𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝

-나는 그들의 것, 그들의 내 꺼야-

"until when will we be there?" i muttered, still holding him close

"until it's safe, and soon, before you know it, we'll be together again" he kissed the top of my head

"o-okay" i stuttered

i've been in constant danger and i haven't even realized it. i'm not sure why, but it feels like it's my fault that all of this happened. that tonight's close call happened because of me

josh was able to find us. he must have been following us for a while...

he's friends with seulgi...

does she have something to do with this?

i guess she really has only been getting close to me to hurt me...

god! i'm such a fool for trusting her! the day the guys told me there was something off about her should have been the last time i talked to her. i should have stayed away!

if i did, maybe this wouldn't have happened...

"t-the man's name is j-josh" i managed to say through my cries, realizing they still don't know his identity

"what? you know him?" he looked down at me, confusion written all over his face. "he was there t-the day i went out with seulgi. she i-introduced us to him" i mumbled into his chest, gripping his shirt, hoping to find some sort of comfort

vernon only recently started becoming a source of comfort. even though i loved him when i was little and i absolutely adored him, for some reason, only the last few months is when he's been able to give me comfort

that doesn't mean he didn't comfort me when i was little, but i've only realized how much he's been there for me until recently. i've been able to enjoy his company and the companionship he's given me without realizing

ever since he said he loved me and ever since i realized i also loved him

he's a new source of comfort

i only hope that one day that's what i'll become to him

someone he can rely on

🌷

the next morning, vernon was the one to awaken me from my deep slumber. i had fallen asleep in his arms, he was so warm and gentle with me. their bodies were always so cold like they were dead, but sometimes they would feel so warm like a normal human

the morning light came in through the see-through curtains, falling onto us. everything felt at peace for a few moments. when we fell asleep we still hadn't changed out of our clothes, meaning i was still wearing a dress and he was wearing a shirt and jeans

"morning, sweetheart" he whispered in my ear, his raspy morning voice sending shivers down my spine as i heard it, i giggled at the cute nickname

this is a nice way to wake up

"morning" i whispered back as i turned around to face him, putting my arms around him. "soonyoung's awake"

"what?" my eyes burst open

"he passed by earlier, but you were sleeping" he placed a stray hair behind my ear, "where is he now?" a small smile crept up in my face, excited to see him

"you shouldn't see him now" he smiled at me softly, "he's in the basement"

"we have a basement?" i looked at him genuinely confused. since when do we have a basement? i thought

"we talked about it in front of you" his eyebrows furrowed. "oh, sorry i didn't notice"

right. i was out of it. i was in shock

"but, that doesn't explain why i can't see him" i sat in bed, looking at the tear stains on the pillow and feeling them on my cheeks

"you don't want to know" "just tell me"

he let out a deep breath before he answered, "he's questioning josh"

i could tell from the way he said it that it wasn't the complete truth and he was hiding something

and i knew what it was

judging from past experiences with what they do and what their jobs were

they were torturing answers out of him

"you mean they're torturing him..." i muttered with an odd chuckle, there wasn't any humor behind it. it was more irony

he's probably going to kill him

"yeah" he sighed, "he'll be back in a little while, that's when you'll see him"

🌷

we spent about two more hours in bed. vernon had fallen asleep again and i was just admiring his features

the same features i have known my entire life. i can't believe that at a certain time, his face became a blur. like i had forgotten when he truly looked like

his face had twisted in my memories, becoming a blur

but when i saw him again that day, it all came back to me

he was the same man he always was

i looked at his silver hair (a/n btw the vernon of this story is the vernon from fear era), the way it fell down just above his eyes, and the way he softly breathed while he was asleep. he's like an angel, i smiled softly at the thought

i love you so much

"like what you see?" he said with his eyes still closed. "yes" i said feeling unashamed. the fear and embarrassment i had felt in the past over my feelings and whether my feelings were real have washed away in a matter of days

he chuckled at my response as he pulled me closer to him, a giggle leaving my lips

"we should have changed before we fell asleep" i chuckled as my hands were on his chest

"you're saying the clothes are the problem?" he raised his brow at me before he ripped the dress i was wearing his half without hesitation

"vernon!" i shrieked as i realized what he did, "it's fine, i'm sure mingyu was the one that wanted to tear it apart when you two were alone" he chuckled. my lips thinned out into a line as i looked at him with a 'seriously' face

"still... it was pretty" i fake pouted as i looked down at him. a breathy laugh leaving his lips

i looked down at my body, realizing i was in my lacey underwear, leaving little to the imagination. my cheeks starting to glow red

"you're gorgeous, you know that" he smiled, his hands naturally falling on my hips. "so i've been told" i chuckled with a small sigh

i leaned down, my face coming closer to his. i felt small butterflies in me as i looked down at him, his eyes were lustful as he looked back up at me, our noses touching

"kind of wish you wouldn't have ripped my dress" i playfully whined as i looked at his eyes

"i'll buy you a prettier one" he chuckled, overpowering me and getting on top of me, turning the tables in a mere moment, his hand capturing my wrists over my head. i gasped, a blush forming on my cheeks

what's this feeling?

vernon smirked as he looked at my vulnerable state. i felt a strange excitement inside me

the only other time i feel like this... is when-

"what are you thinking about?" he smirked, his other fingers grazing over my belly, goosebumps forming all over my body

"u-um" he chuckled at my flustered state, "you're adorable when you're like this" his hand going to my face to caress it. "so vulnerable"

i felt a tingly feeling between my legs. it's not like i've never felt it, but this time it felt so different from all those other times

he leaned into my neck, kissing it softly, his hand was still holding both my wrists. i squirmed under his hold, almost in protest of his hold

but deep down, it felt so good to let him have control over my body. i loved it

but before we could get anywhere

there was a knock at the door, interrupting us

he let out a groan, getting off me, signaling for me to get the door

i felt a inexplainable frustration as i grabbed the sheets to cover myself. my feet touched the cold floor, walking to the door

"why did we have to be interrupted?" i muttered underneath my breath

but that feeling vanished when i saw who was on the other side of the door

"soonyoung!" i screamed as i hugged him

he looked fine, his skin was a normal color and he was breathing fine; like nothing happened the night before. i guess being a vampire has its perks

his arms wrapped around my body, engulfing me in a hug, a chuckled leaving his lips

he's okay, he's fine, i reassured myself

"sorry i scared you like that" he leaned down and whispered in my ear. since he was so tall, my face was to his chest, taking in his scent. his sweet, sweet scent

but i could feel vernon staring at us from behind, glaring daggers at soonyoung for interrupting us. but right now i couldn't care less

soonyoung was back! he was okay. and that was all i needed to be happy

🌷

-april 26th-

time had passed and they kept telling me that we would eventually leave l.a. behind, but only seungcheol and i would be leaving. he was going to take me into hiding, to protect me, and the others would "take care of it". i knew what it meant

they were going to start killing the ones that want to kidnap me

all for me...

i kept questioning if i was worth all the trouble

i still felt like a normal girl. despite what kai believes, i am. i am still areum, and it's going to be a few years before i become the woman he wants me to. if i don't die before that...

i'm sure he wouldn't be too choked up about it, he would probably move onto the next reincarnation of selene. as if i was nothing. as if i wasn't a human being

they kept reassuring me that everything would be fine. i trusted them, so i decided to believe them. but i didn't leave before i made them promise that all of them would come back to me

"promise me" i looked up at joshua, extending my pinky finger towards him. "promise me you'll be okay" there was a kind smile on his face, chuckling at my childish behavior; still believing in pinky promises like a child would

"of course" he intertwined out pinkies and shook it and then making our thumbs meet. but before he could pull away, i held on. "you know there's a special place in hell for people who break pinky promises, right?" i was dead serious. i was aware of how i sounded but i didn't care

a look of surprise appeared on his face, taken aback by my statement, but that looked disappeared mere moments later, his smile coming back. "yes, i know" he was holding back a laugh

this tiny girl was basically threatening the most dangerous being on planet earth. like a tiny chihuahua telling a wolf what to do

i nodded my head at him, still very serious

but that expression washing away into a smile as i hugged him goodbye

"please be careful" i whispered, more for myself than for him

i pulled away with a sad smile on my face

my attention being drawn away by seungkwan and chan by my side, prepared to say their final goodbye's

i chuckled a little as i saw stifled tears in seungkwan's eyes

cheol and i aren't gong to be away that long, but i already feel like i miss them *sigh* i have separation issues

i ran to him in a playful manner, acting as if i had tears in my eyes as well, weeping as if i would never see him again, teasing him in a way. he could tell what i was doing and looked at me with a "i'm going to kill you" face

"fine. i won't say goodbye" he grumbled, crossing his arms at me

"fine fine. i won't tease" a breathy laugh escaping my mouth. i could hear a few snickers and chuckles behind me from our interaction

i'm going to miss you too kwannie, don't worry, i smiled at him

he pulled me into a quick hug, squeezing the life out of me. "don't let him touch you" he whispered to me

he knows?

my eyes widened at his words. i hadn't told the others, the only one that i knew that was aware of it was seokmin and maybe chan. but how does he know? are they all aware?

"what?" i pulled away, looking up at him surprised

"i know, and all i want to say is be careful. i'm not for or against your relationship- relationships?" at the end of his statement he furrowed his eyebrows, uncertain of his own sentence

"o-ok" i stuttered, finally letting go of him

"areum, where's my goodbye?" chan placed his arm over my shoulder, a bright smile on his face

🌷

i wished them all goodbye and told them to come back safely

came back to me safe, i thought to myself as i sat down on the plane seat, looking to where they were, standing there, talking to seungcheol

my mind was playing out all the worst case scenarios, like one of them being shot like soonyoung but worse, what if they accidentally ingest vervain. mingyu said it was poisonous to them

what would happen then?

what would happen if they were hurt?

but then i remember that they have survived for almost seven hundred years on this torturous earth

they have faced worse things than i can imagine. they lived through the dark ages and everything after that to now, april 26th, 2021...

they can handle this, i reassured myself for the nth time

i laid back on the plane seat, feeling the warm of the back rest and the coldness of the handle bars through the coat i was wearing

myungho told me that i should start dressing more formally, that it would look good on me. so he prepared an outfit for me

what she was wearing:

without coat

jihoon wasn't too happy about the heels because i was taller than him. but only by an inch. he nagged at myungho to change the heels and when he could get the answer he wanted he nagged at me about it

i'm the only person that's shorter than him. i'm sure he feels some pride in that, that he's taller than me. taller than at least someone (a/n i thought i was taller than him but then i went to the doctors and it turns out i'm exactly his height lol)

"areum" cheol said, his hand on my shoulder. "you okay? you look lost in thought"

"i was" i kept my gaze on on the seats that were facing my own, "what were you thinking about?" he sat down on the seat next to mine, intertwining our hands. "all the worst case scenarios" i mumbled, playing with the ring on my fingers

"they'll be fine. don't worry" he chuckled, "we don't die easy. plenty have tried and failed, too many times to count" he leaned his head on my shoulder, a visible smile on his face

"it's still scary for me. it might not be the first time you've experienced this, but it is for me" i sniffled. god! why am i so emotional!?

"sorry"

"cheol, can i ask you a question?" i held on to his cold hand, looking at out intertwined fingers. "you just did" my lips thinned into a line, slightly amused at his words. "go on"

"why did you name me areum?"

it's something i've been meaning to ask him for a while now, it's just always slipped my mind. ever since i had that dream about my birth mother and the night i was born, i've been wondering how he managed to name me the same name my mother uttered to me that same night

he took a moment to think about my question, looking for an answer to give me

"i used to know a woman" he started, "i only knew her for a few months while she was pregnant. she was the strongest woman i knew. i never even knew her name" he chuckled but there was no humor in his voice. "she always told me that she would name her little girl areum. but one day, she disappeared and i never saw her again" he looked down at his hands

"then you appeared" he smiled, "and i decided to name you areum"

there was a moment of silence where he just had a content smile on his face looking at nothing in particular, almost at peace

"did you love her?"

"no. i just greatly admired her"

a/n AHHH FNKEJFORJFNF IM SO EXCITED FOR YHR COMEBACK CKEOOFJEK THEY LOOK SO GOOD. HIP HOP WITH THE BIKER CONCEPT, PERFORMANCE WITH VAMPIRE VIBES AND VOCAL WITH THE MERMAN AHHHHH FKEOJFOEOFJ

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