Third Vampire Shadows (An Urban Paranormal Romance Novel) (9 page)

Hyeon
Jin
took three steps back before speaking. “What do you want?”

“You live in that house, human?” he answered in a deep and otherworldly voice.

She shivered a little. Everything about the man was creeping her out.

“What house?”

“The bungalow with the green picket fence.”

She thought hard before answering. She wasn't really stupid enough to give out her address, or any information for that matter, to just anyone on the street. But this guy looked like he might beat her to a pulp if she didn’t reply.

“Y—Yeah… Why do you ask?”

What freaked her out the most was the fact that he was using a calm tone but his voice still had an ethereal feeling to it. And he had that creepy Cheshire cat smile on his face all the time. The guy took a step toward her. She took two more steps back.

“Do you know anyone by the name of
Lee
Mun
Oh
?”

She froze as the nagging feeling stopped and her assumptions were proven.

So he is one of Mun Oh’s kind… that explains his ethereal look and creepiness,
she thought anxiously.

“You know him, don’t you? Where is he?” the guy asked.

“I don’t know. Why would I know? And who are you?” She was quite brave enough to snap at him now that she had an idea of who he was. Or rather,
what
he was.

“It’s none of your business, human. Now, where is he?” he asked, quite irritated now. When she didn’t say a word, he took incredibly quick steps towards her, causing her to jump back in shock and fall hard on her butt.

“I know what you are, you bloodsucker, and I’m not gonna let you bite me!” she screamed at him, her eyes closed and her hands instinctively covering her neck.

The guy stopped dead in his tracks, unable to believe what he had just heard.
Hyeon
Jin
looked up at him, wondering why he hadn't attacked her yet.

“You…
You know about us
? About…
Mun Oh
?” he asked, surprised.

Hyeon
Jin
nodded, her hands still covering her neck.

“And
he knows
that
you know
, right?”

She nodded again, getting more and more confused.

“And he didn’t even try to modify your memory when you live in the same house?” he mumbled more to himself than to her.

The guy’s Cheshire cat smile widened as he looked down at
Hyeon
Jin
. He held out a hand and, after staring at it for a few seconds, she took it. Right after helping her to her feet, he left without so much as a goodbye, leaving her more confused than ever.

•••

Mun Oh whistled cheerfully as he made his way home. His catch had just made his day. He could still practically taste her blood in his mouth… every drop as sweet as honey, lingering on his tongue, moistening his throat… satisfying him like never before.

He had just rounded the corner leading to the street to their neighborhood when he noticed a familiar scentless figure shuffling down the street. Perplexed, he slowed down a bit and tried to catch her attention. She seemed to be in a hurry and her eyes appeared to be in search of something… or
someone
. Aside from that, Mun Oh noticed how dazed and disturbed she looked. When she was just about a couple of feet from him, he stopped and opened his mouth to say something, but she just passed him as though he wasn’t there.

Irked, he turned around and yelled at her. “HEY!
Hyeon
Jin
!”

She froze and slowly turned to face him. For a fleeting second, he swore he saw
something
in her eyes. The moment Mun Oh blinked it was gone, so he didn’t have time to fully comprehend what it was.

“Mun Oh…” she said with a sigh of relief. “I mean, it’s you… pest,” she quickly added before looking away.

Mun Oh took a step closer to her. “Where are you headed?”

“I was just—”

“—looking for me?” Mun Oh said aloud, accidentally reading her thoughts. They both appeared to be extremely surprised. For some reason, she seemed to be in no condition to argue or deny it; she simply stared at him with wide eyes.

Mun Oh cleared his throat. “Why were you looking for me?”

“I wasn’t! I mean, someone else was… looking for you,” she stammered, blushing slightly.

Before he could ask who, a cold and strong gust of wind hit him as though an invisible force had just zoomed past him. His whole body went rigid as his bloodsucker senses alerted him of a presence nearby. There was no mistake about it. Someone was watching them, and that someone was no ordinary human.

“You know what, I think we need to go home now,” he said to her, grabbing her by the elbow. But before they could even take a step forward, another cold gust of wind engulfed both of them, like a mini-twister, and before they knew it, a figure was standing in front of them.

Instinctively, Mun Oh placed himself between the figure and
Hyeon
Jin
, still holding the latter by the elbow.

“
Lee
. Mun. Oh,” the figure said in that deep and otherworldly voice.

Recognizing the figure before them,
Hyeon
Jin
opened her mouth to speak, but Mun Oh quelled her with a soft pinch.

“
Lim
Han
Kyung
,” Mun Oh hissed, staring daggers at him. “What do you want?”

Swiftly,
Han
Kyung
pulled out a piece of folded paper and handed it to Mun Oh. “A message… from your parents.”

Mun Oh stared at it for a moment before deciding to peruse it. Although the letter was short and written plainly, he still had to read it twice to make sure.

“I see you made some
human
friends here,”
Han
Kyung
remarked, eyeing
Hyeon
Jin
with malice. The way he said the word
human
was similar to Mun Oh’s tone—full of disgust and hatred.

“Leave her out of this,” Mun Oh snapped, pocketing the paper.

“Of course.” He closed his eyes and sucked in some air. “But you see, she seemed to be triggering my 'catch sensor.'” His eyes narrowed into slits as he took a threatening step toward them.

Mun Oh tightened his grip on
Hyeon
Jin
, not taking his eyes off
Han
Kyung
. A foreboding feeling was starting to overwhelm him as he stared at the guy’s annoying Cheshire cat smile.

At that crucial moment,
Hyeon
Jin
decided to free herself from Mun Oh’s grip, distracting the wary bloodsucker.
Han
Kyung
took his chance, and in one swift move, he was inches away from a stunned Mun Oh.

“I know… that
you
know… that
she
knows…” he whispered in his ear. He took a couple of steps back before Mun Oh could react.

Mun Oh tried to process everything he said as the foreboding feeling settled at the pit of his stomach. He took a quick glance at
Hyeon
Jin
, who merely shrugged, looking scared and confused.
Han
Kyung
looked like someone who had just won the lottery. Although he was Mun Oh’s senior by a few years, they’d been rivals for as long as they could remember. Nobody really seemed to notice it, but there was an unspoken antagonism between the two. They had settled the score between the two of them ages ago, but
Han
Kyung
was a sore loser. Even though Mun Oh had already proven that he was far greater than him in more ways than one, he was still unyielding and would take every opportunity he could to humiliate him or cause him trouble.

Actually, it wasn’t such a bad idea. If
Han
Kyung
bit
Hyeon
Jin
, then her memory would be modified, which would solve two of Mun Oh’s dilemmas in an instant. He wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore and he could gladly wash his hands of it. Ji Sun couldn't blame him since he wasn't the one who had bitten
Hyeon
Jin
. But then again, giving in to
Han
Kyung
’s demand meant letting him get what he wanted, therefore giving him great satisfaction. He couldn’t do that. No way.

Besides, I couldn’t let anything bad happen to her,
he thought wistfully.
I mean, Ji Sun would kill me if anything bad happened to her…
he corrected himself.

“I’m thirsty,”
Han
Kyung
said in a singsong voice.

“You wouldn’t want her blood. I’m telling you, it’s not good for your health,” Mun Oh said solemnly.

“What did you say, pest?”
Hyeon
Jin
interrupted.

Han
Kyung
raised an eyebrow as Mun Oh gave a grave nod. “Seriously, why’d you think I didn’t bite her when I found that she knew? Do I look that stupid to you? I’m LEE MUN OH, dammit! I would’ve bitten her right then and there, but, you see,” he lowered his voice a bit. “Not only does her blood tastes really bad, she also has a blood disease that makes your head grow two sizes bigger every month. Sadly, we bloodsuckers are not immune to that… So, I’m not taking any risks. If you want it, then be my guest,” he said, shoving
Hyeon
Jin
in front of him.

Han
Kyung
appeared to be disgusted as he eyed a fuming
Hyeon
Jin
from head to foot. Mun Oh was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

“Actually, I’m not really thirsty,”
Han
Kyung
said after a while, taking a step back. Mun Oh stepped in front of
Hyeon
Jin
before she could even say a word. He was just getting ready to leave, but
Han
Kyung
still had something to say. “But you know, disease or no disease, it is still a grave violation of our rules. You can’t let her run around with our secret. You’d have to bite her eventually,” he said, his eyes glinting malevolently. “Or else the repercussions would be… severe.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that. I know the rules.” Mun Oh hated it when people told him what to do. Especially when it was someone like
Han
Kyung
. “Now get lost, loser. You don’t have business here anymore.” He slowly turned his back on him.

“Not so fast, you arrogant fool,”
Han
Kyung
said in a dangerous tone. Mun Oh didn’t have time to brace himself.
Han
Kyung
was already rushing toward him in full attack mode. Left with no choice, he shoved a petrified
Hyeon
Jin
to the right and quickly swerved to the left to divert
Han
Kyung
away from her. Unfortunately, he pushed her a bit too hard, and she ended up landing on her back and rolling a good three feet down the street. The good news was that Mun Oh was still more agile than
Han
Kyung
, so by the time their blurry fight—which was so quick it was almost impossible for the naked eye to keep track—was over, Mun Oh was holding him by the neck up a tree, ten feet away from where
Hyeon
Jin
was lying.

“Next time you sneak up on me, I’m gonna break your bones into tiny little pieces, you sneaky little rat,” Mun Oh threatened, tightening his grip on him.

“Pootmidaannn…”
Han
Kyung
struggled to speak. “Put… me… down.”

“I don’t wanna see your ugly face ever again, understand?”

He nodded. Mun Oh released him and watched him scamper away.
Hyeon
Jin
picked herself up from the ground, massaging her lower back and groaning in pain. Mun Oh rushed to her side.

“You okay?” he asked.

Instead of giving a reply, she lashed out her left foot and kicked him in the shin. He yelped in pain and glared at her.

“What was that for, big feet?!”

“You almost killed me, pest! Why’d you have to push me like that? You could’ve just said,
‘Hey, get out of the way!
I’m getting into a fight and you might get hurt!
’ But you just had to
push
me, didn’t you?” she ranted furiously.

“I just saved your life, you crazy, demented, big-footed girl! If you’re saving someone, you don’t really have time to chat and say things politely, dimwit!”