“How are your grades?” Chen and Kai’s father asked.

“Good,” Kai replied, “hyung is getting straight As. I passed my last math test with the highest grade in the class.”

“Good,” the werewolf across form the brothers nodded, “make any new friends?”

“A few,” Kai nodded, “Hyuk is a werewolf.”

“Good,” their father nodded again, “and the others?”

“Dear,” Kai’s mother frowned, “you shouldn’t be asking that. The boys can make friends with whoever they want.”

Chen silently thanks whatever god there was for making his step mother so kind and caring. Without her, he wouldn’t have his beloved little brother and he would be stuck in his father’s house instead of being with his friends at Dark Lake.

“They should be making werewolf friends,” their father growled slightly at his wife, “not fraternizing with shifters and fae and the like.”

“Could have sworn there wasn’t a law against being friends with shifters and fae and the like,” Chen muttered, making sure that his father didn’t hear him. If he did, it would only cause a massive argument.

--

“Why can’t you just do as you’re told,” Heesun’s mother frowned, “is it so hard to befriend a few more werewolves and a few less other creatures?”

“Yes,” Heesun frowned, “yes it is.”

“Heesun,” her father growled, “treat us with some respect. We’re your parents, you should treat us as such.”

“And you shouldn’t be trying to force me to live my life the way you want,” she shrugged, “but we can’t always get what we want.”

“Heesun,” Heesun heard Yuri’s voice enter her mind, “cut them some slack just this once, alright? Don’t start anything today. You can start a fight next time, just not today.”

Heesun frowned, but when along with what the fae had asked of her. This attempt to avoid drama was for Sori’s benefit, right? For when the council rep showed up? If it was for Sori’s sake, Heesun would bite her tongue and play nice with her parents.

Next time, though? She was going to fight them tooth and nail on everything.

--

“How’s hyung?” D.O asked his parents about his older brother.

“He’s doing well,” his mother smiled, “he’s enjoying university a lot.”

“How are your grades?” her father asked, “and what about your record? Think they’ll be letting you out any time soon?”

“My grades are good,” D.O’s smile became a bit forced, “and I don’t think they’ll be letting me out for a while. I think I’m going to end up graduating from here.”

“Well that simply will not do,” his mother frowned, “none of the good universities will take you if they see that you’ve graduated from a place like this.”

“I’ll have to talk to your principal,” his father added, “see if there’s anything we can do to get you into a normal school.”

D.O wished he could tell his parents what he was, but it wouldn’t do him any good. How do you tell your parents that your first girlfriend was really a vampire who bit you, turning you into a vampire like her? Answer: you don’t. There is no way to explain that to your family, so D.O was stuck with his parents thinking that he was just a little messed up.

“I don’t think you can do anything,” D.O tried to smile at his father, “we’re going to have to live with the fact that I’ll be graduating from here.”

“No,” his mother was quick to argue, “I’m going to go talk to Miss Park now.”

“Mother,” he pleaded, “please don’t do that. It’s fine.”

--

“Mom,” Baekhyun smiled, “this is N, Leo, Ken, Ravi, Hongbin, and Hyuk.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” his mother smiled, quickly moving to hug all of them.

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Ken said, “Baekhyun’s told me a lot about you.”

“Hopefully nothing bad,” she laughed, ruffling Baekhyun’s hair.

“Only the best things, mom,” he assured her with a playful grin.

“Good,” she glanced around, “you all don’t mind if I let my wings out, do you?”

“Not at all,” Hyuk told her, “I’m sure it’s a pain in the to keep them hidden.”

“Yes,” she smiled, taking her sweater off and undoing the bonding that kept her wings hidden, “but if it helps keep the human parents in the dark, I can’t complain.” She fixed her white T-shirt and tied her sweater around her waist, “now, why don’t you boys tell me how you’re enjoying Dark Lake so far.”

N glanced at Baekhyun, silently asking if the fallen’s mother was going to ask about his lack of aura.

“Don’t worry,” Baekhyun assured him, “I told her on the way that it bothers you, so she isn’t going to say a word. She figures you’re just a late bloomer.” N smiled before joining the conversation.

--

“I got to meet Kris,” Sooyoung smiled as she told her parents everything about her life at Dark Lake, “he’s really cool, just like you said, dad.”

“You’ve made friend with him?” her mother asked, smiling when her child nodded, “I’m happy to hear that.”

“I’m friends with Sori unni, too,” Sooyoung’s grin got even bigger, “she’s even cooler than Kris. She’s so strong, too.”

“I’m happy you’ve gotten to meet your idol, sweetie,” her father laughed, “I’m sure they love having you as a friend.”

--

Taeyang sat in silence as his father stared him down. Did his old man really think his son was a drug addict? Apparently wife number two had done a good job putting that thought in the man’s head.

“So are we going to just sit here the whole time?” the teen finally asked, “because I have a test in history that I need to study for.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not,” he argued, “you can even ask my history teacher. He’s over there by the snack table. He can even tell you about my grades if you want. I’m doing really good.”

“So this place is setting you straight, huh?” his father smirked, “happy to hear that they’re whipping you into shape. About time someone did that to you.”

“Please kill me,” Taeyang muttered, glancing around to reassure himself that he wasn’t the only one in the room wishing that the day would just end already. He heard Chen and Kai getting chewed out by their father a couple of tables away and instantly felt better.

--

“I’m really sorry,” Taeyeon bowed her head, “I shouldn’t have done what I did. I should have left before things turned into a riot. I’m so sorry that I upset you, daddy.”

After sitting through a rather painful conversation revolving around everything BUT what got her sent to Dark Lake, the nymph had finally broken. She’s always had a good relationship with her parents, but that had ended when she was arrested at an eco rally that turned more violent than intended. Her parents were so disappointed in her and that killed her.

“We know,” her mother smiled, “and we’re sorry that we took that cop’s advice and sent you here.”

“It’s not so bad,” Taeyeon shrugged, “I like it here. I’ve made a lot of friends who are like me. Good kids who just ended up in bad situations. And all the teachers are really nice and supportive.”

“Well, I’m happy to hear you’re doing fine,” her dad smiled, “but I hope that you get to come home soon.”

“Same here,” she smiled, but she only half meant it.

--

“I heard that the council was sending someone to talk to Sori,” Jessica and Krystal’s mother questioned, “what have you heard about this?”

“Not much,” the older shrugged, lying through her teth, “we aren’t that close, remember? She doesn’t tell me anything that’s important.”

“Right,” her father frowned, “we’ll just have to wait and see if anyone shows up.”

“Why on earth would they want to talk to that worthless brat?” their mother scoffed, “I thought we were done with her when the ISBIP took her.”

“It’s an image thing, dear,” their father patted the back of his wife’s hand, “the council wants everyone to see how kind they are by bringing that runt back into our society. Can’t say I see the point. Why bring trash back into your house after you’ve thrown in out.”

Krystal bit her lip, fighting the urge to yell at her parents. Jessica was in a similar state, but much better at hiding it than her little sister. Honestly, Sori was family. How could these people treat her like garbage so easily?

--

“Have you been eating?” Tao’s mother asked when the teen yawned.

“Yes, mother,” he nodded, “I just had problems getting to sleep last night.” The other vampires and I were holding ceremony to celebrate Taeyang’s first time drawing blood that went on longer then I thought. But he couldn’t tell his mother that.

Unlike D.O who’d been turned, Tao was born with the vampire gene in his DNA. Like Xiumin. Both had also had that gene activated before they reached maturity, turning them into vampires. But unlike Xiumin, Tao and his family had no idea that they had the vampire gene so they had no idea what was wrong with him after it was activated. Even now, his mother still didn’t know that her child was a vampire thank to DNA he’d gotten from his late father.

“Oh dear,” his mother frowned, “please tell me that you weren’t doing anything bad to keep you up.”

--

“Shin Sori,” an old man greeted upon exiting an expensive looking black car, “I am Lee Jiwook.”

“Hello,” she bowed in return, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Not really.

“I’m sure,” he nodded, “now take me someplace we can talk.”

“Right this way, sir,” Jihu stepped forewords, “I’m Agent Kim Jihu. I’ll be serving as your bodyguard today alongside Agent Wu Yifan.”

“I can protect myself, wolf,” Jiwook grumbled, but still followed Jihu to the cafeteria.

“I hate this guy already,” Kris muttered in Sori’s ear.

“The same,” she nodded, “but right now we have to play nice.”

“Nice, right,” the dragon smirked, “I can do nice. But I have a picture and a dart board ready for target practice once he’s gone.” Sori allowed herself a small laugh before putting her poker face back on.

A/N: next chapter: Sori's meeting with Lee Jiwook. wonder how that's gonna turn out. any idea?