Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (7 page)

Hyeon
Jin
was livid with fury, but she couldn't just give up yet. Not after getting humiliated in front of Park Juno.

"Of course," she said in a deadly tone. The whole room went silent at once. Everyone thought she was gonna forfeit already.
No freaking way
. She flashed a foreboding smile at Mun Oh.

"Whenever you wake up late, you don't take a shower before going to school," Mun Oh continued.

"What?" Park Juno blurted out, chuckling.

"Of course!"
H
yeon
Jin
screamed. It was true.

"Really?" Shin
Erin
piped in.

"Shut up,"
Hyeon
Jin
snapped at her. "You don't eat garlic coz you're a vampire, a bloodsucker vampire!" she said to Mun Oh, quite madly.

"Tch. Of course. I could eat garlic in front of you right now, if it makes you happy," Mun Oh replied nonchalantly. "You'd do anything just to get back together with Park Juno coz you're still madly in love with him."

Silence.
Awkward silence
.

"And that's a FACT," Mun Oh added with a smirk.

It's only a game... It's only a game... Shit! How the hell could he know something like that?
Hyeon
Jin
thought desperately.
What is he, a mind-reader?

She managed to smile nervously. "It's... it's only a game, right? I mean..." She looked around. All eyes were on her. They all looked dead serious. "I mean, whatever I say... it's just... you know... it's a freaking game! Haha... umm, right..." she stuttered stupidly.

"5... 4... 3..." Junjin started counting quietly.

"Wait... Don't count..."

"2... 2 and a half..."

"Argh! Of… course!” she muttered furiously.

"Oh..."
Kim
Junjin
, Shin Erin and Ji Sun said at the same time.

"What do you mean by 'oh?!'"
Hyeon
Jin
snapped at them, crossing her arms.

There was collective laughter. Even Park Juno laughed.

Damn. This is stupid.
Hyeon
Jin
thought.

"Okay, that's enough for now. Mun Oh won this round. Let's eat! I think the baked macaroni's ready,"
Kim
Junjin
said, walking to the kitchen. Ji Sun quickly followed him.

Hyeon
Jin
collapsed on the nearest couch, but immediately jumped up, tripped on her own foot and landed flat on her face on the carpet. Park Juno was still sitting on the same couch, fumbling with his cell phone.

"What are you doing there?" Park Juno asked indifferently, not looking at her.

"Nothing..."
Hyeon
Jin
breathed out, struggling to get to her feet.
Dammit! That was so embarrassing!
She could feel her face flush. "What..." She cleared her throat. “What are
YOU
doing here? I mean, how come you know that pest— Mun Oh?"

"He was looking for you in school."

"And…?"

Park Juno glanced at her, getting to his feet as well. "He said he was your cousin or something... So I brought him here. Well, I think he invited me here. Something like that." He started to walk towards the kitchen.

"I... what I said in the game..."
Hyeon
Jin
suddenly said, making Park Juno stop in his tracks.

She sighed but never continued.
"I know
...
"
Park Juno said over his shoulder and went on his way, leaving a confused
Hyeon
Jin
in the living room.

He knows? What the hell does he know?
She thought, staring at his back. She recalled their short-lived relationship, thinking about how different she was when they were together. She was a better person.
Still a bully, but a better person.
Park Juno was the only one who truly understood her. He was the only one who accepted her and made her feel happy. That’s why he was the only one who knew the reason behind her bullying.

"Our 100th day anniversary is
coming... you have any plans?" Park Juno asked from out of the blue.

"Oh, really? Well, yeah... sure..."
Hyeon
Jin
replied, doodling on a tissue absentmindedly.

"You mind telling me?"

Hyeon
Jin
looked up. "Huh?"

Park Juno shifted in his seat. "Perhaps you'd like to have dinner in the mountains at midnight or go skinny-dipping in broad daylight, anything you like..." he said with a hint of sarcasm.

Hyeon
Jin
sat up straight and stared at him with wide eyes.

"Do you... do you wanna break up or something...?" she croaked.

Park Juno stared out of the windows. They were having lunch at
McDonald
’s one rainy Saturday.

"This... isn't working out..." he simply said.

Hyeon
Jin
bit her lip but said nothing.

"We've been together for like, two and a half months. For some reason, I never felt like you were having fun. I mean,
you were
having fun... by yourself. It seemed like this wasn't something really important to you."

"So do you wanna break up...?"
Hyeon
Jin
asked quietly, staring at her fingers.

Park Juno gazed at her for what seemed like forever.

Just then, a crewmember at
McDonald
’s put a CD in the player just behind where they were seated. Both of them froze when they heard the song play.
Hyeon
Jin
's heart skipped. Park Juno smiled sadly. How ironic it was that the song that was playing when they first realized how important they were to each other was the same song playing at that very moment... When they had just realized how immature their relationship seemed to be.

“Let’s still be friends,”
Hyeon
Jin
mumbled, flashing a wide smile that was obviously forced.

Park Juno’s expression didn’t change. He looked at her with the same sad smile, wondering what to say, what to do, and what to think.

The song ended. Park Juno still remained silent. He wanted badly to say something, to say that it wasn’t what he wanted, to say that he just wanted her to tell him that he was still important to her. But she took it differently and it hurt him so much that she spoke those words—words that weren’t supposed to be spoken in the first place.

Hyeon
Jin
stood up and collected her things.

“I should be going now.”

Park Juno was still quiet.

She started to walk away, taking tiny steps in case he wanted to say something. But he stayed quiet.

“I’ll… see you around.”

With that, she headed outside, not daring to look back as she blinked away the hot tears. He didn’t know how shattered she was on that day. How difficult it was for her to put up her ‘I-don’t-care’ face and walk away from him like it was nothing. He was her first love and she thought she would never love the same way again. Ever.

•••

Hyeon Jin awoke with a start, as though an invisible force had shaken her. She found herself in a sitting position, breathing heavily, and cold sweat had formed on her forehead even though her room was air-conditioned. It had been two days, but she still felt somewhat affected by that stupid ‘Of Course’ game. It was as if she had completely lost track of what she was supposed to do. She had even overlooked her plan of exposing Mun Oh with Shin Erin’s help. Although the fact that her best friend never seemed to remember Mun Oh’s face or even show any signs that she liked him was more than enough evidence that her plan wasn’t going to work out. Needless to say, seeing Park Juno more often than she intended to was like scratching closed wounds and letting them bleed once more.

She looked around her. A sliver of moonlight shone through the glass window at the foot of her bed, giving off a lustrous effect to the quiet room. A movement right below her bed caught her eye, but she quickly realized it was only the sleeping pest—Mun Oh. They had a silent agreement that he would only enter the room one hour after
Hyeon
Jin
entered. That way, any unnecessary arguments would be avoided.

Slowly, she got up and carefully made her way out of the room, closing the door behind her. She headed toward the kitchen, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She pulled open the refrigerator door and searched for what her late mother would always give her whenever she couldn’t sleep: a glass of strawberry milk.

Although she was way past crying her eyes out whenever she missed her mother, she would still shed a tear every now and then, especially when she remembered the little things her mom would do for her.

Sighing, she raised the glass to her lips to drink, but almost spit it out when she saw someone watching her from the kitchen counter.

“What the hell?!” she sputtered, wiping her lips. “I almost had a heart attack! Are you trying to kill me?”

“Tempting,” Mun Oh simply said with a smirk as he walked towards her. “Strawberry milk in the middle of the night? You sure are a weird one.” He grabbed the glass and tasted it, causing
Jin
to make a face at him.

“That’s mine, you jerk. Why are YOU awake?”

“You woke me up with your crying and sleep talking.”

Hyeon
Jin
was appalled. “I was not crying and sleep talking!”

“Yes, you were.” He took another sip of the strawberry milk.

“No, I was not,”
Hyeon
Jin
said adamantly. She started to turn away from him, not wanting to admit that it was true. Her dream had been so vivid that she felt like she must have been acting it out while sleeping.

“So you still like him, huh? Even after he dumped you?” he said. “He still likes you, too,” he added with a hint of mockery.

She quickly turned to face him, forgetting that she wasn’t supposed to be excited about it.

“He does…?” she asked, her voice full of hope.

Mun Oh stared at her and then laughed out loud. “I was kidding! Who in his right mind would dump you and then take you back? That’s stupid. He’s so over you.”

Hyeon
Jin
’s reaction was far from what Mun Oh had expected. In fact, it was so random and unusual that he took a step back in complete astonishment. She slumped to the floor and started crying like a five-year-old. Although it was a silent cry, her face buried in her hands as her shoulders trembled; Mun Oh was at a loss as to what he should do. He approached her and then crouched next to her.

“Hey… ummm… I was kidding,” he started to say in a surprisingly soft voice, but then decided it wasn’t like him. He changed his tone. “I mean, what the heck are you crying for? It’s stupid! Get up, come on.”

Hyeon
Jin
didn’t budge. She continued to cry into her hands.

“Tch. Girls… I swear these mood swings shouldn’t have been invented at all. It’s stupid. Come on, get up.” This time, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up. Her hands fell limply to her side, but she kept her head down as she continued to cry.

“Bite me…” she said.

“Excuse me?”

“Bite me. Just bite me so I can forget everything. I… I just want to forget everything—everything about him… everything,” she said, her words engulfed by endless sobs.

“You’re nuts. I’m going to sleep.” He started to turn away, but
Hyeon
Jin
grabbed his hand.

“Please… just bite me. Bite me, bite me, BITE ME, BITE ME, BITE ME… bite me…” she repeated, her sobs getting louder, but her head was still down.

Afraid it might wake Ji Sun and
Kim
Junjin, he shushed her and tried to calm her down as he sat her down on the couch. He had to admit, what was unraveling right before him was something foreign and bizarre that he was having a hard time dealing with. First of all, he was so used to the arrogant ‘big feet’ snapping at him and making his life miserable that he found it strange to see her like this. Secondly, he may be the most prominent bloodsucker, but no one had really taught him how to make a girl stop crying or at least make her feel better. Whenever his sister would cry when they were young he would simply leave her alone since there was no other way for him to cope with it.

“Okay, look…” he began, taking his seat next to her. “I told you before I don’t just bite random people. I have my taste, and unfortunately for you, you’re no way near MY taste. So the best way for you to forget whatever you want to forget is...” he paused, trying to think of something. “Drink your strawberry milk and sleep,” he finished quite awkwardly.

Hyeon
Jin
continued to sob, every sob threatening to get louder. Mun Oh was trying to scan his memory for anything that would help him in this situation. As much as he hated this girl, he still didn’t like the idea of leaving her here as she bawled her eyes out. Taking a deep breath, he began to suggest random ideas, not really thinking about what was coming out of his mouth.

“Look, let’s play a game… The ‘Of Course’ game—I know you’re the queen of that game, right?” He waited for a response. Nothing. He tried again. “How about I cook something for you—anything with garlic? Or let’s watch all those vampire movies, and then read those vampire books! I’d love to do that!” he lied, quite convincingly. But still, no response. “Fine. I’ll sleep here on the couch, not in your room. I’ll go shopping with you tomorrow and I’ll even let you buy my clothes and dress me up—for heaven’s sake just STOP CRYING!” he snapped, reaching his limit.

He had no idea what just happened or what had just come out of his mouth. But somehow, the sobbing sound that was starting to irritate him slowly ceased. He looked over at
Hyeon
Jin
, who was now wiping her tears as she blinked at him with an inexplicable expression on her face.

There was something in the way she looked at him that made him uneasy.

“Don’t look at me like that. I have no idea what I just said,” Mun Oh confessed.

Although her eyes were still brimming with tears, she smiled. “But I do. I remember every word.”

Damn! What did I say? Was it the garlic? No… the vampire marathon? I should’ve just let her cry until sunrise, Mun Oh thought desperately as
Hyeon
Jin
stood up, rubbing her eyes and heading to her room.

“Wait! I was just…” He stopped as he met her gaze. Her eyes were so full of unspoken pain and sadness that even the great Mun Oh’s cold and apathetic heart ached a bit upon seeing them. He looked away and gave a half shrug before deciding to plop down on the couch and get some sleep.

After a few minutes he tried to sleep, but his mind was preoccupied with the image of those sad eyes. As much as he wanted to brush it off, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He hadn't known that the human girl he despised so much was hurting inside. She wasn't such a cold and heartless person after all.

•••

“Still no word from him?” the woman asked.

“No.”

“I wonder what’s keeping him,” the woman said again. She turned to the man opposite her. “Do you think I should—”

“NO,” the man replied even before she could finish, flipping a page of the book in his hand.

“But I think he’s getting—”

“Let him be, Min Ah.”

The woman named Min Ah crossed her arms and sighed heavily.

“He’s running out of time. You know he needs to be here for the ceremony of the Rule of Thirds. That’s in three weeks—on his birthday,” she argued.

“I’m sure he knows what he’s doing, so stop worrying,” the man replied nonchalantly, too engrossed in the book he was reading.

“
JI
HYUN
! How can you be so apathetic about our only son?”
Min Ah said, causing him to take his eyes away from the book finally.

Ji
Hyun
stood up and yawned. He was a lanky man with a handsome face and long, wavy brown hair, strands of hair gracefully falling on his dark eyes. Min Ah was a stunning lady with snow-white skin and a mane of dark hair that reached her waist. Although her eyes were as dark as Mun Oh and
Ji
Hyun
’s, it was undeniable that she was Ji Sun’s mother. They were like two peas in a pod—same face, same features; even their body size seemed to be exactly the same.

“Because
HE IS
our only son. We both know him better than anyone,”
Ji
Hyun
replied. He strode toward the door. “He might be a troublemaker, but he knows how to clean up his own mess.” He took one last look at his wife. “I’m confident that our Mun Oh can handle
everything
.”

•••

“I am NOT wearing that,” Mun Oh said adamantly. They were inside one of the clothing stores along the crowded shopping district in the city.