression, Sehun trailing behind. The corridor was already empty except for the three and as they kept walking, they suddenly heard footsteps behind them.

“Hana.” Someone called and all three of them turned around to look at who it was. Hana felt like someone had punched her in the gut as she took in the petite figure standing before her. she personally was not an extremely superstitious person. Even though she believed in afterlife, she had never given much thought to the possibility of people coming back to life after death. But as she stood there looking at the girl who has appeared before her out of nowhere, she felt like she didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Standing there in the middle of the hallway was none other than Min Ji. She looked exactly like how she had looked the last time Hana had seen her, before the attack happened. Hana’s eyes trailed towards Min Ji’s neck. It looked smooth and not even a scar was in sight. But a night ago, there was a gaping hole at the exact same spot, bleeding profusely, taking Min Ji’s life away with it, slowly but surely.

Sehun and Jongin had by then, planted themselves in front of Hana as though protecting her from Min Ji.

“Guys, what are you-“ Hana began.

“She has become a vampire.” Sehun said never taking his eyes off Min Ji. Jongin was still as a stone and only his eyes were moving, taking in Min Ji’s actions.

Min Ji crossed her arms across her chest and scoffed. It completely startled Hana. As far as she knew, Min Ji was never this bold. She was often reticent  and timid like Hana and that’s one of the reasons why they got along decently. As she looked on, Min Ji smirked at both the boys, not a least bit bothered by their defensive stance. Her once brown eyes (now a pale grey) darted towards Hana and her smirk slowly disappeared and in came a different emotion. Was it disappointment?

“If you had been stealthier, you could have gotten past him for help. Look what has happened to me because of your carelessness. I’m no longer human.”

“I’m sorry, Min Ji.” Hana whispered, her entire body trembling.

“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to pretend like the daughter I used to be in front of my parents when internally I’m trying my best to fight my animalistic instinct and not to shred them into pieces?” She let out a dry sob.

“Don’t you dare guilt trip her.” Jongin said sternly “It was not her fault. How can you expect a weak human like her to outrun a vampire? He tried to kill her too for your information. She was just lucky that we were around when that happened.”

“Don’t even dream about taking pointless revenge also.” Sehun warned.

Min Ji gave a sad smile. “I’m past that stage, Sehun. Killing is not going to turn me back into a human. And the hardest part is to live an eternity’s worth of life with if onlys and what ifs to keep me company.”

“You should better get going for your next class, then.” Jongin said, eyeing the way Min Ji was holding onto her back pack.

“Before that I would like to say something to her.” Min Ji jerked her head in Hana’s direction. “We are no longer friends.” She said looking directly into Hana’s eyes. “I hope you live your life well, Hana.” She said bitterly before walking past them, making sure that she bumped her shoulder as hard as she can with Jongin’s, making him stumble a little.

Hana legs completely gave way and she fell in a heap onto the floor. Her body heaved as she succumbed to the inevitable truth. Min Ji is now a vampire. If only she had put a little bit of effort, if only she had enough sense to go back the way she had come and looked or help, Min Ji would have survived and she would have still led a normal life like Hana.

“Jongin, just go ahead and tell Ms.Park that I’m on my way.” Sehun muttered.

“Will you be okay?” Jongin asked, uncertainty coloring his face. Sehun just nodded his head and Jongin walked away with a quiet ‘see you later, then’.

Crouching low over Hana’s figure, Sehun placed his palm on her shoulder in what he expected was a consoling gesture. As if on cue, Hana turned around and faced him, tears falling in torrents from her puffy red eyes, her face reflecting nothing but internal turmoil. Sehun didn’t know what made him do it, but something tugged at his heart at the sight of Hana crying her heart out like that infront of him. He wrapped his long arms around her figure and pulled her against his chest, tucking her beneath his chin and holding her tightly as though to protect her from all the heart wrenching guilt she was feeling. He felt Hana’s arms wrapping around his waist as she reciprocated his hug. And felt her cheeks rest comfortably on his chest. They had no idea how long they sat on the floor like that, both of them oblivious to the fact that they had missed an hour’s worth of classes by then.

“Are you feeling better now?” Sehun asked, finally breaking free from Hana’s hug and holding her at arm’s length so that he could observe her. Her eyes looked dry, though they were still red and puffy.

“I guess.” Hana mumbled.

“Let’s get something to eat then.” Sehun offered. “Kyungsoo always says that eating helps alleviate sadness and pain.”

“Okay.” Hana agreed. Sehun stood up and offered his hand towards her. He pulled her up effortlessly and they started walking towards the cafeteria.

“I don’t understand.” Hana said after awhile. “How did she turn into a vampire?”

“There is only one way this transformation is possible. She must have still been alive when he disposed  her. He must have rushed up things since we were so close to the building and there is a good chance that he might have sensed our presence. He can’t risk getting caught with another attack right? Because that would nullify the treaty, so my guess is that he stashed her body away for the time being without checking whether she was dead or not.”

“But won’t Min Ji have a grudge against Si Woo from now on?” H