Fatal Attraction | Yeonbin

10 | ᴄʏɴɪᴄɪsᴍ

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

cynicism ; an inclination to believe that people are motivated by self-interest.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

➸

Students flowed into the cafeteria as a bustle of liveliness rippled across the hall. After getting their lunches, the trio sat by their usual seats in the canteen... except for a minor detail that Taehyun and Soobin quickly caught on.

"Not going to ask Yeonjun to tag along for lunch?" Taehyun asked the youngest.

"Well, I—"

Almost immediately after Taehyun had mentioned his name, Yeonjun took a seat by their table. He didn't speak a word, barely acknowledging their presence as he began eating his lunch.

Hueningkai could barely suppress a smile. "See? Persistence always works."

"Why the sudden change of mind?" Taehyun asked, feeling slightly sceptical for Yeonjun voluntarily sitting by their table for lunch today.

"Just felt like it," he shrugged, returning Soobin's gaze.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ The night before ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"YOU GOT CAUGHT?" Beomgyu blurted out, unable to contain his shock as he gave his cousin a disapproving expression.

"I know, I know," Yeonjun sighs, plopping himself onto his bed, "he's a lot sharper than I thought—DON'T GIVE ME THAT FACE—" he barked, to which only made Beomgyu shake his head even more. "Look, he promised not to tell anyone— okay?"

Beomgyu pursed his lips but said nothing.

"Anyway, I feel like I should tell you this— but there's just something about his scent, the taste of his blood... it's extremely sweet...." he muttered, lost in his thoughts as he searched his mind for possible words to describe that particular tang.

Beomgyu's eyes widened. "Could it be—"

"No, it's probably some stupid old myth about some 'blessed' humans possessing 'The Blood of Rebirth,'" Yeonjun dismissed.

"Well, it isn't a myth if it was proven to be true, now is it?" he retorted. "It's not a myth, and you and I know it. Your mother knows about it too."

Yeonjun went silent. The effect of those words playing in his head.

"And ask her about it while risking Soobin's life? No, thank you. You know how much people are willing to pay for the taste of that blood. Furthermore, I'm not about to risk another human's life for our own greed," Yeonjun flared.

"Still."

"Anyway, what did you do the last time you got caught? You didn't get a chance to tell me about it the last time we talked," he asked.

"I killed him," Beomgyu answered flatly. "Which brings me to the only advice I can give you: watch him carefully— make sure he doesn't tell a single soul. His closest friends are no exceptions."

"Sure," Yeonjun yawned. "I'm going to head back to my bedroom now," he said, getting up from the bed as he walked towards the door.

"And one last thing," Beomgyu said just before Yeonjun could pull the door open—

"Do not fall for him."

➸

With the need for some fresh air, Yeonjun walked towards the benches area outside. Under the shade of the trees, he sat there, closing his eyes as his mind pondered about what he should do next.

Someone finding out about his identity was inevitable. But Yeonjun still can't help but feel bothered over how careless he was.

"I thought vampires disintegrate whenever they go under the sun," spoke Soobin's voice as he stood in front of Yeonjun, blocking him from the sun.

"Oh, will you shut up," Yeonjun scoffed in hopes of warding the latter off, but Soobin only let out a chuckle before voluntarily taking a seat next to him.

"What are you anyway?" He asked, "you said you're a vampire, then why is it that you can come out during the daytime and still have a shadow?"

"Just to clarify things, we, vampires, do not die if we go under the sun —that's probably some stupid myth you humans made— though we don't necessarily enjoy the burning sensation of being under the sun. And for the record, I'm a half. Half-human, half-vampire. So, yes, I have a shadow and being under the sun doesn't really affect me," Yeonjun prattled before realising that he had spoken too much.

"So, then, what can you do?"

"Easy. I can kill," he spoke, sitting up straight as he stared into Soobin's eyes. "You haven't told anyone a thing?"

"No, I haven't," Soobin vowed.

Yeonjun couldn't help but frown slightly. If only he had inherited his mother's ability to read the human mind. Perhaps many things would have been easier for him. But in those brown orbs, he saw genuineness, as if he was telling the truth.

He likes honest people.

A light breeze blew over the two as the trees overshadowing them gave a slight rustle. Time freezes as everything appear to be happening in slow-motion; the leaves falling onto the ground ever-so-slowly, the shafts of sunlight being filtered out by the trees, accentuating the smoothness of Soobin's skin and the twinkle in his brown eyes.

A leaf fell in front of his view, snapping him out of his trance at once.

Gone was the rush of ecstasy and newfound trust, replaced by a feeling of isolation. A familiar that dwelled in the depths of his lonely heart.

Humans can't be trusted, a voice echoed in his head. A voice that belonged to his mother's.

"Why do you keep coming to me?" Yeonjun asked, reinforcing his guard. He mustn't be seen vulnerable again. "Do you have a hidden motive against me now? Because you know my secret?" He assailed. His intention stone-cold.

"No," Soobin replied, "I'm just interested in you," he smirked, his face inches away from Yeonjun's.

A strange feeling erupted within Yeonjun. A feeling that felt a lot like... butterflies. A thousand of them fluttering in his stomach as he felt his heart pound madly against his chest.

How odd, he thought, not knowing what this strange sensation was called.

"Whatever," he quickly mumbled, moving back a little as he got up.

Me? Falling in love? That's never going to happen.