𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟

-나는 그들의 것, 그들은 내 꺼야-

about a week has passed since i went out with wonwoo. it was a strange experience overall, he was so attentive and even kind, it's something i've never truly seen much of. but what he said at the end of the day shook me.

i was supposed to believe that we were moving so suddenly because some old vampire wanted to meet me and because he had found where we lived. but why would he ever want to meet me? the only special thing about me is that i was raised by thirteen men and that they were supernatural. other than that, i'm just a regular girl.

a simple human girl.

what could he possibly want with me?

i was in my room watching a french animated series. i had gotten to the fourth season so it's safe to say i was invested in the show by now.

i was at the episode where the supposed antagonist was revealed to be the older form of the protagonist and the love interest of the protagonist had just kissed him. (a/n btw the show is named wakfu, it's actually really good and i highly recommend it)

"what the heck" i muttered as i looked at the laptop screen. "i thought he was the bad guy" i narrowed my eyes.

i was upstairs in my bedroom, invested in the series when i heard the opening and closing of the front door a floor below me. my head turned to my bedroom door, "are the guys back already?"

they told me that they were going to go out for a bit, that i shouldn't leave the house. i was left alone with somi to take care of me. they didn't say much other than that

i paused the laptop and stood up from my bed, hoping to welcome them back home but i was stopped the moment i stepped outside my room.

somi appeared before me, "hey unnie" i greeted the older woman, "are they already back?" i started walking a little forward. "ms. areum, i've been instructed to keep you from going downstairs"

"why?" i tried to look down the steps where the stairs led to the living-room to see why. "mr. seungcheol simply said that if you were to come out of your room that i should instruct you to go back inside"

"he didn't say why?" i furrowed my eyes slightly, confused at the situation before me. is something happening?

"all i know is that a man arrived with the others and that i'm not to let you out of your room" she bowed at me.

"okay, i'll stay in my room. but who is the man?" i pulled her into my bedroom and closed the door. "they called him taemin, that is all i know."

"taemin?" i repeated to myself.

over the years, since i moved here to france, somi has become someone that i look at as a sister. she always takes care of me and sometimes i help her with the chores of the house, like cleaning and on rare occasions making dinner when joshua requests for her to make it. i've always tried to get her to be informal with me, but she has been consistent in called me ms. areum, instead of just areum.

after a few weeks of living in france i started calling her unnie. it isn't a typical thing to call someone in france, but since she herself was korean she understood what i meant.

when we moved here the guys decided that they would start speaking mostly in french so that i could get used to the language, but somi has always spoken to me in korean, which i much appreciate seeing as after a year or two i started losing it.

🌷

-6:00 pm-

after spending the entire afternoon locked away in my room, i started getting restless. somi wouldn't let me out and it was now almost dinner time, meaning i was starving. but my anxiety wouldn't let me eat either. the presence of that man in the house made me anxious and i was worried that he might be the man that wants to meet me.

growl~

my stomach whined loudly into the silent room. "i'm hungry" i mumbled, "i could really do with some pork belly right now" i debated out loud if i should risk it and go to the kitchen where the leftover food was.

"screw it, i'm too hungry to wait until that man is gone" i stood up and walked to my door, opening it as silently as i could, hoping somi wasn't near to see what i was doing. my hunger was greater than my anxiety at the moment.

i walked down the steps on tippy toes and turned a corner to see the living room. all thirteen of them were there, they were discussing some event they would go to, saying that i can't go with them.

but, why?

where are they even going?

i furrowed my brows as i eavesdropped on their conversation. but that's when i saw him.

he was sitting on one of the loveseats across from jeonghan, mingyu and seungcheol. he looked rather annoyed at the discussion that was happening. "he wants her to go, so she is attending" he said to them. "no, she won't" seungcheol repeated. they all looked irritated at all the back and forth of the conversation.

is this what they have been discussing for hours?

"why don't we ask her?" he suddenly said, turning to me like he knew i was eavesdropping the entire time.

he stood up, acting as if he owned the room, and from the way he did, he might as well. he held eye contact with me as he walked forward, while i stumbled backward onto my bum.

"areum, go to your room" wonwoo spoke up as he stood from his chair.

i finally found the strength to get up from my bum and stood up. seungcheol had stood up and grabbed taemin by his arm, "taemin, step away from her" he said between his teeth.

"tell me dear, would you-"

"taemin!" jeonghan yelled at him.

"i-i was just coming down here t-to get something to eat" i managed to stutter out. i looked at taemin, he spoke with charisma like he knows how to speak to people and how to get what he wants, but there was something about his eyes. they were blood-red but there was something behind them, like a hunger for something.

"areum" chan walked towards me with seokmin behind him. i looked over their shoulders, seungcheol was still holding onto taemin's arm but they were discussing something in a hushed voice, they were speaking so low i couldn't hear what they were saying.

but i could hear one thing, "or you bring her, or kai will come here himself" i could see the irritation in seungcheol's eyes. he looked away and took a deep sigh. before i could hear his response seokmin dragged me to the kitchen with chan following behind us.

"chan, what does that man want?" i tried to turn to ask him. "don't worry about it areum, you'll find out in time"

seokmin sat me down on one of the stools under the kitchen island and placed a plate in front of me. "what were you guys discussing?" i kept asking, looking at both of them, hoping to get an answer from them.

they both looked away from me. "serve her something to eat" chan said to seokmin.

"look" he sat down next to me, "stop asking questions and just eat, okay?" he placed a hand on my shoulder.

they were acting differently from what i usually see. they seemed tense and almost afraid, maybe even a little guilty. but why?

who was this man and what did he want that had them acting like this?

🌷

-december 24th 10:00pm-

"thank god christmas eve is already here" i sat down next to jeonghan.

christmas had always been my favorite holiday, at least it was when all of us were together. on christmas eve all of us would gather in the living room and watch movies or talk about random things. even seungcheol and wonwoo would be there to celebrate. it was always heart-warming to see all of them enjoying themselves.

after my encounter with taemin, i was left with a bittersweet feeling inside of me. i was glad he was gone but at the same time, i knew that wouldn't be the last time i would speak with him. but that happened a few weeks ago so that feelings had gone away a bit, but it was still lingering in the back of my mind, and the guys didn't seem to forget either. they were all still rather tense about what had happened.

i was also too afraid to ask anything.

"jeonghan, can i have a sip of your wine?" i leaned a little closer to him. we were all gathered in the living room around the tv. there was a movie playing but none of us were watching it. this was the only time since the day taemin came that they were all calm, but there was something in the background. like a looming feeling.

he chuckled at my request, "no."

"why?" i pouted in a playful way. "c'mon i'm almost an adult" i tapped him.

"that's not wine" seungkwan said with a strange expression and hiding behind his glass of eggnog, trying to hold a little laughter.

"oh- oh!" i leaned away from him, "never mind. you can enjoy your- your glass" i looked down at the glass of apple juice in my hands with a sheepish expression on my face. a breathy laugh escaped jeonghan at my reaction.

i looked around the room to see all of them with a smile on their faces, some trying to hide the smile and others having no shame and laughing at my slip up; like jeonghan and jihoon.

but there was one of them with an empty expression on his face.

seungcheol held a glass of wine in front of him, staring at it as if it were the most interesting thing in the room.

"you can have a sip of my drink areum" jihoon offered, sitting down next to me. but before he handed me the drink, we both turned to look at joshua, hoping to see that he would allow us. "right, joshua?"

"only a sip" he lifted a finger from the glass he was holding, looking at us with a hint of disapproval.

"here" jihoon turned back to me, placing the cup of wine in my hand, and teaching me how to properly hold it. "like this" he fixed my hand.

"now drink" he urged me. i chuckled a little before bringing the cup to my lips. i drank a sip of the warm liquid and made a disgusted face afterward. "ew" i coughed and they all chuckled.

before tonight i had never taken a drink of alcohol, they would never allow such a thing.

"do you like it?" he asked me with a chuckle.

"no" i sheepishly answered.

i looked at vernon to see him laughing with a bright look on his face, almost dropping the cup of eggnog he had in the process; and then i looked over at seungcheol, he still had an empty look on his face but smiling to look as if he was paying attention to the whole ordeal.

"jihoon-ie, what's wrong with seungcheol?" i whispered to him, "don't worry about it" he patted my head.

-december 25th 1:00 am-

"look" i opened my phone, "it's christmas" the time showed 12:00 am. it was already the next day and my favorite holiday. "merry christmas" vernon kissed my cheek. i could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks at his actions.

"don't kiss me all of a sudden" i muttered with a pout, "whatever you say princess" he said shamelessly.

jeonghan looked at joshua with a mischievous look and nodded. they both stood up and stood behind the couch i was sitting on and kissed my cheeks at the same time. "merry christmas" joshua patted my head.

"t-thanks" i stuttered.

i stood up from my seat, hoping to avoid any more kisses, but before i could even take a step soonyoung walked towards me and kissed my forehead.

"yah!" i whined at him but all he did was chuckle at my childish antics of not wanting affection.

"i should go say merry christmas to seungcheol" i pulled myself away from soonyoung and tried to go up the stairs but was interrupted by mingyu hugging me from behind.

"what about my kiss, princess?" he teased me. that stupid nickname is going to be the death of me!

my heart was in my throat, and i could hear it beating loudly and i was sure he could hear it too, but he was enjoying it too much.

i took in a sigh before turning to look up at him. he was so tall that he was looming over me from behind. "do i have to?" i whined underneath my breath, but i knew he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted, so i stood up on my tippy toes and leaned my head back somehow landing a kiss on his chin.

"odd place to get a kiss, but i'll take it" he chuckled.

i managed to get out of his hold and ran up the steps looking for his study.

after a while of being in the living room with us, seungcheol said he would take leave to his study. he had a pained look on his face, guilt.

i couldn't find the courage to ask him what was wrong and i was rather mad at myself for it, but maybe now i could ask him.

🌷

the house was massive, and it managed to house all fourteen of us, including somi. when jun gave me the tour of the house he said that the house was from the 1800s or so and that somi was the caretaker of the house.

before we moved here, the only thing she knew since she was young was that the mansion was owned by an odd bunch of people and that her family were the caretakers of the house and of the masters of the house.

her family knew what they were, bloodsuckers, but since they hadn't come to live in many years, she was never told about what they were. she was kept in the dark as well; just like me.

it just wasn't necessary for her to know.

i knocked on the door to his study and hear silence.

🌷

seungcheol's study was different from the rest of the house. the entire house was white victorian and was mostly minimalistic, but seungcheol's study was mostly mahogany with large windows and what felt like endless books. like a record almost.

after they had come back, i snooped around the room and found the same pictures that were in his old study in seoul. the same one of me surrounded by them and the old picture of people that looked like them. that one picture only made sense after i found out they were vampires.

all the other books were original works from many different writers, from different eras and languages. from korean to arabic to italian. everything was in his small library. he even had a corner where different paintings were in storage and there, he also had original paintings from vastly different artists.

he would never admit how much he cherished those works of art. never.

i took the liberty of entering on my own after i heard nothing. i opened the door and gasped at the scene in front of me.

the usual clean room i always find to see was gone. the huge mahogany table that's in the middle of the room was flipped over and the chairs were broken, pieces of wood everywhere. there were books on the floor and tattered canvases on the floor.

the painting of the man that was over the fireplace was on the ground broken in two.

"cheol" i walked in. "what happened?" i whispered stepping over a broken piece of chair.

i turned to see him crouched and on the ground with his arms over his knees and his head hanging low. from where i was standing, i could see a faint red glow from his eyes. there were clearly visible from the darkness of the night, the moonlight being the only source of light.

"are you okay?" i walked towards him, avoiding any broken parts if a chair or a painting.

"you shouldn't be here" he said just above a whisper. "what did you do?" i tried to kneel next to him, but he screamed at me. "we should have never taken you in! we should have brought you to an orphanage, you would at least be safe there" he yelled.

i was taken aback by his words, unsure of how to respond. "what are you talking about?" i whispered. "you're speaking nonsense" i kneeled.

"i can't protect you" he brought his hands to his hair, brushing his fingers through it. there were tears threatening to fall from his red eyes.

"i'm forced to bring you to that stupid event, he wants to meet you" he sucked in hair through his teeth. "i couldn't evade it this time" he bitterly chuckled.

"you're not making sense" i placed a hand on his shoulder.

"he probably wants to kill you areum!" he half-yelled at me, "and i can't do anything," the tears finally fell. "what?" "jongin has an ulterior motive for everything. he doesn't want to just meet you."

"seungcheol, you're having a mental breakdown," i grabbed both his cheeks in my hands, forcing him to make eye contact with me. his breathing quickened and he was holding onto my shoulders as if his life depended on it.

"you need to calm down, okay?" i spoke to him in a calm voice. "take deep breaths. i'm right here, nothings going to happen"

🌷

-december 25th 3:00 am-

eventually, when he found the strength to stand up, i brought him to his room, hoping to set him in his bed.

everyone else was still downstairs in the living room, by some miracle they didn't hear him screaming like the world was ending.

i placed him on his bed and sat down next to him. "are you better now?" i leaned on his shoulder. "yeah" he sniffled, "i'm sorry you had to see that" he chuckled, but there was no humor behind it. "how did you know how to do that?" he turned his head to look at me. "do what?"

"how did you know what to do to calm me down?" there was a worried look in his eyes, "i've had panic attacks before, taking deep breaths and focusing on one thing calmed me down," i looked down at my hands. "i didn't know what else to do to calm you down," i chuckled at my one resort.

i looked up at him. there were beads of sweat on his neck and running down his forehead. it was now that i noticed what state he was in. there was a hole on his long-sleeved shirt and there was dry blood around it, but no wound; his hair was damp from his sweat and it was disheveled.

"are you going to tell me why you were like that?" i looked at his features. "tomorrow afternoon, you're going to go to an event with us" he looked down at his hands. "and that's where you're going to meet the man that probably wants to kill you" he was wearing a pained expression and he looked anywhere else in the room except me, ashamed.

"we have no choice" he finally looked at me. "why does he want to kill me?" i whispered, unsure of what to make of his statement.

"because you have kept us from him for years since the first night you arrived in this house" he sighed. "every year, on this night, he holds a large event where he invites important figures of the vampire world, like us, and invites us to dine and feast on the humans at the event." he placed his hand over mine.

"why are you guys important figures?"

"we were close to him for almost five-hundred years. we were friends, that's why. we're some of the most influential beings in the planet. but when you arrived, to keep you safe, we kept you hidden. we couldn't let anyone know that the seventeen killers were keeping a little girl in their house." he chuckled.

"so, we hid you and ourselves in the process. we left the mafia and abandoned his world. he's enraged with us. he wants to know why this human girl is keeping us."

"seventeen killers?" i looked up at him. "we were once seventeen, but before we even turned, that number dwindled to thirteen."

"oh..." i looked back down, guilty of unknowingly keeping them away from their world, where they belong, not by the side of some seventeen-year-old girl.

"so, i'm going to die tonight" i felt tears well up in my eyes.

"no, you won't. we're going to keep you safe" he took me in his arms and held my head to his chest, hoping to comfort me.

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