Ahyoung was lying on her bed, immersed in her thoughts. It was obvious that Hongbin wasn’t up for anything good, the question was, what was he going to do; actually, what will Tiffany do. She sighed and sat, it was past midnight and the darkness was actually helping her to think things better.

She stood and opened the picture windows, letting the cold breeze enter her room and caress her face, she took a deep breath and went out to the balcony. It was a beautiful starry night, she smiled while watching it.

“You can’t sleep?”

Ahyoung jolted and turned around startled, to watch the ceiling over her, Sanghyuk was sitting some meters above her and was watching her with a smile. She closed her eyes and put a hand over her chest while sighing in relief and then looked at him with a frown.

“What in the world are you doing here?”

“Guarding you. My job.” He answered with a more serious tone.

“What? Why are you-? You know what? First come down from there, please.”

Sanghyuk chuckled and jumped from where he was, landing just beside her.

“You know that you are neither a demon nor a vampire, right? A fall from there and you’re dead.”

“Oh come on, I’m not the best young assassin for nothing.” Sanghyuk mischievously answered.

Ahyoung just chuckled and rolled her eyes, she should’ve expected an answer like that. She then fixed her gaze on him again, returning to her serious expression.

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Since you became Jonghyun’s girlfriend.”

Ahyoung felt relieved by hearing that, at least it hadn’t been that long, however, he couldn’t be doing that every night.

“You can’t continue doing this, what about your sleep?”

“I’m not here everyday. Ren helps me.”

“Even so.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not like I can’t do it.”

“I’m guessing that you’ll continue doing it even if I don’t want you to, right?”

Sanghyuk nodded and Ahyoung smiled, she then looked at the sky again and Sanghyuk did the same.

“It’s a really peaceful night.” He said after a sigh.

“Too peaceful.” Ahyoung answered in a monotonous tone. “Almost like the prelude to a storm.”

“Quite pessimistic of you to think that way.” Sanghyuk answered, looking at her with a lifted eyebrow.

Ahyoung huffed and looked down with a smile.

“Don’t mind me.”

“First, I can’t do that, even if I wanted to; and second, I know you, you’ve got something in mind.”

“Sanghyuk, what do you know about your parents?”

A sudden silence was the only answer Ahyoung got so she lifted her gaze and saw Sanghyuk still looking at the sky, though he now had a frown on his face.

“I already told you what I know about them.”

“That they passed away during a mission and you were left in the dorms along the other kids. But have you never asked yourself about them? I mean, there must be something else somewhere, like their names or positions.”

Sanghyuk sighed before answering.

“When I was a kid I used to ask a lot about them but I was always faced with the same answer: ‘I don’t know’. It’s like no one knows who my parents were. I tried going through the records but also didn’t find a thing. My life literally starts when I arrived to the dorms, there’s nothing before that.”

Ahyoung frowned with a thoughtful expression and Sanghyuk remained silent for some seconds.

“Why are you asking me this now?”

“I was thinking about all the things that had happened until now, also about the things I have come to know with the study I do at home, and there’s something that has been bothering me for some days now.”

“And that is?”

“I have never come across a single text that explains the effects of the vampire and demon energy when an assassin is exposed to it.”

Sanghyuk frowned in confusion, trying to understand what she was talking about.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Both of us have experienced the same thing, dizziness and blurry sight tainted in red. Our seniors have told both of us that it has to do with the exposure to energy, but, have you ever heard of someone else who has suffered that?”

Sanghyuk remained silent, narrowing his eyes and looking down, clearly recalling some of his memories; he then denied with his head.

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t. I mean, even if it’s pretty obvious that nobody would say that aloud, it also isn’t like there wouldn’t be rumors.”

“Which makes us the only ones who experience it. Not to mention that we’re pretty different when it comes to energy exposure.”

“I’ve trained all my life and you just have been exposed. I’ve never put much attention to it but it doesn’t seem like the energy exposure is the only reason why we go through that.”

“And also, our reactions are different, you tend to lose control and I faint. If you ask me, there are a lot of things that don’t fit in the puzzle.” Ahyoung sighed and leaned on the railing, looking up to the sky, Sanghyuk did the same. “I haven’t told you this but, last week I found my grandfather’s diary.”

Sanghyuk then looked at her with widened eyes.

“What? How did you even get access to it?”

“It was just there in my family library. Though I know it wasn’t supposed to be there. My mother almost lost her cool when she saw it.”

“And what did it say?”

“I wasn’t able to read much but something did catch my eye. He mentioned something about a bloodshed and that it happened because of two people, he also wrote it was because of love. I don’t know, it was weird if you ask me. I assumed it had something to do with the last change of leadership but I don’t remember someone said something about a bloodshed.”

“Not exactly, there was indeed a battle for the leadership but as far as I know, it wasn’t anything different than what happened in previous times when something like that happened.”

“I keep having the feeling that there’s something else behind it and also that the secret surrounding me has to do with it.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Both topics are treated with extreme caution. At school we don’t talk much about what happened in the last battle and when it comes to me, everyone seems so invested for me not to know a thing. My parents are pretty strict when it comes to the information I have access to and casually, the two books that my mother took from me were records from that time, one of them being my grandfather’s diary.”

Sanghyuk remained silent but Ahyoung knew he was thinking about what she said, after some seconds like that, the boy sighed heavily.

“We need to know more, however, it’ll be hard to get information about those two topics, as you said, they’re strictly regulated. But I know we’ll manage to get it somehow.”

“Three topics.” Sanghyuk looked at her in confusion. “Have you forgotten what we were previously talking about? The reason why I’m telling you all of this is because I think the answer to what happens to you is also there. We have experienced the same thing which seems to only happen to us, we don’t know who your parents were, there’s a secret surrounding me that, by what I can assume, has to do with the time of the change of leadership; there’s something that connects us and that answer most likely is residing within my secret.”

Sanghyuk chuckled and looked down for a moment, drumming his fingers on the railing.

“I hate to admit it but what you just said has a lot of sense.” He lifted his gaze and just looked to the front with a serious expression. “I just think it’s scary, I mean, I’ve been living up until now without caring about my past, even when I always had the feeling there was something weird about it. I can now understand what you feel.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s also time for me to man up and face what I’ve been avoiding for so long.”

Ahyoung smiled to him and Sanghyuk did the same. After that, they spent some more time admiring the stars above them, not caring about the dark circles that they’d most probably have the next day.

Ahyoung almost laughed when she looked at her reflection and saw the dark circles, she actually didn’t sleep much but it was worthy. Talking with Sanghyuk somehow made her feel lighter, she was thankful for having him by her side.

She went out of her home and went to the car, she couldn’t help but to smile when she saw Sanghyuk and he did the same.

“It’s all your fault, couldn’t you wait to talk with me in the day?” Sanghyuk said while driving.

“You were the one to appear in the middle of the night on my ceiling.” Ahyoung retorted with a smile.

“I guess you’re right.” He answered with a chuckle.

They arrived at school in time, talking cheerfully while walking to their classroom, until Ahyoung heard a known voice. She stopped and frowned, trying to listen to what the voice was saying.

“Ahyoung?” Sanghyuk also stopped and looked at her.

“I think that’s Minah.”

Before Sanghyuk could ask further, Ahyoung started to walk towards the direction from where the voice came from, Sanghyuk took her by the arm, making her stop, just when they were able to see Minah and Hakyeon talking some meters from there.

“Let go, I need to go to her.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t allow that.” Ahyoung frowned and looked at him with a puzzled expression. “We’re in a difficult position right now, you can’t go and get involved in another trouble just like that, don’t forget we’re already walking over thin ice.”

Ahyoung hated to acknowledge that Sanghyuk was right, despite how much she wanted to help Minah, it would be troublesome for her to get involved in another matter that she didn’t know how it would end.

“But…”

“I can send Ren to check on her if that can make you calmer.”

Ahyoung nodded to him and with that both quickly went back to the classroom so Sanghyuk could go to Ren.

“Seriously Hakyeon, how long are we going to still be playing this game?” Minah said now angry.

“Game? Now you call what we have a game?”

“And what exactly do we have if it isn’t a game?”

Hakyeon frowned and looked at her from head to toes, he chuckled.

“You’ve changed.”

That took Minah off guard for a moment. It was true. Since the day she told Ahyoung her story, somehow she started to see thing more objectively, she was aware that everything between Hakyeon and her was messed up to the point of no return.

“What did you expect after all we’ve done to each other?” Hakyeon remained silent and Minah sighed. “Let’s just stop this.”

“Why? So you can have the path clear to walk with Baekho?” Hakyeon hissed.

“So we both can have peace once and for all.”

Minah was trying so hard not to get too angry, she knew that the moment she lose control over her emotions, Hakyeon would win again. She was weak with him, he knew how to disarm her, taking advantage of her feelings. She wouldn’t allow him to do that again.

“I don’t get you, so you’re trying to get rid of me?” Hakyeon said in a sad tone.

Minah sighed and softened her expression upon that change in Hakyeon’s voice.

“I’m not saying that, but I do think we need to be far from each other, at least for a while. For the sake of both of us.”

“That’s exactly the meaning of getting rid of me.”

“You’re not listening.”

“No, you’re not listening to yourself!” Hakyeon raised his voice.

But Minah wasn’t intimidated by it anymore, of course a part of her flinched and wanted to just run away, however, she stayed firm, she needed to be the strong one in that discussion and in what remained of their friendship. If Hakyeon wasn’t strong enough to let go despite the pain, then she’d try to be. The girl sighed before speaking again.

“Listen Hakyeon, I don’t want to fight any further. Let’s just part ways here.” Hakyeon widened his eyes and remained frozen in his place, upon his silence, Minah continued speaking. “We lived a lot of things together and I have a lot of precious memories with you but now it’s over. Stop chasing me, I love Baekho and that won’t change. I’m sorry I let this go on for such a long time and I know I’m at fault too so I’m now trying to fix things the best I can-”

“You’re the bad one here!” Hakyeon snapped, interrupting her. “You don’t love me, you actually never loved me, not even once. You’ve taken for granted everything I’ve done for you!”

“You know that’s not true, I love you dearly but I’ve explained to you countless times that the love we have for each other is completely different.”

“Liar.” Hakyeon answered looking down. “If you really love me that much then, why did you always refuse to turn me into a vampire?”

“Are we really having this conversation again?!” Minah lose her cool for a moment. “I thought it was clear already, I’m not willing to turn you into my lifelong servant, there’s no way I’d ever do that!”

“And I told you I didn’t care about that, but it’s the only way I’ll be by your side forever.”

Minah looked away and closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh. It was wrong, everything in that conversation was wrong.

“Hakyeon, how far are you going to go?” Minah asked with a sad tone, looking back at her friend.

“I’d do everything for you.”

“That’s not true, you’re not doing this for me but for you.” Hakyeon was about to answer when Minah spoke again. “If you really were willing to do anything for me, you would’ve accepted my decision of being with Baekho since the beginning.”

Hakyeon remained silent, Minah just looked at him, paying attention to even the slightest movement from him. The boy then chuckled and shook his head.

“Now that I think about it, did you choose Baekho because he’s a vampire?”

“Huh?” Minah asked in disbelief.

“The reason why you didn’t choose me is because I’m a human? That’d explain a lot of things actually.”

“I can’t believe this, what does you being an assassin and me a vampire has to do with all of this?”

“You somehow always made evident that difference between us. Now everything makes sense, you think you’re better than me?”

“Stop.” Minah said in an angry tone. “You clearly know I’ve never considered myself superior than you, and if I made that difference evident, was because it was our reality, since the beginning we had to make sure that we weren’t discovered, we could only stop worrying when we got into high school where it’s at least more accepted at some extent.”

“Excuses.” Hakyeon simply answered.

Minah opened to say something but she opted to remain silent. What else could she say? She came to the conclusion that despite what she said, Hakyeon wouldn’t listen and will just keep attacking her. In the middle of that silence, a known voice made appearance.

“What are you trying to do now?”

Hakyeon turned around and Minah looked to the front, showing a little smile of reassurance.

“Baekho.”

“What are you doing here?” Hakyeon angrily asked.

“I was told that you were here with Minah, now answer my question.” The vampire walked towards his girlfriend and stood by her side.

“Nothing besides taking back what’s mine.” Hakyeon answered with a dark tone.

Baekho chuckled and shook his head, while Minah sighed heavily.

“See? That’s the main problem here, you keep labeling me as something you own, but I’m not a thing Hakyeon, I’m a person.” Minah said with disappointment clear in her voice.

“But he can own you?” Hakyeon asked with a chuckle, looking at Baekho with hate.

“I’m not his property, I’m in a relationship with him because I want to, because I love him.”

“Enough!” Hakyeon raised his voice and Baekho glared at him. “I’m not listening to your bull anymore! I get it now, you don’t love me, you never did. You want me out of your life? Fine, I can do that. What happens to you from now on, isn’t my business.”

Minah felt chills run down her back, from one moment to another, Hakyeon seemed like a dangerous man and that last phrase made her feel uneasy.

“Is that a threat?” Baekho took one step towards Hakyeon with a frown.

“Take it as you wish, I don’t give a damn anymore.” Hakyeon hissed.

The assassin turned around and started to go away, even when Minah did want Hakyeon to give up on her, she wasn’t pleased with how things ended up, she knew she couldn’t let him go like that.

“Hakyeon!”

The named stopped and looked to the sky, letting out a deep sigh, then spoke in a monotonous tone.

“Don’t you dare to pronounce my name again, I’m done with you, from now on, we’re strangers.”

Minah wanted to say something else but she couldn’t find her voice, she could just see Hakyeon’s back going away, her best friend going away.

Hakyeon could feel the tears gathering in his eyes, he was hurt and furious. He lost, in the end he lost everything.

She betrayed me, Minah betrayed me.

That thought was playing nonstop inside his head, torturing him, feeding his rage and hatred. He couldn’t see things in another way, the woman he thought would be by his side forever, threw him away for another man. What was he lacking? What made Baekho better than him? Those were questions which he could never answer.

Happy memories with Minah attacked him out of nowhere, only making him feel worse. He sighed and leant on the nearest wall. He closed his eyes trying to stop the tears from coming out, he wouldn’t let himself cry, not because of her, not because of a traitor.

“Finished crying already?”

Hakyeon snapped his eyes open and lifted his gaze to meet a pair of red eyes he knew very well.

“What do you want?”

“I saw the whole show, kind of humiliating if you ask me.”

Hakyeon knew what he was talking about, from all the people who could witness what just happened, it had to be Wonshik. He knew the vampire was up to no good.

“Just spit it. Why did you look for me?”

“Straight to the point, I like that kind of personality. Well you make my job easier that way, I’m here to recruit you.”

Hakyeon chuckled and frowned, looking at Wonshik with confusion.

“Recruit?”

“You heard me right.”

“For what?”

“Don’t you want revenge?” Wonshik lifted his eyebrows with a mischievous grin.

“What does that have to do with you?”

“I can help you with that, no, I should say, we can help you with that.”

Hakyeon tilted his head and lifted his chin, he looked at Wonshik from head to toes.

“We?”

“If you want the details, you’ll have to agree to my offer.”

“You haven’t made me an offer.” Hakyeon pointed out, crossing his arms.

“Oh right, my bad.” Wonshik said in a false apologetically tone. “Well one part of the offer, as I said, is revenge over the ones who hurt you. That includes getting back the person you want the most, what you do with her after that doesn’t concern us at all.”

“What do you win with that?”

“Your aid to achieve our main goal.”

“And that is?”

Wonshik smiled and approached Hakyeon before answering.

“We also want to get rid of some people but above that, we want to bring down the so called new order, in other words, bring down the powerful families.”

Hakyeon chuckled and denied with his head.

“Are you nuts? That’s impossible, you’ll all be beheaded before you can even take one step.”

“Well, I can only tell you that the preparations are already almost done. But enough of the explanations, I need an answer.”

Hakyeon remained silent, even if the offer was tempting, he was aware that it was wrong. On the other hand, he felt as if the world had abandoned him, he suddenly lost the only person he used to care for, so, what difference would it make to join a group that wanted to change things? There was nothing left for him either way.

“We won’t betray you, that’s something I can assure. If you join us, what’s been promised, will be granted.”

Those words were all it was needed for Hakyeon to crumble and make a decision.

Betrayal. That damned word.

Betrayed. That painful feeling.

He just wanted to erase it all. Baekho, Minah, himself, the world. No matter what it takes, he would take revenge over those who betrayed him. If everyone turned their backs on him, he’d do the same.

“I’m in.”

A/N: We're reaching the end of this first part! 

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