𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟜

-나는 그들의 것, 그들의 내 꺼야-

"areum, can you please say something" he said to me

we had entered the café and he had ordered for us, but the entire time i looked numb. i was stuck spacing out the entire time. dissociating. he asked me questions and told me things from the past, but still i said nothing

i was stuck wishing i wasn't there, i just wanted to go back to sleep and forget all my problems

forget that they weren't here

"areum" he called out again, this time holding my hand. "we don't have to talk about it, if you don't want" his tone was sad. he was so worried for me

i nodded my head softly

i didn't want to burden him with something as trivial as missing someone

more like, multiple someones

i think i'm only truly happy when all thirteen of them are here. it all seems so meaningless without all of them

soonyoung stood up from his chair and moved to sit next to me, "if you want" he started, "you can go into therapy. that way, you don't have to talk to us, but you can still talk to someone" he said

"no" i muttered, staring down at the cold drink between my hands

therapy is for people who have mental problems, i can't got there

plus, there are people who are worse off than me

"therapy isn't a bad place. going to therapy doesn't mean you're weak, areum" he explained to me, his hand on my back

"you're too young to let the world break you. if you go to therapy and you don't like it, we'll take you out" he continued, "but areum, it can help you. i don't want to see you like this. i don't want to see you so depressed" his hand on my back started moving side to side, "i miss seeing your smile" he placed his head on my shoulder

"please go. so you can get better" he whispered, "i went once, it helped me. please"

"you went?" i muttered, surprised he, one of the strongest person i know, had do go there

soonyoung was always the mentally strong one. he always had a smile on his face. sure, he would go into fits of anger sometimes, but he was still always so strong

at least in my eyes, he was

"okay..." tears formed in my eyes

-end of flashback-

"please, don't die" i whispered as i looked at soonyoung who was sitting in the seat in front of mine

i can live without one of you, please don't die...

"areum" vernon pulled me closer to him, making me sit on his lap and placing his arms around me, trying to comfort me

"he'll be fine" he whispered in my ear, "he's seven hundred years old. a few wooden bullets won't kill him" his nose was nuzzled against my neck, every time he spoke it sent vibrations throughout my entire body. i could feel the hair at the back of my neck stand up, it sent shivers down my spine

"i'm just worried" i said back

🌷

when we walked in through the front door, vernon holding onto my shoulders, i watched as mingyu brought in soonyoung, carrying him over his shoulder

his entire body was limp. motionless. lifeless

it was scary to see. i didn't entirely trust the whole "immortal vampire life" thing

not when it came to them

"mingyu, what happened?" seungcheol and jeonghan walked up to us the moment we arrived through the door. they had been sitting in the living room, worried about us

apparently, vernon had run off, telling them to stay behind, without an explanation

"vernon, go get the guy from the trunk"

"there's a man in the trunk?" jeonghan asked him as he had to look up at mingyu

"what happened to soonyoung?" he asked again, not giving him time to answer his previous question

"he's fine. i'll explain later" he grumbled as he walked upstairs without another word

from behind i felt vernon let go of me and go back outside. i felt cold without him by my side

i was still in a daze so i wasn't completely aware of what was happening around me. all i knew was that jeonghan and seungcheol were talking to each other and seungcheol went upstairs to speak with mingyu, leaving jeonghan with me

all i could do was stare at the ground, almost afraid of moving from my spot. i felt like i was in a dark room, unable to move because i was tied down by my own fears

"areum" i hummed at his voice, "are you okay?"

"y-yeah, i'm just a little shaken up" i mumbled, bringing my arms around me, hugging myself to feel some sort of comfort

i think he was able to sense my state as he walked towards me and hugged me. one of his arms were around my waist and the other was holding my head, holding me close to his chest

the moment i felt his hands around me, i felt like i could finally let loose. i gasped out a sob, grabbing onto him as tightly as i could

my hot tears wet his white dress shirt, but i didn't care. all i wanted to do was cry

i thought i would stop crying after what happened with kai...

"please don't die" i said through my sobs

"i won't die anytime soon" he whispered in my ear, "i promise"

"jeonghan. i'll handle her" i heard vernon behind me, "you take care of the man" he ordered

-author's pov-

he felt a sting of jealousy as he saw jeonghan holding the woman he loved

he understood that she wasn't entirely sure of her feelings and that he wasn't the only one she loved, but he couldn't help the jealousy he felt

"okay" his older brother said

vernon threw the man he was dragging behind him on the ground, he was still unconscious, and jeonghan picked him up like a sack of potatoes, like he weighted nothing

"areum" he engulfed her in a hug the moment jeonghan let go of her, tears were still running down her cheeks

it tore his heart apart knowing she was in so much pain

"let's get you to your bedroom" he whispered to her as he picked her up bridal style, "you need rest" his nose was nuzzled up against her ear, whispering

but she could still only cry

she held onto him as closely as possible, scared of being left alone to rot in her own fears and anxiety

he walked up the stairs with her in his arms, carefully holding her

"i'm sorry you had to see that" he whispered as she continued to cry

he understood how she felt about him and the others. he knew that they meant everything in the world to her, so he understood how she was feeling. the only difference is that he saw those fears be realized. areum only had a taste of what they've felt

he watched his sister die in front of him because she didn't want to become a monster like him. he was too cowardly to die there. too afraid to see what's in the other side. to see if there was a heaven or a hell. to see paradise or eternal suffering. too scared to see nothing in the other side. too afraid of the unknown

that's how he felt back then and that's how he feels now. seven hundred years later he still feels the same way

but now he doesn't want to die because he's too afraid, now he wants to stay alive to see her. to be with her and by her side

even if he won't be the man she chooses to stay with

he'll always be by her side

no matter what

vernon walked into her bedroom and placed her on the bed, but as he was going to walk to the bathroom to get her a change of clothes, she grabbed onto his sleeve

"please, don't g-go" she hiccupped through the sobs. her tear-stained face had a pleading look in her eyes, the tears that fell looked like stars as the moonlight fell on them and made them sparkle. her nose was red and so were her eyes. her hair had become a mess from the light wind and the commotion

she was a mess

but to vernon she still looked like the most beautiful woman in the world

"okay" he cuddled up beside her, curling himself so that he was the big spoon and she was the little spoon. she grabbed onto his arms closely, her tears had finally stopped falling

"is he really going to be okay?"

"he is. don't worry" vernon's face was at the back of her nape, kissing it softly. "he'll be awake in an hour or two" he reassured her for the millionth time

areum shuffled in his arms, turning herself so she was facing him, a pained expression in her face

"i love you so much" she muttered, her hands on both of his cheeks

she was speaking the truth, she would never say something like that without meaning it

but areum also loved the others just as much, that's why she could never choose between them. mingyu's suggestion kept looking more tempting with every day and every moment she spent with them

she could never choose between them

"i love you too" he pulled her close, her face to his chest

-areum's pov-

"areum, we're moving again" he spoke out into the darkness of my room, the only light source being the moon. the light trickled through the large windows and the see-through curtains, falling onto us

"again? but we just got here" i pulled away to look up at him

he let out a small sigh before continuing, "while you and soonyoung hyung were at the wedding, we discussed it and decided it would be best for you to be hidden away"

"w-why? nothing has happened to me since we got her, only t-tonight"

everything was okay. i was fine and safe with them. today was just a freak thing, right?

"that's what you think. a few months ago, someone started following us. we decided that at the first sign of danger we would take you away into hiding. there are people after you, areum. at a moment of vulnerability, they'll take you and use you to control us. they would hurt you" he continued, "we can't exactly kill them ourselves. they know what we are and they're using wooden bullets and vervain, among other things" he explained

someone's after me?

his words scared me. now i felt unsafe and paranoid about being in my own home. they got close enough to shoot soonyoung to get to me. if mingyu hadn't been there and if vernon hadn't gotten there when he did, they would have kidnapped me

to hurt them...

"so we decided to take you into hiding. make them believe that you're still here in l.a. while we deal with the situation, while you're far away"

"o-okay" i said underneath my breath as i stared out into nothingness, imagining all the worst-case scenarios where they could die and me as well

"d-does that mean i-i'm going to leave w-with only one of y-you?" i stuttered as my breath became uneven and erratic

he looked at me worried, sitting up and pulled me into a hug, petting my head and shushing me. "everything's going to be alright. you're still safe with us. don't worry" he shushed me

"you're safe" he whispered, trying his best to reassure me and comfort me

"how can you b-be so c-calm?"

"i've been through worse things. i've had to watch my sister die and i've watched countless other people i loved die, right in front of me. but i know you aren't going anywhere. i can promise you that"

"you're going to leave with seungcheol hyung to london"

a/n it took me a while to write this😅

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