Minha squealed, awaking to the sound of her alarm clock next to her bed. Today was the day she began tutoring the older Park. She had set her alarm early in order to make herself look perfect for her tutoring session because it was not a date, just business.

She made sure she had time to shower, blow dry her hair and curl it, not leaving much room for anything else. She brushed her teeth and changed into her uniform quickly, running down the stairs while fixing her tie at the same time.

Seohyun and Fei both rolled their eyes, the woman handing the girl her lunch and breakfast fruit. “Make sure she has you home before ten.”

“Umma! That’s too late! Even for studying!” Fei protested while the younger girl stuck out her tongue.

“Minha and I have already discussed this, this Hyuna girl seems like she needs a lot of help understanding the concepts and two hours once a week simply isn’t enough.” Seohyun explained to her oldest child, shooing them out the door.

Once inside of the car, Minha had a smug grin as she looked over at the driver. “Even umma likes Hyuna unnie.”

“Whatever, just be careful and if she touches you inappropriately you call me immediately, okay?” Fei voiced her concern, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Yes, unnie.” Minha looked out the window at the passing buildings. Hyuna unnie would never do that.

**

Hyuna groaned, throwing her alarm clock against the wall, the noise still blaring in her ears and a new dent in her wall. “ing damn it.”

The girl flopped herself out of bed, the hard floor the wakeup call she needed. She bolted upright remembering what day it was. She sped through her morning routine with an inhuman pace, wanting to be on time so the science teacher wouldn’t give her detention and take away from her time with Minha.

She almost forgot to take her car to pick Sungah up. She parked outside of the girl’s apartment, double parking. She used her spare key to open the door, finding Sungah enjoying a bowl of cereal and reading a newspaper. Hyuna grabbed her ear and dragged her to the door, she was released from the hold to put her shoes on.

“What’s got your in a twist?” Sungah asked the air, Hyuna was already sitting in the car waiting for her.

She locked the door behind her and jogged to the car, sliding in and closing the door. She didn’t even have her seatbelt on when Hyuna sped off towards their school.

“If I’m late then I’ll get detention and that means less time with Minha.” Hyuna finally answered as she pulled up to her usual parking spot, only the other vehicles weren’t there. 

“Well enjoy being half an hour early to school.” Sungah called after the girl who had sprinted off to her first class. The younger of the two headed off to her own class, hoping to spend some time before class to plan where exactly she would take Kyungri on their date.

As she approached her classroom she could hear two distinctly familiar voices, she stopped just outside of the door.

“You should uh come with us. Kyungjin-ssi is going to be there and she’s trying to get Soyoung unnie to go. Oh, Gain is going to be there too.” Sungah recognized the voice of her coach.

“I don’t know, I’m really busy tonight Bekah-ssi.” Her teacher, Oh Raina.

“Please?” Sungah could only assume her coach was smiling or pouting.

“Fine. But you’re helping me grade tests.” Sungah groaned, not loud enough for them to hear but still making an audible sound.

“That’s more than okay.” Sungah heard movement coming towards the door, she took several steps back making it seem like she just arrived when the door slid open, her coach walking out with a wide grin.

“Sungah, I-uh I’ll see you at practice.” Bekah awkwardly walked away, not wanting one of her athletes to see her excited about seeing the math teacher.

The younger Park hadn’t even been fazed by the woman, still upset about having a test. She entered the classroom, giving her teacher a half-hearted greeting and sulking to her desk. There were twenty minutes left until she had to face the torture of a math test. She folded her arms on her desk and rested her head on them, trying to remember math formulas.

Kyungri had completely disappeared from her mind, only reappearing when she could smell the distinct scent that belonged only to the girl. She looked up before the girl reached her, the girl’s natural glare aimed down at her.

“Sungah-ssi, about today-” Kyungri started, but Sungah cut her off.

“It’s totally okay if you want to cancel, I understand.” Sungah tried in vain to hide the hurt in her voice.

Kyungri giggled, a sound Sungah wanted to hear forever. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

“Oh, then please continue.” Sungah smiled up at her, smile widening upon hearing Kyungri’s heart rate increase slightly and seeing the slight blush on her cheeks.

“You have practice after school right?” Sungah nodded, “Well I can wait for you to finish and then we can go.”

“You can wait with Minha, she’s going with Hyuna . , I need her car.” Sungah readied herself to get up, a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

“It’s okay, we can take mine.” Kyungri sat down in the desk behind her, Gunji’s usual desk but Sungah didn’t mind in the least.

“I asked you out, I’m supposed to be the one taking you places not the other way around.” Kyungri blushed from hearing the girl’s words.

“So this is a date?” It was Sungah’s turn to blush, stuttering out a few incoherent syllables. “Then Hyorin and Minha were right.”

“S-so you’re okay with it b-being a date?” The vampire cursed herself for stuttering, but it was worth it to hear that giggle. The younger girl nodded, a soft smile on her lips. “Well don’t freak out but my umma wants me to bring you over for dinner.”

“We haven’t even been on a date and I’m meeting your parents?” The smile on Kyungri’s face put Sungah at ease.

“It’s free food, and I think the mayor is coming over tonight for dinner too. That means Kris oppa probably cooked something for her to bring.” Sungah’s mouth watered at the thought of the man’s cooking.

“Are your parents like famous?” Sungah stared blankly at the girl, taking a moment to remember that she’s new.

“My appa is the chief of police, she’s been best friends with the mayor since before I was born.” The girl finished explaining as the bell rung, signaling the start of school.

Kyungri stayed where she was, just her stare was enough for Gunji to avert her gaze and take the seat next to Areum, she wouldn’t complain about it.

When the late bell rang, Raina faced her class with a stack of papers. “Today, we’ll be taking a practice test to see where your skill level is at, that’s what will determine your seating order.”

Sungah breathed a sigh of relief, at least the test didn’t count for anything other than who she would sit next to. Most people left her alone so she didn’t mind in the least bit, she hoped that she would be put next to Kyungri, that’s all she wanted out of the test.

When she received her test, her head blanked. Math: the worst subject to blank out on because you can’t just bull it.

Sungah finished her test, handing it in and praying to all of the higher beings to let her sit next to Kyungri.

**

Hyuna stepped into the classroom thirty minutes early, the woman clearly surprised by her presence.

“What do I owe the honor of Park Hyuna being early to class?” There was no sarcasm in the woman’s voice, only genuine shock.

“Today, is a very important day sunsengnim. I can’t have detention ruining it.” A smile graced her lips, smelling the girl approaching quickly.

“I’m sorry for being late sunsengnim!” Minha shouted as she ran inside the room, resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

Soyoung looked between the two, realization dawning on her, a soft smile gracing her features. “You’re not late Minha-ssi, you’re really early.”

The girl looked up and saw that the classroom was virtually empty, Hyuna being the only other student. Her heart rate was already accelerated, hiding her nervousness. She took slow, cautionary steps to her seat next to the older girl.

“M-morning unnie.” Minha blushed from being so close to that smile.

“Morning Minha.” Hyuna was drawn away from the girl by the sound of a knock on the classroom door. A woman she had never seen before, entered the classroom.

“Soyoung-ssi.” The woman sounded a little too excited to see the teacher, something Hyuna picked up on immediately.

“Kyungjin,” She didn’t avert her attention from the papers on her desk.

“Do you have plans tonight?” That got the teacher to look up, glaring at Hyuna before whispering and nodding in the two girls’ direction.

“No, but be quiet.” Hyuna could hear them perfectly fine, but she turned her attention back to Minha who was looking at the two women curiously.

“You’re new here, I’m new here, others are new here. Bekah and I were thinking of having a little get together to start the year off. Wanna come?” Hyuna held back her snort, smiling widely and letting her body shake with laughter.

“One night with you children shouldn’t hurt.” The teacher actually smiled at Kyungjin.

“Perfect, um I’ll give you details later. I think classes start soon.” She left after that, paying no attention to the two girls.

Minha had seen movement from her side, looking over to see Hyuna shaking with silent laughter.

“Unnie?” Against her better judgment, the girl placed her hand on Hyuna’s shoulder. The shaking stopped and they both looked at each other, their faces were so close.

Hyuna’s hand reached out to brush a strand of hair away from Minha’s face, cupping her cheek before leaning in. Her eyes closed as their breath intermingled. The younger girl stopped breathing, her eyes were wide.

The bell startled the girls apart, both bright red and avoiding looking at each other. Hyuna stared at the table in front of her, wondering what had come over her and made her try to kiss the girl. She unclipped the foldable mirror from her backpack, looking at her eyes to see a small hint of dark blue in them.

She tried scooting away from Minha without being noticed. She brought her backpack to her lap, searching through the pockets trying to find one of the pasty red tablets. She found none, she checked all of the pockets twice.

“.” She swore under her breath, too quiet for anyone to hear.

She was about to stand up and run to get one from Sungah or Areum, but the bell rang. After the incident on the first day of school, the teacher forbade her from leaving the room.

The girl next to her was still blushing, more blood rushing through her arteries at a much faster pace. Hyuna’s breathing hastened as she fought her primal urges, breaking out into a cold sweat. She tried to focus on any sounds other than that of Minha’s heartbeat.

She could focus on the squeak of the whiteboard marker against the white surface, she tried taking notes but she had snapped her pencil in half with her death grip on the utensil.

Minha easily focused in on the lesson, completely oblivious to the panicking girl next to her. She took avid notes, seeing that Hyuna’s paper was blank. She took a side glance over at Hyuna, seeing the girl was hyperventilating. Her hand immediately shot to the sky.

Soyoung halted her lecture, eyes traveling to the back row to see a very pale Hyuna breathing rapidly, face covered in sweat. “Minha-ssi please take her to the nurse.”

“No!” Hyuna flinched away from Minha’s touch, not trusting herself to keep her urges at bay. “I can take myself.”

She stood up, almost toppling over from dizziness. She stumbled out of the classroom door and down the hall to her locker, screwing up the combination several times. Her vision was hazy but she was able to get the combination right, swinging the locker open and finding the box of tablets hidden in the back of the locker.

She took the box out, leaning her back against the metal and sliding down to the floor. There were only three tablets left in the box, she took all three out of their packaging and dropped them into . It took several minutes for the effects to kick in, the substitute blood circulating nutrients through her system.

Color returned to her face, her breathing evening out and strength returning to her. She rose to her feet and looked at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes the normal light grey, no hint of blue anywhere. Below the mirror was a calendar with a big red ‘x’ on today’s day’s date. She had been too excited about alone time with Minha that she had forgotten it was her hormone induced frenzy, a side effect of not claiming Minha as her own.

She would wait until lunch to bum more tablets off of Areum and Sungah. Hyuna skipped back to her classroom, bright smile on her lips. Everyone stared at her, seeing how she left and now seeing her perfectly fine. Even Soyoung was confused by the girl who took her seat next to Minha, eyes forming crescents looking at the younger girl.

“Unnie? Are you okay?” Minha whispered, she had been worried something bad had happened to Hyuna on her way to the nurse.

Hyuna received a glare from the teacher, instead of verbally responding she gave the girl the ‘ok’ sign and winked.

For once in her life, Minha wanted school to be over so she could have the chance to ask Hyuna why she almost kissed her in front of their teacher. Just the thought was enough to bring a blush to her cheeks.

The bell saved Hyuna from being around the intoxicating scent, she was out the door faster than Minha could open to speak. The girl frowned, her mind racing with negative thoughts: maybe I just imagined it, maybe she’s just naturally flirty, maybe Fei unnie was right.

**

The lunch room was crowded as usual, everyone at their respective tables. Hyuna avoided looking in Minha’s general direction, afraid of herself. She had bummed enough of the tablets from her cousin to get her by, but she still worried. The girl took as many as she could so that she could still get private tutoring from the younger.

Minha sulked, her head on the table while her friends spoke. All attention was drawn when the doors slammed open, Qri’s clique entering. Hyemi’s eyes widened in recognition upon seeing Sera who looked right at her, her eyes narrowed. “That’s her, Hyorin.”

Hyorin looked between Hyemi and the group, seeing who the girl was glaring at. She turned back to Hyemi who was still glaring, eyes following the girl to her seat. “Hyemi, you’re co-captain of glee club and you don’t know who that is?”

“What does that have to do with her being a jerk?” Hyemi shifted her gaze to Hyorin, softening but still holding that distaste.

“She’s Ailee unnie’s twin, and I heard she signed up for auditions.” Hyorin watched the girl let out a huff of frustration.

Hyemi stood up, fuming, taking a glance at Sera before storming up to Ailee. “Unnie?”

Ailee looked up, seeing a very angry looking Hyemi and out of the corner of her eyes she could see Sera, with a frown, watching them. “What’s wrong Hyemi-ah?”

Hyemi pointed a finger over at Sera, never looking directly at her. “Is that your sister, unnie?”

The older girl saw Hyemi pointing at her sister. “Yes? Is something wrong?”

“Tell her to stay away from me and that she can forget about auditions because I don’t want her anywhere near me!” Ailee frowned, taking another glance over to her still frowning sister.

“Hyemi, I’m sure she didn’t mean it, whatever she did.” Ailee tried in vain to get the girl to see reason. “Besides, you haven’t heard her sing yet.”

Hyemi let out a huff, crossing her arms and storming out towards the auditorium. Ailee felt her jacket pocket vibrate, pulling out her phone to see a message from Sera.

From Sera~

Is everything okay? She looks mad.

The girl continued to frown as she sent out her reply.

To Sera~

Whatever you did to her, I don’t think she’s going to forgive you anytime soon.

From Sera~

Where did she go? I want to make things right.

To Sera~

Auditorium, don’t tell her I told you or she’ll be mad at us both.

From Sera~

Thanks, I owe you for this.

To Sera~

Just come to auditions and I’ll consider us even.

Sera didn’t respond, instead, she dismissed herself from her friends and took off to the auditorium to talk to Hyemi.

Qri watched the scene fold out, having an idea as to what her younger cousin was up to. She was interrupted from her thoughts by a buzzing sound. She fished her phone out of her backpack, an unknown number flashing on the screen.

“Hello?” She answered.

“Jihyun unnie, meet me in the parking lot, far left corner, after practice. I’ll be waiting.” The line went dead before the girl could shout at the voice on the phone. She searched the room for the culprit, not finding her anywhere. A glare settled on her features, scaring everyone who dared look in her direction. She would put the younger girl in her place.

**

Hyemi sat at the piano on stage, playing a familiar tune, humming along. She lost herself in the notes, not hearing the door to the auditorium open and the girl joining her on stage.

What is love?

What is it that it makes even my ripped heart feel precious?

Hyemi’s concentration broke as she heard the voice behind her, not recognizing it. She looked over her shoulder and saw the girl she had been avoiding. That ache in her chest returning, the mistaken distaste.

“Did Ailee unnie not relay the message? Leave me alone!” Hyemi had the book behind her back, clutching it tightly.

“I-I didn’t know how important the notebook is to you. If I did I never would have tried, I’m really sorry. Please forgive me, I don’t want you to be mad at me.” Sera had kept her distance from the girl, sincerity laced through her words.

Hyemi had calmed measurably, relaxing her grip on the book but still keeping it behind her back. “What’s your name?”

Sera was surprised the girl didn’t know her name, but she liked having the opportunity to give the girl her name personally. “Sera.”

Hyemi nodded, rolling the name over her tongue silently before standing up. She cautiously placed the notebook on top of the piano, stepping up to Sera. “Sera-nim, apology accepted.” The girl stuck her hand out to be shaken but arms looped around her neck instead.

A soft body pressed into her and she found herself heating up. The bell signaling the end of lunch pulled them apart, Sera smiling brightly while Hyemi blushed and stared at the floor.

“I’ll see you at auditions then, Hyemi-ssi!” Sera called as she ran off to her class on the other side of the school.

A strange feeling settled in Hyemi’s stomach, making her feel queasy. She took her notebook and put it into her backpack before taking off towards her class.  

AN: slowly shall you learn more of the vampires of ery