Taeyeon drove her car like a crazy person, tapping on the steering wheel whenever stopped by the traffic light, and kept glancing at her watch every one minute. She decided it was best for her to just drive herself because her driver wouldn’t know how to speed.

Those nightmares had been going on for days now and she had been late for school because of it. She just didn’t know how to stop it. She stopped watching horror movies, going to be bed early, taking sleeping pills and so on. She even started to sleep with the lights on. She hardly slept at first but because she was in fact really tired she finally was able to sleep. But the bad dream kept coming. She painfully grew some dark circles under her eyes that she had to cover them with concealers.

She rushed herself to the campus with a pile of thick books on her embrace. Luckily for her, the class hadn’t even started yet. She pushed the door with her elbow and immediately eyed her seat. She was really glad to see her friend sitting next to her chair.

“Hey, you’re here!” Taeyeon exclaimed.

Sunny was hanging her head low and didn’t respond at all. Her hands were clenching against each other on the table and her body was slightly shivering.

Taeyeon settled her things and went to talk to her. Sunny was still shivering and Taeyeon began to worry. “Hey, are you alright?” She went to hold her friend’s arm but she moved away.

“Don’t touch me.”

Taeyeon was a bit shocked by her low growling voice. She was about to take the blonde to the infirmary when a familiar girl came and grabbed Sunny’s shoulders. “Excuse us,” Im Yoona smiled. Im Yoona helped Sunny stood up from her chair and went away. Surprisingly, Sunny didn’t even growl like she did to her earlier. What was even more surprising for Taeyeon was, she knew that Sunny wasn’t really fond of Im Yoona, yet she didn’t complain when the younger took her. And did Yoona really come all the way from the fourth floor to the second floor just to see Sunny?

Taeyeon also witnessed Im Yoona exchanging glances with Jung Jessica, Hwang Tiffany and Cho Kyuhyun a few steps away from the door. Without any words, Tiffany got up from her seat and joined Yoona who was already out of sight.

Taeyeon went back to her seat and was left in confusion.

She had been having the same classes with Jung Jessica, Kwon Yuri, Hwang Tiffany, Cho Kyuhyun and Kim Kibum as they were in the same year, and Sunny was in most of those classes together with her. Sometimes they would have joint classes with students from another year; therefore she had also had some classes with Lee Donghae, Choi Sooyoung, Im Yoona and Seo Joohyun.

During her first week she figured that the students were actually easy to befriend with, despite the certain groups that already formed apparently long before she entered the university, which she could not help but to dislike the idea of it. Whenever she was given a group project by the professors, she could easily cooperate with the others.

But it was a rather different tale with the so called ‘The Great Ten’. To Taeyeon, their group is one of the most absurd one. They tend to live with their selves, barely spoke with other students and were hard to approach. Somehow students on campus found them rather intimidating and decided to just live them alone.

But Taeyeon couldn’t care less anymore about it so she just shrugged her thoughts off and prepared herself for the class as the professor entered the room.

---00---

Sunny missed a couple periods and Taeyeon was starting to get wary. Thankfully she showed up at the cafeteria during lunch break. She noticed the short haired girl walking rather bouncy towards her, so she just waved her hand happily. But the worrying and questioning thoughts were still bugging her.

“Are you alright? What happened to you earlier?”

Sunny put her bag and books on the table in front of her, “I’m alright now,” she smiled.

“Where did Im Yoona and Hwang Tiffany take you to?” Taeyeon looked at her, still worried.

Sunny just smiled for assurance, “They were helping me, Taeng. Come on, what’s with the face. I’m fine, okay?”

Taeyeon wasn’t worried anymore now. But she was confused with the sudden change of her friend. Earlier in the morning Sunny barely showed her face to her. She even sounded like she was angry or something when Taeyeon tried to touch her. And now, Sunny was all sunny again and was smiling as if the earlier happening never occurred. Taeyeon brushed off her thoughts and tried to smile, what mattered most was that Sunny was already alright.

She then noticed that Sunny was wearing a bright red scarf which was so not matching her blouse. She glanced at the disturbing scarf and saw a drawing on the skin. It was a five stripes drawing in a black ink with irregular pattern. Somehow Taeyeon found it interesting.

“Hey nice tattoo you got there. You just got it?”

Sunny jerked off because Taeyeon’s voice was a bit loud for her ears as she was leaning a bit close to see her tattoo. She then covered it with her scarf properly. She didn’t say anything but just smile weakly instead.

Taeyeon went back to her lunch and ate it happily. She scooped one spoonful of the lasagna and brought it to . She looked up and enjoyed the cheesy flavor on her tongue. After a few munching, she swallowed the chunk and grabbed her drink before sipping it.

Something caught her eye. On the far corner of the canteen, at the table where The Great Ten usually sat, she saw pairs of eyes were ogling her. She made a ‘tsch’ sound because she felt irritated. Why couldn’t they just live her alone? Do they usually do this to new students? She kind of got used to it at first, but now that they didn’t stop, she started getting annoyed. She just didn’t like to be the center of attention.

She looked again at those eyes, only to notice something. They weren’t actually staring at her. They were actually staring at the girl beside her. She glanced at Sunny who was eating her apple while reading a book silently. “Hey, Sun,” Taeyeon called.

Sunny lifted her head and faced the person sitting next to her. “Hmm?”

“Have you got any problem with them?” Taeyeon nudged her head towards the people that were still staring at them.

Sunny looked at the direction and went back to smile at Taeyeon. She went back to her book trying to enjoy her last bites of the apple, “Don’t worry about them. Just ignore them, Taeng.”

However, she didn’t manage to make Taeyeon took her eyes off of the direction. She closed her book after finishing her apple and leaned closer to her. “Hey, I have some good news.”

And it worked. Taeyeon slowly shifted her head towards Sunny who was beaming with happiness. She didn’t know why but she was looking forward to hear the supposedly ‘good news’.

“I got back together with Sungmin oppa,” Sunny smiled widely that almost all of her teeth were showing.

“Really?!” Taeyeon squeeled in happiness. “When? Was it that day when we met him?”

Sunny tilted her head slightly as if thinking, “Well, sort of.” She smiled again.

“Aah, congratulations. I’m so happy for you.” She leaned and hugged her friend.

She really was happy for Sunny. Although the blonde never really told her that she wanted to get back together with Lee Sungmin, she just knew how much Sunny was still in love with that guy. There was not a day went by without Sunny talking about the guy. Even the slightest tiny thing about Lee Sungmin would always slip Sunny’s mouth for Taeyeon to hear.

No matter how hard Leeteuk tried to focus on his work, a certain Kim Taeyeon wouldn’t leave his mind alone. The thought that he might actually kill her bugged him even more. But he couldn’t help it, he must get her back. He couldn’t live without her. He had experienced misery for the past years.

He buried his face in his hands and sighed to his self. He closed his eyes tightly, slightly trying to free his minds form everything; his works, Taeyeon, last night’s happening, everything. He just needed some time for his mind before he could think clearly again. He slowly drifted in to the peaceful silence and his breathing became calm and steady.

“Tired much?”

Leeteuk jerked off at his chair and lifted his head to the voice. He rubbed his eyes harshly, trying to gain full consciousness from his quick nap.

“That is so not you to be surprised by my presence.”

“What are you doing here, Chul-ah? Aren’t you supposed to be at the studio right now?”

Heechul led himself to the comfortable couch and laid down on it. He crossed his legs as usual and brought his hands to his belly, eyes slightly closed. “They canceled the photo shoot and I got bored because Kibummie is still hanging out with Kyuhyun.”

There was a slight pause. Leeteuk got up from his chair and went to the counter on the side of the room. He grabbed the crystal in front of him and started filling it with some liquor. After plunging a couple of ice cubes, he walked across the direction and handed one to the not sleeping Heechul before closing his distance with the gigantic window.

Heechul lazily but willingly took the glass. He sat up straight and started sipping his drink. His face cringed at the strange taste of the liquid. He was so not in to whiskey. He put down the glass on the glass table in front of him and looked around his back to his friend who was so immersed to the night view of Seoul.

“Thinking about her again?”

Heechul heard a slight chuckle from the leader and he, too, couldn’t help but to smirk.

“I don’t know it could be this tiring,” Leeteuk took another sip of his drink.

“You’re aging so much because of her, you know that?”

Leeteuk turned his body and walked back to his desk. He put down the crystal glass on the desk and started turning off his computer. “Believe it or not but I’ve been saving my age for this. I just knew that someday she’d come back.”

Heechul cooed at his friend, “God, never in my twenty-eight years of freakin’ life have I found a love fool like you.”

Leeteuk hated it when Heechul was right about him. The other knew him just too well. But he was being a love fool. He didn’t even know that someone could affect him so much like this.

“Teuk-ah,”

“What?”

“Have you talked to your father about what happened last night?”

Leeteuk shifted his gaze to his sitting friend for a moment before finishing his documents. He nodded his head in respond, “Yes I have. Apparently father wasn’t as shocked as we were.”

Heechul got up from the couch and went to Leeteuk who was still busy signing here and there. “Kibum kept asking me about it. You know how nosy he is when it comes to things like this, right?”

Leeteuk nodded, “Yes. And I think it’s wise to let nobody but us knows about this. I’m just afraid that they will get driven by this.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Heechul sat at one of the empty chairs in front of Leeteuk’s desk and crossed his legs.

“Oh, here he comes,” Heechul blurted.

And a second later the door was opened by Leeteuk’s secretary who bowed immediately to her boss. A middle aged man appeared from behind it, approaching straight to where Heechul and Leeteuk were. The two vampires stood up immediately and gave a ninety degrees bow to him. After a few seconds they straightened their backs again.

Leeteuk rounded his desk to stand beside Heechul who was already to the couch to sit across the older man.

“What brings you here, uncle Jaesun?”

“What’s with that face, Jungsoo? Aren’t you glad to see me?” Jaesun said, ignoring Heechul’s question.

Leeteuk folded his arms in front of his chest and crossed his eyebrows. “It’s not like that, father. I thought you were still in Switzerland with Heechul’s father.”

Jaesun strolled to the other side of the room, “Daehyun told me Kibum is getting curious and keeps asking his brother and parents about the stimulant,” he glanced at Heechul who stared back with a blank expression. “I suppose you are expecting answers from me?”

“I thought it was just a myth,” Leeteuk said, still looking down at his father.

Jaesun strolled again, nearing the counter behind him. “The Chinese have always believed in myths.” He poured the same liquor Leeteuk was having to one of the crystals sitting on the counter. He turned around to face the two best friends and held his glass close to his mouth, slightly smelling the scent. “I wasn’t surprised at all when you told me that Zhoumi kid was asking about it.”

“Does it even exist?” Heechul asked.

“It does,” Jaesun sipped his whiskey.

Heechul was as surprised as Leeteuk. He glanced at the slightly older with his mouth opened. He then brought his attention back to the older Park as he spoke.

“And the fact that the Chinese came all the way here and ask about it, it means that it’s actually here in our territory, in our country.”

“Zhoumi also mentioned that it was a she,” Leeteuk explained. He crossed his feet as he leaned his side against the couch, bringing one of his hands behind his nape and the other in front of his chest.

“Well then a she it is,” Jaesun took another sip. “Decades ago, during the 6^th generation times, a Chinese first born vampire was gifted with a very rare ability. She was able to locate the stimulant. She kept on using her gift to search for it for years but she never found it.” He strolled to the side of the window and started observing the scenery. “I guess one of them has obtained that gift now. It is heredity after all.”

Jaesun turned around and faced his son, his eyes were carmine and his voice was with a serious tone, “Various vampires from various places will try to catch her once the news spread. It could even crack a war among us. Let’s just hope that the Chinese keep this to themselves and no other vampires would find out about this.”

“Are you trying to catch her?” Leeteuk asked his father full of sarcasm.

The old man just smiled and put the glass he was holding down at the counter. He snuggled his hand to his pocket and brought out a cigar of his own. “Let’s be honest here since you two are old enough to understand such thing. My generation is racing to find her, almost like a competition it is,” he smiled proudly.

Leeteuk found that smile kind of revolting. The idea of chasing a person and even making it a competition just seemed unacceptable for him. He was never attracted by the lure that the so called stimulant offered. It was just somehow seemed too cliché and surreal for him.

“Well, if you don’t have anything else to ask then I should excuse myself. I still have a dinner appointment to attend to with your mother,” he said after taking a brief look at his watch.

Jaesun strolled towards the door but stopped halfway and turned to his son once again, “One more thing, Jungsoo.” He paused for a while. “For all we know a stimulant is known to be a human, but there’s actually a huge possibility that it isn’t.”

Leeteuk stared at his father rather confused, “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that she could be a human but she could also be a vampire like us,” he grinned, “Keep your dongsaengs close, son, it might be one of them. You might not want them to be hunted by the others.” With that he strolled out of the office leaving the two vampires in silence.

After the door shut close, more silence followed. But it wasn’t long until Heechul got up from where he sat and went to the spot where Leeteuk’s father was last seen before disappearing after the door.

“Damn,” Heechul muttered, “That wheelchair doesn’t change him at all, huh?” he glanced at Leeteuk who was currently in deep thoughts.

“It’s sick,” Leeteuk mumbled.

“What is?”

“This whole thing,” he looked up to his friend, “What if she is one of us? I mean, it could be Sica, Chul.”

Hearing his girlfriend’s name, Heechul winced a bit. Surely he wouldn’t want Jessica to be hunted by many vampires. Especially because he knew how fragile his lover was.

“Or it could be Taeyeon.”

Leeteuk sighed, “Yeah. It could be anyone.”

---00---

The drive home was rather a complete muteness. Both Leeteuk and Heechul were drowned in their own thoughts about the previous conversation with the older Park. Leeteuk despised the whole thing. What if one of his female dongsaengs turned out to be the stimulant? The thought that other vampires would try to consume her blood for a certain power was appalling to him.

“Teuk-ah,” Heechul said while eyes were on the road. “Don’t you think it’s better to tell the others about this? Especially the girls. You heard what your father said; it could be one of them.”

Heechul was right. And still this time Leeteuk hated it. He was afraid that the other would be drowned to the idea of what the stimulant’s blood could do to them and became obsessed too like his father. But he needed them to know, at least for them to prepare if it really turned out to be one of them.

to be continued~