*𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟

-나는 그들의 것, 그들은 내 꺼야-

-december 25th 2:00 pm-

-soonyoung's pov-

i awoke in the living room alone, the light pouring into the room, causing my eyes to cringe at its brightness.

after areum ran off to seungcheol's study, the rest of us chatted and kept drinking until we passed out. everyone had woken up before me and gone to their rooms, leaving me here alone.

waking up alone on christmas day?

what a wonderful way to start.

"guys?" i called out to the empty room. there were empty glasses and mugs on the tables and the pillows that were usually artfully arranged on the couches were now on the floor.

i stood up from my comfortable position, sitting there, nothing particularly coming to mind.

but that transfixed state i was in, faded when i realized what was going to happen today.

"..."

"god damn it," i placed my head on my hands.

"hyung, you're awake," seungkwan beamed as he walked down the stairs. his voice was loud, causing my head to throb from pain. "i drank too much," i whined, closing my eyes.

"we all did," he chuckled lightly, but again, that smile faded when reality set in.

"uh," he started, "we should start getting ready for tonight," he sat down beside me, and i let out a deep sigh. "what a shitty day," i ran my hands through my hair.

"yeah," he agreed, leaning back on the couch.

"are the others awake?" 

"most of them, but areum and seungcheol are still sleeping," he muttered.

the moment he told me that, i knew that she spent the entire night in his room. i felt a stinge of jealousy in me; wishing that it were me she spent the night with.

whatever.

the important thing is that she doesn't get hurt tonight.

-mingyu's pov-

"can someone go wake up areum and seungcheol," joshua sat down on the kitchen island, looking at the plates in front of him.

i had been making pancakes for the last half hour and it was starting to become tedious. cooking was something i am passionate about, but sometimes it gets dull to do; it is the reason i sometimes make joshua cook for me, for all of us.

so, it was no wonder i volunteered to wake them up, "i'll go," i sighed, placing the towel that was on my shoulder onto the counter.

i walked up the steps, replaying the last time i was at kai's home. 

it was two years since we had taken areum in, all of us had decided to lose contact with much of the vampire realm. if they found out what we were doing, who we were keeping, they would have thought us weak.

we have many enemies there and outside, in the human realm, they would have stopped at nothing to hurt us.

they could easily do that through her.

we were keeping a human girl with us; many would have thought it was unethical or unnatural.

we could not let anyone find out, especially kai.

we told kai that we would return on the next celebration of his, but we never returned.

until now, i suppose.

i knocked on the door to seungcheol's room, waiting to hear a "come in" or "what do you want?" from the other side.

but i hear nothing. no response. 

again, i knocked, but still nothing.

i took that silence, as his acknowledgment of my presence, so when i opened the door and saw him sitting on a loveseat next to the window, glaring daggers at me, i was not surprised. i turned my head and saw areum on the bed, sound asleep.

"what do you want?" he scowled at me, unhappy that i was disturbing his alone time with areum. "you're going to wake her up," he continued.

"she needs to go eat," i said, "today, isn't a good day for her to be weak."

i made my way to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder and sitting by her side. i could feel him glaring at me from the side.

"princess, wake up," i whispered to her, placing a kiss on her cheek. "you have to go eat."

she mumbled something indistinguishable as she tried to open her eyes but failed because of the bright light.

"it's so early," she whispered, rubbing her eyes. "areum, it's almost 4:00 pm," i chuckled. she has always been absent-minded and disorientated when she wakes up. 

"let's go," i picked her up, her legs instinctively going around my waist and her hands grabbing onto my shoulders to keep from falling.

🌷

-6:00 pm-

-areum's pov-

before the next day came, i was already dreading christmas day. he said we were going to meet kai today.

i was probably going to die if they couldn't protect me. a chuckled left me thinking of my short life.

i haven't done anything, have i? i've just rotted away in this house, studying for my next exam and not making one single human connection.

we were all in the music room. thoughts of happy times in this place seemed so far away, so long ago. like it was something unattainable now. this place was always full of music, jihoon would always be in here, playing his piano or his guitar, always working on a new song he would let me listen to in the end.

instead of laughing and giggling at their antics, i was stuck looking down at the ground. wishing i wasn't here.

"we should start getting ready," jihoon looked down at his wristwatch, evident guilt, and regret in his voice. "i'll show you where you'll change," he extended his hands at me.

i felt so cold, so scared. like i was locked in a room without windows or doors, no light.

no way out.

i brought my hand to get him and he pulled me up from my seat, and we walked out of the room of silence. none of them were able to utter a word, they were all disappointed and regretful of the events that were going to unfold in a few hours.

he brought me to a room i had never been in. it had white walls filled with shelves that mostly had boxes in them, dresses in the corner of each shelf, neatly tucked away in their plastic wrap to protect them. the floor was carpet and there was a white counter in the middle of the room with seats on either side of it and a chandelier in the middle.

"it's so pretty," i muttered, holding onto his hand tighter.

we walked inside and told me to sit on one of the chairs, "somi is going to come in with a few dresses so that you can change," he looked down at the ground and scratched his head with his index and middle finger. (a/n that's a weird way to describe it)

"i think this is going to be the only thing i'm going to enjoy tonight," he finally looked at me. "you're going to look beautiful," he smiled.

"you think so?" i fiddled with my hands, hoping it would be a way to distract me from the imminent doom heading my way.

"you look beautiful no matter what," he came forward and patted my head, mustering up the sweetest smile he could from the depth of despair in his mind.

"jihoonie, can you," i hesitated, "can you explain to me why we have to do this? i don't understand why i must meet him," my brow furrowed, and another wave of guilt came onto his face.

"jongin, or kai," he corrected himself," is a super old vampire," he sat down beside me, leaning down so his elbows were on his knees and his hands were holding up his head. "he holds the most influence over everyone. he's been around for millennia. we were once close with him- just a few short years ago in fact. before we got you." he brought his face up to look at me again.

"we met him around the time we reached 200 years of existence- in the 1500s. he had heard about us. a band of thirteen cold-blooded men that killed for pleasure," he paused for a moment, looking at my reaction, but i just listened to him wholeheartedly. "we... we were different people," he sighed.

"we had flipped off our emotions and hadn't a care in the world. we didn't care about anyone's life or hopes or dreams. so, he finally invited us to one of his celebrations, he's a self-centered fool who only truly cares about himself, that's how we met and we became close," he rubbed his temples.

"when we came to and found our emotions again, we became different people again. but we stuck around with him because there was no reason holding us back from doing it. we indulged in his practices of feeding on people and preying on the weak. but we grew tired of hearing people's cry for help and their fear, so we stopped. we distanced ourselves a bit. but when you came around, we cut ties with him." he stopped for a moment again, looking back at the carpeted floor.

"he wants to meet the person that tore us away from him."

he sat up in his chair and stopped.

"that's why he wants to meet you. i truly wish this wouldn't be happening," he looked at me with pain.

"he sounds like a horrible man," i chuckled, but there was no irony behind it. "he is."

"i should let you change, somi going to come in here at any moment," he patted my head and left the room before i could say anything else.

🌷

"i understand i must wear a gown, but why does it look like a wedding dress?" i wondered out loud looking at myself in the mirrors on the walls. "you know how strange the masters are," somi spoke with a proud smile as she looked at me, fixing the bottom of the dress.

"i suppose your right." i hadn't done any make-up or even combed my hair since i woke up, but i still looked beautiful.

somi couldn't stop looking at me as she stood back. "what is it?" a small chuckle left me as i looked at her dreamy expression. "you've grown up so much since you came here." from afar i could see the tears forming in her eyes.

somi had become a mother figure to me, someone i could talk to about everything. when i first arrived in france i was weary of her, at the time i felt like i couldn't trust anyone. but as time went on i opened up to her and now i know she's someone i can trust in.

unfortunately, she doesn't know about the supernatural, or that she's lived surrounded by them for the last four years. it was a secret i kept from her, and i always felt a pang of guilt every time i saw her because of it.

"don't get all teary on me," i teased.

this might be the last time i see her.

i bunched up my dress at the front, "w-wait, what are you doing. don't do that you'll get wrinkles-"

she stopped talking once i placed my arms around her, "thank you for always being here for me," i whispered.

"oh! stop! look who's getting sentimental now," she pinched my cheek.

"we have to get your makeup and hair done. go sit down."

-jun's pov-

everyone had changed into suits, all of them either being white or pastel with a white shirt under. none of us truly want to go tonight, but we dressed up for the event.

kai is a dangerous man. he has killed countless people without remorse. he's feeling vengeful because we abandoned him- he plans on hurting us tonight.

i walked through the hallways, thinking of the best ways she could be safe tonight. but when i came across the dressing room she was in, all i wanted more than anything is to see her. to see her in that beautiful dress.

so i walked in, somi appearing in front of me holding clothes. "is areum ready," i looked behind her. "of course, mr. jun. come on in if you wish," she moved out of the way for me to walk.

"i would like a moment alone," i walked in, dismissing her away.

she was standing in front of a mirror, analyzing her body, almost in disbelief at the beauty she held.

"you look... stunning," my hand went to my jaw, "myungho really outdid himself with the dress," i smiled the brightest i could and stood behind her.

"he did," she smiled.

now was the first time i've seen her smile in the entire day. she's had a doom-and-gloom expression all day, and she has a fair reason to look that way, but i missed her smile. her beautiful smile. that smile of hers that can brighten up an entire room.

"but jun, why am i in a wedding dress?" she deadpanned.

"the count's wives always put on wedding dresses to show that they are taken. this is just a way to keep others away from you," i rested my hand on her shoulder.

"one day, you're going to make a beautiful bride. well, that is, if you wish to ever get married." a smile appeared on my face again.

you truly look magnificent.

"thank you," she sheepishly muttered, looking away from my teasing gaze.

"let's head downstairs. the others are waiting for us," i extended an arm for her.

-author's pov-

they were all in the living room, waiting to escort her to the celebration where she might die, waiting to see her in that beautiful dress myungho made for her, waiting, waiting, waiting. anxiously hope everything goes well tonight.

"i hate this. i hate all of this." chan stood up from his seat. he couldn't sit still for another moment. "this is ridiculous! we should be using this time to find a way out of the country," he tried to argue with his older brothers.

"you know we can't. the next time he finds us he will kill her," soonyoung stood up, "and what happens if we do find a way to escape? we're going to be on the run for the rest of eternity- and what of areum's life? life on the run is no life at all!" he snapped.

they were all tense, anxious, frustrated at what is to happen if they don't comply and what would happen if they do. there was no way out of this, and they knew that.

"guy!" joshua stood between them, placing his grip on both of their shoulders, "this is no time to argue. all we have to focus on right now is keeping her safe," he stared them down.

they both looked at each other and then looked at the ground. "it's helpless," soonyoung muttered underneath his breath, pulling away from joshua's harsh grip.

their attention was brought to the top of the stairs, where somi stood, a smile on her face, clueless about the true nature of the situation.

"i present, areum," she stepped away and from behind her, they say jun and areum, his arm around her hand. a sad smile on jun's face.

the entire situation was bittersweet. all they wanted to do was tell her how beautiful she looked and fawn over her teasing her as they would, but they couldn't because of what's to happen.

"you look beautiful," vernon stood up from his seat when they reached the bottom of the steps, his hand out to reach hers and placing a kiss on it.

"thank you," she mouthed back at him.

they all took a moment to appreciate this moment; this one moment where they could enjoy a moment of vulnerability, this one moment of calm before the storm.

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