The night was beautifully quiet. All that could be heard was the swish of the leaves on the trees as the wind was blowing peacefully, not to mention the faint noise of the crickets which wasn’t at all bothering the two people walking side by side in silence. They walked with bare feet, trying to feel the cold sensation of the wet grass from the after rain. Apparently their already icy skin was more than immune to cold stuffs.

If only they were mortals, Siwon would probably already wrap Tiffany’s small figure in his muscular hands. But the fact that both of them couldn’t feel the cold night at all, Siwon decided to just link his hand with Tiffany’s. Just knowing that the younger actually didn’t refuse at all really made his heart beat fast. Only Tiffany could have this effect on him; she was the only one who could weaken Siwon’s wall of valor.

They kept their silence even until they spotted a wooden bench at the middle of the park. They didn’t need words exchanged as Siwon led Tiffany to sit on the slightly moist bench. But not before taking off his lavish coat and laid it on top of her seat. Tiffany hesitated for a moment but Siwon just gave his irresistible dimpled smile and gestured her to take a seat on top of his coat. And so she did.

The night felt so peaceful for the two love birds.

But something was actually bothering Siwon’s mind. He knew how Tiffany didn’t want to rush anything, how she wanted everything to go slowly and smoothly according to its flow. But it had been actually months since Siwon first confessed to her and courted her ever since, yet Tiffany never said a thing about how she actually felt towards him. And Siwon swore if it was Heechul who was in his shoes; the guy would probably take his words back and left her for good. It was a good thing Jessica was a forthright person.

The only thing that made him stand still was the fact that Tiffany actually showed him the same amount of affection he gave. And just with that was enough to ease his heart from doubts. Even though he wasn’t really sure what he would call their relationship right now, it was good enough for him so long as he could keep making Tiffany smile and laugh.

He sat next to her and recalled their early dinner. He was hesitant when Tiffany first told him that her father had invited him to a dinner at their house. He was a bit anxious, because as far as he’s concerned, he and Tiffany were more than friends but nothing near lovers. He never even had the guts to kiss her, despite having so many moments that could actually lead to that. And having a dinner together with her father was definitely a big step for him. But it was a major relief to him that Tiffany’s father was actually being nice to him during the evening.

“You did okay,” Tiffany smiled at him.

Siwon tilted his head to the side, facing her, with a slight frown out of confusion, “In?”

Tiffany shifted her head, looking away from Siwon’s stare. She stared at her very own garden ranged a few meters ahead of where she was seated. A slightly proud smile was plastered on her pale face. “Tonight’s dinner.”

“I thought I was going to faint," he sighed.

Tiffany chuckled, “Come on, it wasn’t that bad.”

Siwon exhaled through his nostrils and crossed his feet on the ground. He watched his feet as they brushed against the wet ground. He glanced to the side and observed Tiffany’s feet swinging back and forth in a cute manner, her high heels rested just next to them. “I’m sure Kyuhyun did better than me.” He shifted his gaze back to where his feet were and smiled bitterly.

Tiffany could clearly hear the slight disappointed tone in the older’s voice. She looked at him and noticed his face was pouting a bit; it was as if he was thinking something. She liked it when the great Choi Siwon was being childish, and how she loved it knowing that she was the only one that got to see him act that way.

“Kyuhyun oppa never made it to dinner. Father wasn’t really fond of him.” She smiled, even though the other wasn’t aware of it as he was still hanging his head low.

Siwon couldn’t help but to feel a bit victorious. At least he was a step ahead.

“At least for once in his life he loses at something,” he said as he smiled, still looking at his feet.

Tiffany giggled cutely while leaning her back backwards, her fingers were playing with her ed coat. “Father is not the type to be pleased easily,” she mumbled after sighing. “And that just makes it all harder for me to find a good boyfriend. Or at least good enough for his liking.”

Siwon didn’t know what to respond. Intimidated was probably the right word to describe his feeling. Tiffany’s father was actually a rather proud man, a man with high standards and also a perfectionist as well as an idealist. That was why Siwon was being really careful with his words during the whole dinner earlier.

Tiffany obviously noticed the tense on Siwon’s face. He was no longer staring at his feet instead staring at some random space in the clouded night. She placed her left hand on his right thigh and gave a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry, you passed. Father said he likes you.”

Siwon glanced to his side and met with that perfect smile. He instantly went to an ease upon seeing that smile. He kept his stare at Tiffany’s beautiful profile as she turned her head and stared at the dark sky. He was observing her while his brain was processing the words she just said. Maybe that was why Tiffany never gave him any answer. He thought that maybe she just wanted to make sure that her father agreed before going in to anything. And just when he recalled when Tiffany said that her father actually liked him, he grew a wide smile on his face.

Tiffany exhaled a big amount of air and brought her head back down. She turned to her side and found Siwon was grinning widely while looking at her. “What?” she blurted.

Siwon’s grin turned in to an embarrassed one. Embarrassed because he was caught staring at the love of his life. “Nothing.” He said, though he couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot.

Tiffany just smiled back. She brought one of her hands up and started fixing the slightly messy hair of the guy beside her. Clearly the night couldn’t be any more beautiful.

---00---

Various topics were brought that night. They laughed, chatted, and even sometimes teased each other. The two really didn’t want to end the night. And obviously they still had a lot of time so they weren’t really disappointed by the time.

Tiffany then remembered something and went to excuse herself. “Oppa,” she snapped to Siwon who was a bit dumbstrucked. “Can you excuse me for a sec? I’ll be back,” she smiled and got up from her seat.

Siwon mumbled an “Of course,” and watched her gracefully depart.

Siwon inhaled the fresh air and let his non-beating chest be cooled off. He got up from the bench and walked towards Tiffany’s garden. As he reached the nearest bush forming some sort of a hedge, he smiled looking at the well grown flowers ahead of him. Various colors spread beautifully despite the lack of the slightly dimmed garden lights.

He remembered how genuine Tiffany was when it comes to flowers. She loved flowers and she took care of them as if they were her babies. A wider smile carved upon his handsome face, seeing how well those flowers had become.

He was about to walk further to the garden when his ears caught something. It was a feeble sound but it was clear. He looked around him and he saw nothing or no one that could make that noise. He concentrated his hearings more and tried to find out what that sound could possibly be.

After just a few seconds he then realized it was a thud sound. Like something was being thrown on to the ground. Siwon started furrowing his eyebrows, trying to figure out what that would be. He turned his body fully and started walking back to the house when he heard a definitely familiar voice.

“Get off me!”

Siwon didn’t take a second to think and ran at a light speed inside the house. He stopped at the common room only to hear another thud, which apparently was from Tiffany’s bedroom. This time the thud was more like a banging sound and it was much louder than he originally thought.

Tiffany’s bedroom door was wide open as Siwon ran upstairs in mere seconds. He barged in to the room with eyes full of worry. But that turned instantly into anger as he witnessed Tiffany’s slim figure being thrown from across the room and smashed the mirror that it shattered.

Soon as he watched Tiffany’s body fell to the ground with a grunt, he turned his head to the creature that did that. Rage filled him fully upon seeing the all familiar being a few inches in front of him. He threw his muscular body to the smirking man and landed his fist rather harshly at the face that the jaw was dislocated. Siwon was blinded with anger and hatred that he didn’t feel contented; he smashed the slender body to the nearest wall across him.

The thrown man immediately got up on his feet. He fixed his dislocated jaw with his bare hand and returned his annoying smirk, according to Siwon.

“Shi Yuan. Your girlfriend tastes like a cherry.”

Just then Siwon noticed a stain of red substance on the corner of the other’s lips. He felt fury filled his head even more and he was ready to jump on him again. Nobody could ever touch Tiffany like that. Nobody but himself, Tiffany was all his. Disgust was mixed with rage upon thinking what the other man had done to Tiffany.

But before Siwon could even move a muscle, the man jumped out of the window and disappeared from the scene.

Siwon couldn’t care less about the bastard. He immediately rushed towards Tiffany who was struggling to sit up on the ground. A loud grunt came from her as she tried to hold the pain in her left chest. Siwon kneeled in front of her, eyes filled with worries.

“Are you alright?”

Tiffany leaned on the half shattered giant mirror and groaned in pain. She took a hold of a large chunk of a broken glass piercing her chest and harshly pulled it out. Another loud grunt came as she held back her tears. The sight alone was enough to bring pain to Siwon’s heart.

“I’m fine. Thank god it’s only a glass and not a silver stake, otherwise I would be dead by now,” Tiffany said, clearly annoyance and resentment in her tone. She held her bleeding chest and closed her eyes while trying to ease her breathing.

Siwon grabbed Tiffany’s hand that was holding her injury away and tried to observe the hole on her left chest. In just a few seconds the wound closed itself and left no marks or scars, but the blood was still soaking her shirt. “It’s healed. Are you still hurt in anywhere?” Siwon asked full of concern as he tried to scan Tiffany’s face and body, afraid of another injury.

Tiffany shook her head and tried to get up on her feet. Soon as she managed to balance herself and fixed her hair, she turned to Siwon and looked at him with worried eyes too. “Are you okay, oppa? Did he hit you or anything?”

Siwon shook his head. He then remembered something. He got up and stepped closer to Tiffany and examined her neck. He observed the left side of her neck as he swept her hair away. There he noticed two tiny holes formed and blood was swimming down from the hole. Tiffany immediately covered the bite mark with her hand and grunt in annoyance.

Siwon shifted his head to face Tiffany and furrowed his eyebrows. “Fany-ah, what happened? Why did Zhoumi attack you?”

Tiffany walked towards her bed and sat on it while still holding her bite mark. “I don’t know. I found him sitting on the sofa when I entered the room. Suddenly he grabbed my hair and yanked my head backwards. I tried to struggle and kick him before he could do anything, but he was a lot stronger than me,” she rubbed her still aching chest with her other hand.

“He slammed me a couple of times to the wall. And while I was trying to recover myself from dizziness, he yanked my head again and bit me. I kicked his stomach that he flew across the room but he immediately got up and threw me to the mirror. That’s when you came…”

Siwon looked around his surroundings. The usually tidy room was all wrecked and messed. Walls were cracked almost everywhere, glasses scattered all over the carpeted floor, and things were thrown all over. He didn’t notice this earlier when he entered the room.

“Did he…” Siwon trailed off, “Did he your blood?”

Tiffany clenched her eyes, trying to soothe the bite mark on her neck with the palm of her hand. She dropped her head as the dizziness from the impact she endured still haunting her head. “I’m not sure,” she mumbled. “I guess a bit, but I managed to get him off of me.”

“That bastard,” Siwon grunted.

He kneeled in front of Tiffany and brought her face up with his hand. Tiffany looked slightly exhausted, he knew she never fought with another vampire like that; she wasn’t used to the force. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Siwon couldn’t be any more worried.

Tiffany chuckled, still rubbing her neck. The pain was gone but the disgusted feeling from being bitten by Zhoumi was still there and she couldn’t help but to wince a bit. She smiled weakly, trying to assure the man in front of her, “Really, I’m fine, oppa. I’ll just go change my shirt.”

Siwon nodded in understanding.

Tiffany stood up and headed to the bathroom across the room after retrieving a piece of new shirt from her closet. Soon as she closed the door, she went to the mirror and examined her wound. The holes were tiny but it was noticeable enough. She wiped the blood leaking from them with some water. The blood was no longer there but she could really see the holes were deep enough.

She sighed to herself. It would take some effort for her to cover them; surely she didn’t want kids at school to start some preposterous rumors about her. She started changing her clothes and threw her blood covered shirt to the basket. She observed her reflection once again in the mirror. She fixed her hair again before deciding to get out of the bathroom once she felt decent.

She opened the bathroom door and found Siwon was shutting the window where Zhoumi had jumped. She sighed as she watched her wrecked room. Everything was out of its place, almost as if there was an earthquake occurred.

She brought one of her hands up gracefully to her chest level and concentrated her mind. Soon the tiny pieces of glasses that were scattered on the carpet floated in the air, but not long before they made their way to the broken mirror and glued themselves together to form a perfect mirror. The walls started fixing their selves and the cracks disappeared. The flipped tables, chair and counters flipped theirselves back to where they belonged. In just mere seconds the room was back to its normal form.

Siwon turned around from the window and was slightly surprised by the usual tidy room before him. But he was still worried about the other, so he walked across the room and went to where Tiffany stood. He examined the bite mark once again, making sure they were no longer bleeding.

“This will take weeks. Vampire bites are the hardest to heal,” he sighed.

Tiffany tilted her head back after Siwon pulled his hand away, “I know.”

Leeteuk stood still in the darkest spot at the room, hands inside his pockets. His breathing was uneven as he held back all of the emotions threatening to explode from his chest. He was holding his self to jump on the sleeping beauty in front of him and crushed her in his embrace.

However, he felt guilty as hell knowing that the person in front of him wasn’t sleeping soundly; in fact he was the one putting the nightmares in her sleep. But again, he needed to do this. At least he needed her to remember him.

But at the same time it frustrated him. He just didn’t know why it took him this long to get her memories back. The amount of energy he drained that night made it all the more tiring for him. Normally it would take less than two days for a mortal like her, but he had been doing it for more than a week. And just like Heechul said, it was such a wonder that Taeyeon survived it all.

Leeteuk gasped for air as he was brought back to reality. He felt it was enough for the night. Despite being exhausted, he didn’t want Taeyeon to have further nightmare. He kept his gaze on the sleeping form and felt tears were welling up in his eyes. He was really frustrated. Taeyeon never showed any sign of recalling anything in her past. But he knew he just couldn’t give up on her. He wouldn’t give up on her.

He stepped forward carefully, revealing his self out of the shadow. He kept on admiring the beautiful look of the sleeping girl as he neared her. He then kneeled down beside the bed. Taeyeon’s face was sweating just like previous nights. She was frowning but she was still pretty. Her breath was uneven; her chest was moving up and down almost rapidly. The mere sight made Leeteuk felt even guiltier.

He lifted his hand and brushed a few strains of hair that were sticking on her face. He was holding himself back but a smile plastered on his tanned face. He recalled some of the memories they had together. He missed them so much. He missed the times where he was able to touch her like that.

---00---

Taeyeon snapped her eyes open and sat up abruptly while panting heavily. She immediately turned her head to her side, trying to find something, or rather someone. But just like every night, nobody was in the room but her. The window was opened again and cold wind was blowing from the outside as the curtain swaying in random ways.

She removed the blanket covering her and stood up. She went to the window and stared at the dark scenery. The wind was cooling her sweats off as she closed her eyes, inhaling the fresh air. She recalled her dream earlier. She wasn’t scared anymore, she wasn’t confused anymore. It all seemed too real for her. She knew somehow it was all her memories. She just couldn’t recall when and where it occurred.

She lifted her hand and held her cheek. The all so familiar touch she felt on her cheek brought her back from her nightmare. It wasn’t a hand; it was far softer than a hand. She knew it, she felt it before but she just couldn’t remember when.

She opened her eyes and inhaled another big amount of oxygen from the atmosphere. There was one thing she remembered. One thing that had been haunting her the very first day she came back to Korea. One thing that she somehow felt strongly attached to. A name.

The sun shined through the window to a certain white painted room, and the birds started chirping beautifully. The morning spring air was refreshing. It was a really good morning to start a day for everyone. But apparently not for Leeteuk.

He hadn’t been sleeping since he got back from Taeyeon’s house before dawn. He tried to but he couldn’t. It’s not like vampires needed to sleep, he just wanted to keep his mind off of everything; things that had been bothering his mind nonstop for the past week.

Leeteuk sighed as he sat on his bed. He buried his head deep on his palms, letting frustration eating him. He listened to the faint ambience of the morning scene. He’d give everything just for Taeyeon to be able to remember him. Despite all the frustration, the only thing keeping him was that he knew he was close, he knew Taeyeon would be able to remember everything soon.

---00---

Leeteuk grabbed a glass of water to clear his throat. His throat was painfully dry and he knew right now he needed more than just cold water to satiate it. But he bore with it; he had been living this lifestyle for years anyway.

He stared at the empty glass for a while. Lately he seemed to be spacing off a lot. He, too, realized that. He needed Heechul at times like these; he just needed someone he could trust to talk to. And he needed the crappy advices from him. But the other vampire seemed to be off the radar for a few days already.

Leeteuk jumped at the sudden presence of the ever daunting man in his life. But soon he managed to compose himself back and turned to grab another glass of water. He tried to ignore him; he just didn’t want to establish any kind of conversation with the man.

However, Jaesun seemed quite amused by the look of his son. He knew his son very well, he just knew that look on Leeteuk’s face.

“Still hanging with the diet?” Jaesun started.

Leeteuk tried hard not to scowl at his father, though the annoyance was already at the tip of his tongue. He drank the water wholly and put down the glass on the sink before turning to his father. “It’s not a diet, father, and you know it.”

Jaesun strolled to the wide counter in the middle of the room with a smug on his face. “I know, I know,” he said with a mocking tone. “I just can’t understand why you hold on to that kind of life style. It’s—not quite healthy, as you put it.”

Leeteuk just couldn’t seem to care about his father’s talking. He just didn’t want to.

He went to the fridge and pulled out some fresh milk. His father’s staring was anything but new to him, so he had no problem ignoring and avoiding those eyes. He then grabbed a box of cereal from the cabinet before pouring it to a bowl.

“You look awful, son,” Jaesun said as he took a small bag of fresh blood from the mini freezer underneath the counter. He tore open the plastic and poured the content to the crystal on the counter.

Despite being trained for so many years to able to hold himself from the scent of a fresh human blood, Leeteuk still cringed from the sight of the red, almost black, liquid his father was about to drink. He knew what his father was trying to do; obviously the old man was trying to lure him into joining him with his breakfast, judging by the smirk on his wrinkled face.

“Don’t worry. I just fed myself a few days ago. It was more than enough,” Leeteuk said, trying to move his gaze and concentrate on his cereal.

Jaesun sipped his drink and just stared at his son. The smirk was no longer on his face. “Animal blood is not as nutricious as human’s, Jungsoo,” he said before sipping another. He carefully studied his son’s face, watching how he tried to enjoy the cereal as if he was one mortal. “Besides, I’m not talking about that.”

Leeteuk ignored his father. Clearly he wasn’t interested at all on what the older was about to say. Or so he thought.

“You look much older than I remembered,” Jaesun continued.

Leeteuk was caught off guard; he barely swallowed the not well chewed chunks inside his mouth. He tried not to look into his father’s eyes because he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide.

Jaesun however, was so good at reading his son. “How long you been using your power on the mortals?”

Leeteuk remained his gaze on his bowl, playing on his food. “I don’t see why it’s any of your concerns, father.” He scooped another spoonful of cereal and brought it to his mouth. He chewed it calmly after. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong in using my power on the mortals.”

There was a slight silence in the kitchen. But Jaesun’s eyes never left Leeteuk.

“I saw it, Jungsoo. I know that Kim Taeyeon is back.”

No matter how hard Leeteuk tried to act naturally, he failed, he always failed when it comes to facing his father, and he hated it. Especially whenever it was regarding Taeyeon. He stopped chewing and swallowed instead while staring at his bowl.

“I know you, son. I know what you’re trying to do.”

Leeteuk put down his bowl on the counter and finally decided to look down at the man on the wheel chair. There was no use in hiding anymore; his mask was no longer concealing anything. “Are you going to stop me?” he dared his father, “Because you know better than anyone else that I won’t stop.”

To that Jaesun started producing a sly smile on his face.

“Believe it or not I wanted you to be happy, son. But I had no choice but to obey the elders.”

Leeteuk scoffed at his father, finding it hard to believe that his father actually cared. As far as he remembered, his father did it without even taking a second glance at how he felt.

Jaesun grabbed his blood filled crystal and started strolling himself outside the kitchen. He stopped a few steps before the door and spun his wheel chair, facing his son again.

“I did feel bad for you, son. But I was just doing what’s best for you and your future.”

Ridiculous, Leeteuk thought. It was almost funny how he actually thought he heard his father say he felt bad for him. How come separating him and someone he loved dearly is what was best for him?

And for a moment Leeteuk thought his father has the same ability as Heechul, because apparently Jaesun answered his thoughts.

“She’s cursed.”

Leeteuk widened his eyes in confusion. He was about to say something when he realized the old man was no longer there. He just lost in his thoughts and questions alone in the quiet kitchen.