Two days passed since Sanghyuk and Ren agreed to look into the matter about Sunny and Tiffany, though they still didn’t have a clue about it.

The first class of the day was about politics, Ahyoung already expected the same boring class talking about the agreements between races and the current leaders, however, that day the class took a different path.

“Now that you completely know the basics and all the structure of our society, it’s time for you all to learn about the new order that the High Status families are promoting.” The teacher suddenly announced.

Ahyoung frowned since she didn’t understand what he meant with that, but noticed some demons weren’t that happy about that, which only made her more curious about the topic.

“As you already know, our world is ruled mainly by the five strongest families of each race and the implied leaders are the members of the strongest family of all.” The teacher started to explain. “However, since a couple of years ago, the leaders decided to try taking another path.” The teacher made a pause in which he gave a look to the whole class. “A world where there aren’t any differences between statuses and races. To make it simple, the abolishment of the current order.”

Ahyoung widened her eyes in surprise and turned to see Sanghyuk, but the boy was calmly leaned on his chair with crossed arms and closed eyes.

Of course, he most likely already knows all of this. Ahyoung thought, returning her gaze to the front.

Apparently, she was the only one surprised, it seemed that everyone already knew about that new law. She now understood why some demons looked unhappy when the teacher talked about the new order. They for sure weren’t happy with it, even when it was a good thing for everyone, the fact that the demons were so prideful and cared so much about status made that new order almost a threat.

“The leaders of course can’t decide about this on their own, all the High Status families have to agree to it.” The teacher kept talking. “They’re currently working on that phase but there are still some families who are against it.”

“It isn’t hard to know who they are.” Minah said in a low voice.

Ahyoung smiled, the vampire was right, it was more than obvious that the ones who were against it were the demons. The girl gave a quick look to her left side and saw the expressions of her classmates, almost all the demons were frowning, some vampires as well, but the rest actually had calm expressions. She wanted to look back towards Hongbin, she was curious about his expression, though she was sure he wasn’t frowning, after all, he was in favor of equality.

“Of course this revolution is just starting, it’ll take a couple of years more for it to be applied. For now, we’re still ruled by statuses and races. Alright class, now the homework.”

The teacher then assigned them some homework about the new order and the class came to an end, and with it, the end of the first period. When the bell rang, Sanghyuk slowly opened his eyes and started to pack his things.

Ahyoung looked at him, she knew the boy had something in mind, something he still haven’t told her but since things between them were still good, she assumed it was something that didn’t have to do with her. So even when she wanted to know what was happening and support Sanghyuk, she decided not to meddle in his stuff, though she guessed it had something to do with Sunny.

“I never expected all the leaders to agree to something like that, the new order I mean.” She said trying to start a conversation.

“Yeah.” Sanghyuk answered nodding, then looked at Ahyoung when he finished putting his books inside the backpack. “Actually, you mean you never expected the demon leaders to agree, right?”

“How did that even happen?” Ahyoung asked him, letting him know his assumption was right.

“No one is sure about that, a lot of people think they’re only pretending and are plotting something in the shadows, while others think they genuinely support the idea even when it apparently doesn’t have sense.” Sanghyuk explained.

“My parents haven’t told me a thing about this.” She said in a thoughtful way.

“Well, as the teacher said, it still isn’t a formal law, there’s a lot of work to do so maybe they thought it didn’t have sense to tell you about it right now.”

Ahyoung nodded, understanding his point.

“Were my parents the ones to come up with this idea?” The girl asked him.

“Yes, along Sojin’s parents. If I’m not mistaken, the idea took form in one of the meetings they usually have, they have a good relationship.”

“And then they convinced the demon leaders to join them.”

“Yes, though don’t ask me how they managed to do it, since I also don’t know and to be honest I also find it surprising, almost unbelievable.”

Ahyoung hoped that new order could be established, it was a good thing and she didn’t want nothing more than that for that world, she couldn’t stand all the differences between races and status, since the beginning it made her sick.

“Wanna go eat something?” Ahyoung asked Sanghyuk.

“I’m not actually hungry, but I’ll go with you.” The boy answered standing up.

“Ahyoung.”

Both turned to the front when they heard that voice and Ahyoung smiled to him.

“Hi Hongbin.”

However, Ahyoung’s smile faded when she say the boy’s expression, he seemed to be sad, even a bit angry. She didn’t remember having made something that would anger the boy so she spoke again.

“Is everything okay?”

Hongbin sighed and looked straight at her eyes.

“Can we have a talk?” He made a pause. “Just the two of us.”

Ahyoung found that request strange and frowned, she then looked towards Sanghyuk and noticed the boy had his eyes fixed on Hongbin, as if he was studying him. Sanghyuk then also looked at Ahyoung and just gave her a nod. Ahyoung understood what that meant, even if she went with Hongbin, she wouldn’t be alone. The girl was intrigued by what the demon had to say and what was provoking him to show that expression.

“Sure, let’s go somewhere else then.” She calmly answered.

Hongbin just nodded and turned around to walk to the door, Ahyoung assumed the boy already had a place in mind, she gave Sanghyuk a last look and then followed Hongbin.

The demon led them to an almost isolated place, even when she has been with demons in isolated places before, she couldn’t help but to feel a bit nervous. Something about Hongbin wasn’t right, for some reason she was feeling uneasy with him, something that hasn’t happened before.

Hongbin finally stopped and turned to look at her again, Ahyoung didn’t say a thing and waited for him to talk first.

“I’ve wanted to ask you something since the last time we talked.” He said.

“Go ahead.” The girl answered, encouraging him to keep talking.

“What kind of relationship you have with Jonghyun?”

Ahyoung tilted her head in confusion, it was a weird question to ask, though if she thought about it, maybe it wasn’t, everyone seemed to be curious about their relationship even when a friendship was all that was going on with them.

“We’re friends.” She answered as if it was obvious.

Hongbin didn’t answer to that, he looked away.

“Friends, huh?” The boy repeated in a low voice.

Ahyoung wasn’t sure why Hongbin was acting like that. No. Actually she knew why but she didn’t want it to be true, she hoped she was mistaken.

“Are you afraid that may bring trouble to you?” Ahyoung asked, since Hongbin remained silent. “Don’t worry, that won’t happen, besides, Jonghyun has changed so I’m sure he won’t bother you.”

Hongbin’s eyebrows twitched and he looked at Ahyoung with a frown.

“What? Jonghyun has changed?” He asked in disbelief.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but that’s the truth, Jonghyun is trying hard to be a better person.” Ahyoung finished saying with a warm tone.

Since she looked down for a moment with a little smile, she missed the way Hongbin’s expression twisted with disgust and pain.

“You don’t believe that, right?” He asked. Ahyoung looked at him again, Hongbin fixed his expression and was now looking at her just with a frown. “You really can’t believe someone like him has changed, I bet he’s up to something.”

Ahyoung denied with her head before answering.

“I don’t think so, he seems sincere about it.”

“Are you sure you two are just friends?”

That question caught Ahyoung off ward, she then looked attentively at Hongbin’s eyes, she was able to see the pain and sadness in them.

“Yes, we’re just friends, nothing more than that.” The girl firmly stated.

If Hongbin so desperately needed that affirmation to be calm then Ahyoung could give it to him, it was the least she could do for him.

Hongbin remained silent and sighed, then looked at the sky. Ahyoung didn’t say a thing, she waited for Hongbin to process whatever was going on inside his mind. Thought if she was honest, she didn’t want to be there, she didn’t like how the conversation was evolving. Ahyoung knew what was coming and she didn’t want to face that.

The demon looked back at her, Ahyoung held her gaze. After some seconds, Hongbin finally spoke.

“I like you.”

Ahyoung’s heart raced, though not of emotion or because she reciprocated that feeling, she was scared and nervous. She knew it, it was just a matter of time. Hongbin was actually pretty obvious about it, that was why she tried to keep some distance from him since some weeks ago, but it seemed that wasn’t enough.

“I’ve liked you since the first day.” Hongbin continued. “You’re the most amazing girl I’ve ever met in my life.”

Ahyoung sighed and looked down. She hated the idea of it but she had to be clear, she had to reject him. It was the best for the both and Hongbin deserved sincerity. Even if it was going to be hard, Ahyoung still had to do it.

“I really appreciate the feelings you have for me.” She started to say and looked back at the boy who was looking at her with an expectant gaze. “But I’m sorry, I only like you as a friend.”

Hongbin chuckled, Ahyoung was taken aback by that reaction, she wasn’t expecting it.

“It’s all because of him.” Hongbin said in between chuckles, almost in a whisper.

“What?” Ahyoung asked confused.

“It’s because of my cousin, right?!” Hongbin raised his voice and looked at her with an angered expression.

Ahyoung frowned and took a step behind, Hongbin now looked a bit threatening and that wasn’t a good sign.

“What are you talking about? Who in the world is your cousin?” She asked confused.

“Jonghyun!” He almost screamed and Ahyoung widened her eyes in surprise. “Jonghyun is my cousin!”

Even when Ahyoung was truly dumbfounded by what she just heard, she knew she had to clarify that issue.

“Jonghyun doesn’t have anything to do with this.” She firmly answered.

“And you keep defending him.” Hongbin snorted. “You really are a bad liar, you know that?"

Ahyoung didn’t know what to do, the one in front of her wasn’t the Hongbin she had known for those months. It was then that she realized, Jonghyun wasn’t the only one who changed, Hongbin also did, though the latter seemed to have changed in a bad way. The girl looked straight at his eyes, they now not only showed pain and sadness, but also anger and hatred. Yes, she didn’t know that facet of Hongbin at all. She wanted to take another step back, even run away from there, but she knew she shouldn’t do it, she had to face the situation, if not, things could become way more complicated than what they already were.

“Hongbin, I know this is painful for you but I’ll repeat what I said, I only like you as a friend.” She tried to stay as calm as possible. “And my decision doesn’t have anything to do with Jonghyun.”

Ahyoung could only see how Hongbin’s fists clenched and how he started to tremble, she knew that was a bad sign but she didn’t even have the time to react.

“Stop!” Hongbin screamed.

Before Ahyoung could do anything, Hongbin walked quickly to her and took her by the arms, putting her against the near wall they had.

“Stop saying his name, I’m sick of it!” Hongbin kept screaming and Ahyoung could only just look at him because of the shock. “He doesn’t deserve you, not him, you can’t love him!”

Ahyoung finally got over her initial shock and frowned to Hongbin, the boy had the look of a mad man, she wouldn’t deny she was scared but at the same time she knew she had to stop him.

She managed to free herself from his grip and pushed him, making him stumble backwards, putting some steps of distance between them.

“Stop this Hongbin!” She also raised her voice. “Things are not how you’re thinking, you’re making a nightmare in your head about something that isn’t real.”

Hongbin chuckled and looked away for a moment, to then fix his gaze on her again.

“You sure it isn’t real? Can you swear with your life that you don’t love Jonghyun?” He hissed.

Ahyoung opened to answer but immediately closed it again. She looked away for a second with a frown. She just wanted to slap herself, she just needed to swear that and maybe everything will end but she wasn’t able to do it. It angered her, that strange feeling she had towards Jonghyun tricked her again.

Upon seeing Ahyoung’s troubled expression, Hongbin was blinded by rage, since he got the answer he was looking for. Without thinking about it, he tried to run towards her. Ahyoung looked back at him when she noticed the movement and took a step backwards, adopting a defensive posture. However, in the blink of an eye, she was already behind Sanghyuk who was standing in front of her with a dagger pointed towards Hongbin; but not only Sanghyuk was there, she looked towards Hongbin and saw he was being held by the neck and was looking to the person beside him with hatred. That person wasn’t facing her and she could just see his back, though there was no need to see his face, she could recognize him anywhere.

Jonghyun. She thought.

“The hell are you doing Hongbin?” Jonghyun asked with a serious but fierce voice.

“What? You’re here to defend your loved human girl?” Hongbin answered with a mocking tone.

Ahyoung frowned, she had never heard Hongbin speak like that, everything that was happening didn’t have sense to her, it was all too fast and she couldn’t keep the pace with it.

“Don’t test your luck Hongbin, you know I can destroy you here and now.” Jonghyun hissed at the same time he put more force on his grip around Hongbin’s neck.

Ahyoung couldn’t remain still watching that scene and quickly walked to them, Sanghyuk didn’t even have time to react when the girl was already holding Jonghyun’s arm and made him retreat with just a movement.

“That’s enough!” She angrily said.

Jonghyun and Hongbin looked at her with surprised expressions, even when Ahyoung didn’t quite understand why, she just pushed them apart since she didn’t want them to hurt each other. Sanghyuk then positioned beside Ahyoung, she turned to see him and Sanghyuk did as well, however, the bodyguard also widened his eyes in surprise.

“You...!” He said with a frown.

“What?” Ahyoung asked confused.

“No, nothing.” Sanghyuk looked back at Hongbin. “You should go, if you insist doing this, things won’t end well.”

Hongbin snorted and turned around to go away. The rest of them followed him with the eyes until he was gone. Ahyoung sighed and rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

Ahyoung opened her eyes and saw Jonghyun in front of her, he was looking at her with concern. She smiled to him and nodded.

“Yes, thank you for your help.” She sincerely said.

Jonghyun seemed to want to say something else but he couldn’t, Ahyoung didn’t want to think about anything else, at least for that day.

>> “It’s because of my cousin, right?!”

She sighed heavily again before talking.

“Go back to your class Jonghyun.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Ahyoung just nodded to him with a little smile. The demon went away and Sanghyuk put a hand on her shoulder, making her startled, when she turned around and saw him she realized she was actually trembling, something she didn’t noticed before. The girl looked to the floor.

“Sanghyuk, I… don’t know what to do.” She said in a low voice.

Jonghyun was furiously walking back to his classroom, Ahyoung’s expression didn’t leave his mind and all he just wanted to do was going back to her and make her feel safe.

He was actually furious because of two things.

The first one was the fact that Hongbin made Ahyoung fall into such a state, he had never seen the girl so nervous and scared, not even when he threatened her. He knew Ahyoung actually labeled Hongbin as her friend and a nice and calm person, so seeing him behaving like that most likely was a shock for her.

The second one was that Hongbin dared to confess to her. About that point, he still didn’t know if he was angry because of the fact that they were of different statuses and that confession could taint Ahyoung’s reputation or because Hongbin dared to do something he didn’t.

Jonghyun sighed in anger and stopped his track, not caring that he was standing in the middle of the hall and a lot of people gave him quick curious stares. He’d been thinking about that for some time now and even when he was fighting against himself and his feelings, he can’t deny anymore that he felt something for the assassin heiress. He tried so hard to find another explanation to those feelings, even to change them, but in the end he lost against them.

Remembering the fact that Hongbin confessed to Ahyoung and how he acted against her after that, made his blood boil, he just wanted to go to Hongbin and rip his head off. Though he refrained from it because he knew Ahyoung wouldn’t like that, even more now that she knew they were cousins.

Jonghyun then remembered a part of their conversation before things got out of hand.

>> “Stop this Hongbin! Things are not how you’re thinking, you’re making a nightmare in your head about something that isn’t real”

 “You sure it isn’t real? Can you swear with your life that you don’t love Jonghyun?”

Ahyoung’s expression after Hongbin asked her that, made him curious. He still wasn’t sure if Ahyoung held feelings for him as well or not. Sometimes she did things that said so but some others her actions said otherwise.

The demon sighed heavily and started to walk again, hoping he could calm down before he actually did something he could regret.

Ahyoung and Sanghyuk returned to the classroom, the girl already expected Hongbin not to be there, but what she didn’t expect was that he didn’t return during the rest of the day. When the bell that announced the end of the day rang, she turned around looking towards Hongbin’s seat, just to find it still empty. She sighed heavily.

“Did something happen?”

Ahyoung looked at Minah, who was giving her a concerned stare.

“No, why?” Ahyoung asked back, trying to remain calm.

“You look sad.” Minah pointed out. “And you’ve been constantly looking backwards, did something happen with Hongbin?”

Ahyoung showed a little smile, Minah was really observant.

“Nothing serious, don’t worry about it.” She assured the vampire.

Minah didn’t seemed convinced about that answer but just when she was about to say something else, Baekho came into the classroom, asking her if she was ready. Minah then bid farewell to her and went away with Baekho. Ahyoung sighed relieved, she knew Minah wouldn’t have let her go like that if not for Baekho, so she was grateful to him.

“Ready to go home?”

Ahyoung then turned to see Sanghyuk who was already standing and showed her an understanding gaze.

“Yes, let’s go.”

She stood up and grabbed her belongings, Sanghyuk led the way and before she went out of the classroom, she gave one last look towards Hongbin’s empty seat.

The way back home was in silence, Ahyoung wasn’t in the mood for talking and Sanghyuk seemed to understand that, since he also didn’t make any attempt to talk about something. Ahyoung was tired and her head ached, she just wanted to sleep.

When they reached her home, Sanghyuk parked the car and turned it off. He then turned to see Ahyoung, he was worried about her, the girl usually was pretty talkative, even when she was feeling down but what happened that day probably affected her more than all the previous things that had happened.

>> “Sanghyuk, I… don’t know what to do.”

He remembered what she told him and how she was still trembling a bit. He had never seen her in such a state, he wondered if it had something to do with what he saw when she pulled apart Jonghyun and Hongbin, he thought it was just his imagination, but… now he wasn’t sure it was an illusion.

“Want to talk about what happened?” Sanghyuk asked her.

Ahyoung sighed and denied with her head, not looking at him.

“I understand.” The boy answered. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“Thank you.” Ahyoung answered, finally looking at him with a little smile.

That left Sanghyuk a bit more relieved, he was sure that she only needed some time to put in place all that was going on inside her mind.

Ahyoung and Sanghyuk parted ways, the girl went inside her home and didn’t even stop to greet anyone, she went straight to her room and closed the door behind her. She left her backpack on the floor and let herself fall down to her bed, she buried her face in a pillow, closing her eyes and trying hard to suppress a scream.

She didn’t expect things to go that bad with Hongbin. She was aware it was just a matter of time that Hongbin would confess to her, she knew about his feelings towards her, she wasn’t blind. But definitely the reaction he had towards her rejection was something she wasn’t ready for.

>> “It’s all because of him.” “It’s because of my cousin, right?!”

She opened her eyes when she remembered that. What if what Hongbin said was true? What if she actually rejected him because of Jonghyun?

>> “You sure it isn’t real? Can you swear with your life that you don’t love Jonghyun?”

Ahyoung sighed and turned around, facing the white ceiling, she put an arm over her forehead.

Am I really in love with him? But that’s impossible, there’s no way something like that could happen.

>> “He doesn’t deserve you, not him, you can’t love him!”

Hongbin’s words resounded louder and louder inside her head, making her angry, she didn’t like to overthink things but this time she couldn’t help it.

>> “Are you okay?”

Jonghyun’s voice then came back to her mind, as well as the worried stare he was giving her. That made Hongbin’s words quiet down for a moment, Ahyoung just chuckled and turned to her side to hug a pillow, groaning because of her headache that didn’t seem to get better.

She was completely and utterly confused.

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