So, I guess Jay had begun this "seminar" he'd been approved for. At least, that's what I want to believe. I don't want to believe that I'm being avoided. That I really have blown it. I mean, if I could have prevented what happened, I definitely would have, but how could I have ever guessed?? I've spent centuries avoiding windows and mirrors because I knew I couldn't be seen. Never in a million years would I have thought that my reflection would bring this weird, new set of problems.
"Still nothing?" Riki interrupted my thoughts as he plopped down in the seat next to me.
I looked at him solemnly and shook my head, laying my head on the table in front of me in an exasperated thud.
"Well..." Riki sighed as he threw his arm over my shoulder, "What's the plan now? What are we doing - WOAH - What?"
I looked up at Riki, unsurprised by his shock as large, heavy tears rolled down my face.
"Jungwon. You're ... crying. We're not-" he thought the better of it and lowered his voice to a whisper, "We're not supposed to cry." He looked at me with genuine fear in his eyes. "We have to do something, Jungwon, this is too human. This is too dangerous."
I shook my head, "No, Riki, there isn't anything to be done right now."
Riki let out an exasperated sigh, now taking his turn to plop his head onto the table, "what can you possibly mean by that?"
"I just have this feeling. Plus, I kinda think the human emotion thing was bullshit."
Riki looked at me confused. "What do you mean? We don't have the same intensity of emotion. I don't think I've cried since the fire."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean the emotion wasn't there. We were happy just to exist and travel the world and do fun things. The whole not worrying thing? That was because there really wasn't anything to worry about. Honestly, I think we've always had the capacity for more significant emotion and just thought we weren't supposed to. Which, I would totally say is toxic masculinity, but for the sake of this argument we'll just say toxic vampire canon."
Riki shook his head again, "Jungwon, I have never felt those things. Sad, worry. None of it."
"OH?" I raised an eyebrow and turned to him, "interesting, then why did you tell Heeseung I was with Jay the other day?"
"Well, you hadn't gotten home yet, and I was wor-it's not this same kind of worry, Jungwon," my brother's tone was annoyed, but I smirked.
"Yeah, if you say so. Heeseung has shown himself perfectly capable of big emotion and Sunoo always has. So, I don't know. I think that there have been some amendments to the Vampire 101 manual that we got when Heeseung was looking for Jake". I looked up at my brother, who just shrugged and shook his head.
I continued to stare out into the direction of the center of campus. All of the main building hubs met right in the area. I wasn't sure what Jay's schedule was, but I would think he would have to come out of one of those sooner or later.
"Jungwon, you look creepy." Riki said matter-of-factly, and he was probably right, but I didn't care. I just wanted to see him again.
I let out a sigh and checked my phone. It was time for class. I let Riki pull me up and drag me across campus. I was in a daze and was hardly eager to concentrate on economics. All of this seemed really stupid to me all of the sudden. Like, why am I in university? Why am I bothering with class? To pass the time? I literally don't have anything else to learn.
I was too deep in my own thoughts to notice Riki had slowed down until I ran into him.
"Riki, what the h - "
"SHH!!!!!" Riki pulled me to the side of the building and crouched down, attempting to hide us from sight.
Not too far ahead of us, but far enough that we couldn't be seen, Jay was walking. His back was to us and he was walking with a woman, smiling and holding out some papers. He looked so handsome today, dressed up in a suit as though he had an important presentation to make. Maybe he did.
"Well, when he's done, I'll go say hi!" I smiled at my brother and started to get back up, but Riki yanked me back down.
"NO!" he said as he pulled me, and it was just loud enough to get the attention of Jay and his professor. Riki yanked me behind him as he crouched even lower, watching Jay turn around. "Would you stop staring at Jay and just LOOK!" he hissed.
Jay had turned back to his companion, no longer interested in whatever odd sound he heard around the corner. We could just make out bits and pieces of his farewell and the professor praising his good work and research.
Jay resumed walking in the direction they had been headed, but the professor turned toward us before taking a left away from us back toward the language arts buildings. She was obviously in a hurry, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid being seen.
"Is that...?" I trailed off. I didn't even know where to begin. My mind couldn't process what I was seeing.
"Yep," Riki nodded, still staring off into the distance himself, quite dazed as he stood up and reached to pull me up, "that's her. I'd never forget. But the question, of course, is..."
"...what is she doing here?"
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"Wait - WHAT?!?" Sunghoon jumped off the couch after hearing Riki and I explain the situation.
Class be damned at this point; I basically was never there. Riki and I had run faster than I have ever run to get to our car and get home to talk to our brother.
"But....why? Why is she there?" Sunghoon looked from us to Sunoo, who shrugged. He was still a little confused.
"We have no idea," Riki said. The more he talked about it, the more frantic he seemed to become, which just put Sunghoon on edge.
"And you're sure it was her. Like 1000% positive?" Sunghoon asked me.
I gave a confident nod. "Absolutely. Same flowing, out-of-place, old-fashioned clothes. Same hair piled on top of her head. And still the same age. It was the same lady that came to talk to Heeseung about the pull and tell us about our match."
"So, this match lady is just...a teacher at your school now?" Sunoo looked both confused and afraid.
"That's the other part we don't know. Jay had told Jungwon he got into some exclusive class or lecture or seminar or whatever. Apparently, she's the professor. But...why would she be teaching Jay anything at all?"
"And why would she not update her look?" We all turned to face Sunoo, surprised by the very Sunoo-like observation. He looked up at each of us with wide-eyed sincerity. "I'm just saying, what a waste of living forever if you don't try out all the fashion. Poor forever-Victorian-era lady."
Sunghoon rolled his eyes but also had a loving smile on his face, "I should call Hee," he said as he stood up from his chair.
"NO!" Riki, Sunoo, and I all jumped up at once.
Sunghoon looked at us all, confused. "But he'll know what to do..."
"How do you know?" Riki asked. "What's the qualifier? Oldest brother? First to make a match? We've assumed that Heeseung has a whole lot of answers just because he was born first as a human. We're smart, and we've all gone to 30 plus years of university. I'm reasonably sure we can figure this out on our own."
"What if I just ask her?"
"NO!" this time from Riki, Sunoo, and Sunghoon.
"That seems like a bad idea, Jungwon," Sunghoon said, "When we met her before, we were just floating around with no real guidance. I know that what she said about matches was true. We've met so many couples around the world. But there's a reason she's here, and if she knows we're here, there's a reason that she hasn't revealed herself to us."
"What if she's like...a bad guy?" Sunoo's eyes widened. He looked at us and could sense the dismissiveness in our faces. "No, just hear me out, guys," he begged, "think about it. This woman shows up on your doorstep 100 years ago without warning. Is not a vampire, right?"
"Right," I nodded, "I noticed right away that I could see her reflection in our windows.
"OK, so randomly shows up, isn't a vampire, drops this insanely important afterlife-or-afterdeath knowledge on you, then disappears as quickly as she came."
"Yeeeaaahh...aaaand?" Riki gestured for Sunoo, who appeared deep in thought, to continue.
"So now here she is, in the university where the two of you are enrolled, spending one-on-one time with your match. The match that has taken you forever to find. She's the one who told you that you will die without one, correct?"
We all nodded.
"Then," Sunoo's face as he looked out at us showed a mixture of fear and confusion, "why would she be here at all except to interfere? Maybe she's a bad guy. Maybe she's preventing you from making your match. Maybe she's interfering with Jay."
Sunghoon and Riki both shook their heads. "No way," Riki said, "I'm not saying she's a good guy and I have no idea why she's here, but I can't imagine that it's to sabotage a match."
"Yeah," Sunghoon agreed, "Jay's not a vampire, is he?"
"No," I turned to answer my brother, "I saw his real reflection lots of times. No blurry or foggy, just Jay. Plus, he like lives with his parents."
"Oh, okay," Sunghoon nodded with relief, but I caught the hint of a smile on the corners of his mouth. Once he looked over at Riki, they lost it.
"How old is he that he lives with his parents?" Riki laughed a little too hard for my liking.
"Um...lots of college students live with their parents to save money. Also, please remember that when our mother DIED IN A FIRE, we were all exactly the age we are now LIVING AT HOME".
I couldn't help but laugh at my own observation, and felt the tension leave a little when Sunoo laughed as well.
"Really, everyone, it's going to be okay," I said, "She's here, and it's weird, and it makes zero sense but somehow this is going to work out."
"Because you're going to bite him?" Sunghoon asked, pleading.
"I can't yet," I said, "I don't know why. It doesn't seem like it's okay to".
Sunoo wrapped his arms around me and laid his head on my shoulder, "Is there supposed to be a time when it feels right?" he asked.
I shook my head, "I think you're just supposed to know. Right, Hoon?"
Sunghoon nodded, "Yeah, I mean. For me it was easy. Sunoo was literally dying. But yeah, the pull screams 'NOW'!"
"So, it's definitely not the time," I said. I started to say more, but Sunghoon interrupted.
"That having been said," Sunghoon began, "we can't take too many more changes, Jungwon, and I'm not interested in losing you. I know that you aren't going to like what I'm about to say," he looked from Sunoo, to Riki, to me, "and I'm sorry to everyone for having to say it. But you have until Halloween. If this isn't resolved by November 1st, you're biting him. I don't care the scenario. If he isn't your match, then I don't know what happens, but we can't risk him freaking out and disappearing."
"That's reasonable," Sunoo nodded, "It gives you a window, Wonnie, and not too much time for either you or Jay to overthink."
Riki nodded as well, looking over at me. "Three weeks, bro."
I let out a deep sigh before reaching out to shake Sunghoon's extended hand. "Three weeks." I conceded, looking my brother straight in the eye.