seven;

       "Come for a walk with me?" San's sudden presence pulled Eunha from her thoughts. She scrambled to hide her poetry journal before raising her gaze to meet his. He was standing at her doorframe, leaned against it slightly.         She was sitting at her desk, making it obvious she was trying to hide something. The vampire chuckled and sauntered over to stand next to her. "What did you say?" Eunha tried to act innocent but she wasn't fooling anyone, especially San. He left her thoughts alone and intrigued the idea. "What are you hiding there, darling?" He leaned forward, hand resting on the back of her chair, caging her in. "What? I'm not hiding anything? Why would I hide anything from you?" She spoke so fast he couldn't help the smile that plastered on his face. "Don't be silly." He stepped back, watching her shoulders slack slightly. "I already know about the secret books you and Wooyoung like to hide." "He told you?" She emphasized the younger vampire. "Or did you read my mind?" "Neither, actually. I've known about Wooyoung's for years, only because he can't hide anything from me and I never had to read his mind. And I've known about yours ever since Yeosang gave you a blank one." Eunha stood from the chair and broke the gaze, stepping over to grab her cloak. "Have you read them?" San scoffed playfully at her question. "Of course not." She turned to face him after she pulled the garment over her shoulders. He stepped forward to fix the front and pull the hood over her head. "I don't snoop through someone else's private journal." She scowled up at him, the vampire patting her head after he was finished. "I'm assuming you did hear my question, though." "I did, I was just trying to keep on that subject." He hummed at her response and reached to intertwine their hands. "Where are we going?"       "I don't mind, do you have a specific location?" She shook her head in response. "Alright, we will just see where the road takes us."        San led them from her room and all the way outside. The cold air was already setting in, a fog emitting with every exhale the human made. "Are you sure you'll be okay? I don't want you getting sick again."        Eunha held onto his arm and looked up at her concerned husband. "Remember Youngjo's words? Wolves are basically immune to most colds, and if I do catch something the immune system will fight it off. I'll be fine, stop worrying." They strolled down one of the paths at the back of the castle and disappeared through the trees. "Are you okay to walk this long?" "You're the one that asked to go for a walk." San laughed and looked away from her. "You got me. I just wanted you alone for once." She couldn't help but join his laughter. "But if you get tired let me know. We can stop or I can carry-" Eunha stopped his sentence by giving him a certain look. He sighed in defeat while she gripped his arm closer.        "It sure is beautiful out here." She watched the wind blow the leaves off their branches, gliding elegantly to rest with the others on the ground. Each of their footsteps crackled as they broke the leaves under their shoes. It was a calming noise that filled the quiet around them. "Not as beautiful as you." His comment drew her attention back to him, finding his eyes. She released his arm to swat at it. "Yah!" San couldn't help but flinch away from her useless swinging. "Don't start that now." She scowled at him as she grabbed his arm again to hold against her. They let the silence engulf them once again, the sun peeking through the almost barren tree limbs. This signaled night was coming. "May I ask a question? About your past." Eunha felt the vampire immediately tense, his expression growing hard for a moment but he reeled it in. He let out a sigh which softened his muscles, but only slightly. "There are a lot of things I've experienced... and witnessed that I don't like thinking about. Much less talking about. But go ahead, I might have an answer I'm willing to give." She contemplated asking it now, a lot more than she was before she ever said anything. "How did you meet her?"        If she had hit a nerve, he didn't let her notice it. "We grew up together. She lived three cottages down from me. Always picked on me the most."        "Why do you think she grew adulterous?" San didn't say anything for a long while, and Eunha just beat herself up about asking such a sensitive question.        "Let's not speak on that now." He finally turned to meet her gaze, hiding behind a broken smile. It broke her heart, rubbing his arm in comfort. "You're right. I shouldn't have asked, you'll tell me when or if you're ready." She leaned her head against his shoulder, taking in the scenery around her. That's when she noticed it was beginning to get darker than she realized, the sun barely visible over the horizon. "It's getting dark out.." San stopped them in their tracks, putting the human on high alert, but he was staring dead at her. "You don't have to worry, darling. I'm the scariest thing out here."       She scoffed at his response, although did a poor job at hiding her humor. "Not always." He seemed hurt from her words, holding a hand over his chest with an exaggerated expression of hurt.        "Rude."       Eunha grabbed his arm and shook her head, continuing their walk while the vampire smiled widely from their cute interaction.        They walked for a bit more before she broke the silence. "What's your favorite season?" "I really like snow... always have. But autumn is my favorite. I like the color of the leaves. The slight chill in the air. It's comfortable, not too hot, yet not too cold." San went off explaining what he admired about this weather. Eunha watched his facial expressions and the way he spoke so passionately, a huge smile splayed on her face. "Mine too. For the same reasons. Although my parents and siblings, as well as myself, all share birthdays in autumn. Mine comes first, then my two siblings in October. And my parents are only seven days apart, my mother's is actually in the next couple weeks." She let out a light laugh, shoving the sudden rush of sorrow down, immediately diverting the conversation off her family. "Which reminds me.. I don't know any of your birthday's except Jongho, which is a little after mine." San noticed she had moved the conversation, but he ignored it as she would have wanted. "We don't celebrate our birthdays anymore. We stopped after Jongho was turned. Not sure why, but I think the only reason we even kept up with it was for the human among us." He stopped at first but realized that wasn't technically what she was asking. "I can't remember the exact years and dates of the others, you'll have to ask them. But mine is the tenth day of the seventh month." "I would have thought you might not have known the exact date, since it's normally not kept up with. I only know mine and my siblings because our parents grew up not knowing their own, and made sure to keep several records."        San looked down, peeking her interest in his sudden drop of enthusiasm. "My parents didn't keep track of mine, or my older sister. That was on my amazing grandparents." Eunha tore her gaze from the tree-line to his face. "You had an older sister? I never hear you talk about her." "I had never really met her. She was old enough to take care of herself by the time I was born, and my earliest memory of her was her running away into the night when I was five. I never seen her after that." The vampire looked down, aimlessly kicking the rock that was in his path. "I'm sorry, Sannie." He whipped his head around, the look of sorrow now gone and replaced with a playful stare. "Don't call me that, not while you're pregnant." Eunha didn't see this as a threat and instead took it as a challenge. She dragged him until her back hit the tree, wrapping her hands around his neck.        She brought him closer, her lips brushing his ear as she whispered. "Or what?"