"No."

"Come again?" Eunji was taken aback by his quick response as she blinked in confusion, "No as in you don't want to be friends with me?"

"We..We can't be friends." The boy shook his head, his hands balled into fists.

He knew it was too dangerous for her. Alone the fact that she was aware of his identity was dangerous and risky enough.

If they started spending more time together, he was afraid that not only her but his entire family would be in danger.

But deep down there was another reason that held him back from being her friend.

As ridiculous as it sounded, Jungwon was afraid of getting attached to her. Even now while they were talking, he knew he was going to grow even more fond of her.

These feelings felt strange to him.

Too strange for him to understand and control.

He had to stop before it's too late.

What if he ended up doing something he would regret?

That can't happen. Not when things were going so well up until now.

"Why?" Eunji tried to play it cool, but in all honesty it felt like a slap in the face to be rejected of being someone's friend,

"It's not like I asked you out or anything—"

"It's..It's complicated, Eunji." He looked down, "Do you really think it's that simple? For me to just go around and make friends? There's a reason why I'm always in the back of the class not saying anything."

"It actually is that simple." The girl shook her head at the boy's thinking, "Then just don't sit in the back of the class. Don't keep everything to yourself and don't feel like you have to be alone. Stop isolating yourself from everyone else. Jungwon, isn't it difficult? Living like this?"

"I..It is.." Jungwon stammered, unable to respond.

She was right.

The reason why he was alone was because he chose to be.

"See? Look, here." Eunji held out her hand for him to shake, "I won't force you to be my friend, but if it's because of you being different from me...at least reconsider it."

He didn't think twice, before he answered, "I'm sorry."

Her heart dropped, "Woah. That was...fast."

Eunji was definitely hurt. Trying to save face, she cleared her throat, "Are you sure? I might just go and tell everybody that you are a vampire."

They both knew, she would never do so.

Under no circumstances, she would ever reveal his secret. Even if she was held at gunpoint.

Eunji knew what kind of consequences would await him if she decided to be a piece of shit and tell everybody.

But still her feelings were hurt.

"You wouldn't."

"Don't be too sure." She let out a bitter chuckle, refusing to even look in his direction, "You don't know me."

"You are right. I don't." Jungwon turned around to leave, closing his bag again, "But I still trust you."

Eunji scoffed, but let him finish before replying, "You shouldn't say something like that right after declining my friend offer, Jungwon."

"I really mean it."

And with that he left.

Leaving her alone with only disheartenment.

While his coldness remained, she felt deeply dejected.

Was she really that unlikeable for him to straight up reject her like that? Eunji thought, feeling the insecurities she had for herself grow with each thought.

Maybe she wasn't as tough as she pretended to be.

At the same time, things weren't going too smoothly at Jungwon's home either.

Entering the big mansion, the boy let out a sigh, making it too obvious that he made a mistake today.

Jungwon could still see Eunji's hurt expression and her hand dropping the moment he told her that he couldn't be her friend, in front of his eyes.

And somehow it affected him more than he wanted to.

"You are home?" His father spoke from the dining table, putting down his cup of coffee, before darkly glancing through his glasses to look at his son.

"Yeah." The boy answered shortly, opting to pretend as if nothing was wrong in front of his father.

"Something happened." The elder concluded.

"Yes." Jungwon gave up. There was no use in lying, he had already experienced it earlier.

Gently putting down his backpack, his father let out a sigh.

"You took blood packs from the hospital's storage again? I told you to ask me beforehand."

"I did." Jungwon sat down, his gaze still directed to the ground, "You just didn't listen to me."

"You should have done better in drawing my attention then." The elder snickered, making Jungwon feel smaller all of a sudden, "What else happened? I'm sure there's more, judging from your uneasy expression."

I'm always uneasy around you, Jungwon thought internally, but decided to shake it off.

"Somebody knows about us."

The boy's voice made the other grow still.

"There's a lot to know." Another sneer from the adult, "About us being a family consisting of vampires? Your mother being human and you being halfblooded? That you are an outcast? Specify, Jungwon. Our family is full of secrets."

Jungwon stayed quiet, watching his father closely.

He had no idea what the elder was thinking, but judging from his belittling response and his intertwined fingers, he seemed enraged but calm at the same time.

The boy knew he had to be careful.

But then again he didn't expect his father to react as composed as he did. Maybe he already expected something like this to happen.

Was it because of Jungwon's recklessness?

His unreliability?

"She knows about me being a vampire."

"She?" The adult raised an eyebrow.

"I escaped before she could continue to interrogate me." Jungwon grew nervous all of a sudden, "She doesn't know about you or mom yet, so if I manage to lie my way out, I can protect y—"

"Protect? After you brought us in this situation in the first place?" His father ridiculed.

"I should've been more careful." The boy admitted, "I didn't mean to, I'm sorry. I will try to find a way to keep it a secret, so please don't worry."

The adult lets out a sigh, "What did she say?"

He looked up for the first time, "What?"

"I'm pretty sure she was surprised. How did she react?"

"She..wanted me to be her friend." It shouldn't matter to him after rejecting her like that, but to him it felt like a punch to the gut.

His father was surprised, "Interesting. That's great—"

"But I immediately told her off, father."

Upon his answer Jungwon's father shook his head in disappointment, "Take back your words immediately."

"Sorry?" Jungwon was perplexed.

"This is the perfect opportunity." There wasn't an inkling of hesitation in the adult's voice, "You have to stick by her side all the time to make sure she doesn't spill our secret."

"But—"

"But? I wasn't asking for your opinion. Jungwon, this is an order." He grew impatient at his son, "You failed before, so try to not disappoint me this time, alright?"

Jungwon had no chance but to nod, feeling uncertain at his father's scheme.

Seems like there was a change of plans.