#calm thyself

You whipped your head towards Jisung’s direction, now failing to maintain your nonchalant demeanor. You were trying to think of a way to get back in – but having Jisung in close proximity wasn’t helping with your brain cells. At all. Your mind was stuck on RED ALERT, with the bright lights blaring on max, because Han freaking Jisung has entered your one-meter radius. The brunet, pale-skinned, sword-wielding prick who knew nothing but to torment your life on a daily basis. (You envy his sword. You’ve been trying to make a sword materialize by command, but you just couldn’t perfect it.)

Why the two of you were in bad terms, you don’t actually know for sure. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he was a pureblooded warlock of royal descent, and you were a lowly sorceress with muddied bloodline. Perhaps it didn’t help that he was a very powerful magician who could command a spell by pure instinct, and you were a lowly peasant who was barely getting by with your diligence to learn in class. Perhaps you were annoyed by how charismatic he was and how he could easily get people to kneel by his side. Or perhaps you were most deeply annoyed by the flirty remarks he was sending to your direction whenever he gets the chance.

Or perhaps it was the fact that you actually liked him, and you knew that never in a billion years would the Hans allow a half-blood taint, let alone touch, their royal bloodline.

In a faux-cheerful voice, you asked, “May you please remind me – who was the one who scampered off from guard duties because he thought he saw a werewolf? Who led us deep into the forest, made us lose our way, made us fail to catch the curfew and get us trapped outside the castle for the whole night?” You squinted your eyes at him. “Was it even a real werewolf that you saw?”

“Not like I tied a leash for you to follow me around, baby,” he remarked, completely ignoring your question. “I don’t take it against you, though – it is perfectly normal to get attracted to me and tag along wherever I go.” He winked, wearing his signature lopsided grin. “Just tell me everything, baby. You’re the happiest when you’re with me, right?”

You opened your mouth to utter a nasty response, but you decided against it. You actually followed him off campus because, well, you have never seen a werewolf face to face before. You were curious as to how they actually look like. You were a huge fan of dogs, and a part of you believed that werewolves were just a bigger, undomesticated breed of the house pets you endearingly snuggle with back home. Explaining all these to Jisung was not worth the energy, though, and would probably sound idiotic on your part. You brought your eyes back to the tower which homed your comfortable bed.

God, even the endless chitchat of your roommate would be heavenly as compared to this.

“Why do you always have to act like a menopausal aunt?” Jisung asked.

He didn’t mean for the two of you to start off with the wrong shoe back in your freshman year. But now that he knew how much your hatred has grown for him, he had no idea how to fix it all. He did what seemed to be the most fitting action he could: reciprocate your hatred. And, that was the tale of how the two of you have become sworn enemies. He hated it, though, if he had to be honest. He would have chosen a simple, non-dramatic relationship with his seatmate in his Potions class.

“Maybe because I’m tired of seeing your panda eyes all day. Seriously, do you even get sleep? You look like shit,” you told him with a blank face.

“You don’t look grand, either.”

“Of course, that’s ‘cause I’m stuck with you. Tell me something I don’t know.”

Jisung held his chest, feigning hurt. “Don’t be like that, baby. Our future children won’t be happy to hear that coming from you.”

You began saying something, but Jisung has already moved on to whispering another spell. It merely bounced off the invisible barrier. He tried kicking, pushing, slashing, punching – all of which was to no avail. (He looked cool with his sword, though. You had to give him that.) The both of you knew there was no way you could get around the castle defenses, at least not with your current levels as magicians. The only way was to have someone from the inside create a small passageway for the two of you to sneak in. But no matter how hard you tried racking your brain, you couldn’t think of a single plausible idea that could make way for that situation. And so you just stood there idly, watching Jisung, your hands in your jacket pockets as you fiddled with your last pack of protein bar. You weren’t starving just yet; you decided to save it for later in case you find yourself starving in the middle of the night. Was there a spell in your advanced classes that could enchant someone to sleepwalk and possibly lift the barrier for you?

Jisung finally gave up, deciding to save his energy for the long night ahead of him. He sat beside an acacia tree, sighing deeply. You were wary of the silver sword he had in his hand, but deep down you knew the young man wasn’t going to use it against you. At least not for the time being. Your little skirmishes were limited to harsh words that were meant to annoy the other party, and it was nothing more than that. You didn’t know why, but you knew you actually trusted Jisung. That didn’t mean you could handle close contact, though. You chose to sit on a tree several feet away from where he was.

Just as you were beginning to accept your predicament (you were actually trying to remember everything from your girl scout days), your ears picked up the sound of twigs snapping from a close distance. A total silence followed, and then the bushes shook violently it was practically busted in half.

A gray werewolf – a beta, you reckoned – stood with all its might and grace. Its eyes glowed gold in the moonlight, its fangs bared and dripping with saliva. It released a guttural growl that made your hair stand on end.

Blood was pumping in your ears, and while you do see the resemblance of the creature with a dog, you knew by the way it flexed its muscles that it was way, way more dangerous than your average household pup.

“I-It was real,” you whispered stupidly.

“Surprise, surprise,” Jisung groaned. “I told you I wasn’t making things up.”

“I didn’t say you made it up. I was just saying you don’t have a 20/20 vision.”

“Oh, shut up.”

The werewolf growled once more, exasperated by your little banter. It stepped closer, painfully slow, calculating its preys’ every movement. It had its eyes trained to Jisung and his silver blade, but that didn’t offer you any sort of consolation. Once it’s done with Jisung, it’s gonna take you.

Or maybe it’s the other way around.

The creature leapt, aiming for your chest. You stood there, dumbfounded, and you thought: so this is how I am going to die.

You thought: I haven’t beaten Jisung in Dark Arts yet.

What happened next took you by surprise. Jisung shoved you out of harm’s way, and his sword met the giant hound’s skin. The creature seethed in pain and scrambled backwards as blood trickled from its front limb. You sat there on the ground with your heart pounding on your throat while Jisung stood in front of you, shielding you as he took on a defensive stance.

Jisung didn’t wait for the werewolf to attack again. With his sword drawn close to his body, he charged and jabbed at the enemy. Despite its size, however, the werewolf’s speed was something of its own league. It easily parried Jisung’s attack, making the latter’s sword spin and vanish into the thickets. Jisung hadn’t expected this. You could practically see him calculating his next move, but the creature was faster. He jumped and pounded against Jisung’s back, causing the lad to fall on his knees in pain.

You had to do something. You knew you had to do something, but panic was swirling your thoughts. You knew a handful spells that could either disable the werewolf’s movement or cause it heavy injury, but you were worried that it could crush Jisung underneath it. Even worse, your aim could be off and you could harm Jisung instead. Heck, you weren’t even sure if your spells work for special creatures. You were never confident with your wizarding skills – what if it bounces back and hit Jisung?

Jisung and the werewolf continued wrestling against each other. They were rolling on the grass, fighting each other off, and you can see blood tricking from Jisung’s arm. Your desperation to save him was overpowering your fear. Just as you were about to steeple your hands and whisper an incantation, all movements stopped.

Jisung laid underneath the wolf. He wasn’t moving. A pool of red was beginning to form at his sweatshirt…

…blood.

A surge of newfound energy flowed into you. Fear, sadness, pain – everything combined into a ball of anguish that materialized into balls of flame at your fingertips. It smelled like sulfur and vaguely of cayenne. The scent gradually became overpowering, and just as you were about to throw a forbidden curse, a voice broke your stupor.

“Your aura smells nasty. Calm thyself, L/N.”

Just like that, your anger went down to drain. You fell on your knees, chest heaving, cheeks cold and wet.

Were you crying?

“I-is it dead?” you choked out. You wiped your cheeks harshly as you forced your legs to stand up. You managed to heave yourself to where Jisung was just as he was pushing the dead creature off of his body. He sat up, and suddenly you felt like your soul has again left your body.

Jisung’s plump cheeks were now tinged with color, unlike his usual paper-white complexion. The bags under his eyes seemed to have diminished. His lips looked fuller and redder…

…of course, because blood was dribbling down from it.

Jisung grinned, flashing his bloody fangs.

“I should probably clean up,” Jisung said casually, as if werewolf blood wasn’t dribbling down his chin. He pushed his deceased enemy farther away from him. Mere seconds later, it disappeared into a small pile of ashes.

Jisung tugged his shirt to wipe the traces of blood on his lips. He whispered a simple spell upon himself, and just like that, his clothes and skin were back to how they used to be – as if the whole assault was just a manic dream. Even the wounds on his arm has completely vanished. Jisung fell back down on his back, sighing deeply. “I’m still tired. A soft bed sounds about perfect.”

You blinked once. Twice.

Your heart has already gone back to a steady pace. It was still beating loudly, though, like a colossal drum stuck on your chest. Strangely enough, you were able to react to the revelation pretty calmly. Your knees felt like jelly, though, as you were still a bit shaken by the werewolf encounter. Reluctantly, you sat a small distance beside Jisung as you continued eyeing him carefully.

He’s a vampire, you thought to yourself. Your sworn enemy is a vampire. Finally – after all those years of trying to get an information that could be valuable for your clan, you finally found an incriminating secret that is so huge, it could probably boost your clan’s status beyond imagination. The Hans’ heir is a vampire, and you were the one who discovered it. You could be the one to lay this information in front of everyone. You could be rewarded for uncovering the most powerful clan’s unforgivable sin. No one would make fun of you anymore, especially not Jisung. You were supposed to be delighted. You were supposed to be celebrating.

But somehow, you felt different. Your chest was bursting with an explosion of emotions, and triumph wasn’t one of them.

You fell on your back, just a couple feet away from your vampire classmate. If you reached out your arm, you could probably hold his hand.

“You didn’t have to save me, you know,” you uttered, your voice barely above a whisper.

“I know.”

“I could tell the chancellor and the professors. And everyone. I could rat you out.”

Jisung actually laughed at that. “I know.”

“Is that the reason why you were always hotheaded these past days? Because you weren’t getting enough blood?”

Jisung laughed again, and it was the most beautiful sound you have ever heard. “Wow, I didn’t know you were paying that much attention.”

The night was just beginning; a part of you was worried that something – another magical creature, perhaps – was going to jump out of the shadows to feed on you. First a werewolf, then a vampire; could your night get any worse? You knew you should be up and alert for whatever may come to attack you, considering that you were out in the open and totally defenseless – considering that a vampire is literally lying next to you – but you thought, to hell with it, and you let yourself get enveloped by the comfortable silence.

The sky was dotted with innumerable stars, and it was the most number of constellations you have seen in your entire lifetime. You allowed yourself to take in the sight before your eyes.

You felt Jisung inch close. He moved until your shoulders were already touching. You rolled to your side, watching Jisung’s profile. His cheeks were flushed, and his lips were even fuller than you last remember. His skin glowed, you thought, or was that a trick of the moonlight?

You didn’t have time to think this through, though, as he moved his face and his eyes met yours. His eyes looked more black than brown, you noticed. They had a soft and warm look in them, and they looked different than when the two of you were bickering and annoying the hell out of each other. They shone like stars – no, they shone as if they held an entire galaxy. Maybe there lied the reason why you have hated him all these years: because you didn’t want the way his eyes made you feel. You felt like putty under his gaze, and you didn’t want to admit it.

Jisung grinned from ear to ear as if he could see the cogs working on your brain. (Could vampires do that? Read minds?)

“If you had been hungry this whole time, you could’ve just told me,” you whispered. “I still have a whole protein bar in my pocket.”

“Flavor?”

“Chocolate.”

“I bet that would be delicious,” Jisung whispered back. You watched as he licked his lips, his eyes darting from your eyes to your mouth.

“You are a vampire, Han Jisung,” you whispered, letting your face inch forward. You thought of everything that had passed over the boy’s lips – blood and bile and curses.