Everyone looked at Ren going away until he closed the door behind him. Ahyoung then looked at Jonghyun who was still with his gaze on the door, she sighed and tilted her head a bit.

“Jonghyun.” She called him.

The demon turned to her and remained silent for her to continue speaking.

“Why is Tiffany so obsessed with me? I mean, you two are already betrothed so…” She left her sentence unfinished.

Sanghyuk sighed silently and lowered his face with a little smirk.

I can’t believe you just asked that, Ahyoung. He thought with amusement.

Jonghyun opened his mouth to say something but closed it almost immediately. Hyeri narrowed her eyes upon that action, it wasn’t like Jonghyun to act like that but she understood what it meant. He was unable to say out loud what he was thinking and feeling while she and Sanghyuk were still there. Hyeri snorted with a smile.

“Well.” Hyeri said out loud, making everyone look at her. “We’ll give you some space to talk” She turned to look at Sanghyuk, who nodded at her. “We’ll be outside so take your time.” The demon finished saying.

Ahyoung frowned a bit in confusion and turned to see Sanghyuk who was starting to walk to the door.

“Sanghyuk.” She said out of impulse.

“It’s okay, I’ll be right at the door if you need something.” The boy reassured her with a smile.

Ahyoung could just nod to him. After the two bodyguards were gone, Ahyoung looked back at Jonghyun who was already also looking at her, with that look that the girl knew all too well by then, as if the demon tried to tell her she was all he could see now. Ahyoung was sure that the gaze she was giving him said likewise.

Hyeri closed the door behind her once she and Sanghyuk were out. The boy walked to the other side and leaned on the wall with crossed arms and closed eyes.

Hyeri looked at him and chuckled, then positioned herself beside him.

“What? Are you upset that someone else won your princess’ heart?” She .

Sanghyuk snorted with a smirk and slowly opened his eyes.

“Of course not, I don’t see Ahyoung that way.” Sanghyuk answered.

“Oh? Then why are you looking so upset?” The demon asked with curiosity.

“Are you really asking me this? Aren’t you aware of what’s happening inside that classroom?” Sanghyuk looked at her with disbelief.

“Of course I know.” The girl answered a bit more serious, looking away. “And that’s why I must remain calm, he’ll need my support and if I’m in distress I won’t be able to do it.”

Sanghyuk remained silent, thinking about what she said, he then sighed heavily.

“Those two are going to give us a lot of headaches from now on.” Sanghyuk said while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“I agree.” Hyeri said with a smirk. “Well, that if Ahyoung actually accepts Jonghyun, right?” She lifted an eyebrow.

Sanghyuk frowned and looked up to the ceiling.

“You’re right, I still don’t know what her true feelings towards him are, actually, I think even she doesn’t know it.” Sanghyuk answered in a thoughtful way.

Hyeri sighed deeply, whatever the case was, they were for sure going to have a lot of work from that point on.

“It’ll be a pleasure to work with you.” Hyeri suddenly said showing him her hand.

Sanghyuk looked at her with a lifted eyebrow and then chuckled.

“The hell was that?”

“You should feel grateful, you know? I don’t easily accept partners but I consider you a really skillful one, even when you’re just a human assassin, I’m sure you won’t give me problems.” Hyeri said with a smile.

Sanghyuk showed her a forced smile, she really had a knack to praise and insult people at the same time. The boy then shook hands with her.

“Even when you’re an arrogant demon, I think we can manage to make a good team.” Sanghyuk answered with irony.

Hyeri chuckled and then crossed her arms, looking at him with a smirk.

“You really are an interesting one, you know?”

“I usually hear that.” Sanghyuk said with a chuckle, looking away from her.

“I used to suspect about you, I was sure that you were a bad guy.” Hyeri started to say and Sanghyuk looked at her again. “Ahyoung assured us that you don’t have ill intentions towards her or any of us and I trust her.” She made a pause. “However, I still think that you’re keeping a lot of secrets, even when I trust you enough to work with you, you still seem suspicious to me.”

Sanghyuk snorted with a smile, he actually preferred Hyeri to be open about what she thought and felt about him, that way it’d be easier to communicate, after all, both will have to work together from that point on and the less misunderstandings and mistrust between them, the better.

“Well, we all have secrets, I won’t deny there’s a lot of things I hide, but I bet you have them as well.” Hyeri remained silent, listening to him. “All you have to know is that I’m loyal to Ahyoung and I won’t let anything nor anyone hurt her, that includes Jonghyun and you.”

Hyeri narrowed her eyes to him.

“Scary.” She then smiled and looked away. “That’s enough for me, we share the same thought about our heirs anyway, now that we have everything clear, all we’ve got to do is wait for them to decide what they’re going to do, that way we can prepare in advance for what will come.”

Sanghyuk nodded to her and their particular conversation ended, so they just patiently waited for their heirs to finish talking.

Ahyoung and Jonghyun just stared at each other in silence, even after the two bodyguards were already outside of the classroom. She was the first one to speak.

“What were you going to say just now?”

“Do you remember what I told you about Tiffany and me?” Jonghyun asked her, not answering her question.

“That it was an agreement between your parents, and you two actually don’t get along.” Ahyoung repeated what he told her.

Jonghyun smiled to her and took a strand of her hair, looking now at the black hair in between his fingers.

“I’m glad you didn’t forget that.” He said in a low voice. “It’s something you must always remember.”

“Why are you telling me this right now?” Ahyoung asked.

Jonghyun looked up to her and locked his silver eyes in her brown eyes. Just like how Ahyoung was mesmerized by Jonghyun’s eyes, the demon always experienced the same thing with hers. He had never said it out loud to anyone, at first because it would hurt his pride to admit something like that, but then he kept it hidden in his heart because he wanted that feeling to be his’ and only his’.

“You asked me why Tiffany is so obsessed with you since me and her are betrothed.” Jonghyun started to say and Ahyoung nodded to him, the demon smiled to her and caressed her cheek. “Isn’t it obvious why?”

Ahyoung frowned to him, of course she knew why but she didn’t want him to say it; if he did then things will start to complicate more than they already were. Jonghyun could see the doubt in her eyes, almost as if asking him not to say what he was about to say, but he couldn’t hide it anymore, there was no way he could keep his feelings hidden inside his heart for longer.

“You’re inside my heart now.” Jonghyun finally said to her. “You came into my life and stole my heart, you completely own it.” The demon made a pause and spoke with a more serious tone. “I’m in love with you, Ahyoung.”

Ahyoung’s heart raced when the demon finished. A part of her already knew it, but the other part inside her that was still in denial, was now in a combination of shock and distress.

She still didn’t know, or didn’t want to accept, the feelings she held towards the demon. It was more than obvious that she liked him, maybe even way before than what she thought. However, she couldn’t help but to worry about what and who they were. The sole thought of them being in a relationship was disastrous. There were a lot of things they had to think about, it wasn’t just a simple matter, Jonghyun should also know that.

Ahyoung kept her eyes on his’, Jonghyun remained calm, almost as if he hadn’t confessed to her just a moment ago. She knew she had to give him an answer, even if he didn’t seem as if he was waiting for one, it was just obvious that she had to. The girl opened to say something but she was cut off by Jonghyun before she could even say a word.

“Don’t give me an answer right now.” Ahyoung looked at him with confusion. “Just think about it, there’s no need to rush things, I just wanted to tell you how I really feel towards you. I hope you can think about it thoroughly.”

She didn’t know if she should feel relieved or disappointed, she was torn between those two feelings, but oh well, her head was a mess anyway so there was no point in trying to get her thoughts together.

“I will.” She answered him with seriousness.

Jonghyun showed her a warm smile and suddenly embraced her. Ahyoung didn’t react at first and remained still for some seconds, until she returned the embrace. Actually, being in between his arms was pleasant for her, he managed to make her feel at ease and also protected, maybe that was exactly what it felt like when you were embraced by someone you love and who loves you.

They remained like that until a knock on the door made them reluctantly separate from each other.

“It must be Ren and Jessica.” Ahyoung said to him.

Jonghyun nodded and composed himself before speaking in his well-known serious tone.

“Come in.”

The door was opened and the first ones to show up were Hyeri and Sanghyuk, followed by Ren, however, he was alone. When they were all inside, they closed the door.

“What happened?” Jonghyun asked Ren.

“I couldn’t find Jessica, I guess she already went home.” The assassin briefly explained. “But we can try to talk to her tomorrow, maybe Sanghyuk and I can also try to convince her later.”

Jonghyun sighed and nodded to him, he then looked at everyone gathered in the room before speaking again.

“I’ll be counting on you then, everyone please remain alert.” He said in a serious way.

Everyone agreed to him and Jonghyun fixed his gaze on Hyeri.

“Let’s go, there are things we need to get ready.”

“Yes.” Hyeri answered making a little bow.

Ahyoung looked at Jonghyun and the demon also looked at her, he showed her a warm smile which she reciprocated, then he bid farewell to everyone and walked to Hyeri, the two demons went out of the classroom, leaving the assassins behind. Ahyoung followed Jonghyun with her eyes until he couldn’t be seen anymore, she then looked down with a thoughtful expression.

Ren looked at Ahyoung and Sanghyuk, the boy was looking at her with a worried expression and Ahyoung seemed to have a lot inside her mind. Ren sighed since he acknowledged those two most likely had a lot of things to talk about.

“Well then, I assume you have to take the princess back to her home.” Ren said aloud and Sanghyuk turned to see him. “I’ll be going on my way then, see you later Hyuk.” He started to walk towards the door.

“Don’t talk to Jessica before I arrive.” Sanghyuk answered him.

“Understood.” Ren answered not turning back and just moving his hand as if telling Sanghyuk to relax.

Sanghyuk just snorted and waited until his friend was gone to look back towards Ahyoung.

“Are you okay?”

“You knew it, right?” The girl asked, not looking at him.

Sanghyuk clearly knew what she was talking about and he also confirmed that what Hyeri and he were thinking, actually happened.

“Way before you two were even aware of it.” Sanghyuk said with a little smile.

Ahyoung chuckled.

Of course he knew, we were really obvious after all.

“This will only complicate things further.” She said in a low voice.

“So, you’re now together?” Sanghyuk asked her, he needed to know in order to start thinking how to handle things.

Ahyoung denied with her head.

“I wasn’t able to answer him, so he asked me to think about it.”

Sanghyuk sighed heavily and looked at her with understanding.

“Being an heir is hard.” He said looking towards the door.

Ahyoung snorted with a smile and looked down.

“That’s true.” She started to say still with a smile. “Sometimes I ask myself if I should just forget that I know about this world and return to the human world, things were simpler back there.”

Sanghyuk frowned but remained silent, he was starting to worry that Ahyoung really decided to go back; since he knew her parents wouldn’t be opposed to that, maybe they’d be glad to take her back there. Even when he just wanted Ahyoung to be safe and happy, he wouldn’t deny that if she decided to go away he would be sad and lonely, he’d have to return to that dark place.

“But I don’t regret coming here.” Ahyoung’s voice made him snap out of his thoughts, he turned to look at her, the girl did as well. “And I’m not planning to go back, I wouldn’t be able to see you and the rest if I go away, I’ll stay here and face whatever challenge is put in front of me.”

Sanghyuk smirked to her, she was the Ahyoung he knew, that strong and resilient girl who always managed to obtain the needed forces to fight against anything.

“And I’ll support you, no matter what you decide to do or even where you decide to go.” The boy firmly said.

Ahyoung smiled to him and nodded, Sanghyuk did the same.

After that brief talk they went outside, towards the car in order to go back to the assassin’s realm.

Sanghyuk drove back to the dorms once he left Ahyoung at home, he was thinking about how to handle that situation from that point on, since he was sure that Ahyoung would end up accepting Jonghyun. They needed to be ready for even the worst case scenario.

The boy parked in the usual place and sighed heavily, then leaned on the seat and looked through the windshield.

I have the bad feeling that this won’t end well. He thought with concern.

Even when he knew he had the ability to protect Ahyoung, he had a bad feeling about the turn things were taking, there were a lot of things at his surroundings that started to escape from his control and he didn’t like that. Too many variables that were starting to come up stage and were unpredictable. Jonghyun and Ahyoung’s relationship was the least concerning thing, however, it could be the trigger for the rest of the threats to come out.

He was in the middle of all those thoughts when he spotted someone standing from the edge of his vision, he looked towards his left side and noticed the one standing was Ren, he was leaning on the wall with his hand in his jacket’s pockets, he had a worried expression, something unusual of him.

Sanghyuk frowned when he saw his friend in such a state.

Something happened. He thought with concern.

Sanghyuk got out of the car, not caring about taking his backpack with him, Ren turned to see him when he heard his friend coming out form the car.

“You’re back.” Ren said to him with a little smile.

Another unusual thing, Sanghyuk was now starting to become nervous.

“What happened?” He simply asked once he was in front of Ren.

Ren averted his gaze and sighed heavily, then looked back at Sanghyuk.

“Jess is gone.”

Sanghyuk frowned in confusion and chuckled in disbelief, he needed Ren to give further explanation than that.

“What are you talking about?” Sanghyuk asked in a serious way.

Ren took out a note from one of the pockets of his jacket and extended it to Sanghyuk, the boy looked at it, the note was directed to Ren and him. He took it and unfolded it, with each line he read, his frown deepened further.

“This can’t be.” He said when he finished reading.

“I also didn’t want to believe it at first.” Ren answered with a sad tone.

“Are you sure about this?! Jess isn’t like this, she couldn’t have gone like that! Maybe someone kidnapped her or something!” Sanghyuk started to raise his voice.

“I already investigated it, her room doesn’t have any signs of fight or threat, she even took the time to bid farewell to the littlest ones. It’s her handwriting Hyuk, and it’s perfectly done, it’s not shaky or written fast.” He made a pause. “I asked the ones who saw her and they all said she was behaving as usual, nothing different.”

“What about when she was gone?”

“No one saw her go, she didn’t use the main entrance.”

Sanghyuk snorted with disbelief and clenched his fist with the note in it. He turned around and started to walk in circles, constantly denying with his head.

“Listen, maybe she just decided to go on her own.” Ren said, even when he himself didn’t seemed convinced about that.

“If that’s the case then, why she left like that?” Sanghyuk stopped his tracks and fixed his gaze on his friend. “Jessica wouldn’t have left us like that.”

“She has taken care of us since we were young and she was also confused and hurt by Sunny’s actions, maybe she just wanted to run away from all of this.”

“Why did she left us in such a critic moment?” Sanghyuk said in a hurt voice.

“Are you worried that she won’t be able to help us with Ahyoung’s issue?”

“Of course not! I even was against that idea to begin with!” Sanghyuk answered with an annoyed tone. “I’m worried about her and also… I’m hurt that she was able to just throw us aside like that, as if we didn’t mean anything to her. She even took the time to bid farewell to others but didn’t wait for us.” He finished saying with sadness.

Ren couldn’t answer him and just looked down, he could understand Sanghyuk, since he was feeling the same. He has known Jessica for even longer than Sanghyuk, and even when the girl was two years older than them, she was always by their side. She protected them when they were younger and when they became stronger than her, the girl worked hard to be able to keep being by their side. She became Sunny’s best friend and their bond grew even stronger.

Jessica was like an older sister for Sanghyuk and him, maybe even like a mother.

That was why her sudden and cold departure made them feel abandoned and confused. After all that they shared together, Jessica just left like that, she decided on her own to break their bond. She even assumed that they didn’t need her anymore. How wrong she was, they needed her more than ever.

Sanghyuk sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a moment, then read the note again. It was a short letter in which she just told them she was going to leave, she didn’t give any explanation or reason, but what hurt Sanghyuk the most were the last lines of that letter.

“I’m sorry for leaving like this but our time together is over, we now have to walk our own paths.

You two don’t need me anymore.

I hope we can see each other again in the future.

Take care.

Jess.”

A/N: Not gonna lie, even I was saddened by the last part of the chapter, I don't know why I keep torturing my boys TTwTT

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