Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (21 page)

She stopped to stare at him agape. “S—Seriously? I mean, where? When? How?”

“I don’t remember the exact place. It was somewhere downtown.” He shrugged.
The memory was still fresh in his mind, as if it had happened yesterday.
It had been a bittersweet moment for him. “I was ready to give up then,” he went on, “thinking my
perfect catch
must be in another place. But something—I still don’t know what—brought me over to this ice cream parlor where a little girl, probably the same age as I was, stood with two cones of vanilla ice cream stuck on top of her head, like a devil’s horns.” He sniggered for a split second.

Hyeon
Jin
’s jaw dropped.
That
memory was still fresh in her mind as well.
It was the first time she had gotten a taste of bullying. She had been on her way home from school and, being clumsy, she bumped into a bunch of notorious bullies from her school. One thing led to another, and she went home that day crying like a baby, with ice cream cones on her head.

Mun Oh kindly closed her mouth for her before continuing. “Looking at that little girl crying her eyes out as those bullies laughed their heads off opened my eyes to the reality of how cruel and mean humans can be. I told myself I’d never be like my sister. I’d never be interested or even try to get close to
your kind
.
”
He grimaced. “I didn’t feel any pity for that girl; instead, I felt so pissed off at her. I’ve never felt so much hatred for someone, much less a human. Maybe because she was someone I was afraid of turning into—a pathetic and nameless loser.”

Hyeon
Jin
was biting her lower lip, which was trembling uncontrollably.

“But some inexplicably strong force inside of me yearned to put an arm around her and comfort her," said Mun Oh. "I have no idea why. In the end, that yearning forced me to come after her bullies. I found the leader, the one who stuck those cones in her head, and...” He closed his eyes for a second as though reliving the memory. “It was against my will to let her be
my first bite
; I didn’t like anything about her. But I had to... I just had to vent all the resentment I was feeling.” He bit his lip and gave a half shrug.

Hyeon
Jin
cupped a hand to her mouth as she realized something. “Did you... did you
kill her?”
Her voice sounded terrified.

He rolled his eyes at her. “No, dummy! I’m not a murderer!” He clicked his tongue. “I admit that I overdid her memory modification. It was all I could do to get back at her.”

Comprehension dawned on her face. “So, that’s why she and her family moved to another city all of a sudden? It was... You did that?”

They were near the park’s rusty gates now, which led to the street outside. Mun Oh fixed his eyes on the school gates straight ahead. “I don’t know why I did it. I was actually thinking before that, that I should just put you out of your misery and bite
you
. But...” He sighed. “I couldn’t bring myself to do it even back then.” He grabbed her by the wrist and crossed the street in one ultra-fast stride. “Now I’m kinda wondering what would’ve happened if I actually bit you right then and there.
Knowing what we know right now
.”

A gust of damp air swept over them as he pushed the school gates open and yanked her inside. She cleared her throat before speaking.

“How did you know it was me?” she asked quietly.

He let go of her hand and grinned that trademark
impish grin
of his, which never failed to make all the girls swoon.
All except for one
.

“I just know,” he answered smugly. “Race you to the rooftop!” He turned on his heels and got a head start to the high school building in front of them.

“Wha—? Hey! CHEATER!”
Hyeon
Jin
wasted no time in catching up. “You should’ve at least given me a head start, you cheating vampire!” she yelled after him. Good thing the school’s guard was nowhere in sight. She would have been in deep trouble for being in there.
But then again
, she thought, already out of breath,
being with him one last time would be worth a month’s detention.

It was the highlight of their day. Sitting side by side, with their legs crossed on the dusty floor of the school’s rooftop. Not saying a word. Just listening to each other’s breathing. Feeling each other’s presence and enjoying the quiet around them.

No stupid arguments.

No aching and miserable goodbyes.

Just the two of them under the setting sun, which cast shimmering slivers of orange all around, signaling an end, and a beginning.

•••

That night, neither of them wanted to sleep. They ate dinner at That Place and went for a walk at the famous “mini forest” at the back of the eatery. The significance of this place for both of them was a bit complex but nonetheless evident. It was where she accidentally discovered his
not-so-little secret
. If it weren’t for this particular place, maybe things wouldn't be quite the way they were now. Neither of them was sure whether they should be grateful or remorseful of that day and this place.

Fortunately, they had the clearing to themselves. There was no sign of life at the usual “make out” spots.
Hyeon
Jin
slid down underneath a wide oak tree and Mun Oh settled beside her. They just stayed quiet for a few minutes, enjoying the serene ambience and the cool night air. There had been lots of these quiet moments between them every now and then; sometimes it would take an hour or so before anyone would speak up.

“Do you ever get tired of what you do?” It was
Hyeon
Jin
who broke the silence.

Mun Oh was leaning against the tree, quite comfortably. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged, looking over at what little she could see of his handsome face. The moon was hidden in the clouds that night, as though it was sulking, fully aware of what was gonna happen the day after tomorrow. “You know. Biting people and sucking their blood,” she said in what she hoped was a casual tone.

Mun Oh didn’t seem to mind her question. “How about you? Do you ever get tired of living?”

“How does
my
living
relate to
your
way of living
?” she asked, bemused.

“Exactly,” he replied promptly.

“You know, sometimes I really wish you could talk your age so we could understand each other a
whole
lot better,” she retorted, clicking her tongue.

He snorted. “So what exactly
are
we,
baby
?” he asked, playfully stroking her back.

“Okay, I take back what I said. I really wish you could just sit there, put your lips over your head and swallow,” she snapped, hugging her legs to her chest irritably.

He laughed in a very sweet and not-so-annoying manner. “Hey, be nice. I’ll bet my lifetime savings that you are gonna miss me when I...” He stopped in mid-sentence and sniggered uncertainly. “You’re gonna miss me, right?”

She leaned against the tree as well and snuggled close to him without a word. Although there was simply nothing left to say between them, she still had something on her mind.

“Come on, you can ask me,” Mun Oh said, probably listening to her thoughts.

“Hey! I said no mind-reading!”
Hyeon
Jin
complained, pouting. “Do that again and I’m gonna kill you myself,” she threatened, squeezing his arms. She whistled before she went on. “I just wanna know… how would you know how to keep your memories while you’re under that lethargy thing when you haven’t even done that before? What if you fail? What if... instead of keeping all your memories, you end up losing everything?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to linger on the
what ifs
?”

“You don’t understand. I just wanna do something. I don’t wanna be known as 'the human girl who caused the great
Lee
Mun
Oh
’s downfall' or 'the reason why
Lee
Mun
Oh
didn’t know how to tie his shoelaces.'” She cried, obviously frustrated.

They were both silent after that outburst. He was too tired to argue, and even if their argument led them to something, it would still be for nothing because everything had already been determined. They could not change the plan at the last minute.

“You wanna play a game?” Mun Oh asked, trying to ease the tension.
Hyeon
Jin
pulled away from him, got up and started walking away. “I’m challenging you to an Of Course game,
H
yeon
Jin
,” he called after her.

She continued walking.

“We get to have three questions each and if I score a point, you take a step toward me, and vice versa. If
you
reach
me
first, you have to promise me something,” he said, and he stood up as well. “If
I
reach
you
first, then I’ll promise you something.”

She had stopped in her tracks now and slowly turned to face him.

“What do you say? Are you up for it, or are you too much of a chicken to go against the GREAT ONE, yours truly,
Lee
Mun
Oh
?” He gave an adorable toothy grin, which
Hyeon
Jin
saw for the first time, his pearly white teeth glistening in the almost dark surroundings.

She shrugged and cocked her head to the side.
Might as well give it a try
, she thought, taking a couple of steps back to where he stood. After all, the ‘Of Course’ game was another memorable thing for them.

“Fine. If it makes you happy,
Mr.
Lee
Mun
Oh
. Bring it on,” she said in a flat tone.

He put his hands together and took one step closer to her. “Okay, I’ll start then.”

She rolled her eyes. She couldn’t see why he was interested in this game right now. He had never really liked this game to begin with.

He cleared his throat and held her gaze. “You still have feelings for Park Juno.” It wasn’t a question; it was more like a statement.

She mouthed wordlessly at him, making strange signs and movements with her hands. She thought this was supposed to be for
fun
or just to kill time. If his first attack was already
THAT
serious and clear-cut, she really didn’t wanna know what would come next. When she finally got over the impact of his ‘attack,’ she realized she had lost that round, and so she reluctantly took a step forward.

He smiled arrogantly. What made it worse was the fact that if she reacted violently or accused him of reading her mind, then it was like admitting to his face that what he had just said was true.

Well, it was true... Okay, it IS true...
Hyeon
Jin
thought.
It’s not like I like Mun Oh and I still have strong feelings for Park
Juno
. I was just confused about my feelings. It’s not that easy to tuck away my feelings for Park
Juno
... After all, before Mun Oh came along, he was the only guy whom I can be myself with.
She sighed.
But it doesn’t mean anything right now. I’m starting to move on, especially after he double-dumped me...
she thought bitterly.

“Okay, my turn,” she said, ready to get her revenge. She thought for a while and then started. “You already liked me the first time you saw me, right?” Her eyes glinted malevolently. It was not a secret that they had gotten off on the wrong foot the first time they met.

“Of course.”

“What?”

“Of course,” he repeated, stroking his chin. “Weren’t you listening to my story earlier? I said I was drawn to you the first time I saw you—even when you looked like an evil ice cream cone mascot,” he explained.

“Wait! I was not referring to that! I was— in the room— my room—. That was the first time—”
Hyeon
Jin
protested, mentally cursing herself for not remembering just how smart her opponent was.

“Stop yammering. Take another step and let me finish this,” Mun Oh ordered, smirking.

Reluctantly, she took another annoyed step toward him.

“You...” he began in a low voice, folding his arms over his chest. His eyebrows formed a crease in the middle, as though deliberating whether or not he’d say his next words. “A part of you is still hoping to reconcile with... with
him
...right?”

Now that was a question. A question he wanted an answer to. He knew that he was not supposed to read her mind, but this was something that he already had a gist of even before he decided to confirm it.