One day in class, while everyone is silently whispering as they write notes, something happens to Vera. While the brunette writes her notes down silently, she ponders a thought that has been worrying her for awhile. Am I really that negative? Thoughts swarm in her mind of all of her previous conversations with friends, family, and most importantly, her boyfriend/best friend, Taemin. As she writes her notes, finally concentrated on working, the class abruptly bursts into talking; so loud Vera could hear 3 conversations at once. Sighing, she continues to take notes when she feels lightheaded. Clutching her head in her hands, Vera tries to block out the unavoidable chatter. She rubs her eyes and tries to refocus, but notices everything’s blurring into each other. As the class’ noise and chatter doubles, the girl blacks out; her head hitting the desk with a thud.

A wet cloth is rested on her hot forehead, waking the incapacitated girl from her slumber. “What?” she asks, rising up from her bed.

“Vera~” Chaerin, the one who was currently nursing her, runs up to hug her friend. “You’re awake!” she says, a sunny smile brightening her face.

“Where am I?” Vera asks, looking at the white sterile room from over her friend’s shoulder. There was a small rectangular window across from her cot that let soft sunshine into the otherwise dysmal room.

“You’re in the infirmary,” she says, her happy tone dropping slightly.

“Why?” the younger girl racks her mind for anything that could shed some light, but nothing comes to her. “I’m supposed to be in Chemistry class.”

“You...fainted,” and with that, Chaerin removes herself from Vera and starts to sit down.

“Oh,” Vera responds, her shaped shaped in a small circle as she lays down again.

“Are you ok-?” her friend starts, when someone knocks on the door.

“Who’s that?” Vera asks, calmly pulling the sheets up to her neck.

“Taemin,” she says, as he walks in, a hand holding onto the knob.

“No~” Vera says, immediately pushing the sheets off and starting to run out the door. Her efforts are in vain, because the second her feet touch the floor, her knees give out, sending her sprawled out on the cold floor.

Taemin and Chaerin dash towards her; Taemin a second earlier. “Get the nurse,” he says, his eyes on Vera as he rests a hand on her bare arm.

Not wanting to get in his way, Chaerin rushes out.

“What happened?” he asks with a soft, but slightly accusatory tone.

“Apparently, I fainted,” she recalls, her voice completely void of sarcasm.

“No, I mean, why were you running away from me?”

During this conversation,  she struggled to get up, to her elbows at least. But the second Vera notices how he’s looking at her, she stops. “I wasn’t running away from you; I was running towards you,” she lies, her voice soft.

“Vera, I saw your eyes. You were running away from me.”

Stupefied, she just stays silent, knowing there is no way she can effectively lie to him. Taemin puts an arm under her knees and neck, carrying her back onto the bed, and Vera just sighs, knowing she’s lost the battle.

After retucking her in, the vampire sighs as well. “What?”

“I can’t tell you. Because if I tell you, you’re gonna try to make me feel better. But that can’t work now.”

“But I’m supposed to make you feel better,” he says, sitting beside her, on an unoccupied part of the bed.

“But that’s all you do. I never make you feel better. I just make you feel worse. And I feel bad about that.”

He sighs. “But you do make me happy.”

Vera sits up, the blankets Taemin painstakingly arranged around her, now flooding her waist. “How? I’m just negative all the time. You need someone more positive. Maybe someone more like you.”

With a clenched jaw, the vampire lays his eyes on her. “Someone like who?”

“Chang-”

And he stands up all of a sudden. Without a word, Taemin walks out of the room without looking back. He didn’t look mad, but he sure as heck didn’t look happy.

Vera just lays down again and lets the feeling of loneliness wash over her as she pulls the warm, but thin sheets over her head. Just as she closes her eyes to try to fall asleep and let everything pass, she hears someone yelling.

“Taemin!” Angel yells, as the door opens, letting a fast paced Taemin in. He walks towards Vera and the cot and picks her up, in her confusion, she had pulled the sheets back down. Before Angel can reach the room, the nurse following her, the two have disappeared. “Did they just...disappear?” Angel asks herself, confused, as she gapes at the empty room.

The couple reappears in Vera’s room and Taemin drops her, none too gently, onto her bed. When she first lands on the firm mattress, she bounces lightly, but stops over time. Adjusting her posture, she ignores the stabbing pain in her temples and offers him a small smile.

“Why would you think I’d like Changmi?”

“...she’s a vampire, like you...and she’s somewhat close to you.”

“I never liked her, though.”

“Taemin...did you like anyone?” Vera asks, innocently, though it comes off as harsh.

“...Before you? Not really.”

A light blush appears on her face, but it quickly fades. In that moment, though, Taemin quickly notices it and smiles to himself. “Why not?” Vera hides her face from him.

“Because you’re cute. Even when you don’t try to be,” he says, jumping onto the bed, and starting towards a hiding Vera.

“No I’m not,” she says, cowering as she continues to hide. As he starts to get closer, Vera daringly lifts her head up and stretches her arms out towards him. “Get back! Or else!”

“Or else what?” The vampire teleports so that he’s now on the bed behind her.

“No~” she half-jokingly tries to get out his grasp, but feels weak again.

“Just stay with me for a bit,” Taemin says, seriously, as he pulls her back towards him, so her head rests on his chest.

“Fine~” she exhales and lets her eyelids close, embracing the sleep that had been waiting for her.

“Sleep tight, jagiya,” he rubs her hair as she falls asleep and only gets up once he knows she’s asleep. “Bye bye,” he waves and starts to walk out when she responds.

“Bye Taemin~” the sleeping girl murmurs as she snuggles with her stuffed animal.

Taemin laughs quietly to himself and closes the door behind him. He exhales and walks down the stairs, his hands brushing the smooth wood of the banisters casually. Just as the vampire starts to open the front door to leave, a dagger appears, only barely missing his left ear.

“What did I tell you about staying away from my daughter?” a gruff voice asks, cutting through the peaceful silence.

Slowly, Taemin turns around the face the vampire hunter. Staring him down with unforgiving eyes, the vampire opens his mouth to talk. “What makes you think I’m a threat to her?”

“You’re a vampire; she’s a human. How else would you be a threat to her?”

“I love her and I’ll never do anything to hurt her!”

The hunter scoffs. “Those words might convince her, but there’s no way they’ll convince me. How am I supposed to be a 293 year old vampire can control himself in front of someone like her. With her blood type,” he glares at the vampire, incredulous.

“I’ve known her for a year now and have been able to control myself. What other proof do I need?”

“You know, I really don’t like your kind. While every other boy wants something from her, you want the most important thing: her life. Why can’t you-”

“I don’t want her blood! I don’t even want to change her! I just want her to be by my side and for me to be by hers!”

Disgusted by the sudden outburst of emotions, the vampire hunter takes his sword and s it into Taemin’s sternum, pushing it all the way through. As Taemin’s eyes bulge and he struggles to breathe, the man just wipes his bloodied hands onto his hands as he takes the sword out. “Too bad I can’t let that happen. Bye bye vampire boy.”