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Third Person's POV

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"How is the job hunting going?" Valarie asked her father, taking a seat next to him.

"Uhm... not so good. They don't exactly want an old man doing the job"

"Please. You're anything but old" Valarie stated, making her father to force a smile.

"Papa, you know you can lie in your resume"

"I wouldn't wanna do that. Honesty is the best policy" Her father replied. She softly smiled at that. That's the main reason she loved her father, his honesty and his good heart. But through his honesty and his good heart, the council clearly took advantage of her father. Even though he worked so hard, the council trampled all over him. And as soon as the 'X' clan took over, they simply laid him off, even after all his hard work, he earned nothing.

"Val..." Her father softly called. Her eyes darted towards her father, questioningly.

"How are you and Mr. Chae?" Her father asked.

"We're okay"

"Are you happy with him?" Her father asked.

"I am" She replied, truthfully.

"Look, Val... I just want to say sorry for how I acted when you first met Mr. Chae. I pushed you to him, I forced you to get closer to him, without thinking of your feelings. I'm truly sorry"

"No worries, papa. I'm happy that you push me to get closer to him. He is a nice man" Valarie stated.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement" Her father felt relieved to hear her confession.

"But, if there's anything bothering you, don't hesitate to come and talk to me" Her father patted her shoulder.

"Thank you, papa" She smiled at him.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, princess" Rae greeted her, as she saw Valarie entering her apartment.

"Hey, Juliette" Val teased her.

"Ugh! Not you too" Rae pulled a face.

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?" Val asked, heading towards Rae.

"I wanted to show you this" Rae turned her canvas and Valarie's jaw dropped.

"Wow" Valarie stated. Rae sighed in awe, looking at her own drawing.

"I love seeing people's reactions. I thought I wanted to give this to him as a gift for his upcoming birthday"

"I'm sure he would love it" Valarie look at Rae's expression and see her eyeing the artwork admiringly.

"I can't tell wether you love your artwork, or you love the man in the artwork" Rae's eyes snapped to Valarie, then she pointed a finger to Valarie.

"Stop whatever you are thinking right now, and bury that thought. I don't want you to even think about that"

"You know he's a cute guy"

"There's nothing cute about that guy" Rae replied.

"Hola, senoritas! Talking about me?" Their moment was suddenly cut by Francis' entrance.

"Oh, god" Rae groaned under her breath, quickly covering up the canvas.

"Francis, how are you?" Valarie asked.

"Better now that I've seen you" Rae gagged at his pick-up line and rolled her eyes.

"Rae, I know you miss me" He joked.

"Whatever you want, Francis. Whatever you want" Rae was clearly annoyed by him, as she gave him a fake smile.

"Back off her. Her boyfriend can and will kill you" Rae threatened.

"Please, that skinny and flaky guy. Nah. He won't be able to touch a single strand of my hair" Well, Valarie has to admit, Francis had an athletic build.

"You talking big, is seriously gonna get you in trouble. You should learn how to keep your mouth shut"

"Woah! Issues, man! Picking a fight with me, when it hasn't even been five minutes since I got here?"

"That five minutes is torture"

"She misses me" Francis implied to Valarie.

"Shut up and take off your clothes" Rae ordered. Francis chuckled at that.

"See? Totally misses me" Rae rolled her eyes at his conceitedness.

"Hurry. I ain't got all day! I have somewhere to be"

"Ooh. Someone's eager" Francis followed her as she went to grab her camera for the photoshoot. He instantly pulled his shirt over his head.

~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't give this to him!" Rae hissed, after she looked at the amount of portraits he has of himself.

"I'll just be another one of his portraits! I won't be anything special!" Rae stated.

"Rae! Come on! His other portraits must be from amateur artists. You are way better than them"

"Wow. You really know how to motivate someone, don't you? I am an amateur artist!" Rae implied.

"Oh, right" Valarie bit her lip, at her effort of trying to motivate Rae.

"You know I'm usually not this insecure. I'm just gonna give it to him, and leave" Rae said. She fixed the dress she was wearing, before she went on ahead towards Jooheon who was crowded with guests. She tried to breakthrough the crowd, but more people came over and went to wish him for his birthday.

"Are you serious? Are you really serious right now?" Rae groaned slightly, before going back towards Valarie.

"I'll give this to him some other time. He looks busy anyways"

"Rae, that's..." Valarie caught Rae's arm as she was about to walk away.

"The 'X' clan" Valarie stated, looking at the five members in awe as they entered the room and instantly everyone made way for them and parted like the red sea. They entered, Wonho at the front, with the others trailing him from the back. She remembered that Hyungwon told her that Shownu was in his slumber, so he won't be awake for another century.

"Is it just me seeing things, or do they look like they got a spotlight on them? Cause, damn! They're shining!"

"Babe, I'll go put this in the car" Rae said, as she walked out of the room, holding onto Jooheon's gift. She personally wanted to give it to him, even though she knows it won't be of any importance to him, she still wanted to meet Jooheon personally. Valarie watched as Rae exited the ballroom. Her eyes darted towards Hyungwon and how gorgeous and flawless he looks. She started to squirm slightly in place, wanting so badly to just jump in his arms. But as promised, she won't even step near him during social events, unless he wants too. She used to be in those crowd, the rich and the titled, now, she's just an average girl.

"Hello" She heard a voice greeted her from behind. She slowly turn around and her eyes landed on Mrs. Chae's charming smile.

"Mrs. Chae" She softly smiled, before going over to kiss cheeks. Hyungwon's eyes looked over towards his mother and Valarie.

"Are you alone, or did you bring along a date?" Mrs. Chae asked.

"I am with a friend"

"Oh, I see. I thought you were dating my son" She asked.

"Uh... well..." Valarie felt stuck, not knowing what to answer. She felt someone wrapping their arm around her and holding her shoulder, in a polite manner.

"Mother. How are you?" Hyungwon asked, interrupting their conversation. Valarie look up at Hyungwon, somewhat feeling relieved.

"I'm fine. The trip to London was great. Wish you had come along"

"You know I can't. I'm busy with the council"

"Oh, the council. I heard you and your friends are changing the system, to the old one"

"Yes. We believe that the community will be running more efficiently" Valarie stayed silent, hearing them chatting about vampire politics.

"And what are you doing with her? I thought you didn't like her?" His mother asked in Korean, making sure Valarie doesn't understand.

"I simply accepted an offer she gave" Hyungwon replied, also in Korean.

"Doesn't she look lovely tonight, mother?" Hyungwon squeezed her shoulder slightly, smiling down at her. Valarie gave a small smile, knowing that his smile was forced.

"She does look lovely, not only tonight, but all the time" His mother complimented, Valarie didn't know what to say, but just give a smile. She gets the feeling that his mother didn't exactly fancy her that much. It was always this fake kindness and compliments. Him and his mother, are faking kindness towards her, and here she is, begging for his love.

"Please, excuse me" Valarie politely excused herself, heading towards the buffet table.

"Can't you find a better girl? Someone with status or money, that is compatible with you"

"I can. But in another month"

"Stop playing with her feelings, son! Things will only get worse. Get rid of her, as soon as possible" His mother warned, before she stomped off, leaving him there alone.

"Why does your mother look angry?" Wonho asked, putting a hand on Hyungwon's shoulder.

"Yeah. Are you okay?" Minhyuk came to ask as well.

"Nothing much. She just wants me to get rid of trash" Hyungwon replied. Wonho and Minhyuk exchange confused glances. Rae slowly back away from them. She was about to ask Hyungwon where is Valarie, but after hearing their conversation, she instantly kept silent. Rae glanced around the room and her eyes landed on Valarie at the buffet table.

"Hey" Rae greeted her.

"Hey" Valarie greeted back.

"Hmm. Cakes?" Valarie asked, showing her plate to Rae. Rae softly smiled at that. Yeah, Valarie may be a b**ch at times, but she's definitely one little naive, innocent b**ch.

"You rich people are scary" Rae stated, as she feed herself a chocolate cake.

"What makes you say that?" Valarie felt confused at her sudden statement. Rae think back to Hyungwon and his mother's conversation.

"Nothing" Rae instantly shrugged the thought off.

"Val. Can we go?" Rae asked, clearly feeling out of place between the rich crowd.

"Valarie, right?" Someone greeted, Valarie turned and she was face with Changkyun's wife, Alex.

"Alex? Changkyun's wife"

"No. It's Kimberly. Wonho's wife"

"Oh, pardon me. I get confused between you and your twin"

"No worries. It happens all the time. Who is your friend?"

"Oh, this is Raeven"

"Hi" Rae pulled out her hand for Kimberly to shake and Kimberly gladly took it.

"Oh, congratulations, by the way" Valarie said, darting down towards Kimberly's belly.

"Oh, yes! Thank you"

"Have you known the gender yet?"

"Yeah, it's another boy" Kimberly replied.

"Wow. Congrats"

"Thank you"

"Hey. I know you. That brat who doesn't know how to do dishes" Alex came towards them and greeted her.

"Uh... yeah, that's me" Valarie said, smiling nervously.

"Alex! Excuse my sister's stupid boldness" Kimberly said.

"Alex, this is Valarie's friend, Rae" Kimberly said, pointing to Rae, trying to not make it awkward.

"Hi, Rae"

"Hey, Alex"

"So, how is the food?" Alex asked, glancing behind them.

"It's good. But we are leaving already" Valarie stated, grabbing Rae's plate and setting it down on the table.

"Yeah. We have a busy day tomorrow. It's nice meeting the both of you" Rae greeted them and they both left for the night.

"Alex. Why do you have to be so mean to her?"

"I'm not mean to her. I'm just stating the facts"

"But can't you see that she's different now? She isn't so snobbish anymore"

"Yeah. That's because she went broke"

"Alex! Please control your words!" Kimberly glared at her.

"Okay, okay" Alex gave in, before they went back towards the food.

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