Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (22 page)

“Why is this about Park Juno? What are you trying to prove?” she said angrily.

“Answer it.”

She threw him a pained look. “I don’t want to.”

“Then take your final step forward,” he demanded, straightening up.

“Are you jealous of Park Juno?” She asked out of nowhere. It took Mun Oh by surprise, but only for a second. He shrugged off the question.

“Why should I be? He’s just a mere human.”

Hyeon
Jin
wasn’t ready to give up or admit defeat. “Because he knew me first.”

“Wrong again
.
I
knew
you
first... before him,” he corrected.

“
But I loved him first
.” She didn’t mean it. It just kinda slipped out of her mouth. That’s why she never like being pressured, because she would often say the stupidest things.

The thick clouds concealing the moon were now gone, so that the clearing was bathed in luminescent moonlight. She now saw how pale and lifeless-looking he appeared under the starless sky. She bowed her head and waited for him to say something. He did and it was far beyond what she expected.

“I know.
But I loved you more than he ever did
. More than he ever could.” He gave a forced laugh before beckoning her forward. As she did so, he reached out to grab both of her hands with his cold ones. He looked into her eyes, his expression serious.

“I won, so you have to promise me something.” The intensity of his stare almost took her breath away and left her speechless, so she could only give a weak nod. She noticed that his features were even more stunning under the bluish white moonlight and she wondered if they could just stay like this forever.

“I want you to promise me that,” he said as he tightened his grip on her hands. “No matter what happens... you will completely forget about me and your feelings for me after seven years.” She opened her mouth to argue, but his gaze silenced her. “No, don’t you dare break this promise. And don’t argue with me. I don’t know how long I’m gonna be gone from this world, but if it takes longer than seven years, you shouldn’t wait for me anymore.” He shook his head. “You need to live your life and just forget everything about me. I don’t want to keep you from enjoying your life as a human.”

She was shaking her head frantically. “No... No... I can’t promise you that. Please ask me anything but that!” She struggled to break free from his grip but it was useless. “I don’t wanna forget you! Everything you sacrificed and you fought for would be for nothing if I just erased you from my memory. Everything would be a stupid joke! I’d rather be bitten by you and have my memory modified than deny your existence of my own accord!”

But Mun Oh heard nothing of her arguments. His mind was all set. He didn’t want to take away her happiness with him. It was true that his sacrifice would be for nothing if she did do what he wanted her to do, but he was counting on a tiny ray of hope that his deep slumber would take fewer than five years. It was all he could hope for.

“
Hyeon
Jin
,” he said in a cold and domineering voice. “Promise me.”

There was nothing she could do. She gave another weak nod and simply hung onto that same hope that he’d only be in lethargy for a short time.

“I promise.”

•••

The morning dawned in eerie silence. No chirping of birds, no early morning honks from vehicles, no barking of dogs being walked by their owners, and even the sound of the newspaper delivery boy’s bicycle couldn’t be heard. The usual sounds that signal the start of a new day were not present that day.

It was as if the whole world knew what was coming and the silence was its way of sympathizing.

Back at the clearing of the mini forest at That Place,
Hyeon
Jin
slowly opened her eyes. Mun Oh was sitting right beside her while she lay there curled up on her side underneath his emerald sweater. Seeing that she was awake, he straightened up and grimaced at her.

“Morning, cheater,” he greeted her as she scrambled to sit up.

The sun was shining brightly directly above them, casting enchanting shadows all around them. She tugged at the slightly oversized sweater she was wearing over the plain powder blue sundress that Min Ah had lent her.

“What are you talking about?” she asked with a wide yawn.

“You were supposed to take a ‘quick nap,’ but you slept AND you did not wake up after I counted to a hundred. What a cheater,” he said with feigned annoyance.

After their “Of Course” game, he had suggested that they play the “100 Game.” He used to play it all the time with Ji Sun when they were younger, whenever they didn’t feel like sleeping. Ji Sun would take a quick nap while Mun Oh counted to 100. When he reached 100, it was his turn to take a nap and Ji Sun’s turn to count. They did it until sunrise.

Finally remembering it,
Hyeon
Jin
scratched her head sheepishly. “I... I’ve never played that game before and I’m not really an expert in warding off sleep.”

Mun Oh
tsk-tsked
. “Whatever. You’re really bad at any kind of game because you always try to cheat your way to victory.” He wasn’t actually mad at her for dozing off; he was just trying to piss her off. In fact, he never really woke her up when he finished counting. She appeared to be so worn out that he had let her take a well-deserved rest. Besides, it wasn’t like he needed to sleep; in a few hours, he would get more sleep than he could ask for.

“I did NOT cheat!” she argued, getting to her feet.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get you something to eat; I can smell your morning breath from here,” he said casually, getting to his feet as well.

She blushed furiously and did not say anything. They reached the still-empty eatery and
Hyeon
Jin
ordered a serving of kimchi stew and a plate of spicy rice cakes. Mun Oh simply stirred his coffee absentmindedly. He didn’t have an appetite; his insides felt hollow.

She tried to catch his attention. “Don’t you wanna eat?”

He looked up at her and gave her a lopsided smile. “Like I’m gonna need it.” His sarcasm couldn’t be helped.

“Let’s play an ‘Of Course’ game— my turn to make the rules!”
Hyeon
Jin
said through mouthfuls of rice cakes, totally ignoring his sarcastic mood. “If I score three times, you’re going to eat.”

“I’m not in the mood—”

She cut him off, sipping her strawberry shake loudly. “Are you starting to regret your reckless decision now?”

“I’m not— it’s not reckless—”

“One point for me!” she announced gleefully. “Are you scared?” she added quietly, watching him closely. She must’ve hit the jackpot, as Mun Oh pursed his lips and looked away. Taking his silence as an ‘of course,’ she roughly pushed the plate of spicy rice cakes towards him and went back to her kimchi stew.

“I don’t need to say another word.
Just eat,”
she ordered.

His arms folded over his chest in a haughty manner, and his eyes were still averted from her. He hated it when she almost always seemed to know whatever he was feeling. It was like she could read his mind, too. As he sulked silently, a painful realization overwhelmed him.

I’m not scared of what’s gonna happen...
he thought sadly.
What I’m scared of is making a mistake and losing her forever.

He might have been able to put up a brave front for everyone, especially for her, but it was all part of his guarded self. Being the conceited bloodsucker that he was, it was only natural that he let everyone hear and see what they
wanted
to. He’d rather die than let his guard down and display his weakness; it was something that was expected of him. And he was afraid of disappointing anyone.

Out of nowhere, she started prodding his face with her index finger in a very irking manner, interrupting his train of thought. His eyes met hers for a second and he saw that, despite her playful demeanor right now, she was trying to suppress all the emotions inside of her.

Maybe she also thinks I can’t do it...
he thought, slapping her finger away, but it found its way to his face again.

“I’m not gonna stop this until you finish that plate off,” she declared with a big, goofy smile, prodding his cheeks even faster.

“Dammit!” Mun Oh slapped her hand away again and reached for the chopsticks. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“So you like idiotic girls, huh?” she teased, cupping her face in her hands and staring at him.

He swallowed a piece of rice cake and narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re the
first
... girl that I liked...” he admitted, taking another bite.

She raised an eyebrow, opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again and closed it again. The young bloodsucker laughed his head off, and in a flash, the plate was empty.

“I’m done...” he said in a singsong voice, gulping down some water.

It took a moment before she found her voice again. “So... umm, what do you wanna do next?” she croaked out.

A middle-aged couple walked in and Mun Oh suddenly had an idea. He flashed that impish grin again as he started to get up. “I wanna try something I’ve never done before...” he said to her, pulling her away before she could say a word.

“You’re kidding...”
Hyeon
Jin
said, snorting.

They were standing in the middle of a not-so-crowded cinema lobby.

Mun Oh frowned at her. “Do I look like I’m in the mood to waste my time on petty jokes?”

“But...” she fought hard to keep a straight face. “You— you’ve never...?” She coughed. “I mean, you’ve never been to a movie theater—like, ever?”

“This is really not my thing, if you’re smart enough to understand what I’m talking about,” he said through gritted teeth. “This is obviously a human thing and
I’m barely human,”
he added in a quick whisper.

“I thought you watched movies?” she asked, ignoring his sarcasm yet again.

“Yeah, at home. I barely go out of the manor to do trifling things… like this,” he explained, walking over to the popcorn stand. “If you still find it hilarious, then just go away. I’ll watch this movie by myself.”

She couldn’t hold it in any longer; she burst out laughing. It was just too much for her—seeing this high and mighty bloodsucker falling in line at a popcorn stand in a movie theater. Mun Oh hissed at her and kept his distance, but she followed him.

“You know what? Now I
do
believe that you’re not a
vampire
...” she whispered to him, still sniggering uncontrollably. “You’re too melodramatic for a vampire.”

“Are you gonna watch this movie with me or are you gonna laugh your stupid head off all day?” He was getting more and more impatient with every wasted minute passing.

Sensing his irritation, she suppressed her laughter and linked arms with him, nuzzling her head close to his shoulder in an apology.

“Let’s go!” She yanked him toward the entrance. “
Antonio
Banderas
, here we come!” She ignored Mun Oh’s attempts to disengage himself from her clutch.

He chose that particular movie theater because it was the only one that showed old blockbuster movies. Today there would be a marathon of random
Hollywood
movies; the first movie was an adaptation of a novel starring
Antonio
Banderas
.

They watched the movie in silence for almost an hour until she pointed out that it was extremely boring; he contradicted her and said that she just probably didn’t understand the story because it was in a language that she could barely understand.

“I can read the subtitles!”
Hyeon
Jin
argued, staring daggers at him.

Mun Oh chewed on a piece of popcorn. “Yeah, but they’re not a hundred percent accurate. People who rely on them are dumber than the ones who actually made them.”

“Can’t you stop being your selfish and rude self for a second?”

“Nope.”

“Fine!” She threw her hands up in surrender and stood up. Mun Oh completely ignored her and concentrated on the movie. She nudged him hard on the shoulder. “Aren’t you gonna ask me where I’m going?”

He shrugged, without so much as a glance at her. “I assume you’re going to the ladies’ room. You don’t need my permission. And besides, you’re totally ruining my first movie experience. So, go away.”

She let out a breath and was about to retort when someone yelled at her to sit down. Humiliated, she crouched awkwardly, kicked his foot as hard as she could, but missed it by inches.
Hyeon
Jin
stomped away haughtily. Mun Oh merely shook his head at her before turning his attention to the movie again.

Once outside the dark cinema, she took long gulps of air to calm down before deciding to take a long walk outside. She just couldn’t understand why, even after everything that happened between them—all those mushy and sweet confessions of how much they liked each other—Mun Oh still found a way to get on her last nerve. They spent most of their time together either arguing, trying to humiliate each other, or debating about every little thing.