The next day, Sanghyuk and Ahyoung arrived to school as usual, they were going to their classroom when a known voice asked for their attention.

“Ahyoung.”

The girl turned around and saw Taekwoon, she gave him a little smile and walked to him, followed by Sanghyuk.

“Hi Taekwoon.” She greeted him, then started to look around noticing the absence of someone. “Where’s Sojin?”

“Back at home, now was her turn to attend some issues there.” Taekwoon briefly explained.

“I see.” Ahyoung answered with a nod.

“I wanted to thank you both, I never actually thanked you when you helped Sojin with Wonshik.” Taekwoon sincerely said.

“There’s no need for that, we would’ve done it for anyone.” Ahyoung answered, Sanghyuk nodding in concordance.

“Still, I’m grateful that you helped Sojin in that situation.”

“Well, she didn’t seem that happy that I interfered though.” Ahyoung said with a smile and scratching her head.

“That’s because she was worried, the fact that Wonshik took an interest in you isn’t something good.” Taekwoon explained a bit more serious.

“I kind of understand that but I’m still a bit confused about why you two are so wary about him, strictly speaking, you’re more powerful than him, right?” The girl asked.

“Yes and no.” Taekwoon started to explain. “I know Sojin already told you our story so I won’t tell you about it again. Speaking about status, yes, we’re more powerful than him; but as you know, because of a problem between Wonshik and Sojin in the past, she’s completely banned from doing the slightest thing against Wonshik, since it could happen the same thing again and Sojin’s family would be in trouble. I can’t do a thing against him because Sojin doesn’t want that and also because if my family is also accused about using power and status against others, then both our positions would be endangered.”

“But in terms of physical power, you do are stronger than him.” Ahyoung pointed out.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean Wonshik isn’t extremely powerful, you wouldn’t stand a chance against him.”

Ahyoung snorted and crossed her arms.

“There was no need for that reminder.” Ahyoung said with a pout.

Taekwoon chuckled a bit, it was the first time Ahyoung saw him chuckling when Sojin wasn’t around. She assumed he felt comfortable enough with her to do it.

“You just need more training.” He answered.

“If only my parents allowed me to train at all.” Ahyoung retorted in annoyance.

Taekwoon frowned a bit and for a second his expression changed to the one of someone who realized he said the wrong thing. Something that Ahyoung didn’t miss; but Taekwoon didn’t give her the chance to ask about it.

“But I don’t think you’ll have many troubles with Wonshik, especially now that you’re close with Jonghyun.”

“What does Jonghyun has to do in this?” Ahyoung asked a bit confused.

“Well even if Wonshik doesn’t care much about doing a mess in the vampire realm, he tends to avoid Jonghyun, don’t know if it’s because of fear or one of his schemes but he usually remains out of his way.” Taekwoon explained.

“But even if that’s the case, that’s something that applies to Jonghyun, not to me. Not for being his friend it means Wonshik will also refrain from approaching me.”

“True but since Jonghyun now tends to appear everywhere you are, it basically applies to you as well.” Taekwoon answered tilting his head a bit and crossing his arms.

“That’s not true.” Ahyoung answered chuckling in disbelief.

Taekwoon then moved his head, signaling something behind her. Ahyoung frowned and turned around just to be faced with Jonghyun and Hyeri walking towards them.

“What a coincidence to find you here.” Jonghyun said when he stopped just beside Ahyoung, putting an arm over her shoulders.

“Yeah sure, coincidence.” Sanghyuk said in a low voice, earning a little punch from Hyeri.

“Did you just arrive?” Ahyoung asked, taking his arm off her.

“Yes, Hyeri was late, that’s why we are arriving until now.” The demon answered after a sigh.

“Ha ha, who was the one that couldn’t decide what to wear and spent half an hour in front of the mirror?” Hyeri retorted visibly indignant.

Ahyoung really tried not to, but she ended up chuckling because of what the girl said and, by what she could see, Sanghyuk was also trying to suppress a laugh.

“You know what? You can go to Jaehwan, I don’t need you here right now.” Jonghyun said with annoyance, glaring at her.

“Thank you.” Hyeri answered with a smile and walked away.

Ahyoung was really amused by that new dynamic between Jonghyun and Hyeri, it reminded her a bit to the kind of relationship she had with Sanghyuk. Though Hyeri was way sassier than Sanghyuk.

After Hyeri was gone, Jonghyun turned to see Taekwoon, who was also looking at the whole thing that was happening in front of him.

“Taekwoon.” The demon greeted him in a serious way.

“Jonghyun.” Taekwoon answered in the same tone.

Ahyoung looked at them alternately and then frowned towards Jonghyun.

“Wait, why do you talk to him with such respect? Not that is wrong though, but you don’t tend to do that, not even with me.” The girl complained.

Jonghyun fixed his gaze on Ahyoung and smirked.

“Well, Taekwoon technically is the heir of the vampires, since he’s betrothed to Sojin, so it’s as if we have the same status, there’s no need to be rude with him since I’m not rude towards Sojin either.”

“I’m not the heir, that’s Sojin, we’re betrothed but that can change in any moment, it’s Sojin’s decision actually.” Taekwoon briefly explained.

Jonghyun looked at him with a done expression and snorted with irony before answering.

“Oh come on, stop with that, everybody knows that you guys would have already got married and took over the leader’s position years ago if your parents allowed you to.”

“We’re still too young to take over the position.”

“Age isn’t a problem when you’re powerful, and you two can even use telepathy now.” Jonghyun said nonchalantly.

But Ahyoung knew him better, what seemed like an innocent remark, actually was trying to know something. She had heard about the special abilities of both races but she didn’t know the details of them, but by what Jonghyun was trying to say, it seemed those special abilities weren’t that common or simple.

“No, we still can’t.” Taekwoon briefly answered.

“Oh really? It seemed to me that you used it the day Hyeri was giving me the report of what happened between Ahyoung and Tiffany.” Jonghyun continued with the intrigue, now crossing his arms.

“We can only use it between us.”

Jonghyun frowned in confusion upon that answer. Ahyoung wasn’t really understanding what that meant but when she turned to see Sanghyuk and saw him also frowning with a serious expression, she knew it was something important.

“That doesn’t have sense.” The demon answered with disbelief.

“I agree, but that’s the truth.” Taekwoon said completely serious.

“And you still think that Sojin may change her decision about you?” Jonghyun asked with a chuckle.

After that remark, the mood was light again, but they couldn’t keep talking since the bell that announced classes were about to start rang. Jonghyun and Taekwoon went together to their classroom and Sanghyuk with Ahyoung went to theirs.

“What is so impressive about Sojin and Taekwoon being able to use telepathy?” Ahyoung asked before they reached the classroom.

“The special abilities of the demons and vampires are named ‘special’ for a reason. Most of them actually don’t achieve those abilities, and the few that do, only achieve them after 100 or 200 years, not earlier.” Sanghyuk explained her.

Ahyoung couldn’t help but open in surprise.

“Okay now I understand why Jonghyun and you were so impressed.” She answered with surprise, then frowned a bit. “But wait, if it’s something so important, why did Taekwoon told Jonghyun about it?”

“To be honest I’m also taken aback by that.” Sanghyuk answered in a thoughtful way. “But it seems that, for some reason, Taekwoon trusts Jonghyun.”

“That’s weird.” Ahyoung said in a low voice.

They reached the classroom and went to their seats, the teacher arrived almost behind them so the class quickly started. Ahyoung was still thinking about what Sanghyuk said, why would Taekwoon trust Jonghyun? Telling him something that could be used as a secret weapon in case of emergency was too much.

The bell announcing the break rang, the first period was over. Before Ahyoung could even ask Sanghyuk what he wanted to do during the break, Jonghyun arrived to their classroom and put his hands over Ahyoung’s desk. The girl looked at him with a lifted eyebrow.

“What about having lunch together?” The demon asked with a smirk.

Ahyoung could hear some gossiping behind her but tried hard not to mind them.

“Are you serious?” She asked with a chuckle of disbelief.

Jonghyun didn’t answer to that, instead he kept looking at her now with a serious expression. Ahyoung was now convinced he wasn’t joking. She wasn’t sure about what to do, talking from time to time with him was one thing but actually having lunch together was on a whole different level. However, she could feel more stares over them with each second that passed, so she sighed and gave her answer.

“Alright, let’s go.” Ahyoung started to stand up.

Jonghyun smiled to that. Suddenly, Sanghyuk also stood up, Jonghyun and Ahyoung looked at him in confusion.

“I’ll go with you.” The boy firmly said.

“Huh?” Ahyoung and Jonghyun asked at the same time.

Sanghyuk then positioned beside Ahyoung and looked at her.

“Can I?” Sanghyuk asked.

Ahyoung could see Jonghyun frowned upon the sudden company but she was actually relieved that Sanghyuk asked to join them, that way it would calm down the rumors, at least a bit.

“Sure.” The girl answered with a smile.

The three of them went out of the classroom together.

“Where do you want to go?” Ahyoung asked Jonghyun.

“The cafeteria.” The demon firmly answered.

Ahyoung and Sanghyuk stopped walking, Jonghyun took some more steps before also stopping and looking behind towards them.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Ahyoung said with a nervous laugh.

Well, Jonghyun wasn’t kidding. They ended up sitting in the most crowded place of the school, Jonghyun seemed to be really enjoying it, while Ahyoung just wanted the earth to swallow her.

No matter where she looked, the eyes of everyone were over them, nobody talked about anything else than the fact that they were there. To say Ahyoung was uncomfortable was an understatement.

“It’s the first time something like this happens to me, this is all your fault.” Ahyoung said to Jonghyun in annoyance.

“Well, I never eat here so of course everyone is surprised.” Jonghyun answered with a smirk.

Despite all the commotion that was around them, Jonghyun seemed relaxed and had his complete attention on Ahyoung, it was as if he actually didn’t care about what was happening at his surroundings.

“There’s nothing we can do then.” Ahyoung answered in defeat.

Jonghyun chuckled upon that sight.

“There’s something I need to know.” Sanghyuk suddenly spoke up.

Ahyoung and Jonghyun turned to look at him. Ahyoung frowned a bit when she noticed the serious expression he had on his face, meanwhile Jonghyun just remained silent and looked at him with the same seriousness.

“What are you looking for with Ahyoung?” He straightforwardly asked.

Ahyoung was taken aback by that question and was also a bit embarrassed even when she didn’t want to accept it.

“What kind of question is that Sanghyuk? Stop it.” The girl tried to change the topic.

“I just need him to answer me that.” Sanghyuk insisted, not looking away from the demon.

Ahyoung sighed, she knew that despite what she did or said, Sanghyuk would keep on going with his questioning, so she just let him be.

Jonghyun remained silent for a couple of seconds before giving his answer.

“I’m not looking for anything.” The demon vaguely answered.

“Then why do you insist to be by her side?” Sanghyuk inquired, not willing to let him escape that easily.

Ahyoung sighed and looked at the demon. Jonghyun seemed to think about that question for some seconds.

“I asked her to be friends, that’s what I’m trying to be.” Jonghyun calmly explained.

“Friends.” Sanghyuk repeated, not convinced about that.

Ahyoung frowned a bit, she found it strange that Jonghyun was letting Sanghyuk question him like that. She knew the demon had changed but not to that extent, so she started to also question what Jonghyun was trying to achieve by doing all those things. Even when a part of her soul already knew what all that was about, she chose to ignore it, she didn’t want to face it.

“You’re aware that your sudden closeness to her will for sure bring her troubles, right?” Sanghyuk asked in a more serious way. “What’s happening right now is nothing compared to what could happen in the future. You already saw what happened with Tiffany some months ago.”

Jonghyun sighed angrily, of course everyone remembered what happened with her. Ahyoung just scratched her head a bit upon remembering that.

“What are you trying to say?” Jonghyun finally asked Sanghyuk.

Sanghyuk and Jonghyun looked at each other for some seconds, as if saying something with their eyes. In the end Sanghyuk frowned and leaned on his chair, crossing his arms.

“If this relationship between you two evolves, things will get out of hand, you have to be aware of that.”

Ahyoung snorted in disbelief and looked at Sanghyuk.

“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s not like we’re going to date or something, it’d not that deep.” The girl said nonchalantly.

Sanghyuk turned to see her, completely serious.

“I know that.” He briefly answered her, then looked back at Jonghyun. “But still, it’s my duty to tell you both that.”

Ahyoung looked towards Jonghyun, he still had his gaze on Sanghyuk. She was more than sure they were telling each other something by just their gazes. They were having a silent conversation from which she wasn’t part of. Even if she was a bit angry about being left behind, she understood Sanghyuk just wanted to protect her.

“I won’t allow anyone to do something against her again.” Jonghyun firmly answered.

Ahyoung frowned upon that answer, Jonghyun turned to look at her.

“I promise.” He said.

The determination in his eyes and voice, completely disarmed Ahyoung, who couldn’t keep her gaze on him and looked down. She was feeling nervous and didn’t want anyone to notice it.

“You must remember what you just said, keep Ahyoung far from your problems.” Sanghyuk reminded him.

Jonghyun looked back at him and nodded firmly, Ahyoung just looked away with a frown. Her heart was racing and she was furious because of that. Why must her heart race for something like that? It didn’t have sense. Actually, not a single thing that was happening had the least sense.

Ahyoung closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, then stood up, Jonghyun and Sanghyuk looked at her.

“I need some air.” She just said and went away, not letting them ask a thing.

Ahyoung went straight to the garden she used to go, she stopped in the middle of it and just looked at the grass still with a frown. What just happened was too much for her, starting with all the attention she had over her the moment she was standing by Jonghyun’s side. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to stand something like that everyday, it seemed that the innocent agreement of being friends didn’t turn out to be as simple as she thought.

She already expected it to be different from her friendship with Hongbin, but she never thought it’d be to that extent. She now even had problems with Tiffany.

What surprised her the most was her own inaction. Being another person she’d have already brush him off or something like that. But to her surprise, for some reason, something inside her was willing to endure all of that. Why? Sure they were friends and all but also they weren’t that close either, they haven’t even know each other for long.

Ahyoung then remembered the day when Jonghyun held her wrist and how she allowed it. The girl lifted again her left wrist and looked at it, just like she did that day. She remembered how her suspicions about Jonghyun feeling something for her started with that and with each passing day, somehow that theory grew stronger.

Her heart started to pound again and she put a hand over her chest like she did that day.

There’s no way… She thought again.

She wasn’t stupid, she knew that what she was feeling may be what everyone called love but she also wasn’t sure about it, after all, she had never experienced it before. She was always so immersed in training back at the human world and having a good time with her friends that she never actually give a thought about having a relationship. Sure she did like some boys before but it was nothing more than thinking they were handsome.

That unknown feeling was different and new for her, that was why she didn’t know how to react or what to do. Besides, even when Jonghyun changed the way he treated her, it didn’t mean that he was in love with her or something like that.

She was a bit scared about those feelings and emotions, also scared about being wrong and that it was all her own doing by making stories inside her head. Not to mention that things weren’t as easy as in the human world. She was a heiress now and the one with whom she was having that weird conflict was none other than the heir of the demons.

What a mess. She thought with a bit of annoyance.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, lifting her head towards the sky. She let herself be calmed down by the silence and peace surrounding her in that moment.

“Are you okay?”

Ahyoung opened her eyes to that known voice and turned around to see Sanghyuk, Jonghyun was behind him. The former had a worried expression so the girl showed him a little smile.

“Yes, I guess all that attention over us was too much for me.” She half lied. “But I’m alright now.”

Sanghyuk seemed convinced by that explanation since he sighed relieved and also showed her a smile. Ahyoung then looked behind him, towards Jonghyun, towards those silver eyes that she so liked to see. They didn’t say a thing, just looked at each other for some seconds in complete silence.

After that, they decided to go back after the bell rang. The way back was in silence, until Jonghyun said that he would go with them to their classroom. Ahyoung at first tried to prevent him from doing it but in the end she wasn’t able to and Jonghyun ended up walking them there. Ahyoung was trying so hard not to yell at all the people looking at them to mind their own business, since she knew that’d only make things worse.

When they reached the youngers’ classroom, Jonghyun just calmly bid farewell and turned around to go to his own. Sanghyuk sighed and went to his seat, Ahyoung stayed for some more seconds on the door, looking at Jonghyun’s back.

She then sighed and turned to go to her seat but when she turned around, she was faced with all her classmates gossiping and some others looking at her. She avoided looking towards Hongbin’s direction, she already knew what kind of expression the boy must have on his face and she didn’t want to see it. Ahyoung quickly went to her seat and tried to ignore what was happening at her surroundings.

Suddenly, someone touched her shoulder, making her jump a little.

“Hey Ahyoung, what’s going on?”

Ahyoung was relieved to hear Minah’s voice. Since the day the girl told Ahyoung her story, they became good friends and Minah changed seats in order to be near to her, she now sat behind her. Ahyoung turned around to face the vampire, who had a worried expression on her face.

“Well, to be honest, I also don’t know.” Ahyoung sincerely answered.

“The whole school is about to lose their minds. It seems that Jonghyun had never gone to the cafeteria before but he did it with you, and now he walks you back here.” Minah said in disbelief, though in a low voice which Ahyoung was thankful for. “People are saying that he had never done something like that, not even with Tiffany.”

Ahyoung sighed and looked away. She then caught JR looking towards her with a thoughtful expression, but with his complete attention over her.

“Somehow.” Ahyoung started to say, then looked back at Minah. “I feel like I’m getting myself into a dangerous territory.”

A/N: The second arc of the story is now starting!

As always, thank you so so much for reading, comments are appreciated ^^ stay safe and have a beautiful day <3