Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (17 page)

“My good friend, Mun Oh, has a special visitor right here...” he started to say, slurring his words.

Hyeon
Jin
wondered if he was drunk.
From drinking blood
?
No way...

“If you don’t shut your filthy mouth in the next two seconds, I swear I’m gonna do you a favor and shut it for good,” Mun Oh threatened him.

Just when
Hyeon
Jin
thought he’d finally close his big mouth,
Han
Kyung
did the unthinkable. He laughed like a maniac, that otherworldly laugh that scared the living hell out of her.

Okay, he’s either drunk or just plain insane...
she thought, still staring at her feet.

“I’d gladly shut up for my own good. But, you see, I didn’t just carry a lowly human on my back all the way here for nothing.” There was malice in his eyes as he looked from Mun Oh to
Hyeon
Jin
. “So why don’t you do us all a favor and explain to them why she’s here... why she’s so
important
to you?”

As if on cue, everyone turned around and inched closer to the platform again, all thoughts of leaving gone.

Mun Oh’s grip on
Hyeon
Jin
’s hand was now so tight that she silently whimpered in pain and tried to yank it away from him, but failed.

“Go on,
Lee
Mun
Oh. Are you scared of something? Don’t you want her to know how a mere human like her managed to make the great Lee Mun Oh’s life so freaking complicated that you were forced to run away and resort to—”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

In the blink of an eye, she was free from his grip; when she looked up, he already had
Han
Kyung
pinned to the floor.
If looks could kill...
yeah,
Han
Kyung
would probably be dead by now.

Not really keen on seeing someone murdered in front of her, she spoke up.

“Mun Oh! Don’t... please... He’s not worth it,” she said, although she’d probably kill
Han
Kyung
later herself for bringing her into this mess.

In an instant, the glazed and fiery look in his eyes vanished and he released
Han
Kyung
, who looked as though he might have wet his pants in fear. “You owe your life to this
‘filthy human’
right here, jerk,” Mun Oh said to him before stepping away.

Han
Kyung
scrambled to his feet and disappeared into the crowd of bloodsuckers.

Mun Oh looked at
Hyeon
Jin
, who looked back at him. In his eyes, she was trying to find all the answers to her questions, or at least some sort of enlightenment on the whole situation they were in right now. In her eyes, he was trying to find the strength and courage to reveal the truth—to answer all the questions running through her mind right now.

It was he who broke their intense eye contact. He took two deep breaths and faced his fellow bloodsuckers, who all looked hungry for information.

“Fine. I’ll ‘fess up.” Taking one last glance at her, he went on. “It’s now or never.”

And with that, he began to tell them everything—right from the start, in full and honest detail.
Bloodsuckers don’t lie to each other
. He told them why he needed to pay Ji Sun a visit, why he got a little detoured and had to stay longer than he planned to. How he and
Hyeon
Jin
got off on the wrong foot. How she had unintentionally found out about him being a bloodsucker. Why he didn’t bite her upon finding out that she knew his secret.

All the time that he was talking, she noticed that most of the bloodsuckers edged closer to the platform, not taking their eyes away from him as they listened intently. Some even got themselves drinks and food, as though they were watching a movie or something.

What the hell?!
Hyeon
Jin
thought, bemused. If only the situation wasn’t as grave as it is, she would’ve died laughing from the absorbed looks on their faces.

Clearly, Mun Oh wasn’t the most loved bloodsucker here. He was the epitome of someone who was famous but despised. It seemed as though half of his visitors hated his guts and enjoyed tormenting him. They all gloated at the fact that he was confessing to his
crimes
right in front of them.

“I... I have my taste for a
catch
. And it’s not her. I don’t bite just anyone, you all know that.” He paused, feeling lame for explaining such things to them. “Okay, I know I broke the law. I should’ve modified her memory. But believe me when I say how much I wanted just to bite her after seriously realizing the consequences of my actions. Whenever I got the chance to be near her, I tried my best to...
do it
.”

Hyeon
Jin
’s eyes widened in surprise. This was something new to her. Mun Oh shot an apologetic look at her before he continued.

“She didn’t know it, but I was really itching to bite her at one point. Every time I see her. Especially when she least expects it or when she’s asleep. In my defense, I did have my fair share of
attempts
.” He sighed. “But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

There was only silence until someone decided to voice the one question on everybody’s mind.

“
Why?
”

When Mun Oh didn’t answer right away,
Han
Kyung
, who was standing at the back, a good three feet away from
Ji
Hyun
, took the liberty of answering for him.

“Because he fell in love with her and he didn’t want her to forget him,” he said matter-of-factly.

The bloodsuckers gasped collectively and then began murmuring.
Hyeon
Jin
swallowed the lump in her throat as she felt heat rushing to her face.

“Well, it’s not really a crime to fall in love with a human...” a bespectacled lady on the right side of the room said.

“Sure. But he still needed to bite her and modify her memory! Falling in love with her was like the worst thing that could happen!” another lady said.

Her curiosity got the best of her, so
Hyeon
Jin
plucked up her courage and finally found her voice.

“What’s wrong with that?” she asked out loud, keeping her eyes on Mun Oh. She was afraid to look at anyone but him.

There goes the loud murmuring again.

“I...
We
shouldn’t bite someone we had or have feelings for...” Mun Oh explained, his voice somewhat restrained. He kept his eyes focused straight ahead as he spoke. “But it wouldn’t be easy, for these feelings trigger our desire to bite...”

She furrowed her brow. It was slowly making sense to her now.

“So... let me get this straight. You had to bite me because I found out about you being... uhh... what you are, but you didn’t want to because... well, you just
didn’t want to. But just when you were ready to bite me,
you fell in love with me
?” She cleared her throat. It was so embarrassing to say those last few words out loud. “So now, even if you wanted to bite me... you shouldn’t, because...?” She stared intently at the back of his head, hoping to see right through it and find all the answers.

Mun Oh, however, still chose not to look at her or even show any indication that he knew she was right behind him. He seemed to have momentarily lost his voice.

She decided to rephrase her question, getting pissed off at him for giving her the cold shoulder. “What will happen if you bite someone you
love
? What will happen if you… bite me?”

At that moment, she wanted nothing else but for him to turn around, look her in the eyes and answer her question. She wanted to hear it straight from him, not from stupid
Han
Kyung
or some random bloodsucker in that room. But he remained silent.

Luckily, someone from the crowd was kind enough to answer her.

“
Thy soul will turn into naught and drown in a dark and endless abyss. Thy physical body will perish and will cease to exist in this world,
” an old man standing next to
Ji
Hyun
said solemnly. He appeared to be the oldest bloodsucker in the room.

Hyeon
Jin
stared at him, completely dumbstruck. She was now more confused than she already had been a minute ago. Good thing
Han
Kyung
was more than happy to elaborate further.

“
In other words, you’ll die.
” He said it casually, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

It took five long seconds for those five words to sink in. When it did, she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and stared at Mun Oh for some kind of confirmation or reaction. He simply bowed his head in a somber manner.

“Why...” she asked, as the initial shock wore off. “Why didn’t you just tell me? You should’ve bitten me before... before you started to like me!” She found it hard to say what was on her mind in front of an audience.
Especially an audience of bloodsuckers.

That’s when he turned to look at her; she couldn’t quite identify the emotions behind those dark eyes.

“In case you didn’t notice, I never planned to fall in love with you. I didn’t count on that. More to the point, I didn’t realize that I was actually
in love
with you! It was a new feeling to me. I thought I was just drawn to you for some reason. So excuse me for not telling you to stay away from me right from the start because I
might
fall in love with you and your precious life would be in danger if I bit you while experiencing this silly thing that you humans call
love
.” He said it in one breath and exhaled sharply afterwards.

“Hey, I’m not the one who fell in love with me!” For want of a better comeback, she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, no matter how dimwitted it sounded.

Some bloodsuckers chuckled, but it was all too much for her. The fear and intimidation she was feeling were now far gone from her system. Replacing it were confusion, exasperation and resentment.

“Whatever! At least I’m not afraid to tell Mun Oh what an ass he is, unlike all of you, who are so terrified of this bastard even though he's much younger than all of you.”

Another collective gasp, then silence. She might’ve said too much.

“Okay, that’s it. EVERYONE OUT.” Mun Oh realized he had to step in before
Hyeon
Jin
ran her mouth again. When nobody showed any signs of movement, he stared deep into his father’s eyes, silently imploring him to help him out.

Fortunately for him,
Ji
Hyun
thought it was time for them to leave, too. “You heard the birthday boy. Time to go, everyone.” Some of the bloodsuckers glanced at him, but were reluctant to leave.

“What about the Rule of Thirds? He couldn’t hear it because Ji Sun didn’t do the Ritual, right?” a small woman with short hair said.

Maniacal laughter erupted from the back, causing almost everyone to look in that direction.
Mr.
Diversion
himself,
Han
Kyung
, was laughing his head off, holding another drink in his hand.

“Oh. I’m so sorry to interrupt this outburst. I just thought you all should know the most interesting part of the story!” he said, still chuckling uncontrollably.

Mun Oh froze.
Han
Kyung
had obviously struck a nerve, and he was about to reveal something that he wasn’t even supposed to know about in the first place. Mun Oh wondered exactly how snoopy this guy was. Everything he had said so far, right from the start, was top secret, something that only he and his parents knew about. Even
Ji
Hyun
, who was looking sideways at him, and Min Ah, who was quietly standing near the door all this time, were noticeably taken aback.

How the hell did he find out about it? What a sorry-ass, nosy loser,
Mun Oh thought, clenching his fists.

“You know what? I’ve said too much. I still want to live... so, I’m just gonna go now and leave you all to interrogate that guy right there.” He pointed at Mun Oh and winked. “But just to give you a clue, Mun Oh has a
slight idea
what a
THIRD
is...” True to his words, he was gone even before anyone could take in what he just said.

This time, it was
Ji
Hyun
and Min Ah who gasped in unison.

Just then, the door opened and in came a beautiful young lady dressed in ordinary, casual clothes. She appeared to have rushed all the way there. Min Ah, who was standing by the door, shrieked in surprise. The other bloodsuckers didn’t seem to recognize her now.