Year 1929
Minki opens his eyes, feeling that something is wrong. He can't explain it, but he feels a great thirst. He's thirsty, terribly. The dryness in his mouth is unbearable.
He sits up and his vision seems to sharpen as he looks at Jay, who is standing with his back to him. He is the person who has protected them for many years—their best friend. Furthermore, he and his brothers—only trust Jay, even though the boy is Japanese. Ever since the emperor—their father—took him in, they have been inseparable.
Minki tries to remember what happened. Why is he on the floor, in his father's chamber, and why he smells blood so intensely...
His eyes widen in horror as he sees his unconscious younger brothers lying in a pool of blood.
"Are you awake?" Jay turns to face him, staring at him with an intense gaze. "I'm sure you feel weird, but shake it off and try to remember what happened."
- What are you talking about? - Minki overreacts, raising his voice. - Why are my brothers... dead? - His voice begins to tremble. - What have you done to us?
Jay narrows his eyes furiously.
- What have I done to you? I saved you. I gave you a chance at a new life.
- How dare you mock me! - Minki can't control his anger. - Why don't I remember anything?!
- You'll remember everything shortly.
The Japanese sits on the Emperor's throne, angering Minki.
"How dare you!" he shouts, and then he feels as if the strange fog that has been obscuring his memories is lifting and everything is coming back to him at a dizzying speed.
He remembers the madness of his father, Emperor Sunjong, who suddenly went mad, calling them worthless sons who did not deserve the throne. He killed them with his sword, finally taking his life as Minki breathed his last.
"No one knows yet about what happened in the chamber. If your brothers wake up, I'll help you escape, and you can start a new life," Jay says. "You can't be around humans until you've tamed yourselves. No one can know we still exist."
- What are you? What have you done to us? - Minki looks terrified.
The brunette boy looks at him intensely, then replies:
- The original vampire who gave you a chance at a second life.
The Emperor's eldest son falls to his knees, only beginning to feel that something is wrong with him after his words. When he puts his hand to his left chest, he can't feel his heart beating. His mouth is dry and he feels a terrible hunger.
- Why did you do this without asking for our consent? Do you realize that we would rather die than be reborn as monsters? - he shouts.
Jay puts a finger to his lips, silencing him.
- Wonsung discovered who I was some time ago. He was fascinated by me, he wanted me to transform him to keep his youth and eternal life.
Minki is shocked. Why didn't his brother tell him anything?
- He knew you were a beast and didn't warn us?!
The Japanese boy narrows his eyes furiously.
- Now you are a beast too, so you have no right to slander me.
- Not of your own free will, you...!
Jay turns in the opposite direction and smiles cynically at someone.
- Do you understand now, Wonyoung?
The nineteen-year-old girl jumps out of her sleep. Her heart pounding, she stares at the ceiling, wondering why she sees dreams where she isn't. Does she have some connection to Jay, since she remembers the last sentence he said directly to her? Is it because of him that she has dreams every night that are memories from her past life?
The girl sits up and looks worriedly out the window. The more she sees, the more it scares her.
Last night, Jay did something to Somi. The girl was temporarily in some kind of frenzy, and when she woke up, she didn't remember her strange behavior.
How could they fight Jay? Why was he so hell-bent on revenge when each of them was reincarnated as an entirely different person?
***
Before class, Wonyoung approaches Somi, who is sitting in the main hall alone, looking worried.
- We didn't have a chance to talk in the car because of the other people's presence, but what happened yesterday?
The blonde girl looks at her with sleep-deprived eyes.
- I can't explain it, but I heard Jay's order in my head. He asked me to go to the forest, where he was waiting for me. He knew I had betrayed him, that I had told you everything, I thought he would kill me, but he said that since I was disobedient, he would control me like a puppet. After he looked me in the eye, I don't remember anything else - the blonde girl claims. - What did I do, Wonyoung?
The nineteen-year-old girl places a hand on her old friend's shoulder, looking at her with compassion in her eyes.
- Now Sunghoon might feel a little awkward around you, because you jumped at us like a tigress. You were yelling that you were the first to ask him out, that we always liked the same guys, so you embarrassed me too. I didn't want him to find out like that.
The blonde girl massages her forehead, looking sideways at Wonyoung.
- I wonder if that monster is having fun with us when he plays with our minds?
- I wonder why he torments you, since you are not present in his memories of his past life.
- I still can't believe that vampires live among us. When I watched the series "The Vampire Diaries", I was fascinated by it, but I thought it was fiction invented by people! I would never have expected that such a Klaus would be among us!
- Good comparison, because that's not even Damon - Wonyoung replies. - I had a dream today, he called himself an original. That must be a powerful vampire, Somi.
Standing off to the side, Niki frowns. He doesn't understand what the girls are talking about.
- Is everything okay with you? Are you feeling okay? - he asks, making them both jump on the bench in fear. - Especially you... - he turns to Somi. - You put on quite a show yesterday. I thought you were going to fight over that worthless guy - he adds.
- We were just talking about a movie that Somi recommended to me earlier. Vampires are still in fashion - Wonyoung replies, smiling nervously.
- That must have been an excellent movie if you even dreamed about it. - Niki snorts under her breath. - And you, you crazy girl, get moving, we're starting classes soon.
- I'm not crazy. I don't understand what happened to me yesterday, so don't call me that. I don't like it - the blonde girl warns him.
- Come on, crazy girl, come on.
Somi glares at him as she stands up from the bench, then turns to Wonyoung :
- We need to discuss this, so let's meet when we have some spare time, without much company.
- Bright.
***
After classes are over, Wonyoung walks down the hallway, passing high school and college students who are in the same wing. " Inhon " is divided into two sections, with elementary and middle school classes on one side, and high school and college classes on the other.
The nineteen-year-old girl feels the eyes of others on her; she is used to it as a popular person, but nevertheless, over time it becomes tiring.
Fame has its pros and cons, especially when something unexpectedly starts happening to her, and she becomes everyone's target.
She supports herself with her hand against the wall, feeling dizzy, but it is not an ordinary dizziness because in her mind she hears the screams of people, a terrifying cry. It seems to her that the image before her eyes is changing. The people surrounding her look like bloodthirsty monsters, ready to attack her.
- Wonyoung, are you okay? - Everything returns to normal when she hears Sunghoon's voice. He grabs her by the shoulders and looks at her with a concerned look. - You look very pale, are you feeling unwell?
People take advantage of this and take pictures of them. They are delighted that such a scene is taking place before their eyes. They gossip among themselves that they look like a dream couple, others say that another drama with a love triangle will break out.
"Help me get outside," Wonyoung says to him.
The younger boy nods and, keeping his hands on her shoulders, leads her towards the stairs. She guesses that tomorrow "Inhon" will be buzzing with new gossip, considering how many pictures people have taken of them.
Sunghoon hates being the center of attention, but at that moment he couldn't help but notice how bad Wonyoung looked. He wants to take care of her, be with her, she draws him like a magnet, and after yesterday he thinks less and less about the fact that she might be involved in his friend's death.
Maybe he doesn't want to believe it. He just wants to know the truth and finally exclude Wonyoung from it.
The closer he gets to know her, the more he discovers her true face. She is truly a good girl who hides under the shell of a cold princess.
"Thank you," the brunette girl states as they reach the building. The cool air caresses her face, bringing her back to herself. "I feel faint."
- Have you finished your classes yet?
- Yes.
- Then I can't let you get behind the wheel.
Wonyoung looks at him as he stands next to her, his hands still on her shoulders.
"You can stay with me for a while until I get myself together, then I'll go home," he says boldly. "If you don't have any other plans, of course."
Her cheeks flush as she remembers that Somi, under Jay's hypnosis, had revealed that they liked the same guys. Sunghoon surely realized she was talking about him.
"I was going to offer you the same thing as a second option," he says, giving her a killer smile.
She had waited so many years for someone to appear who would make her heart beat faster. She had not thought that nineteen would be the age when she would finally experience it. It is a pity that along with this feeling comes karma from a previous life that wants to affect their happiness and bring them suffering...