Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (16 page)

She was starting to think that it was a bad idea to come here.
Actually, it was a bad idea to trust this jerk in the first place.
She hastily hid her head behind
Han
Kyung
again and stared in horror as he started moving forward, leaving her behind with absolutely no cover. He stopped in the middle of the room and cleared his throat.

“Where’s the celebrant?” he asked, looking around. Everyone turned their heads to look toward the left side of the room, where the food and drinks were located. And there he was in his usual tuxedo, getting himself a glass of red wine. But it could have been blood, for all
Hyeon
Jin
cared. He seemed engrossed in getting the drink, oblivious to his surroundings.

“Happy birthday,
Lee
Mun
Oh
!”
Han
Kyung
yelled. Mun Oh must have recognized his voice, which was why he had never bothered to even look at him. He simply sipped at his drink.
Han
Kyung
didn’t like being ignored, especially by his self-proclaimed rival. “Don’t you wanna see my GIFT for you?” he yelled, eyeing the human girl at the door. Mun Oh simply gulped down his drink.

Hyeon
Jin
thought that now was the best time to run away. She really shouldn’t have come here. But she had to thank
Han
Kyung
for that awesome diversion. Slowly, she turned on the spot and stood on tiptoe, ready to make her great escape.

“HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING, HYEON
JIN
?!”
The thunderous voice glued her to the spot.
Han
Kyung
sure knew how to create a diversion.

That got Mun Oh’s attention. He dropped the wine glass and everyone stared at him as he turned in the direction of the door, surprise written all over his handsome face.

Before anyone could blink, move a muscle or even breathe, Mun Oh was already beside a stunned
Hyeon
Jin
. In one swift move, they were gone from the party.

“I told you not to do that, damn—” Hyeon Jin blurted out as she found herself standing inside a luxurious room so big that she could probably fit her own bedroom inside it and still have some free space left. Before she could continue cussing at Mun Oh, however, he grabbed her by the waist and almost squeezed the air out of her with what was supposed to be a warm hug. They stood like that for a minute or so before she spoke in a small voice.

“Mun Oh…?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re kinda… squeezing me to death…” she complained.

“Oh. Umm, sorry…” he mumbled releasing her at once and taking a step back. As she looked up and stared deep into his eyes, she couldn’t help but feel guilty for some reason. The confusion on his face was too much for her to handle.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He continued to stare at her with the same expression before exploding. “What are you doing here?!” he said, yelling unnecessarily and making her jump back in surprise. “You’re not supposed to be here!" He looked away before muttering, "You’re just gonna make it worse…”

“What are you talking about?” Hyeon
Jin
asked, concerned about him.

“Did you miss me so much that you had to follow me all the way here? That’s pathetic!” He scoffed at her. “You just ruined our little 'goodbye' moment back there! Damn it. I thought I made it clear that I needed to get away from you! Are you really that stupid?”

He didn’t care that his words were stabbing at her like knives. All he wanted was
Hyeon
Jin
to realize that what they had was never going to work out. Not in a million years. She wasn’t supposed to show up here, especially not right now. It wasn’t easy for him to look her in the eyes and play it cool when the mere sight of her numbed his mind and took his breath away.

“Things are complicated enough without you dragging your big feet here,” he added, hoping she’d just leave in total annoyance.

Hyeon
Jin
was officially ticked off. “What did you say,
PEST
?!”

“Who told you to come here, anyway? You’re not even invited to my party,” Mun Oh said, and he clicked his tongue with an air of irritation.

“Why, you—”

“
Of course she is invited
,”
a third voice said.

She spun around to look for the source of the voice, but Mun Oh already knew whom that voice belonged to. Instinctively, he stepped in front of
Hyeon
Jin
and held out a hand.

“I invited her,”
Ji
Hyun
said as he stepped out of the shadowy corner of the room.

“Dad…” Mun Oh said through gritted teeth. “Why are you doing this?”

“Don’t bother me with such stupid questions, son. You brought this upon yourself.”

“I told you I made the decision myself. Why can’t you leave her out of this?” Mun Oh’s voice was strong and determined, yet pleading.

“No way am I gonna allow you to do that, young man.” His tone made it clear that further arguments were not necessary at this point. He shot a wary glance at
Hyeon
Jin
. “Now why don’t you bring your
special guest
downstairs so that you can properly introduce her to your visitors?” With one last icy look at the pair of them, he disappeared, leaving Mun Oh no choice but to follow his father’s orders.

That’s when she fully understood what he had been trying to say for the last minute or so. It had been a mistake to come here.
A big mistake
. That’s why she felt so guilty by merely looking at the confused and worried expression on his face.

Mun Oh was now starting to walk toward the widely opened door, one hand in his pocket, the other hand scratching his head.

“Wait!”

He stopped but didn’t bother looking back. “What?”

“I just wanted to see you. I’m sorry if... if I caused you any trouble just by being here. I can leave if you—”

“Too late for that,” he said.

“But...” She bit her lip as a pang of guilt and fear swept over her. “Are those guys gonna drink my blood? Am I gonna be like... a sacrifice or something?” Her voice trembled with every word.

Mun Oh turned his head to stare at her as though seeing her for the first time. “You’re one hell of a crazy human being, you know that?” He rolled his eyes. “We’re not bloody monsters! Besides, I wouldn’t even dare bite you. Why would they?” With that, he was back to being Mun Oh,
The Pest
. He smirked and began to walk away.

Hyeon
Jin
gritted her teeth and clenched her fist in fury.
That twerp! One minute he was hugging me, getting all emotional, and now he’s making fun of me!
I really shouldn’t have come here!
She reluctantly followed him out of the room. He was now descending the majestic marble staircase.
I am so gonna kill that bastard freak
Han
Kyung
for tricking me into coming here! Oh, he is so gonna get it! I’m gonna mutilate him—

“Hey! Stop cursing
Han
Kyung
in your mind, stupid. He can hear your thoughts, too,” Mun Oh warned without looking back. “And so can everyone in that room.”

She froze in mid-step. “R-Really?”

“Yeah. So, my advice? Stop thinking. Not that it’s gonna be hard to do for someone like you who barely thinks before she does something,” he jeered. “You’re such a waste of brain cells,” he added as they stepped into the hallway leading to the party room.

“
HEY!
LEE
MUN
OH!
You have a death wish?! You want me to kick your—” Upon seeing the figure standing by the door, she stopped in mid-sentence. It was a stunningly gorgeous woman, probably in her early thirties, wearing an elegant black gown. Her long, silky, dark hair fell beautifully to her waist. She stared at her in mixed awe and astonishment.

She looks just like...

“Mun Oh... I just want you to know that I didn’t have a say in this,” she said to him, deliberately ignoring
Hyeon
Jin
. “Your father... I told him not to invite
her
. But now that she’s here...” She threw a quick wary glance at
Hyeon
Jin
before turning back to Mun Oh. “It’s not too late, Mun Oh. Don’t do this to yourself.”

Hyeon
Jin
was getting more and more confused by the minute. Her words were so vague, yet they made her feel curious.

Ignoring his mother, Mun Oh seized
Hyeon
Jin
’s hand and pushed open the door. “I’m going to deal with this my own way. Don’t tell me what to do,” he snapped at her before entering the room with a perplexed
Hyeon
Jin
in tow.

Nobody seemed to notice their arrival. Everyone was too busy eating, chatting and dancing along to the mellow music provided by the band in the middle of the room.
Han
Kyung
was nowhere in sight, but Hyeon
Jin
quickly spotted the handsome man who Mun Oh had called “Dad” a while ago. He was in a group of middle-aged people, clearly having a serious conversation.

Although nobody seemed to pay any attention to them as they made their way across the room, she still felt that strange sensation of being watched by a hundred pairs of eyes. Remembering Mun Oh’s words, she tried her best not to think about the terrifying situation she was in. But it was not easy to free her mind of horrible thoughts when she was surrounded by a whole clan of bloodsuckers.

“Stop thinking, you big-footed girl. And don’t speak unless I tell you to do so, understand?” he warned her again, squeezing her hand tightly. “If you do anything stupid, they’ll eat you alive.”

“
Oh my god, are you fucking serious?!
” she blurted out in utter shock. Her voice came out a little too high-pitched and loud that a few of the bloodsuckers around them stopped dancing and glared at her. She shivered as a spine-chilling air engulfed her body.

Jesus Christ
! Their eyes are red! Shit!
She thought, panicking.
Now I’m so gonna be dead—for real!

They reached the little platform in the middle of the room and Mun Oh practically dragged her onto it. The band stopped playing, causing more than half of the room to turn and look in their direction. Like a chain reaction, barely ten seconds passed before all eyes were on them.

After getting everybody’s attention, Mun Oh grabbed a microphone. Beside him,
Hyeon
Jin
was restless and close to freaking out. She had never felt so intimidated before in her entire life. Usually, she was the one doing the intimidating.

“Everyone, thanks for coming to my party. I appreciate it,” Mun Oh said casually. He took a deep breath and glanced at someone in the room before continuing. “Unfortunately, I have more important matters to attend to, so I’m ending this little party right now.”

There was a pause as everybody digested what he just said. After a few seconds, murmuring ensued.

“He’s ending the party?”

“How disrespectful!”

“Still, the arrogant boy that he is—”

“But isn’t he supposed to hear the Rule of Thirds first?”

“And who is that lame-looking human girl?”

“Yeah, what is
she
doing here?”

Hyeon
Jin
bowed her head so low she felt like her neck was bound to snap. She realized how she must’ve looked next to the powerful and refined bloodsuckers. Her school uniform was a bit dirty from all the dust and sweat of the whole day, her dark hair was flying in all directions, her face was probably stained with dried tears and her eyes were a bit puffy.

Mun Oh cleared his throat loudly over the microphone and the murmuring ceased at once. It amazed
Hyeon
Jin
how a young guy like him could have so much control and power over these bloodsuckers, who were considerably older than him.

“I suggest you all
RESPECT
my decision,” he said in an
“I’m-not-kidding”
tone. “After all, it is
MY
party, right?”

Being in one of the oldest and most prominent clans really helped during times like this. The crowd of bloodsuckers gradually dispersed, albeit reluctantly, muttering amongst themselves on the way to the door. Some were already getting ready to leave when a familiar voice yelled at the top of his lungs.

“
WHERE ARE YOU ALL GOING?! The party just started
!”

Everyone turned to look at
Han
Kyung
, who was standing in the far corner of the room. He sipped at a glass of the red liquid that Hyeon Jin assumed was blood, and his Cheshire cat smile was so wide that he looked a bit insane. Nobody moved. They all waited for him to say more, but he simply sipped at his drink and smiled at everyone, particularly at Mun Oh. After a minute of his attention-seeking act, he finally walked over to the platform and grabbed the microphone from Mun Oh’s hand.