It has been quite some days since Mingyu and Hwajae’s fight that night. Well Hwajae doesn’t want to call it a fight, just a small argument. But the fact that the two hasn’t exchange any words ever since, is starting to give her some problem in mind. Is he really that mad?

For that long too, Hwajae hasn’t seen Mingyu at school. No noises from the house in front of her every morning when she’s about to get to school. No random appearance of him in front of her locker. No annoying jokes he would throw to her. No nothing.

Where is Mingyu?

Now walking down alone on the crowded corridor, Hwajae starts to think about him more. Maybe this is when the soulmate bonding actually starts because somehow, Hwajae felt lost without Mingyu around. Well it’s not like she spends 24/7 with Mingyu (remembering the fact that Hansol’s in present now anyway) but as she thinks more deep about it, maybe she really was too mean to compare Hansol with him. Maybe she really was too caught up with Hansol. Maybe she really did.

As Hwajae walks blankly to her locker, she suddenly got a spark of life back as she spotted Mingyu’s gang on the end of the hallway. Hwajae might not be close to them, but she’s more than sure that they would answer some questions she would be asking soon. In a way, Mingyu’s friend would also be her friend, right?

“Hey guys” Hwajae greeted with a smile. The group then look at her, some were smiling while some keeps on their poker faces “I was just wondering.. Do you guys know where Mingyu is? I haven’t seen him lately”

“Oh, so you care about him? That’s new” Seokmin spat quitely. He looked away and Mingming can only elbowed him. This guy surely needs to keep his mouth shut for a moment.

Mingming rolled his eyes, “No. We haven’t seen him lately too”

“Oh really? Did he not say anything to you guys?” Hwajae asked.

“How should we know? You’re his soulmate. You should’ve known better about him than us” Seokmin said again which receive a real nudge on the gut “What, I was just stating the truth!”

“Don’t mind him, Hwajae sunbaenim. Seokmin hyung just don’t know how to use his mouth properly” Seungkwan said with a deathly glare at Seokmin.

“I-It’s okay.. I just thought that you guys might know something about him”

 “I’m sorry, sunbae, but we don’t” Junghyeon said.

“Oh okay.. I’ll just.. I’ll see you guys around, okay?” Hwajae said with a half-hearted smile.

“Yeah sure” Mingming said with a smile “We’re really sorry about Seokmin, really. No hard feelings, okay?”

Hwajae only nodded and smiled before turning her body around and walk away. To be honest she was really hurt by that Seokmin’s words but in a way, she knows that that’s just the truth. If there should be anyone in this world to know where Mingyu is at, then it should be Hwajae. Like it or not, she’s already declared as his soulmate and that should actually means something for her. At least, she should’ve paid more attention to him.

Don’t talk about soulmate topic just yet. In a friendship point of view, she shouldn’t have somehow replaced him as her priority with Hansol. True that Hansol needs more attention because he’s a human in a vampire teritory, but that doesn’t mean that she must spends most of her time with him. Mingyu can also be a friend for him, then why not just involve Mingyu in all of these scenarios?

Walking to her locker blankly, Hwajae didn’t realize that she actually bumps to someone and made her fell on her , “Ouch”

“I’m so sorry” the guy said and help her stands. As soon as she stood on her feet, the boy grinned at her and greeted, “You’re Hwajae, right? Mingyu’s soulmate?”

“O-Oh.. Um, yeah I am” she said with an awkward smile.

“I’m Wonwoo, Mingyu’s hyung”

“Oh! Wonwoo sunbaenim, nice to meet you” Hwajae quickly bow in respect “I’m sorry I wasn’t looking on my way. Too many things running on my head, so..”

Wonwoo chuckles, “Let me guess, when you say ‘things’ it actually means Hansol and Mingyu, am I right?”

“I-I don’t-..”

“Come on, it’s okay. I understand” Wonwoo chuckled “You should’ve feel fortunate, you know. I mean, I’m eighteen already and I haven’t find my soulmate yet. You’re sixteen and you’ve already find Mingyu! That’s a real luck you got”

Hwajae awkwardly smiled and look away, how can I feel fortunate when I’m actually growing feelings to other guy?!

“Oh um, Wonwoo-sshi, do you in any ways, know where Mingyu might probably at? I haven’t seen him lately and I don’t know where he is. Well don’t take it the wrong way, but it just feels weird to not see him around”

Wonwoo smiled as he sensed some real care on her tone, “Now that you ask, to be honest I’m not really sure where he is. I haven’t seen him too and he doesn’t reply any of my calls and texts so.. Sorry, I don’t know where he is”

“O-Oh.. Okay” Hwajae said, disappointed.

“Have you tried coming to his house, though?” Wonwoo asked “I mean, you guys live accross each other, then why don’t you just come to his house and check him out? Maybe he’s sick or something”

“Sick? Mingyu’s not the kind of person to get sick easily..” Hwajae mumbled.

Come to his house? Should she really? Coming to his house might be the most bizzare thing she would ever do in her life. Well, true that she had done it couple times when her Mom told her to give Mingyu’s Mom some cakes and stuffs, but this one is for a different purpose. Visiting his house to check on him? Should she really do it?

“Do you think I should check on him, Wonwoo-sshi?”

“Yeah sure, why not? I mean, if there should be anyone checking on his condition now, that should be you. Like it or not, you’re still his soulmate. You have the responsibility to take care of him if anything happens, right?”

Hwajae remind quiet again. Should really come? But what Wonwoo’s saying is right.. If there’s anyone who should be worrying about Mingyu, it should be her.

“Okay, I’ll visit him later”

***

When Hwajae promised to visit Mingyu, she didn’t really mention how she would visit him so instead of knocking his door and ask about his presence to his Mom or who ever would open the door, Hwajae just wait in front of her house for someone to actually knock on his door. Seeing Mingyu’s Mom or Dad sounds like a better idea than to actually see Mingyu and ask how’s he doing.

An hour passed. Two hours. Three hours. A really long wait Hwajae did till she lost count of the hours. The snack she prepared while waiting for him is already empty and she starts to feel really sleepy. Her tummy is full and the cold breeze of evening time is really driving her asleep.

Just when Hwajae was about to close her eyelids, someone actually walks to Mingyu’s yard and it make her jumped in consciousness, “Mingyu!”

The guy stopped on his track and look back. He has his massive backpack on his back and he actually got some eyebags which was really rare for vampire to have. I mean, what kind of work did he do that can get him this tired? He has the explosive power ability anyway, so what did he really do?

Running accross the street, Hwajae plastered a really shining smile and greeted him, “Hey! Where have you been? I haven’t seen you lately”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy” Mingyu said shortly.

“O-Oh.. What kind of busy, if you don’t mind me to ask?” Hwajae asked carefully. Mingyu had never snapped her with such tone and now that he’s treating her this way, she was shocked and confused on what to do.

“Just some Sire training thing. You won’t understand” he replied again.

Geez, why so cald and arrogant now, Mingyu-ah.

“Really? What did you do?” Hwajae asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Just some basic training. I told you, you won’t understand” he said “I’m really tired. I need to get in”

“Oh, okay. You really do look tired and all.. Have a good rest, okay?”

Mingyu just nodded and turn his body away. Truth to be told, Mingyu really is tired but what’s making him tired was not the Sire training. If there’s anything that can bother him like this, it would only and forever be Hwajae.

Seeing Mingyu walking away, Hwajae can’t help but to blurted her question before he actually gone from sight, “Mingyu are you mad at me?”

Mingyu stopped on his track again. He let out an audible sigh and took off his backpack, throwing it to the front door. He turned to face her and messed her hair, “Do you want the truth or not?”

“Um-..”

“Okay, truth it is” Mingyu cuts “I’m not mad. I’m just.. I don’t know. I just don’t know how to feel and react to all of these propechy thing. Me being the next sire, you as my soulmate, Hansol’s presence, everything. It’s just too much for me to handle. And Hansol being a human is actually a secret that I don’t feel like I can keep any longer”

“But you promised me that you won’t say a thing about it!”

“I know! That’s why it’s really furstrating me out!” Mingyu shouted “I wanted to help you, I really do. I can’t bear to imagine how those people would torture you if they knew that you brought a human here, but I can’t do this anymore, Hwajae-ah. This is too much for me to think about”

“Then don’t think about it! Just let me do all the work for Hansol and all you need to do is to cover your mouth shut about this secret”

“Yeah but I’m the next sire and my sire sense is starting to take over myself. I can’t let a prey like that hangs around us. What if he actually brings threat to our kind?!”

“He won’t, I promise you” Hwajae said with stern eyes “I told you, Hansol is a very nice kid. He won’t do any harm to me, or you, or the other vampires. In fact, he should’ve been the one afraid of us!”

“Yeah, well how would you deal with if he finally realizes who we are? What would you think that Hansol would do when he finally realizes that he’s living around real vampires, huh?”

Hwajae remind quiet. She look away, avoiding Mingyu’s stern stare. “Look, all I wanted to say is-..”

“I don’t think there’s anything left to say, Hwajae” Mingyu said “And I know that you don’t approve this soulmate thing so don’t worry. When I finally become the Sire, I would try to pursuade the Ministry to change our soulmate thing so you can get back to your normal life”

“What?!” Hwajae asked, wide eyed. Did he just said that he’s going to undo what the prophecy had told him?

“You heard me just right. I’ll try my best to change our destiny so don’t worry. You don’t need to-..”

“Stop it, okay!” Hwajae shouted on top of her lungs “I don’t want to hear all of these non-senses! If you’re mad at me, if you don’t like me as your soulmate, if you really have a problem with me, then I’m really sorry about it, okay?! Geez, what is wrong with you lately? Have I been that big of a burden for you?!”

“No, that’s not it! Listen to me, I-..”

“No, you’re the one who should start to listen! I’m tired from all of these running and chasing thing, okay? I’m sorry about our last argument and I’m sorry if I’ve caused you too much trouble. I understand your position for the next sire so all I ask is for you to just leave me with all of these Hansol problems and let me handle it my own way, okay?”

Mingyu looked away. This is actually not what he meant when he brought up the next-sire-problem to the surface. All he wanted to show was that he has a more important part in the Haven and all he wanted to do is to give her some impression. Doesn’t the fact that he’s going to be the next Sire and probably the youngest Sire of all time actually leave some impression on her mind?

Seriously, compare to that human who can only dance and rap, being the next Sire is obviously a lot more impressive.

Hwajae let out a sigh before continuin her words, “Mingyu, I’m really sorry about all these mess I’ve introduced to you, okay? I’m sorry that instead of being a good friend, I turned out to be the source of your frustration” she said and took his hands for assurance. It’s not that she’s trying to be clingy or anything, she doesn’t even think of anything other than her real apologize, but in a way, this skinship thing is the very first move Hwajae ever done to him.

Feeling surprised, confused, and tired, Mingyu can only stare back at her. He has no idea what to say and it’s not like he wanted to say anything anyway. His mind is all messed up and his feelings were mived all together. He just stood there, staring at the terrified yet stern eyes of hers and feel his ears to sparkle. This is the first ever skinship that’s done not because of his jokes, but because of Hwajae’s innitative.

“I just.. I want to say sorry for everything, okay?” Hwajae said “I’m really sorry about all of this things. I know that I’ve caused you much troubles now and this ‘sorry’ word won’t changes a thing but that’s the best I can do now and.. I’m sorry”

Mingyu stare deeply in her eyes and somehow melted by it. She was really showing sincerity and her eyes twinkle in hope. Not in kind of cheap puppy eyes in dramas, but pure sorry and beg of forgiveness. He looked around, trying to break down the awkwardness inside of him before sighing, “Okay”

“Oh! You’re the bestest of all the bestest, Mingyu-ah!” Hwajae said and hugged him “I assure you, right after this, there won’t be anymore problem. Well, none that I’ll cause for you but.. You know”

“Better be, or I’ll seriously kick that kid out from our Haven” Mingyu joked. He messed Hwajae’s hair and pulled her to another hug. Oh Lord, how do I miss this moment..

The two then break the hug after what feels for an eternity for the two. They’re happy about how their argument came up with in the end and of course, for the boy who’s in love with the girl, Mingyu can’t help but to grin and feel flustered in happiness.

“I think I need to get in now.. I’m super tired” Mingyu said and did some stretching “I’ll see you later?”

“Oh, yeah.. Sure” Hwajae said with a smile. Her heart is all free now that she doesn’t have anymore problems with Mingyu. But when she was about to turn around and walk to her house, a question runs across her mind, “Mingyu do you like me as a soulmate?”

Mingyu stopped on his track (again). Now why do after all of this moment when he finally feel some air to breath in, Hwajae needs to ask for the question that would obviously get him nervous to death? That’s actually a question that he himself hasn’t been able to answer. He likes her for sure. He cares for her. He definitely has some feelings for her. But he wasn’t sure whether this feeling is ilegible enough to be called as ‘love’ not just some puppy crushes.

He turned to face her. His face expression was really unreadable. His eyes were blank and basically he was showing his poker face but his body language was showing something that even Hwajae who had always been there for him for as long as she can remember, can’t understand it.

If only you know, Hwajae-ah..

[ Update of the week, yeay! So what do you guys think of this one chapter? I kinda think Hwajae and Mingyu are making a big deal out of nothing when it's clear that they actually care fo each other, but you know.. They're the only one who understands their own hearts

Anyway, for FinJee's comment, I totally agree about it! Sometimes I got the feeling of annoyance as I write this story about Mingyu's stubborness, but that's just who he is..

And for eundere, I like Mingming here, too! Which reminds me, I should've mentioned that MIngyu has his own group which consist of Wonwoo, Mingming, Seokmin and Seungkwan. Mingming just got his soulmate, Junghyeon, which eventually makes her a member of the group too.

I'm sorry about this group thing because I should've mentioned them in the first place to avoid any confussion, so I'm really sorry about this yeoreobeun

*bows ]