Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (4 page)

A light blue sedan passed by and turned around the corner just as Mun Oh cast one thoughtful glance at the bungalow beyond the green picket fence.

It's not like I'm gonna go look for a catch... at least, not this early...
he thought.
I'll just have a little tour around this neighborhood.

With a shrug, Mun Oh started strolling down the lane, taking in every bit of his surroundings like a five-year-old on his first visit to the amusement park. As much as he hated to admit it, he was feeling a bit liberated. It wasn't like his parents or the norms of their ‘society’ had ever succeeded in holding him back from doing something he wanted to do, it was just that, for the first time in his life, he was actually doing something as worthless as strolling through an all-human neighborhood without having someone tell him off for doing so. More to the point, it was a bit relaxing, particularly after the rough night he had had.

Using his keen senses, he familiarized himself with the various kinds of humans living in each house—listening to their voices... sniffing out their fears... feeling their joys. He was quite surprised to find out that the neighborhood was actually small. He went around it twice in less than thirty minutes.
Or maybe he was just too fast. Another advantage of being a bloodsucker was his speed and agility. Bloodsuckers could walk and run ten times faster than the average human.

Aside from that, he also discovered that the neighborhood was decent and more peaceful than what he had expected. People seemed to prefer staying inside their houses instead of wandering around or gossiping with their next-door neighbors.

He rounded another corner and saw the wide-open gates leading to the main street outside. Without thinking twice, he followed that path. Within five minutes, he was standing in the middle of a road that separated an empty park from a spacious school.

Could this be... that pesky girl’s school?
he thought, a nasty smile spreading across his face.

With a smug look on his face, Mun Oh entered the school gates, passing by the snoozing, pot-bellied guard, and then made his way to the flesh-colored building on the right. He lingered by the enormous oak doors with square glass windows and closed his eyes to "feel out" the place. He could hear the various voices of teachers ranting on and on about random, mundane lessons. Mun Oh concentrated hard and picked out one particular voice, eliminating all the other voices at once. It was the voice of a man, probably in his late thirties, saying something about the early history of
Korea
involving
Japan
. His voice exuded dominance, suggesting that he was a well-built man with good posture.

Mun Oh shifted his attention to another voice. This time, it was a 40-year-old-sounding woman talking in a crisp tone about global warming. The third voice, another woman in her early 30’s, was talking lengthily about subject-verb agreement.

He was about to listen to another when he heard a distinctly familiar voice whispering in that English class. He listened intently and soon he was able to make out what the voice was saying.
Loud and clear.

"... not even handsome. So don't even bother asking what he looks like. He is what I said he is: a
PEST
."

Mun Oh gritted his teeth angrily after confirming that it was
Hyeon
Jin
's voice.
And
she was talking trash about him.

The nerve of that damn human girl!

Another voice whispered back—a sweeter voice.

"I was just curious. I mean, if he is Ji Sun’s younger brother, he can't be that bad looking. His sister's very pretty."

She was quite right. Ji Sun may not be a former beauty queen, but she was beautiful in her own right. With her luscious curves, thick hair, heart-shaped face and mesmerizing eyes, she could easily be mistaken for a celebrity.

"Duh. You've never heard of siblings who don’t look anything alike?"
Hyeon
Jin
countered. "If Ji Sun is
Beauty
, then that pest is the
BEAST
."

Mun Oh's eyes popped open in a mixture of surprise and infuriation.

BEAST? Me? A BEAST?!

The other voice giggled. "You're so mean."

"It's true. He has scruffy and smelly hair, disgustingly pockmarked skin, yellow crooked teeth, and his eyes are
red
.
Really
. Scary, huh?"
Hyeon
Jin
continued, no longer whispering.

Unable to take it anymore, he kicked the door open and stomped inside, his arms arrogantly folded across his chest. Just then, the four o'clock bell blared throughout the building, followed by the trample of students' feet pounding out of the rooms and pouring into the halls. Mun Oh decided to stop right in the middle of the locker-lined lobby, ignoring the confused and smitten stares thrown his way by passing students. The guys gave him the usual "
what-the-hell-is-he-wearing
" look of incredulity, while the girls either drooled as they stopped to stare or did a stunned double take.

He hated all the fuss and attention, thinking how pathetic humans actually were. The lobby where he stood was now crammed with students. Some of them were busy with their lockers, but most of them were girls encircling him as they cooed over him and whispered excitedly to each other.

The air was redolent of jealousy, fervent admiration, and confusion as more and more students passed Mun Oh. Some guys clutched their girlfriends tighter and closer upon seeing the magnificent chick magnet that was Mun Oh.

“
Oh, my gosh.
Who is that gorgeous guy?”
a chubby girl in braces exclaimed weakly.

“Look at his eyes, so dark and mysterious!” one petite sophomore yelled excitedly.

“Oh, and check out those thin, kissable lips!” said another.

“Underneath that tux, I bet he’s got a hot body that would put
Channing
Tatum
’s to shame!” a senior said in her sexy voice, winking at a now perplexed Mun Oh.

The young bloodsucker had no idea what these girls were gushing about. Although it sounded like heartwarming compliments, he still did not like the idea of being fawned upon, especially by humans.

Hyeon
Jin
and Shin Erin were just getting out of their classroom, after bullying one of their classmates to “lend”
Hyeon
Jin
half of his allowance, when they spotted the commotion at the far end of the lobby.

“Wonder what’s happening there…” Shin
Erin
mumbled, applying some lip gloss.

Hyeon
Jin
simply rolled her eyes and busied herself with her cell phone.

They were ten steps away from the crowd that had gathered around Mun Oh when he finally saw them. He grinned, causing a few girls right in front of him to shriek, and tried to move toward
Hyeon
Jin
. However, he realized that the girls weren’t just gonna let him go anywhere that easy. Hyeon Jin and Shin Erin were now making their way through the crowd by shoving and nudging anyone who blocked their way, not caring to even glance over at where Mun Oh was—right in the middle of the circle of fan girls.

“Did you see him smile at me? It was so much like
Brad
Pitt
!” one girl up front screamed.

Unable to think of any other way to get out of that damn circle of girls, Mun Oh took in a deep breath and called out to
Hyeon
Jin
.

“Hey, you! Hey!” he hollered at
Hyeon
Jin
. Some of the girls frantically looked behind them, searching for whomever Mun Oh was referring to.
Hyeon
Jin
didn’t seem to hear him, for she and Shin Erin were now almost at the entrance.

His patience running out, the foolish girls around him finally getting on his nerves, he let out a deep and earth-shattering yell.

“
HYEON
JIN
!”

Everyone within the vicinity was left stunned, not moving an inch or even breathing, as though a high-intensity earthquake was felt all throughout the building.

Hyeon
Jin
slowly turned around, Shin Erin following her lead as Mun Oh took tentative steps toward them. The crowd promptly parted to give way to an irritated Mun Oh, the smiles and smitten looks on the girls’ faces now turned into terrified and dumbstruck expressions.
Hyeon
Jin
almost cursed aloud in surprise as Shin Erin quickly put a hand up to her mouth in shock.

“Are you deaf? I was calling you, you idiot,” Mun Oh yelled at her. Every step he took echoed in the stunned silence.

Luckily, she was able to recover from her astonishment quickly. “What did you say, pest?”

"What seems to be the problem here?" A man's voice said from behind Mun Oh. It was the muscular history teacher from earlier. Mun Oh had been right about him; he was a strong, tough guy. He emerged from the nearest door to their left; the one with the "STAFF ROOM" sign posted on it.

He eyed every single one of them before resting his gaze on a fuming
Hyeon
Jin
.

"Are you wreaking havoc again,
Ms.
Hyeon
Jin
?" he asked in a booming voice.

Mun Oh smirked as the crowd exchanged meaningful looks.
Hyeon
Jin
glared at Mun Oh before staring straight into
Mr.
Muscle
's eyes.

"No sir. We were just having fun here," she replied through gritted teeth. She looked around at the gathered crowd. "Right, everyone?" she added in a threatening tone.

Almost everyone, even the guys, fervently nodded at once. Seemingly convinced,
Mr.
Muscle
quietly went back inside.

Shin
Erin
glared at the crowd. "What are you all waiting for? Get lost! MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, losers!"

There was a collective muttering and the trampling sound of footsteps returned, as if there was an invisible remote control turning up the volume. Most of them carefully avoided the terrifying duo near the huge doors as they made their way out of the building.

The lobby was almost empty, except for the three of them.

"So this is your school, huh?" Mun Oh said, breaking the ice. He looked around with a hint of disgust on his face. "Kinda small and dingy for a school."

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be gone by now, pest?"
Hyeon
Jin
snapped, smoke practically coming out of her nose.

Mun Oh stared at her, but then he noticed Shin Erin, who was checking herself out in a small pink mirror, and he diverted his attention to her.

"Hi there, pretty girl," he said suavely.

Shin
Erin
hastily pocketed the mirror and flashed him her cutest smile.

"Hi!" she answered sweetly.

Hyeon
Jin
nudged her best friend hard. "Don't
'Hi'
him! He's that
PEST
that I was telling you about!"

Instead of following her best friend's wishes, Shin Erin raised an eyebrow at her. "You told me he was a beast!" she said, her tone accusing. "Well, he is one hell of a
sexy beast
..." she finished, winking at Mun Oh.

He simply grinned at her and rolled his eyes at
Hyeon
Jin
. He approached them and offered his hand to a blushing Shin Erin.

"
Lee
Mun
Oh
," he said in a cavalier tone, looking like one of those 16th century Englishmen as he bent into an elegant half-bow, waiting for Shin Erin's hand.

Shin Erin blushed some more and shyly offered her hand, which Mun Oh carefully received in his before planting a gentle, spine-tingling kiss on it.

The blushing Shin Erin let out a suppressed shriek, while
Hyeon
Jin
did a humorous impression of vomiting.

“Oh! I’m Shin
Erin
… Nice to meet you,” she said, excitedly caressing the hand that Mun Oh kissed.

“I didn’t realize someone as beautiful as you would be studying in this dingy school,” Mun Oh remarked.

Hyeon
Jin
stepped in between them, sensing where their conversation was going.

“YOU! You
slimy pest!
Stay away from my best friend.”

Mun Oh acted surprised, swiftly moving Hyeon Jin’s face out of the way to get a glimpse of a giggling Shin Erin before speaking to her.

“You’re
actually
best of friends with this… ugly, big footed girl?” he asked incredulously.