Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (15 page)

Mun Oh didn’t turn around to face her. Instead, he started to walk away. His nape felt damp with her tears, and somehow he knew those tears would leave an invisible stain in there.
A stain that he would love painfully. A stain that would remind him of her for as long as he lived.

After taking his tenth step away from her, he spoke without looking back at her. It was the least he could do to make her feel a bit better. It was now or never.

“If there’s one thing I’m happy about, after all the complicated shit that happened,” he paused to smile as the first, and probably the last, teardrop fell from his eyes, “…it is finding out that
you are my third
."

How much time had passed
since he left?
She didn’t know and she didn’t care. There was a huge, empty hole inside of her and the only thing that kept her standing was his last words, which were confusing, yet somewhat encouraging. She had tried her best to make him stay, even going so far as admitting her immature feelings for him. But it was fruitless. He still left.

Without even explaining anything
,
she reminded herself.

She hadn’t moved from the spot on the sidewalk in front of their house.
The spot where she had desperately clung to him
. The spot where she had watched him disappear.

Little by little, the feeling came back to her legs and she felt more worn out than ever. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves and brace herself for the looming confrontation with her father and Ji Sun. It wasn't as if she had done something wrong.

“I told him to stay, but…” she muttered under her breath.

“
But he still left, huh
?”

Her eyes automatically opened wide as an otherworldly voice spoke just right behind her left ear. She did not dare turn around, for she already knew who that voice belonged to. Her heart was now pumping loudly in her ears, which was not a good sign at all. It was during rare moments like this that she actually did stupid and irrational things.

“It’s been a while… human.”

“Ha—
Han
Jung
…?”

“It’s
HAN
KYUNG
, you stupid girl!” he snapped, quite irritated.

Hyeon
Jin
’s blood boiled and every emotion she had felt moments ago was immediately flushed out, leaving only defiance and anger. Nobody called her
stupid
, especially not some measly bloodsucker messenger who was scared of someone younger than him by a few years. She turned around and shoved him hard.

“Don’t call me stupid, you spineless bloodsucker!”

“How dare you touch me, you filthy human?” he said.

For a second, he looked as if he was ready to pounce on her, so she took a quick step back.

“What do you want?” she asked.

Han
Kyung
eased up a little and flashed his patented Cheshire cat smile, as though they were playing some sort of game and he was winning. “I think I know something you don’t.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I know nothing. But I’m not stupid,”
Hyeon
Jin
said bitterly. She began to walk toward her house, thinking it would be unwise to chitchat with this insane, nosy bloodsucker. At least, not without another bloodsucker by her side to protect her.

“You wanna know why he felt the need to leave?” His voice was getting creepier in that
“I-know-something-you-don’t”
sense. She did not look back, but she froze in her tracks. “You see, little Mun Oh is in deep shit for the first time in his life,”
Han
Kyung
went on, obviously enjoying the moment. “First, he let himself be discovered by a human, yet he did not even bother modifying her memory. I don’t know, maybe he just didn’t want to bite that human because of his stupid ‘taste’ or something.”
Hyeon
Jin
clenched her fists and rolled her eyes. “But that was at first. Halfway through their little game of
“bite-me-if-you-can,”
I think the almighty Mun Oh became fascinated with that human. He was so conceited that he didn’t realize he was falling… falling for
a HUMAN
.” The bloodsucker smirked.

She had no idea why he was telling her all of this. More to the point, she didn’t know whether she could trust his words.
What if he was just making it all up?
Trying to mess with her mind?
And it was not as if she didn’t “sense” Mun Oh’s sudden change of heart. She was not really that naïve. She knew that somehow, he felt something for her.

“So he developed these silly and immature feelings for that human… feelings that made everything
oh-so-complicated
.”
Han
Kyung
now studied her with a slightly aghast expression on his face.

She plucked up enough courage to speak to him.

“Listen,
Han
Jung
…”

“
HAN
KYUNG
!” he corrected. They were both irked now.

“Whatever. Just tell me something I don’t know,” she said bitterly. “I wouldn’t be as confused as I am right now if I didn’t know everything that you just told me, right?” She turned away. “So do me a favor: stop wasting my time and playing mind games with me.”

She was almost three steps away from him when he spoke again, this time in a dead serious tone.

“Don’t you wanna know why he
SHOULD
but
WOULDN’T
… he
COULD
but
SHOULDN’T
… he
WOULD
but
COULDN’T
…
bite you
?”

She wasn't slow, but it took a whole minute for his words to sink in. She seriously contemplated asking him to say it again, slowly, so that she’d have a better chance of comprehending it, but she didn’t want this condescending bloodsucker to think she was slow.

“You’re not making any sense,” she simply replied, continuing to walk.

“I am willing to explain, if you’d come with me to—” A loud beeping interrupted him, and
Hyeon
Jin
didn’t look back but assumed that it was an alarm or something, probably from his cell phone.

If he has one…
she thought, chuckling inwardly at the thought of a vampire using a cell phone like an ordinary human.

“Ah! It’s almost time for us to go…” he said.

That’s when she turned around to face him, quickly switching into defensive mode. She figured that by
‘time for US to go,’
he meant kidnapping her or forcing her to come with him to some god-forbidden place and probably doing horrible things to her. She wasn't about to let that happen.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said, her voice slightly trembling as she balled up her fists.

Han
Kyung
simply smiled his Cheshire cat smile. “Oh. I thought you were his girlfriend. See, you’re invited to his birthday party at the
Lee
’s manor. But if you don’t wanna come…” He shrugged. “I guess you’re really better off not knowing anything since you’re just a
mere human,
after all.”

“Wait…” she heard herself say. Her curiosity was getting the better of her. She still hadn’t figured out what his earlier words meant.
Something about the “could, would and should” thingy
. A thousand thoughts were running through her mind now. She couldn’t think straight.

“Look, I’ll make it easier for you. Just come with me. You won’t regret it.” For a moment,
Hyeon
Jin
thought she heard sadness and sincerity in his voice.

Before she knew it, she was hanging tightly onto
Han
Kyung
’s back as they sped past blurred surroundings. Although she had already experienced this before with Mun Oh, she still felt uncomfortable as the strong gust of wind painfully slapped her on the face, making it hard to breathe.

How fast are we going? And why is this taking longer?
she wondered as she tried to open her eyes wide to see where they were headed, but miserably failed.
Are we really going out of the country?

Despite the grave situation, she still found it amusing that she would get to travel to another country for free. It was definitely a first. Additionally, she was quite excited to see what Mun Oh’s hometown looked like.

“Hang on tight,”
Han
Kyung
warned. He abruptly came to a halt.
Hyeon
Jin
’s face painfully collided with his bony back, leaving a reddish bump on her forehead. He didn't seem to mind, and dusted himself off before leading her into the beautiful, dark manor in front of them. She didn’t have time to marvel at how majestic its façade was;
Han
Kyung
dragged her, quite aggressively, mumbling, “We’re late.” She couldn’t help but notice how eerily quiet it was.

Is this how they celebrate birthday parties here in Ouga-something?
she thought, still not able to pronounce or even spell out the country’s strange name.

The huge oak doors opened wide with one push from
Han
Kyung
. The moment they stepped inside, music, loud chattering and laughter suddenly erupted.
Hyeon
Jin
adjusted her eyes to the blinding lights and was just about to gasp in amazement at how huge and dazzling the place was when
Han
Kyung
dragged her like a rag doll across the lobby and toward the end of the hall, to the right, where all the sounds seemed to be coming from.

“Hey, what’s the hurry? Are you that hungry?” she yelled at his back.

They arrived at the end of the hallway and the sounds were now louder than ever.
Hyeon
Jin
giggled nervously, thinking how odd it was that bloodsuckers actually celebrated birthdays, just like ordinary humans.

“Wait!” She suddenly realized something and stopped him before he could touch the doorknob. “Is there… I mean, everyone in there is… a bloodsucker?” she asked uncertainly, as a terrifying thought overwhelmed her.

Han
Kyung
doubled up in laughter. It scared her so much that she took a couple of steps back. It was so eerie to hear his unearthly and humorless laughter. “Do you think we go around inviting humans to our gatherings and celebrations? Do we look that
friendly
to you?” he said, still laughing like a maniac.

“But… I’ll be the only human in there if ever…? It’s just that if you’re all bloodsuckers and…” Her voice was filled with fear.

He gazed at her and shrugged. “Even if you trigger some
catch sensors
, they wouldn’t dare touch you with Mun Oh in there.”

The mention of Mun Oh’s name somehow lessened the looming terror in her heart.
Han
Kyung
reached out for the doorknob again, but she swatted his hand away.

“What the heck is wrong with you, human?” the angry bloodsucker snapped at her. “I’ve been tolerating you long enough, and I swear, one more wrong move and I’m gonna—”

“Am I… Am I
really
invited to this party? Mun Oh never told me—”

“You don’t look like someone who’d care about being invited or not.”

“Hey, I’m not a party crasher! I don’t even like going to parties!”

The bloodsucker opened the door before she could stop him again. He swore this human girl was giving him a terrible headache. She was quite a handful and he felt an ounce of sympathy for Mun Oh, who had actually spent his time with her
for weeks
. He couldn’t imagine how he could’ve survived that. But he felt more pleased than ever that things were going his way now. His rival, the guy whose guts he loathed more than anything, would be so torn apart that he’d probably beg just to die mercifully at his hands. Just the thought of his reaction upon seeing his “gift” for him sent a rush of excitement throughout his body.

You are going down, Lee Mun Oh
, he gloated as he pushed the door open. In an instant, the music and chattering ceased and all eyes were on them.
Hyeon
Jin
made sure that she was right behind
Han
Kyung
so that she wouldn’t stick out in the crowd. But the silence aroused her curiosity and she peeked out from behind him. Her jaw almost dropped to the ground.

The spacious room was simply breathtaking with its high ceiling and elegant interior design. The walls were striking shades of mint green and cream blended together perfectly. Everything in the room seemed to be brand new. There was a mini-platform in the middle where a cool-looking band was playing music… just minutes before their arrival. It was as if everyone was frozen in time as they all stared at the pair who just arrived. Contrary to what
Hyeon
Jin
had assumed, there were only a couple dozen guests, including the band members. As she had expected, they were all wearing clothes that humans like her would only wear to really formal parties. The kind of party with a few distinguished and prominent guests, such as politicians or some important celebrities. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she remembered that all of them were bloodsuckers.

And they’re all looking at me. Oh, shit,
she thought, horrified.
I am so dead. They’re gonna feast on me and suck all my blood! Where is Mun Oh? I can’t see him anywhere…