Conversations

Who I Am - Part I

“What did you just say?” Sanghyuk asked in disbelief, his eyes were completely widened.

It was the first time Ahyoung had seen that expression on the boy’s face, he usually remained calm and as if nothing could bother him, but she could now see the fear and worry over his face.

“What you heard, I had the bad luck of running into Jonghyun and we didn’t have a precisely friendly encounter.” Ahyoung repeated with annoyance.

“I just left for 5 minutes and something like this happened.” The boy whispered, more to himself than towards her, Ahyoung assumed.

“Whatever, don’t pay it much attention, I guess I’ll have more meetings with him so there’s no use on giving it that much thought.” Ahyoung said trying to change the topic.

“You don’t understand.” Sanghyuk stated with seriousness, now moving his right leg with nervousness.

Ahyoung didn’t quite know why but that attitude from the boy made her sick, she was angered by how he was behaving, so she stood up and glared at him, Sanghyuk looked at her with confusion.

“I don’t know why all of you are so afraid of him, it’s not like he can kill all of us and even if he could, that doesn’t give him the right to step on everyone.” She made a pause. “I can’t believe that even you are afraid of him.”

Sanghyuk stood up as well, looking straight at her eyes.

“Listen here, I’m not afraid of him, but as I’ve said, you know nothing about this world, you can’t just get in trouble like that and not expect to face repercussions. You aren’t in the human world anymore so don’t act as if you’re the best among us.” The boy said to her with anger.

“Then explain everything to me!” Ahyoung started to raise her voice. “It hasn’t even been three days since I got to know about this world and you all expect me to know everything about it and not make mistakes. I’ve never been someone who remains still and silent allowing anyone to mess with me and I’m not going to start now.”

After that, Ahyoung stormed out of the classroom ignoring Sanghyuk’s calls. She walked to nowhere in particular, she just wanted to get away from everything for a moment, take a breath and forget about all that had happened in just that little time. She knew she shouldn’t have reacted that way towards Sanghyuk, after all, he was just worried about her and the troubles that could come up after what she has done. But she was still furious from her encounter with Jonghyun, she hadn’t met such a horrible person in her life, by what Sanghyuk had previously told her, it was expected for the demons in general to act that way so, what could she expect from the actual heir of them?

 

Ahyoung got out of the building and sighed heavily, the bell that announced the next period rang and everyone was rushing back to classes, however, she wasn’t in the mood to return, so she used that time to try walking around to get to know the school, since all the students had to be in classes, she didn’t have to worry much about having another interesting encounter with other heir, not that she could since she already met the two of them, but still. After some time walking, she now knew where the bathrooms were, the gym, also the cafeteria, it was pretty big and it actually had a lot of different foods in display, some of them she didn’t know but she assumed it had to do with the fact that three different races attended the school.

Just when she thought about going back to her classroom to take the next class, some familiar voices made her stay still and hid behind a wall to try to listen to their conversation, which, by what she could hear, involved her.

“What are you even trying to do?! Do you know how dangerous this is?!”

“Sojin, calm down.”

Ahyoung frowned when she heard the voices of Sojin and Taekwoon clearer.

“I understand how you feel Sojin, but we can’t keep her in the dark forever, she has the right to know about her own existence.”

What does she mean with that? Ahyoung thought confused after her mother’s answer.

“We know her, she’ll be able to overcome anything that comes her way, Ahyoung is a strong girl Sojin, she’s not as weak as you think.”

Ahyoung smiled upon her father’s compliments but she didn’t allow herself get lost in that, evenmore with Sojin’s answer to that.

“I’m not discussing Ahyoung’s skills, but you swore to protect her, you promised them to keep her safe. And now you bring her here, the most dangerous place for her, are you insane?!” With each word being said, Sojin’s voice raised more and more.

“Sojin, refrain from screaming, you know this can’t leak and you’ll attract attention.” Taekwoon explained in a more authoritative voice.

Sojin snorted with anger, Ahyoung could almost swear that the girl now had her arms crossed.

“I know Taekwoon.” Sojin answered with annoyance, then sighed. “I know it.” She finished saying in a calmer way.

“Listen Sojin, we’ve always protected her and we’ll do it forever, she’s our daughter.” Leeteuk started to explain. “We are aware that this may be risky for her but there’s no other way out, she has to know.”

“She’ll be okay, we’ve already talked with the headmaster and he already assured us he’ll pay especial attention to her safety.” Seohyun said.

“Did you tell him everything?!” Sojin asked alarmed.

“Of course not, come on Sojin, we aren’t that reckless, if we were, we wouldn’t have been able to keep her safe all these years, right?” Seohyun calmed the girl.

Sojin sighed in frustration.

“It’ll be okay Sojin, besides, we’ll be here, by her side.” Taekwoon told her with a soothing voice.

“We’ll trouble you both with that.” Leeteuk answered. “Sanghyuk will protect her but there may be times when he won’t be around.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect her no matter what.” Sojin said with a determined voice.

Ahyoung just frowned more and more with each word being said, she was utterly confused and didn’t know what to think about what was being said. Sojin wanted to protect her and seemed to be reluctant to Ahyoung’s enrollment to school but, why? Also, what did her mother meant with ‘her own existence’? It didn’t have sense. The only thing she could think about was that maybe she had to be aware of her position as the heir of the assassins but it just didn’t feel right, she could sense that it was a way more complicated matter than just that.

She didn’t know what to do, if stepping out to confront them or just remain silent and listen to the further conversation they’d have. However, it didn’t seem like the conversation would continue after the last thing they said, so she chose to confront everyone since there may not be another chance like that.

Ahyoung stepped out from her spot and walked towards them, Taekwoon was the first one to notice her, she was surprised to be honest, he turned around almost the moment she came out, just as if he was already aware of her presence before she could be seen.

“Ahyoung.” He greeted her calmly. Though Ahyoung was sure it was just his way to alert the rest of them that she was there.

The other three looked at her with surprised expressions, Ahyoung narrowed her eyes to that. Even when she knew that eavesdropping was wrong, she was now grateful that she decided to listen since, judging by their expressions, she wasn’t meant to know what they were talking about. Her curiosity rose.

“What are you doing here Ahyoung-ah? You were supposed to be in classes.” Seohyun calmly asked.

After that question, all of them had already controlled their expressions and were looking at her as if they were having just a casual conversation.

“I wanted some fresh air and thought it’d be good for me to familiarize with school while everyone is in classes, since I’d avoid any trouble or danger.” Ahyoung explained looking attentively at all their expressions, which were marvelously controlled.

“That makes sense.” Leeteuk supported his daughter. “But you better not make this an habit, skipping classes will be bad for you, especially since you arrived almost at the middle of the year, you have to work hard to keep up with your classmates.”

“Don’t worry dad, it’ll be just for this time.”

“Where’s Sanghyuk? Why isn’t he with you?” Leeteuk asked with a frown, looking for the boy.

“I told him to stay back, that way he’ll take the class and then explain to me what they taught.”

Leeteuk seemed to be displeased with that answer and looked at his daughter still with a frown.

“Sanghyuk isn’t supposed to leave your side, what is he thinking? I’ll have to scold him when you come back home.”

“Don’t, he didn’t want to leave my side but I ordered him to stay back, as you may understand, he can’t go against my wishes even if you instructed him of another thing.” The girl calmly explained.

Leeteuk sighed and narrowed his eyes to his daughter.

“You’re getting used to your position better than we expected, huh?” Ahyoung was able to detect a glimpse of hostility from his father’s voice. “But don’t try to overpower me again like that, even when you’re the heiress, we still have a higher position than you Ahyoung. Sanghyuk has to attend my orders over yours. I’ll need to remind him of that.”

Ahyoung snorted lightly and look at her father with a serious expression.

“Don’t punish others because of the mistake I made, it has nothing to do with Sanghyuk.” She stated with seriousness.

Leeteuk just kept looking at her, she was able to see some curiosity in his eyes as well as something else she couldn’t finish to distinguish, probably fear was the closest thing she could think of, though it was quite impossible and ridiculous to think that he’d be afraid of her, unless he wasn’t afraid of her but about something else that had to do with how she was behaving.

Ahyoung herself was surprised by how easily she lied about what really happened with Sanghyuk, since she came to the conclusion it was better than actually telling them that they argued. But that wasn’t what actually took her aback, it was how easily she adopted an authoritative position with her father, almost as if she was over him. She didn’t like it that much but for the time being it was being useful.

“Listen dad I don’t want to argue with you, I don’t like it and it just isn’t right.” Ahyoung surrendered to her father, but not completely. “Besides, there’s something more important I want to make clear.”

Ahyoung then looked at Sojin with a complete serious expression, the girl also looked at her, remaining silent.

“I’m grateful by the warm welcoming you gave me and I actually think you’re a nice person.” Ahyoung started to say. “However, if you dare to talk to my parents in such a manner again, I won’t let it pass, I don’t care if you’re the heiress of the vampires.”

“Ahyoung.” Seohyun tried to make her stop.

“Don’t mom.” Ahyoung immediately said, looking at her mother. “Even when I’m aware I should be respectful, she was the first one to not respect you as the leaders, we both are in the same position, so I’m in place to talk to her like this, but she…” The girl looked back at Sojin. “She doesn’t have the right to talk to you like that.”

Sojin then bowed towards Ahyoung and her parents.

“Ahyoung is right. My behavior was completely out of place and I should have addressed you with respect. I sincerely apologize to you, leaders.” Sojin said in a polite tone, keeping her bow. Taekwoon did the same to support his fiancée.

“Sojin dear, please get up, we understand, there’s no need for this.” Seohyun quickly interfered and put a hand on Sojin’s shoulder in order to lift her up again.

Ahyoung looked attentively at how things were developing, it was just as she expected. Sojin and her parents seemed to have an even deeper relationship than just ‘knowing each other’ as the former explained. They were keeping something from her but she decided not to keep pushing further into the matter and just leave things as they were, after all, things got tense with her father already so she wouldn’t obtain any answer even if she strived for it.

“I don’t know what you were talking about just before I arrived, but I managed to hear Sojin talking to you in a really disrespectful manner.” Ahyoung explained looking at her parents and then turned to Sojin. “I apologize if I overreacted but I trust that you understand why I did this Sojin, something tells me that you’d do the same if you witnessed something like this involving your parents.”

All the tension that was accumulated during the conversation, faded away with just those words of Ahyoung. Sojin smiled at her in understanding and nodded.

“I get your point, that’s why I apologized, you’re right about that, I should always address the leaders with respect. Thanks for reminding me of that.” Sojin politely answered.

Ahyoung nodded to her also with a little smile. She then turned to Leeteuk who was giving her a complicated look, Ahyoung was still able to see that confusion and fear in his eyes, she was about to ask something when the bell announcing the next period rang.

“We’ll talk back at home, you should go back now.” Leeteuk said to her with a calmer tone.

Ahyoung just nodded at him and bid farewell to them, she walked away to her classroom, feeling four pair of eyes staring at her back until she cannot be seen.

 

She encountered Sanghyuk in the way back to her classroom, Sanghyuk had a worried expression on his face until they actually saw each other, the boy sighed in relief but looked away. Ahyoung approached him and was the first one to talk.

“Where are you going?”

“I was looking for you.” Sanghyuk simply answered.

“I was going back to the classroom, so what about walking there together?” The girl suggested.

Sanghyuk snorted and nodded to her, turning around and starting to walk. Ahyoung felt a pang of guilt towards the boy, so she sighed and walked faster to put herself in front of him. Sanghyuk stopped and looked at her emotionless.

“Listen, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have talked to you that way.” Ahyoung apologized.

“You shouldn’t apologize to me, it’s bad for your position to apologize to someone like me.” Sanghyuk monotonously answered.

“I don’t care about that, I was wrong so I should apologize despite my position or whatever.” Ahyoung remarked. “Besides, we agreed to treat each other as if those positions didn’t exist. It’s just our first day together and I don’t want to be angry with you or you to feel uncomfortable by my side.”

Sanghyuk tilted his head and Ahyoung was able to see the curiosity in his expression.

“You’re weird.” Was the only thing Sanghyuk said.

Ahyoung didn’t know what to answer to that and Sanghyuk just passed by her side with his hands in the jean’s pockets.

“You better hurry if you want to take the next lesson, it’s about to start.” Sanghyuk said in a nonchalant way.

Ahyoung hurried to walk by his side and was able to see the boy completely relaxed, she knew he wasn’t angry with her anymore.

>>”You’re weird.”

Sanghyuk’s remark crossed her mind again and she chuckled silently.

Look who’s talking.

 

The rest of the day passed by without further commotion and Ahyoung was grateful for that, it’d been more than enough for her first day at school. So many things took place that she couldn’t even remember clearly what her classes were about.

Sanghyuk and Ahyoung went back to the assassin’s realm, she expected them to go back by bus or something like that, she was still thinking she was in the human world. Apparently her parents had someone send a car for them, so Sanghyuk guided her to it and he drove back home. They didn’t actually talk much during the ride back, Ahyoung constantly daydreamed, thinking about all the stuff that took place that day.

When they arrived to the assassin’s realm, Sanghyuk dropped her at home and he went to his’ agreeing to meet each other there early in the morning the next day. Ahyoung went inside her home, it was abnormally quiet but she clearly knew why. Everytime her parents wanted to talk to her about some matter, the house was quiet, she always thought they did that to add some drama to whatever was going to be said. It never was a really bad matter or something like that and those conversations ended with laughter, though Ahyoung wasn’t so sure that things would end like that now.

Ahyoung sighed and left her backpack in the living room, she looked around wondering where her parents could be, she then remembered the studio where they had a talk the previous day so she went there. The moment she opened the door she was able to see them, they were talking about something and the conversation came to an end the moment she came into their sight.

“You’re back.” Leeteuk said to her.

Ahyoung didn’t quite trust her voice in that moment so she just nodded.

“Come inside and close the door Ahyoung.” Seohyun instructed.

The girl did what she was asked to, after that, she sat across her parents. There was a brief moment of silence before Leeteuk sighed heavily and started to talk.

“How was your first day?”

Ahyoung was a bit confused by the fact that Leeteuk asked her something as trivial as that, she was expecting a huge scold or something like that, but she wasn’t going to provoke her father further so she just gave him an answer.

“A bit chaotic if I’m honest. I got to meet some people like Sojin, Taekwoon, some of my classmates and the heir of the demons as well.”

That last thing seemed to catch the attention of her parents.

“You met Jonghyun?” Seohyun asked, to which Ahyoung nodded.

“And how was it? Did he do something to you?” Leeteuk asked now a bit concerned.

“Nothing I can’t handle, don’t worry.” Ahyoung tried to brush it off like nothing happened, since she was aware that if she actually told them the truth, they’d give her an even worse scold than Sanghyuk.

Leeteuk nodded at that, not giving another answer. Another moment of silence took place but Ahyoung couldn’t really handle it so she spoke again.

“I know you want to talk to me about something and that something is most likely what happened today, so please tell me.”

Seohyun sighed and looked at her daughter with seriousness.

“Ahyoung, even if we have given you a lot of freedom all your life and we’ve never been strict with you, your behavior today was completely out of line.”

The girl just listened to her mother with her gaze down, she didn’t dare to look at them. She was aware that what she did was wrong and that she deserved that scolding and whichever punishment they’d give her.

“I’ll just ask this.” Leeteuk then said. “What got into you today?”

Ahyoung looked up and what she saw, broke something inside her, Leeteuk had a disappointed gaze over her. She could feel her eyes watering and didn’t dare to keep looking at him anymore, so she closed them and hung her head down again, she chuckled and clenched her fists in an attempt to not lose control.

“I… don’t know.” She finally said almost in a whisper.

And it was true. Even when she felt really powerful when she argued with her father, hours later she was feeling really bad and she couldn’t even explain why she acted like that towards him, it wasn’t a simple teenager outburst, she was aware of that.

“To be honest with you, I was fully aware of what I was doing and despite that I decided to keep going, I felt more powerful than you, more powerful than anyone else. But once I calmed down and thought about it, I was scared. It was as if something inside me took control over my actions for that brief moment.” Ahyoung kept explaining to her parents, who remained silent.

Ahyoung wasn’t able to see their expression since she remained with closed eyes, not daring to face them, also because that made it easier for her to talk, since for someone like her who always bragged about how strong and independent she was, it was hard to actually accept and tell others she was afraid, moreover, afraid of herself.

“Something changed since you told me the truth about this world, I didn’t tell you because I was sure I could manage it on my own and I still think so, it’s just that things got out of my hands this time, I’ll make sure for it not to happen again.”

Finally she was able to raise her head and look at her parents, they were completely serious and attentively listening to what their daughter was saying. Ahyoung took that chance to also tell them what was bothering her.

“Besides, I keep having the feeling that you’re still hiding something from me.” Leeteuk narrowed his eyes and Seohyun didn’t change her expression. “Something even bigger than the secret you’ve already revealed to me.”

“Why do you think so?” Leeteuk asked.

“Your conversation with Sojin and Taekwoon was kind of suspicious, not to say way too suspicious.” Ahyoung pointed out, trying to make her parents waver, but to no avail. “Are you really keeping something else from me?”

Leeteuk softened his gaze and looked straight at his daughter.

“We’re obviously keeping some things from you, it’s just natural for parents to do so when those are things that won’t affect you.” He started explaining. “What we were discussing with Sojin and Taekwoon were some matters concerning the leadership, matters that you’ll get to know once you’re more immersed in all of this, don’t worry, we’ll guide you.”

She really wanted to believe him, with all her might. Blindly trust in her parents and believe that they weren’t keeping something from her. But she heard their conversation, she knew they were hiding something from her and even worse, something that did had to do with her.

Ahyoung just sighed and showed them a faint smile with a nod. Seohyun and Leeteuk then stood up and went to hug their daughter. Ahyoung felt warm in their arms, it managed to lift her uneasiness at least a bit. After that, Ahyoung told them she’d be in her room since she had some homework to do and read some notes about previous classes to familiarize with them.

Once inside her room, she closed the door behind her and leaned on it, she then slid against it until she was sitting on the floor, she let out a heavy sigh and crossed her arms over her knees, resting her chin over them.

Everything is way too suspicious and weird. The uneasiness she felt before her parents’ hug came again to haunt her, she closed her eyes and clenched her fists. I need to find out what is really happening.

 

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

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DolphinWorld
1977 streak #1
Chapter 30: Wait what???? Definitely didn't expect that twist at the end. And how did him of all people know of it? That's the million dollar question now.... guess the happiness that the other students didn't really care about their relationship was short lived... Anyway, wonder how things would develop further. Can't wait to read more. But now that I have caught up with all the chapters soo far, I hope to see an update soon ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #2
Chapter 29: This chapter was fluffy indeed! Yay!! I definitely enjoyed reading them and I'm glad that her parents are supportive of them. Can't wait to see how things would develop herein. But will be back later to read more ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #3
Chapter 28: I'm more excited after reading your a/n. I mean you said more fluffs to come and who wouldn't be excited at that? Anyway, coming back to the chapter, I guess I'm kinda glad that they had this meeting of sorts to discuss the matter? Also, I hope Jaehwan continues to be a nice guy and eventually gains Jonghyun's trust. Can't wait to read more. But will be back later to do so ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #4
Chapter 27: Oh my my!!! Why Hakyeon, why??? I was kinda hoping him to not jump ships. Although, Ahyoung and Sanghyuk's interactions were cute and so, I still miss Jonghyun's presence here. Nonetheless, I will be back later to read more ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #5
Chapter 26: I'm glad Ahyoung was smart enough to see through Hongbin. And wonder how Sanghyuk didn't notice Wonshik there. Or did he realise that but still kept eyes on Hongbin since he was nearer than the other? Anyway, can't wait to read more. But will be back later to do so ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #6
Chapter 25: I'm really curious of what Sunny and Tiffany were talking about that Hongbin eavesdropped on. Although I have got a theory about it. And can't wait to see how Ahyoung will react when she finds out this secret. I mean with the way they all were reacting, including her parents, I can assume it's really big. Anyway, I will be back later to read more ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #7
Chapter 24: Oh my my! The revelation is approaching? I'm pretty excited to know about it. But it's a tragedy. So kinda wary as well. Also, Jonghyun's parents are finally revealed. Definitely wasn't expecting him to be his father. Anyway, will be back later to read more ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #8
Chapter 23: Yay! They are finally dating!!! And they kissed!! And wonder what Tiffany is upto without reacting much upon hearing their dating news. It's a lot concerning. Anyway, can't wait to read more. But will be back later to do so ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #9
Chapter 22: For a moment when she found the diary like that, I thought maybe ghosts were part of this trope too. You know the story already has demons and vampires, so why not ghost as well right? LoL... But after Seohyun and Leeteuk talking at the end, I assume it's a human. And I wonder what's the secret they're trying so hard to hide. Also wonder what Ahyoung is gonna do with her mother's love advice. And how Seohyun would react when she finds out who that person is. Anyway, I will be back later to read more ^^
DolphinWorld
1977 streak #10
Chapter 21: I'm glad that Jonghyun took the first step and confessed. Now I just hope that she doesn't refuse to acknowledge her own feelings. And it's kinda sad that Jessica left like that. Poor fellas! Can't wait to read more. But will be back later to do so ^^