"Where could she be at this hour?" Chani mumbled to himself. He was starting to get anxious, and their parents hadn't even started wondering where Minnie was yet.

Once he had waited an hour more, Chani was wringing his hands together impatiently. Grabbing his coat, he informed his parents, "I'm going to go look for Minnie. It's too late for her to not be home yet." Their mother looked up from her knitting, "Alright. Be safe, Dear. I'm sure she's fine. She's probably just making something in her workshop again."

"I hope you're right," Chani said although he had a feeling that he wouldn't find her there. With that said, he emerged through the door and into the chilly night air of autumn.

The first place he checked was the tiny wooden workshop which sat next to their well and was located not far from their house. There was no lamp light emitting from the shop window, but Chani checked inside anyway. He wasn’t surprised to find it empty. Rolling his eyes, he sighed, “It’s going to be a long night.”

…

Minnie was furious after waking up in a dark place and tripping over a barrel. The area she was in seemed to be a cellar and had no windows. She found a strange door but was unable to open it as it seemed to be sealed shut. Slapping the door thrice, she slid down to the floor.

Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, but she didn’t see any other ways out of the room she was in. She angrily scratched the cold stone foundation as she wracked her brain for a plan of escape. She couldn't think when she was upset, so she tried to calm down by taking slow breaths. However, when she remembered how that man had just accused her of destroying the roses without asking who she was or revealing who he was, all of her negative emotions came flooding back.

Frowning from the headache she was developing, she rubbed at her brow to soothe it. Now that she thought about it, she didn't remember how exactly she had been brought to this cellar in the first place. When she was talking to the discourteous man, she had suddenly out as far as she could recall. Had he brought her here to pay for her “crime” as he called it? She wasn't even sure how she was supposed to get out of this situation or compensate the man for the roses. She wondered if he really even owned the roses.

…

“Taeyang, you know...” a red-headed man began, “That girl IS human.” Taeyang looked up from the man’s forearm which he was feeding on blood from, “I know, Inseong. What’s your point?” Taeyang went back to the blood and Inseong continued, “Well, she could die down there if she isn’t allowed to eat. Then, how will she fix the damage she has caused?” It had already been over half a day since Minnie had been imprisoned in the cellar.

There was an uneasy silence in the dining hall for a while as Taeyang didn’t respond. After dropping Inseong’s arm to the side, Taeyang finished his meal and looked away with an annoyed face. Inseong looked at him expectantly, “I thought you liked humans.” Pointing toward the direction of the cellar, Taeyang whipped his head back to him, “Yes, but THAT one destroyed the roses. She didn’t even care to apologize either.”

“So… We’re letting her starve?” Inseong queried with a funny look on his face. Taeyang crossed his arms, “No… Have Zuho cook some food and bring her in here.” “Of course,” Inseong smiled as he knew Taeyang wasn’t an evil person.

…

When the food was ready, a tall man with platinum hair made his way down the hall- this man was Zuho. He acted as Taeyang’s protector even though he didn’t need one. As Zuho was officially his guard, Zuho insisted to protect Taeyang with his life.

Breaking away from his zoned-out state, Zuho didn’t understand why he had to be the one to retrieve a mere human. It wasn’t like she would be able to do any harm. He did understand why Taeyang was upset about the flowers though. The roses had been planted for Taeyang’s late mother who loved them.

Upon reaching the cellar door, Zuho listened to see if the girl was still alive. He heard faint breathing due to his sensitive hearing, and he opened the door. Without flinching, he caught a fist mid-punch. He was half-expecting her to react this way, but he would have been able to block her attack even if he hadn’t.

Growling, the girl was about to start yelling at him when he cut her off, “Dinner is served. Would you peacefully follow me to the dining area?” Minnie knew that she was hungry; she could feel her stomach starting to grumble at her. Sighing in defeat, she withdrew her fist, “Fine.”

Following the silent man through the halls, Minnie realized just how luxurious of a place she was in. The carpets were a nice shade of red with gold borders and designs throughout. Vaulted ceilings held up massive chandeliers made of crystal. Even the walls were covered with intricate details.

When they finally had reached the dining hall, Minnie knew that the place she was in had to be a castle. Before her, she gawked at the fifty foot table which didn’t even stretch across the full length of the room. At the other end of the table sat Taeyang. Wanting to be as far away from him as possible, she took a seat at the end she was at. Zuho took his place outside the door to stand guard as he always did.

Shortly after, Inseong brought in a spread of hearty soup along with rolls and a goblet of water. Minnie leaned back a little as he placed the food in front of her. She eyed him suspiciously as he grinned, “Enjoy your meal.” She suddenly wondered if she should be eating this food or trying to escape. When her stomach made a noise again, she chose the first option.

As she ate, she kept glancing over at Taeyang who didn’t have any food. She guessed that he had already eaten or that he just wasn’t hungry. He only had a drink in front of him which he occasionally would pick up to drink and a book which he was reading. He didn’t look at her at all which was probably because he was still upset with her.

When she was almost finished eating, she wanted to know what was going to happen next. Still, no one had spoken a word. She also still wondered what he had in mind for her to pay for her so-called crime.

As Minnie took in the details of the room again, Inseong appeared and refilled Taeyang’s drink. Taeyang thanked him which she was surprised at as she watched Inseong leave swiftly. Taeyang took a drink and set his book on the table. He was about to say something when he gasped and the goblet fell from his hand. The liquid splashed everywhere and stained the light green carpet.

Immediately, Minnie jumped up from her seat and rushed over to Taeyang. She would have seemed like she was trying to help him save for the fact that she was smirking wickedly. Leaning on the table for support, Taeyang glared at her through his long bangs, “What did you do?” She gave a short laugh before he fell on the ground. Looking down at his spilled drink, she scrunched her nose at the tangy smell of blood. “Disgusting,” she cringed. Once she saw that he wasn’t moving anymore, Minnie sped out the door while looking around for the nearest exit.

Meanwhile, Inseong came back to the dining hall with Zuho whom he had been talking to. “Wha-!” Inseong shrieked, alerting Zuho. They were both startled to find the state that Taeyang was in. Inseong approached him with haste as he shook him by the shoulders, “Hey! Taeyang!” When he didn’t respond, Inseong could only imagine that the worst had happened. Then, he remembered that they were vampires and shouldn’t be able to die normally.

Without warning, Taeyang took a deep breath and was suddenly standing on his feet again. Startled, Inseong looked up at him from the floor, “What happened? Are you okay?” Gritting his teeth, Taeyang focused on the doorway, “Poison.” “What? We can’t be poisoned. Not that I’ve ever seen any of us poisoned before though,” Inseong thought aloud, “Are you really-” He wasn’t able to finish as Taeyang, with inhuman speed, disappeared out the door.

Minnie hadn’t gotten far within the walls of the castle garden before she was caught by the throat. Taeyang held her in place as she struggled to be free of his hand. “What’s wrong with you?! You are the most miserable human I’ve ever met,” he yelled. “I-” Minnie couldn’t respond from the lack of air. Her vision was getting blurry, and she felt like she would die any minute.

As if appearing from thin air, Zuho was at Taeyang’s side. Zuho placed his hand on the hand which was about to strangle Minnie. “Taeyang, you can’t kill a human,” Zuho reminded him calmly, “Remember your resolve.” Letting up on the girl’s neck, Taeyang nodded slowly and shooed Zuho away.

When Zuho was gone, Taeyang held Minnie by her arms. Her eyelids fluttered erratically as she regained some of her cognitive ability. He looked her squarely in the eye as he stated, “You will pay for this crime now. Then, you will pay for the other crime later.” “Not on your life,” she spat back with a frown.

Irked beyond belief, Taeyang bit into her shoulder with incredibly sharp teeth. She winced at the pain but still didn’t seem to care about his outburst. After drinking some of her blood, he stopped and looked at her with fear in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that he had just attacked a human. She only glared back at him with apathy.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” he spoke quietly, “I shouldn’t have done that.” She almost wanted to laugh but kept a straight face, “You’re sorry? What you are is crazy! I didn’t commit a crime for trying to protect myself, and I didn’t commit a crime for picking stupid flowers which you most likely don’t even own!” Taeyang blinked once, now with a calm face, before informing her, “You’re still going to pay for your first crime.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing; he couldn’t have understood what she had just said. She didn’t have time to think about it anymore though because he locked eyes with her again. For some reason, she began to feel extremely tired. Fighting the fatigue, she collapsed in his arms.

As if she were no lighter than a feather, Taeyang picked Minnie up and carried her back into the castle. There were many vacant rooms for guests so he picked the closest one to his room in case she tried to escape again. When he entered the room, he carefully placed her on a bed and covered her with the comforter. She didn’t look as devious when she slept, and Taeyang shook his head for thinking about such a thing.

Taking the room’s key from the side table, he exited the room and locked the door behind him. He hated to have to take such drastic measures, but he knew she would definitely use some crafty means again to kill or escape. She also needed to pay for her crime. When she had repaired the rose bushes, he would let her leave.

With his thoughts finally in order, he put the key in his pocket and headed toward the library with some lingering guilt for what he had done earlier.

**.**.**.**.**

Wow! This was a long chapter compared to my usual 1000 word ones. It fits though for the story pacing which is good. It got crazy in this chapter, and I'm planning to continue with the feels. As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will look forward to the next ones!

Research info about types of roses and maintenance:
https://ag.purdue.edu/hla/pubs/HO/HO-128.pdf